Today Cedar Hill (Duncanville, Tex.), Vol. 33, No. 43, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 14, 1999 Page: 4 of 16
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Page 4 Cedar Hill Today‘Thursday, January 14,1999
CEDAR HILLTODAY
Chikln
From Page 1
Y2K
From Page 1A
researching various business oppor-
tunities and found that Chick-fil-A
was a company that she would feel
good about associating with.
Wanting to know all she could
about the fast food industry, Alcaraz
went to work as an hourly employee.
It was a decision that reinforced what
she already knew - she definitely
wanted a C'hick-fil-A franchise of her
own.
Alcaraz submitted her application
and went through the rigorous fran-
chise process. “They look into your
whole background," she said. “They
want to know if you have a strong
work ethic and if your personal life is
in order.”
Although the process could be
considered inclusive, Alcaraz said
she felt comfortable with the evalua-
tion procedure that included talking
to her husband.
“Everyone is treated like family
inside (the company) and they have a
family outside,” she said. “If you
can’t keep a family together, you
can’t keep a business together.”
After establishing that she had the
right characteristics and business
acumen to operate a Chick-fil-A
restaurant, Alcaraz was given one of
her own. Given a choice of several
locations, she chose the Galleria in
Dallas.
For nearly three years, Alcaraz
commuted from her home in Grand
Prairie to the North Dallas store, but
it was the daily grind of maneuvering
through Dallas traffic that convinced
her a change was needed.
So, she notified corporate head-
quarters that she wanted to relocate
and based on her exemplary track
record and a strong recommendation
from her field consultant, she was
able to get her wish.
“Profitability and quality enabled
me to get a free-standing facility,”
she said.
Again given a choice of locations,
Alcaraz chose Cedar Hill.
“We chose Cedar Hill because it
was outside the Metroplex and the
community was very warm and wel-
coming,” explained Alcaraz’s daugh-
ter, Amanda Hinton, who also works
as the marketing director.
With business continuing on the
upswing as more businesses locate to
Cedar Hill and traffic increases in
and around the city, Alcaraz said she
and the corporate office aren’t afraid
of the existing fast food chains that
line the highway, or the ones yet to
come, because of the quality product
that Chick-fil-A has to offer.
“If you have a good product -
people have to eat,” she said.
Besides producing a quality prod-
uct, another factor that attracted
Alcaraz to Chick-fil-A is the fact that
all Chick-fil-A restaurants are closed
on Sundays as a way of encouraging
employees to spend time with their
families and to treat it as a day of
rest.
“They have a good value system.
They’re closed on Sunday and on
Monday morning there is a devo-
tion,” she .said. “It’s lived throughout
the corporate office.”
While Chick-fil-A promotes fami-
ly, faith and togetherness, Alcaraz is
also backing that philosophy.
Daughter Amanda’s husband, Shawn
Hinton also works as the restaurant
manager, and Alcaraz’s husband can
be seen at the store every Monday
overseeing the landscaping.
Alcaraz said that while most peo-
ple may believe her hiring family is
just a strong case of nepotism, that
isn’t the case.
“Amanda is good with numbers
and computers; and Sean has been in
the food service industry all his life. I
have qualified people who are rela-
tives,” she said. “They just happen to
be a good fit.”
Having found her niche in the
restaurant business, Alcaraz said it is
a job she enjoys.
“1 really like people. I love to
build teams and build productivity,”
she said. “Everything gets so much
easier when we work as a team.”
Alcaraz said she and her 40 em-
ployees, 15 of which are full-time,
are working on building a good
working relationship.
In the meantime, she will continue
to learn and grow in her career as a
franchise business owner and for
those interested in starting a career or
changing a career, Alcaraz said the
best advice she can give is to go for
it.
“Success is built on years and
years of experience,” she said.
"There’s no way you can get all of
the knowledge out of a book. There
is no secret formula for working with
people.”
Alcaraz said when in doubt there
is no greater lesson than remember-
ing the golden rule: “Treat others the
way you want to be treated.”
Death
From Page 1
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safety, the release stated.
As a safety precaution, film crew
personnel requested that firefighters
and EMS personnel of the Cedar Hill
Fire Department standby for assis-
tance if needed. In addition, a
CareFlite ambulance crew was on
site.
Three location cameras document-
ed the jump as it occurred. A review
of the three tapes appear to support
the observation of eyewitnesses in
that the jump appeared to occur as
previously planned, the release stat-
ed.
At the conclusion of the jump,
crew personnel went to the vehicle
and observed that the passenger had
stopped breathing.
On-scene fire department and
EMS personnel immediately started
life support measures and continued
life support while transporting the
upgrades that are necessary to acco-
modate a growing population and to
make the systems more user friendly
for departmental personnel.
One such example of needing
more user friendly equipment can be
seen in the police department.
Browder said the current operating
system could be made Y2K compati-
ble for a nominal fee, but for practi-
cal purposes the city decided to pur-
chase a new computer packaging
system.
Like many other cities across the
country. Cedar Hill has been exam-
ing all of its equipment to ensure that
it is Y2K compatible.
And for those questionable pieces
of equipment, application software
consultants are working to provide
vendors with patches, which are
packages of corrective programming.
Two areas the city will keep an
eye on include street lights and police
cars. Browder said the city is testing
the compliance of its two traffic
lights; the remaining lights will be
tested by the state.
Browder said that while he
doesn’t anticipate any problems with
the lights the city owns because they
are older systems and “a lot of them
are not sensitive. The question is are
they sophisiticated enough to be
bothered by the change,” he advises
motorists to approach the light with
caution.
As for city vehicles and squad
cars, Browder said all cars will be
checked ahead of time, but like
everything else, they won’t know if
there is a problem until the time
comes.
