Coleman Jones and Patrick O'Boyle battle for the ball. (Staff photo: Alana Harrison)

The Highland Park Junior Scots Gold Team, a squad of Special Olympics basketball players, will be introduced at halftime of tonight’s Highland Park Scots varsity basketball game, which begins at 7:30 at Highlander Fieldhouse. Members include Michael Susens (who was featured on the cover of the Feb. 3 edition of Park Cities People), Ben Acker, Ally Wells, Marissa Flood, Chris Wheeler, Luke Andrews, Johnny Griffiths, Aidan Easterling, Will Collet, Emily Himes, Coleman Jones, Nick Jones, Jack Pechenik, Jacob Smith, Sam Syrquin, and Zachary Herring.

If you can’t make it out tonight, the Highland Park Junior Scots Blue and Gold Teams will scrimmage at halftime of the SMU-TCU basketball game scheduled for 7 p.m. tomorrow at Moody Coliseum. The Blue Team is made up of older athletes who have graduated from high school but participate in Special Olympics through HPISD.

If you miss both of these events, pick up a copy of the Feb. 10 edition of Park Cities People. The Special Olympians will be featured in our new “Little Big Leagues” series.

When I serve lunch at Highland Park High School with Dr. Moody Alexander, we have a lot of time for chitchat. We discuss my kids, his grandkids, sports, politics, and whatever else pops into our heads. But when we worked together last Thursday, Dr. Alexander had something far more interesting to discuss than anything rattling around in my head. The previous Saturday, he had celebrated his 80th birthday by jumping out of a plane. By contrast, I celebrated my 37th birthday last month by … I can’t even remember. Lame.

This house in the 4000 block of Glenwick was particularly festive last year. (Photo: Christina Barany)

My wife and I plan to take our boys on a Christmas-lights cruise this evening. Which streets — or, more specifically, blocks — are over-the-top spectacular this year?

SMU’s Daily Campus had an interesting read yesterday about education differences in Dallas, specifically comparing Highland Park and Woodrow Wilson.

It’s a pretty thorough report, and one that would be interesting for the academic lot. If you’re an HP parent it probably won’t give you much more information than you already know, but it should make you grateful for your son or daughter’s school district.

In the spring, I wrote in the dead tree edition that the Park Cities YMCA was considering some pretty hefty renovations. Some little birds have also told me that those plans could be ready in the next couple weeks, and could even make their way to the University Park City Council soon. That’s the news hook for why I’m posting new video. I found it last night, and if I didn’t have a gym in my building, I’m pretty sure it would convince me to join the Park Cities Y.

Have a look on YouTube.

I’m working on a series of stories about Highland Park Village’s 80th anniversary. I’d love to include testimonials from longtime patrons. If you have a memory of the first movie you saw there or a special outfit purchased there or a momentous meal enjoyed there, and you wouldn’t mind sharing said memory with the readers of Park Cities People, please call me at 214-523-5272 or email me at dan.koller@peoplenewspapers.com.

Last night, my family and I visited Rafa’s for the first time. I know this place is beloved by Park Cities families, as evidenced by the large number of them who were there when we were. But I judge a restaurant by how easy it makes my life as a parent, and Rafa’s failed in that regard.

Our kids were waiting on water for close to 10 minutes after the adults at the table had their drinks. This is especially a problem when the salsa is as spicy as it is at Rafa’s. Once the drinks did arrive, they were a guaranteed mess, because the kitchen had run out of lids.

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Free this weekend? The Down Syndrome Guild of Dallas’ annual Dallas Buddy Walk is Sunday at Flagpole Hill, and Armstrong first-graders Katherine Chandler, Joey Bush, and Caroline Roosevelt (the three girls at left) will be there with a posse of parents, teachers, and classmates. The group — dubbed the Armstrong Angels — is out to raise funds and awareness for the guild, and invites you to join in.

The walk starts at 1 p.m., and registration begins at 11 a.m. Sunday. To download a brochure with more information, click here.

Stop by Bachendorf’s in The Plaza at Preston Center today or tomorrow to see a master Lazare diamond cutter create an ideally proportioned diamond from a rough stone. Demonstrations are scheduled for noon, 2 p.m., and 4 p.m. Enjoy the show!

First Unitarian Church of Dallas’ event notices always rope me in, because they’re never (as in, ever) predictable.

Two to note:

1.  A free screening of NOVA’s  Last Extinction, about the demise of woolly mammoths; 7 p.m. Tuesday in Room 304

2. A four-part “Native American Flute Workshop” series with instructor Bill Tucker, starting a week from today. You’ll spend the evenings of Nov. 3, 10, and 17 and Dec. 1 learning basic scales, keys, finger positions, breath techniques, and Native American flute history. You’ll also get resources for further learning and playing, and tips for picking a good-quality instrument. Fee: $20 (total)

If you don’t already own a Native American flute — confession: I don’t — you can email btucker@dcccd.edu to book one of a limited number of free “loner” flutes. He can also recommend good online sources for buying one.

Meanwhile, you’ll need to RSVP. Workshops are at 7 p.m., in Room 212.