The Bellaire Buzz - March 2022

Yellowstone Ruckus Naomi at 100: Champagne and Kazoos Houston Rodeo in the Family

From Little League to Rice

by Jennifer Oakley

The Bubble Gum Lady Travel: Unplugged on a Ranch

Tanner Fox, Jack Ben-Shoshan, and Parker Smith

Chef’s Corner: Brandi Key Houston, TX Permit No. 2047 PAID US Postage PRSRT STD

Little Ones at the Livestock Show

BELLAIRE BUZZ MARCH 2022 3

EDITOR’S NOTE We agree with the Great Bambino that baseball is the best game. In Houston, we are lucky to count Rice University among our teams. This month, we have several Rice stories, including a full-circle one that highlights players who fell in love with the game at local Little Leagues. Little did they imagine they would one day play for Houston baseball royalty, José Cruz Jr., who played at Bellaire High School, Rice, and, after a career in the MLB has returned as Owls head coach. In another story, Cindy Gabriel tells us about Joyce Pounds Hardy, known as “The Bubble Gum Lady” for giving gum to Rice players. Turns out she was also a force for women athletes there. It’s rodeo season, and we spotlight Madison Outhier and her rodeo-going family, including grandfather (and Rice alum) Lou Waters. Madison is competing in the new women’s breakaway roping event. All this rodeo talk inevitably brings up Yellowstone, and we just had to talk with Buzz-area ranchers to get their take on the TV drama with Texas connections. It’s March, y’all. joni@thebuzzmagazines.com

THE BUZZ MAGAZINES BELLAIRE • WEST UNIVERSITY • MEMORIAL • TANGLEWOOD/RIVER OAKS Published by Hoffman Marketing & Media, LLC 5001 Bissonnet, Suite 100, Bellaire, Texas 77401 info@thebuzzmagazines.com • p: 713.668.4157 • f: 713.665.2940 Follow us on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter thebuzzmagazines.com Editor Publisher Associate Editors Editorial Assistant Design Manager Staff Writers

Contributing Writer Account Managers

Joni Hoffman Michael Hoffman Cheryl Laird Jordan Magaziner Steinfeld Caroline Siegfried John Duboise Tracy L. Barnett Sharon Albert Brier Cindy Burnett Andria Frankfort Angie Frederickson Todd Freed Cindy Gabriel Cathy Gordon Michelle Groogan Dai Huynh Annie Blaylock McQueen Jennifer Oakley Pooja Salhotra Cheryl Ursin Karen Vine Fuller Andrea Blitzer Leslie Little Jo Rogers

On our cover: Tanner Fox, Jack Ben-Shoshan, and Parker Smith (from left) played Bellaire Little League together. Now they are playing together again at Rice.

Cover photo by Michael Hart, hartphoto.com The Buzz Magazines has made all reasonable attempts to verify the accuracy of all information contained within. Advertising claims are solely the responsibility of the advertiser. Copyright © 2022 Hoffman Marketing & Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any portion of this magazine by any means without written permission is strictly prohibited. Printed on recycled paper. Please remember to recycle.

BELLAIRE BUZZ MARCH 2022 4

THE RESULTS ARE IN: My Bellaire Properties Sold in Year 2021 5101 Aspen 4301 Bellaire Blvd 4328 Betty 4309 Cynthia 4317 Cynthia 4580 Elm 4601 Evergreen 4620 Evergreen

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4923 Maple 1225 Mulberry 5311 Pat Henry 4618 Pin Oak 5005 Pine 5113 Pocahontas 5205 Pocahontas 5602 Saint Paul

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713.764.9850 • mlivingston@gmail.com • www.har.com/mikelivingston BELLAIRE BUZZ MARCH 2022 5

MAILBAG

Your letters, thoughts, opinions Meaningful, powerful, readable Cheryl [Ursin], you did a great job [Flying Colors: When an artist’s headache was a stroke, February 2022]! Thank you for helping raise awareness [about lesser-known signs of stroke].

I wanted to let you know that there are a lot of people reading that story.

I’ve even had several people asking if this story would be on CBS and all kinds of large news organizations. You guys should be really proud.

I love that you added the section at the bottom [a list of books and films featuring stroke survivors]. You managed to write about a horrible depressing story, [turning it] into a strong message without disturbing the readers.

Such a delicate balance. Bravo! Keep on writing the stories that are meaningful, powerful, and readable.

I put the link on my Facebook page – so many comments and many people shared it – my friends in Canada posted it, and then a young man who had a stroke wrote to me. There is an organization in the UK [that] saw it and have reached out to me. The Fibromuscular Dysplasia Association will post it soon (I have FMD and many people have strokes at a young age)….so many people. My friend in New Zealand will likely share as well. Yup – it is raising awareness for sure!

Karen Landrigan

Inspired by stroke survivor Karen [Landrigan], I am overwhelmed after reading the piece [Flying Colors, by Cheryl Ursin]. What a remarkable woman you are. To have moved forward and onward in your life with such courage, stamina, and perseverance when you could have more easily chosen to give in and give up, well – and I'm certain you've heard this before, but I've great admiration for what you have accomplished. For others faced with challenges of this magnitude, your story is a path of illuminating light. Never stop encouraging others, as I am certain you continue to do.

Your story is beautifully told by staff writer Cheryl Ursin. My hope is that it will be picked up by a broadly syndicated journal or news publication. If not yet, I am certain and hopeful it will be. And your art, Karen, is as inspirational as you are. Both in the emotional stamina it must have taken, certainly at the onset, and your visual expression throughout its stages. Your use of color in your works reinforces that you chose to live a vibrant, abundant, and fulfilling life. Your story touched me deeply. Thank you.

Susan Elkins

Where’s the diversity?

Our son graduated from Bellaire High School, and I taught at BHS for 21 years. I often look for my students’ names in ads and articles.

February 2022 especially struck me – that although I did see a few Asians in advertisements, and two black people in an ad for Legacy Community Health, I found the magazine’s reporting of newly married and remarried couples to be oh-so-white! Were there no black people living in Bellaire BELLAIRE BUZZ MARCH 2022 6

who married or celebrated an anniversary?!

Jo Zider Editor’s note: Thank you for your feedback. We agree it's important to be inclusive, and we aim to feature neighborhood residents from diverse backgrounds throughout our four magazines (Bellaire, West University, Memorial, and Tanglewood/River Oaks). We encourage our readers to reach out with story ideas spotlighting interesting neighbors and a variety of topics.

Good work on ‘Marathon Men’ I enjoyed reading your article [Marathon Men: In Houston and Athens,

by Pooja Salhotra, January 2022], which had a nice flow about it. It did indeed honor George Sarantopoulos for his efforts in creating this exchange program between Athens and Houston, which continues to this day. I also got a great deal of pleasure remembering the vibrant running scene in Houston during the ’80s. Lastly, your article gave a nice insight into the Greek community. Thanks for the good work.

Peter Baird Send letters to info@thebuzzmagazines.com. Please include your name, address, phone number and email address for verification purposes. Letters are subject to editing for clarity and space. Views expressed in letters do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Buzz Magazines, and The Buzz takes no responsibility for the content and opinions expressed in them.

What’s your story?

We are looking for residents for upcoming articles who: • Have a high school senior graduating in the Class of 2022 who would like to be part of our annual “Where are they headed?” feature. (Submission deadline: April 25) • Have special springtime traditions.

• Know a Buzzworthy neighbor to feature.

• Have an interesting hobby.

• Have a compelling travel story.

If this sounds like you or someone you know, please contact us at info@thebuzzmagazines.com or 713.668.4157, ext 12.

BELLAIRE BUZZ MARCH 2022 7

lawellphoto.com

NEIGHBORS

by Cheryl Ursin, staff writer

Naomi at 100 Champagne and kazoos

T

he first time I spoke to Naomi Friedman, I was calling her later than I had said I would.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “The day got away from me.”

“That’s okay,” she said. “That means you’ve been having a good day.”

Naomi Friedman turned 100 years old on Jan. 5. She knows a thing or two about how to make days good.

When we sat down for lunch in the dining room of Brookdale Galleria a few days later, Naomi said, “You want some champagne? What the hell, let’s get some champagne.”

So, we did.

“To great happiness and a great future,” Naomi toasted.

On a cold, gray, damp winter day, Naomi was radiant in a fuchsia pantsuit. Her newly manicured nails were periwinkle blue.

“It’s the Pantone color of the year,” explained Naomi.

The Pantone Color Institute says the color Very Peri “displays a spritely, joyous attitude and dynamic presence that encourages courageous creativity and imaginative expression.”

It fits.

N

aomi is president of her senior community's resident council. “I am a very forceful president because I don’t believe in wasting my time,” she says. She is in the midst of a campaign to make sure her neighbors keep their emergency information on their refrigerators in their apartments. She recently put her foot down when the staff contemplated removing the dining room’s latte machine. “What are they going to do, throw me out?” she says. The machine stayed.

