Scene In SA Summer 2024

CELEBRATING 25 YEARS

RISE OF THE CREAMERY DISTRICT:

Moris Saide discusses designing San Antonio’s newest social scene

TOP P.I. LAWYERS

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TOP P.I. LAWYERS 2022

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CONTENTS Enter the Creamery: A Look Inside One of San Antonio’s Newest Venues Cover Story by Nick Blevins

22

Brackenridge Park 125 Years Old – With a Future in the Making

By Berit Mason

91 12

Patios and Parasols: Alfresco Dining at Home and Local Eateries

By Berit Mason

26

Introducing the Fiesta Teen Queen: A Glimpse Into Royalty Fashion by Jules Aldaz Guerra

30

2024 Best SA Lawyers As voted by their peers

52

For Goodness’ Sake: Erica Shimamura Cultivates Community Puro SA by Ayesha Malik

56

2024 Outstanding Teacher of the Year: Angela Pichardo

By Iliana Yanez

57

Summer Soiree Playlists 2024 By Novasoul

58

Remembering Vivian Crook

By Leslie Foley

59

Recipe: Fluffernutter

By Benjie De Los Santos of Benjie’s Munch

60

Smart Summer Snacks Keep Kids on Track

By Bonny Osterhage

62

Alamo Heights Resident Enjoys A Big Slice of Success with Scott’s Pizza

By Bonny Osterhage

64

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How Our Express-News Exposé Elicited…

The Roar of the Crowd – Leaning to the Left 20 years later By Susan Yerkes | SUMMER 2024 | CELEBRATING 25 YEARS

67

2024 Top SA Surgeons As voted by their peers

74

Top Doctor Profiles

76

The Voice of the City: A Talk with San Antonio’s Newest Poet Laureate

By Nick Blevins

79

Top Lawyer Profiles

88

Heart of a Hero: Willie Ng’s Tale of Triumph

By Carole Miller

96

Professional Guide: Doctor/Dentist, Lawyer

SCENE EVENTS Art in the Garden...............................................................................10 Wine, Women & Shoes ...................................................................14 21st Annual Le Brunch des Chapeaux.......................................16 Martini Party ......................................................................................18 Come on Barbie, Let’s Go Party!..................................................20 Roca & Martillo..................................................................................28 The Seasoned Woman.....................................................................87 Thanks for the Memories: A Night with the Emo Orchestra..................................................90 La Semana Alegre 2024...................................................................94

Subscribe today at www.sceneinsa.com

Voted Best Lawyer 2024 2024 Rising Star Lawyer Voted Top Family Lawyer 2024 Voted Top Criminal Defense Lawyer 2023

We fight to win.

FAMILY LAW CRIMINAL LAW

210.775.2000

derekritchielaw.com

Issue No. 214

SUMMER 2024 San Antonio’s Original Locally Owned and Grown City Magazine – Est. 1999

William Ziller | Publisher

Ayesha M. Malik, JD | Executive Editor Nick Blevins | Managing Editor Kaylin Ledford | Associate Publisher Leslie Foley | Social Editor Christine Sykes | Graphic Designer Gabriella Martinez | Advertising Sales Director Paula Jimenez | Advertising Sales Bethany Castro | Social Media Iliana Yanez | Intern

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Jules Aldaz Guerra Zach Jewell

DENTAL Let’s get you smiling!

Berit Mason Carole Miller Bonny Osterhage Susan Yerkes

Why we’re different: 3 1. We’re family 3 2. We exceed expectations 3 3. We are here to serve

Photograph of Creamery District owner and operator Moris Saide by Nick Blevins

North Location

For editorial comments, questions, and submissions: editorial@sceneinsa.com or call 210-828-4209, ext. 406

1202 W. Bitters Road, Suite 1207 San Antonio, TX 78216

210-494-2206 South Location 4135 E. Southcross San Antonio, TX 78222

210-333-4421

ABOUT OUR COVER

For questions on advertising, advertorial, or directory listings: advertising@sceneinsa.com or call 210-828-4209, ext. 407 13423 Blanco Road #290, San Antonio, TX 78216 SUBSCRIBE www.sceneinsa.com/subscribe, or call 210-828-4209, ext. 406 Scene In SA Magazine (ISSN 1942-6852) is published four times per year

by Scene Monthly, LLC. Copyright ©2024 by Scene Monthly, LLC All Rights Reserved. Printed in San Antonio.

This magazine may not be reproduced in whole or in part in any form or any means without written permission from the publisher.

www.zamdental.com 10

| SUMMER 2024

Subscribers: If the postal service advises us that your magazine is undeliverable, we have no further obligation unless we receive a corrected address within one year.

Please allow four weeks for change of address or new orders.

Send address changes to: subscriptions@sceneinsa.com

Pulman, Cappuccio & Pullen, LLP ATTORNEYS AT LAW EXPERIENCE. STRENGTH. RESULTS.

LISTED IN SCENE IN SA MAGAZINE AS TOP LAWYERS FOR SIXTEEEN YEARS IN A ROW!

ELLIOTT CAPPUCCIO • JAMES S. CHESLOCK LESLIE HYMAN • BYRON L. LEFLORE, JR. ERIC PULLEN • RANDALL PULMAN SHARI PULLEN PULMAN • RYAN C. REED B. RAPHAEL SONSINO

for being recognized among the Best Lawyers in San Antonio by their peers The attorneys at Pulman, Cappuccio & Pullen, LLP have over 150 years of combined experience providing exemplary representation for clients in litigation, arbitration, bankruptcy, real estate, corporate law, and a range of other areas.

For over 20 years, Pulman, Cappuccio & Pullen, LLP has been AV-rated “Preeminent” by MartindaleHubbell, which is the highest rating available, and we have been recognized for the last five years as one of the country’s Best Law Firms by U.S. News

2161 N.W. Military Highway, Suite 400 San Antonio, Texas 78213 PH: 210-222-9494 FAX: 210-892-1610

pulmanlaw.com

PUBLISHER’S POST

KUDOS

There is a paradox I have been reflecting on recently named “The Ship of Theseus.” In the paradox, a warrior repeatedly leaves his home port to go on adventures and fight enemies. After each adventure, he returns home to resupply and repair his ship. Eventually, after many decades of fighting, virtually every piece of his ship has been replaced due to wear, tear, and damage.

This begs the question… “Without any of the original pieces present, is it still the same ship?”

What a good story! Congrats on your dogged reporting. Great work!

John Quiñones ABC News Correspondent & host of What Would You Do? ....................................

The Spring issue looks and reads beautifully!

Kudos to your team.

Lainey Berkus ....................................

Over the last year, Scene In SA has experienced its own repairs and replacements. We have rebuilt our website, increased our community presence through in person events and social media growth, and transitioned to being a remote-first company. While it is a bittersweet experience leaving a place that holds memories and history, it ultimately felt like the right choice for us. The majority of our team consists of dedicated people that lead busy lives (and most with children and a full-time job aside from the magazine). After assuming the role of publisher, it became readily apparent that all of the Scene in SA team could benefit from having more of their most precious resource, time, given back to them. So, with this new but familiar ship, we are excited to sail forward into this new horizon.

This issue has some great content that we are really excited about! The annual Best SA Lawyers survey was conducted and the results are in! Whether you are looking for representation or just looking to celebrate your colleagues, check it out! Additionally, we conducted our first Outstanding Teacher of the Year contest. As a former high school educator of ten years, it was my honor to give back to those who are uplifting and supporting our children everyday. We also had the privilege of exploring all that Creamery District has to offer and the man who built it, Moris Saide. And Puro SA returns to feature Erica Shimamura!

This summer is shaping up to be a hot one, so kick back, relax, and have fun exploring all the ways San Antonio offers to keep cool!

William Ziller Publisher

HUGE THANK YOU FOR THIS MASTERPIECE FROM THE INMATES AT TDCJ BETO UNIT Ashley Powell ....................................

Thank you so much for featuring us! The article was great and the pictures were too. We appreciate your support so much!

Terri Gutierrez, MSW Executive Director Friends of Hospice San Antonio ....................................

“Profit Over People” was a great article!

Keep up the great work – you obviously put a lot into this one.

Paul Anderson Paul Anderson, PLLC

STAFF William Ziller

Leslie Foley

Christine Sykes

Publisher

Social Editor

Graphic Designer

William was born and raised in San Antonio. He is a graduate of Texas State University with a BA in English.

He spent ten years teaching high school English and ESL, including two years in South Korea. William has held many positions at Scene In SA magazine since its inception in 1999.

Leslie graduated from Oklahoma State with a BS in Journalism and Public Relations. Leslie has been covering events for the magazine since 1999.

Chris is passionate about typography and design. She holds a BFA degree from UTSA. When not in front of her computer, you can find her enjoying all the things that sunny San Antonio has to offer.

Ayesha M. Malik, JD Executive Editor

Ayesha moved to San Antonio to pursue her education, receiving her BA in Political Science and Anthropology from UTSA and her JD from St. Mary’s School of Law. She is a published linguist and licensed attorney.

Nick Blevins

Bethany Castro Social Media

Since 2021, she has been running her own successful business, Socially DesignIT Social Media Management, in San Antonio, Texas. She holds a degree in Business Entrepreneurship from UTSA.

Managing Editor

Nick is presently pursuing his Master’s of Library Science, and has studied education, language, and music. He is an active musician and is passionate about the scene here in San Antonio.

Kaylin Ledford Associate Publisher

Kaylin grew up in Castroville. She is a graduate of Texas State University with a BA in Mass Communications.

Kaylin has been with the magazine since 2019.

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| SUMMER 2024 | CELEBRATING 25 YEARS

Gabriella Martinez Advertising Sales Director

Gabriella has been in sales and marketing for more than five years. When she’s not helping her clients find the best way to market their business, she enjoys being a mom to two beautiful kids, Max and Zara, and wife to her husband, Luis.

Iliana Yanez

Paula Jimenez

Intern

Advertising Sales

Iliana is a student at UTSA majoring in Digital Communications. Her journey is fueled by her passion for the art of storytelling and writing, which led her down the path of journalism.

Paula has been in marketing for more than 20 years.

She enjoys spending time with her family, especially watching her son make touchdowns at AHHS football games.

Subscribe today at www.sceneinsa.com

Art in the Garden Editor & Photographer: Leslie Foley

Art in the Garden’s 4th annual event was held at the beautiful San Antonio Botanical Gardens. Founder Andrea Wollenzin and chairs Jennifer Biechlin, Desaree LaMacchia, Baylie Collins and Chalene Martinez collected works of art from 25 plus artists which were auctioned to raise funds for San Antonio Young Life East.

Founder Andrea Wollenzin and co-chair Jennifer Biechlin

This year marked a first for Art in the Garden as they became an official Fiesta event. Young Life San Antonio East is a non-denominational ministry that reaches out to adolescents (high school to college aged) living in poverty to build relationships, provide mentorships, and develop leadership skills. They provide meals; meaningful community and teach life skills through training. Staff members and volunteers aim to lead with a servant’s heart and set an example for their teens.n

Founder, Art in the Garden Andrea Wollenzin and co-chair Desaree LaMacchia

Will and Marilyn Etheredge and Gretchen and Gary Legan Paige and Chris Berry, Asia Ciaravino and Christina Casella

Ashley White, Selina Gutierrez and Denise Tijerina

Charro Queen Annika Chapa, Fiesta Teen Queen Ryan Scrimpshire and Miss Fiesta San Antonio Ciara Davila

Mike and Norma Holt, founder Andrea Wollenzin and Will Templin

Representing Young Life San Antonio East are Samara Hook, Geoffrey Maldonado, Jasmyne Rodriguez, Syese Jackson, Brenna Davis, Timothy Washington, Jose Mulero, Ahnel Alvarez, Abigail Rocio Lara, area director Eric Collins and Geovanny Lujan

PA I D A D V E RT I S E M E N T

BIG Medicaid health plan changes coming soon for seniors and adults with disabilities.

This fall, Bexar and

Q: When is the deadline to select a new STAR+PLUS health plan?

A: July 1, 2024.

If you don’t choose a new plan, one will be chosen for you.

surrounding counties will see a big shift in health plan providers for seniors and adults with disabilities.

Here’s what you need to know.

Many seniors and adults with disabilities enrolled in Medicaid’s STAR+PLUS program will need to select a new health plan. A critical transition in coverage is underway as some health plans are leaving the Bexar County area. STAR+PLUS is one of Medicaid’s largest programs for this vulnerable population, who usually require specialized medical care and support services. STAR+PLUS Members will be notified if they need to choose a new plan. The deadline to choose a new plan is July 1, 2024.

Why does the health plan you choose matter? Each health plan has a different network of doctors and specialists, value-added services (extra benefits), and home and community-based support providers.

Community First Health Plans is the only local health plan option for residents of Bexar County and the seven surrounding counties.

Community First Health Plans can answer questions and assist STAR+PLUS members during this transition.

Q: What is STAR+PLUS? A: STAR+PLUS is a Medicaid-managed care program for health care and long-term care services for adults who have disabilities or are above age 65.

Q: Why will some people who have STAR+PLUS need to change health plans?

A: Several large health plans that currently offer STAR+PLUS to residents of Bexar County and surrounding areas will no longer provide coverage beginning September 1. You will be notified if you need to select a new plan.

Q: When will coverage under your new plan begin?

A: September 1, 2024 Q: Do health plans offer different value-added services?

A: Yes. Community First offers STAR+PLUS Members extra benefits called value-added services. These include things like in-home respite care, gift card rewards, diabetes prevention and weightloss programs with complimentary YMCA memberships, foot care and insulated cooler bag for members with diabetes, asthma kits for asthmatic members, an allowance for seat attachment that fits on a walker, enhanced vision services, low-cost dental for members and their uninsured family members, home-delivered prepared meals after a hospital stay, a maternity program, baby shower, baby items and gift card rewards for pregnant members, a prescription savings card for uninsured family members, and Zumba classes for members and their families with fitness giveaways.* *Effective September 1, 2024. Eligibility requirements apply.

If you have STAR+PLUS, you should check your mail for information from Health and Human Services and respond right away Report any changes to your phone number or address by calling 2-1-1 or online at YourTexasBenefits.com.

Community First offers in-person available in English and Spanish at the Avenida Guadalupe Community Office located at 1410 Guadalupe Street, Suite 222, San Antonio, TX. Visit CommunityFirstSTARPLUS.com for updates or call 1-844-382-2347 for help in English or Spanish.

PA I D A D V E RT I S E M E N T

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Patios and Parasols: Alfresco Dining at Home and Local Eateries

By Berit Mason

A

lfresco, Italian for “in the fresh air”, is often casual and party-like outside dining, which is especially popular in the summer months.

Maury Henry Biddle Paul is credited for the 1915 phrase, “café society.”

He referred to the beautiful people who gathered at fashionable establishments. Parisian sidewalk cafés are about seeing and seen, while Greek tavernas are practically all outdoors.

It’s about a relaxed attitude towards life–very insouciant.

Europe has long winters and fall, so they really embrace summer and open-air environments. San Antonio has a warm, sunny climate and it’s a town that likes to party, so alfresco is in style. But San Antonio summers are scorchers. Nevertheless, there are strategies to create that perfect alfresco environment. Outdoor seating here must offer shade. Before air conditioning, fans were fashioned into “misters” that blew on buckets of cold water to cool a room – which are used outdoors today.

San Antonio architects and design group, DADO Group, provide tips on how to create an alfresco set-up at home.

“Obviously, shade is a must for the summer months,” says DADO’s Kristin Hefty. “A combination of shade options provides different qualities of experience, and can even provide rain protection. I especially like the quality of dappled light underneath a large tree, although that doesn’t keep the rain out. Air movement is critical, so having the space open on three sides is ideal for cross-ventilation.”

“Don’t tuck the patio into a corner,” she says. “Fans can be hung from shade covers and mister fans can help. Fountains fulfill a similar role, adding a soothing sound and creating a focal point. Plants soften the hardscape 16

| SUMMER 2024 | CELEBRATING 25 YEARS

[landscaping designed by hard, nonliving natural materials] and bring life to the space. A screened porch is a versatile option for all seasons; it will keep bugs out and tall ceilings and fans keep the air moving.”

If you don’t want to go through all that hassle to enjoy a meal in the summer breeze, Scene In SA has picked out some perfect patios for you to check out!

“Patio dining continues to be an important revenue driver for roughly 5,100 restaurants in the San Antonio region,” says Kelsey Erickson Streufert, Chief Public Affairs Officer for the Texas Restaurant Association. “Spending data repeatedly affirms that, even amidst inflation, Texas consumers are willing to invest their time and resources at restaurants that prioritize value and experience. Patio dining is a great way to deliver on that experience.”

La Fonda on Main has one of the prettiest courtyards in town in which to dine.

“Our patios at La Fonda on Main are just as popular in the summer because of the lush gardens and shade from the magnificent 400-year-old oak tree,” says restaurateur Cappy Lawton. “The original patio was the backyard of a house that was built in the 1920s. Today, we have multiple patios, from our urban sidewalk patio with southeasterly breezes and umbrellas to our backyard patios with their vibrant greenery, artistic water features, and numerous trees. We have fans strategically placed throughout, as well as mesh sunshades the color of the Texas sky.”

At Chicken N Pickle on UTSA Boulevard, the experience is about bringing people together, combining eating out with sports, where guests can talk and mingle.

“We cultivate a vibrant, inclusive community, where families, friends and Subscribe today at www.sceneinsa.com

colleagues create memories and connect in a playful backyard setting that fosters human connection.”

A famous establishment seats customers in the middle of a forest. Grey Moss Inn Cocina Mexicana sits on two acres in Grey Forest, Helotes, where one can dine under tall Texas trees next to a cozy fire pit.

“Our Spicy Mojito or the Mary Howell Margarita, named after the original owner of the Grey Moss Inn, are two of our most popular drinks and are perfect to enjoy in our patio under the shade of majestic oak trees and patio lights,” says coowner Martha Valadez. She suggests ordering their signature ceviche, for a cooler summer night out.

Paloma Blanca Mexican Cuisine offers shady areas. “Our fans and light water misters help guests enjoy a Heights Margarita and Ceviche del Mar, even on the hottest of days,” says manager Oscar Balderas. “With light Latin inspired background music and colorful floral gardens throughout you’ll feel like you’ve traveled to a Mexican hacienda.”

Patios are not just for people! Pets can come along for a nice venture out.

The Cove welcomes pets to its huge backyard, but with the caveat: “Dogs must remain on a leash at all times, because we don’t want anyone taking home the wrong dog!”

Some restaurants have added stages for bands to perform, so there’s lots more live music. San Antonio native and professional musician Dave Deering and his band are regularly booked.

“Performing music at venues with outdoor seating is fantastic in San Antonio,” he says. “My Mainstream Jwazz trio plays On The Bend on the San Antonio River Walk, and the band and patrons are energized by the fun, outdoor atmosphere. If the weather is hot, mist machines keep us all cool.

Most of the year, it’s pleasant, with a nice breeze coming off of the river.”

Chef Eduardo Castillo is president of the San Antonio chapter of the Texas Chefs Association. He says a good summer menu is a light menu. “I like light and refreshing items: a chilled salad, grains, beans, chilled grilled lettuces or

cabbages. Also something with fresh fruit or good seasonal produce. Finally, a good piece of fish, or scallops lightly cooked.”

The San Antonio River Walk is one the town’s greatest draws. Relaxing next to the river with a margarita and a Mexican food plate helped bring some 35 million visitors in 2022, according to Visit San Antonio.

“The River Walk embodies the cultural richness, history and vibrancy of the city. Where in the modern world could one dine under century-old cypress trees and alongside a natural ecosystem that nourished the growth of a city?” says President and CEO of Visit San Antonio, Marc Anderson.

“With over ten new restaurants and bars and two new hotels opening on the River Walk since the pandemic, and the launch of River Walk Live!, Visit San Antonio’s new monthly concert series, the San Antonio River Walk continues to attract more locals and visitors every year.”

A most photographed symbol of the city is also its oldest continually operating restaurant. Established in 1946 is Casa Rio, with a colorful canopy of tables that sit at the river’s edge.

“Casa Rio was almost entirely built around the alfresco dining experience,” says Elizabeth Lyons Houston, Vice President of Los Leones, which own Schilo’s and Casa Rio. “Realizing customers preferred dining outside and the company of towering cypress trees, we developed the restaurant around that preference over 78 years ago. And to this day, one of the most iconic moments you can have in our city limits is dining under a colored umbrella, sipping a margarita, and listening to the roaming mariachis sing ‘Volver, Volver.’ Is there anything more San Antonio than that?” n

Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/sceneinsa | Follow us on Instagram @sceneinsamag

CELEBRATING 25 YEARS I SUMMER 2024 |

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Wine, Women & Shoes Editor: Leslie Foley

Make-A-Wish Central & South Texas hosted its inaugural Wine Women & Shoes event at The Red Berry Estate. The day was an irresistible blend of fashion and compassion with women coming together to get glamorous with their girlfriends while enjoying incredible varietals from top winemakers––all for a good cause.

Make-A-Wish Central & South Texas’ sipsational event featured Hill Country wines, a shoppable multi-designer marketplace, and charming Shoe Guys™ serving up this season’s must-haves on silver platters.

Blythe Cox and Desiree De Leon

Fashion show by Saks Fifth Avenue

Rachel Poe, Gaby Esq, Brijal Patel, Dryana Dryja, Wela Henry and Andrea Alvizo

In addition to shopping peep-toes while sipping Pinots, guests enjoyed a fashion show and pop-up shop from Saks Fifth Avenue, designer shopping, live and silent auction and Key to the Getaway giveaway.

The event benefited Make-A-Wish Central & South Texas, raising more than $140,000 to support its mission of creating lifechanging wishes for children with critical illnesses. Every 20 minutes a child is diagnosed with a critical illness. Every one of these children needs a wish to bring them hope and joy. Make-A-Wish Central & South Texas grants more than 300 wishes each year to eligible children in Central and South Texas.n

Maria Kalb, Barb Quinn, Mari Denson, Leslie Lloyd, Lorena Kieser and Kim Stone

Stepping out!

Brenda Leal and Sidney Aguirre

Pharos Wealth Strategies-Gina Ballard, Hailey Ballard, Pagette Callender, Michelle Estes, Durquia Guillen, Sandra Martin, Brenda Smith and Kim Till

Tricia Box, Monroe May and Jeri May

Tracey Krause and Ann Hughes

A step in the right direction

Winner of the best in shoe contest Leslie Lloyd shopping My Maria Victoria pop-up 18

| SUMMER 2024 | CELEBRATING 25 YEARS

Shoe Guys - Charles Handley, Matthew Hawkins, Monroe May, Jonathan McJunkin, King of Sole Taylor Gaines, Caleb Etheridge and Allen Dowling © 2024 SCENE MONTHLY LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Subscribe today at www.sceneinsa.com

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elebrating over 80 years, the firm has represented corporate officials, doctors, lawyers, judges, legislators, journalists,

athletes, entertainers, public officials and others. Dedicated to improving our Justice System and holding prosecutors accountable.

i

G&O represented exoneree Michael Morton, who wrongfully served 25 years for the murder of his wife, resulting in the reform of criminal discovery in Texas and the first ever criminal conviction of a prosecutor for the intentional suppression of favorable evidence. The firm represented exoneree, Hannah Overton, whose capital murder case was reversed and dismissed, got the first confession of error for Texas’ youngest death row inmate, and continues to seek vindication for Cameron Todd Willingham, whose wrongful execution was based on junk science.

i

G&O has successfully represented prominent business, professional, and public figures facing criminal and regulatory difficulties, including a U.S. Congressman in the Abscam Scandal, wrestler “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, rappers 2 Live Crew, NFL and NBA players, former Panamanian President Manuel Noriega before the United States Supreme Court, a lawyer in Operation Brilab and Gonzo journalist Dr. Hunter S. Thompson.

