Mv- Memorial Villages Magazine

november + december 2020

SHUCKING IN THE PANDEMIC VISIONARY RICK LOWE’S LATEST ENDEAVOR FREEDOM FOR WHOM? COVID FINANCIAL TAKEAWAYS SAVING GRACE: ONE FAMILY’S FIGHT ARTS + EVENTS

PRICE REDUCTION

Celebrating

We

welcome

Bernstein

35years

the opportunity to be of service

Serving Houston & Surrounding Areas since 1985 UNIQUE CUSTOM HOME

GREAT LOCATION

2154 Inwood

River Oaks · $2,750,000 MLS# 67320111 | 713.932.1032

4612 Cedar Oaks Lane

16C West Oak Drive

Bellaire· $1,585,000 MLS# 43113631 | 713.932.1032

Tanglewood Area · $1,630,000

Wayne Cohen | 832.259.8316

HUGE LOT

PRICE REDUCTION

3530 Durness Way

Braes Oaks · $1,150,000 MLS# 21008640 | 713.932.1032

PRICE REDUCTION

NEW LISTING

3731 Durness Way

13006 Indian Creek Rd.

Braes Heights · $950,000 MLS# 39358192 | 713.932.1032

Memorial Glen · $1,099,000 MLS# 73854542 | 713.932.1032

PRICE REDUCTION

CORNER LOT

REMODELED

15 Warrenton Drive Memorial West · $1,379,000

Wayne Cohen | 832.259.8316

DOWNTOWN VIEWS

101 Westcott Street #806 Bayou Bend Towers · $795,000 MLS# 66295912 | 713.932.1032

PRICE REDUCTION

705 Colquitt Street

1206 Muirfield Place

5447 Larkin Street

203 Dennis Street

Wayne Cohen | 832.259.8316

Kenneth Kottwitz | 713.598.6849

Cathy Scherer | 832.689.1024

Cathy Scherer | 832.689.1024

Montrose · $799,999

Spring Branch · $469,000

713.932.1032

|

Cottage Grove · $430,000

Midtown · $374,500

BernsteinRealty.com

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/ november + december 2020

contents

Send comments, thoughts or ideas to intownmagazine@gmail.com

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CONTRIBUTORS

Lindsay Mowad William Hanover Marene Gustin Evans Attwell Philip Berquist Minnie Payne

For advertising rates and information: 713.525.8607 intownmagazine@gmail.com Space reservation deadline is 15 days prior to publication.

Memorial Villages magazine is published bi-monthly by SNS Media. Articles are welcome and will be given careful consideration for possible publication. Memorial Villages magazine does not assume any responsibility for unsolicited materials. Materials submitted will be returned if accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope to Box 980757 Houston, TX 77098. You can also e-mail intownmagazine@gmail.com. Copyright 2020 by Intown magazine. All rights reserved. Content may not be reprinted or reproduced without permission from Intown magazine.

4 | Mv | November + December 2020

WORTHWHILE CONVERSATIONS

THREE KEYS FOR A STRANGE WORLD

J. Harold Williams, CPA/PFS, CFP®, and Nick Ibanez, CFP®, discuss the benefits of sound advice for wealth planning in this new “strange” world.

EVERYONE AGREES – 2020 MAKES THIS WORLD LOOK “STRANGE”. WHAT’S THE IMPLICATION FOR WEALTH PLANNING?

The three things we hear from our families are these. Interest rates are virtually zero meaning that traditional “safe” investments are offering no meaningful return. Our retired clients are mostly in a “higher risk” age category from a pandemic context.

Now more home-bound, they see changing spending patterns. They need to re-evaluate budgets and capital sustainability. Also, living through a bitterly partisan election cycle this year leads to a lot of uncertainty about the future economic and investing environment.

SO, MOST COULD BENEFIT FROM SOME SOUND ADVICE TO ADDRESS THESE QUESTIONS. WHAT SHOULD ONE LOOK FOR IN WEALTH ADVICE?

There are three keys. The first key is to find an advisor legally obligated

to look out for your best interest in 100% of your interactions, throughout the relationship. Despite what most people believe, that is still not a legal requirement for the vast majority of the 300,000+ people in the United States who call themselves “financial advisors”. Get that assurance in writing.

YOU SAID THERE WERE THREE…

Seek an advisor with deep experience and solid credentials. Phillip Hamman, CFP®, CFA, who heads our Wealth Planning Committee has often said, “After our firm’s nearly 50 years of working with families, we like saying, ‘This is not our first rodeo!’”. In a complicated world that finds intersections between taxes, investments, risk management and the like, look for an experienced fiduciary advisor who is part of a well-credentialled team that includes CPAs, attorneys, and other similarly designated professionals to collaborate on your advice.

WITH THE RIGHT ADVISOR, ARE PEOPLE LIKELY TO HEAR NEW AND DIFFERENT ADVICE THAN WHAT WAS SAID BEFORE WE ENTERED THIS STRANGE WORLD?

Probably not as different as one might imagine. Good disciplined financial decision-making is a long-term exercise and should not be unduly reactive. That said, we are finding that our advice has to be somewhat adaptable to these newer challenges.