And she comes up with the most insiderfoodie and trendy restaurants to go to on outings. Two of the latest were Himalaya (Anthony Bourdain featured it) and Better Luck Tomorrow in the Heights.

About five years ago, Naomi called one of her three grandchildren, Michael Koshkin, a filmmaker living in Brooklyn, and left a message saying she had an idea for a film, about her kazoo band.

“Basically, the first thing I said to her was, BELLAIRE BUZZ MARCH 2022 8

LIVING LARGE Naomi Friedman, who decorated her apartment herself, says, “It’s me.”

‘You’re in a kazoo band?’” says Michael.

She is.

Or more officially, “a kazoo ensemble.”

Tracy Ahrens, director of resident programs and the manager/roadie for the ensemble, says the original idea was to form a choir, but when they decided they sounded horrible, they switched to kazoos.

“They rehearse every week; they laugh and giggle,” says Tracy. “They’re totally in on the joke. We are terrible.”

In the award-winning short film, called “Ode to Joy,” that Michael made, one participant explains, “Some of us will start playing Beethoven’s Fifth, but some of us will be playing Beethoven’s Ninth simultaneously … We sound great.”

In the film, the ensemble members, wearing matching black t-shirts and zebra-patterned scarves, go to a nursery school to perform. One little boy picks his nose while he watches, rapt.

A little girl mouths the head of her Barbie doll.

Another boy starts crying at the start of a song, cracking the ensemble up.

“When we could go out to schools and parks, when they’d see the children, they’d light up and look 20 years younger,” says Tracy.

The short film, narrated by Naomi, is bittersweet.

In it, she says, “You know, I see these little people and think, goodness me, they’re going to be where I am someday, but they don’t know it yet. You just hope they have a safe journey.”

N

aomi was born in 1922 in Jersey City, New Jersey. She graduated from high school at 16. “My father looked at me and said, ‘You don't know how to do anything, so you go to college.’”

She smiles. “What a penalty.”

She went to Florida State University because her parents were “snowbirds,” spending their winters in Florida. “Can (continued on page 10)

(continued from page 8) you believe, when I went

to college, it cost $100 per semester for room, board, and tuition? I was one of the lucky few who got a fantastic education.” She majored in food nutrition with a minor in chemistry.

She started graduate school at Columbia University in New York but didn’t finish. “I didn’t have the money. I didn’t know you could borrow the money. When you are 20 years old – I was 19 at the time – what do you know?” she said.

Instead, she did a year-long internship at a hospital and become a dietician.

In the meantime, she met her first husband, Bernard Koshkin, who was in medical school.

The young couple lived in New Orleans during his residency, then lived in Peru for two years while her husband worked as a doctor for British Petroleum. The government of Peru offered to build him a hospital in Lima if he stayed and practiced medicine, but the couple wanted their two young sons, Ben and Roger, to grow up in the United States, so her husband started a medical practice with a friend from medical school in Beaumont.

“That’s how we got to Texas,” says Naomi.

“We were there for about 25 years.”

But her husband died suddenly, at age 58, of a heart attack.

And her youngest son, Roger, died at the age of 27.

Fifteen years after her husband’s death, she met her second husband, Jack Friedman, on a blind date. He was the CEO of a publicly traded company, Friedman Industries, that he had founded. “He was a real country boy, though, and would not live in the city,” says Naomi.

“We lived in Longview, Texas.” Here, she mischievously puts her hand to her brow as if she’s trying to look off into the distance. “But it was a fairly good experience for about 18 or 19 years.”

He died, soon after they decided to retire to Houston where both had family and while she was undergoing treatment for cancer.

She has had cancer twice in her life.

“This is life,” she says, “and when you are my age, you never know what’s around the corner.

You really don’t know what’s around the corner at any stage, but chances are, when you’re young, it’s going to be good. When you’re old, it’s going to be iffy.”

After “Ode to Joy” was finished, Naomi went with grandson Michael to film festivals in Scotland, Oregon, and Marfa, Texas. A photo from one of these trips shows Naomi on a floatie in a swimming pool.

W

hat is her secret? “I enjoy what is,” she says. Also, she says, “As I tell everyone, know yourself first and become your own best friend. Once you do that, you can conquer anything.”

Being honest with yourself, including about your mistakes, allows you to be honest with and relate to other people, she says. “The more you BELLAIRE BUZZ MARCH 2022 10

THE WATER’S FINE Naomi Friedman jumps in whenever she gets the chance.

laugh about the mistakes that you made and the dumb things that you did, the better off you are,” she says.

Tracy calls Naomi her inspiration. “She gets up, puts her feet on the floor, and gets going.

Though she’s faced a lot of challenges, she’s fearless. She’s willing to try new things, and though she’s very sophisticated and worldly, she’s not afraid to be silly.”

Multiple people told me I had to see Naomi’s apartment, calling it “fabulous” and “a treat.”

It is.

“There’s nothing fancy about it,” she protested, opening the door. “It’s just a lived-in, fun apartment.”

With a color scheme of white, black, and red, the apartment features a life-sized stuffed-animal white tiger, bought on a trip to Germany. The tiger wears Jack’s top hat. There’s a family of slender, six-foot-tall wooden giraffes and a rainforest grouping of orchids.

“If you see something that you love, and you can afford it, buy it right then,” advises Naomi.

When she was pregnant with her first son, she taught herself to sew. “Because we were so poor,” she explains. Boy, did she teach herself to sew.

One day, Jack was in the Neiman Marcus men’s department when one of the salespeople told him his jacket was “magnificent” and asked

where he could buy one. “I don’t think you can,” answered Jack. “My wife made it.”

A photograph of a 51-year-old Naomi hangs in her apartment. In it, she is wearing an off-theshoulder black evening gown that, yes, she made. In her craft room, which she calls her “slop room,” though it is definitely not sloppy, she has a closet full of clothes – suits, dresses – that she’s made herself and drawers full of colorful sweaters she’s made with whimsical pictures knitted into them.

When friends celebrated Earth Day one year, they made a 10-foot-tall figure, calling her Trashy Trudie, out of recycled materials.

Naomi made her a skirt out of newspaper, pleated, like something you’d see at the Met Ball, Tracy says.

When I am amazed at how she taught herself to sew so beautifully, Naomi says, “Nothing is complicated when you know how to do it.

When you can do something, it’s easy.”

Naomi Friedman makes being 100 look easy.

Also, spritely, joyous, dynamic, courageous, and imaginative.

MORE ONLINE See this story for a link to Michael Koshkin’s short “Ode to Joy” film about grandmother Naomi Friedman’s kazoo band.

BELLAIRE BUZZ MARCH 2022 11

lawellphoto.com

NEIGHBORS

by Michelle Groogan, staff writer

Yellowstone Ruckus Are Houston rodeo folks fans?

Y

ou are the trailer park. I’m the tornado….

Taking you to the train station….

Not dead yet....

If you’re a Yellowstone fan, you know these lines. If not, you’re in the minority. It seems everybody is watching this TV drama about a powerful Montana rancher (Kevin Costner) and his adult children, who will go to any length to hold on to their family land.

The show embodies Western heritage at its core and gets a lot of things right, like the highquality quarter horses, real-world champions as equine and human extras, and the cutting, reining, and roping. The murder and lack of morals?

Maybe not so much.

With this month’s return of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, which is celebrating its 90th anniversary, we decided to talk Yellowstone with Buzz-area ranchers and rodeo volunteers who should be in the know.

R

odeo committee members Tim and Pat Mann Phillips are fans. The couple live in Memorial by weekday for their “suit jobs” and on a ranch on weekends for their “boot jobs.”

Pat has a family ranch near Cleburne, and the couple own a smaller 30-acre horse spread in Waller County they’ve named Trinity Spirit Ranch. They first got hooked on Yellowstone when they visited Pat’s nonagenarian parents in Cleburne near Dallas, and her father was a big fan of the show.

“I think it’s reigniting and reenergizing an interest in Western culture and heritage that is so rich here in the state of Texas,” said Pat, who is a member of the HLSR executive committee and a lifetime vice president of the show. “The whole goal of what we do at rodeo is promoting that Western way of life and the education of agriculture and teaching that next generation.”

Yellowstone has a lot of connections to Texas, including real-life champion trainers like the McCutcheons and Tim McQuay, plus the Metallic Cat stallion out of Rocking P Ranch.

The legendary Guthrie-area 6666 Ranch, which factors into Yellowstone character Jimmy’s story and will be featured in a spinoff TV show, recently was sold to a group led by Yellowstone BELLAIRE BUZZ MARCH 2022 12

TOWN AND COUNTRY Tim and Pat Mann Phillips, rodeo volunteers pictured here at home in Houston, spend lots of time at their Waller County ranch, Trinity Spirit Ranch.

creator and actor Taylor Sheridan, who plays Travis on the show and grew up on a ranch in Cranfills Gap, Texas.

Also, it turns out that the Lone Star State is where the saga originates. The show’s prequel, the popular 1883, follows a wagon train of pioneers as they roll out of Fort Worth.