315 E. Commerce St., Suite 301 | San Antonio, TX 78205 Tel: (210) 226-1463 | Fax: (210) 226-8367

GOLDSTEINORR.LAW

21st Annual Le Brunch des Chapeaux Editor: Leslie Foley Photographer: Torry Sledge Heather Willoughby Eason, Sarah Willoughby Reininger, Kenda Willoughby and Ruth Willoughby

Carroll Dorsey Walker, Courtney Schultz and Debi Flume

Lisa Watel, Christi Tidwell and Linda Walsdorf

Benefiting the Autism Community Network, Le Brunch des Chapeaux once again featured one-of-a-kind, and in some instances, overthe-top fabulous hats adorned with ribbons, bows, feathers, and sparkly accents, to list a few embellishments. Passed champagne, cotton candy, photo ops, and entertainment greeted guests as they mingled and made their way to the beautifully-set tables on the gorgeous lawn of the Argyle. The theme was an homage to the late 19th-century French circus complete with aerialists, stilt walkers, and circus artists. Five hundred and thirty guests enjoyed fashions by ALEMAIS, the featured designer presented by Julian Gold. The fun didn’t stop ‘til much later, following the afterparty where the wine and champagne flowed! n

Eleanor Pfirrmann, Mayra Farret, Rocio Heller and Kimberly Overby

Tricia Cantwell, Laura Humphries, Kenda Willoughby, Stacey Darr, Liz Jauer, Nancy Clark, Kathryn Howie and Stacy Foerster

Mayra Farret, Denise Tijerina, Tiffany Mills, Annie DeKoch, Carroll Dorsey Walker and Kimberly Overby are the winners for best chapeaux 20

Brunch co-chairs Cindy Dawson and Charlotte Dawson, mother-in-law/daughter-in-law duo

| SUMMER 2024 | CELEBRATING 25 YEARS

Katie Courtney and Karen Bonney

Hannah Hudson, Brooke Leddy, Lauren Gordon, Kelly Leddy and Muffin Moorman Subscribe today at www.sceneinsa.com

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Martini Party Editor & Photographer: Leslie Foley

San Antonio Martini Foundation & Trust hosted its annual Martini Party at the Witte Museum. One thousand guests attended the event which was chaired by Adam Buck.

Henry and The Invisibles entertained the crowd on a cool evening outdoors. Terrin Fuhrmann was installed as the newest director. The Foundation was formed in 1946 by Kay Jones, Dick Self and Jim Rutledge. The yearly celebration is held in March each year to celebrate friendship and goodwill amongst community leaders.n

Carrie Kimbell, Kayla Carter, Dr. Alexis Wiesenthal Miles, KJ Feder and Eliana Mijangos-Brown

Carly Randall, Mary-Margaret Hasslocher and Rachel Holland

Directors of the San Antonio Martini Foundation & Trust

Patricia Simmons-Lopez, Brandyn and DJ Rodriguez

Walk the red carpet and meet the directors

Tinker Mass Schultz and River Walk Prince 2024 Victor M. Garcia

Garrett Ford and Luke Holland

Newest director Terrin Fuhrmann 22

Dr. Alexis Wiesenthal Miles and Dr. John Edwards

Nathan Anderson and Hazel Davis Anderson

| SUMMER 2024 | CELEBRATING 25 YEARS

Judge Rosie Speedlin Gonzalez and Stacy Speedlin Gonzalez

Rey Feo John McFdden and Dr. Alexis Wiesenthal Miles © 2024 SCENE MONTHLY LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Subscribe today at www.sceneinsa.com

Come on Barbie, Let’s Go Party!

Editor & Photographer: Leslie Foley

San Antonio Gardenia Fine Arts Club presented an over-the-top annual spring style show and luncheon featuring fashions by Julian Gold and a Barbie Bubbly Bar.

Vicki Flavin, Carol O’Brien, Caro Canales, Tenchita Flores and Rebecca Reed

Upon entering Barbie’s World, Barbie fans placed bids at the sparkly auction, found beauty at the Mondini Creativity Corner, took selfies at the Barbie Snap Station, and dared to dream big during the Woodlawn Theatre performance. Event co-chairs Dorothy Basso and Anne Gamboa outshined Barbie herself at this pink party extravaganza.

The signature pink party fundraiser raised funds to recognize fine arts students in and around San Antonio, as well as to help fund various special events during the club year.n

Iris Ann Francis and Judy Gillis

Melissa Rubiola, Debi Flume, Sharon Adelman, Carrie DeWitt, Marnie Atlas, Traci Hunter, president Courtney Schultz, co-chair Dorothy Basso, Martha Coerver, Shelby Colman, Rebecca Long, Felicia Baldwin and co-chair Anne Gamboa

Emily McMichael, Christi Tidwell, DeeAnn Simpson, Sharron Batchelor and Ursula Pari-Macleod

Emcee Leslie Mouton

Denise DeGeare, Melissa Marino, Tricia Cantwell, Jan Schardonofsky, Kathy Stell, Donna Seiler, Laura Humphries and Nancy Woodall

Barbara Zars and Beverly Walsdorf

Kathryn Martinez, Martha O’Neill, Suzanne Marco, Cindy Rubsamen and Lisa Granzie

Norma Edwards and Kim Cruse

Performing Gardenia member Barbies are Melissa Gonzales, Mary Doggett and Beth Erwin

24

| SUMMER 2024 | CELEBRATING 25 YEARS

Ashley Roberts, Kristen Campbell, Alison Bagley, Jennifer Jones and Margaret Marble

Lynn Riddick, Carroll Dorsey Walker, Annalise Smolik and Jennie Hart © 2024 SCENE MONTHLY LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Subscribe today at www.sceneinsa.com

Enter the Creamery:

By Nick Blevins

Photography by Bethany Castro and Nick Blevins

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| SUMMER 2024 | CELEBRATING 25 YEARS

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A Look Inside One of San Antonio’s Newest Venues

S

an Antonio is big. While you likely don’t need me to tell you that, you’d think that there’d be more consideration given to the sheer amount of travel time it takes to get anywhere in town. Plotting a day that includes multiple stops frequently means having to account for mood-altering levels of traffic at some point, and the closer you get to downtown, the more likely you are to have to pay for the time your vehicle spends parked.

More recent developments like the Pearl have begun to address certain aspects of the issue, but it can still be challenging to find places that catch the interest of everybody in the party. Where’s a person looking for more good options in a reasonable radius to go?

Have you heard of the Creamery, friend?

What was, once upon a time, the Borden milk plant in Tobin Hill is now home to seven (with an eighth in the works) unique restaurants, cafes, lounges, and a sports bar, collectively known as the Creamery District.

Scene In SA sat down with owner and operator Moris Saide to discuss the various and carefully crafted concepts within and the thought processes behind their inception.

There really does seem to be something for everybody. In addition to a barber shop and gift shop, both operating out of the glistening, silver Airstreams parked on site, other concepts within the Creamery District include the delicious, wide-ranging fare from Hook: Land and Sea, and Tribute, a sports bar to accommodate your various sports-watching needs. Another interesting prospect in development involves a barge on the nearby river. Looking out to the community beyond the Creamery, we asked Saide about potential plans going forward.

Each location has a very distinct identity. Were there any unique challenges in bringing these concepts to fruition?

“I love that question. I’m better when I explain myself in sports analogies.

Okay, so I really like soccer. You can train and prepare for the World Cup with the best team that you brought, and you can plan all the plays. But once you get to the country that you’re going to play, and you’re going to play against a different team, you can plan for whatever you can—but then things change, and you have to adapt or pivot, whatever you need to do to win the match or to recover from a loss.

The way I see it in these types of projects—and the fact that it’s a historical building, in the industry that we are, that is hospitality—is that it’s an everevolving industry; it doesn’t stop.

When we started, one of the main ideas was to have a food hall. Back then it was a big trend. But then COVID hit, and it showed us that it could be a big challenge to have a food hall.

And then we said, ‘How can you create a concept or multiple concepts that coexist in the same environment and help each other be

successful?’ [We were] trying to figure out the target demographic, and then reverse engineer that.”

How can we create a concept that is not just coffee?

“We landed with the idea of a European-style coffee shop because in Europe, you can go to a coffee shop in the middle of the day and have an espresso, read the newspaper, or smoke a cigarette, or have a glass of wine and read a book, or have a beer and have a meeting, or have a date and share a piece of an apple pie.

That’s the concept and twist behind Crème: How can we create something [where there’s] always an excuse to come visit? It’s not only for coffee.

That’s why Crème is a gathering spot.

And then after that, okay, what’s next? Drinks. So, okay, a bar. What type of bar? We started with Amelia, for one very particular reason: it’s the space inside the Creamery that I believe has the most history, you know, or the most character.

It was a machine room. Out of all the spaces that we had, this one had the most machines, and they were all connected and they all served a particular purpose; 100 years ago, 90 years ago, so I don’t know what the purpose was.

But, you could feel the importance of this space.

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CELEBRATING 25 YEARS I SUMMER 2024 |

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Sometimes a name really can say it all. Hook: Land and Sea offers attractively-presented, elevated takes on surf and turf classics with light, low-key ambiance. Try the tuna carpaccio for a fresh fish featuring an engagingly-punchy dressing, or tuck in to the newest fish and chips in town – you can’t go wrong.

Crème is a bright, roomy coffee lounge with ample comfortable seating, and work-on-the-go-friendly accommodations. Featuring tea and cocktails alongside a solid coffee selection, there’s no bad time of day to check it out. While I didn’t end up trying one of the many sweet treats on offer near the checkout, the mocha is chocolatey and mild – an ideal afternoon pick-me-up. Also, for all you lavender lovers out there, try ordering a Lainey, and thank me later.

How do you translate that to a concept? And how do you give [it] the amount of importance that the concept needs? We decided to name it after somebody that made history: Amelia Earhart, because for us, it’s to pay homage or celebrate all the successful businesswomen that we have in San Antonio, and there’s a lot!”

I’d like to ask about Chika. Phenomenal. Chef Jonathan Reyes had a story for every piece, and he had this central refrain of wanting to tie these exotic, interesting ingredients he was using to the heart of San Antonio. Are you still trying to keep it low-key?

“Going [back] to the original [analogy]—that you have a plan in mind to go win the World Cup, but then things change along the way: that [was] the whole purpose of Chika, to keep its secrecy. But a lot of people and friends kept asking; have you opened? And I don’t have social media, so I don’t broadcast anything. I said, guys, you know what? Let’s launch [an] Instagram. Let’s keep it—maybe let’s not boost it throughout the, I don’t know, entire world, but at least let’s do something so that people know that Chika is there. Because it’s a pretty cool experience.”

Pleasantly dark and cozy, Amelia looks to offer a cool respite after a long day out in sunny San Antonio. Private, furnished corners provide space for those working into the evening, and the bar’s healthy selection of cocktails give plenty to choose from for those looking for something tasty to drink.

that was the whole purpose. Free parking, easy access. Multiple reasons for you to stay here. If you don’t like the vibe here, go 20 steps up, and it’s Lunatique.”

If not, go 20 steps down, and it’s Easy Baby. If not, go to Chika. So, there’s different, I want to say, opportunities for people to enjoy the Creamery, and stay here.”

As far as events and partnerships go, do you have specific concepts in mind or projects coming up?

“So, yes. The next one is going to be a festival here for the city of San Antonio at Hemisfair Park, and we’re working with several strategic partners to make it a pretty cool, successful one, covering every angle of the festival.

The whole experience is very well considered.

“By the end of the night when you finish your omakase experience, everybody in that bar knows everyone in that bar. And maybe a friendship is going to start out of that.

In the omakase, it’s more quiet, you have a good conversation, great dinner, and then you walk outside and it’s Easy Baby, and it’s a different beat.

Going back to the original question ‘How do you start crafting all these concepts [so] that they don’t compete, they coexist?’ Because we can start having dinner at the Omakase at 6 p.m., and then at 7:30, the live jazz starts, so why don’t we have a couple of martinis here? The party’s going to keep going by 9.30; you know what? Let’s go to Easy Baby for another drink.

So, people end up staying here, guests can stay here for five, six hours; 28

| SUMMER 2024 | CELEBRATING 25 YEARS

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We want to develop more of a concept than just a festival with stages and music. We love music. We love to entertain. We love to provide the food, the drinks, [the] experience.But how do you make that into a concept and execute something that is for the city of San Antonio and to showcase our city to the people that are not from San Antonio?

They will travel for this type of festival; you know, like the Day of the Dead. I think they have been executing it so well that you see how the numbers of attendees grow per year.

There’s a lot of things in San Antonio, but there’s always kind of like a— the way I see it, when we bring artists from out of town – names like Steve Aoki, Above and Beyond, Purple Disco from Europe, Afrojack [for example] – when they come to San Antonio and they see what we have to offer, they fall in love with the city, all of them.

But they usually go to either Houston, Dallas, [or] Austin. But San Antonio has a lot to offer, so when we’re doing that festival that we have been planning for, I want to say a little bit more than two years, it’s going to be great. It’s going to represent all of that. When people come visit, they’re going to see what San Antonio is made of.” n This interview was edited for clarity.

The Creamery District is located at 875 E. Ashby Place.

For more information, check out their website at www.thecreamerysatx.com

Chika is, in a word, an experience. Greater than the sum of its parts – and it’s got some pretty great parts – the intimate, neon-lit omakase spot helmed by Chef Jonathan Reyes turns on his bustling economy of creative culinary concepts. Every single ingredient is thoughtfully implemented, and has its place. Often, they were unexpected, but with the exception of a whitefish adorned generously with parmesan (and being cheese-averse, I realize I’m in a very small minority, here), virtually always welcome. Flavor and aesthetics are in harmony within those walls; I won’t spoil all of the surprises here, but make sure to arrive with an open mind and an empty stomach!

Just a few steps from Chika lies Easy Baby.

A prominent DJ booth bearing the purple-andorange neon nom de l’entreprise overlooks the dancefloor, leading to a lamp-lit, well-stocked bar. Tastefully-dim lighting and comfortable seating abound, and popular records from across the decades adorn the walls in this aestheticallypleasing nightclub.

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Lunatique, billed as a “rooftop garden”, looks to offer good views, refreshing brews, and light chews from the top of the Creamery District. In a neat artistic consideration, as the small trees planted along Lunatique’s perimeter grow and spread their canopies, corresponding leaves will be added to the metal-work tree gracing the center. Though an afternoon get-together there might be a touch warm at present, expect this location to fill up as the weather cools down.

CELEBRATING 25 YEARS I SUMMER 2024 |

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Introducing the Fiesta Teen Queen:

A Glimpse Into Royalty Jules Aldaz Fashion & Editorial Stylist

S

an Antonio’s Fiesta is a vibrant and colorful

celebration

steeped

in

tradition and history, and at the heart of this grand event are the Fiesta Queens. These queens – adorned in

stunning gowns and intricate crowns – epitomize the grace and cultural richness of the festival.

From the elaborate parades to the elegant balls, the fashion of Fiesta Queens has evolved over the years, reflecting both historical influences and contemporary trends. Each queen’s attire is not just about beauty—it tells a story of heritage, community, and personal expression.

The tradition of Fiesta Queens dates back to the early 20th century, when the first queens were crowned to honor the city’s cultural heritage and contribute to the festive atmosphere. Over the decades, the role of a Fiesta Queen has grown to embody leadership, philanthropy, and a deep connection to San Antonio’s diverse community. The gowns, often custom-made, are a spectacular blend of artistry and craftsmanship, designed to capture the essence of each event they grace.

One of the cherished titles within the Fiesta Court is the Fiesta Teen Queen, represented by a vibrant young woman who brings her unique style and vision to the festivities. This year, we had the pleasure of speaking with the current Fiesta Teen Queen, Ryan Scrimpshire, who shared her journey and insights into the world of Fiesta royalty.

What was your platform for Fiesta Teen?

“Embrace Life in Full Bloom. Inspired by my recovery from spinal fusion surgery, I embody a life of gratitude and resilience. My crown, train, and

Photographer - Robin Jansky @robinjansky 30

| SUMMER 2024 | CELEBRATING 25 YEARS

medal reflect this journey, with flowers prominently featured in their design.”

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How did you get involved with the Fiesta Court?

“I got involved through the Woman’s Club of San Antonio. The club has one of the seven official Fiesta Queens, The Fiesta Teen Queen.”

Is participating in the Fiesta Court something you wanted to do for years, or did your interest develop over time? In other words, what piqued your interest?

“I used to see the royalty in the Battle of the Flowers Parades and imagine myself being one of them.”

What is the process to be crowned Fiesta Teen Queen?

“The Fiesta Teen Queen is selected by the club from a pool of qualified Ingenue candidates during the beginning of their senior year. The Ingenue must meet certain criteria and those that are qualified can run and the club members vote on the winner.”

What inspired you to pick your gowns?

“I love flowy style gowns and tried to coordinate each gown with the theme and tone of the event or parade. It was also important to me that the gowns enhanced my crown.”

How did you select your wardrobe for all your events?

“Each outfit was selected to compliment my custom-made crown and align with my platform ‘Live Life in Full Bloom.’ I found Hemline located at The Quarry very helpful with my vision.”

Through her dedication and style, the Fiesta Teen Queen continues to be an inspiring figure in the San Antonio Fiesta, representing the future of this cherished tradition while honoring its rich past. Her involvement and the meticulous care in selecting her wardrobe highlight the importance of fashion in celebrating and preserving cultural heritage. n Gown by Mac Duggal Teen Queen’s outfits by Hemline Medal by Anne Folkes at The Prestigious Mark Crown by Veronica Prida (@pridarodriguez) For more style information, follow @julesaldaz on Instagram or visit www.jules.style.

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CELEBRATING 25 YEARS I SUMMER 2024 |

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Roca & Martillo

R E S TA U R A N T R E V I E W

By Zach Jewell Deciding where to go for an anniversary dinner can be a daunting task. San Antonio is chock full of great options. When you’re like me and my partner though, adventure needs to be at the top of the menu. We enjoy trying something new and exciting that combines familiar flavors with new ones.

Recently, we’ve been hearing about this hidden gem called The Rock at La Cantera, and had been wanting to catch an outdoor movie on their lush lawn.

Little did we know, however, there was also a brand new restaurant opening in its midst.

The entire experience at Roca & Martillo is exactly like their logo, which I can only describe as elegant minimalism. The restaurant looks unassuming as you approach its modern exterior; white adobe walls and clean straight lines make it blend in well with the space it shares with Frost plaza and the Victory Capital Performance Center. The interior has a modern rustic vibe with earth tones and some vibrant pops of color in just the right places.

Bar Manager, Eric Guillermo and Food and Beverage Director, Andrew Aldape

The menu complements the aesthetic, boasting American and Italian comfort foods with a flair. Our waitress Desiree recommended drinks: a vodka and hibiscus-based cocktail called “Full of Flowers” and a ginbased one called “The Eastern Sunset.” Each was mixed to perfection and super refreshing on an uncomfortably hot day. Food and Beverage Director Andrew Aldape came by to introduce himself and inform us that, to make the cocktail menu their own, the drinks all have a twist on Chef Jason Dady’s original recipes.

Then the food started coming out. As if we weren’t already excited enough about the cocktails, they started us off with the baked goat cheese and baked gorgonzola from the “Cazuelas” menu. Both were rich and flavorful, with surprising notes as well. Chef Scott Ronczkowski also sent out an order of deviled eggs, which were a beautifully elevated take on a classic staple. Honestly, all of that would have been enough for us to feel sated; nonetheless, our entreés arrived. Sweet tea-brined pork tenderloin, and duck confit with house-pulled pasta—we were in heaven. There was no need to add anything to these dishes. Every bite was mouthwatering with an explosion of flavor brought forward by the perfect amount of salt.

Full of Flowers and The Eastern Sunset

The staff were warm and welcoming, including the chef, bar manager, and food and beverage director, who each took the time out of their day to come chat with us and express their pride for the space and the menu alike. One of the bartenders even stepped away from making drinks to show us the lovely rooftop, where you can watch Spurs games and movies on the giant television adjacent to the restaurant.

We walked away full and happy, feeling a little bit closer to one another for sharing a truly dynamic and unexpected comfort food experience. Thank you, Chef Jason Dady and everyone who put in the work to make Roca & Martillo the perfect spot to enjoy a beautiful anniversary dinner without having to fight downtown crowds. n

Pork Tenderloin, Baked Gorgonzola, and Duck Confit

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| SUMMER 2024 | CELEBRATING 25 YEARS

View at the bar

Rooftop view

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nlike many other societies on this earth, we live in a society that is largely structured by law. Law protects private property for the benefit of the living, the dead or those yet to be born. Law protects our person and property from harm by willful force and other acts of nefarious men. Law provides for our right to due process if society or its actors try to take our freedom or our property. The law defines the pathways by which we create, build, protect and convey all value and lawyers are our guides down those pathways. Sometimes the law and lawyers can achieve justice.

best lawyers. Here’s how they responded across 80 distinct areas of law (without being able to nominate themselves or solely others in their firm). Nominated lawyers are organized according to length in practice in Texas: 15+ years (“most experienced”), 5-15 years (“well established”), and less than five years. Listings are alphabetical, by practice area.

Of course all of the survey data in the world is meaningless without results. Our survey cannot predict results for those who practice law and those who engage them to achieve results.

Lawyers practicing in San Antonio and Bexar County told Scene In SA who they believed to be the city’s Disclaimer: The information presented in Best SA Lawyers 2024 and Top SA Surgeons 2024 does not constitute legal or medical/health advice, nor is it a lawyer/legal or physician/ healthcare referral service. Scene In SA is an independent magazine published by Scene Monthly, LLC and has developed its own methodology for selecting practitioners for its Best SA Lawyers and Top SA Surgeon lists. All practitioners featured were selected by their peers in surveys conducted by Scene In SA. Paid advertising has no bearing on the determination of Best SA Lawyers and Top SA Surgeons. Scene In SA strives to maintain a high degree of accuracy in collecting and providing the information presented, but makes no claim, promise, or guarantee about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained herein. Best SA Lawyers and Top SA Surgeons are trademarks used by Scene In SA and Scene Monthly, LLC for this publication, not a title or moniker conferred upon individual practitioners. The selection of a lawyer or physician/healthcare practitioner is an important decision and should not be based solely on the information provided in this publication. No representation is made that the quality of services provided or performed by the practitioners listed will be better than that of other licensed practitioners, and past results do not guarantee future success. Scene In SA and Scene Monthly, LLC are not affiliated with any federal, state, administrative, or regulatory bodies or examining, licensing, and/ or certifying entities (such as the Texas Board of Legal Specialization or American Board of Medical Specialties). These listings are merely descriptive of a practice area and do not certify or designate a lawyer or physician/healthcare practitioner to be a specialist. Scene In SA does not endorse or otherwise recommend persons who may appear on this list.