Our team is ready right now to meet, either in-person, or virtually, to discuss the challenges you see in your current world.

For more information, or a copy of our Form ADV, Part II, with all of our disclosures, call Grant Williams at 713 840 1000 or visit www.linscomb-williams.com.

Linscomb & Williams is located at 1400 Post Oak Blvd., Ste. 1000 in Houston, TX For more information call 713 840 1000 or visit www.linscomb-williams.com.

Linscomb & Williams is not an accounting firm.

Uptown Houston Virtual Countdown Video to Replace 2020 Uptown Holiday Lighting Event

$65

$95

ORDER YOURS TODAY!

RAGIN-CAJUN.COM 4302 RICHMOND AVE 713.623.6321 6 | Mv | November + December 2020

Uptown Houston will not be hosting a 2020 iteration of the Uptown Holiday Lighting event due to COVID-19 guidelines from the City of Houston.

Instead, Uptown Houston is kicking off the holiday season with a virtual countdown video featuring Uptown holiday memories, which will be unveiled on Thanksgiving evening, Nov. 26, according to an Oct. 29 news release from Uptown Houston.

The public is invited to share its holiday memories in Uptown for a chance to be featured in the countdown video, posted Thanksgiving evening to Uptown Houston’s Facebook and Instagram pages and its YouTube channel. Video uploads can be posted thru this link: https://form.jotform. com/202945838832162 Throughout the holiday season, over 300 20-foot-tall holiday trees will line Post Oak Boulevard from the West Loop to Richmond Avenue, all integrated with lighting technology to create a multicolored light show with some 16.78 million color possibilities across 2 miles of Post Oak Boulevard, 24 hours a day.

10 Magnolia Woods Dr/Kingwood $3,500,000 MLS# 91653116

1010-F Nantucket Dr/Westhaven Estates $1,125,000 MLS# 20563680

4019 Driscoll St/Montrose $779,800 MLS# 66254848

2200 Willowick Rd #2J/River Oaks $569,000 MLS# 3560042

17 Windermere Ln/Piney Point Village $1,795,000 MLS# 29340104

1207 Sterrett St/Downtown $989,900 MLS# 83001999

2619 Newman St/Upper Kirby $835,000 MLS# 56369829

38 Blooming Grove Ln/Parkway Villages $695,000 MLS# 26183074

1727 Indiana Street/Montrose $669,000 MLS# 9113331

4003 Garrott St/Montrose $485,000 MLS# 41603564

2100 Welch St #C305/River Oaks $299,888 MLS# 60013621

Proven Performance – Year After Year Over 18 years experience working with buyers and sellers of residential real estate in the Greater Houston Area.

David Michael Young

713-320-6453 david.young@compass.com www.youngrealtyhouston.com

Publisher’s Letter

Freedom For Whom raditional Broadcasters and publishers have always taken extraordinary measures to get it right. If they don't, they run the risk of being sued.

Accuracy and credibility with readers and listeners have been fundamental.

Advertisers demand it. The fact is social media does not play by the same rules. Let me explain.

My first venture as an entrepreneur was when a friend had called and asked if I wanted to form a company to bid on publishing the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau's Houston Visitors Guide. We won the bid and published 250,000 copies in English and Spanish. We were soon sued by Walt Disney Corp who wanted us to reprint the edition due to an error referring to the newly minted NASA Space Center as Disney-owned rather than Disney-designed Space Center.

The city and the Bureau were very concerned, but luckily, my mother instructed me to hire a reputable attorney before starting my company. My attorney was Fulbright & Jaworski, who informed the Disney Corp that according to the law, we had not willfully created any damages and were not obligated to do a massive reprint, which could have bankrupted us. Fast forward 25 years, and look where we are now. In the internet world, you would take it down. Facebook or Twitter posts articles with many falsities and mistakes and is not held liable.

Internet companies don't adhere to the same standards due to a Provision of the 1996 Communication Decency Act, which protects freedom of expression and innovation on the internet. Is this the kind of freedom we were looking for when they passed this law? I don't think so. Publishing false, misleading, and dangerous posts cannot open them to lawsuits due to these protections. Many are questioning this protection, and companies are increasingly scrutinizing advertising in that environment. Twitter and, to a certain extent, Facebook have started monitoring their posts for harmful or threatening content, but the law still protects them. This law makes traditional news outlets more reliable and accurate, but it is not an even playing field.

Is your freedom trampled on or protected by the 230 code?

The other form of freedom is the freedom of protection from others with COVID. I fully intend to protect others from me, possibly spreading the virus to others and making them very sick. I also expect the same in return when walking around in public during this pandemic. Until we have a vaccine, there is no way to protect the spread without masks or social distancing. This disease will continue to spread and infect people and affect our schools and workplace. It may be infringing on the freedom of others not to wear a mask or social distance by the simple fact of not knowing if you are contagious or not.

8 | Mv | November + December 2020

10 Magnolia Woods | Deer Ridge Estates

265 Promenade St. E | Lake Conroe

Grand 12,708 SF estate on 3.85 acre lot in guard gated Deer Ridge Estates with guest house and pool house. Backyard playground features a large pool, secluded hot tub, many covered patios, 2 outdoor kitchens, fountains, fire pits, palapas and walking trail through the woods.

