Photo by Victoria Hernandez.
The founder of Six Flags Angus Wynne Jr. started his venture right here in Oak Cliff. Through promotional materials released in 1946, he was “ahead of his time” by developing the 820-acre land that would later become the Wynnewood North neighborhood, according to an article in the Fall 2002 edition of Legacies.
For over 75 years in the making, these neighbors and former residents continue to celebrate what it truly means to be a member of this “generational neighborhood.”
The official 75th Anniversary Celebration will take place this Saturday, Sept. 27 at the home of Jan Rainey and Jamir Labar from 3 to 6 p.m. Food, margaritas, live music, and an open mic to share experiences in Wynnewood North will take place at the private event for family, current residents and former residents.
Lynn Sulander, who has lived in the neighborhood since November 2005 and formerly served as the Wynnewood North Neighborhood Association president, said the community feels like an extended family. Within her first week living in her home, she was invited to five parties in one week.
“I told people at one point, I felt like I could knock on 50% of the doors in the neighborhood and ask for help or sugar,” she said.
And she is not alone in that sentiment.
Denise Requardt found a house in Wynnewood North in 2008 and is currently president of the Wynnewood North Neighborhood Association.
“But it was suddenly, here comes two neighbors over with a treat. Then another person comes with a T-shirt. I mean, it just started to where that camaraderie. That was it,” she said.
The Wynnewood North Neighborhood continues to not only focus on their nextdoor neighbors, but has always been so involved in what’s happening surrounding the neighborhood, Dwayne Privott said.
“Usually it happens to you, right?” he said. “And then you have to deal with whatever comes. This neighborhood board has been instrumental in making what (is) happening around them better.”
Ambrosio Villarreal has lived in Wynnewood North since 1989 and was a member of the WNNA board, helping to revive the association after an 18 years hiatus.
“What happened is that it started with the apartment complex next door,” he said. “There was a lot of crime. There was no control. There was no in and out.”
Eventually, a burglary took place in Wynnewood North in the ‘90s, where a well known neighbor of the time got hurt during the crime.
“So after she got hurt, a lot of us were broken into, including me before this incident with this 92-year-old lady happened,” he said. “So that’s what sparked (the association revival).”
The Wynnewood North Neighborhood Association went on to make the change they wished to see. Getting together every week, three members joined meetings at the Chamber of Commerce in Oak Cliff, working with the chamber and Nations Bank (known as Bank of America today).
Villarreal and the board first determined that the neighboring apartment complex needed a fence.
The fence helped as a public safety concern, keeping kids playing with a ball safe from rolling into the street. Later, a playground was requested and delivered after four years.
“But number one was, who’s going in,” Villarreal said. “That was the main mark of concern. They were just like drug dealers. We heard gunshots, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Easily.”
To help with public safety concerns, the apartment complex took on renovations, but the outside never returned to what it once was.
“They were supposed to put the balconies back. They were supposed to put grass, the way it used to be. Flowers, shrubs, landscaping because it looked like a European village in its heyday,” Villarreal said.
Under new management of the apartments, Villareal was elected to be a part of the main complex committee to make those changes happen. That’s how the WNNA board came to be formed once again.
What makes us able to do that is what we’ve done inside the neighborhood, former board president Joseph Hernandez said.
“I’ve been in the neighborhood for 28 years and we’ve been talking about Wynnewood Village for 28 years,” he said.
Wynnewood Village sits directly south of the Wynnewood North Neighborhood. The association has continued to work with city developers to ensure that the changes being made to the shopping center have their input.
All of this commitment to their community is not only for themselves, but for those to come.
“We’ve watched their children move into those homes and raise children,” Privott said.
Part of the legacy that these neighbors want to leave is the recognition of neighbors’ hard work, the love of the trees on the greenbelt and the improvement of their homes, Hernandez said.
A legacy that they continue to build and hope to build for more than just 75 years, but for many years to come.