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Best SA Lawyers of 2024 Construction & Surety

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40

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42

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Best SA Lawyers of 2024 David T. Emory

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44

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Maria T. LoRusso, P.C. BUSINESS/CORPORATE LAW | FASHION LAW ATTORNEY MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION | FINANCE | ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR IN PRACTICE

j

AWARDS

J

Officer, Board of Directors Fashion Group International, Inc., SA 2018-2019 | Top Attorneys of North America, Corporate/Business Law 2017 – 2023 | Who’s Who Top Professionals, Attorneys Ed. 2016 | Best of USA – Attorneys: Corporate/Business Law | Best of USA.org 2016-2017 | Vogue Magazine December 2015, May/September 2016, March Style Issue 2017 | Boardroom Elite Award (New York) 2017 Corporate/Business | San Antonio Woman Magazine July/August 2015 | Forbes November 2017 | Small Business Lawyer of the Year – Finance Monthly Law Awards, 2018

At the intersection of Law and Finance, lies my role as a Corporate/Business Attorney.

This niche positions me to serve my clients as an in-house counsel serves a large corporation. Developing economic strategies to successfully integrate and coordinate the management of business affairs, analyze contracts and leases, manage litigation, assist CEOs, CFOs, tax professionals, banking/investment advisors and insurance representatives, into the legal and financial infrastructure of a business. Legal representation and business counsel are essential resources for every business owner – together they become the road map and compass to navigate a successful course to continued success.

210.404.9200 | lorussobusinesslaw.com 19202 HUEBNER ROAD, SUITE 103 | SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS

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48

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Best SA Lawyers of 2024 Mergers & Acquisitions

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The Morales Firm, PC

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CELEBRATING 25 YEARS I SUMMER 2024 |

55

For Goodness’ Sake:

Erica Shimamura Cultivates Community

By Ayesha M. Malik

E

rica Shimamura has a gift – and that gift is bringing people together.

Where our society disproportionately emphasizes hyperindividualism and a survival-of-the-fittest mentality, she is able to get communities to show up and support one another. As they say, it takes a village and Erica is a champion of cultivating it through her 501(c) nonprofit organization, 4 Goodness Project, Inc. I learned about Erica this past spring when I attended the Lunar New Year Festival on the block where the legendary, now-closed Westside gem Jefferson Bodega was situated. I knew right then that I had to interview her.

It was only natural that I found Erica and her project partner Izzy Tang chatting with friends about her next event, a back-to-school block party, as I approached to speak with them. After settling in, I handed her a stack of past Scene In SA issues. She immediately pointed to the Fall 2023 issue featuring Shek Vega and Burgundy Woods of San Antonio Street Art Initiative and excitedly exclaimed, “I’m partnering with them!”

(As I’ve said many times before, and as Erica would also point out herself, part of the magic of San Antonio is that it is the Most Small-Town Big City™ in existence. Somehow, in the seventh largest city in the country, everyone knows each other.)

It was apparent Erica was perfect for Puro SA. Within seconds of meeting her for the first time, I was already getting the scoop about the Back Da Block party she was putting on in collaboration with one of Scene In SA’s past Puro picks on August 31 (Save the date and follow @4goodness_sa on Instagram for updates!)

Instead of arranging the traditional backpack and school supply drive, Erica revealed she 56

| SUMMER 2024 | CELEBRATING 25 YEARS

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was inspired to give back to her community by organizing to provide an oft-overlooked backto-school necessity, haircuts, to students for free during a family-friendly event full of music, art, and local vendors. In addition to providing spaces and opportunities to empower area entrepreneurs, her ethos is firm in recognizing and maintaining the dignity and humanity of people who may be in need.

Erica’s philanthropic efforts accelerated when the global COVID-19 pandemic meant stay-athome orders and losses of livelihoods. Many were struggling to put food on their tables. She discovered she couldn’t sit idly by when a fellow worker was impacted.

“The reason I launched [4Goodness SA] was I saw a need for a friend of mine and I just kind of started building off of that. When everything shut down during COVID, I saw the barista [from my corporate office job].

He’s the most cheerful and wholesome, wholeheartedly-loved-his-job kinda guy. He was going through a tough time. I saw him at the dreaded experience of having to put stuff back at the grocery store and I thought ‘I’m just gonna buy the stuff he put back.’ I went over to him and I talked to him for a bit.”

It was almost as if there was a form of survivor’s guilt that motivated Erica to rally a swarm of people to spread positivity and show true human compassion, not charity. “I got to go home and keep my job. [He] went home with complete uncertainty. How unfair is that? He revealed what he was going through, so I was like, let me ask a few people. I set up shop for people to drive by and put something, like a letter of encouragement, essentials, whatever, into a box. 400 people showed up just within a couple of hours, with some driving in from Austin, San Marcos, New Braunfels to bring him a letter, toilet paper, gift cards to H-E-B. It’s pretty incredible what people will do when you just ask them and you’re completely transparent about what you’re asking of them. It doesn’t need to be a grand gesture.”

As the pandemic continued to ravage communities, Erica, along with Luke Horgan of Jefferson Bodega, leapt into action to distribute food after a San Antonio wedding and corporate event planning company fumbled a $39 million federal contract under the United States Department of Agriculture’s Farmers to Families Food Box Program to source, store, pack, and deliver millions of pounds of perishable food—failing thousands of San Antonio residents in the process.

“Bottom line was there’s a bunch of food and a bunch of people who need it.” Erica reached out to Jamie Gonzalez-Stevens—an activist, pioneer of food access programs, board member of the Food Policy Council of San Antonio, and creator of the Big Fresh Market Box delivering fresh produce to local households and a mobile produce market called Mercado Por Tu Corazón (meaning “Market for Your Heart”)—to help arrange logistics with trucks. The rest was history, with a lot of hard work and volunteers, of course.

Erica recalled shutting down streets with just bodies and directing traffic a mile long. “We couldn’t guarantee everybody would get food, but people were getting in line and waiting an hour. Some of them got there two hours early, just to make sure they got food because they had five kids or they were a single person. One thing that set us apart from most food distribution was that we didn’t want your ID, income qualifications. People were like, what if someone takes advantage? I promise you, rich people – this was not on their radar.” Izzy chimed in, “They weren’t gonna wait in line.”

Erica emphasized that the needs of the people came before worrying about possible bad intentions of a few hypothetical actors: “Everybody needs to eat. We’re just going to figure out how to feed as many as we can. And that’s all we did, week after week until the food ran out.”

That said, Erica’s work is more than just about doing good through generosity toward one another—it’s about nurturing the community she wants to live in by curating spaces for genuine human connections. Growing up in San Antonio as half-Ecuadorian and half-Japanese, Erica endured a unique void and isolation that resulted in her feeling a lack of belonging to her Asian and Latina identities.

“In my experience, I didn’t realize being non-Mexican was an issue until I moved here, or that being a different kind of Asian mattered.” Erica also mentioned the prevalent prejudice against mixed-race individuals. “People from similar backgrounds were so adamant about not forming a community, but now, children of immigrants are recognizing that we grew up isolated because we were divided. If we had united, imagine how much more successful we could have been in increasing representation here.”

“They didn’t calculate for logistics and distribution,” Shimamura stated. Erica and Luke filled in that crucial gap and had their eyes set on maximizing the amount of good they could do by arranging distribution events in front of the beloved Bodega.

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In a few years, she has grown her Lunar New Year Festival and buzzing night markets inspired by her trips to Japan, China, Thailand, and other countries.

“The one thing that was common ground was the night markets. The food, the people, the merchants. It’s a buzzing warmth that you can’t get anywhere else, a CELEBRATING 25 YEARS I SUMMER 2024 |

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universal language where it doesn’t matter that I don’t speak Thai or Chinese. But you know what? I can get around a night market. I ate well and people looked out for me.”

And clearly, Erica hit the nail on the head in recreating that fuzzy feeling because the community and small local businesses show up.

Content warning: The w interview portion of this article includes brief mentions of suicide and gun violence.

Why do you work so hard to foster human connections?

“COVID was such an isolating experience. People were experiencing loneliness in a much deeper sense. I saw how people show up if you just ask them to. This all started to become an homage to my parents. Both of my parents committed suicide when I was 26. I saw them struggle with that isolating feeling. Had they had someone advocating for them, I think it would have made all the difference. My parents would have never experienced anything like it. It wasn’t until toward the end of their lives that they saw the value of building relationships with folks who weren’t Japanese or from Ecuador. They had been through so much turmoil in trying to start a business – businesses starting and ending; the turmoil of having a relationship, career, and mixed kids; the silent struggle immigrants that experience.

I spent a lot of time being angry. And nothing would come of it. I was still mad, sad, and lonely. I was pushing everybody away. I was a much more abrasive person back then. I felt like I had every right to be angry, and I did.

But I pushed so many people away that when I attempted to commit suicide, no one had checked on me. I had to get up and clean up the mess I made of myself after two days. I was like, ‘Well, sh*t. Now what? I keep waking up everyday and I’m still alive. What am I going to do with my life?’ Maybe I’ll try the alternative and just be happy that I get another day, another chance to do something. And now, how do I serve the universe for saving my life? I’m gonna do dope sh*t and make people feel important because they are. You could mean the world to one person and they’re gonna save lives and decide to do something different. [The markets are] not just a party with cool music and good food.

I think that, in the world right now, with as much heartache as there is and how much people are at odds and we’re at war with everything, it comes down to these basic little connections that can make a world of difference.

So, maybe we’re not going to cure everything, but maybe we prevent the next horrible thing because someone felt like they belonged, were loved or cared for, or recognized.”

How did your experience and volunteering to serve the San Antonio community during COVID evolve into all the markets 58

| SUMMER 2024 | CELEBRATING 25 YEARS

and cool events you put on and the small business community you’ve helped cultivate?

“People were dying [during COVID]. And people were dying for a connection. They were showing up and they didn’t even need food.

They were there because they just wanted to be somewhere. So, I started doing pop-up markets—not to make money off of people, but for them to see what their money really does. Full transparency, if you pay me $25 to pop-up shop, your $25 is helping pay a DJ who otherwise didn’t have a job. It’s paying this other guy, who wouldn’t have otherwise had a job to set up chairs and tables. It pays this other local company. Everything just pays for each other. I’m just the organizer.

These aren’t just my events. They belong to everyone there. They’re the ones who fund it. They’re why I’m able to afford to get barricades, security, porta-potties. What’s most important to us is that every vendor feels valued. So, we ask them how they’re doing, if they need anything, food, water.

Funny thing is, the most radical thing we’re doing is holding place for people. We don’t know their story, and quite frankly, it doesn’t matter. They just wanted somewhere to be and we have a place for them. We’d tell them we want them there and they would ask, ‘Can I help?’ It’s like, ‘Absolutely, come help me take this trash out.’ On a very basic level, that’s where this all started. I had a collection of sneakers like Jordans and designer bags and I sold it all so I could launch a 501(c) organization. In three years, I went from like 15 vendors to 150. It wasn’t until recently that I started dragging Izzy into it because it started getting so big that I needed help.”

Was it worth it?

“It’s just like this back-and-forth between businesses. I started going to [businesses] and introducing myself and telling them what I want to do.

It’s so hard to run a business on your own. It’s so hard to get through your days on your own. If you just have someone who’s willing to hold a spot for you to be like, ‘I want you to show the one thing you’re most proud of or that you love to do. And then we get 40 other people who do the one thing they lost the most and we’re not here to charge them a million dollars [in vendor fees] for it. Most of them, if not all, make, curate, build, bake, and cook their own items. And you get to have an experience whether or not you have any money to spend. Is it worth it? Maybe someday it will be. I don’t make any money [from it]. [Izzy and I] still have our regular full-time jobs and it’s literally just us dividing-and-conquering the planning for these things just so the city can experience it and see that we don’t need anything else but each other. But we do need to have that community.”

Speaking of bringing community together, you brought together a whole village for a young 15-year old photographer and his mother in San Antonio who were Subscribe today at www.sceneinsa.com

victims of recent gun violence. You even organized a Zander Night with the Spurs. Tell me more about Zander and Angela Fernandez.

“I was going through the trial-anderror of how to successfully set up a market [around three years ago].

They set up shop and he was the most helpful, charismatic child I’d ever met. [Zander] was so intuitive of the needs of the others. That is something you don’t see in most people, but certainly not a 12-yearold. Setting up a market, it takes hours before and Angela was always early to events. You’re spending so much time together [at markets], so I got to know her and Zander.

He told me his story of how he won his camera at a Spurs game during Christmas. [He told them he wanted] a professional lens camera and they were like, ‘You’re 10’ and asked what kind. He wrote out like a Nikon something [model].

They said that was an expensive camera. He’s like, ‘I’m hoping we can save up enough. I want this camera more than anything.’ They went to their seats, and at halftime, he got this big camera setup from the [Spurs organization]. He wants to be a professional photographer and he started taking pictures and printing them.

Next, he needed a camera bag, and well, that still costs money. But you know what? We’ll start selling your photos. Zander’s telling Angela that she should start making money doing crafting because she’s really talented making notebooks and custom things out of old DVD and CD covers and all kinds of stuff. Now, it’s a mother-son duo and they’re at every market. People got to know them and fell in love. They were always early and stayed late. He checked on everybody. He’s known by hundreds of vendors who got to know him and saw him grow up from a happy helper to a really talented kid. He was everybody’s nephew.

And then [after the shooting], it derailed everything. A good amount of people didn’t know [and were asking] why they hadn’t been at markets.

Everybody was like, ‘What do we do?’ And thoughts and prayers can only do so much when this kid’s gonna have a long road ahead of him with rehab and therapy. How do we take care of each other? And so, it was in a very big way that I asked for help the way I did because he was one of our own that grew up in this community. People showed up for him.”

Now that Jefferson Bodega has sadly joined a list of dearly departed local businesses this year, what’s the future of the Lunar New Year Festival and the markets?

“It’s so inspiring to see [vendors] work and hustle. There’s nothing romantic about hustling, but there is romance in seeing them win. That’s why I do this: I want to see [small businesses] win. I want to see how their shoulders come down away from their ears and they’re [relieved] like, ‘Oh my God, I

just made enough money to pay my kids’ tuition’ or ‘He’s gonna be able to go to peewee baseball because I was able to make money today!’

Different stories from different people. It’s really amazing and I love it. I gotta keep doing these things.

I’m gonna do at least two or three a year. August will be the next big one, and then, Lunar New Year for next year.”

Tell me more about the Back Da Block party in collaboration with San Antonio Street Art Initiative on August 31!

“I hate to say it, but I am not a fan of the traditional backpack drive. Kids don’t carry backpacks or aren’t allowed to anymore.

The reality is, the backpacks that get donated aren’t the greatest quality. I asked my teacher friends what kids really need: socks, underwear, undershirts, hygiene items, deodorant, toothbrushes, toothpaste, basic essentials. Stuff that they need everyday. We’ll ask for donations like this because they don’t expire and get used year-round.

We’re going to set up probably ten different hairdressers and barbers to do free haircuts for the first hour or two of the event. I did a back-to-school event a couple years back and they did like 100 haircuts. A lot of the kids had never had a professional haircut before. They said their moms usually cut their hair. The cool thing is they get to have that experience. There has to be dignity in how you serve people.”

As you may know, this feature series is called Puro SA. In your opinion, what are the people, places, things that embody the puro spirit?

“There’s enough room for success and creativity in San Antonio. What’s puro San Antonio is you and what you make of [the city]. The beautiful thing that people don’t realize is you can make anything you want out of it and all you gotta do is include and hold space for everyone. People ask me, ‘How do I get this done?’ and ‘How did you do that?’ and I just asked. So, they realize, ‘I can just go ask?’ and I say ‘Let me introduce you.’ Run with [your ideas].

There’s no gatekeeping of space. You just have to ask. I have to be fearless in my pursuit for something good and real because the most puro San Antonio thing you can do is throw a party with no money.” ■ This interview has been edited for conciseness and clarity.

If you or someone you know is thinking about self-harm or suicide, call or text 988 to connect with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. The Lifeline provides 24-hour, confidential support to anyone in suicidal crisis or emotional distress.

Support is also available via live chat on https://988lifeline.org/. Consider seeking support from a friend or family member who can help immediately, a physician, or mental health professional. In case of mental health crisis or emergency, call 911 for emergency services or go to the nearest hospital room.

Remember, you are not alone.

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CELEBRATING 25 YEARS I SUMMER 2024 |

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Igniting Minds, Insiprings Futures: Angela Pichardo,

Outstanding Teacher of the Year

By Iliana Yanez

T

eachers wield the remarkable power to ignite potential and transform lives. This year, Scene In SA proudly celebrates Mrs. Angela Pichardo, the recipient for our Outstanding Teacher of the Year award at McNair Middle School, Southwest ISD. Angela’s dedication and innovative teaching has not only paved the way for future generations, but also sparked a passion for learning in countless students throughout San Antonio.

Angela’s journey began humbly in Bigfoot, Texas, where she was raised along with her brothers and hardworking parents in ranching and farming— experiences which instilled in her the belief that foresight and hard work pave the path to success. “We always had the mindset that you never know what you’re going to need,” she recalls a philosophy that shapes her resilient approach to challenges and her commitment to preparing her students for a limitless future.

those errors and understanding that we’re not going to be perfect.”

Reflecting on her approach to teaching, Angela emphasizes the importance of nurturing a sense of inner strength and curiosity in her students. “There’s going to be adversity; everyone’s struggling with something. No one’s going to live a perfect life, but how are we going to overcome that adversity? Many times we might fail, but that’s just the opportunity to figure something else out,” Angela shares thoughtfully. “Hopefully, that is something I have placed in their hearts and minds—to have that inner peace of figuring things out.”

While earning her Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice, Angela interned at the Bexar County Jail, where she managed family visitations for incarcerated parents and organized weekly visits with their children. This profoundly influenced her understanding of the transformative power of education and support, both for others and for her own family. “I have two great children. I raised two awesome kids, and that’s how I redirected my life because I didn’t want them raised by others,” Angela shared, reflecting on her journey.

Looking ahead, Angela remains dedicated to expanding her educational horizons. She has accepted a role as an after-school teacher at Kelly Air Force Base, aiming to further enrich her aerospace curriculum. Her leadership has also seen success in competitions like the SAMSAT Mayor’s Challenge, where three of her five teams advanced, distinguishing McNair Middle School as the only public middle school to achieve this feat. Angela’s vision for the future includes enhancing aerospace education and continuing to inspire young minds to reach for the Stars.

Beyond academics, Angela fosters a culture of resilience and self-worth among her students. “You teach children not only because you want them to pass the test but to show them they are valued. What they have to say is important,” Angela affirms. Her commitment extends beyond conventional expectations, driven by a deep-rooted desire to empower her students with knowledge and confidence. In her classroom, making mistakes and asking questions are not just accepted—they are encouraged as essential steps in the learning process. “It’s okay to make mistakes; it’s the opportunity to learn and grow,” she emphasizes. “It’s the opportunity to learn from making

As we honor Angela Pichardo as Scene In SA’s Outstanding Teacher of the Year, we celebrate her unwavering passion, innovation, and dedication to shaping the next generation. Her impact resonates not only in her students’ academic achievements but also in the values and skills they carry forward into their futures. Angela exemplifies the true spirit of teaching: a relentless pursuit of excellence and a profound belief in the potential of every child.

Like skilled pilots guiding planes through the sky, Mrs. Pichardo guides her students to new heights of knowledge and possibility, turning her classroom into a runway where dreams take flight. n

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Summer Soirée Playlist 2024 Article & Selections by Novasoul b As we clutch our fists at the scorching sun on another “Feels Like 115° F” Summer day, how ‘bout we open them up with a refreshing

mangonada or icy cocktail inst ead? But why pause the solstice celebration there? Let’s expand our senses to the sounds of Summer playing through your baddest booming system! b When I think of Summer, I hear the sounds of cuicas, vibrant Afro-Latin percussion rhythms, shuffling of tropical tinged tempos, and lowriders bassing out on cruise control. I visualize monochrome linen silhouettes, explosions of flowery colors, and yes, I can also smell Texas barbeques! This is the amalgamation I choose to live in, and present it to you for your listening experience. Perfect for hosting a sun setting soirée, lounging under the palm trees by the pool, or for the after-after party.

THE PLAYLIST: ARTIST SONG (RECORD LABEL)

Besides crafting a playlist infused with jazzy rhythms, sambas, and soulful hip-hop beats for you

Laíz & The New Love Experience Tipo Assim (Samstag & Agogo Records)

and yours to cool out to, my intention behind sharing these selections is twofold: b First, this

Mudd Bonne Anse (Claremont 56)

collection features (mostly) recent releases by artists and record labels that should be on your radar!

Sol Set Rhythm of the Sun (All Good Music)

And B, everyone with a music streaming app can access and enjoy these vibes. b As a full-time

Catching Flies True Colors (Indigo Soul)

DJ and passionate music lover, outside of soothing my ego by collecting the hard-to-find remixes

Raveena, JPEGMAFIA Junebug (Moonstone Recordings)

and B-sides of my favorite artists, the best part has been sharing this music with people, and in

KAYTRANADA Seemingly (RCA)

the process, making new friends. Music’s universal power of social connection is what enchants

Mark de Clive-Lowe Kanazawa (Soul Bank Music)

me to continue deejaying, an aspect I harness to create unique playlists for experiential events.

Grace Sorensen Superstars (Independent Release)

As a music fan, I encourage supporting the music makers so that they continue creating these

El Train, Ms Mavy Simba (Shimmy Records)

dopamine hits. Visit the Scene In SA online article, to access direct links to the featured artists’

Common, Pete Rock Dreamin’ (Loma Vista)

websites and discover more about them and their projects, and consider purchasing their music

DJ Mitsu Summer Madness (Insense Music)

and merchandise. b Though these tracks may be less “Hot Girl Summer” and hard four-to-the-

Friertag, Nego True Love Hills (Instrumental) (Sonar Kollektiv)

floor sweaty club anthems inscribed on countless playlists, these breezy sonic gems will surely

Jhayam, Prince Fatty Mãe de Lua (Everybody…) (Delicious Vinyl)

inspire people to keep their Shazam app open. Better yet, they may be the connection to your new

IAMDDB, Masego RASTA PASTA (Waev Entertainment)

friends and Summer memories. b Novasoul, aka Robert Gonzales, is a San Antonio based DJ and

Flwr Chyld, Grimm Lynn Fallin 4 Ya Luv (Garden Records)

independent record label owner/artist. For booking info: djnovasoul@gmail.com b Upcoming

Tony Bizarro Que Se Faz Da Vida (Sony)

public events: Supper Social July 12th & July 26th at Make Ready Market. Instagram: @_novasoul

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CELEBRATING 25 YEARS I SUMMER 2024 |

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Remembering

Vivian

By Leslie Foley

It is with heavy hearts and times of sadness that we share our loss: our photographer and staff member, Vivian Crook, passed away April 4, 2024. Vivian worked for Scene In SA for over 20 years shooting photos for various fundraisers, staff parties, as well as taking candid photos and portraits. In addition to working for the magazine, she volunteered and took photos for the San Antonio Rodeo, weddings, birthday celebrations, and numerous events, including art gallery openings, holiday parties, VFW events, and Fiesta.

Vivian was an outgoing personality who never met a stranger and thoroughly enjoyed her craft. She loved to travel and shared with the staff numerous beautiful pictures, which often included family whom she loved dearly. She also enjoyed her car and belonged to a car club and attended their events. Vivian also had colorful, fun clothes that she would wear to Fiesta and Rodeo events and often with matching accessories.