David M. Young | Compass RE Texas | 713-320-6453

Open water paradise in the exclusive Estates of Bentwater. Light & bright with water views from natural light throughout the home. Open concept chief 's kitchen comes with all stainless steel appliances and granite. Private balconies off four bedrooms.

The outside living area has lush landscaping, vanishing edge pool/spa, and outdoor kitchen creates a resort-style living along with a covered boat dock and 4 jet ski lifts.

Beverly Smith | Coldwell Banker Realty | 713-569-2113

List Price $3,500,000 | MLS #50130592

List Price $2,200,000 | MLS #81793985

Dan Monson Mortgage Banker | NMLS# 302692

713.480.1061

dan.monson@sentemortgage.com

• VA Loans • Construction Loans • Fannie/Freddie Loan • Jumbo Loans • Investor Loans • Reverse Mortgages 2619 Newman St | Upper Kirby

List Price $835,000 | MLS #56369829

Immaculate custom home with clean, modern finishes in Upper Kirby with 4 bedrooms and large, versatile open living areas on the second floor. Located on coveted horseshoe shaped street (no thru traffic), which provides a neighborhood feel in the Inner Loop. Very lightly lived in, well maintained. Balconies with western views and large patio for outdoor enjoyment. Elevator capable. Security, cameras, Control 4/Russound whole house sound system.

David M. Young | Compass RE Texas | 713-320-6453

• EXPERTISE

• EXPERIENCE

• INTEGRITY

This is not an offer to enter into an agreement or a commitment to lend. Application is required and is subject to underwriting and credit approval. Not all applicants are approved. Full documentation & property insurance required. TX * License #132111

Arts +

EVENTS

Artupdate houston published every two weeks by houstonintown. Go to website and sign up for newsletter to receive free update.

MUSEUMS Asia Society Texas Center

Special Exhibits Moon by Luke Jerram

29 Feb 2020 - 29 Nov 2020

Body Worlds & The Cycle of Life

Eternal Offerings: Chinese Ritual Bronzes

Museum Of Fine Arts Houston

Glory of Spain: Treasures from the Hispanic Society Museum & Library Thru Jan 3, 2021

The Marzio Years: Transforming the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1982–2010 Thru Jan 10, 2021

Radical: Italian Design 1965–1985, The Dennis Freedman Collection Thru Nov 29, 2020

Inaugural Installations: Kinder Building Opens Nov 21, 2020

Between Sea and Sky: Blue and White Ceramics from Persia and Beyond Nov 21, 2020–May 31, 2021

10038 Briar Drive | Briargrove Park List Price $1,050,000 | MLS # 88024987

Nothing compares to this Magnificent Modern Masterpiece. A sanctuary tucked away in sought-after neighborhood Completely remodeled home with a custom iron entrance, soaring ceilings, and a deck & pool viewed through the 17' glass expanse doors. Your Castle Awaits!

Genevieve Rowland | Keller Williams Memorial | 281-904-7014

Houston Museum Of Natural Science

Contemporary Arts Museum Houston

Closed but open virtually at www. camh.org

Holocaust Museum Houston

Mandela: Struggle for Freedom

Ongoing through Jan 3, 2021

Reading the Diary of Anne Frank on Robben Island with Dr. Roni Mikel Arieli Menil Collection Allora & Calzadilla: Specters of Noon Ongoing thru June 20, 2021

Virginia Jaramillo: The Curvilinear Paintings, 1969–1974

Ongoing thru May 31, 2021

State of Water: Our Most Valuable Resource Ongoing thru Jan. 18, 2021

Death by Natural Causes TourmalineTreasures Permanent Exhibits Alfred C. Glassell, Jr. Hall Cullen Hall of Gems and Minerals Earth Forum Farish Hall of Texas Wildlife Frensley/Graham Hall of African Wildlife Hall Of Ancient Egypt Hamman Hall Of Texas Coastal Ecology Herzstein Foucault Pendulum John McGovern Hall of The Americas Lester & Sue Smith Gem Vault Morian Hall of Paleontology Starke Hall of Malacology Wiess Energy Hall Welch Hall of Chemistry MUSIC & DANCE Houston Ballet

Digital Events Available Houston Symphony

Nov. 7 & 8, 2020

Mozart’s Jupiter

Nov. 13, 14 & 15, 2020

Sept 26, 2020 – Jul 3, 2021

MEMORIAL VILLAGES FARMERS MARKET

CHUBB • PURE • AIG • CINCINNATI

Luxury Home Insurance

GUARANTEED REBUILD / DEDUCTIBLE WAIVER

CARRIE OUSLEY | 832.681.5020 www.carrieousley.com

Every Saturday Rain or Shine 9am - 1pm

Hunters Creek Village at First Congregational Church 10840 Beinhorn Road 10 | Mv | November + December 2020

Houston Zoo will Light Up for Zoo Lights this Holiday Season The holiday season is almost here and with it comes the annual Houston Zoo Lights presented by TXU. This year, photos with Santa will be “social distanced” because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The lights will feature a 125-foot long “Infinity Tunnel of Light.”