While there is a lot of Hollywood meshed into an episode of Yellowstone, our Houston rodeo and ranching experts say there’s also plen-

ty of authenticity.

“I definitely think the Yellowstone series has added interest to the cowboy way of life,” said Tim Phillips, former chairman of the Junior Rodeo Committee and president of Revenade, a management consulting firm, who says his most gratifying hours involve working his ranch alongside his wife.

“It’s interesting to see the parallels in how the show deals with land devel- (continued on page 14)

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Paramount Network Gittings

AT THE RANCH Top: Actor Kevin Costner plays Montana cattle rancher John Dutton in Yellowstone. Bottom: Tim and Pat Mann Phillips, HLSR committee members, are Yellowstone fans. Here in 2018, Tim is standing by Birdie, and Pat is with Zippo at their ranch. (continued from page 12) opment.

With urban migration to more rural areas and everyone moving to Texas, we see a lot of developers buying large, undeveloped acreage, which is changing the landscape of our Texas countryside.”

Robin Young-Ellis, who is on the HLSR board of directors and is founder of the Salute to Our BELLAIRE BUZZ MARCH 2022 14

Troops Houston and the Armed Forces Appreciation Day rodeo committees, says, “Aside from the ‘train station’ [spoiler: not really a train station], Yellowstone is tremendously realistic.”

Like many in HLSR leadership, Robin is a bona fide cowgirl (when she is not at her firm, RobinYoung & Company, specializing in per-

sonal injury settlement planning). In fact, she had to cancel her first Buzz interview because she was supervising the birth of a calf.

Her husband, Joe, is a commissioner on the Harris County Housing Authority and has also had a career showing horses. The couple have American Quarter horses (continued on page 16)

BELLAIRE BUZZ MARCH 2022 15

Robin Janson

HORSES AND CATTLE Top: Joe Ellis and Robin Young-Ellis with their American Quarter horses, (from left) Colonel, Mayo, JR Smart Haida, and Sugar at their 40-acre ranch, Ellis Oaks, near Cypress. Bottom left: Robin and Joe raise Brangus cattle. Bottom right: Joe competes with cutting horses. Here he is with Pepto Primero de Abril as a colt. “Abril” grew up to become a successful cutting horse. (continued from page 14) and raise grass-fed, free-

range Brangus cattle at their 40-acre ranch, Ellis Oaks, near Cypress. Robin is a huge fan of Yellowstone.

“It has a cult following of Western and nonWestern followers. Our Western heritage is fantastic. It’s deep, it’s old, it’s high, and it’s elevatBELLAIRE BUZZ MARCH 2022 16

ed,” she says. “Yellowstone, in its Hollywood way, has brought that excitement and reality alive.”

B

rady Carruth has been involved in the rodeo for 40 years. His father, Allen H. “Buddy” Carruth, served as HLSR president 1977-79 and HLSR chairman 1980-82. He has followed in his

father’s boot steps, working his way up to chairman.

Brady admits you won’t find any cattle or horses on his 1,500-acre ranch in South Texas – he has reserved the tract for native wildlife and hunting. He is hesitant to credit Yellowstone for the current buzz and excitement surrounding rodeo, although he is grate- (continued on page 18)

BELLAIRE BUZZ MARCH 2022 17

Paramount Network

TV VS. REAL LIFE Left: Yellowstone character Kayce Dutton, played by Luke Grimes, is always finding himself in a fight to protect the family ranch. Right: HLSR Executive Committee member and past president of the AQHA Steve Stevens has a cattle ranch near Snook. He is not a fan of the coarse language used in Yellowstone and says cowboys don’t talk that way. (continued from page 16) ful for the spotlight it is

giving the horse competition, which happens in NRG Arena (the former Astroarena) outside the bright lights of the main-event rodeo in NRG Stadium.

“We have a lot going on in the horse arena, and really, it's kind of fun stuff to watch,” he says, “once you figure out what the heck they're doing.”

Entrenched in the Yellowstone saga are the portrayals of Native American lives and culture and longtimers’ love of the land. With that comes a reverent celebration of the bond between horse and rider, a partnership evolving out of necessity and refined into sport and art. For many viewers, Yellowstone has been a fascinating introduction to the talent of equine athletes.

The daring Native American sport of bareback relay racing and the Western sports of reining and cutting are among the horse sports that Yellowstone showcases.

Cutting horses jump back and forth with exceptional agility to isolate a single steer from a herd. In reining, riders guide horses through a precise pattern of circles, spins, and stops. “The horse and rider are judged on how well the horse reins, meaning how well it performs at the request of the rider,” said Steve Stevens, a past chairman of the HLSR who still sits on the executive committee, “going right or left or backing up or performing various maneuvers.”

It’s no secret in rodeo circles that Texas has a top-notch reputation for cutting horses. One of the biggest “guest stars” of this past season of Yellowstone is not a name you will find in BELLAIRE BUZZ MARCH 2022 18

the Screen Actors Guild: the stallion “Metallic Cat.” “I nearly did a backflip when they brought out Metallic Cat,” said Robin Young-Ellis. “That’s not a Hollywood fake name. It doesn’t get any more real than Metallic Cat. He has an amazing pedigree – horsemen will recognize it. He has amazing cutting blood and talent.”

N

ot everybody is a fan of the show. Stevens operates a cattle ranch near Snook and is a past president of the American Quarter Horse Association. Passionate about cowboy traditions, he is quick to tell you he doesn’t care too much about introducing the youth of America to Yellowstone.

“It's great how the show depicts the Western way of life, and it has been good for the quarter horse industry in that it demonstrates cutting horses. It demonstrates horses that are used in what's known as working cow horse,” he said.

“But I personally do not like the language used in the show. I don't watch it anymore for that reason. I’ve been around cowboys for over 5060 years, and they don't talk that way.”

Just as the show Downton Abbey introduced America to servants’ quarters, Yellowstone takes us into the bunkhouse and a whirlwind of vulgarity and humor, brutality and compassion, plus worthwhile discussions that usually happen around the dinner table.

Who can forget the great chili debate in the last episode when one of the cowboys we root for, Jimmy, returns from the Lone Star State and confidently announces, “As soon as you put

beans in chili, it ain’t chili.”

As a Texan, Robin Young-Ellis agrees.

And she shares her famous no-beans-ofcourse Ellis Oaks Chili recipe here:

Ellis Oaks Chili From Robin Young-Ellis 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil 1 diced onion (yellow) 1 diced jalapeño 2 pounds ground beef (Ellis Oaks Brangus ground beef or any type of beef or venison) 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes 5 cloves minced garlic 1 Tablespoon dried oregano 1 Tablespoon cumin seed 1 Tablespoon chili powder 1 Tablespoon chipotle chili powder 3 cans spicy Rotel tomatoes 1 cup beef stock 1 Tablespoon sugar Salt and pepper to taste Heat up oil in large pot on stove. Add onion, jalapeño, meat, and red pepper flakes. Brown the meat, and add garlic for the last minute. Add oregano, cumin seed, and chili powders and stir for one or two minutes until spices bloom. Add cans of spicy Rotel (undrained) tomatoes, beef stock, and sugar. Reduce to low and simmer for 2 hours, adding water if needed. Salt and pepper to taste.

Editor’s note: The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo runs Feb. 28-March 20 at NRG Park. See rodeohouston.com.

BELLAIRE BUZZ MARCH 2022 19

SPORTS

by Cindy Gabriel, staff writer

The Bubble Gum Lady The story of a fierce Rice fan

J

oyce Pounds Hardy, Rice University superbooster, left this world in 2018 at the age of 92. I’m hoping she’s getting some wellearned rest. In life, she left bubble gum and all on the field. And now, with José Cruz Jr. heading up her beloved Rice baseball team, her family is feeling her smiles.

The Bubble Gum Lady sounds a bit tame for a woman who was threatened with expulsion for unladylike conduct as a Rice student in the early 1940s. Her crime? Organizing a girls’ Powder Puff football game on campus in front of, well, other people. But Joyce stood her ground. The administration caved. The girls could play, but on the outskirts of campus where their unladylike conduct would be more discreet.

Joyce vowed that from then on she would do everything she could to enable women to play sports on campus. But then, another vow sent her on a detour. She met a medical student and Rice alum, Tom Hardy.

Joyce and Tom married after her sophomore year. Joyce followed Tom on his naval tour, then back to Houston for his medical practice.

Twenty-five years and five children later, Joyce re-enrolled in Rice to finish her English degree.

It was 1967.

By then her youngest, Larry Hardy, was about 10. Larry grew up to follow in his father’s footsteps as an anesthesiologist after he attended Rice and played Owls baseball between 1974 and 1977. This galvanized Joyce into a diehard Owls fan with some creative ideas on how to support her team.

Larry recalls that his mother thought the plain wooden benches at Cameron Field (before Reckling Park) should be painted Rice blue. She took it upon herself to organize volunteers to make it happen in time for the Rice-UT game in 1974. “The story is that the paint wasn’t quite dry on the visitors’ side,” Larry says, “and that some UT fans left with blue paint on their behinds.”