Vivian took great pride in her work; she was never without her camera and was always ready to capture that special moment. We will miss her contagious smile, funny laugh and her upbeat personality.

“Vivian was my sidekick for covering events and attending functions. We had a great working relationship. It’s sad that she has passed and I won’t be able to work or visit with her again,” said Leslie Foley. n 62

| SUMMER 2024 | CELEBRATING 25 YEARS

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FlufferNutter

Eat and Love your Life!

By Benjie De Los Santos of Benjie’s Munch Chef Benjie is no stranger to stellar sandwiches having taken top honors at San Antonio’s Grilled Cheese Fest every year since 2018. Benjie’s innovative variation of the classic American fluffernutter sandwich is sure to drive you nuts and satisfy your sweet tooth! Chef Benjie shares his secrets for a flawless fluffernutter spread exclusively for Scene In SA. (And be sure to scarf down the real deal at Benjie’s Munch!)

Servings: One delectably delicious sandwich.

INGREDIENTS 2 slices of sourdough bread 2 tablespoons smooth peanut butter 2 tablespoons cookie butter 3 tablespoons marshmallow fluff 2 tablespoons semi-sweet chocolate chips 2 teaspoons liquid butter alternative powdered sugar in a shaker for dusting

DIRECTIONS 1.

On one slice of sourdough, spread peanut butter to the edges of the bread.

2. On the other slice, spread cookie Butter to the edges of the bread.

3. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the peanut butter spread.

4. Carefully spoon or place the marshmallow fluff in the

6. Put one teaspoon of liquid butter alternative on a 350°F preheated griddle.

7. Place sandwich on griddle and allow sourdough bread to come to a golden-brown color.

8. As one side cooks on the griddle, add the other teaspoon of liquid butter alternative to the non-griddled side of the sandwich, making sure to spread evenly.

center of the slice with cookie butter spread.

5. Bring the two slices of sourdough together and press gently so that the fluff spreads evenly.

9. Flip it so the opposite side gets griddled golden brown.

10. Remove sandwich from the griddle onto a cutting board.

Cut in half and sprinkle generously with powdered sugar.

MEET CHEF BENJIE A resident of San Antonio for more than 45 years, Chef Ben “Benjie” De Los Santos graduated from St. Phillip’s College Culinary Program in San Antonio and completed continuing education courses at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York.

sodas. From Chef Benjie, “I make it the way I would want to eat it. Every bite should be the best bite.” IIn early 2024, Benjie’s opened a second Munch Truck located at the new dog park in downtown San Antonio at the Riverwalk called “Hops and Hounds.”

With decades of experience, Chef Benjie decided to start his own business in 2014 and purchased a food truck, calling it Benjie’s Munch Truck. The truck features New American cuisine with comfort food from across the country.

In 2023, Benjie’s Munch was listed in Yelp’s Top 100 Restaurants in Texas and 2023 SA Current Best Food Truck. Additionally, Benjie’s Munch has been listed in 2023 & 2024 Express-News Readers’ Choice “Best Food Truck.”

After much success, in October 2017, Chef Benjie opened his first brickand-mortar restaurant serving craft sandwiches, craft beer and craft

The restaurant is located at 1218 W. Bitters Road, Ste. 107 Call 210-55-MUNCH or visit www.benjiesmunch.com.

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CELEBRATING 25 YEARS I SUMMER 2024 |

63

Smart Summer Snacks Keep Kids on Track

By Bonny Osterhage

S

chool’s out, and summer is in full swing. For many of us, it’s the time of year when our strict family schedules are temporarily cast aside in favor of

sleeping in, lounging around a pool, or taking a long-awaited family vacation. Eating out becomes preferable to slaving over a hot stove, mealtimes become more flexible, and it seems someone is always searching for a snack. While it’s fine to relax the rules a little with your children during the summer months, it’s important not to let them graze all day on chips, sodas, and sugary treats. Believe it or not: it is possible for your children to soak up all the fun that summer has to offer while still maintaining healthy habits.

Find Your Balance Some things are synonymous with the season, like a cold ice cream cone on a hot day or the smell of burgers and hot dogs sizzling on the grill on a warm evening. There’s no need to deprive your kids (or yourself) of their favorite summer fare. The key is to establish a few ground rules and find the balance.

“Summer should be fun for kids,” said Heather Rejino, founder of Your Sassy Chef, a meal prep and personal chef service. “If they want to get a popsicle at the pool, let them. They are playing, burning calories, and it’s hot out.”

The trick is to avoid turning every day into a treat day. Rejino said that setting a schedule can be a lifesaver when it comes to managing expectations and minimizing whining. She suggests designating a weekly pizza night or a kid’s choice night for dinner. Or consider establishing a weekly family movie night where everyone chooses a favorite snack to indulge in while viewing.

“Knowing that they can have treats on a specific day is helpful because they know what to expect,” said Rejino, who only allowed her now-grown son to indulge in sugary soda on the weekend and limited fast food to once a month. “It gives them something to look forward to.”

You Can’t Eat What You Don’t Have With so much free time during the summer, it’s easy for kids to fall into the “mindless snacking” trap, especially if parents aren’t around to supervise.

The good news is that you can’t eat what you don’t have, so don’t stock your pantry with chips, candy, and cookies.

“The easier, the better, and the healthier, the better,” said Rejino. Some of her favorite options include cheese sticks, jerky or meat sticks, apples with peanut butter, Greek yogurt, and frozen fruit pops. “Keep these front and center on low shelves where even the youngest children can easily see and grab them.”

Follow the Road Rules Don’t let a summer road trip steer your family in the wrong direction.

There are plenty of ways to keep everyone on the right track while still

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making room for the inevitable drive-through detour. Enforcing a few “road rules” can help. Road rule number 1? Plan ahead with plenty of protein-rich snacks for the car. “Protein keeps you sated and keeps you from reaching for the chips,” said Rejino.

The second road rule is no “supersizing.” When the drive-through beckons, it may be tempting to make that burger a double or upgrade to a “value” meal – but don’t. There is no value in a giant sugary soda, period.

Rejino’s final road rule is to make healthy swaps and choose the higherprotein option whenever possible. For example, get the burger or chicken nuggets, but swap out the fries for fruit or a side salad and forgo the soda.

“Pick your poison,” she laughed.

Make Food a Family Affair Including your children in the weekly grocery shopping is a good way to give them a voice in what they eat while providing them with plenty of healthy options to choose from. Additionally, it offers an opportunity to educate your children on the nutritional value of their foods. Look at labels together and consider things like serving sizes, sugar, and artificial ingredients. Explore seasonal produce and encourage your kids to pick one new or interesting-looking fruit or vegetable for the family to try.

Allow them to pick out one treat for the week, too. “The more say-so your kids have, the more empowered they feel,” said Rejino.

Try to limit the amount of processed foods you purchase and focus on making treats at home. You don’t have to spend hours in the kitchen.

Remember, the goal is “fun,” not “fancy.” Buy some popsicle molds and freeze fresh fruit juice for easy, refreshing frozen treats, or try your hand at homemade ice cream. Make cookies or brownies using whole ingredients like sweet potatoes, black beans, or bananas to add texture without altering the taste. Allowing your children to experiment in the kitchen encourages them to try new flavors, textures, and combinations. Sur la Table at La Cantera and Central Market on Broadway both offer cooking classes for families and children throughout the summer and are a fun way to get your kids excited about food. In the meantime, check out these recipes from Rejino that are sure to please the pickiest eater.

Happy summer snacking! n

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Double Chocolate Brownie Muffins Ingredients 1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained 1/4 cup of any kind of creamy nut butter (or seed butter if allergic to nuts) 2 medium-sized ripe bananas 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 1/4 cup either real maple syrup (or alternative sweetener like coconut sugar, monk fruit, or date syrup) 1/4 cup almond flour (substitute oats if allergic to nuts) 1/4 cup cocoa powder 1/2 teaspoon pink Himalayan salt 3/4 teaspoon baking powder 1/8 teaspoon baking soda 1 1/4 cup Lilly’s chocolate chips (or dark chocolate chips) 1/2 cup of chopped pecans

Directions 1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. 2. Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray.

3. Place the beans, bananas, nut butter, syrup (or sweetener), and vanilla extract in a food processor. Blend until the batter is smooth. Use a spatula to scrape the sides of the food processor. It may take a few pulses because the beans take a while to puree.

4. Add the almond flour, cocoa powder, Himalayan salt, baking powder, and baking soda directly into the food processor with the other ingredients. Blend until well-combined.

5. Fold in the chopped pecans and 1 cup of chocolate chips. Stir with a spatula.

6. Scoop out 1/4 cup servings of brownie muffins in each muffin cup 7. Evenly distribute the remaining chocolate chips on top of each muffin. Be sure to press the chocolate chips into the surface of the batter; otherwise, they won’t stay on top after the baking process.

8. Bake for approximately 16 to18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clear.

9. Allow the muffins to cool completely before pulling them out of the tin. (Otherwise, they’ll fall apart.) Scoop muffins out with a spatula. They should be somewhat fudgy and dense. Store in the refrigerator.

Optional pecan glaze: 1/2 cup chopped pecans 1/2 cup maple syrup 1/2 cup coconut milk (or butter, if you prefer) Dash of salt Place all ingredients in a non-stick skillet. Simmer on low heat until well combined or sticky.

Pour the glaze over the muffins after they have cooled to room temperature.

Creamy Island Fruit Bowls Ingredients

Directions

2 cups pineapple 2 cups papaya 2 bananas 1 cup chopped dates 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 tablespoon real maple syrup (or, alternatively, a stevia leaf sweetener of your choice, such as Truvia) 1 can coconut milk (Tip: Refrigerate coconut milk for at least an hour.)

1. Chop fruit into large chunks.

2. Separate the cream of the milk from the water.

3. Mix cream with a hand mixer or stand-up mixer.

4. Add vanilla and maple syrup (or alternative sweetener) to cream.

5. Combine cream with fruit.

6. Garnish with almonds or other nuts of your choice.

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CELEBRATING 25 YEARS I SUMMER 2024 |

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Alamo Heights Resident Enjoys A Big Slice of Success with

Scott’s Pizza

By Bonny Osterhage

Scott Adams is a man of decisive action. From proposing to

his girlfriend mere months after their first meeting to traveling to Italy to learn the ins and outs of pizza-making, this 31-year-old Alamo Heights native knows what he wants and isn’t afraid to go after it. Inspired by San Antonio restaurants like Dough and Il Forno, Adams opened his food truck, Scott’s Pizza, in 2023 with a vision of elevating the Alamo Heights take-out scene with delectable, artisanal pies. If the local buzz is any indication, he succeeded.

A Spin on A Classic Located at 95 Brees Boulevard in the parking lot of the Sunset Ridge Church of Christ, Scott’s Pizza might look like an unassuming food truck lacking the checkered tablecloth and dripping candle adornments of a traditional sit-down Italian restaurant, but don’t let that fool you. This is one authentic, gourmet pizza that’s meant to be picked up and enjoyed at home.

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Adams honed his skills in Naples at the knees of the master, Enzo Coccia—a name you might recognize from Stanley Tucci’s Searching for Italy travel series. After taking Coccia’s six-week course, Adams took what he learned and put his own spin on what he describes as “a cross between New York style and Neapolitan pizzas.”

The menu focuses on quality over quantity, with six specialty pizzas – including the “Certa Picante,” or “spicy pig.” This carnivore’s dream features Adams’ signature sourdough crust topped with sausage, pepperoni, and jalapeño-infused honey that he created from scratch.

While the Certa Picante is the best-seller, the “Big Fungus” is the pizza that the Alamo Heights graduate is most proud of. “I think it’s the most interesting pizza we do,” Adams described. The unique combination of parmesan leek white sauce, caramelized onions, sauteed Cremini mushrooms, and parmesan is topped with mozzarella, chives, parsley, and a zingy lemon zest. “I’ve never seen our parmesan leek cream sauce in Subscribe today at www.sceneinsa.com

another pizzeria,” Adams said, adding that the leeks elevate the flavor while the lemon zest “brightens the richness of the sauce.”

The menu also includes traditional pepperoni and cheese pizzas for those who prefer pareddown pizzas, along with a build-your-own option for those who want to flex their creative culinary muscles.

While the pizzas are the primary focus, Adams has rounded out the menu with a Caesar salad made with Little Gem lettuce topped in a dairyfree lemon-forward dressing and topped with chili breadcrumbs instead of croutons. Finally, to satisfy the sweet tooth, there is a flavorful blood orange tiramisu, along with Adams’ family favorite, Mama Lela’s dark chocolate cake. “This is the same cake my mom has made for me on my birthday for as long as I can remember,” he said fondly. “It’s dark but not bitter, and it feels rich and decadent.”

Love at First Bite Opening a restaurant is a daunting task, especially in a neighborhood already teeming with options. Adams was aware of the risks, but he also knew that he was passionate about it.

After graduating from Sewanee with a degree in History, he tried his hand in the oil industry and in sales, but he kept returning to his love of the service industry gleaned from years of waiting tables in Wyoming, Colorado and, of course, Texas. But it wasn’t until he was manager of the popular Favorite Pizza on Austin’s infamous 6th Street that the idea to open his own pizza joint materialized. The biggest questions were “how” and “where?” Ultimately, the “how” took the shape of a trailer.

“I struggled with whether it was the right call or whether I should hold out for a brick-and-mortar,” he said. “I’m glad I did the trailer because it’s a great way to get your feet wet in the business.”

The “where” turned out to be a life-changing decision in more ways than one. When Adams pulled up to the parking lot of the Sunset Ridge Church of Christ, he not only found the space that would house his business, he met the woman who would become his wife.

“I got out of my car and saw Noelle standing there,” he recalled, adding that she managed the One Another Coffee truck on the same site. “She was so beautiful and way out of my league.”

The couple married in April 2024. While Noelle still manages the coffee truck, she also helps Adams with their joint venture.

“We balance each other out from a business perspective,” said Adams. “She’s good with details and being consistent. I’m an idea guy, and I like to work fast and be done.”

The couple lives in Alamo Heights with their two dogs, and Adams said he is excited about the future – which includes moving Scott’s Pizza to the park the church is developing for the community directly across the street. Once there, he said he plans to expand his offerings to include lunch and pizza-bythe-slice. And as for his long-term goals?

“I would love to have several locations where we sell wine, appetizers, and more,” adding that he would also like to branch into other concepts, including a restaurant company. “That’s years away, and I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but it’s a dream,” he said.

For now, he will keep serving up delicious pizzas, salads, and sweets, much to the delight of the community he has called home for more than 30 years.

“Because I grew up in Alamo Heights, word-of-mouth spread fast,” said Adams. “Hearing that people like the pizza is the coolest thing in the world.” n Scott’s Pizza is open 5 p.m–8:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. You can order and schedule pickup online at https://scottspizzasa.com.

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CELEBRATING 25 YEARS I SUMMER 2024 |

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A Reader-Fueled Blast From Scene In SA’s Past

How Our Express-News Exposé Elicited…

By Susan Yerkes

P

recisely twenty years ago, in June 2004, Scene In SA featured a front-page story that brought out everything from the best to the beast in readers. The article, titled “Leaning to the Left: Exploring the Skewed Views of the Express-News,” by the magazine’s then-editor, Cynthia Massey, blasted the San Antonio newspaper – particularly its Editorial Board and Opinion page – for a “liberal bias.”

Massey listed numerous examples of that leftward slant, calling out San Antonio Express-News editorials on abortion, affirmative action, gun control, “homosexual issues,” religion, government spending and taxes, and the war in Iraq.

“If [editorial director Lynnell Burkett] and her [B]oard would ever venture out of the ivory tower of their liberal minds, they would learn that societal change is not what makes their readers angry, but the [B]oard’s perspective clouded by an outdated philosophy that is demoralizing, destructive, and patently unfair,” Massey wrote.

She backed that up with a quote from Sherry Sylvester, a reporterturned-Republican political consultant and broadcaster, who said of her former employer: “[T]heir views are clouded because of their slant, and when your views are clouded you don’t frame issues properly, and I think that’s a detriment to the community. They’re pre-dispositioned by their left-of-center point of view.”

Massey’s story was an instant hit. It struck a twitching nerve in the body politic, and readers clamored to chime in. A flood of mailed and emailed Letters to the Editor streamed into the Scene In SA office.

Letters to the editor have long been a staple of American publications, giving readers a chance to weigh in on issues of the day.

In the digital age, it’s a lot easier to shoot out an email than type up a letter, put a stamp on it, and mail it. Email largely supplanted typed or written opinion letters decades ago. But even that is changing.

Some newspapers no longer run reader responses; others, like the Express-News, have cut back on the days they appear. Some have no place at all for reader feedback, devoid of even online comments sections.

But back in 2004, before ‘like’ or ‘‘loathe’ emojis ruled, many folks took the time to express their opinions about what they read in writing—and complete sentences. And this story prompted a wide response.

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Cheers and Catcalls

Some letter writers defended the Express-News, but most gleefully agreed with Massey, and piled on with gusto. It was clearly a sensitive issue.

Several people identified themselves to Scene editors, but requested their names be withheld from publication. (Author’s Note: The magazine complied. The names used here are those as they appeared with their letters, published in a subsequent Scene In SA issue.)

(The story is) a perfect example of the bullying “tactics right-wing radicals use to advance their perverse ideology. … We’d all be better off if you would take your rifle and your beliefs to a shack in West Texas and declare yourself an independent nation. (Name withheld)

”

At last, someone has the courage to voice the truth…”

“– Martha S. …An enlightening piece … exceptionally well written. “…We need another voice in this community to promote responsible reporting of the news.”

– Gilbert Lang Mathews

I would not want that liberal newspaper even if it “were free.” – Judith Keck

“

The S.A. Express-News is the most negative, biased, a nd demoralizing reporting that I have ever read.

The only reason I subscribe to it is the Spanish lesson from UNAM… – Helen Rogers

”

“

As my Texan grandfather used to say, ‘It’s time to put the horse manure in the sunlight… (Name withheld)

”

liberal rag…I don’t know what inspires the EN to be “soAloony, unless it is just the frustrated liberals in charge becoming more desperate…” – Wayne W. It disturbs me that what was once a magazine that “brought San Antonio together has decided to add to the polarization this country seems to be in…”

(Name withheld)

Typical sheep-following-sheep mentality of the neo“conservative right-wing. … Although I disagree with you dramatically, I admire people who speak their minds. By the way, I am politically independent but will never follow other sheep to slaughter.” – H. Pounds The late John Ziller, past Scene In SA publisher and a lifelong Democrat, was delighted by the sheer volume of feedback at the time, Massey recalls.

During her four year tenure as editor, the magazine published more ExpressNews critiques.

“Those were exciting times for the magazine,” Massey says.

Times change. People, not so much.

So, how do the folks who wrote those decades-old letters feel about them today? We wondered if they held the same views about media bias, and whether they still respond to stories. So, we tracked down a few of them.

“I read the paper religiously when I was younger, before it got thinner,” said attorney Bob Maurer. My opinion was that journalism was about reporting facts, not promoting positions. I wrote a couple of letters to the editor back

then,” he said, “[B]ut I no longer have the time or inclination. I deal with enough dumbasses at the courthouse every day.”

Wayne W. still writes letters, he said, but mainly to the Wall Street Journal, and occasionally Fox News. I can’t comment on the Express-News. I stopped taking it when they endorsed Obama.”

Attorney Herb Pounds didn’t immediately recall writing to Scene In SA, but when he heard the text of his letter, he said he wouldn’t take back a word of it. “My views haven’t changed much. I’m a left-leaning independent and a fiscal conservative. I don’t see bias when I watch CBS, ABC, and NBC. I know people complain, but I don’t get it. I think they try to report the facts. But when I look at Fox, it’s totally biased in my opinion. And the Express-News is two-day-old news. I get my news quicker online.” Pounds said he subscribes to the Bryan Eagle, mainly for the coverage of Texas A&M sports. “It’s more conservative, but that doesn’t offend me. It presents some sides of stories I’m not used to seeing.”

Jim Dalglish, whose letter to Scene vigorously defended Express-News editorial page editor Lynnell Burkett, is currently the coordinator of the journalism program at San Antonio College. “I think a lot of people on the right see papers like the Texas Tribune and the Express-News as liberal because they’re to the left of their views,” he said.

“I’m trying to teach students about objective journalism. That’s getting more and more difficult with so much division. We all have some bias—we’re human—but I tell students to figure out the other side’s point and present that, too.”

The Editors Strike Back

Lynnell Burkett, whose Editorial Board and their expressed values were Massey’s primary target, said she never saw the Scene story.

“It didn’t even register with me,” she said. “But it’s interesting to read it now, 20 years later. The problem is using the editorial pages to measure media bias. The whole point of the editorial pages is to put your opinion out there and let people respond. Of course you have opinions – which is the point of opinion columns. We used to hear from people who thought we were too liberal, and people who thought we were too conservative,” Burkett said. “I think the way you perceive things depends on where you’re coming from.

And I don’t think [Massey] was exactly coming from the middle.”

Massey readily admits her bias. “I’m an unabashed conservative. I write from that perspective. And that article elicited a lot of response,” she said. “I hate the way liberals demonize conservatives as if we were Neanderthals with no brains. And it’s worse now than it was then.”

Massey proclaimed, “After 30 years, I finally quit my Express-News subscription, until I realized I needed to have some articles for the archives of organizations I’m involved with. The editorial page still drives me crazy, especially during elections. It’s always slanted to the left – even the opinions of the letters to the editor that get published.”

She added, “I used to try to make logical arguments on Facebook, but the vitriol you get from people you don’t even know is insane. I got off social media. Letters to the editor are a lot safer, because someone filters them.

In the past, I wrote letters to the editor. And they were pretty much always published, but the responses were not vitriolic. That’s what’s different. I don’t bother now. I thought, ‘I could refute those idiots. But why bother?’ People are going to believe what they want to believe.”

And now, dear Scene In SA reader, we really want to know what you think.

Submit your responses to editorial@sceneinsa.com. n

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CELEBRATING 25 YEARS I SUMMER 2024 |

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CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR “OUTSTANDING WOMEN IN MEDICINE.” Alison Unzeitig Barron, M.D., FACS • Melissa Ann Crawley, M.D. • Allyson L. Harroff, M.D. Corinne Nicole (Jeppson) Jordan, D.O., FACOOG • Rachel E. Kaczynski, D.O., FACOS, FSSO Jennifer Lee, M.D. • Janice Nhan Mullins, D.O. • Shruti Sharma, D.O., FACP Sharon T. Wilks, M.D., FACP

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR “TOP SURGEONS.” Tobi Afolayan, M.D. • Lokesh Bathla, M.D., FACS • Brano Djenic, M.D., FACS, FASCRS Rachel E. Kaczynski, D.O., FACOS, FSSO • Michael A. Keller, M.D., FACS, FASCRS Gustavo E. Guajardo Salinas, M.D. • Alfredo A. Santillan, M.D., MPH Antonio Santillan-Gomez, M.D., MBA, FACOG

1-888-864-4226 • TexasOncology.com/SanAntonio

2024

Top SA

SURGEONS As nominated by their peers

S

urgeons are the mechanics of the human anatomy, physically manipulating bodily structures to diagnose, prevent, treat, or cure ailments.The practice of surgery has existed ever since the first wound was debrided and stanched. Scientists have discovered evidence of trepanation in human skulls dating back to 6500 BC, where a hole was drilled through the cranium to expose the dura mater of the brain.