More info on the web: https://www.houstonzoo.org/events/ zoolights/ This year’s zoo lights run Nov. 14, 2020 to Jan. 10, 2021.

Hours are 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. with last entry at 9:30 p.m.

“Buy early for the best price! Tickets will NOT be available for purchase at the gate,” warns the zoo.

Hilary Hahn Returns

Nov. 20, 21 & 22, 2020

American Strings: From Folk to Film THEATER A.D. Players

Nov. 27 through Dec. 27

Merry Christmas Darling Heidi Kettering Sings Karen Carpenter Other Events Live Streaming ALLEY THEATRE

A Christmas Carol

Streaming On Demand

A Free Virtual Production 1984

March 16 thru March 29, 2021

Dead Man’s Cell Phone

April 17 thru May 10, 2021

Broadway Across America

Hobby Center Check Website for Updates Honky Tonk Laundry

Houston Open Golf Tournament

THE ENSEMBLE THEATER

Houston Texans

Check website for Updates

Theatre Under the Stars

STAGES REPERTORY THEATER

SPORTS

Buttons’ Sleeping Beauty: A One-Man Outrageous Unbelievable COVID Lockdown Panto

The Women of Broadway Series Digital Passes Available

Nov. 5 -8

NRG Stadium Nov. 22 New England Dec. 6 Indianapolis Dec. 27 Cincinnati Jan. 3 Tennessee

Nov. 10-15 Live Streaming

Dec. 4 - 27

Make this your home for the holidays.

7902 N Villa Court Hilshire Village 4 Bed | 3.5 Bath | $1,499M

Alex Loyd 713.851.2521 alex.loyd@compass.com Compass is a licensed real estate broker and abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws. All material presented herein is intended for informational purposes only. Information is compiled from sources deemed reliable but is subject to errors, omissions, changes in price, condition, sale, or withdrawal without notice. No statement is made as to accuracy of any description. All measurements and square footages are approximate. This is not intended to solicit property already listed. Nothing herein shall be construed as legal, accounting or other professional advice outside the realm of real estate brokerage.

Rick Lowe Moves the Needle on Community Support and Art

A

Rick Lowe portrait by Ernesto Leon. Rick Lowe facebook Project Row Houses campus with Houston skyline. National Endowment for the Arts website 2013. Project Row Houses facebook

12 | Mv | September + October 2020

By Virginia Billeaud Anderson

ny way you look at it, the MacArthur Foundation’s $625,000 is an eye-popping award. Houston artist Rick Lowe (b. 1961) said he was “completely floored” when he received it in 2014. One year before, President Obama appointed Lowe to the National Arts Council which advises the National Endowment for the Arts. These and a myriad of other honors befell Lowe for transforming 22 abandoned row houses in Houston’s Third Ward into the nonprofit Project Row Houses (PRH.) The organization hosts art exhibitions and residencies, education, a young mothers’ residential program, and a business incubation program. As gentrification pushes out low income residents, PRH punches back by purchasing, renovating, and leasing out at affordable prices. It partners with owners to preserve and make affordable historical properties.

Shyriaka Morris’ participation in PRH’s young mothers’ residential program helped her earn a doctorate. Others landed law degrees. Last month when the Ford Foundation forked over $3.5 million, it called PRH “a cultural treasure.”

“If you think about it, Rick sacrificed his career during that time.” Artists Floyd Newsum and Bert Samples are discussing the cradle days of PRH in an interview with Maria Gaztambide. In 1993, Rick Lowe, James Bettison, Bert Long, Jr., Jesse Lott, Floyd Newsum, Bert Samples, and George Smith tossed around ideas about an exhibition venue that would positively impact Houston’s African American communities. Lowe believed the row houses served their purpose. Samples recalled arguments. “Rick was the catalyst, had swell ideas, and Jesse was what I would call on the basketball court, the enforcer, holding Rick accountable for what he’s gonna accomplish, and he wasn’t just challenging Rick, he was challenging all of us. That was where I think we first saw ourselves as a group, not knowing what we were gonna do,” yet committed.

Newsum recalled nasty dirty work. While removing debris under a row house, his clothes got covered with black specs, “they were fleas,” but he figured fleas were better than discarded drug needles. “This institution brought the whole community, the city, from River Oaks, to Memorial, wherever, every race, class came together to help us, to unify, to transform this area. It was Rick who really was the force, if it had not been for Rick, PRH would not be what it is.”

One imagines their early discussions helped Lowe communicate his vision. And primed him to collaborate with volunteers, donors, grant writers, foundations, ultimately a professional staff.

Factor in innate talent to chat-up others. The middle child in a large family learns to maneuver.

Art League Installation shot. Rick Lowe, Untitled, 2020, acrylic and paper collage on canvas, 96 x 180 in. (10 panels).

Throughout, he considered PRH part of his artistic practice. This fits comfortably within the post-modern era’s broader definitions of art (which idiotically included body functions.) Lowe’s expanded definition rests on community engagement and revitalization. He extrapolated from German artist Joseph

Beuys’ idea of art as participatory activities that shaped the world around us, which Beuys labeled “social sculpture.”

