Lifestyles August 2021

Exercise with Graceful Art See Page 5

August 2021 Volume 3, Issue 4

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• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • ~ Cover Story ~

CONTENTS

Page 5

Kenali teaching Meridiana resident Vickie Montoya on the silks

~ Local Influence ~

~ Important Local Info ~ Page 13 & 15

Important phone numbers, website, social media for everyday or emergency situations

~ Guest Columns ~

Page 10

Page 14 & 16

Iowa Colony resident, Terry Hayes, forming Iowa Colony Pioneers youth football team.

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The Postscript and Just Another Voice

LIFESTYLE

Cover Story Grace, Beauty and Hard Work Photos & Article by Sheila Rieke

Meridiana has a new fitness instructor and she’s not your ordinary personal instructor - that’s for sure! First off, let’s tackle her name, Kenali. It’s a combination of her grandfather’s name, Kenneth Kendrick and Mount McKinley, also known as Denali, put that all together and you get Kenali.

Secondly, she’s teaching Meridiana’s first Aerial Silks Exercise classes on Monday evenings.

The aerial classes are accessible to anyone with any body type and are great for corporate events, tourists stops, and private parties or as your routine fitness class.

From the pictures, aerial fitness looks a little frightening. Being professional about it and making sure everything is set up right is essential for each class, no shortcuts. Her students at Meridiana have worked hard to master the positions and are now reaping the rewards. The grace, strength, and confidence gained from training in the aerial arts are some of the highlights of what can be gained by taking classes.

Continued on page 6

“I always have a little fear, I have a healthy respect for it.

You must train for it and learn your limits, take the necessary precautions and be professional to stop accidents from happening.”

Kenali demonstrates an aerial silk position as resident, Sheila Scott, watches in anticipation of her turn on the silks.

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Karen Hulsey’s smile says it all. Karen, a resident of Meridiana, is clearly enjoying herself and excited with her accomplishment.

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Kenali has lived in Alaska, Colorado, West Texas and back again.

Her passions and talent merged effortlessly when she moved to Houston in her early 20’s.

She started out in a studio as a coach for cheerleaders and dancers but when she saw someone on the silks (Aerial Silks) it really clicked for her. She immediately signed up for a 30-minute class and absolutely fell in love with it!

Her instructor taught based on performance and in turn Kenali modeled her original program on the same foundation. With the encouragement from her instructor, within two months of her first lesson she started her new aerial silks adventure.

She then auditioned with J & D Entertainment and has been performing with them for the past 10 years. About 6 years ago, Kenali saw the need for more professional level training to be accessible in Houston and so started Fenyx Aerial.

She filled that niche by training up other performers and instructors.

As she opened her first studio location, she concentrated on making it into a pre-professional program. Her first students then became her instructors and performers and she now has 8-10 that perform and teach all around Houston.

They can be seen performing on all the different types of apparatuses.

In the last few years, aerial bartending has become a popular request as well. She can be found at weddings, private parties, or events serving Champagne upside down from in the air!

As Fenyx Aerial has grown and expanded, she has provided performers for Drake and has performed during same events with Usher and Kesha. Her career has given her the opportunity to travel and is constantly evolving and engaging. What keeps her interested is that it’s “always changing, there’s never a peek; there’s always a new level to achieve, a new event, and the opportunity to meet new people; all types of interesting people.”

In her professional opinion and simple love for fitness along with years of experience, she has become a firm believer that when it comes to being motivated to exercise, to like exercising and have it be a part of one’s life, it is important to make it creative and turn it into a creative outlet. “The most common mistake is not finding what you truly love to do. It needs to be more of a creative outlet, otherwise it becomes a chore. When it becomes a chore, people become discouraged.”

As an instructor, she stresses the importance of finding balance of mind, body, and spirit; it has to hit all those points. She practices that in her personal life, too, as she balances her career and family of three boys and a husband in the music industry.

What inspires her to keep up with a variety of exercise classes and run a business that provides instructors? She laughs a little and says, “What doesn’t inspire me?” And adds, “Truly, traveling is huge!” She also loves how rewarding it is to see women fall back in appreciation of their body as it grows stronger and allows them to do moves they didn’t think possible.

