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Food for the Soul Saturday, Jan. 2, 2021 • Vol. 66 • No. 01
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INSIDE.
Beginning of the end. COVID-19 vaccines are being administered across the area.
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Strong start. The Heights Lady Bulldogs take a state ranking into the new year.
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Funny man. Craig Butterworth creates artwork when he’s not making jokes.
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Local pastor makes big impact with sermons, service to community By Adam Zuvanich azuvanich@theleadernews.com
Rev. Nathan Lonsdale Bledsoe tries to focus on the good things in life and the good in people, and he strives to bring joy to the members of his church. Doing so might have been more difficult than ever in 2020, the year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Bledsoe said the disease has claimed the lives of some of his parishioners at St. Stephen’s United Methodist Church at 2003 W. 43rd St., where the building has mostly been closed to the public since March. The church’s senior pastor has still tried to console grieving families, still tried to help them make socially distant funeral arrangements and still tried to uplift all his church members with weekly, virtual sermons streamed on Facebook and YouTube. But it has not been easy. Bledsoe said it “sucks” not being able to engage with congregants through traditional, in-person services, even though suspending them was necessary for the safety of the oldest and most vulnerable members of the church. “(The year) 2020 has been brutal,” he said a couple days before Christmas. “To pretend it has not been unbelievably difficult on people is ridiculous.” But Bledsoe, 34, who joined the Oak Forest church less than two months before Houston was ravaged by Hurricane Harvey in 2017, helped make the year more bearable for his congregants as well as the community at large. He found creative ways to serve the physical and spiritual needs of local residents, supported worthy causes and inspired some to make their own positive impacts within the neighborhood. For his well-rounded efforts, Bledsoe is the Leader of the Year. “He rose to the challenge,” said Oak Forest resident Steven Fisher, who joined St. Stephen’s in 2011 and serves as its family ministries director. Perhaps the biggest impact made by Bledsoe was Furlough Kitchen Houston, which he co-founded in
Rev. Nathan Lonsdale Bledsoe at St. Stephen’s United Methodist Church April along with his best friend, Lucas Marr, and operated from the church with drivethrough service in the parking lot. They provided free, freshly cooked meals once or twice per week through November, serving a total of about 8,000 meals to local residents in need. The idea was borrowed from a similar initiative in Dallas and catered to Greater Heights community members who had lost their jobs because of the economic downtown associated with the pandemic. Bledsoe, an avid bow hunter and grilling enthusiast, did a large portion of the cooking himself and said the effort was buoyed by support from several local restaurants – including Artisana Bakery, Hartz Krispy Chicken on Pinemont, Morsels & Crumbs cater-
By Landan Kuhlmann While many of us will likely want to forget as much about 2020 as possible the moment the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve, it wasn’t all bad. In fact, there are plenty of things to celebrate as we turn the calendar to 2021. Though COVID-19 was a
major storyline in the Heights, Garden Oaks, Oak Forest and surrounding north Houston neighborhoods, it was far from the only one. So while we would never gloss over what has been a tumultuous year for many Houstonians, there are also plenty of instances that have showcased the spirit and resolve of the community. Below are the 10
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THE INDEX. Church....................................................... 4A Classifieds.............................................. 5A Coupons................................................... 3B Food/Drink/Art................................... 7A Obituaries............................................... 4A Opinion..................................................... 3A Public Information......................... 2A Puzzles...................................................... 3A
of the
ing company, MytiBurger and Rainbow Lodge. Bledsoe also helped provide meals for Houston reVision, a nonprofit that serves youths impacted by the juvenile justice system. “I love it,” he said of cooking for others. “I’ve done some catering jobs and done a lot of large-scale tailgating and stuff. I’m a hunter that does my own butchering, and feeding people is a big part of my passion and a big connection to my faith story. The stories in the Bible that are most captivating to me are the things that happen around shared meals and a table.”
Bledsoe also likes craft beer and, before the pandemic, held twice-monthly events called “Great Heights Bible Study.” He would meet church members at Great Heights Brewing Company at 938 Wakefield Dr. in Garden Oaks, where they would discuss faith and life in general in a relaxed, informal setting. Catering to younger community members and families also is important to Bledsoe, who before the onset of the pandemic read to thirdgraders at Stevens Elementary on Wednesday mornings. He also serves See Leader of the Year, P. 5A
Year 2020 shows area’s spirit cannot be crushed landan@theleadernews.com
In charge. Garden Oaks’ Kyle Thiel has taken full ownership of an architecture firm.
Photo by Angie Brokaw, Digital Media Specialist for Texas Methodist Foundation Rev. Nathan Lonsdale Bledsoe, the Leader of the Year, is the senior pastor at St. Stephen’s United Methodist Church at 2003 W. 43rd St. He helped feed thousands of in-need community members through Furlough Kitchen Houston, which operated at the church from April to November.
Photo by Adam Zuvanich Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, right, speaks in early March about the impending arrival of COVID-19 in the Houston region.
stories, as selected by our staff, that most defined the year in our area: COVID has widespread impact on area Few stories about 2020 would be complete without noting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. When it reached the Houston region in March, the coronavirus forced the temporary closure of businesses, schools and churches, with many shifting to operating remotely. Many are still operating virtually or with limited in-person capacities. Some local restaurants and other businesses were forced to shutter altogether because of the economic downturn associated with the pandemic. The popular White Linen Night in the Heights event, in which thousands of people wear white and gather on West 19th Street, was scrapped over the summer. The traditional
Photo by Adam Zuvanich Harvard Heights Construction owner Mike Shelton challenged the City of Houston on its policies pertaining to alleys in the Heights.
Lights in the Heights event suffered the same fate in the winter. But everyday heroes still walked among us amidst the chaos. Among them were longtime Garden Oaks resident Sherry Chavez, who works as a nurse at a Houston Methodist Emergency Care Center;
Cpl. Santos Torres, who patrols Garden Oaks for the Harris County Precinct 1 Constable’s Office; Oak Forest resident of the Houston Fire Department; and Ariel Gray, a cashier at the H-E-B grocery store in the Heights. See Top 10, P. 8A
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