It was about this time that Joyce earned her nickname, The Bubble Gum Lady. Larry says his mom noticed Rice players chewing tobacco in the field.

She and her physician-husband Tom felt bubble gum was a healthier alternative. So she decided to bring a big bag to every game, throwing bubble gum BELLAIRE BUZZ MARCH 2022 20

out on the field and passing it out between innings.

Fun-loving as she was, it gnawed at Joyce that she was born too early to play varsity sports as a female.

But by 1972, a federal law called Title IX required that women be offered as equal an opportunity to play sports HAVE SOME GUM Joyce Pounds Hardy gives encouragement to Rice star Anthony as their male coun- Rendon, named 2010 college player of the year. Rendon is currently a third baseman terparts. for the Los Angeles Angels.

Joyce was there Somewhere mixed in all of this, Joyce, the to support the first women athletes to arrive at English major, wrote several books, including Rice, cheering them on at basketball and volsome poetry, on a variety of subjects completely leyball games in the sweltering Autry Court. By unrelated to Rice sports. Her book Roads to 1989, Autry Court had earned the nickname Forgotten Texas was featured on Ron Stone’s Jungle Gym. Apparently, a Dallas sportswriter “The Eyes of Texas.” Her son Larry’s favorite is came up with the term, intent on making a dig Surviving Aunt Ruth, the story of how Joyce at Houston. dropped everything and flew across the country Joyce brought up the need to air-condition to take care of her aging aunt. the gym to the Rice Board of Governors. The Larry says he’s sure that Lance Berkman’s response was predictable. “Okay, Joyce, why bubble gum-blowing habits, exhibited later in don’t you just head that up.” By 1991, Autry his spectacular Major League career, are part of Court was air-conditioned, thanks to a fundraishis mom’s legacy from his days at Rice. ing drive led by Joyce.

“You could see him (Berkman) putting a In 1992, Joyce served on a select committee whole wad of chewing gum into his mouth that named the now-legendary Wayne Graham before batting,” said Larry. “I remember him as the Owls’ baseball coach, a decision that blowing a bubble with the ball coming at him. would put Rice on the map in college baseball.

Every time I saw that, I thought, ‘That's my Graham’s first recruit that year was José Cruz Jr., mom’s influence.’” giving Rice a huge boost in prestige by nabbing Since 1975, the school’s highest honor in such a highly desired player who turned down women’s sports, the Joyce Pounds Hardy Award, top-tier schools for the lesser-known Rice. goes to the Rice senior who best represents wellJoyce and her bubble gum would attend the rounded excellence in sports, academics, and College World Series six times under the leadcommunity involvement. That’s quite a legacy ership of Coach Graham, including the one for a woman called “The Bubble Gum Lady.”

Rice won in 2003. One story is that security wouldn’t allow her into the stadium in Omaha Editor’s note: For more on the 2022 Rice baseball with her bubble gum bag. Joyce wouldn’t have team, including head coach José Cruz Jr. and the it. She stuck bubble gum in the pockets of her many players from Buzz neighborhoods, see “From children and grandchildren and snuck it all back Little League to Rice” in this issue. into the stadium.

BELLAIRE BUZZ MARCH 2022 21

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SPORTS

by Jennifer Oakley, staff writer

From Little League to Rice José Cruz Jr.’s team is at home

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osé Cruz Jr. stands near home plate at Rice University’s Reckling Park, surveying the green field edged by grandstands and oak trees, with Med Center towers shooting skyward beyond the outfield. He smiles. “Look at this ballpark!” he says enthusiastically. "I mean, I have the greatest backdrop in college baseball here. It is a joy to wake up every morning and come to work. I am very excited to be back.”

Cruz, one of the top players in Rice baseball history, is back in a big way. This is his first season at the helm of the university’s more-than100-year-old baseball program. For Cruz, whose career has taken him from Bellaire High School to Rice University to the MLB, returning to campus is like coming home.

And Cruz is making it feel like home, too.

The team’s 40-man roster includes his son, Antonio, along with a large contingent of other local players. Cruz is keen on making Rice the place to play. “To me, it is personal because I like the guys who are from our area to be here,” says Cruz, the 22nd head coach in the school’s history, who also wears 22 on his jersey. “I mean, how do we not have guys from West U and Bellaire be here? It is a special place, and back in my day, something that happened often was a baseball player from Bellaire coming to Rice.”

And it’s happening again, with a slate of players who grew up playing baseball with and against one another just blocks from Rice now

sharing the diamond together.

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reshman pitcher Parker Smith was a Bellaire Little League standout. When he was a child, an auction item at the league’s fundraiser won by his parents helped fuel his end goal. The prize was throwing out a ceremonial first pitch at a Rice baseball game. On the day LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON Owls baseball head coach José Cruz Jr. is a former Rice University player. Son Antonio Cruz is on the team too, carrying on the family tradition of of the game, Smith wearing the R. strode out to the That’s the kind of buzz Cruz wants to keep mound and threw a strike. going. “I am really excited to have Parker here.

“I am a homegrown, hometown kid playing He is a Bellaire graduate,” he says. "Hopefully for the hometown team,” says Smith. “I was 10 we get that freeway going again.” and wide-eyed, and now it is a reality. My dream Smith is proud that he is among the “countwas wearing the pinstripes on Friday night and less guys” Bellaire High School has sent to Rice. being the Friday night starter, and now I have a “There is a tradition of winning at Bellaire that chance to be that. I get to pitch off that mound is the same at Rice,” he says, “and I just want to every time I go out there. I am just ecstatic for carry that on.” this season. I grew up going to Rice baseball In Bellaire, Smith lived a few streets away games and Rice baseball camps and wanting it from teammates Jack Ben-Shoshan, who graduto be me out there playing.”

Owls in the neighborhood

by Karen Vine Fuller, contributing writer Many of today’s Rice Owls began their baseball journeys as runthe-bases-backwards tee-ball players and can thank patient volunteer coaches in Bellaire Little League, Post Oak Little League, West U Little League, the Spring Branch-Memorial Sports Association, and other local organizations.

Current players went to Buzz-neighborhood schools that include Horn Elementary, Hunters Creek Elementary, Memorial Middle School, Pin Oak Middle School, River Oaks Baptist, River Oaks Elementary, Spring Branch Middle School, St. Francis Episcopal, West University Elementary, and Wilchester Elementary.

BELLAIRE BUZZ MARCH 2022 22

And then came the intensity of high school. These nearby schools all have graduates on the Rice team: St. John’s School (Jack BenShoshan), The Kinkaid School (Drake Greenwood, David Shaw), Stratford (Cullen Hannigan, Mark Perkins), Memorial (Ben Dukes, Jared Plank, Jack Riedel, Tom Vincent), Second Baptist (Dalton Wood), Bellaire (Parker Smith), Lamar (Drew Woodcox), and Episcopal (Tanner Fox, Antonio Cruz).

For the Rice baseball schedule, which is already underway, see riceowls.com/sports/baseball/schedule/2022.

If you have someone age 6 through eighth grade in your house who loves baseball, check out Rice’s youth summer camps at collegebaseballcamps.com/jose-cruz-jr-baseball.

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TEAM PLAYERS Top: José Cruz Jr. in 1991, pictured in the yearbook with his Bellaire High School teammates. Bottom left: Parker Smith, Tanner Fox, and Jack Ben-Shoshan (from left) hold up jerseys and a ball cap from when they were Bellaire Little League All-Stars. Bottom right: Drew Woodcox (left) and Tom Vincent hold up a jersey and trophy from when they were 8-year-old Wranglers together.

ated from St. John’s School, and Tanner Fox, an Episcopal High School graduate. The trio were Bellaire Little League All-Stars together but as high schoolers were team rivals.

Freshman infielder Ben-Shoshan loves that Cruz recruits locally. “Houston, in general, has so much baseball talent, and Rice is getting all the really good people who live an hour or less away,” he says.

Growing up in West University Place, sophomores Drew Woodcox and Tom Vincent lived a stone’s throw from Rice campus. The pair played select baseball and West U Little League together and then ended up at different high schools: Woodcox at Lamar and Vincent at Memorial.

“As for playing baseball with Drew all those years ago and now again, I will say that it’s crazy that was 12 years ago and we have been connected through baseball all these years,” says

Vincent, a left-handed pitcher. “Now, it’s so nice to be together again.” Woodcox, an infielder, agrees and says playing baseball for Rice has the bonus of having a built-in family fan base.

“My parents are really excited about coming to all the games,” he says. “All of my relatives can come to all of my games.”

Drew’s mom, Kristen Woodcox, says it’s a dream come true for their family. “Rice has been an integral part of Drew’s life since he was born,” she says. “From pushing him in his baby jogger around the Rice track to attending Rice baseball camps and games as a young boy and even playing in a state playoff game as a junior in high school at Rice, it simply feels like home.”