She’s been enjoying her time at Meridiana, “It’s so picturesque and beautiful and the residents have been so warm and excited to learn.”

She’s received a lot of positive feedback for the instructors she’s brought on board for other classes, such as the morning and early evening water aerobics instructor, Stephen.

What is Aerial Fitness?

Aerial Fitness is a combination of stretching style exercises, Pilates based core moves, fun aerial challenges, strength training, balance, and posture work that help create new brain-body connections. This is Continued on page 8

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awareness, easier access to inverted postures and releases endorphins.

Although her Meridiana classes are fitness based, her performance background can be noticed throughout class. Adding graceful movements, holding poses, spinning, and overall teaching the students to feel beautiful in the air. She turns it into more than just a workout class, it’s an art.

Three years ago, when Kenali and Andrea teamed up to form Texas Circus and Aerial, Fenyx became primarily the performance side of the company and the program developing side. TCA is the primary training facility now. At Texas Circus and Aerial they offer a wide variety of classes which include Silks, Lyra, Trapeze, Cube, Hammock, Aerial Yoga, Bungee Fitness and Bungee Dance classes, and soon they will have Houston’s first Flying Trapeze.

Their primary location is in Katy, TX and their second location, newly opened, is in Cypress, TX. Kenali and Quintero are also producing a monthly cirque inspired show with acrobats, singers, and dancers. They have partnered with Craig Howard, the owner of the Ballroom at Bayou Place. It’ll be taking place at that venue in downtown Houston September 12, October 10, and November 14. More information can be found on their social media pages and website www.texascircusandaerial.com.

If you have been on the fence about trying an aerial class, now is the time to do it! You will be guided, encouraged, and supported throughout your hour with Kenali.

To sign up for one of her classes or receive more information about performances, you can reach her via email at flywithfenxy@gmail. com.

Kenali watches as one of her students, Sheila Scott, executes one of the moves that is a part of the aerial silk class. for those looking for something outside of the normal gym workout to stay fit or for those looking to use it as a tool for body conditioning in addition to weight or cardio workouts.

It is an excellent physical exercise. The use of your full body and muscles you don’t typically use, make you see differences in your body within a relatively short time. However, we focus on building strength rather than losing weight, and on appreciating how amazing our bodies are to allow us to do these cool tricks. Just like yoga, Aerial Silks is a great way to increase your body’s flexibility.

The Benefits of Aerial Fitness: deepens stretches, relieves joint pressure and spinal compression that floor workouts can trigger, releases tension, increases balance and proprioception (body movement awareness), enhances core strength, improves breath

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Congratulations on graduating high school!

Now it’s time to spread your wings and fly! Explore!

Be you & seize the day!

We can’t wait to hear all about your new adventures at St. John’s University!

Go get ‘em kid!

Lots of love & best wishes, Mom & Dad P.S.: Don’t forget to call your mother.

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LOCAL INFLUENCE Terry Hayes - Leader and Mentor

by Michael Edmonds Iowa Colony resident Terry Hayes has quite an impressive resume including being a former Houston ISD teacher/coach, a cryptologist with the US Army, a surgical/anesthesia assistant, and many more positions throughout his career.

Hayes, a graduate of Worthing High School, is currently a real estate investor and is involved in capital ventures as well.

The other passion in his heart is helping youth, not only in the greater Houston area, but also the state of Texas. Hayes is heavily involved in the Developmental Football League – Houston Pop Warner chapter.

Pop Warner football was initially established in 1929 in Philadelphia, although under a different name. Joe Tomlin was tasked by a factory owning friend to help solve a recurring problem; broken windows and widespread vandalism. Tomlin got local business owners to help fund a new athletic program revolving around football. The Junior Football Conference was Terry Hayes born and initially consisted of four teams.

President and Founder In 1933, Glenn Scobie “Pop” Warner arrived in town to coach Houston Metro Pop Warner the Temple Owls. Warner was asked to do a speaking engagement at Tomlin’s spring JFC clinic. Due to inclement weather, Warner was the only coach to show up for the event and had a captive audience of 800. By the end of the evening, the program was renamed the Pop Warner Conference.