Lowe applied social sculpture to the community. He said artists like him who enhance communities are pioneers, for expanding notions what art can be. The New York Times agreed. It labeled PRH

Art League facebook

the most original and ambitious work of art of the past century.

An additional factor set Lowe on his path. Disillusioned with the politically loud figurative art he was making, in 1992 he closed his studio and searched for authentic expression. It resonated that row houses, an architectural form rooted in

November + December 2020

| Mv |13

Rick Lowe Portrait by Ernesto Leon.

Rick Lowe Instagram

Africa, held iconographic weight in his teacher Texas Southern University Dr. John Biggers’s paintings. Doc Biggers imbued row houses with “beauty, poetry, inspiration.” Third Ward row houses, he figured, offered a chance to merge activism and art.

Is his rural Alabama family proud of his accomplishments?

“Art stuff” doesn’t interest them, they’d be more impressed if he was helping to pick peas and okra.

Once a year, Art League Houston exhibits its “Artist of the Year.” The art he is showing, Lowe said, derives from domino games he plays with Jesse Lott at PRH, their battles ratcheted up with noisy bluffing and table clattering. Their games have “physicality.” After handing the castle’s keys to PRH staff in 2018, he began to sketch domino patterns as starting points

14 | Mv | November + December 2020

for artworks. He didn’t abandon community engaged art, there’s a project in Tulsa and Athens Greece, more coming, as well as prestigious fellowships and teaching at the University of Houston. In the studio though he’s cranking out aesthetically elevated paintings and drawings concerned with formal properties of color and form.

It’s takes guts to use pink. Lowe renders it seductive by offsetting cooler tones. His handling of collage texture is wicked, painting surfaces have smoothness and tactility in equal measure. Don’t plop yourself at Art League’s door like I did, it’s locked for the virus, but the on-line appointment process is totally painless. Soon I was gawking at an orgy of color in the exhibition “Rick Lowe: New Paintings & Drawings” through April 24, 2021.

My instinct tells me the domino shapes in the supposedly non-referential abstractions are a soft-core reference to community. Lowe likened the patterns to neighborhood maps. It’s not farfetched to associate them with the urban planning concept of “red lining” in which banks and mortgage companies penalize low income neighborhoods. Nor, to tie them to the old men who play dominoes under trees, know everybody’s business, and have valuable insight into neighborhood conditions. At this level of social commitment, it’s absurd to make nit-picky distinctions between pleasure driven art and social content art. The entire shebang has spiritual gravity.

In 2009, Lowe overlapped social engagement with photography. Drawn to the photo “Brother in Law” of a spiffed-up dude holding a plate of grilled chicken, I mentioned it in a newspaper article. At the time, I assumed he was a popular Third Ward restauranteur, but later learned Eugene Howard had served over twenty years in prison. His pre-prison dream was to own a restaurant, so Lowe staged him that way. Mirroring the row houses’ shift from connoting blight to positive symbols, Lowe re-branded Howard into a positive symbol.

FOOD

Shucking Pandemic IN THE

Eugene’s Gulf Coast Cuisine

Cajun-style Gulf Coast Goodness is Back

By Marene Gustin

W

hen the old Chelsea Market was sold and torn last year, for yet another high-rise apartment building, the popular Danton’s Gulf Coast Seafood had to find a new home. And what a wonderful new home they found in the old Mockingbird Bistro spot in River Oaks.

Owner Kyle Teas’s wife, an interior decorator, completely redid the interior, and with a new name—after his father— and updated menu, Eugene’s Gulf Coast Cuisine was born.

“We opened in late October,” Teas recalls, “and things were going really well.

Business was better than I expected and then March 12 happened.”

That was when the city and county decided to lock down businesses to try to slow the pandemic. Amid the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 spreading rapid-

Steak modern luxury

ly, getting fresh shucked oysters did not seem as important as it once had.

“We reopened in June for takeout,” Teas says. Now, the restaurant is back, with indoor dining at 75 percent. “It was hard but I got PPP funding,” he says referring to the Paycheck Protection Program from the Small Business Administration.

By the time he reopened he was able to bring a lot of his staff back, although he says some had health fears and didn’t want to come back to work.

“I’ve had some new hires,” Teas says, “and I’d like to have more. But, I’m very proud of the team we have right now.”

He’s also very proud of his supportive customer base, many from his long years at Danton’s.

Teas is a native Houstonian, who grew up eating Gulf Coast seafood. Of course, Eugene’s has a little something for everyone on the menu. Inspired November + December 2020

| Mv |15

soups and salads for small appetites, and a 14-ounce certified Angus ribeye fire-grilled over oak and hickory, for hardy eaters. Chicken lovers can nosh on a pecan-crusted chicken breast with white wine, lemon and caper sauce. And, there’s even some pasta dishes. But, let’s face it; the reason to come here is for the daily fresh seafood.

From the delicious broiled redfish stuffed with blue crab claw stuffing to the blackened catfish enchiladas, the seafood is always fresh and always inspired. Even if it’s not Saturday brunch, you’ll want to try the gulf shrimp wrapped in bacon over cheese grits with a side of boudin balls, the Cajun sausage balls that are so popular.