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hat’s just the kind of atmosphere Cruz aims to establish. “I feel like, in many ways, we are this community’s team,” he says. “We are all

the surrounding areas’ team. I want to create that environment, and I want our program here to be a social event, to have people come out and have a good time and enjoy it – and hey, we are pretty good baseball.”

Cruz has a lot to work with when he markets his program – quality baseball with a top-tier education. That’s something he knows firsthand: When he graduated from Bellaire in 1992 and went to Rice, he was one of Coach Wayne Graham’s first premier recruits. “José’s decision to play for Wayne Graham was a paradigm shift for the baseball program,” says Chuck Pool, Rice’s assistant athletic director for athletic communications. “That opened the floodgates, which was a stunning flip at an academic school, where we now had a national-caliber baseball program along with the already established academic reputation.” (continued on page 24) BELLAIRE BUZZ MARCH 2022 23

HOME OF BASEBALL The 2022 Rice baseball roster includes these players from Buzz neighborhoods. From left: Cullen Hannigan, Tanner Fox, Parker Smith, Drake

Cruz says being a student-athlete at Rice is all upside. “It is a good business move for any good baseball player to go to Rice simply because not only do you have a nice, beautiful baseball stage to play baseball on, but everybody has a lot of professional eyes here, so we are going to have a lot of exposure, so on that side of life, it’s really good. So on the other part of it, which is the academic part, which is the networking part, which is basically the part about being a successful human, this place here breeds it.”

Cruz says he is bringing a fresh approach to the team’s baseball training. “We are playing what I like to call a modern baseball game, a lot of different ways of introducing concepts through data and what the data means and how you can be efficient,” he says. “The word

(continued from page 23)

BELLAIRE BUZZ MARCH 2022 24

has spread, and a lot of people are starting to come here and look at what we are doing and taking a look at our pitching lab and how we are utilizing it, taking a look at how we are doing our defense, taking a look at how we are shifting people, how we are doing a lot of things and how we are approaching the game.

I think it is attracting a lot of attention because it is different than what has ever been done here.”

The Rice “Pigpen” Pitching Lab, named after Jeremy and Melinda Thigpen, captures motion and compiles data on each pitcher. “The data we can get from the lab is like resources that Major Leaguers have,” says freshman pitcher David Shaw. “I have thrown there twice, and I have already made a mechanical change to help me. It’s such a blessing.”

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he cumulative pride for the program is felt by both coaches and players. “I have been a Rice baseball fan my whole life, and I have noticed some of the big names in Rice baseball history, like Anthony Rendon, played all four years at Lamar High School,” says Shaw.

“Some of the most successful players in Rice baseball history went to school five miles away. Wayne Graham knew the Houston area had some of the most concentrated talent around. The fact that our roster is local-heavy is a good sign. We are chasing getting back to the Wayne Graham era.”

Graham took over the baseball program in 1992.

At the time, the baseball program had never won a conference championship, after 80 years of competition. Graham turned the program around and led the team to 23 consecutive NCAA appearances

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Greenwood, Mark Perkins, David Shaw, Coach José Cruz Jr., Ben Dukes, Tom Vincent, Jack Ben-Shoshan, Drew Woodcox, Antonio Cruz, and Jack Riedel. Not pictured: Jared Plank.

and 21 championships in 27 seasons, and the team won the College World Series in 2003.

That’s a legacy Cruz wants to bring back.

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hen I was a kid at Post Oak Little League, I remember Jared Plank, and when I was at Kinkaid, I watched Drake Greenwood,” says Shaw, a graduate of The Kinkaid School. “They were both legendary players who I looked up to in a big way. And now my locker is 10 feet away from them – it is pretty amazing!”

That’s a word Cruz likes to use as well. “My staff is amazing,” he says. “It’s family here.” Cruz’s family roots run deep on campus. Cruz and wife Sarah have two other children in addition to Antonio: Trei, who was also a Rice baseball standout and now plays pro baseball, and Alisa Loren, who attends SMU. Additionally, Cruz

has named his father, the former Houston Astros fan-favorite José Cruz, “special assistant to the head coach.” Cruz says that it means a lot having his father around and that “he might just be in the dugout” during games and practices.

With Antonio playing, now there are three generations of Cruz baseball players on one field at the same time. “In an official capacity, that is new in that regard, but I have been coaching him since he was born,” says his dad. “I am so happy for him, and I never thought all of this would be possible here, and hopefully he will have a good year.”

Antonio says he is excited to have both his father and his grandfather helping guide him and the team. “Now that Dad is the coach, it makes me have even more pride wearing the R,” says Antonio, a junior outfielder who graduated from Episcopal High School. “That’s something we

always talked about wearing: the R. "I felt like a piece of me was missing when Dad was with the [Detroit] Tigers [as a coach under A.J. Hinch]. He wasn’t able to watch my games. Our schedules were the complete opposite. Selfishly, now I have a mentor to guide me.

Now, having a leader around the clubhouse, it’s great for staying focused every day and doing well. It feels right.”

Editor’s note: Writer Karen Vine Fuller contributed research to this editorial package.

MORE ONLINE For photos of Buzz-area Rice players during their Little League and high school days and the video of Parker Smith, 10 at the time, throwing out the first pitch at a Rice game, see this story at thebuzzmagazines.com.

BELLAIRE BUZZ MARCH 2022 25

NEIGHBORS

by Andria Frankfort, staff writer

Rodeo in the Family Emily McCartney & the Quarter Horse Journal

Bringing it home in RodeoHouston’s new women’s roping event

DETERMINED Madison Outhier ropes while her father, Mike Outhier, and brother, Ace Outhier, look on.

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hen it comes to RodeoHouston 2022, there’s a new girl in town.

Madison Outhier, enterprising and energetic at 19, will be riding in from her sophomore year at A&M to compete in the sevenday women’s breakaway roping event.

It’s a new women’s event for RodeoHouston, where the rider and her horse leap from a standstill into action at breakneck speed when a calf is released from a chute. The goal is for the rider to rope the calf and bring her horse to a stop as quickly as possible. The rope is tied to the saddle horn with a light string, which breaks easily when the calf hits the end of the rope, ending the time and letting the calf run off. All this is done in a few seconds’ time.

BELLAIRE BUZZ MARCH 2022 26

The sport is not new for Madison. Nor is Houston, or RodeoHouston. That’s because Madison, who won the first women’s breakaway roping championship title at the 2019 The American rodeo, is from a long line of star cowboys and horsewomen, all of whom have Houston roots.

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adison’s grandfather, Lou Waters, a Houston businessman and founding chairman of Browning-Ferris Industries, grew up in Pecos, Texas, where “it was really, really rural,” says his daughter-in-law, Gerry Waters (married to son Lou Jr.). “Like he rode around on horses and didn’t see a car till he was about 10.”

Lou came to Houston to attend Rice University, and it was there he met his future

wife, Wanda Phears. When she went to Pecos to watch Lou ride in a rodeo, that was it. “I was just pure city,” Wanda says. “I went to Bellaire High School the year it opened, grew up in Southside Place, as city as you can get. And Lou was a pure old country boy and a brilliant engineer, a Rice engineer who rodeoed on the weekends. I thought that was pretty cool.

“He always told me he had to have some land,” Wanda says. Fifty years ago, she and Lou bought a ranch in Utopia. The city girl now says, “I love, love, love it more than anything else!”

The ranch is where Wanda and Lou’s children, Lou Jr., Kristy Waters Outhier, and Laurel Waters, spent weekends growing up. All of them learned to love horses (continued on page 28)

Emily McCartney & the Quarter Horse Journal

CHAMPIONS Madison Outhier and her horse Allo Gallo Colonel (“Rooster”) won The American Rodeo in 2019 and the 2020 and 2021 Women’s Rodeo World Championship.

RC Photography

Emily McCartney & the Quarter Horse Journal

RANCH TIME Top: The Waters family at their ranch in Utopia: (from left) Gerry Waters, Sacha Waters, Thalie Waters, Luke Waters, Lou Waters Jr., Lou Waters Sr. (seated), Laurel Waters (Sullivan), Robert Sullivan, Wanda Waters (seated), Kristy Waters Outhier, Mike Outhier, Madison Outhier, Ace Outhier (seated). Bottom left: Foals at the Waters’ ranch. Bottom right: Madison Outhier will ride in the new women’s breakaway roping event at RodeoHouston. (continued from page 26) there,

with Kristy, Madison’s mother, eventually becoming the No. 1-ranked female polo player in the country (she recently spoke to students at Episcopal High School, where she was a member of the first graduating class, about her career).

Today, Laurel owns The Laurel Tree, a Texan-French restaurant that sits on the edge of the ranch and is home to a dine-in treehouse.

Madison’s younger brother, Ace, loves to fish, “and he’ll feed us all when we’re there,” his grandmother Wanda says. Gerry and Lou Jr.’s three teenage children work at the ranch when they’re not in Houston, running the feed truck and working in the restaurant.