Ancient civilizations in India, China, Egypt, and Greece developed the practice of surgery. By the Middle Ages, barbers and surgeons combined their expertise – blades and medicine – to establish the United Company of Barbers and Surgeons in England in 1540. This marked the beginning of the development of formal qualifications

for those performing operations and was the precursor to the Royal College of Surgeons of England. In addition to the occasional haircut, barber-surgeons performed tooth extractions and bloodletting.

With advancements in anatomical science in the 1800s came a more sophisticated approach to operative procedures than unqualified barbers wielding the knife.

Ever since then, humanity has sharpened the rudimentary tools of surgery to a point where the science has evolved to highly specialized fields. Scene In SA magazine seeks to recognize accomplished surgeons, so we reached out to licensed, practicing surgeons of Bexar County to tell us who they believe are San Antonio’s top surgeons in their respective specialties.

Results based on the “2024 Top SA Surgeons” poll conducted by Scene In SA in the spring of 2024. Names shown here are listed alphabetically under the specialty they were nominated in. © 2024 SCENE MONTHLY LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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CELEBRATING 25 YEARS I SUMMER 2024 |

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2024 Top SA SURGEONS Abdominal Surgery Steven M. Abbate, MD, FACS

The START Center For Cancer Care

Lokesh Bathla, MD, FACS Texas Oncology

Bariatric Surgery Jorge L. Rincon, MD, FACS, PA

Syed J Umer MD

Colon & Rectal Surgey Mario A. Alcantara, MD

South Texas Colorectal Center (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

James C. Connaughton, MD, FACS, FASCRS

Jorge L. Rincon MD, FACS, PA

South Texas Colorectal Center (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Cardiothoracic Surgery

Brano Djenic, MD, FACS, FASCRS

Tobi Afolayan, MD Texas Oncology

John H. Calhoon, MD UT Health San Antonio

David Daniel, MD

Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgical Institute of Texas (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Masaki Funamoto, MD, PhD

Methodist Heart and Lung Institute

Dawn S. Hui, MD

Texas Oncology

Michael Finucan, MD

South Texas Colorectal Center (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Seema Izfar, MD

South Texas Colorectal Center (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Michael Anton Rodriguez Keller, MD, FACS, FASCRS Texas Oncology

Maria Luisa Martinez, MD, FACS

UT Health San Antonio

Gonzaba Medical GroupMethodist Surgery Center Landmark

Truc Trung Ly, MD

Cesar Santiago, MD

Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgical Institute of Texas (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Jose Urencio Marcue, MD

Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgical Institute of Texas (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Thomas Ross Pollard, MD

South Texas Colorectal Center (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Dermatologic Surgery Thushan DeSilva, MD DeSilva Dermatology

Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgical Institute of Texas (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Valerie Fisher-Shiu, MD

Gustavoa Guajardo Salinas, MD

John LeVasseur, MD

Texas Oncology Surgical Specialist

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Syed J. Umer, MD, FACC, FACP

| SUMMER 2024 | CELEBRATING 25 YEARS

UT Health San Antonio

Mohs Skin Cancer Surgery of South Texas

© 2024 SCENE MONTHLY LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Subscribe today at www.sceneinsa.com

OUR PHYSICIANS LOVE WHAT THEY DO. As a founding partner of Sports Medicine Associates of San Antonio, Director of the SMASA Foot & Ankle Surgery Fellowship, and an avid athlete himself, Dr. Allen knows how life-changing a foot or ankle injury can be, affecting daily activities and sports alike. His goal is to get his patients back to doing what they love.

As a renowned podiatrist and double board-certified surgeon, Dr. Allen is an expert in foot and ankle injuries.

He specializes in treatment of both amateur and professional athletes and patients with occupational or overuse injuries and is equally as passionate about resolving plantar fasciitis or an ankle sprain as he is about correcting debilitating bunions or fixing a torn achilles tendon. Dr. Allen believes that everyone is an athlete because life IS a sport. If you have foot or ankle pain, you deserve to be treated by a foot & ankle expert. Don’t let foot pain or injury affect your daily lifeschedule your appointment with Dr. Allen today!

Dr. MARQUE ALLEN, D.P.M., F.A.C.F.A.S. Board Certified in Foot & Ankle Surgery and Board Certified in Ankle & Reconstructive Surgery.

21 Spurs Lane, Suite 210 & 300 San Antonio Texas 78240 Phone 210-699-8326 | Hours: M-F 8am-5pm Scan to learn more about Dr. Allen and to schedule your appointment today!

sportsmedsa.com

2024 Top SA SURGEONS Byron L. Limmer, MD

Gary M. Hall, MD

John Martin IV, MD

Philip M. Hamby, MD

Limmer Dermatology

San Antonio Skin & Cancer Clinic

Michael A. Sorace, MD

MOHS Micrographic & Skin Surgery, PLLC

Alamo City Surgeons

Troy Robbin Hailparn, MD, FACOG

Travis L. Holloway, MD, FACS

Hatem Hatem, MD

Grace Hsiung, MD, FACS

Sharron K. Acosta, MD, FACS Eye Associates of South Texas

General Surgical Associates

Michael Janice, DO

Christina Bui, MD

Eye Associates of South Texas / I Care Affilate

South Texas Surgical Group (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Jason D. Burns, MD

John McLain, MD

Eye Associates of South Texas

John A. Campagna, MD

Ophthamology Associates of San Antonio

Acacia OB/GYN (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

South Texas Surgical Group (Affiliated with Baptist Health System) General Surgical Associates

Eye Surgery

Christina Gutierrez, MD

South Texas Surgical Group (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Miguel Perea, MD

Cosmetic Gynecology Center of San Antonio Acacia OB/GYN (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Kelly Morales, MD

Largoza, Saenger & Morales

Michelle J. Muldrow, DO

Innovative Women’s OBGYN (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Lisa Lee Ng DO

Acacia OB/GYN (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

South Texas Surgical Group (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Antonio Santillan-Gomez, MD, MBA, FACOG

Guillermo Portillo-Ramila, MD

Melodie T. Zamora, MD

Stone Oak Ophthalmology Center

South Texas Surgical Group (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

David E. Holck, MD, FACS

Jorge L. Rincon, MD, FACS, PA Jorge L. Rincon MD, FACS, PA

Hand Surgery

Craig S. See, MD

Mickey S. Cho, MD

Christopher M. DeBacker, MD, FACS Eyeplastx

Kristin S. Held, MD, OPH

Eyeplastx / I Care Affilate

Joseph T. Kavanagh, MD

Eye Associates of South Texas

James Lehmann, MD

Focal Point Vision / I Care Affiliate

Texas Oncology

Innovative Women’s OBGYN (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

STAT Surgical Group (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

TSAOG Orthopaedics & Spine

Kari Smith, MD

The Hand Center of San Antonio

Kunj K. Desai, MD, FACS

Lisa Marten, MD, MPH South Texas Eye Institute

STAT Surgical Group (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Stephen C. Drukker, MD

Kenneth Maverick, MD

Maria Martinez Ugarte, MD

Focal Point Vision

Gonzaba Medical Group

Mary Elizabeth Gibson, MD

Andres Parra, MD

Juan Febres Valecillos, MD

Eye Associates of South Texas

Humberto Salazar, MD Opthamology Associates

Jake Julian Trinidad, MD

Trinidad Vision San Antonio Cataract and Laser Eye Institute

Allison P. Young, MD

Stone Oak Ophthalmology Center

General Surgery Sabas Abuabara, MD

South Texas Surgical Group (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

John R. Admire, MD, FACS

STAT Surgical Group (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Michael C. Albrecht, MD, FACS

STAT Surgical Group (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Salvador Sordo Anton, MD

South Texas Surgical Group (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Gregory DeArmond, MD

South Texas Surgical Group (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Brittany B. DeBerry, MD, FACS The START Center For Cancer Care

Donald D. Dilworth, MD, FACS

STAT Surgical Group (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Maryam Elmi, MD, MSc, FRCSC, FACS The START Center For Cancer Care

Andrea Garcia, MD

South Texas Surgical Group (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Mark Gunst, MD

STAT Surgical Group (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

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TSAOG Orthopaedics & Spine Northeast Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

South Texas Surgical Group (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Lauren E. Karbach, MD

Isela Vasquez, MD, FACS

Anthony Montanez, MD

South Texas Surgical Group (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Russell Woodard, MD

General Surgical Associates

Russell Woodward, MD, FACS Baptist Health Care

TSAOG Orthopaedics & Spine TSAOG Orthopaedics & Spine

Alexander S. Rowland, MD TSAOG Orthopaedics & Spine

Michaelia Sunderland, MD TSAOG Orthopaedics & Spine

Christian A. Woodbury, MD

Gynecological Surgery

TSAOG Orthopaedics & Spine

Valentin Almendarez, MD

Neurological Surgery

Acacia OB/GYN (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Leora Cavazos Collins, MD

Innovative Women’s OBGYN (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Ritu Dutta, MD, DO

Osama Ahmed, MD, FAANS

Brain & Spine Institute of San Antonio

Donald P. Atkins, MD

Neurosurgical Associates of San Antonio, P.A.

Christopher A. Bogaev, MD

Innovative Women’s OBGYN (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Neurosurgical Associates of San Antonio, P.A.

Jose M. Farina, MD

Texas Neuro Spine

Michelle Cecchini, MD

Acacia OB/GYN (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Frank M. Fichtel, MD

Nancy Finney, MD

George M. Galvan, MD

Four Seasons OB/GYN

Arianna Fresquez, MD

Acacia OB/GYN (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Felipe Garcia-Ghinis, MD, FACOG Acacia OB/GYN (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Henry Garza, MD

Frank M. Fichtel, MD, PA Texas Neuro Spine

Juanita Garces, MD Texas Neuro Spine

Jason Hall, MD

Texas Neuro Spine

Donald L. Hilton, MD

Neurosurgical Associates of San Antonio, P.A.

Acacia OB/GYN (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Ryan McDermott, MD

Jessica D. Guerrero, MD

Daniel Monsivais, MD

Acacia OB/GYN (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

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Ryan Morton, MD Texas Neuro Spine

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South Texas Stroke Neuroendovascular Institute (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Juan Padilla, MD

Orthopaedic Sports Medicine Surgery B. Christian Balldin, MD

TSAOG Orthopaedics & Spine

S. Josh Bell, MD

Texas Neuro Spine

TSAOG Orthopaedics & Spine

Collin Son, MD

Neurosurgical Associates of San Antonio, P.A.

Arnold B. Vardiman, MD

Neurosurgical Associates of San Antonio, P.A.

Sebastian Villarreal, MD

Ralph “Bud” Curtis, MD

Sports Medicine Associates of San Antonio

Amanda Ivy, MD

TSAOG Orthopaedics & Spine

Texas Neuro Spine

Philip M. Jacobs, MD

Oncology Surgery

Michael L. Jones, MD

UT Health San Antonio

Steven M. Abbate, MD, FACS

The START Center For Cancer Care

Lokesh Bathla, MD, FACS Texas Oncology

Carissia Calvo-Strube, MD, FACS UT Health San Antonio, Zeller Building

Brittany B. DeBerry, MD, FACS The START Center For Cancer Care

Maryam Elmi, MD, MSc, FRCSC, FACS The START Center For Cancer Care

Morton Shawn Kahlenberg, MD, FACS Surgical Oncology Associates of South Texas (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Alexander R. Miller, MD, FACS The START Center For Cancer Care

Frank Miller, MD, FACS, FACS

David Kusin, MD

Alamo Orthopedics (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Amanda Marshall-Rodriguez, MD Tru Ortho

Emmanuel C. Nwelue, MD TSAOG Orthopaedics & Spine

Christopher Phelps, MD, FACS Orthopaedic Performance Institute

Dustin B. Rinehart, MD

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Sean N. Shahrestani, MD

The Center for Orthopaedic Surgery & Sports Medicine

Alamo Orthopedics (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Jamie L. Lynch, MD

Patrick M. Simon, MD

Tru Ortho

Geoffrey M. Millican, MD

The Center for Orthopaedic Surgery & Sports Medicine

Matthew Napierala, MD

Northeast Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

G. Lane Naugher, MD

TSAOG Orthopaedics & Spine

Eloy Ochoa, MD

TSAOG Orthopaedics & Spine

Jeremy Rush, MD

Sports Medicine Associates of San Antonio

David R. Schmidt, MD

Sports Medicine Associates of San Antonio

Northeast Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Scott L. Sledge, MD Private Practice

Dmitry Tuder, MD

Alamo Orthopedics (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Richard L. Ursone, MD

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Sergio Viroslav, MD

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David E. Vizurraga, MD

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Rex Edward Wilcox, MD

Jeffrey B. Shroff, MD

Northeast Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Surgical Oncology Associates of South Texas (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Raymond E. Skunda, MD

Otolaryngology Surgery

Alfredo A. Santillan-Gomez, MD, MPH, FACS

Richard T. Steffen, MD

UT Health San Antonio

Dennis Rousseau Jr., MD, PhD, FACS

Texas Oncology

Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Surgery Marque Allen, DPM, FACFAS

TSAOG Orthopaedics & Spine The Center for Orthopaedic Surgery & Sports Medicine Sports Medicine Associates of San Antonio

Casey D. Taber, MD

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Brad S. Tolin, MD

Devang P. Desai, MD, FACS ENT Clinics of San Antonio, P.A.

Vincent F. Honrubia, MD, FACS South Texas Sinus Institute

Timothy McEvoy, MD

TSAOG Orthopaedics & Spine

South Texas Pediatric Specialists (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

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Frank Miller, MD, FACS, FACS

Bryce Karulak, MD, DPM

John R. Chance, MD

Alamo Orthopedics (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

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Jeffrey S. Rosenbloom, MD

Kevin L. Kirk, DO, FAOA

Ronald W. Connor, MD

Anand Shah, MD

TSAOG Orthopaedics & Spine

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American Sinus Institute

Randall C. Marx, MD

Ralph “Bud” Curtis, MD

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Sports Medicine Associates of San Antonio

Pediatric Surgery

Justin Robbins, MD

Anil Dutta, MD

TSAOG Orthopaedics & Spine

UT Health Ortho

Jessica F. Rutstein, DPM

Matthew M. Dwyer, MD

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Orthopedic Performance Institute

Naomi N. Shields, MD

David L. Fox, MD

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Frank J. Garcia, MD

Sports Medicine Associates of San Antonio

David T. Hughes, DPM

Tru Ortho

Adam Bruggeman, MD Texas Spine Care Center

Jonathan S. Duncan, MD TSAOG Orthopaedics & Spine

Shane C. Eizember, MD

TSAOG Orthopaedics & Spine

Robert G. Johnson, MD

Neurosurgical Associates of San Antonio, P.A.

Northeast Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine (Affiliated with Baptist Health System) TSAOG Orthopaedics & Spine

Stephen Gates, MD

TSAOG Orthopaedics & Spine

Robert “Bob” Girling, MD

Sports Medicine Associates of San Antonio

Robert U. Hartzler, MD, M.S. TSAOG Orthopaedics & Spine

Donald Hope, MD

Ellen Wantin Lin, MD

Advanced Spine & Pain Center

Northeast Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Matthew C. Swann, MD

Bryan W. Kaiser, MD

TSAOG Orthopaedics & Spine

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Alamo ENT Associates

John Doski, MD

San Antonio Pediatric Surgery Associates

Joseph Kidd, MD

San Antonio Pediatric Surgery Associates

Timothy McEvoy, MD

South Texas Pediatric Specialists (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Tate Nice, MD

Mednax Inc./San Antonio Pediatric Surgery Associates

Robert Powell Thomas, MD

San Antonio Pediatric Surgery Associates

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Marque Allen, MD 2024 Top Surgeon 2024 Best SA Doctor

Megan Burgess, MD, MSCI

Plastic and Reconstructive Institute of Texas (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Sports Medicine Associates of San Antonio Phone: 210-699-8326 | Fax: 210-561-7121

Jessica M. Belz, MD

Email: allenmarque@gmail.com

Jessica M. Belz, MD, Plastic Surgery

Primary Specialty: Foot and Ankle Surgery

Marcos Lopez, MD Amelia Aesthetics

Michael E. Decherd, MD, FACS

San Antonio Plastic Surgery Institute

Michael Baumholtz, MD Baumholtz Plastic Surgery

Kunj K. Desai, MD, FACS

The Hand Center of San Antonio

Regina M. Fearmonti, MD, FACS

Dr. Marque Allen is fellowship-trained and double Board Certified in both Foot & Ankle Surgery. He has over 20 years experience in practice in San Antonio, TX and is one of the four founding partners of Sports Medicine Associates. Dr. Allen and his partners have been team physicians for the San Antonio Spurs for over 20 years. Dr. Allen is also an expert in the cutting-edge bunion procedure, 3D Lapiplasty, which has revolutionized the successful treatment of bunions. He is one of the top 20 surgeons in the US in the number of successful Lapiplasty procedures performed. Dr. Allen believes that every patient is an athlete because life is a competitive sport.

Alon Aesthetics Plastic Surgery & Skin

Peter R. Ledoux, MD

Adam Bruggeman, MD

PRMA Plastic Surgery

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Charles Anton Fries, MD UT Health San Antonio

Texas Spine Care Center

Andrew Gassman, MD

Phone : (210) 802-4662 | Fax: 2108024722

PRMA Plastic Surgery

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Gary P. Lawton, MD, FACS

Website: texasspinecare.com

Lawton Plastic Surgery

Oscar Ochoa, MD

PRMA Plastic Surgery

Manuel A. Lopez, MD, FACS

Advanced Aesthetics Lopez Plastic Surgery

Chet L. Nastala, MD PRMA Plastic Surgery

Minas T. Chrysopoulo, MD, FACS PRMA Plastic Surgery

Primary Specialty: Orthopaedic Spine surgery

Dr. Adam Bruggeman was born and raised in Nebraska, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Health Administration at Creighton University and a master’s degree in Hospital Administration at Trinity University. He earned his medical degree at UT Health Science Center, completed his orthopaedic residency at the University of Florida, and a fellowship in Spine Surgery at South Texas Spinal Clinic. Adam serves as Chair for the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) Advocacy Council and Secretary/Treasurer for the Texas Orthopaedic Association (TOA).

Scott Farber, MD

Masaki Funamoto, MD, PhD

Hill Country Plastic Surgery, PLLC

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Amita Shah, MD, FACS

Hill Country Plastic Surgery, PLLC

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Methodist Heart and Lung Institute

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Lauren Whipple, MD PRMA Plastic Surgery

Email: masaki.funamoto@hcahealthcare.com

Thoracic Surgery

Primary Specialty: Thoracic Surgery

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Urologic Surgery Alejandro Treszezamsky, MD, FACOG South Texas Urogynecology (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Website: www.sahealth.com

Masaki Funamoto is a cardiothoracic surgeon at Methodist Hospital in San Antonio. He is a member of the Methodist Heart and Lung Institute Heart Failure and Transplant Center, and a surgical director of heart transplant & MCS. He specializes in surgical treatments of end stage heart and lung failure, including mechanical assistance, and heart and lung transplantation, in addition to the all aspects of cardiac surgeries, including coronary artery, heart valve, and thoracic aorta.

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University Of Texas Health Science Center At San Antonio

Troy Robbin Hailparn, MD, FACOG, FAACS

Vascular Surgery

Cosmetic Gynecology Center of San Antonio

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Christopher J. Busken, MD

Baptist Medical Network Vascular and Endovascular Surgery (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

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Christine Johnson, MD

Vascular Institute of San Antonio Baptist Medical Network (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

I offer sensitive and customized care with surgical and non-surgical options to address bladder, bowel and sexual function problems, aswell as labia minora and majora reductions for comfort, function, and appearance concerns. Hormone replacement, incontinence, weight loss, and skin tightening are also provided. My goal is to help women improve the quality of their lives and have bodies they can depend on. Check out my educational and entertaining TedTalk on YouTube.

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Vascular Institute of San Antonio Baptist Medical Network (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Tru Ortho Phone: 210-878-4116 | Fax: 210-878-4113 Email: jamie.lynch.ortho@gmail.com

Celso Uribe II, MD

Website: www.tru-ortho.com

Vascular Institute of San Antonio Baptist Medical Network (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Primary Specialty: Orthopaedic Sports Medicine Surgery

Dr. Jamie Lynch is a board certified, sports medicine fellowship-trained orthopaedic surgeon with a focus in shoulder and knee pathology. She has over a decade of experience in treating orthopaedic disorders and sports injuries of the upper and lower extremities, all shoulder injuries, knee ligament ruptures, meniscus tears and various fractures. She additionally employs the use of orthobiologics to help support healing and reduce pain.

Syed Z. H. Rizvi, MD

Vascular Institute of San Antonio Baptist Medical Network (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Grady D. Alsabrook, MD

Vascular Institute of San Antonio Baptist Medical Network (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Lyssa N. Ochoa, MD

San Antonio Vascular & Endovascular Clinic

Seth H. Fritcher, MD

Vascular Institute of San Antonio Baptist Medical Network ( Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

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Michael A. Peck, MD

Vascular Institute of San Antonio Baptist Medical Network (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Tru Ortho Phone: 210-878-4116 | Fax: 210-878-4113

Alfredo Laborde, MD

Email: Ldiaz@truortho.us

Vascular Institute of San Antonio Baptist Medical Network (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

Website: www.tru-ortho.com Primary Specialty: Orthopaedics

Dr. Amanda Marshall-Rodriguez is a fellowship-trained joint reconstruction specialist and founder of TruOrtho in San Antonio. Her medical training began at The University of Texas Medical School in Houston where she graduated with a Ross C. Sterling Award granted to the top graduate selected by the academic faculty. After extensive training in minimally invasive hip and knee replacement and complex revision joint reconstruction at Rush University’s world renowned joint fellowship, Dr. Marshall-Rodriguez returned to her home state of Texas. After serving 8 years as faculty at the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, she established TruOrtho’s concierge minimally invasive joint practice.

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Vascular Institute of San Antonio Baptist Medical Network (Affiliated with Baptist Health System)

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The profession of dentistry has always meant service for Dr. Zamora. She strives to provide personalized, compassionate care to every patient. She provides her patients quality dental care using the best technology and health care available. She received her undergraduate degree in Biomedical Science from Texas State University, San Marcos, graduating magna cum laude. She completed her dental education in 2003 at Oregon Health & Science University, in Portland, OR with a DMD degree. She also has additional training in both pediatric dentistry and pathology, including early detection of oral cancer. Dr. Zamora stays up-to-date on scientific research to provide the best possible care.

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79

The Voice of the City:

A Talk with San Antonio’s Newest Poet Laureate

By Nick Blevins Photography by Torry Sledge

Eduardo “Eddie” Vega: “Straight across; do you see?”

Scene In SA: “Okay, yeah!”

I’m standing with Eddie Vega, San Antonio’s newly inducted poet laureate, on the coral terrace of Ruby City, looking across San Pedro Creek at a couple lines of poetry inscribed into the embankment below. The words are his. It’s a bright, hot May evening.

E: “This one was moved. It was supposed to be somewhere else, so it was a different poem. When they said it was gonna be here, across from Ruby City, I changed it to be a little more… I pictured somebody would come out of Ruby City and see it, so it’s a little bit more about the arts.”

We squint at the poem in the sunlight.

E: “I can’t read it right now. [laughs] I don’t have it memorized, you know.”

S: “Is it included in any of your collections?”

E: “No. No, it’s just here. Maybe later it’ll get put somewhere in something.

I mean, I have it written down in my phone; let’s do that.”