But, let’s not forget the oysters. Fresh, big, sweet oysters from the Gulf Coast, not those dainty little briny ones from New England. And, Eugene’s likely has one of the largest oyster menus around.

For the purist, get the oysters on the half shell. Fresh, cold, raw oysters with a spicy

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16 | Mv |November + December 2020

Stuffed Redfish Jumbo lump topping

house made horseradish dollop on top.

A dozen make the perfect meal, low in fat but high in the good omega 3 fatty acids and zinc. If you’re not into raw, try the Oysters Kyle, sautéed in lemon garlic butter with green onions, herbs and spices. Served with parmesan bread for sopping up that sauce. Or Oysters Montrose, six fresh shucked oysters laced with garlic butter and topped with jumbo lump crab, breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese and spice, baked to perfection.

And, what could be better this holiday season than the classic Oysters Rockefeller, the king of oyster dishes dating back to 1899 and created at Antoine’s in New Orleans. Here, the dish consists or six fresh shucked oysters topped with spinach, shallots, Pernot, lemon, garlic, breadcrumbs and Monterey Jack cheeses, perfectly baked.

Oh, and then there’s a baked version topped with house made tasso, a hunk of shoulder pork heavily seasoned with Cajun spices and smoked until crispy and delicious. And, it creates a party in your mouth with the juicy oysters. If you’re a fan of Texas’s own Tito’s vodka you’ll want to try the Buffalo Bayou, an oyster shooter layered with cocktail sauce, Worcestershire, Tabasco, horseradish, and fresh squeezed lemon juice topped with ice cold Tito’s vodka.

Teas’s favorites? “I guess our daily fresh fish and oysters,” he says. And, that’s probably why he’s so optimistic about surviving in a pandemic, because his customers love that Gulf Coast seafood, too.

Eugene’s Gulf Coast Seafood 1985 Welch Street 713.807.8883

November + December 2020

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One Family’s Fight to Save Their Daughter From Human Trafficking

By Jamie Winston race grew up in Katy, TX, a once quiet little suburb on Houston’s westside, that attracts new families from all over the country with their many district awards and achievements.

Despite the opulence of suburban districts like Katy ISD, trafficking is increasing in suburban areas across the country. Grace’s story starts like so many young girls but took a very dark turn when she turned 18.

This story begins with Grace as she made her second attempt to leave the life of Human Sex Trafficking after being trafficked for one year. How it all started, what hurt her the most, and what contributed to her choices. The broken system from the top down has failed Grace, and her family, who are working tirelessly to save her life.

This story is about the devastation of being pulled back into the hell that is “the life” and powerless to break the psychological grip that her traffickers had on her. Her story should inspire the community and lawmakers to step up and fight to change the broken system that is stealing the lives of so many of our children.

Grace’s life was pretty standard until she turned 12. That was the age that everything in her world would change. At 11, Grace was a student-athlete, attended church with her family, and was an honor roll student. She was tall and pretty with dark blonde hair and beautiful blue eyes, so she did what most girls her age do (what all of her friends were doing) and tried out for cheerleading. That year Grace didn’t make the squad but her best friends did.

These weren’t just any friends, they had been in girl scouts and YMCA volleyball with her since kindergarten. She was disappointed that she didn’t make it, but she and her friends still had volleyball, which was enough for her. On her 12th birthday, Grace invited all of her best friends (now cheerleaders) to her small birthday party at

Part ll in our Series on Houston Prostitution

G

18 | Mv | November + December 2020

the neighborhood park. She had a cake, balloons, and plans to hang out and play volleyball (because that is what they all still had in common). That day is the day that Grace describes as the worst day of her life, which is pretty powerful given what she has been through. Someone left Grace left sitting at the park waiting for her “friends” who all said they would come. What she didn’t know is that her friends, as a group decision, leaving her waiting for them, sobbing at the park, at her birthday party, would send the message that she wasn’t good enough for them anymore because she wasn’t “one of them anymore.” Grace was devastated, and when she returned to school the following Monday, the bullying only got worse. Grace told me that story with tears in her eyes and said, “that’s the moment I decided,I would never trust anyone who says they are my friend”. She shut down emotionally, craving acceptance but never trusting that it would be genuine. Through junior high and high school Grace continued to play sports, continued to attend church, but emotion-

ally she continued to carry the hurt that her friends had caused her that day of her 12th birthday and the years of bullying that followed.

In high school, Grace struggled with the inability to feel confident enough to make friends. She struggled with her self esteem and was suffering from depression, and even had thoughts of suicide. That is also when she started hanging out with a couple of kids similarly situated from a social aspect. They were smoking pot and drinking, so she tried it too, and discovered not only how easy it was to get but also the escape it provided her from the pain of the bullying and torment that she had suffered at the hands of her once best friends. Drugs and alcohol were her escape, and they allowed her to be someone else.