Currently, Hayes is directing the Greater Gulf Coast region. Locally, he is involved in getting the Iowa Colony Pioneers formed.

Continued on page 11

B U S I N E S S D I R E C T O R Y

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Tryouts for football are starting this month, August.

Cheer team tryouts are about to begin as well (as of this writing). There are several age divisions offered, from 6U to 14U. For more information or to become a sponsor, call 832-2640122 or visit the website, developmentalleague.com.

There are also many other teams in the Greater Houston area, both established and newly forming.

The program has evolved from not only a development league for tackle football but also has a program for flag football, cheerleading, and dance. There is also a program to provide scholarships by donations throughout various parent organizations. The league has a yearly national championship game in place as well

for teams from around the country.

Some notable NFL quarterbacks that have roots in Pop Warner football are Lamar Jackson, Matt Ryan, Nick Foles, and Drew Brees.

Glenn Scobie “Pop” Warner had a goal to inspire youth regardless of race, creed, or national origin to practice sportsmanship, scholarship, and physical fitness with the objective of youth participation in football, cheerleading, and dance.

Now in his fourth year, Terry is obviously passionate in his role in the DFL/Pop Warner organization. Mr. Hayes has picked up the torch and is blazing a path to carry on the vision.

In addition to tackle football, flag football is offered

Pop Warner is not only football but cheer & dance as well

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D I R E C T O R Y

Beauty in nature could be dangerous

After days of rain, unique mushrooms popped up in different areas of Meridiana and Sterling Lakes.

There are about 10,000 described species known from North America and many unknown species yet to be discovered.

If you want to know what kind of mushrooms you have growing in your backyard, the best way to photograph them is to dig up two whole mushrooms, lay them on their side on a contrasting background. Keep one mushroom upright with bottom of cap (gills/tubes) exposed, and the other mushroom upside down next to it with the bottom of the stem exposed and including stipe/stalk, volva, scales and/or mycelium (for an illustration of mushroom parts go to: https:// infovisual.info/en/biology-vegetal/ mushroom). You’ll need all of the representative parts for proper identification.

According to some health advisors, mushrooms can be a good source of protein, fiber, B vitamins (especially niacin), vitamin C, and calcium. They also contain antioxidants. Health benefits of mushroom include lowering of high cholesterol levels and can improve sugar levels for those with diabetes. They can also help in weight loss and build up your immune system. *Only consume mushrooms from a reliable source. Unknown wild mushroom can be harmful and can trigger fatal health issues.

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Everyone Is Welcome At Church

The Churches below are extending an invitation to you to Come worship God with Family

Have your Church listed Call 281-331-4421

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COLUMN

The Postscript by Carrie Classon

Stable Footing

Carrie Classon The tree was lying on its side when I got to it.

It was a nice-looking pine tree, fluffy and full and as tall as me. The strong winds coupled with some unstable footing had caused it to fall over. This seemed too sad to simply walk by. I went over to the tree and, with a little effort, got it standing upright again. It looked much happier. I finished my walk, feeling I had done my part.

The next day, it was lying on its side again.

I examined it more closely. It had been relying on the rotting remains of another fallen pine to stand upright and the old log had finally given way, taking the young pine with it. I set my hiking poles down and hauled a couple of large rocks lying nearby over to the base of the pine, propping it back up.

The next day, it had fallen over again. This was going to be a bigger project than I expected.

I hauled a lot of rocks over and piled them at the base of the young tree. “There! That should hold you.” That night, as I sat on the patio, I noticed how the wind

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was picking up. “I bet my tree has fallen again,” I thought.

I was right.

So, on the fourth day, I found another downed log, similar to the one my tree had been relying on, but not as rotten, and hauled it over. I jammed one end into the soil and propped the other end against the narrow tree trunk. A family of bikers nearby watched me curiously, as I piled rocks on top of the log to further secure it.

“Just helping this little tree!”

I explained. They smiled, assuming I was crazy, I’m sure.

Yesterday, I returned to the tree. It was standing upright.

