Before joining the ECCHO efforts, Dr. Haney and fellow dentist, Dr. Jeff Kosoris, surfaced from a similar mission. “Dr. Kosoris is currently chairman of the board of directors for Hope Clinic,” Dr. Haney explained. “He and I went to Baylor College of Dentistry together and we have both been in private practice in Waxahachie for nearly 30 years. By the late ’90s, we were aware of the need for indigent dental care and decided to put our heads together to do something about it.”

With limited know-how, they started a free dental clinic in an abandoned school building. “We did the best we could,” Dr. Haney said. “Thankfully, about the time we figured out that we were failing, we had a meeting with Mackie Owens, chief executive officer of ECCHO, and have been involved with Hope Clinic since its beginning.”

For the first four years, Hope Clinic operated with a small staff of doctors, dentists and nurses. “Until 2008, all the dentists were volunteers. For the most part, that meant Dr. Kosoris and me,” Dr. Haney smiled. Then, in March 2009 and in another huge developmental step, the clinic was designated as a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC.) The FQHC program facilitates the provision of medical services in underserved urban and rural communities. This designation gave the clinic the ability to serve Medicare patients, as well as eligibility for federal funding. The program also required the clinic to offer medical, dental and behavioral care.

Hope Clinic began as a single building, essentially donated by the county

and moved to its current location on Waxahachie’s Jefferson Street. “I served on the board for about seven years,” Dr. Haney said. “In a meeting one evening, we were discussing the availability of the lot next door, and I suggested that we buy it. It seemed to me that we might want to get bigger one day.” Although Mackie was not quite as convinced, they took the leap and purchased the property. “Sure enough, we expanded,” Dr. Haney smiled. “I’m not so much a creative guy as I am an idea person.”

Dr. Haney with Mackie Owens.

After purchasing the lot and acquiring FQHC designation and provisions to grow, Hope Clinic was poised for another giant step. By April 1, 2010, a new building had been constructed and was attached to the original through a series of wooden ramps, decking and stairs. The “new” larger Hope Clinic was painted a bright yellow. The original “A” building became the medical services, laboratory and administrative home, while the new “B” building housed dental, pediatric and behavioral medicines. “Dental services moved from one room to three with new equipment, including three fully-equipped dental chairs and, at last, a full-time dentist,” Dr. Haney explained. “We had literally gone from recognizing a need, wanting to serve, employing used or donated equipment, volunteering a half day a week, to becoming a full-blown, full-time clinic. We also now have a hygienist and two dental assistants.”

These days, the two bright yellow buildings are bustling with activity. In 2009, the clinic served slightly less than 2,000 individual patients. In 2010, the number of individual patients seen doubled, while more than 11,000 people contacted them seeking information about their services. In addition to dental care, the clinic offers comprehensive on- site pediatric and adult primary medical care, prenatal, women’s and behavioral health services.

“Our focus at first was toward residents of Ellis County,” Dr. Haney explained. “The FQHC determination, though, increased the scope to include the whole region and now anyone can come here.” While Ellis County continues to be the largest patient source, people come from Johnson, Navarro and surrounding counties. While the clinic accepts Medicaid, Medicare and other insurances, above all, it is committed to serving the uninsured. Fees are based on a sliding scale according to a patient’s income. “We have a contract with the county to serve indigent patients for no fee,” Dr. Haney said. “We treat insured people, too, but our focus is on those who can’t afford medical or dental care.”

In another forward move, Hope Clinic added a director of community relations and special projects. “Her name is Tish Creech,” Dr. Haney said. “She has already made a difference.” Community outreach and fundraising are essential to the clinic and, with Tish’s expertise volunteer opportunities have been incorporated into a program called Magnolia Blossom. Now potential volunteers or supporters can easily learn about the history of Hope Clinic and opportunities to serve on committees such as Physician Liaison, Spreading the Hope, Events and Giving and Getting. “Our major fundraiser is called Seeds of Hope,” Dr. Haney explained. The annual event features a one-hour program and dinner. All contributions generated from the event go directly into the Hope Clinic ministry.