“There’s a lot of animal feeding and horse riding and hiking and fishing and ranch-y stuff they do out there,” Gerry says. “Madison rides horses that have been bred, raised, and trained on the Waters’ ranch, by the Waters family. They have BELLAIRE BUZZ MARCH 2022 28

been running this program for over 50 years and have raised over 1,000 American Quarter horses during that time. Having that ranch and that space gave Madison the time and resources to really follow her passion, and it was the same for her mother. My husband spent time there inventing and fixing things, Laurel developed her creativity – she’s an amazing artist. I credit [the ranch] with giving them space to develop the sides of their personalities that bring them the most joy.”

Like her parents, Kristy met her future husband, Mike Outhier – Madison’s dad – at a rodeo.

Mike was a saddle bronc rider at the Calgary Stampede in Calgary, Alberta, when they met.

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ompetitive’ is the best word for my parents,” says Madison, who practices daily in Fulshear or on the ranch in Utopia. “I grew up going to the Houston rodeo and watching my dad. I definitely get my competitive edge from

them.” She adds, “Just to have them as coaches at home – you can’t buy coaches like that.”

Like her mom, Madison plays polo, and she also competes in barrel racing. But when she won the breakaway roping championship, Madison says, “it sparked my love for it and made me want to pursue it at the professional level. From then on out, roping has been my main focus.”

Women’s breakaway roping is sanctioned by the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association and is the fastest-growing event in rodeo. This is the second women’s rodeo event in the giant arena at NRG Stadium for RodeoHouston (the first being barrel racing). Men’s events include tie-down roping, bareback riding, team roping, saddle bronc riding, steer wrestling, barrel racing, and bull riding.

Since winning the 2019 title at The American, Madison has amassed other titles like 2021 Women’s Rodeo World Champion and

Emily McCartney & the Quarter Horse Journal

2021 Resistol Rookie of the Year (her dad Mike was the 1998 Resistol Rookie of the Year in saddle bronc riding). She’s been featured in Western Horseman, Rodeo News, American Quarter Horse Journal, and other publications. Cowgirl Magazine included her in its “30 Under 30” article.

“It’s a really intense thing for a young kid to do,” her aunt Gerry says. “She travels many miles every weekend to compete. Madison sort of has her antenna out all the time. She’s launched a line of jewelry, runs a Christian Bible study for cowboys and cowgirls, she manages her social media accounts with sponsors. For some girls, she’s kind of a brand.” Gerry adds, “She’s sort of like a swan because she’s very serene on top, but there’s all this paddling going on underneath.”

Her grandmother says, “She’s taken the rodeo world by storm. She’s pretty low-key and humble, but when that whistle blows, she’s on. Just like her mother and father. Madison just lit everybody’s fire. Now there are all these little girls who know they can go out there and make good money.”

Madison says her grandmother Wanda is one of her favorite people in the world. “She and my grandpa are two of the most supportive people in my life, for sure. I look up to my grandpa in

every way. He and my uncle [Lou] are such role models in business. And Laurel helped me create my jewelry line. She taught me to cook. She’s my creative inspiration.

It’s really cool to have such a well-rounded family. I think I have a little piece of each of them.”

After graduating from the Mays Business School, Madison wants to be an entrepreneur like her grandfather and uncle.

“Maybe I’ll even combine business and rodeo somehow,” she says.

For now, she’s looking forward to RodeoHouston.

“Houston has always been my favorite rodeo to watch, and now I’m getting to compete in it. I’m over the moon excited!”

Emily McCartney & the Quarter Horse Journal

SUPPORTERS Top: Mike Outhier, Kristy Waters Outhier, Ace Outhier, Madison Outhier on “Rooster,” Wanda Waters, and Lou Waters (from left) at the family ranch. Bottom right: Lou and Wanda Waters with their foals.

BELLAIRE BUZZ MARCH 2022 29

KIDS

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by Annie Blaylock McQueen, staff writer

Buzz Baby

Off to the livestock show

Buzz Baby is a column about life with babies.

Writer Annie McQueen is a mother of four children under the age of 7.

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inally, it is again rodeo season in Houston.

Through March 20, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo will take over NRG Park.

This year marks a big one – the show’s 90th anniversary. (To see artist Gonzo247’s colorful, nine-story mural created for the 90th anniversary, head downtown to One Market Square garage at Prairie and Travis streets.) The rodeo is a big part of being a Houstonian and is run by thousands of volunteers.

Mapping out a plan for visiting the rodeo, especially if small kids are in tow, will help. We talked to a couple of Buzz parents about their favorite kid-friendly rodeo spots.

Emily and Grant Gooding took their daughter, Mary Catherine (now 4), to her first rodeo in 2019. Emily grew up in Houston, attending the rodeo since she was a child. She remembers her first concert at the rodeo, where she saw Reba McEntire. Reba was lowered down from the ceiling to make an entrance onto the famous rotating stage.

Emily says she had been looking forward to taking Mary Catherine to her first rodeo in the months leading up it, and she was excited to find toddler-sized pink cowboy boots for Mary Catherine to wear.

Grant and Emily arrived at NRG Park, parked in one of the lots adjacent to the park, with then22-month-old Mary Catherine in her pink boots.

They made their way through the crowds and music and headed to the popular Agventure in NRG Center. Agventure is where kids can learn all about the world of agriculture through interactive exhibits and descriptive displays.

The Goodings walked in and took Mary Catherine to the petting zoo and pony rides.

“Each time we walked up to a new animal, Mary Catherine would start making the sound that the animal makes,” said Emily. “That is something I'll never forget watching and telling myself to remember.”

The following year, in 2020, Emily and Grant BELLAIRE BUZZ MARCH 2022 30

LET’S RODEO Mary Catherine Gooding, almost 3 at the time, went with her parents to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo in 2020 before it closed due to the pandemic. She gets to go back this year with her new little sister, Molly.

went back to the rodeo before it shut down for Covid. This time, they took Mary Catherine, then 3, to see the carnival. “Grant was excited for her to try a funnel cake, but she was more interested in the gigantic corn dog.”

After the carnival, they went to the Agventure’s Fun on the Farm, which is outdoors near the carnival. “Mary Catherine enjoyed seeing chickens lay eggs and pretending she was shopping at the market,” said Emily.

They also walked up and down the aisles of cows, sheep, and horses at the livestock show inside NRG Hall. They are planning their 2022 visit with Mary Catherine and her new little sister Molly, 10 months, for Molly’s first rodeo.

Another Buzz mom, Elizabeth Shackouls, has enjoyed bringing her four kids, Annie, Cate, Caroline, and Charlie, to Fun on the Farm for many years. The two sets of twins, now 7 and 9, have visited since they were toddlers.

“It is such a unique spot for the children to sneak away from the chaos and noise of the carnival,” Elizabeth said. “It offers families a quieter spot to learn all about agriculture, which is essentially the foundation of the rodeo.”

Fun on the Farm, which is run by volunteers, gives kids a chance to experience farm chores such as “milking a cow” (not a real cow), gathering eggs, planting, harvesting crops, and feeding pretend chickens. As you exit the farm, the children get a token to spend $1 on a treat at the General Store. Finally, they pass by “Goat Mountain,” where real goats are frolicking on a small fenced-in hill.

Emily advises parents visiting the rodeo to bring a lightweight stroller, carry a backpack as a diaper bag to remain hands-free, and bring hand sanitizer and a change of clothes for those messy snow cones, ketchup, and ice cream treats.

For times and tickets, see rodeohouston.com.

BELLAIRE BUZZ MARCH 2022 31

ARTS

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by Cindy Burnett, staff writer

Buzz Reads

Five picks for March

Buzz Reads is a column about books by reviewer Cindy Burnett. Each month, Cindy recommends five recently or soon-to-be released titles.

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he Cartographers by Peng Shepherd – When Nell Young’s estranged father, a renowned cartographer, is found dead in the New York public library where he works, she discovers that he was clutching the same gas station map that caused their falling out years before. Curious about the importance of the map and its potential link to her father’s death, Nell conducts research and discovers that the map is exceedingly rare, and in fact, it is the only one left of its kind because an unknown collector has destroyed every one but the one her father owned. Baffled by this bizarre discovery, Nell sets out to uncover the secrets behind the map. This unique and creative tale is a page turner with an intelligent and engaging plot; I highly recommend it.

Peach Blossom Spring by Melissa Fu – This multi-generational tale begins in 1938 China when Meilin and her 4-year-old son Renshu must flee the rapidly approaching Japanese Imperial Army. The one solace amid the hardship is their beautifully illustrated scroll containing ancient fables; this manuscript provides them hope as they are forced to move from place to place across China, then to Taiwan, and eventually to the United States. Spanning decades and continents, this gorgeous historical-fiction saga reveals that one’s past is never quite forgotten and that physically leaving a place does not erase the mental scars.