He produces the poem on his phone and begins reciting: “...And we write in cenzontle melodies, sing in moonlight cumbias, paint the scenes in alegria tones.”

S: “Alegria tones…”

E: “Yeah. So it’s kinda about the scene, and its art, and who we are; and it’s bilingual, you know? It’s puro art.”

The poem, one of three of his compositions greeting visitors along the San Pedro Creek comprises Vega’s contribution to the space as an artist – and one of his first in an official capacity, as his three-year term as San Antonio’s poet laureate began on April 1. Vivid, compelling, and tonally-savvy given its proximity to the esteemed contemporary art center, I start to get a glimpse 80

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of the process that led Vega, spoken word artist, noted taco authority, and educator of over twenty years, to becoming the seventh Poet Laureate of the seventh largest city in the country.

A poet laureate’s purview, according to the City of San Antonio’s Department of Arts and Culture website, “is to promote poetry and the literary arts in San Antonio” by “developing innovative and inspiring public events and programs in conjunction with local organizations and the Department of Arts & Culture.” With a number of ongoing initiatives – including his Mouth Dakota Poetry Project at the Dakota East Side Ice House, where participants of all skill ranges are encouraged to take the stage and share their pieces live – and his role as an active educator in the community, he seems particularly well-positioned to hit the ground running.

As we walk and talk, he elaborates on the themes behind these new installations, his feelings about what his appointment means, and what exactly he has in mind for it looking ahead.

And so, each of the poems were made specifically for those locations?

“You could say that. They were made for the [San Pedro] Creek. I researched [and] the Creek was just as important as the San Antonio River back when San Antonio started, so there’s a whole lot of history along this entire area.

People have been settling here for a very long time. And this one…”

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We stop in front of a different poem at street level, set in stone under the breezy shade of low trees.

“This one was serendipity, because I didn’t know exactly where [the poetry installations] were gonna be, but I knew [of native] plants, and I really wanted to incorporate Spanglish; so this one says: ‘Our anteposados walked in their huaraches among the huisaches, dipped their nogalitos in these sacred waters’ –and this right here,” he says, pointing to a small tree nearby, “is a nogalito [little walnut tree]; And that just kind of happened to be there.”

Shaded and serene, we made our way over to one of the benches at the nearby Mustard Seed Plaza. (Author’s Note: At the time of writing, only two of the three poems are available for public viewing, as the San Pedro Creek continues to undergo a dramatic revitalization.)

As our new poet laureate, what do you see as being your responsibilities to the city?

“I think, first of all, [it’s] to just represent poets, poetic arts, literary arts, and make sure that it’s for everybody—that our literary art is accessible to people, and our artists are accessible to people. So, it’s not just me, but it’s also bringing people with me, to spread our art with people.”

Do you feel any different? “[laughs] I think there’s a little bit, maybe, more spring in my step, a little more confidence going; I feel, like, a sense of authority, maybe? In a good way! In [terms of] how I feel, that’s probably the biggest thing. There’s also a sense of responsibility that I have. I’m just very careful about what I say and how I say it.”

That’s really interesting, because you’re super engaged on social media. Has this new title impacted how you engage online?

“Maybe a little bit of ‘how,’ maybe about ‘what’ I [engage with]. Like, right now, there’s this big thing about the whole ‘Edgar’ haircut, right? I feel like the assumptions about people with a certain haircut are wrong. I think it’s also important because it’s also about who we are as a people and who our kids are. I teach a lot of kids with that haircut, and they’re not bad kids. It’s kind of unfair to be generalizing somebody, and I think that’s something that we can hopefully talk about and discuss in this city, more than just ‘ban a haircut’ or ‘ban it from the premises,’ or just saying stupid things about it.”

Between being high visibility as both an educator and a poet laureate, how do you continue to make space for an intimate creative process like poetry?

“I think that when we get to the project that I have to put forth on behalf of the City and [the Department of] Arts and Culture—that’s definitely about making space, and I also have an open mic every other weekend for artists to come and just show their work.

But how about yourself? With all the demands on your time?

“That one is tough. I was told recently that at a certain hour, we should go on ‘Do Not Disturb’, and that’s family time, or me time, or our time. Scheduling, you know, there are times when I’m like, I can’t do anything that weekend or that time. And then a lot of mornings, you know, there’s usually not a lot going on. On a weekend morning, that’s a time when I can write, and be creative. Or later at night too, after I’ve gone on ‘Do Not Disturb’. [laughs]”

I’ve seen you perform live a number of times. You’re one of the funniest poets that I’ve ever seen. How does humor inform your approach to poetry?

“I think that we can’t always take ourselves so seriously. That’s part of it.

Another part of it is, I know there’s a lot of introspective poetry and a lot of poetry that goes like, ‘This is how I’m feeling and I want the world to know that, and I’m feeling upset about things right now.’ But I think there’s a lot

One of Poet Laureate Eddie Vega’s poems along San Pedro Creek Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/sceneinsa | Follow us on Instagram @sceneinsamag

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81

By the time it turns, they’re already strapped in.

“Exactly. I already got you.”

So you’re a self-professed flaneur, a person who lounges or strolls around in a seemingly aimless way. I don’t imagine you get much time to, lately?

“Not lately, and I’m surprised—nobody’s brought that up in a long time!

But yeah, I love walking, especially in a space like this Creek, right? And just absorbing. Whenever I’ve gotten commissions about different places, I always go and I walk that area.

There was the Poet’s Pointe park [an installation by San Antonio artists Kim Bishop and Luis Valderas on the corner of Emory and Mistletoe], over there near Woodlawn Lake, and it’s a little park, and there’s seven poets that [the Department of Arts and Culture] had write poems. And for our poems, we each had a street. You know those streets out there, like Mistletoe, Magnolia, and Huisache? I had Mulberry, so I went to the coordinates because it wasn’t built yet, and I went to go walk the space, and breathe in, figure it out, you know? See what’s there. I ended up writing a little poem. It’s more of a memory about mulberries. But I think that’s really, really important: just be out there, be walking.”

Are there any other poems, poets, or trends, perhaps, in the world of poetry right now that pique your curiosity?

of poetry that celebrates the world, and I’m trying to pivot to that kind of poetry: to celebration of things.

The other part is, as a poet, I’ve been playing with words for a long time.

Making puns, right? Or being just clever with words. And I think it helps to get the message across, to do that.

I don’t know, I think I have a penchant to be a stand-up comedian, but I didn’t really make it, you know? I did it twice, and it was like, you gotta prepare a lot, and I was funny for about thirty or forty seconds. But with a poem, I can do it for about two minutes!”

And so you do find people tend to be more receptive, then?

“I think so. You gotta be clever. You can’t just… This one’s a little bit tough, because there are certainly a lot of poets out there who are like, ‘No, this is how I feel,’ and I’m like, I accept that’s how you feel, but I think that we can’t always be dwelling in that, in that kind of emotion. It’s good to have a comedic break every once in a while, because otherwise that’s where we’ll spend all of our time—in the muck. I think as a spoken word artist, as a poet, as a writer, let’s get out of the muck sometimes.”

“It’s been becoming a little bit more popular to write novels in verse, especially for young adults. I’m starting to try that and see how that goes. I’ve got something outlined, but time is what it is, so I’ve been trying to do that.

I like the idea – and maybe we’ve done it before – of jazz poetry, where you’ve got music playing behind your poem. And that, l think, leads to a spoken word album. I want to be, like, a Tejano Gil Scott-Heron, maybe, and have more of a Tejano groove or vibe to my poetry. And I’d like to explore that.

There’s a time element. There’s also if I’m gonna record that, I need to get a studio space and musicians along with me, so there’s a chance for a grant there somewhere so that I can work on that.”

Do you have particular projects in mind for yourself that you’d like to weave into your work as poet laureate?

“I like our local libraries, and I need to sit down with the library people and maybe do a tour of our libraries, and bring along some locals to those libraries, and some kids to either be writing poems and reading poems out loud in those little spaces. I would love to see more of our local poets in the local libraries; like, not just physically there, but their words there, staying behind. I mean, the John Igo library is named for a poet. I think that’s a cool start!” n This interview has been edited for clarity.

You can be earnest and humorous.

“Yeah, exactly! I think so. I’ve always liked that approach, of being earnest and humorous at the same time. I don’t know if you’ve heard Olmos Park, [my] poem about how we’ve always lived in Olmos Park, because we were ‘Olmos’ successful; I ‘Olmos’ went to the beach on Saturday, but Janey got the diarrhea, you know, whatever. And then shifting from there, into we ‘Olmos’ won the election; we ‘Olmos’ graduated from high school; or I ‘Olmos’ graduated from college. So, kinda start with the familiar, the funny part, and then have a little turn.

My food poems. Start out with something funny about food and barbacoa, but then it’s actually about culture, and it’s actually about us as a people.”

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TOP LAWYER PROFILES Robert Barrera Arellano

Bobby Barrera

2024 Best SA Lawyer

2024 Best SA Lawyer Texas Super Lawyer 2023 TOP Criminal Lawyer

Law Office of Robert Barrera Arellano PLLC Phone: 210-224-5811 | Fax: 210-224-5890 Email: robertearellano@gmail.com Areas of Practice: Criminal Defense Robert Arellano specializes in felony, misdemeanor and juvenile criminal defense in San Antonio and the surrounding counties. Robert’s prior experience serving as a prosecutor with the Travis County District Attorney’s Office has assisted him with helping his clients navigate the legal system. Robert’s felony jury trial experience both as a defense attorney and a prosecutor has aided him in resolving complicated criminal matters. Robert is licensed federally in the Western and Southern Districts of Texas.

The Law Office of Bobby Barrera, P.C. Phone: 210 224-5811 | Fax: 210 224-5890 Email: bobbybarreralaw@gmail.com www.bobbybarrera.com Areas of Practice: Criminal Defense; Murder; DUI/DWI; Family Violence; State & Federal.

Bobby has been practicing criminal law for over 40 years. He has been recognized by his fellow lawyers as one of San Antonio’s “Top Ten Criminal Lawyers” and as one of San Antonio’s “Top Five DWI Lawyers.”

He has been on Scene In SA’s “Best Lawyers” list for the last 20 years. He is the Past President of the San Antonio Bar Association and Director of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association. He is a frequent lecturer and course director for the T.C.D.L.A and State Bar of Texas CLE’s. Bobby has been included in the “ Texas Super Lawyers” listing in criminal law for the last 10 years.

Michael Arispe

Alexander Begum

2024 Best SA Lawyer

2024 Best SA Lawyer

Aric J. Garza PLLC Phone: 210-225-2961 Website: sabusinessattorney.com Email: info@sabusinessattorney.com Areas of Practice: Civil Litigation (Commercial and Real Estate)

Villarreal & Begum Phone: 210-800-0000 | Fax: 210-233-8278 Email: abegum@texaslegalgroup.com Website: www.texaslawguns.com Areas of Practice: Personal Injury

Michael Arispe handles general civil litigation (Commercial and Real Estate), as well as probate and estate administration cases for Aric J. Garza PLLC. Mr. Arispe attained his J.D. from St. Mary’s University School of Law in 2021, where he was a member of the St. Mary’s Law Journal. Mr. Arispe is a proud member of the State Bar of Texas REPTL, ADR, and Litigation Sections, and a member of the SABA ADR Section.

Alexander Begum is a founding shareholder of the Villarreal & Begum Law Firm, with offices in San Antonio, Laredo and McAllen. Mr. Begum earned a double major in Marketing and Finance at Trinity University. He then attended Harvard University where he studied finance and legal writing. Alex acquired a Doctorate of Jurisprudence and a Masters of Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from Texas Tech. Alexander Begum has devoted his career to helping those injured by negligent drivers, 18-wheelers and bad corporate actors. Scene In SA magazine has named Alex Begum Best Injury Lawyer for years 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024.

Aaron M. Diaz

2024 Best SA Lawyer 2023 Top Criminal Defense Lawyer

Zachary Aoki

2024 Best SA Lawyer

Goldstein & Orr, PLLC Phone: 210-226-1463 | Fax: 210-226-8367 Email: adiazlaw1@gmail.com Website: www.goldsteinhilley.com Areas of Practice: Criminal Law & Criminal Appeals

Thurman & Phillips Phone: 210-341-2020 | Fax: 210-344-6460 Email: zachary@thurmanphillips.com Website: www.thurmanphillips.com Areas of Practice: Litigation, Collections, Community Associations Zack focuses his practice on Community Association law and general litigation matters in state and federal court. He represents his clients in state, federal, and alternative dispute forums and has significant trial and appellate experience. Examples of industries he has represented include: transportation, oil and gas, real estate, insurance, media, accounting, construction, financial and lending institutions and technology companies.

Aaron M. Diaz is a criminal defense attorney at Goldstein & Orr in San Antonio, Texas. His current practice focuses solely on juvenile and adult criminal defense, representing clients charged with misdemeanors and felony offenses. Aaron also handles state and federal appeals and post-conviction wants of habeas corpus cases. In addition, Aaron serves on several criminal defense organizations such as the San Antonio Criminal Defense Lawyers Association and Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association.

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TOP LAWYER PROFILES John A. Davis

Grant Gaines

J.A. Davis & Associates, LLP Phone: 210-732-1062 | Fax: 210-462-4865 Email: jdavis@jdavis-law.com Website: www.jadavisinjurylawyers.com Areas of Practice: PI Plaintiffs: General; Workers Compensation; Social Security

Patel Gaines Phone: 210-460-7787 Email: ggaines@patelgaines.com Website: patelgaines.com Areas of Practice: Business, Real Estate, and Litigation

2024 Best SA Lawyer

2024 Best SA Lawyer

John Aubry Davis is the managing partner of J.A. Davis & Associates LLC. Mr. Davis is a veteran and served in the U.S. Army’s Intelligence and Security Command from 1983-1987 attending the U.S. Army Intelligence School where he was the Honor Graduate receiving an Army Commendation for early graduation. Mr. Davis serves on the Board of Directors of the San Antonio Trial Lawyers Association; is a member of the National Trial Lawyers Top 100; is the past President of the Texas Workers’ Advocates; Super Lawyers 2019, 2020, 2021 & 2022. Texas Trial Lawyers; and Executive Counsel Member State Bar of Texas Workers Compensations Section.

Mr. Davis zealously represents injured Texans in court and before administrative agencies.

Named one of the Top 100 Lawyers in America, Grant M. Gaines has a fearless attitude and insightful knowledge of the transactional and litigious sides of the law which enhance his ability to successfully serve our clients in a diverse array of legal matters. With many years of practice in the legal, commercial, real estate, and municipal industries, Grant uses an aggressive approach and deep integrity to make him a zealous representative for his clients. Named by the San Antonio Business Journal as a 2018 40 under 40 award recipient, Rising Star by Super Lawyers, and one of the Best San Antonio Lawyers by Scene In SA magazine, Grant has successfully created a firm that has been recognized as being one of the Best Places to Work in San Antonio and the Fifth Fastest Growing Law Firm in the nation.

Demetrio Duarte, Jr.

Aric J. Garza

2024 Best SA Lawyer

2024 Best SA Lawyer

Duarte & Molina, P.C. Phone: 210-737-6676 | Fax: 210-737-6181 Email: paralegal@duartemolinalaw.com Website: www.duartemolinalaw.com Areas of Practice: Criminal and Civil Litigation Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, Demetrio Duarte, Jr. has tried state and federal cases around the country. When his clients suffered death and serious injuries, Demetrio Duarte successfully fought for fair compensation. With over 200 jury trials, Demetrio Duarte always takes passion and experience into the courtroom to obtain justice for his clients. Hablamos Español.

Aric J. Garza PLLC Phone: 210-225-2961 Email: nfo@sabusinessattorney.com Website: sabusinessattorney.com Areas of Practice: Mediation and Arbitration Aric Garza, a distinguished attorney, mediator, and arbitrator based in San Antonio, Texas, has over three decades of legal experience. Licensed in Texas and Colorado, and in U.S. federal courts, he is a leader in the ABA, State Bar of Texas, and San Antonio Bar Association.

Specializing in mediation and arbitration, Aric is respected for his expertise and community commitment. Married with two adult children, he balances professional achievements with family dedication.

Gerry Goldstein

John S. Gilmore, III

2024 Best SA Lawyer 2023 Top Criminal Defense Lawyer

2024 Best SA Lawyer 2023 Top Criminal Defense Lawyer

Goldstein & Orr, PLLC Phone: 210-226-1463 | Fax: 210-226-8367 Email: gerry@goldsteinorr.law Website: www.goldsteinhilley.com Areas of Practice: Criminal Law & Appeals Gerry Goldstein is a past President of the National Association of Lawyers and the Texas Lawyers Association. Goldstein is listed in The Best Lawyers in America, was named a Texas Lawyer Legal Legend by the State Bar and was named to the Texas Lawyers Hall of Fame. He was named to the Top 100 list in Super Lawyers and recognized as the outstanding attorney by the State Bar of Texas. He is a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers and the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, a Fellow in the American Board of Lawyers and a prestigious Robert C. Heeney Memorial Award recipient.

Goldstein & Orr, PLLC Phone: 210-226-1463 | Fax: 210-226-8367 Email: johnstuartgilmore@gmail.com Website: www.goldsteinhilley.com Areas of Practice: Criminal Law & Criminal Appeals John Gilmore is the Senior Associate at Goldstein & Orr. His practice focuses on state and federal criminal litigation, appeals, and asset forfeitures. He takes pride in discretely resolving allegations in high stakes matters, including the return of over one million dollars in assets for clients. John has been selected as a Rising Star Lawyer each year in practice and was recently recognized as one of the Top 20 Criminal Defense Lawyers in San Antonio.

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TOP LAWYER PROFILES Francisco Guerra IV

Benjamin Kemmy

2024 Best SA Lawyer 2023 Top PI Lawyer

2024 Best SA Lawyer 2023 Top PI Lawyer

Guerra LLP Phone: 210-447-0500 Website: www.guerrallp.com Areas of Practice: Personal Injury; Mass Torts; Product Liability; Commercial Litigation Frank Guerra is a founding partner of Guerra LLP, located in San Antonio and has decades of experience litigating complex cases involving serious accidents, defective products, large mass torts, and corporate litigation.

He is board certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

The Kemmy Law Firm, P.C. Phone: (210) 750-1019 | Fax: 210-940-4866 Email: Ben@kemmylaw.com Website: www.kemmylawfirm.com Areas of Practice: Personal Injury: Plaintiff, First-Party Insurance Ben Kemmy grew up in San Antonio, went to college at Notre Dame and law school at the University of Houston. His practice mostly involves litigation and trial work on behalf of injured people. He also handles cases for policyholders when their insurance companies do not pay benefits owed. In addition to his trial work, Ben has argued before the Texas Fourth Court of Appeals and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Kathlyn Hufstetler 2024 Best SA Lawyer

Daniel C. Kemmy

Patel Gaines Phone: 210-460-7787 Email: khufstetler@patelgaines.com Website: patelgaines.com Areas of Practice: Property Tax

2024 Best SA Lawyer 2023 Top PI Lawyer

As Head of the Property Tax Division, Kathlyn leads the firm’s efforts in providing unparalleled expertise in property tax law.

With a keen understanding of the complexities surrounding property taxation, Kathlyn is poised to guide clients through ever-evolving legal landscapes and contribute to the firm’s reputation as a leader in this field.

As full Partner as of 2024, she will continue to contribute to the firm’s strategic vision, providing valuable insights and leadership to maintain our position at the forefront of the legal industry.

The Kemmy Law Firm, P.C. Phone: (210) 750-1019 | Fax: 210-940-4866 Email: danny@kemmylaw.com Website: www.kemmylawfirm.com Areas of Practice: Personal Injury: Plaintiff, First-Party Insurance Danny became interested in becoming a lawyer while studying Government at the University of Texas in Austin. He started practicing law in 2015 after graduating early from South Texas College of Law. As a trial lawyer, Danny specializes in personal injury, medical malpractice, and business litigation. In 2017, Tom and Danny (2nd Chair) secured a record setting verdict for an elderly professor who had sustained a permanent spinal cord injury in a medical setting.

Charles P. Hosey

Jacob Kemmy

2024 Best SA Lawyer

2024 Best SA Lawyer 2023 Top PI Lawyer

Frost Bank Phone: 210-913-4606 Email: Charles.hosey@frostbank.com Website: www.frostbank.com Areas of Practice: Energy; Environment & Natural Resources

The Kemmy Law Firm, P.C. Phone: (210) 750-1019 | Fax: 210-940-4866 Email: jac@kemmylaw.com Website: www.kemmylawfirm.com Areas of Practice: Personal Injury: Plaintiff

Charles P. Hosey is an energy attorney, serving clients around the United States in his capacity as Trust Mineral Manager at Frost Bank. Charles takes pride in advising clients in areas of oil & gas, renewable energy, and natural resource matters. Charles is a frequent lecturer around the State of Texas and CLE sponsored events concerning produced water ownership and surface/mineral estate disputes.

Jac received his law degree from Loyola University, New Orleans College of Law. After law school, Jac spent the first four years of his career as a prosecutor at the Bexar County District Attorney’s office where he tried over 30 jury trials to verdict. Since leaving public service, Jac is now in private practice where he specializes in representing individuals in personal injury cases.

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TOP LAWYER PROFILES Nicholas A. Kemmy

Vanessa H. Kemmy

2024 Best SA Lawyer 2023 Top PI Lawyer The Kemmy Law Firm, P.C. Phone: (210) 750-1019 | Fax: 210-940-4866 Email: nick@kemmyfirm.com Website: www.kemmylawfirm.com Areas of Practice: Personal Injury: Plaintiff Shortly after graduating from law school, Nicholas spent three years at the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office serving as a prosecutor for the State of Texas and Bexar County. After trying countless cases to verdict, Nicholas entered private practice where he now specializes in commercial litigation and representing individuals in personal injury cases. Nicholas received his undergraduate degree from the University of Texas in Austin and his Juris Doctorate from St. Mary’s University School of Law.

2024 Best SA Lawyers 2024 Outstanding Women in law 2023 Top PI Lawyer The Kemmy Law Firm, P.C. Phone: (210) 750-1019 | Fax: 210-940-4866 Email: vanessa@kemmyfirm.com Website: www.kemmylawfirm.com Areas of Practice: Personal Injury: Plaintiff Vanessa is a third-generation attorney and is proud to continue two of her family’s legacies: practicing law and business ownership. Vanessa is a diligent and passionate attorney who cares deeply about helping her clients solve their problems. For the last seven years, Vanessa has represented her clients’ interests with professionalism and a steadfast commitment to a resolution. and his Juris Doctorate from St. Mary’s University School of Law.

Carl J. Kolb

2024 Best SA Lawyers 2023 Best SA Lawyer Carl J. Kolb, P.C. Phone: 210-225-6666 (San Antonio) 737-227-5573 (Austin) | Fax: 210-225-2300 Email: carl@carlkolblaw.com Website: www.carlkolblaw.com Areas of Practice: Legal Professional Responsibility

Seamus Kemmy

2024 Best SA Lawyer 2023 Top PI Lawyer The Kemmy Law Firm, P.C. Phone: (210) 750-1019 | Fax: 210-940-4866 Email: seamus@kemmyfirm.com Website: www.kemmylawfirm.com Areas of Practice: Personal Injury, Medical Malpractice: Plaintiff

For over 30 years, Carl J. Kolb has represented clients, lawyers, law firms, and governmental entities in legal malpractice, fee disputes, and grievance defense.