Originating from a grass roots dream, Hope Clinic continues to grow with the help of community driven efforts. “Being active in the community is very important,” Dr. Haney said. “We travel to senior citizen centers and schools throughout the county and participate in off-site health fairs and back-to-school events with services, such as fluoride varnishing and dental screenings.”

Dr. Haney has been a dentist in private practice since 1983. Last year, he partnered with a fellow dentist, moved to a new building and established a two- partner group. He and his wife, Penny, have been married since 1979 and are parents to daughter, Dakota, a senior at Dallas Baptist University and an avid equestrienne. If he was only a dentist, devoted husband and involved father, Dr. Haney’s life would be full and busy, yet this lay minister, community leader and volunteer is on a mission of hope. “My dad was a minister. I grew up in a church and family of helpers,” he said. “As I came to understand the truth in the words I heard as a youth, I realized that the only thing of earthly value is what I leave in my relationships. I am called to help others,” he smiled. “It’s why I get up in the morning. When a patient finishes treatment and says ‘Thank you,’ my heart fills.”

Written by Carolyn Wills.

It’s a good thing that Marilyn got back into gardening when she did. It gave her plenty of time to prepare for Deva’s high school graduation in 2001. “Deva wanted an outside party. I had planted the Mexican buckeye from seed a few years earlier,” she said, pointing to what is now a very large tree beyond the patio.

Marilyn has her hands in lots of pots. Not only does she work tirelessly in her gardens nurturing all types of flowers from roses and verbena to acanthus and lantana, she also serves as a garden consultant and designs landscapes. Most importantly, she finds a great deal of satisfaction teaching others the art of gardening, for pleasure, as well as purpose. Currently, Marilyn is closely involved with Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), a program that educates others on how to plant it, grow it and pick it. “We have over 15 families participating in the program,” Marilyn explained. “We plant the gardens for the families. We grow it and pick it. The families receive the bounty.” Her goal is to teach the families how to successfully garden themselves. “They [the families] have the opportunity to come out anytime and work in the vegetable garden,” Marilyn added. “The main goal with CSA is to teach families to do it all themselves. I want them to learn where our veggies are grown. How much food could they grow if they needed to grow their own food? I’m teaching people to be self-sufficient.”

Others may cherish memorabilia from the golden age of the railroad or cotton fields, but David treasures his ancient shark teeth, coral, oysters, clams and petrified wood, nearly all of which have been plucked from local sources. Whether exploring along Highway 287, Interstate 35 or in ditches or ponds around Waxahachie and Ennis, David savors the thrill of locating the well-preserved examples of prehistoric ammonites, sea urchins and snails that tell North Texas’ own story of the dinosaur age. Born in Abilene, David currently lives in Alma and for 11 years has worked for Waxahachie’s C.A. Wilson Company, where clients of the firm are greeted by a counter full of his favorite fossils. “Customers constantly ask about the collection,” David said. “They think it’s pretty fascinating.” Some have contributed to it — one donation being a 100-million-year-old ammonite pulled from the Sulfur River. Among eye-catching specimens displayed are a fern frond embedded in rock and a small striped stone that looks like a French pastry. “I can’t resist a beautiful rock,” David explained. Again, most of the fossils on view were collected locally, from roadside ditches to the property of nearby Central Presbyterian Church.

Although David gave a well-received presentation for a recent Master Naturalists conference in Waxahachie, the lanky young collector with a radio announcer’s voice insists he is an amateur and enjoys the freedom of what he calls “smash and grab paleontology.” It’s an avocation he has enjoyed since childhood. “As a kid it was pretty much all things science,” he said. “I was an avid reader and went through a lot of dinosaur books. I also read the Audubon series and spent time drawing cross sections of volcanoes and such.”