In her own words, she felt like for once; she could be free. During her senior year (now 17 almost 18 years old), she did not want to go to school; she just wanted to be done, so her parents (not wanting her to drop out) compromised and allowed her to participate in a smaller “high school” in the district. It offered an accelerated program to help kids finish school at their own pace, and for most, much faster. The problem was that this small campus connects to the district’s Juvenile Justice Alternative Education Program (JJAEP). The JJAEP campus consists of some of the most troubled youth in the community who have committed serious offenses that allowed the district to deem them unsafe to be present at their home campus. While attending her accelerated program, she was around JJAEP students (imagine being at a restaurant when a bus full of prisoners comes to eat). On the shared school bus with one of the JJAEP students, she is invited to hang out and smoke weed.

For the first time since junior high, Grace felt like maybe she could fit in and

possibly even have friends who didn’t think she wasn’t good enough. While hanging out with these new kids, under the influence of marijuana, they asked her to try meth for the first time. They convinced her that it was fun and would make her forget all of her problems. She didn’t want to disappoint or lose her new friends, so she tried it, and she liked it. Over the next several weeks, she started pulling away from her family. Although she continued to go to school and work, she was rapidly spiraling out of control. She spent more and more time with her new friends using drugs and falling further and further into addiction.

Soon after, she turned 18 and decided she didn’t want to go home anymore because her parents were “too strict and didn’t want her to use drugs and alcohol”. Grace temporarily stayed with a friend and his mom, but that was short-lived because of her addiction. She continued to finish school and her parents were trying to work with her, keep her as close as they could, and keep an eye on her. The police had already told them that because she was 18, she could leave if she wanted to.

One morning in September, Grace was found sleeping outside her high school by one of her counselors. The counselor consulted with a second counselor and decided to take her into Houston to a homeless shelter near Montrose, which Grace knew nothing about. This shelter was for home-

less teens, and every night there is a lottery drawing for beds. If you draw a bed, you get to sleep inside, and if you don’t, you have to figure it out on the street. It was on a night Grace was sleeping in the cold at a gas station, with nothing but a borrowed hoodie for warmth, when she is approached by a man twice her age. He offers to let her sleep in his hotel room, and out of the cold. This man would become her “boyfriend” and her first pimp. Grace was an 18-year-old high school senior, who had developed a drug habit, was insecure, and vulnerable.

She was the perfect target.

Grace would spend an entire year being trafficked all over Houston, Dallas, Austin, the midwest and the east coast. During that year, Grace filed charges against one of her traffickers. She walked right into a police station and asked for help. They took her report and gave her a cell phone to reach her, the DA accepted the charges, and to date, no arrest has been made, although her trafficker is currently out on bond on a separate trafficking charge. No one offered her services or a way out. Grace Continued on page 22

November + December 2020

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Financial Focus

Covid-19 Financial Take-Aways T

here is no denying the impact COVID-19 has had on our day to day lives and the changes we have had to make as a result of the pandemic. Some of these changes, such as an increase in people working from home, may be here to stay even after the virus is better contained, while the cancellation of sporting events and concerts will hopefully only be a temporary inconvenience.

Despite all of the changes that have taken place over the past several months, one area that has been solidified as a result of the pandemic is the importance of having your financial house in order.

While having a good financial plan in place will not keep you from having to experience the storm, it can provide you with a safe haven to ride it out. Here are a few foundational pieces to a healthy financial plan to help prepare you for the uncertain times ahead.

1. Cash is king - If this experience has taught us anything, it is the importance of having adequate cash reserves to fall back on in case of an emergency. Most financial advisors recommend keeping 3 – 6 months’ worth of expenses in savings. In light of the recent experience with the coronavirus and the economic impact that has taken place, some people may feel more comfortable increasing their cash reserves to 6 – 12 months of expenses going forward. Re-

by Lantz Bowman, CFP®

Wealth Advisor, Linscomb & Williams

gardless of the amount you choose to keep in savings, it is important that your money is safe (i.e. FDIC-insured), easily accessible, and earns you a competitive return. “Competitive” is a relative concept. All returns on safe cash investments are extraordinarily low in the current environment.

2. Have an investment plan…and stick to it. Former heavyweight boxing champion, Mike Tyson, famously stated, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” Investors certainly got punched in the mouth earlier this spring. From February 19th through March 23rd, the U.S. stock market (as measured by the S&P 500 Index) dropped almost 34%. The speed and volatility of the market’s decline was unprecedented and caused many people to fear we were heading towards a global economic depression. This panic led

some people to sell their stock investments in late March, causing them to miss out on the rapid recovery that has seen the S&P 500 rise by 45% over the past several months. While the market drop was unsettling for everyone, for those investors with a pre-existing investment plan and understanding of market history, they were able to use market selloff as an opportunity to rebalance their portfolios by selling some of their bond holdings so they could buy stocks at lower prices, tax loss harvest, and put some of their excess cash to work.

3. Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. Nobody wakes up anticipating that today may be the last day they will be able to walk or see their loved ones, but tragedy can strike at any time. If you were unable to work due to an injury or an illness, how would you pay your monthly bills? If you were to

die prematurely, are there enough assets available to provide for your loved ones?