Monica R. Khirallah

2024 Best SA Lawyers Duarte & Molina, P.C. Phone: 210-737-6676 monica@duartemolinalaw.com Website: https://www.duartemolinalaw.com Areas of Practice : criminal and civil litigation

Within days of receiving his bar results, Seamus was trying his first case to a jury in Eagle Pass. Over the next several years, he continued building his skills as an advocate in the courtroom at the Bexar County DA, where he tried dozens of cases as a prosecutor in the family violence division. Now at the Kemmy Law Firm, Seamus continues to seek justice for injured clients and their families.

Monica R. Khirallah is a trial lawyer with over a decade of experience handling criminal charges in the State of Texas. With nearly 100 criminal jury trials, Monica has the experience and passion that trial advocacy requires and demands. Monica is a member of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, the San Antonio Bar Association, and the National Trial Lawyers Association. She is a former prosecutor and has been named a Rising Star by Texas Super Lawyers for the years 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024

Thomas G. Kemmy

2024 Best SA Lawyer 2023 Top PI Lawyer The Kemmy Law Firm, P.C. Phone: (210) 750-1019 | Fax: 210-940-4866 tom@kemmyfirm.com Website: www.kemmylawfirm.com Areas of Practice: Areas of Practice: Personal Injury: Plaintiff, Medical Malpractice: Plaintiff Tom Kemmy is Board Certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Personal Injury Trial Law (since 1997). Tom built his reputation representing ordinary people and small business owners injured by large corporations and hospitals. He has won large verdicts and settlements in difficult cases involving catastrophic and fatal injuries, medical negligence, oil and gas royalty disputes, and other business torts. Rated AV-Preeminent by Martindale Hubbel, Tom has also been repeatedly recognized by SuperLawyers.

Maria T. LoRusso, P.C.

2024 Best SA Lawyer 2024 Outstanding Women in Law Phone: 210-404-9200 Email: maria@lorussobusinesslaw.com Website: lorussobusinesslaw.com Areas of Practice: Business Law / Corporate Law: Finance Law At the intersection of Law & Finance lies my role as a Business/Corporate Law Attorney. This niche positions me to develop economic/financial strategies to successfully integrate and coordinate the management of business affairs, analyze contracts, and leases, manage litigation, assist CEOs, CFOs, tax professionals, banking/investment advisors and insurance representatives, into the legal and financial infrastructure of a business. Law & Finance become the compass and road map to navigate a successful business course.

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TOP LAWYER PROFILES Beto Lara

Rahul B. Patel

2024 Best SA Lawyer 2023 Top PI Lawyer

2024 Best SA Lawyer

Denali Law PLLC Phone: (210) 934 7000 Email: betolara@lawdenali.com Website: www.lawdenali.com Areas of Practice: Corporate Law, Civil Litigation, Commercial Litigation.

Beto Lara has over seventeen years’ experience in the legal field and has been recognized for his leadership and tenacity. Prior to establishing Denali Law, Mr. Lara counseled high profile clients on domestic and international foreign legal matters. He holds a Master’s in Tax Law and a L.L.M. in American legal studies from St. Mary’s School of Law. Mr. Lara is also affiliated with the State Bar of Texas and has been certified by the Supreme Court of Texas as a Foreign Legal Consultant. He is a passionate advocate for UTSA football and resides in San Antonio with his family.

Patel Gaines Phone: 210-460-7787 Email: rpatel@patelgaines.com Website: patelgaines.com Areas of Practice: Business, Franchise, Hospitality, Property Tax Rahul B. Patel is a brilliant entrepreneur and strategic mind and has also led the growth and development of multiple successful business ventures, most notably as the Founding and Managing Partner of Patel Gaines, PLLC & Co-Founder of the Five Fitness Group, South Texas’s largest franchisee of publicly traded F45 Training. Rahul is a leading attorney and entrepreneur in the state of Texas. He’s been recognized through numerous awards including, Super Lawyer and Top 100 Lawyers, San Antonio Business Journal Man of the Year, 40 Under 40, Best Places to Work, and San Antonio Magazine Faces of San Antonio, among others. In addition, Rahul also serves on the Global Brand Fund Committee for F45 and is the current Chairman of the Alamo Angels Organization. As a dynamic communicator and visionary leader, Rahul is also a sought-out speaker. He thrives on making a difference through his strategic entrepreneurial ventures.

Desi I. Martinez 2024 Best SA Lawyer 2023 Top PI Lawyer

Gavin McInnis

Martinez & Associates, P.L.L.C. Phone: 210-337-1111 | Fax: 210-359-8255 Email: desi.martinez@martinez-law.com www.martinez-law.com Areas of Practice: Personal Injury

2024 Best SA Lawyer

Martinez & Associates has been recognized by TopVerdicts.com and VerdictSearch for obtaining several noteworthy verdicts and settlements for 7 out of the previous 10 years. Desi Martinez credits this recognition to Martinez & Associates’ ability to capably litigate a case through to trial. Known to have precipitously walked out of mediations and into trial, the years have tempered Mr. Martinez’ gallop but afforded him the opportunity to impress upon the attorneys in his firm with this belief.

Wyatt Law Firm, Ltd. Phone: 210-340-5550 | Fax: 210-340-5581 Email: gmcinnis@wyattlawfirm.com Website: www.wyattlawfirm.com Areas of Practice: Plaintiff Personal Injury Gavin, who has been nicknamed “the Law Library” by some of his peers, concentrates his practice in the representation of plaintiffs in serious personal injury, trucking accidents, wrongful death, carbon monoxide exposure, and oil field injury cases. Born and raised in Latin America until the age of thirteen, Gavin speaks English and Spanish. Honors and recognitions include: Super Lawyers, Scene In SA Best Lawyers, Top 50 Verdicts (Texas); Texas Bar Foundation Fellow; Order of the Barristers.

Richard Timothy (Tim) Molina 2024 Best SA Lawyer

Harold McCall

Duarte & Molina, PC Phone: (210) 737-6676 | Fax: (210) 733-6181 Email: tmolina@duartemolinalaw.com Website: www.duartemolinalaw.com Areas of Practice: Criminal Law; Family Law; Civil Litigation

2024 Best SA Lawyer 2023 Top PI Lawyer

Tim Molina has over twenty-two years legal experience and is a seasoned trial attorney. With over one hundred and fifty jury trials taken to verdict, Tim has established an excellent reputation amongst his clients, his peers, and judges as a seasoned advocate who will fight to protect his clients’ interests and rights in all criminal (state and federal) and civil matters.

Tim is a 2001 graduate of Southern Methodist University – Dedman School of Law.

Wayne Wright, LLP Phone: 210-888-8888 | Fax: 210-734-9965 Email: hmccall@waynewright.com Website: www.waynewright.com Areas of Practice: Personal Injury Harold McCall handles complex trucking accident cases resulting in serious injury or death, as well as dangerous product and drug cases. Mr. McCall is licensed to practice law in 6 states, including Texas; is a life member of the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum; is listed as a Best Attorney in San Antonio by Scene in SA Magazine; and is past President of the San Antonio Trial Lawyers Association

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TOP LAWYER PROFILES Aida Rojas Moore

Cynthia Orr

2024 Best SA Lawyer

2024 Best SA Lawyer 2024 Outstanding Women in Law

Rojas Law Firm Phone: 210-299-4600 | Fax: 210-299-4600 Email: aidarojas@aidarojaslaw.com Website: www.aidarojaslaw.com Areas of Practice: Family Law Aida Rojas Moore has over 20 years of qualified experience in dealing with family law cases such as divorce, custody, domestic violence, CPS, child support, and adoptions. Throughout the course of representing clients, Ms. Rojas has gained the reputation of a lawyer who will always fight for justice and will protect the legal rights of Texas families and children.

Goldstein & Orr PLLC Phone: 210-226-1463 | Fax: 210-226-8367 Email: whitecollarlaw@gmail.com Website: www.goldsteinhilley.com Areas of Practice: Criminal Law & Appeals Cynthia Eva Hujar Orr is the past Chair of the ABA Criminal Justice Section and in its House of Delegates, on the Texas Board of Law Examiners, is past President of the NACDL and TCDLA. She founded the San Antonio Lawyers Association and the Texas Innocence Network. She is listed in the Best Lawyers in America, is a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers and is a Texas’ Top 100 Trial Lawyer. She is in the San Antonio Women’s Hall of Fame, she was TCDLA 2015 Pro Bono Lawyer of the year, clerked for federal Judge Emilio Garza and is Board Certified in Criminal Law and Appeals. She is listed in the Best Lawyers in America and is AV Rated by Martindale Hubble.

Ashley Morgan 2024 Best SA Lawyer

Soyars & Morgan Law Phone: 210-568-9400 | Fax: 210-858-5181 Email: ashley@soyarsmorganlaw.com Website: www.soyarsmorganlaw.com Areas of Practice: DWI and Criminal Defense

Richard Orsinger 2024 Best Lawyers 2024 Top Family Law

Ashley Morgan is a highly educated and highly experienced trial attorney. She has hundreds of trials under her belt and her ability to communicate clearly and effectively with jurors is second to none. Ashley has the unique ability to empathize with clients – a skill often overlooked by other attorneys. She is a fierce advocate and will vigorously defend you. As a former prosecutor she is able to anticipate strategies and tactics you will face and this insight into preparation will serve you well. It also means she has the experience needed to negotiate with the State.

Orsinger Law Phone: 210-225-5567 | Fax: 210-267-7777 Email: Richard@orsinger.com Website: www.ondafamilylaw.com Areas of Practice: Family Law Richard Orsinger is well regarded as one of Texas’ top family law and appellate lawyers. He offers clients unparalleled experience gained over the course of an esteemed 47-year career. In that time, his peers have repeatedly recognized him for his legal acumen, dedication to hard work and to the integrity of his profession. The list of awards bestowed upon him from a variety of legal organizations and publications is impressive.

Richard has been named to The Best Lawyers in America in Family Law listing each year since 1987 and in Appellate Law since 2007.

Kaylie M. Morgan

2024 Best SA Lawyer 2024 Outstanding Women in Law

Derek S. Ritchie

Goldstein & Orr, PLLC Phone: 210-226-1463 | Fax: 210-226-8367 Email: kaylie@goldsteinorr.law Website: https://www.goldsteinhilley.com Areas of Practice: Criminal Defense; Criminal Defense: Appellate; & Criminal Defense: Juvenile

2024 Best SA Lawyer

Kaylie M. Morgan is a criminal defense attorney at Goldstein & Orr in San Antonio, Texas. Her current practice focuses solely on juvenile and adult criminal defense, representing clients charged with misdemeanors and felony offenses. Kaylie also handles state and federal appeals and postconviction writs of habeas corpus cases. Kaylie has been selected as a Rising Star Lawyer and an Outstanding Woman in Law in San Antonio, Texas. ‘

The Law Office of Derek S. Ritchie, PLLC Phone: 210-775-2000 | Fax: 210-592-4370 Email: derek@derekritchielaw.com Website: www.derekritchielaw.com Areas of Practice: Criminal Defense; Family Law Derek is the founder and managing attorney of the Law Office of Derek S. Ritchie. He earned his law degree in London then made his way to the United States and earned his LLM from the University of Texas School of Law. He handles DWI’s, intoxication manslaughter, murders and sex crimes as well as all areas of Family Law. He is available to his clients everyday, including weekends.

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TOP LAWYER PROFILES Raul B. Rodriguez

Jodi Soyars

2024 Best SA Lawyer 2023 Top PI Lawyer

2024 Best SA Lawyer

Raul B. Rodriguez Law, P.C. Phone: 210-899-0300 | Fax: 210-899-0500 Email: raul@rodriqueziawtx.com Website: raulbrodriguez.com Areas of Practice: Personal Injury Overview Raul was born in San Antonio and is proud to be from San Antonio. His firm focuses on helping injured San Antonians and Texans. Raul handles all types of personal injury matters from car wrecks to wrongful death cases. Raul has worked for and tried cases for both insurance companies and injured victims. This experience adds a unique insight to the entire personal injury process. No matter how hard the fight, Raul and his firm won’t back down!

Soyars & Morgan Law Phone: 210-568-9400 | Fax: 210-858-5181 Email: jodi@soyarsmorganlaw.com Website: www.soyarsmorganlaw.com Areas of Practice: Criminal Defense; Family Law Jodi Soyars has gained a reputation for being a strong trial attorney who is not afraid to vigorously defend her clients’ rights. Over the past 15+ years, she has represented defendant’s accused of misdemeanors and felonies throughout Central Texas. She graduated with honors from law school and was a member of the prestigious Houston Law Review. She has been admitted to practice in the U.S. Western District Courts (federal court). Her practice emphasizes personal attention to each client’s case and prompt communication with her clients. Jodi attributes her success to her pretrial case preparation and her “think outside the box” trial approach

Alexander S. Roig 2024 Best SA Lawyer Alexander S. Roig, PLLC Phone: 210-377-2529 Ext. 201 Fax: 210- 340-1346 Email: Alexander@roiglaw.com Website: www.roiglaw.com Areas of Practice: Family law and Probate

Whitney Thomas 2024 Best SA Lawyer

Alex graduated from the University of Texas at Austin and Thomas M. Cooley Law School, in Lansing, MI. He has been a licensed attorney in the State of Texas since 2002 and admitted to the Federal District Court of the Western District. His experience includes estate planning and litigation on trusts, guardianships, and estate disputes. Mr. Roig also has extensive experience representing military clients in both disability claims and estate planning matters.

Hella V. Scheuerman

Whitney Thomas Law Firm Phone: 210-920-5002 Email: whitney@whitneythomaslaw.com Website: www.whitneythomaslaw.com Areas of Practice : Estate Planning and Trusts, Probate Whitney is the owner of the Whitney Thomas Law Firm, where she represents clients in the areas of estate planning, probate, and guardianship. Whitney is a proud HBCU graduate of Hampton University and Southern University Law Center. She has been named as one of SA’s Outstanding Women in Law (2022, 2023, 2024), a 2023 Rising Star S.A. Lawyer, and a 2024 Best SA Lawyer by Scene in SA magazine.

2024 Best SA Lawyer 2024 Outstanding Women in Law 2023 Top PI Lawyer Scheuerman Law Firm, PLLC Phone: 210-735-2233 | Fax: 210-735-2235 Email: hella@sch-lawfirm.com Website: www.sch-lawfirm.com Areas of Practice: Personal Injury, Probate, Trust

Michael B. Thurman 2024 Best SA Lawyer

Thurman & Phillips, PC Phone: 210-341-2020 | Fax: 210-344-6460 Email: law@thurman-phillips.com Website: www.thurmanphillips.com Areas of Practice: Property Owners

and Estate Litigation Hella is originally from Managua, Nicaragua. She immigrated to the United States with her family at a young age as a result of the political and economic climate in war-torn Nicaragua. Spanish is her first language and she continues to speak Spanish fluently. In her 25 years of practice, she has obtained significant trial experience as lead attorney in more than 50 jury trials to verdict. Hella is Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and frequently counsels and represents clients in both State and Federal Courts. She is licensed in all Texas State Courts, as well as the Western, Northern and Southern Districts of Texas of the United States District Courts. Hella has extensive experience in handling all types of civil litigation, including serious personal injury and death cases, will and trust contests, and probate litigation. She also handles all matters related to estate planning.

Michael B. Thurman is Managing Shareholder of Thurman & Phillips, P.C. Michael is Board Certified by the State Bar of Texas Board of Legal Specialization in the areas of Real Estate LawResidential and Property Owners Association Law. Michael’s primary practice is Property Owners Association Law with a focus on representing associations and developers. Michael is AV rated, which is the highest rating bestowed by Martindale-Hubbell on attorneys considered to have “Very High to Preeminent Legal Ability” with the highest Standard of ethical and professional conduct.

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TOP LAWYER PROFILES Javier Villarreal

Wayne Wright

2024 Best SA Lawyer 2023 TOP PI Lawyer

2024 Best SA Lawyer 2023 TOP PI Lawyer

Villarreal & Begum Phone: 210-800-0000 || Fax: 210-233-8278 Email: texasattorney@hotmail.com Website: www.texaslawguns.com Areas of Practice: Personal Injury

Wayne Wright, LLP Phone: 210-888-8888 Fax: 210-734-9965 Email: wyatt@waynewright.com Website: www.waynewright.com Areas of Practice: Plaintiff Personal Injury

Javier Villarreal received his bachelor’s degree from Tulane University in New Orleans, LA in 1995. He then continued his education at Tulane School of Law, where he obtained his Juris Doctors in 1998. Upon graduation, he served as a Briefing Attorney for the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. In 2001, Javier opened his private practice in Brownsville, Texas and developed his plaintiff personal injury practice. He is licensed to practice law in both the State of Texas and the State of Arizona.

Mr. Wright received his law degree from the University of Northern Illinois College of Law, with the honors of Magna Cum Laude, First in Class. Mr. Wright is licensed to practice law in 9 states, including Texas; a life member of the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum; ranked as a Top 100 Lawyer by the National Trial Lawyers; and has been listed as a Best Attorney in San Antonio by Scene In SA magazine since 2009.

Wyatt Wright 2024 Best SA Lawyer 2023 TOP PI Lawyer

Ronnie Lee Mark Wilkins 2024 Best SA Lawyer

Goldstein and Orr Phone: (210) 226-1463 Fax: (210) 226-8367 Email: Ronnie@GoldsteinOrr.law Website: https://www.goldsteinhilley.com Areas of Practice: Criminal Law & Criminal Appeals Ronnie Wilkins is an associate attorney at Goldstein & Orr in San Antonio, Texas. His practice focuses on state and federal criminal defense. Ronnie has experience in handling a variety of adult and juvenile cases. In 2014, Ronnie was selected as a Rising Star Lawyer in San Antonio, Texas.

Wayne Wright, LLP Phone: 210-888-8888 Fax: 210-734-9965 Email: wwright@waynewright.com Website: www.waynewright.com Areas of Practice: Plaintiff Personal Injury Wyatt Wright handles complex trucking accident cases resulting in serious injury or death, as well as dangerous product and drug cases. Mr. Wright is licensed to practice law in 15 states, including Texas; is a life member of the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum; is ranked as a Top 100 Lawyer by the National Trial Lawyers; and has been listed as a Best Attorney in San Antonio

by Scene In SA magazine since 2009.

You should be in here!

Paula Wyatt 2024 Best SA Lawyer Wyatt Law Firm Phone: 210-340-5550 Fax: 210-340-5581 Email: pwyatt@wyattlawfirm.com Website: www.wyattlawfirm.com Areas of Practice: Plaintiff Personal Injury

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT

GABRIELLA MARTINEZ

Paula knows the profound human impact of personal injuries or death. As such, she takes the time to not just get to know her clients, but to understand them. Paula represents individuals and families who have suffered losses from trucking accidents, carbon monoxide exposure, and oilfield and industrial accidents, just to name a few. Rated AV-Preeminent by Martindale - Hubbell, Paula has been recognized by multiple organizations, including Super Lawyers and the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum.

AT SCENE IN SA

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The Seasoned Woman Editor: Nick Belvins Photographer: Torry Sledge At the Carver Community Cultural Center just east of downtown off of Commerce, flocks of attendees filed through the doors in anticipation of the event to unfold. Excited chatter filled the high halls as guests found their seats, while others paused to capture selfies in the soft lighting and lush decor of the Carver’s performance space. Towering, gorgeous paintings depicting a variety of scenes and women–the night’s performers included–illuminated the stage on a massive screen. As the audience settled in, the house lights dimmed, and six instrumentalists took their places upon the stage. Moody, evocative, and rhythmically-engaging, the music was immediately arresting; but then the vocalists began.

What came next was a melodious and intimate portrait of two distinct, impactful voices, writ large.

Stirring, sometimes bittersweet, but always captivating, The Seasoned Woman–a project commissioned

by Art2Action, the Carver Community Cultural Center, and the National Performance Network– comprised deftly-reworked Jazz and Arab standards, played in tandem with the balletic vocals of Syrian singer Lubana Al Quntar and the soulful tones and poetry of San Antonio’s very own Andrea Sanderson.

Pieces touched upon expressions of the physical and emotional; personal and universal explorations of womanhood, articulated by two masters of their craft.

“This is the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my artistic career,” explained singer, rapper, and San Antonio Poet Laureate emeritus Sanderson–better known by her stage name, Vocab–of the intricate performances and moving pieces necessary to bring The Seasoned Woman to fruition. “I’m learning to trust myself more as an artist.” Involving beautiful and dynamic visuals, the product of a collaboration between artist Barbara Felix and London-based video projection designer Eva Auster, as well as a globespanning ensemble of musicians (some of whom had only met in person the week leading up to the performance, according to director Andrea Assaf), it’s clear that her trust was well-placed.

The Seasoned Woman engaged with the visceral, the senses, and the passage of time to share a uniquely profound experience. With plans to take The Seasoned Woman to other cities, you’ll have to stay tuned for your next opportunity to check it out. n Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/sceneinsa | Follow us on Instagram @sceneinsamag

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Heart of a Hero:

Willie Ng’s Tale of Triumph

By Carole Miller Photos Courtesy of Eric Castillo

I

n a world where heroes are few and far between, Willie Ng stands out as a modern Renaissance man with a presidential flair. This Texas titan has navigated the realms of law enforcement, business, academia and community service with both charm and determination, embodying the traits of a true superhero.

Ng has consistently proven that he has what it takes to save the day. From battling organized crime to running a successful security firm, his resume speaks volumes—a fact not lost on those who know him best. His superhero mantra? “You have one life. Make it count.” And count it he has. With a lifetime of service behind him and a world of possibilities ahead, Willie Ng

is ready to tackle whatever challenges lie ahead. If his past is any indication, he’ll do it with style, grace and a healthy dose of Texas swagger.

His message of hope and resilience resonates far beyond the borders of San Antonio. With a run for sheriff and a bid for Congress under his belt, Ng is a hero who refuses to compromise his beliefs for mere popularity.

His straightforwardness and authenticity are a breath of fresh air in today’s political climate. With a wit as sharp as his investigative skills, he's not afraid to call it like he sees it—a quality that’s as rare as it is refreshing.

Willie Ng stands firm in his convictions, believing in opportunities for everyone. His unwavering commitment to his principles sets him apart, making him a beacon of hope and resilience.

From Eastside to Citywide Pride Born and bred on San Antonio’s Eastside, Willie Ng’s journey from a humble upbringing to a beacon of hope in his community reads like a modern-day epic. Ng’s path was never paved with gold; instead, it was forged in the fires of adversity and shaped by the desire to make a difference.

The only thing his parents wanted for him was to finish school and simply learn how to navigate through life. They never pushed him.

And after graduating from East Central High School, he felt he only had two choices: join the Marines or go into law enforcement.

“In the early 90s, San Antonio had the highest drive-by shooting rate in the entire country,” says Ng. “I felt like I had to give back to my community, and because of this, I became a police officer. I also wanted an education and the police offered that.”

Thirty years in the San Antonio Police Department and eight years tackling federal cases gave Ng a firsthand look at the underbelly of society. But while some might be content to merely observe, Ng rolled up his sleeves and dove headfirst into the fray, determined to be a force for good in a world often shrouded in darkness.

During his law enforcement career, he worked on larger cases, including those involving the Mexican Mafia, Aryan Circle, Aryan Brotherhood, credit card scams, and money laundering. He was involved with the DEA and ATF in the largest seizure case ever in

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San Antonio. His Secret Service career included investigating white-collar crimes and protecting high-level government officials.