David has made road trips to other states on fossil hunts, notably Nebraska, but he relishes time spent afield in Ellis County, which is part of the vast paleontological division known as Eagle Ford. So named over 100 years ago by geologist, R. T. Hill, Eagle Ford was the subject of major U.S. Geological Surveys in 1901 and 1918. As early as 1927 the Journal of Paleontology singled out Ellis County as an area of high-potential for researchers: “Fossils are abundant. Fish remains, such as teeth, vertebrae and scales, may be found at almost any level. The teeth vary in size from large shark teeth to those of microscopic size.” The same article reported that “many specimens have been collected about three miles northwest of Midlothian in a small creek near the Houston and Texas Central Railroad.”

David can vouch for that. He reports shark teeth can be found everywhere in Ellis County. On a recent excursion with a friend who was looking for Indian artifacts, they hit the jackpot. “Well sort of,” he clarified. “We didn’t find any arrowheads, but we found all kinds of fossils!”

The greatest cache of shark teeth he has discovered was right here in Waxahachie. “On Great House Road, a pond being dug out, and after it rained, the pond was littered with sharks’ teeth,” David recalled. He noted there were other petrified forms of undersea plant life and fish bones to be found there, all indigenous to shallow salt water, indicating the location had been a lagoon about 90 million years ago. Little digging was needed to find the specimens. The same holds true on his regular hunts: “I mostly find them on the surface.” Another nearby location, which yielded plentiful shark teeth at one time, was Lake View Camp. “It’s on FM66,” he said. “There’s a water park there now, but before they built that you could go in and around the hill there, and it was full of shark teeth, fish backbone, everything.”

Self-taught in his scope of interest, David has learned as much from PBS television documentaries as he has from books. He also credits modern Hollywood with authentic representations of prehistoric life, both aquatic and terrestrial. “In the old days, when they would show The Attack of the 50 Foot Iguana, the stuff was pretty goofy,” he admitted. “Of course, when you’re a little kid, it’s great. But the Jurassic Park movies are dead on. They really did their research.” Before his countywide searches David likes to wait for a “good heavy rain,” adding that “there are certain locales where the rains wash stuff out. So it’s a good time to go check.” Work and other commitments prevent extended journeys for the time being, and David contents himself with jaunts that allow him “to be back in an hour.” He said his hobby is gratifying, and even if others don’t share his passion, he finds they are still interested. Many express their surprise that millions of years ago Ellis County and most of North Texas were undersea. David explained that a sure giveaway of the depth of water the territory was in is the prevalence of white rock limestone or calcium carbonate. “That’s precipitated out of deep sea water,” he said, “so wherever you find it, you know there once were thousands of feet of water there.”

David looks forward to continuing his local runs for shells, shark teeth and other examples of this area’s ancient underwater heritage, but confesses he is keeping an eye out for a bigger prize. “I would really like to find something of the dinosaur ilk that’s readily identifiable,” he said. “I have a short piece of prehistoric jawbone, but I’m not sure to which animal it belongs.”

Ellis County’s own prehistory historian is modest about the attention he has received, but is glad that others are appreciating paleontology. Through books, TV shows and movies, David believes the once museum-confined subject is becoming more popular, and hopes workday enthusiasts will be inspired to take to the field as he has done, collecting a little treasure of life on Mother Earth when the old gal was young.

Written by Randy Bigham.

“I told her to go back in the house,” Kevin said.

This same scenario played itself out numerous times before Kevin finally relented. As LaNae looks back on her “first lesson,” she can’t help but laugh out loud. “It was somewhat of a disaster. I got burned almost immediately,” she recalled, still wincing at the memory of the pain. She learned that weld slag, the elements found in the sparks coming out of the weld, fly. In this case, they flew and landed inside her shoe.

Six months after that first encounter, LaNae went back to ask Kevin for another try. “I was more determined than ever to learn how to weld,” she said. “Kevin would create something really cool and give it away. I wanted him to teach me so I could make decorations and artwork for my home.” This time she didn’t get burned, thus starting a journey that has brought her tremendous joy. As she looks around their Waxahachie home, she finds great pride and satisfaction in what she has been able to create.

