Hightower in search of new head coach - Page 5
Jambeto's Bakery and Cafe in Stafford offered an authentic taste of the Filipino food scene during a recent visit. Read our review on Page 8. (Photo by Stefan Modrich)
WEDNESDAY • MARCH 17, 2021
Visit www.FortBendStar.com
Fort Bend / Southwest • Volume 45 • No. 30
Hospital caters vaccine clinic to educators By Stefan Modrich
SMODRICH@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
We Cook! You Eat! Now offering online ordering & Curbside pick-up!
9920 Hwy 90A Suite #D-120 Sugar Land, TX 77478 832-532-7816
When the Texas Department of State Health Services (TDSHS) announced teachers would be eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations on March 3, Kristin Lucas wanted to be among the first to join the ranks of inoculated educators in Fort Bend County. She received her first dose of the Pfizer vaccine four days later on March 7. This past Sunday and
A volunteer tells a vaccinated patient where to go during Monday's drive-through event. (Photo by Stefan Modrich)
Monday, many more school workers in the region also
were vaccinated as Memorial Hermann Sugar Land
Hospital held a drivethrough clinic dedicated to teachers and other school employees at Smart Financial Centre. Lucas has been teaching math at Dulles High School since 1997. “Once they had doses ready, it was a very smooth process,” Lucas said. “You drove up to a numbered tent and a nurse came over to your car. I was particularly impressed with mine as I never felt the needle.” One Fort Bend ISD maintenance worker who asked
to remain anonymous, who said Monday he’d been employed by the district for nearly two years, said he waited about 15 minutes in line for his shot and said several of his colleagues told him they planned to register for their vaccinations as well. But it wasn’t just educators or school employees who were newly eligible to get vaccinated at the Memorial Hermann clinic.
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Minute Maid moving from Sugar Land to Atlanta By Stefan Modrich SMODRICH@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
After 12 years in Sugar Land and more than 50 years in the Houston area, Minute Maid has closed its Town Square headquarters and is relocating to Atlanta, according to CoStar, a commercial real estate information company. The juice brand, a product line of The CocaCola Company since 1960, opened its headquarters at 2150 Town Square Place in Sugar Land on Feb. 16, 2009. Minute Maid first moved to Houston in 1964. According to Planned Community Developers Ltd., the 185,000 square foot office building in Sugar Land has eight floors. The developer listed six floor plans currently available at a lease rate of $25.50 per square foot, and an estimated operating expense of $12.58 per square foot.
Shoppers peruse products during a previous Heart To Market event. Hosted by a pair of Houston-area mothers, Heart To Market is a roving event scheduled to be held at Sugar Land Town Square on March 26-28. (Contributed photo)
Mothers support women-led small businesses with markets By Stefan Modrich SMODRICH@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
If you've been a frequent visitor to farmer’s markets around the Houston area for the past few years, there’s a good chance you’ve stumbled upon a Heart To Market event. Heart To Market has put on pop-up markets in Cypress, downtown Houston, the Heights, Memorial and Sugar Land, where they’re returning in less than two weeks. From March 26-28, the
their client reach in a new location. And it also gives us the opportunity to support different communities as well.” Tai, a resident of Garden Oaks, and Mei, a Sugar Land native, planted the seeds for their joint venture in 2018 at A 2nd Cup in the Heights after they each had started their own small businesses. Tai invited Mei, owner of MAMAMEIDIT, which holds do-it-yourself craft workshops for mothers, to give a workshop for her local moms group, and the two hit it off
and began talking about local markets. “Luckily, (Mei) puts up with all of my crazy ideas,” Tai said. “And she is very even keeled and willing to sort of make anything happen.” For their Sugar Land event, Tai and Mei are donating 10 percent of the market’s sales to Lunches of Love, a Rosenberg-based nonprofit with a mission of curbing child hunger and serving under-
SEE MARKETS PAGE 6
Amy Mei (left) and Katy Tai. (Contributed photo)
Outdoor chess tourney proves to be hit for participants By Landan Kuhlmann LKUHLMANN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
Minute Maid's former HQ at Sugar Land Town Square. (Photo courtesy of Planned Community Developers, Ltd.)
Heart To Market team of Katie Tai and Amy Mei will host their market at Sugar Land Town Square, featuring more than 30 local vendors, small shops and specialty brands dedicated to mothers and young children. “We try to kind of pop up in different areas around Houston, and there's two reasons for that,” Tai said. “One is it allows our vendors to connect with new audiences. So if they're based in Haiti, and they've never been to Sugar Land, maybe they can expand
As Sugar Land City Council member William Ferguson recently sat and watched Netflix’s “The Queen’s Gambit,” one particular scene at the end of the show proved to be the origin story of the city’s latest attempt to bring Sugar Land and the Houston region together. “I grew up loving the game (of chess), I’m just no good at it. I didn’t have any
competition. ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ came along, and it sparked an interest for a lot of people – including me – to get back into the game,” Ferguson said. “She’s walking through that Russian town and all those older folks are sitting around chess tables. I thought, ‘What a beautiful picture for Town Center.’ I thought it would be a beautiful setting.” As it turns out, his assessment wound up being a hit. Dozens of chess players flocked to Sugar Land Town Square on Saturday for the
Mihail Veremjov moves a chess piece during aturday's tournament in Sugar Land. (Photo by Landan Kuhlmann)
city’s inaugural Open Air Chess Tournament, which
was a partnership between Sugar Land Parks and Rec
and Houston-based The Chess Refinery. Parks and Rec Assistant Director Kimberly Terrell said the city jumped at the opportunity when Ferguson presented the department with his idea as they try to bring community members together during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Inside events like this just aren’t happening right now. So it’s an opportunity to bring those folks into a
SEE CHESS PAGE 5
JERRY FLOWERS
Real Estate Agent, MBA, CNE, ABE Army Veteran (RET) • 832-702-5241 Jerry@dreamhomesbyjerry.com
4500 Highway 6, Sugar Land, TX 77478