The Hero's Odyssey: Tackling Crime, Academic Challenges, and the Big C Like a modern-day Batman, Willie Ng’s ambitions didn’t stop at fighting crime. While keeping the streets safe, he simultaneously built his own security empire, Blue Armor Security Services, from the ground up. Think of it as his very own Wayne Enterprises. With state-of-the-art cameras, alarms, training and access control, whatever you need for security, Blue Armor Security Services has it covered.

He’s also a modern-day Superman. Education has always been a priority for Ng, much like Clark Kent’s unyielding pursuit of truth and knowledge. Ng believes in the transformative power of learning. While working for the SAPD and the Secret Service, he completed his master’s degree in public administration from St. Mary’s University. Then he set his sights even higher, applying for a PhD in organizational leadership at Our Lady of the Lake University. He was accepted in 2015, but he was called to serve as the Chief Criminal Investigator for Bexar County and his PhD program had to wait.

Deep down, Ng longs to change the world. He’s as tough and determined as the Lone Ranger on the outside, but beneath it all, he has a quality of sweetness that shines a light of human understanding and genuine goodwill. He loves humanity and there is no doubt that he wants good. But evil, like a nemesis lurking in the shadows, stalks the good man, tempting and testing him.

At the end of 2016, everything came to a screeching halt when he discovered a lump on his neck. By February 2017, he had Stage 4 cancer and had to go to MD Anderson for chemotherapy and radiation treatments. They removed his wisdom teeth and tonsils, where the cancer started. The final radiation treatment made his esophagus so swollen that he was unable to eat or drink.

“I couldn’t work, but I ran things anyway,” he says, channeling his inner Superman. “I don’t allow temporary circumstances to dictate my path. Don’t make excuses. You can do it.”

His message is one of hope, and his battle with cancer only fueled his determination. “I want to plant hope into people and show everyone what is possible. There’s not enough hope right now. I want to plant a seed that people can harvest.”

Even a bout with Stage 4 cancer didn't derail his academic pursuits. Like Superman juggling his responsibilities in Metropolis and Krypton, Ng worked on his PhD remotely. After finishing his cancer treatments in June 2017, he was back to work and school, running his business and teaching graduatelevel criminal justice courses at the University of the Incarnate Word.

“Everyone said I couldn’t do all that, but it’s 20 years later, and I’m still here,” he laughs, a true testament to his superhero resilience and spirit.

Scholarships, Security, and a Whole Lot of Heart Ng’s philanthropic endeavors are as impressive as his professional

achievements. From establishing scholarships to mentoring the next generation of leaders to aiding the uninsured and furry friends in need, his generosity knows no bounds. And through it all, he remains a beacon of hope, refusing to let life's challenges dim his spirit. His passion for lifting others up is as infectious as it is inspiring.

While at St. Mary’s, he noticed students from five different universities competing for two $500 scholarships every semester. In 2010 he saw a need, approached St. Mary’s University President Charles Cottrell and established a third scholarship. Then in 2012, it increased to six scholarships per year with three graduate level scholarships: the Willie Ng Master of Public Administration Scholarship, Dr. Charles Cottrell Scholarship, and Dr. Henry Flores Scholarship.

His foundation collaborates with first responder programs to offer mental health support and essential resources to law enforcement and military personnel. Additionally, it assists cancer patients, the elderly, and immunocompromised individuals by providing financial aid for treatment expenses. Furthermore, the foundation ensures access to quality education for students lacking the means to pursue primary or secondary learning opportunities. It also extends its support to animal rescues, hospitals focusing on stray intake and adoption, and offers aid to anyone in need, bridging gaps and fostering community welfare.

Willie also has superhuman strength when it comes to giving back to the community, especially through his non-profit work. He believes that encouraging the children and future leaders of our community is priceless.

During his time as the interim Chief Executive Officer of the Juvenile Outreach Vocational Education Network (JOVEN), he took on the challenge of restructuring the organization during a tough financial period. Thanks to his leadership, JOVEN not only survived, but is now thriving with greater funding and support.

With his sharp wit, boundless energy and a heart as big as Texas, Willie Ng is more than just a local hero—he's a shining example of what's possible when determination meets opportunity. n

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Thanks for the Memories: A Night with the Emo Orchestra Editorial & Photography by Zach Jewell

The orchestra

K Enagonio, content creator and vocalist with fans after the show

The Tobin Center had a different energy than usual that night. Some people were there for a nice date night. Some came dressed in full goth theater night vibes, and others in black band tees and skinny jeans. Emo Orchestra is the perfect blend of classical music and the heavy, distortion-laden melodies we all know and love from bands like Fall Out Craig, TJ, and Matti from Escape the Fate at The Moon’s Daughters Boy, New Found Glory, My Chemical Romance, System of a Down, and of course, headlining band Escape the Fate. The crowd joined in with sing-along-style projector screens behind the musicians that included thought-provoking artwork some might call “Emo AF.” The entire night felt classy, with an air of nostalgic rebellion.

After the show I got to join some of the band for drinks at The Moon’s Daughters, followed by a late night dinner. Yard House was one of the few restaurants with an open kitchen within walking distance after the show wrapped. I sat at a table eating chicken strips and parmesan truffle fries with Craig, Matty, and TJ from Escape the Fate, as well as K Enagonio, the tour’s content creator, and a few of their friends from San Antonio. We sat and reminisced about Emo bands from the early 2000s while the band brainstormed ideas for future Emo Orchestra set lists.

Matti Hoffman and Erik Jensen

View from the soundboard_

TJ Bell, bassist

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As I listened to their conversation, I was flooded with memories from middle and high school; all of the amazing emotions I experienced for the first time through music. I had a flashback to standing in a circle before school with my friends in their Doc Martens and black eye liner, sharing headphones connected to a portable discman with one another to catch up on all the newest music. I remembered my first feelings of freedom skateboarding through the suburbs with my misfit friends, and the bands that fueled those moments which shaped my life in so many ways.

Lead vocalist Craig Mabbit shared some of his thoughts about the tour with me over dinner. “It’s amazing to play with a full orchestra… even to hear our own songs with a full orchestra is really cool, “ he went on, “We clicked really quickly. The camaraderie is great.” The band collectively have an extensive resume in the Emo scene. Escape the Fate has been together for over 20 years. Craig started in a band called Bless the Fall. TJ Bell began his career in Motionless in White; Matti Hoffman with Dead Girls Academy and several others. The list goes on, but needless to say, they’ve absolutely perfected the emo hair swoop. Mabbit proudly stated, “You actually get to see one of your favorite bands perform these songs in a setting that’s just easy to enjoy.” The band clearly seemed touched to be part of something that not only connects people to their past in such a new and positive way, but also to provide an opportunity for fans to connect and share something they love with the people they love.

During our dinner, K Enagonio recalled an experience while taking photos during the show: K spotted a daughter reluctant to dance with her father, and didn’t hesitate to approach the daughter and remind her that she won’t always have the opportunity to dance with her dad, so she should make the best of the opportunity. After processing this, the daughter got up and danced with her dad the rest of the night. It’s surely a memory both of them will hold dearly for the rest of their lives. Music brings people together.

Music creates memories. Seize the moment and make a point to go make some memories with someone you love next time Emo Orchestra makes its way to San Antonio. n

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Brackenridge Park 125 Years Old – With a Future in the Making

By Berit Mason

Photographs courtesy of Brackenridge Park Conservancy

B

rackenridge Park is wild, murky, and dense; an old urban park people drive through, on the way to the San Antonio Zoo, the Paul Jolly Center for Pet Adoptions, the Brackenridge Park Golf Course, Tuesday Musical Club, or the Japanese Tea Gardens.

It was December 4, 1899 when George W. Brackenridge donated 199 acres of land to the City of San Antonio, to become Brackenridge Park.

Originally, it was a “driving park,” where horse-drawn carriages and later cars tootled about.

Owned by the City of San Antonio and operated by Parks and Recreation, the park itself mostly goes unnoticed and has suffered significant decline. Driving in, one can get lost in its dimness. Roads wind around and around, its borders are porous and birds clustering at the riverbanks leave a real stink. There are hazards which can be easy to stumble into.

“One thing – you need to know where you are,” says Lewis F. Fisher, author of Brackenridge: San Antonio’s Acclaimed Urban Park. “You are never told when you come into the park that you are in the park. You need better traffic flow with the closing of the low-water crossing.”

He says the park needs clear road signs and better pedestrian walkways, to bring it connectivity and cohesion.

Fisher writes in his book, “It seemed in the 1940s, that Brackenridge Park was drifting down some sort of rabbit hole.” A 1970s park train robbery was a real low and “years of municipal budget cutbacks had taken their toll.”

“There is a whole lot that can be done!” he says. “The riverbanks need to be upgraded, invasive species and plants need to be removed, Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/sceneinsa | Follow us on Instagram @sceneinsamag

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and the grounds need to be maintained. It can be raised to a world-class urban park standard.”

The lower Broadway corridor is being completely redone, developers erecting lofts, high-rises, with a river revival and architectural restorations.

Part of lower Broadway, Brackenridge Park also deserves attention.

But Brackenridge Park has always struggled for funding. A $7.7 million bond was passed in 2017 to address some of its needs.

“There needs to be some kind of Broadway cultural corridor marketing plan, that defines the corridor in a meaningful way, that helps visibility so all of the partners on the Broadway corridor benefit,” says Brechtel.

A project in the works is the River Road Ecosystem Restoration by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, supported by the San Antonio River Authority and Bexar County.

Infrastructure enhancements are coming south of Mulberry, set to restore banks of the stretch of the San Antonio River traveling through the park and stabilize the health and function of the riparian and aquatic ecosystem. This includes removing non-native and invasive species and reintroducing native aquatic plants, which can mitigate erosion and improve channel flow, fish passage, and avian habitats. Aside from enhancing the natural health of the environment, the River Road project aims to increase recreational opportunities like birding and fishing.

This winter, city officials invited citizens to the D.R. Semmes Family YMCA TriPoint Center, to collect their ideas on how to gussy up the park’s nearly 400 acres.

“More than 130 people attended each meeting, and the survey generated participation from more than 2,100 individuals with nearly 30,000 unique responses. The public engagement campaign was part of a Reconciled Plan effort,” reports the city’s Office of Historic Preservation. “The public expressed the greatest interest in preserving the natural setting of the park and the rehabilitation of historic buildings and structures.”

One resident insisted the park honor Native American hunter-gatherers who first passed through here some 12,000 years ago. About a dozen archeological discoveries have been unearthed here, as old as 9200 BCE. The Brackenridge Park Conservancy is onsite in the park, in a small neat building next to the San Antonio River. Here, interim CEO Terry Brechtel and her officers care for the park’s history, and its preservation.

“It was a healing process in a lot of ways,” she says of the meetings, “because of, let’s say, the many false starts.” Throughout its history, the parks only had money for a patchwork of upgrades, leaving it with a lost feel.

“The park needs significant improvements, dollar-wise, to make it all happen,” says Brechtel. “This isn’t an undertaking that is just a few million dollars. To do this right, it’s a few hundred million dollars.”

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Another project in the works is an “all-inclusive natural playscape area that takes the best from playgrounds and makes them natural, creating a space of play and exploration.”

Salvaging and reuse are themes of today’s environmental mindset, so they’ll build the playscape with existing park materials.

The 1878 Lambert Beach pump house was an original source of water for the city. It became a bathhouse in the 1920s. “It is an historic structure that needs to be reimagined so it can be reused,” she says.

Of the 30,000 suggestions, there was an insistence on safety measures.

There’s park police, but trail improvements are useless if walkers and hikers feel unsure.

Already, the Conservancy rented goats who munched their way through tangled foliage to clear trails and overgrowth.

Collaborations make a group stronger, so the Conservancy partnered with the McNay Art Museum on the Birdsong Brackenridge Birdhouse Exhibition.

“The McNay is proud to partner with the Brackenridge Park Conservatory showcasing architects’ concept-driven birdhouses throughout our campus.

The birdhouses ignite curiosity and inspiration as visitors of all ages connect with nature and art,” says McNay director, Matthew McLendon.

Artistic birdhouses were donated to the Conservancy, which they installed on the McNay’s cultivated grounds.

Natural settings, parks are home to nature. Birds and egrets live here, as do cats. Yes, cats. Kind volunteers tend to the many scattered cat colonies, sprung up from people who dump them here. Felines are tucked under tarps, bushes and trees, while volunteers in boots and jackets tromp through the park’s backcountry, to feed them, maintaining food and water stations.

The park has sports, golf, baseball, hiking, and in the old days, there were polo matches. In the 1930s, founding member of the Texas Horse Racing Hall of Fame and Chairman of the Texas Racing Commission, Hugh Fitzsimons, Jr., organized polo matches at the park.

“Polo was a big part of the Fort Sam Houston cavalry program,” says son, Joseph B.C. Fitzsimons. “At one point, the Fort Sam Houston army had over Subscribe today at www.sceneinsa.com

twenty teams. They would lead the horses from Fort Sam Houston, down the hill and across Broadway on Sundays, and play at the park.”

When the polo players went off to WWII, the matches stopped, resuming on their return. The last polo game was in the late 1980s.

In May, today’s generations of the Fitzsimons family brought polo back to the park for a champagne event, part of a yearlong schedule of park activities to attract visitors.

Eclipse and Sips provided prime solar eclipse viewing atop the historic Alpine Drive overlooking San Antonio’s Japanese Tea Garden. Saturdays are Fitness at the Park. There’s Brackenridge Story Time for children and Urban Wild is a new group to engage young community leaders, introducing the park to the next generations. n In the fall, is Parktoberfest occuring September 29.

The park’s 3rd Annual Family Fishing Day is on November 2!

The official 125th birthday celebration for Brackenridge Park is the Big Brack Bash on November 16, with vintage cars, paddle boats for the public, pony rides and donkey petting, harkening to the park’s early days.

On December 4, Party in the Park will celebrate the park’s inaugural day.

Brackenridge Park is your park— so the city wants to hear from you.

Visit https://saspeakup.com/bpplan to share your ideas.

Footnote: On June 20, 2024, the Brackenridge Park Conservancy announced their new CEO, Chris Maitre, who begins the job July 8.

“I’m honored to be joining the amazing team at the Brackenridge Park Conservancy,” said Chris Maitre. “Brackenridge Park is a historically significant and culturally rich park. I’ve been fortunate to visit Brackenridge Park during prior family vacations and on trips to see my son during his Air Force training. It was during these visits that I came to truly admire Brackenridge’s unique setting for San Antonio residents and visitors. Parks are places for people to escape the day-to-day grind, enjoy the company of others, and make lasting memories. Brackenridge has done that and more for the last 125 years. Every great city deserves a great park and San Antonio has Brackenridge Park.”

Maitre comes from New Orleans where he was Chief Operating Officer for City Park Conservancy in New Orleans, in charge of day-to-day operations for their 1,300-acre urban park.

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La Semana Alegre 2024 Editor: Zach Jewell Photographers: Zach Jewell and Torry Sledge

After twenty-nine years, it’s back, and better than ever! La Semana Alegre, which translates to “The Happy Week”, kicked off on Thursday, May 25th, right across the street from NIOSA. For those seeking to experience all the joys of Fiesta without feeling packed in like sardines, this is the event for you! Spread out over the grounds of Hemisfair and Civic Parks for two days, there was something for everyone who loves music and the spirit of Fiesta. The Civic Stage featured a VIP space with food and aguas frescas with Tito’s, as well as an amazing lineup of local and national acts including the likes of The Toadies, Girl in a Coma, Lonely Horse, Bombasta, and Inner Wave. The Plaza stage showcased an equally talented lineup of local bands including Grupo Metal, Honey Bunny, Harvey McLaughlin, and Nicky Diamonds, whom Scene In SA had the opportunity to chat with after his performance on Friday afternoon.

Nicky Diamonds has been playing and writing music since he was ten years old. His influences include The Beatles, Son House, and Jimi Hendrix, but more than anything, he was influenced by his father.

“Whatever records he was playing is what I was listening to.” Diamonds said, “A lot of blues, southern rock and roll; I grew up a lot on that.”

A San Antonio native, he’s been involved in the music scene here for over 15 years, and is excited to see San Antonio putting more focus on its local music scene. “The location [of Semana Alegre] is great, and all these new installations are really cool!” Regarding Civic Park, “This is a great place for a music festival and takes some of the pressure off La Villita and the River Walk.”

He took a sip of his Modelo Especial and spoke of his hopes for the future of the space: “I like that they’re keeping true to the culture of San Antonio, especially here at Hemisfair Park.

It’s a very sacred site… like the water running through is a way of giving the landscape back to itself.” Nicky was grateful to experience the 98

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opportunity to play an event like La Semana Alegre, and encouraged all artists in San Antonio to keep pushing and striving for success in the city, and showcasing their talents.

The city of San Antonio is rich with culture and talent to match; La Semana Alegre did a great job of proving just that. The event was reminiscent of years past when the party was light-hearted, fun, and inclusive, without any worry of violence, or spending an entire paycheck on having a good time. Tickets were extremely affordable at only $20 at the gate for regular entry. There were even free options, including the Sound Cream Airstream DJ booth, offering the option to dance and enjoy fiesta foods and vendors just outside the gates of the event space, as well as a third special stage on Friday showcasing a collection of young artists from around San Antonio such the AM Project, Network for Young Artists, Young Comic, and the High Voltage Music Program. There was truly something for everyone in the family at this event. Next year when you’re planning your Fiesta Festivities, be sure to include La Semana Alegre for a rocking, family friendly, good time. n For more coverage and photos, check out www.sceneinsa.com

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FIND A DOCTOR/DENTIST COSMETIC SURGERY

PLASTIC SURGERY

MEDICAL ONCOLOGY

Earl E Ferguson, MD, FACS Dermatology Associates of San Antonio Dr. Earl E Ferguson Plastic Surgery 15900 La Cantera Pkwy. Ste. 20270 San Antonio, TX 78256 Phone: (210) 290-9078 www.fergusonplasticsurgerySA.com

Gary Lawton, MD Aesthetic Enhancement Cosmetic Surgery 525 Oak Centre Dr Ste 260 San Antonio, TX 78258 Phone: (210) 496-2639 Fax: (210) 496-2376 www.aestheticenhancementcom

Gary Lawton, MD Aesthetic Enhancement Cosmetic Surgery 525 Oak Centre Dr Ste 260 San Antonio, TX 78258 Phone: (210) 496-2639 Fax: (210) 496-2376 www.aestheticenhancementcom

Edsel L. Hesita, MD Texas Oncology 11130 Christus Hills, Plaza III Suite 210 San Antonio, TX 78251 Phone: (210) 245-2000 Fax: (210) 245-2020 edsel.hesita@usoncology.com www.texasoncology.com

OPHTHALMOLOGY

Thoracic Surgery

Jay M. Rubin, MD Eye Clinics of South Texas, PA 999 E Basse Rd., Ste. 128-B San Antonio, TX 78209 Phone: (210) 826-2012 Fax: (210) 829-8349 jrubinmd@eyeclinicsofsouthtexas.com www.eyeclinicsofsouthtexas.com

Masaki Funamoyo MD, PLD Methodist Heart and Lung Institute 7726 Louis Pasteur Dr San Antonio, TX 78229 Phone: (210) 575-8485 masaki.funamoto@hcahealthcare.com www.sahealth.com

FIND A LAWYER BUSINESS LITIGATION

Olga Brown Law Offices of Olga Brown Phone: (210) 226-1550 Fax: (210) 226-1884 argyle2@sbcglobal.net

CRIMINAL DEFENSE

Cynthia E. Hujar Orr Goldstein & Orr Phone: (210) 226-1463 Fax: (210) 226-8367 whitecollarlaw@gmail.com www.goldsteinhilley.com

FAMILY LAW

Aida Rojas Moore Rojas Law Firm Phone: (210) 299-4600 Fax: (210) 299-4601 aidarojas@aidarojaslaw.com www.aidarojaslaw.com 100

PROBATE LAW

Alexander S. Roig Allen & Roig, LLP Phone: (210) 377-2529 Fax: (210) 340-1346 alexandersroig@pm.me www.allenandroig.com

PERSONAL INJURY PLAINTIFF Jorge A. Herrera The Herrera Law Firm, Inc. Phone: (210) 224-1054 Fax: (210) 228-0887 jherrera@herreralaw.com www.herreralaw.com

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| SUMMER 2024 | CELEBRATING 25 YEARS

SCENE IN SA CAN BE FOUND FOR SALE AT THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS: CVS 300 E COMMERCE ST 919 WURZBACH PKWY 4600 BROADWAY ST 9050 FM 1560 N 4730 FREDRICKSBURG RD 22202 BULVERDE RD 23530 WILDERNESS OAK 120 E SONTERRA BLVD 3027 NACOGDOCHES RD 6470 N NEW BRAUNFELS AVE 211 LOSOYA ST 4805 MEDICAL DR 19202 BLANCO RD 20203 STONE OAK PKWY

78205 78216 78209 78254 78229 78261 78258 78258 78217 78209 78205 78229 78258 78258

Target 746 NW LOOP 410

78216

Walgreens 502 NEW VALLEY HI 20226 STONE OAK PKWY 1902 N LOOP 1604 E 300 E HOUSTON ST 26482 N HWY 281 901 BITTERS RD 7802 WURZBACH RD 7423 BROADWAY ST 7103 MARBACH RD 3326 FREDERICKSBURG RD 14882 BLANCO RD

78227 78258 78232 78205 78258 78216 78229 78209 78227 78201 78216

Walmart 1515 N LOOP 1604 E 5025 NW LOOP 410 1430 AUSTIN HWY 4331 THOUSAND OAKS DR 8500 JONES MALTSBERGER RD 6703 W LOOP 1604 N 2100 SE LOOP 410

78232 78229 78209 78217 78216 78254 78220

H-E-B 20935 HWY 281 N 15000 SAN PEDRO AVE 7951 GILBEAU RD 14087 O’CONNOR RD 9255 GRISSOM RD 5601 BANDERA RD 6030 MONTGOMERY RD 6000 WEST AVE 3323 SE MILITARY DR 12018 PERRIN BEITEL RD 1520 AUSTIN HWY 8219 MARBACH RD 5910 BABCOCK RD 17238 BULVERDE RD 14325 POTRANCO RD 24165 W INTERSTATE 10 8503 NW MILITARY HWY 15000 SAN PEDRO AVE 1955 NACOGDOCHES RD 1955 NACOGDOCHES RD 12777 IH 10 WDE ZAVALA 1150 NW LOOP 1604 10660 W FM 471 999 E BASSE RD STE 150

78258 78232 78250 78217 78250 78238 78239 78213 78223 78217 78218 78227 78240 78247 78253 78257 78231 78232 78209 78209 78230 78248 78251 78209

Curiosity Corner Store 2202 Broadway, Building 9

78215

Twig Bookstore 306 Pearl Pkwy. #106

78215

Club Humidor 12003 Huebner Rd.

78230

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CONGRATULATIONS

to our attorneys Paula Wyatt and Gavin McInnis for

Best San Antonio Lawyers 2013-2024 SA Top Personal Injury Lawyers Plaintiff 2017, 2019-2024 Congratulations to our Rising Star 2022 Attorney George Deutsch Super Lawyers 2011-2012, 2014-2023

Congratulations to Paula Wyatt, Outstanding Women in Law 2021, 2022, 2024

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