“Hurray!” I said aloud. At that moment, I remembered my husband, Peter, and I had decided to move.

So far, this decision has resulted in little action on our part. But yesterday Peter ordered a moving van, so presumably things will become very real very soon.

We have lots of good reasons to move.

My parents and my sister and most of my relatives live in the Midwest, as does most of Peter’s family. Particularly during the pandemic, we realized how much we missed family, how many occasions we had missed, and how quickly time passes.

And so, we have decided to make the move and we are both filled with mixed feelings because it is hard to leave a place, no matter how many reasons there are to be somewhere else.

Standing in front of this little tree, hoping it would now become a huge, towering pine, I felt a small pang because I would

never know. That is the hardest thing about moving. I will never know what I will miss, not living here.

But I was never going to know.

This tree may outlive me by hundreds of years, or it may perish by the end of the summer.

I will never know this, nor will I know what any path I have not taken might hold.

Instead, I imagine, because that is all I can do to keep myself upright. I imagine spending my

mother’s next birthday with her and I imagine going to the theater with my oldest friend and I imagine seeing my nephew graduate.

And, in the back of my mind, I imagine this tree standing tall for hundreds of years after I am dead, on stable footing because of me.

Till next time, Carrie Carrie Classon’s memoir is called, “Blue Yarn.” Learn more at CarrieClasson.com.

Departments / Phone Numbers www.iowacolonytx.gov/

Iowa Colony City Hall, 12003 Iowa Colony Blvd, Iowa Colony, TX 77583

Department

Phone

Department of Community Development

281-369-2471

Department of Finance

281-369-2471

Department of Public Works

281-369-2471

Municipal Court

281-369-2471

Office of the City Manager

281-369-2471

Office of the City Secretary

346-395-4526

Community Development handles permitting, platting, inspections, and engineering.

The Department of Public Works is responsible for keeping all city assets and facilities in a state of good repair. Public Works contains streets and sidewalks, parks, municipal buildings, and right-of-way maintainance.

Municipal Courts are the judicial branch of city government. In addition, the Municipal Court is part of the state judicial system. Municipal Courts hear Class C Misdemeanor criminal cases, including traffic violations, for which the maximum fine, upon conviction, does not exceed $500, and for which no jail sentence may be assessed. They also hear cases involving violation of city ordinances, which may have fines up to $2,000 for certain offenses.

The City Secretary is the clerk of the City serving as a link between the citizens and the City organization. The City Secretary’s office is committed to providing excellent customer service to the public in a timely, professional and efficient manner.

Responsibilities: Provides all pertinent information for City Council meetings; Custodian of all official records of the City, including agendas, minutes, agreements, ordinances, resolutions and contracts; Maintains the City Seal and attests official documents; Oversees City elections; Provides the public with information in accordance with the Texas Public Information Act; Administers the oath of office to new City employees and officials; Publication of legal notices

Parks

Iowa Colony City Park • 4003 Meridiana Parkway (Next to Meridiana Elementary School) City Hall Park • 12003 Iowa Colony Blvd (Behind City Hall)

Police Department

281-369-3444

Mosquito Spraying Requests for mosquito spraying can be made online with Brazoria County Mosquito Control.

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Just Another Voice by James Hopkins

You Saved Me

God brings us revelation sometimes in unexpected ways.

One such time for me was on a Sunday morning after I had typed up my lesson for a class. Then, for some reason the lesson just “disappeared”.

I wasn’t very computer savvy.

I did everything that I knew to do but, I couldn’t bring it up again.

So, I asked Jesus to please help me and went to iron my shirt for Church.

When I came back and clicked on the computer, there it was on the screen. Immediately I said, “Thank You Jesus, you saved me”! And, suddenly, I just knew that was literally part of my salvation. Suddenly I knew just how far-reaching our salvation really is. Suddenly I knew that Jesus has saved us from any adverse situation no matter how small or seemly insignificant.