The Tobacco Wives by Adele Myers – Myers’ debut historical-fiction novel follows a young seamstress who unearths terrible secrets that a local tobacco company is hiding from its consumers and its employees. A recent arrival to 1946 Bright Leaf, North Carolina, Maddie Sykes is enthralled by the wives of the tobacco executives who run the town and lead seemingly perfect lives. But when Maddie uncovers some dark truths about the tobacco company’s products, she must decide if unveiling the harm being done by the company is worth upending the lives of the tobacco women and the rest of BELLAIRE BUZZ MARCH 2022 32

the townspeople who depend on the company for their livelihood. Myers’ detailed descriptions of working in a cigarette factory, combined with the hindsight of understanding the harm caused by tobacco and tobacco executives, make this a compelling and sometimes haunting read.

The White Girl

by Tony Birch – The White Girl is set in the 1960s rural Australian town of Deane, a fictional represen- WHAT TO READ This month’s picks include a thriller set in the high stakes art world, a creative story about maps, and three historical-fiction titles, one set in Australia, one tation of a typical in China, and the other in North Carolina. small town in secret story, locating “Woman on Fire,” a valuAustralia. Odette Brown and her fair-skinned able painting purloined by the Nazis during granddaughter Sissy live in the Aboriginal secWorld War II. But Jules doesn’t have much time tion of the town, Quarrytown, and are subject to because the man Dan is helping find the paintthe restrictions placed on them by the welfare ing is dying. In Europe, heiress and art collector authorities. When a new policeman arrives, Margaux de Laurent hunts for the same painting Odette realizes that Sissy is in danger of being and will stop at nothing to find it. As Jules gets taken from her with absolutely no recourse on drawn into the dangerous and seductive art Odette’s part because during this time period world of the uber-wealthy, she uncovers secrets Aboriginal people could not be Australian citiand betrayals while becoming intrigued with the zens or make basic decisions for themselves, such mesmerizing painting (and its subject) at the as when and where to travel or what job they will center of the drama. Using realistic twists and hold. While Birch does a thorough job explainturns, combined with a stellar plot and an ing what it was like to live as an Aboriginal perintriguing cast of characters, Barr has created a son then and the hardships they endured, he thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat. weaves these heartbreaking details into a beautiful tale of family and the lengths people will go Editor’s note: Southside Place resident Cindy to in order to protect each other. I loved Odette, Burnett also writes our weekly Page Turners column and her strength and perseverance against all at thebuzzmagazines.com. She hosts the Thoughts odds will stay with me for a long time. from a Page Podcast, is co-creator of the Houston Woman on Fire by Lisa Barr – After fledgliterary event series Conversations from the Page, ling reporter Jules Roth talks her way into a job runs the Instagram account @thoughtsfromapage, with Dan Mansfield, Chicago’s preeminent and regularly speaks to groups about books. investigative reporter, he assigns her to a top-

TRAVEL

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by Tracy L. Barnett, staff writer

Travel Buzz

Unplugged at a West Texas ranch

BELLAIRE BUZZ MARCH 2022 34

Maya Giske

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ael Rahimi, Maya Giske, and Nicole Splenser have been planning getaways for a few years now, always with the objective of immersing the kids – and themselves – in the natural environment. The three longtime friends had the mutual goal of unplugging from technology and going to places where the kids could “run and be free in nature and just be joyful,” as Yael put it.

Lately, at least for their winter vacations, they haven’t had to go too far. But this winter, they decided to do a getaway together that would be entirely different.

“We have kind of started to realize that Texas winter is pretty awesome and that we shouldn't leave because the weather is so great,” said Maya. The kids like to hike and fish and explore, so they look for trips that give them free rein to do those kinds of things. Past vacations have taken them to Galveston and to Wimberley, Austin, and other places in the Texas Hill Country. For this winter vacation, they were ready to go a little further afield.

“Of course, the Hill Country is always everyone's first go-to because it's close,” said Maya.

“We've all been there. We know it. There's lots to do, lots of hiking, outdoor time – and there's also the wineries.”

But they were all ready for something different when Maya, searching the web, randomly came upon Chandler Ranch in West Texas. It was on a site called exploreranches.com, a website like VRBO, but for ranches. It looked like a dream: soaring limestone bluffs, wide-open expanses of forest and rangelands, two free-flowing rivers, and a spring-fed swimming pool. A friendly-looking fellow named Richard Jasso would cook for them and serve as their host – and they’d have the whole 1,500 acres to themselves.

On the down side, there was the drive – seven and a half hours to the West Texas ranch, two hours shy of Big Bend National Park. The husbands were not thrilled with the prospect. But they kept talking; the ranch had captured their imaginations.

“Eventually we all came to terms with the fact that it was a worthwhile opportunity regardless of the drive,” said Maya. She put in a call to the

WEST TEXAS ADVENTURE The Giske, Rahimi, and Splenser families (from left): Gustavo Giske, Maya Giske, Samy Giske, Nicole Splenser, Andrés Splenser, Matias Splenser, Eden Rahimi, Yael Rahimi, Ariella Splenser, Shai Rahimi, Gabe Rahimi, Neil Rahimi, Emmett Rahimi, and Nathan Giske.

number on the website and asked a lot of questions. “We realized that it met most of our needs and that it had great lodging. Food was taken care of. There was fishing on the property. They had ATVs for us to use to explore. There were hiking paths and, of course, the stars at night to see. And so we decided to take a chance and go for it.”

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ach family had its own creative approach to getting there. Nicole was the first to chart a course. She would be traveling with husband Andrés, 8-year-old Ariella, and 4-year-old Matias. They needed to be at Chandler Ranch

by Sunday night. So they decided to drive the three hours to San Antonio, spend the night there and start fresh on Sunday morning, driving

four more hours west to the Caverns of Sonora.

There they met up with the Giskes – Maya and Gustavo and their two boys, 11-year-old Samy and 8-year-old Nathan, and spent about an hour exploring the cavern before continuing on their way, arriving at the ranch just before sunset. The Giskes had decided to spend the night exploring charming Boerne, a charming German-Texan town near San Antonio.

Yael’s family, on the other hand, decided that with their four kids – 13-year-old Gabe, 11-yearold Shai, 9-year-old Eden, and 5-year-old Emmett, it would be easier to make the drive all in one day.

“We made it an adventure to get there,” said Yael. “With four kids getting in and out of the

EXPLORING TOGETHER Clockwise from upper left: Exploring the waters and banks of Independence Creek; Samy Giske takes the lead in checking out a creek, followed

by Shai Rahimi, Nathan Giske, and Gabe Rahimi; the same boys trek through the creek to explore the other side during their tour of the ranch with Richard Jasso; Nathan Giske enjoying one of the many beautiful sunsets; Nathan Giske and Ariella Splenser, friends since birth, enjoying the last hours of fishing before night falls.

car and staying places, it’s actually more work.”

So she and husband Neil and the kids piled into the car on Sunday morning and headed west.

“It was totally fine,” she said with a laugh.

“There are enough Buc-ee's to get us through.”

For all of them, it was the first time they’d ever been to West Texas – it was the furthest west that any of them had been.

“My first reaction was, I was in awe of the beauty of it,” said Maya. “I had no idea. I imagined in my head this arid, flat, dry land with tumbleweeds and nothing else, right? But it was not that at all.”

The ranch, at the confluence of Independence Creek and the Pecos River, is surrounded by mesas, or flat-topped mountains, and the scenery is breathtaking. Yael, too, was taken aback — first of all, with the silence of the place.

She felt herself exhaling the stress of the city and breathing in the fresh air of the countryside.

“It was beautiful. We arrived at 4 or 5 p.m. and the sun was starting to set, and they started a fire pit,” she said. “We had a fire pit every single night, and the women sat and we each had some wine, and the kids immediately ran to the fishing pond.”

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he wild beauty of the place charmed them all, as did the accommodations, four metic-

ulously restored cabins. Dating back three generations to the early 1900s, Chandler Ranch has a history all its own. Founded by a young cowboy, Charlie Chandler, the ranch grew into a successful operation where his six children grew up. His sons took over and turned it into a guest ranch in the 1950s, hosting local rodeos, barbecues, and dances. In the 1980s, they became unable to manage the ranch, which was leased to hunters and eventually fell into disrepair.

In 1991, the family signed an agreement with the Nature Conservancy, creating a conservation area and restoring habitat where a once-popular nine-hole golf course had been.

In 2014, Joe A. Chandler, the great-grandson of Charlie, together with wife Nan, decided to revive the ranch and embarked on a restoration and rebuilding program. The ranch reopened in 2015, this time with an emphasis on ecotourism – just what Yael, Maya, and Nicole were looking for.

Their first day on the ranch, Richard took them all on an ATV tour, showing them the highlights of the 1,500-acre ranch: the trails, the streams, the pond that is kept stocked yearround, the free-roaming horses that can be fed, but not ridden.