If you cannot confidently answer either of these questions, you may need to consider purchasing additional disability and/or life insurance coverage. Along with having adequate insurance coverage, it is vital that you have the necessary estate planning documents in place to help your family, if you become incapacitated or died. If your health were to deteriorate to the point that you had to be hospitalized, do you have a durable power of attorney, medical power of attorney, directive to physicians and HIPAA authorization in place to allow your loved ones to complete financial transactions and make medical decisions on your behalf? Do you have a will? If so, does it accurately reflect your wishes for how you want your estate to be distributed to your heirs? The coronavirus pandemic has reminded us all about the fragility of our bodies and the brevity of life. Don’t continue to put off updating your insurance and estate plan. Plan ahead now so you (and your family) have one less thing to worry about should tragedy strike.

While each of these tasks can be completed on your own, there is value in having someone on your team to use as a sounding board, and to help hold you accountable so you don’t make costly mistakes. A fee-only, pure fiduciary wealth management firm can provide unbiased, comprehensive financial advice you deserve. Imagine the peace of mind you can derive from a sound well-grounded financial plan.

Linscomb & Williams is a Houstonbased wealth management firm established in 1971.

November + December 2020

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Continued from page 19

went to the hospital numerous times with abdominal pain from damage done to her insides from the months of violent sexual encounters. Each hospital worker knew she was a victim of human trafficking, but instead of getting her services, they handed her a pamphlet. When her parents tried to get mental health warrants, they were told they needed an exact address and time to serve the warrant, which was impossible because they lived out of hotels. They can’t have her involuntarily committed because the law does not recognize addiction or human trafficking as a credible “threat to oneself or others.” As it stands, a person has to express their desire to commit homicide or suicide to be committed. The system and the law have failed Grace at every turn.

Grace was out of the life of human sex trafficking for 36 days. She spoke very candidly about the pimps who chased her down the street with guns in an attempt to capture her for their stable (the term used to describe a pimps group of girls), serial killers, and rapist that picked her up. This resulted in her jumping from a moving car out of fear that they would kill her. Also, to avoid the rapes, the men with odd fetishes, the abusive men who wanted to hit her, and the addictions fueled it all. Grace was the girl who didn’t need anything from anyone and knew how to take care of herself armed only with a pocket knife for protection. She talked about it all as if she was describing a movie and that it wasn’t her life. Then there was the other side of Grace that still cried when she talked about her 12th birthday party, the bullying, and the sadness over the relationship she had built with that trafficker who gave a teenage girl a warm place to stay on a cold night. As she described the friends she had made on the street with the other girls in the same situation she was in, it clicked. She felt accepted in a way that she hadn’t since she was 11 years old. She felt like no one was judging her, and no 22 | Mv | November + December 2020

one would be disappointed in her because there were no expectations as long as she met her quota. She had formed a new group of “friends,” and just like the last ones, she didn’t see that they too would hurt her and that she was only with them because of geographic proximity, much like those girls from junior high.

Grace also talked a lot about how much she missed her “boyfriend” (her first pimp), who she saw as some prince charming from a fairy tale, and who is currently on bond and has even done prison time for repeated convictions for domestic violence. Grace was showed these charges, the convictions, and the charging instruments, and momentarily she realized she was just another woman in the same situation with the same man. She described him being physically abusive toward her, hitting her and choking her until she passed out, but even with all of the realizations about who he indeed was, Grace still loved him. Domestic violence can feel like an addiction, and it’s a tough cycle to break. The best way to explain human sex trafficking is, it’s the place where domestic violence and sexual assault intersect.

Grace was showing so much promise, and for the first time since leaving her old life, she was optimistic and hopeful. She was finishing school online. She had met with her advocate and even started counseling services. Her advocate explained that she would help her get housing but that it takes a minimum of six months to a year, which seemed like forever in her now 19-year-old brain, but she was excited. She laid out a list of in-patient and out-patient services available to her and the process for utilizing said resources while she waited for housing. She had a plan to move forward with her life. Grace was starting over. She had the help of some donors who helped her get some clothes, have a little money, and she had a safe place to stay away from the life and everyone she had left be-

hind, but it wasn’t far enough. Everything seemed so normal, and one morning she was gone again. No note, not a trace, she just left. Ten days later, her dad tracked her down at a motel room on the Northside of Houston near Spring, where she had reconnected with some girls that she was with before, her “friends.” Her dad forced her back home, and they were working to find a treatment facility, which is few and far between and require the victim to want to enter the program. When we talked, I asked her what happened and why she left.

She said she wanted friends, was feeling restless and alone, and just wanted a place of her own where she would have freedom and independence. She didn’t admit being sucked back into her old life, or to the addiction that started it all, and the “friends” who trafficked her. Not long after that conversation, Grace was gone again. She is back to where it all started, in danger every time she gets into a car with a stranger, controlled by traffickers and drugs, and her parents are powerless to help her. At every turn, someone in her path with the ability to help her had the current legal system or resources available to victims was adequate.

Could the school counselors who took Grace to the homeless shelter have avoided putting her on the collision course if they had more training and understanding of addiction, homelessness, and trafficking?

Maybe the nurses who encountered her at the hospital with only a pamphlet to give her could do more with the right services to offer. The police officer who took her report could have done more if he had more services to offer. It leads us back to the elected officials, prosecutors, and judges’ duties to keep traffickers off the street.

Go to houstonintown.com for Part l in our series - after Grace

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