While on the job today, I went to get the check out of my truck to pay the painter. I discovered my keys were locked in my truck. The painter offered me his key to his van to try. His van was a Chevy, as was mine. It’s been known to work. I tried it and it didn’t work. I called my son to bring his key to my truck. When I got off of the phone the painter had the door open. He had tried a key from his 1997 Chevy suburban. It worked. Thank you

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Jesus, you saved me!

About two weeks ago, I had ordered three very expensive timbers for a job I was about to start from my regular supplier.

When they came in I was very disappointed because two of them were ugly. They were going to be exposed and stained. I didn’t think I had a choice because my dealer said that’s all he could get because of the lumber shortage.

I couldn’t stop thinking that my client deserved my best and this wasn’t it. My supplier told me if I could find anything better I could return them.

I spoke with God because I really wasn’t satisfied and asked Him to please help me.

So, earlier this week I was calling around trying to find two more 18-foot long timbers. No one had anything in stock but they all offered to order them for me.

I like to “put eyes on” something before I purchase it.

I am very particular as to what I sell to my clients. My motto is: if Jesus gave His best then I must give my best.

After calling everyone I could think of, I suddenly remembered a supplier that I had heard advertised on the radio. I called them and they had 18 of them in stock. I drove all the way to the other side of Houston only to find out they only had one left. I purchased the one and told them I would pick it up on Monday.

Sunday, as I was driving along in my truck, I suddenly had a vision of the structure and realized by making a slight adjustment I could use 16-foot timbers instead of the 18’s without compromising the structure or my contract.

I remembered the place where I had bought the one timber also had some 16’s. I even remember

saying to the forklift operator, “too bad I couldn’t use 16’s. They are really nice”. My son called the lumber yard to see if they still had the 16’s in stock. They said they had received 8 more in that day. We went and picked them up and delivered them to the job site. On top of that I saved $250.

Thank you Jesus, you saved me!

I was sitting at my computer one morning last week when it suddenly dawned on me that I needed to get the James Hardie material for a project in Friendswood. I called my regular supplier and was told it had been on back order for over a month.

Uh-oh! I said, “Jesus please help me. Tell me where to go”.

My first thought was Lowe’s. I headed that way.

All the way there I kept thinking of other places to try, but, Lowe’s was strong in my mind. When I arrived, there were more than I needed on the rack but there was a ‘hold’ tag on them.

The service manager said they were all sold, but, the computer showed there were more in stock.

We looked all over and found some stacked on a cart outside in the storage area.

There were 20 4’x8’ sheets.

Some looked like they had been returned. They were damaged and dirty, but nothing that I couldn’t wash and use. The damage could be trimmed off. He told me if I took the whole stack he would give them to me for half off. I paid $435 for $920 worth of materials. It turns out that the eight pieces on the bottom of the stack that I needed for the ceiling were new and undamaged. I had two full sheets left over for the next job. Thank you Jesus, you saved me!

I’m beginning to think that

this shortage doesn’t apply to me because, Jesus saved me!

The only way this world can affect us is if we allow it. What I will allow is this - I will allow God to help me. Jesus said we are in the world, but, we are not ‘of’ the world (John 17:16).

We’re in the world for a reason.

The same reason Jesus was in the world. We are here to bring salvation to everyone around us just as Jesus did.

I know that I must learn to walk in the entirety of my salvation to demonstrate to those around me that the Gospel is real. I can’t afford to slack off or let my guard down.

I heard a song once and there was a line in it that said, “You never know how many lives depend on what you do”. It’s “high time”, as Papa Hagin used to say, that we allow Jesus to save us every day in every way.

These three happenings above are recent; ever since I decided to re-“acknowledge Him in all my ways”(Prov 3:5-6).

I’m tired of taking everything the world dishes out. I could have just said, “Oh, well, I guess that’s just the way it is”. But look at what I would have missed out on; not to mention the opportunity that I now have to bring Glory to God. The world wants us out of the way. But, I’m not getting out of the way. I’m in The Way, The Truth and The Life. (John 14:6) I’ve come to the Father by Him and I’m going to stay there!

When I was a boy, Momma would give me a cookie or something sweet and I would say, “I’m going to save it for later”.

Jesus didn’t save you for later, He saved you for now!

Because of Him, James