When visitors come into the home, they can look in any direction and find evidence of the “monster” Kevin created. The fireplace screen is one of many she has handcrafted over the years. The “kissing fish,” which hang over the dining room window, were hammered out of copper and welded into a stylish metal frame. The wall art found in the entryway is fittingly named A Day in the Life. The collage includes a half-sun, half-moon and two brass birds. The sun is constructed from copper, while the moon is metal, with a few touches of brass. Just recently, LaNae created her “bottle puppies,” designed from scrap metal and random nuts, bolts and washers. Some of the items guests admire most include the plate racks. At first glance, they appear to be identical, but on closer inspection, it is apparent each of the four have their own distinct qualities. “I don’t  care how many of the same piece I do,” she stated. “No two will ever be alike.”

One request she had from a friend was for a unique Halloween costume. “She wanted a ‘Queen of the Damned’ costume,” LaNae said, explaining this particular character was the lead in a recent vampire movie. LaNae outfitted her friend in a breastplate, belt, headdress and necklace, all constructed from a variety of metals. “She won third place in the costume contest,” she said. “I can only imagine how detailed the first and second place costumes were.”

As Kevin described LaNae’s second “first real lesson,” his pride regarding his wife was evident. “She was a little bit nervous, but her determination was everything,” he admitted. “She picked the process up a lot faster than some of the students I’ve had.”

“Kevin was real impressed with what I was able to do,” she smiled. “He’ll tell

you that I can cut better than he can.” These two share so much more

artwork than merely welding. The tools of the trade include Mig welders, Tig welders and several sizes of plasma torches. Each of the three is used for a specific type of welding, which in most cases is dependent on the type of metal being used at the time. “Mig welding

is wire-fed welding,” LaNae explained. “It’s what I use most of the time.” Mig welding is primarily used for commercial metals and heavy steel.

The Tig welder is used on cooper and aluminum. “It’s a much stronger weld,” Kevin added. “The penetration of the weld is deeper.”

The plasma torch has become one of LaNae’s favorite tools, with which she effortlessly cuts raw metal into the shapes and sizes she desires for whatever project she is working on at the moment. “It’s all done freehand,” she said.

Back in 1995, the couple realized there was a demand for the products they were crafting, so they turned their craft into a family-owned business, Steel Images Welding & Design. The smaller items they crafted for family and friends locally turned into much larger pieces that are displayed throughout the world from Singapore and Russia to Tokyo, Kuwait and Dubai. The art, although beautiful, also possesses a great deal of functionality. One overhead gate they made is hinged on one side to allow 18-wheelers entrance to the owner’s property. “I like taking the idea someone had on paper and bringing it to life; giving it dimension,” she said. “I think I can make anything, but Kevin’s the quality-control guy. He makes sure its functionality will withstand the test of time.”

“We really do work well together 90 percent of the time,” Kevin said. “We haven’t strangled one another or divorced. Overall, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

Written by Sandra Strong.

Rotary clubs across the country have created flag programs to show national and community pride, while at the same time raising significant funds for their service projects. After seeing the program established in Duncanville and Lancaster, Rotarian Joe Smith began developing a way to bring the program to Waxahachie. In 2003, the club officially began the Rotary Flag Program and fabricated 150 flags. Members started by asking their friends and neighbors, and soon the program caught on. Today the group distributes close to 1,000 flags to homes and businesses five times a year. The first streets to adopt the program were Marvin Street, Main Street and Mustang Creek Drive. “People seem to really like the beauty and pride that the flags bring to our community,” Flag Program Chairman Don Stroope said. “We get a lot of compliments. The more flags we put out the more calls we receive about subscriptions.”