“Will it severely impact our oper-
ation if we have one or two prob-
victim to Charlton Methodist Hos-
pital in Dallas, reports said.
An autopsy will be performed on
the passenger by the Dallas County
Medical Examiners Office.
The driver of the vehicle com-
plained of neck and back injuries and
was transported by fire department
personnel to Methodist Central ____
Hospital in Dallas. He is identified as , • «•
a 27-year-oid white male. The Knights hold free throw championship
injuries are not believed to be life-
lems? No,” he said. “We’ll give fleet
maintenance problems, but we
should be fine.”
Browder said from all the infor-
mation he has gathered about Y2K
most experts believe major computer
problems will be kept to a minimum.
“Some of the federal government
will have problems,” he said. “The
banking industry doesn’t anticipate
any problems. They started working
on this problem years ago.”
One trouble spot however may be
at the state level. Browder predicted
that those relying on assistance from
the state for payment may face diffi-
culties as government programmers
work to alleviate the 2000 conversion
problem.
Browder said being a relatively
small entity makes solving the Y2K
glitch easier to tackle.
“In this environment we can get
away with things because we’re
small,” he said. “Do I believe the city
of Dallas will have problems? Yes.”
Despite the unexpected difficul-
ties that are surely to arise, according
to Browder there will be some bene-
fits to the Y2K computer glitch.
“A lot of folks running older sys-
tems will have to update their sys-
tems. There will be some benefits to
the time, effort and money spent on
this problem.”
While no one can predict what
computers will convert to the year
2000, Browder said the city is doing
all it can to ward off any foreseeable
problems.
“We won’t be standing by,” he
said. “We keep checking, keep test-
ing - we are in monitor and test
mode. We are not in a position where
we can wait and see.”
threatening.
The driver of the second vehicle
was uninjured.
An investigation is in progress by
the Cedar Hill Police Department in
cooperation with the Cedar Hill Fire
Department, OSHA, Texas Parks and
Wildlife, along with crew and execu-
tive members of “Walker, Texas
Ranger.”
10th
Annual
Photo
Contest
^ nil pnuius Will UC [HIUU.MIU
★ Prizes awarded in three age groups.
★ Entry Deadline, Friday, at 5 pm
February 12, 1999.
GUIDELINES:
1. There is a $25 entry fee.
2. Must be a recent photo within the past 5 months.
3. Name, birthdate and baby’s age at time of photo must be on the back of all photos.
4. Nominating adult or baby must reside in S.W. Dallas County or North Ellis County.
5. Prizes will be awarded in thr^e divisions:0-6 mos. 7-12 mos. 13-24 mos.
6. There will be one first place, one second place, and one third place winner
in each division.
7. Prizes'will be awarded to all winners.
8. The winners will be chosen by a reader’s poll.
9. Important dates: February 12, entry deadline; February 25, all photos will be
published. March 5, J
Ballot deadline. March 11, winners will be published.
10. Photos can be picked up after March 12, 1999.
11. Ballots available only at Today Newspapers offices.
12. Ballots will not be available in rack newspapers.
13. Original ballots only. No photo copies.
14. Today Newspapers, Inc. reserves the right to break any tie if necessary.
15. Today Newspapers employees and their families are not eligible.
Baby’s Name: _
Division : Circle one (0-6 mos., 7-12 mos, 13-24 mos)
Birthdate: _
Name of person entering baby:___
Address:_______
City:_
Phone:
State:
Zip:.
Bring or mail to: Today Newspapers, Inc.
with $25.00 318 S. Main St. Duncanville, TX 75116
entry fee or
1701 N. Hampton Rd., Suite A
DeSoto, TX 73115 ......
Back the Blue!
Children ages 10-14 are invited to
participate in the local level of com-
petition for the 1999 Knights of
Columbus Free Throw Champion-
ship.
The local competition will be held
Jan. 24 at 12:30 p.m. in the Holy
Spirit Catholic Church gym.
Competition is open to all qualify-
ing boys and girls in the community,
so friends are welcome.
The Knights of Columbus Free
Throw Championship is sponsored
annually with winners progressing
St. CliaabetH of Hungary
through local, district and state com-
petition. International champions are
announced by the Knights of Colum-
bus headquarters based on scores
from the state level competition. •
Anyone from 10-14 years old is
eligible to participate and will com-
pete in respective age divisions.
For entry forms or additional
information, contact Alfonso Hemaiz
at 972-296-0511.
Forms are available at the Holy
Spirit parish office.
Entry forms must be signed by a
parent/guardian to indicate parental
consent.
OPGN
House
Excellence in Catholic education
4019 s. Hampton • 214.331.5139
Open House Sunday, January 24, 1999 • 2iOO-4iOO pm
Methodist Family
Health Centers
To better serve the community,
the Methodist Family Health Center
of Cedar Hill is
Open
Saturdays
from
9 A.M. to 2 P.M.
326B Cooper Street
(972) 291-7863
/
Open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Appointments appreciated. Walk-ins accepted.
Health Plans Accepted
The Senior Health Plan • North Texas Healthcare Network
Mutual of Omaha-Exclusive Healthcare
Private Healthcare Systems (PHtS)
Aetna/U.S. Healthcare Health Plans of North Texas
• NYLCare • NylCare Passport • NYLCare 65
• Harris Methodist Health Plan • CAPPCare • Blue Choice
• RindiM'i Fmrii * United Hialthrare (Metra Health)
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Gooch, Robin. Today Cedar Hill (Duncanville, Tex.), Vol. 33, No. 43, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 14, 1999, newspaper, January 14, 1999; Duncanville, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth575399/m1/4/: accessed June 11, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Zula B. Wylie Memorial Library.