Ron Brakke
Keeper of a cleaner community
Most neighbors who live near Kramer Elementary know Ron Brakke, even if not by name. They’ve likely seen him walking the school grounds, always with a trash bag in hand. Each dawn, like clockwork, Brakke is at the playground retrieving litter.
“Just the other day, a woman in the check-out line at Tom Thumb said to me ‘Hey, you’re the trash man!’ And neighbors will call me from time to time asking if I’ve found a lost pair of sunglasses or keys at the school, so I guess I’ve got a reputation.”
That’s a safe assessment, says Julie Halley-Wallace, a fellow early-morning walker.
“He’s like the Rock of Gibraltar; you can count on Ron. Every morning, he’s out there with his bag, picking up trash.”
Halley-Wallace also picks up trash on her morning route.
“If he tells me he’ll be out of town, I try and pick up the slack while he’s gone and make sure the neighborhood stays tidy.”
The neighborhood could use more people like Brakke, she says.
“He genuinely cares about our neighborhood, and he’s a great example for our community.”
Brakke’s quest to keep the community litter-free began several years ago at an HOA meeting when some neighbors who lived on the north side of the school were complaining about trash there.
The excessive trash bothered Brakke, too. But when the then-school principal simply shrugged off his complaints, Brakke says, it was time to take matters into his own hands. He began collecting bags of garbage from the school … and leaving them on the passenger seat of the principal’s Jeep — “just a subtle hint,” he jokes.
That principal has since moved on, but Brakke has dutifully remained keeper of the grounds. As a token of their gratitude, Kramer parents awarded Brakke and his wife, Becky, lifetime PTA membership awards.
“My wife was PTA president at that school once upon a time when both of our daughters went there,” he says. “I guess that’s partly why the trash there bothered me so much: It’s our neighborhood school, and we should take pride in it. I know I do.
“I think there’s less trash there now. Hopefully, I’ve made a difference, even if it’s just a little one.”
Nelleke Keller
Not your ordinary cat lady
It was a Sunday morning like any other. Nelleke Keller and her husband were leaving church when they spotted a stray cat in the parking lot. Little did she know what a big impact that one little cat would have on her life.
“I could never get too close to her because she wasn’t tame; she’d been in the wild too long. But I’d see her from time to time, and I named her Mary because she looked so sweet, so innocent. But when she had a litter of kittens, I changed her name to Mary Magdalene.”
She saw that the kittens were malnourished and decided to foster that litter. Keller found foster work so rewarding that she has virtually dedicated her life to it.
Food, litter, veterinarian visits — she funds the entire operation out of her own pocket, a bill that ranges from $400 to $500 per month, depending on how many cats she is fostering. “This is certainly a labor of love, but I do it because I think it helps our neighborhood by keeping the feral cat population down. I make sure these animals are spayed or neutered and adopted to loving homes. And I do it because I enjoy it.
“When my husband died, I don’t think I would have made it if it weren’t for these cats. They were my reason to get out of bed. Animals don’t care if you’re mourning or not, they just want to be fed. They forced me to move on.” That constant supply of kittens has understandably made Keller’s home popular with kids in her Sparkman neighborhood. Children are always welcome, she says, and sometimes parents will even bring her a bag of cat food or give a donation — a gesture she welcomes.
If neighbors find a cat in need, they know Keller is the go-to person.
“My daughter found a near-dead kitten only weeks old in the alley last fall,” recalls neighbor Susie McMinn. “We didn’t know what to do and [Keller], without hesitation, took the kitten in, got her shots, medicine, and nursed her back to health.
“And when one of my cats was killed by a car in front of my house in November, [Keller] was right there with this lovely kitten, Misty, who was ready for adoption. She is a wonderful cat, and her extreme affection to humans I think comes from Nelleke’s nurturing of her as a baby.”
Keller says that neighbors “definitely know me as ‘the cat lady’ — though I call myself ‘madam of the cathouse’,” she jokes.
It’s a role Keller is right at home with, she says.
“I plan on doing this as long as I can. It’s good for the cats, it’s good the community, it’s good for me — it’s just good all around.”
Steve Kahn
Nurturing turf and budding minds
Preston Hollow Elementary once was surrounded by sprawling countryside on the outskirts of town. Sixty-three years later, that same red brick building is in the heart of a bustling city. Although its surroundings have transformed, its quality remains uncompromised.
Just ask Steve Kahn. He attended the school 40 years ago, and today, he has a third-grade daughter there.
“It’s as clean and impeccable as it was back then, and the teachers are as phenomenal as ever.”
But he did see some room for improvement outside the school. “The soccer fields there were virtually just hard dirt, so I started pampering it.”
And by pampering, he means pouring hours of labor and money over the next two years to restore the fields into the lovely green turf it is today. In the summertime, that means getting out there about four times a week for up to three hours at time.
“Initially, I tired to mow that lawn with a push-mower, but that didn’t last very long, especially in the heat.”
Today, you’ll spot Kahn out there on his red tractor mower.
He’s somewhat of an icon now, and neighbors bring him a Gatorade from time to time when they see him working.
“Now all the neighbors know me, but when I first started, I actually had the cops called on me. I was out there one night on the fields with a tiller attached to my car. Our neighborhood patrol officer came to investigate because he’d had a call that someone was out there doing donuts, but it was just me out there tilling.
“From then on it kind of became an inside joke: Every time he’d get a call, he’d drive by and flash his patrol lights at me. We’d always get a kick out of it.”
But Kahn has done more than just till and mow that lawn. He also built up a soccer program for Preston Hollow Elementary. In less than two years, the school has gone from having no soccer team to about 150 kids playing on four teams, two of which he volunteer coaches.
He has also footed the bill for team uniforms, new goal nets and a striper so he can mark the fields for each game. Maintaining the soccer program takes a lot, but Kahn says he’s happy to do it because it’s making our neighborhood a better place.
Preston Hollow principal Pete Chapaskso says Kahn also does plenty away from the fields.
“Let me give you just one example: When I first got to this school, the microphone died,” Chapasko says. “I showed up to school the next day, and there was a brand new microphone and cords waiting for me. Nobody asked him to do that — he just sees a need and does it.
“Like just the other day, our teachers were out on holiday, so we were shorthanded in the carpool lane. [Kahn] just parked his car, got out there and started helping to load the kids into cars.
“Again, nobody asked him to do that — he just took the initiative to help.”
Kahn says he’s happy to help.
“I live four blocks from where I grew up, and we’re second-generation at Preston Hollow Elementary. I’m invested in this neighborhood, and these kids. I do this because I believe the more you stay involved with your community, the better it will be.
“It’s easy to give of your money, but few people today give of their time. I’d encourage more people to get involved, in whatever way they feel drawn to. Just get involved, be visible.” n