The flags do not stay up year-round, but are distributed on

five holidays including Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, Labor Day and Veterans Day. To prolong the life of the flags the Rotarians collect and store them after each holiday. Each flag team, made up of three or four Rotarians, distributes anywhere from 25 to 100 flags in a single afternoon. Teams have 48 hours prior to the holiday to place the flags, and they must be collected within 48 hours following the holiday. “Each team spends around six hours putting out and picking up the flags,” Don said. “Luckily we have a large number of retirees involved who can help distribute during the day.”

Since the beginning of the program, the flags have been made by Rotarian volunteers in Rotary Club President Mike Tull’s workshop. Eight volunteers can fabricate 150 to 200 3 foot by 5 foot, polyester-cotton flags in one afternoon. The flags are attached to an eight-foot metal pole and are supported by a metal sleeve installed at the location. Over time the flags deteriorate and the Rotarians routinely check for signs of disrepair. When flags are unable to be repaired, Boy Scout Troop 232 properly disposes of them.

Each flag subscription is $35 per year. Those interested in subscribing can do so by printing out a form on the Waxahachie Rotary’s Web site and mailing it in with a check. There are no limits to the number of flag subscriptions a home or business can purchase. “We don’t have a lot of citizens with multiple flags unless they have a large property,” Don said. “Several businesses have multiple flags, like Carlisle Chevrolet and Farley Street Baptist Church, both with 20 flags each.” While the flag program helps establish a sense of community and national pride, its mission is not solely aesthetics. Since 2003, the program has been the largest means of fundraising for the club. The majority of the money the Rotary receives goes back into community projects, and some of it goes into their international programs. They benefit community service projects, as well as groups, such as: Habitat for Humanity, Special Olympics, Boys & Girls Club, the Education Foundation of Waxahachie, Meals on Wheels, the Wheelchair Foundation and Operation First Day of School. Recently the club contributed $50,000 to the Hope Clinic. “The program brings in funds for our service projects, but it is about more than that,” Don said. “From the railroad track to downtown all you see are flags. It is a beautiful sight. The community pride that is seen comes from so many citizens of the community participating.”

Don has served as the flag program’s chair for one-and-a-half years and has been a Rotarian for three years. Other Rotarian leaders include: Kirk Lipscomb, co-chair; Bob Diana, database manager; and the install team of Edwin Farrar, Rudy Rodriguez and Frank Guy. “In the past, the Interact Club has also helped with the refurbishing of the flags at the Boy Scout cabin,” Don said, “which includes removing the old worn-out flags and disposing of them properly, then putting a new flag on the pole and covering it with a protective sleeve.”

Like most of the other 80 members of the club, Don joined Rotary as an opportunity to give back to the community. Don’s relatives are longtime Waxahachie residents, who started Stroope Pest Control in 1950. Four years ago, he moved into the community to help his grandfather run the business. “I’m lucky to be able to run a business, which allows me to spend time doing Rotary things during the day if I’m needed,” Don said. “They have weekly meetings at lunch on Thursdays that would be hard to get to if I had another job.” His passion for serving others started

long before he became a Rotarian. As a student at Texas A&M University, Don joined Big Event. He even met his wife, Courtney, through this service project. “The group made the Guinness Book of World Records as being the largest one-day, student-led community service program in the nation,” Don said. “Out of 40,000 students, they get around 12,000 to show up for the project. My roommate was the director of Big Event, and Courtney was the assistant director. She used to come over to our room for meetings. I guess I swept her off her feet with my community service.”

Each quarter, the Rotary tries to do a large service project to help members and organizations within the community. They do anything from roofing houses to cleaning up bushes at citizens’ homes. However, they are always at work in small groups helping build wheelchair ramps and other smaller projects. Programs like selling flag subscriptions helps financially, but they are always looking for extra volunteers. Those interested in joining Rotary should contact a current member to begin the process. “It’s important to give back to citizens who have made Waxahachie what it is,” Don said. “The service-above-self motto is what led me to join Rotary. It’s a great feeling to give back to the community. Rotary has a lot of opportunities to give back and to meet good people.”

Written by Sydni Thomas.

Editor’s note: Subscription forms can be found at www.waxahachierotary.org.