They felt right at home in the main facility, a big roomy kitchen and game room area, and in

their cabins, all of which were freshly renovated and immaculate. But with the blue skies calling them in the daytime and the campfires under the starry sky at night, they didn’t spend much time indoors, and next to no time in front of screens. When they did come in, it was to play ping pong or pool or foosball in the well-stocked game room. On their last day, they did notice a large-screen TV in the game room, but they never got around to turning it on.

Richard was a first-rate cook and impromptu DJ, curating a special selection of music during their entire stay. His contagious laughter quickly endeared him to the group, and he ended up being a big part of the fun.

One day the dads took over caring for the kids so the moms could take a long hike to the lookout point, where the expansive vista included their accommodations. The next day they reversed roles. The highlights included bonding time on the trails and in the woods – and in one case, bonding with someone entirely unexpected. One evening as Yael stepped out to see the sunset she heard a noise and then saw something moving – an armadillo.

“I got within probably four feet of it and I sat down, and we just sort of hung out,” she related with a laugh. “I drank my wine, and he was looking for bugs in the ground (continued on page 36) BELLAIRE BUZZ MARCH 2022 35

HOME ON THE RANGE Clockwise from upper left: Ariella Splenser enjoying time with one of three retired horses on the property – she brought them carrots every day; host and chef Richard Jasso making the kids their favorite pancake breakfast; a stop on the tour Richard gave of the property, a hidden spot used for gatherings by the original owners. The kids loved using ATVs to get around; another of the magical sunsets at Chandler Ranch. These sunsets were the cue that dinner was to be served soon, followed by good times at the bonfire, listening to music, and enjoying a sky full of stars. (continued from page 35) and we're just like, having

a lovely evening together.”

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or Yael, one of the best parts of the vacation was being offline most of the time – and noticing that her kids were doing the same.

“I think for a lot of parents, Covid made parenting without technology really a challenge,” she said. “That technology has become a part of their everyday life in school, and then they want it for entertainment outside of school. It's almost like an addiction.”

So before the trip, they all talked about the intention to make the vacation a tech-free time – and that it was. The kids never asked for their iPads. “I felt like I saw a lot of joy come back to BELLAIRE BUZZ MARCH 2022 36

them,” said Yael. “You know, we're all little kids inside, no matter what age, and I think especially for teenagers, they forget that. But I saw them remember that: ‘I really like running around and getting wet in the pond, and I'm not too cool for all that.’”

The memories abound. “There was a moment where my daughter was running in the distance,” recalled Nicole. “You could see her hair flying and she was just running as fast as she could. And I was like, This is the kind of vacation that I want to be on, where there's plenty of activity, nobody's sitting around bored, and she's looking for fossils and fishing, and that's just the dream right there.”

Maya touched on an observation Nicole had

made earlier. “We are very lucky that with this group that had a wide range of ages and genders, everybody sort of had a place, no matter what was going on. Big kids, little kids, girls, boys, everyone. And I do feel like the family came back recharged, and I know that at least for me, it was one of the better family vacations we've taken. It was just five days of no chaos, no arguments, no technology, no fighting. Just bliss, really.”

Editor’s note: Buzz travel columnist Tracy L. Barnett is a Lowell Thomas travel journalism award winner and longtime travel and environmental writer. Email her at info@thebuzzmagazines.com to share your own travel tales.

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DINING

by Dai Huynh, staff writer

Chef’s Corner

Brandi Key

BELLAIRE BUZZ MARCH 2022 38

Sabrina Miskelly

D

ish Society founder Aaron Lyons had the concept name and a sought-after space on CityCentre’s main green (vacated in 2019 by the restaurant International Smoke). Now he needed his chef.

At the time, Brandi Key was working at Alice Blue in the Heights. But the CEO was familiar with her classic bent with a creative twist during her seven-year tenure with Clark Cooper Concepts. The Texas native helped open Coppa Osteria, Punk's Simple Southern Food, The Dunlavy, and SaltAir Seafood Kitchen. She had the knowledge of overseeing multiple locations and concepts.

Lyons and Key clicked, and she agreed to don the executive chef hat for his full-service, Memorial-area restaurant, Daily Gather (800 Sorella Court, Suite 940), plus take on the role of director of culinary operations for Dish Society's six locations, with more to open down the road. Here, Key shares “key” ingredients behind her cooking, the recipe for her most popular dish, and where she dines.

What is Daily Gather's central theme?

When Aaron and I started working on this project, one of the things we wanted to bring to the forefront was the idea of gathering around the table. So, we wanted a menu that would encourage sharing and has small plates you can put on the table and enjoy passing them around the table.

How would you describe the food?

My focus was to have these shared plates hit a lot of textures, flavors, and countries. So, the idea is to have American fare that was approachable, and people would understand, but also take some turns along the way that would give it a new face, a new flavor.

Can you give some examples?

Sure, one great example is our bone marrow dish. Bone marrow is one of those classic French things. You typically see it where it is roasted, and it usually has some sort of gremolata on it.

You also have bread on the side to spread everything on top of it. So, my thing was, “How can we take it to a different place?”

I love Vietnamese food, and it is showcased here in Houston really well. So, our bone mar-

GATHER ’ROUND Five 12 Restaurant Concepts founder and owner Aaron Lyons, with culinary director Brandi Key and co-owner Trent Patterson, have opened the full-service Daily Gather, following the success of Dish Society.

row is roasted with an oyster sauce glaze, and then we topped it off with Vietnamese herbs that makes it really interesting. So, you get the best of both worlds – this unctuous bone marrow that you know what it is. But we take you to a different place with all the Vietnamese flavors.

You did a similar thing with good ol’ cornbread.

I grew up on cornbread. It's a very Southern thing. But how do we use cornbread as a vehicle for another place? What we did with cornbread is it becomes a vehicle for (Mexican) elote. We cook corn in this chili-lime butter that gets poured over the cornbread, then we top it off with cotija, crema, and cilantro.

These dishes do take you to various places, but they're also all American because they are Houstoninspired. Did the idea of shared plates come up before Covid? Dining is a different animal these days.

It is. But I was brought on a year ago, and we were smack in the middle of Covid. There was a long period when restaurants were shut down, and people were encouraged to stay home. So, there was a lack of hospitality, and there was a craving to connect around the table, engage, catch up, and share.

What about you? Name places you go to for tasty

food and to connect with friends and family.

I really love this Vietnamese place, Nam Eatery (502 East 20th St. B), for soft shell crab bun (noodles), caramelized pork spareribs, filet banh mi, and shrimp spring rolls. I also love eating at Aladdin Mediterranean Cuisine ( 912 Westheimer Road and 1737 W 34th St.). I'm big on vegetables, and I'll order tabouli and eggplant with grilled chicken, or I can load up on salads, and I'll be happy.

Laredo Taqueria (915 Snover St.) off Washington is another favorite. Their fideo is just so good. So are the nopales tacos. Last night, we ate at Little Pappasito's (2536 Richmond Ave.). I'm biased, but their fajitas are always on point. They got it locked in, and who doesn't want great fajitas?

When cooking at home, what are your go-to ingredients?

I'm 100 percent a citrus acid fan, and what it can do for food, like elevating something as simple as a sauce. Sometimes, a squeeze of lemon is all it needs to bring that freshness. I love green onions. I can put green onions in everything. My other ingredient? Yogurt. I love marinating meat in yogurt and grilling it over the fire to get that

Sabrina Miskelly

Debora Smail

PLATES TO SHARE Daily Gather highlights small plates to share, such as deviled eggs, roasted cauliflower, and elote cornbread. Chef Brandi Key pays homage to her grandmothers with Spaghetti Lola, topped with creamy burrata cheese.

charred, caramelized flavor. I love what yogurt does to proteins, like salmon and chicken.

Indian cooks use yogurt to tenderize the chicken.

But how do you marinate salmon in yogurt?

One of my favorite things is vadouvan, a French-styled curry. It's very heavy on the onions and shallots. Along with the vadouvan spices, I marinate salmon filet in yogurt for about 15 to 20 minutes, then I cook the salmon on the grill. It is the most delicious thing. The key is to make sure the grill is super-hot and free of debris.

Who influenced your cooking the most?

A handful of people. But at the core of it, my upbringing and the way we ate around our dinner table at home. My grandparents were really fantastic cooks, and I grew up on a step stool next to them. I watched my grandfather make the fluffiest buttermilk pancakes I've ever had in my life. I watched my grandmother making homemade biscuits, and I watched my other grandmother on my mother's side harvesting vegetables out of her garden. I spent the summers picking tomatoes and eating them off the vine.

We wanted to feature a recipe by you. Any ideas?

There is a particular pasta dish that I've had for a while, called Spaghetti Lola. I chose to put it on this first round of menus for Daily Gather because it brings the story full circle. The dishes not only come from different places, but they have a reference or an influence, a story that happened in my life or Aaron's.

Both of my grandmothers were named Lola.

One was a gardener, and the other was a really fantastic cook. I wanted to put together a pasta dish that took both of those ideas and put it into one, so it is a green spinach-based spaghetti with a bunch of basil and other wonderful herbs.

That's the gardening part. The cooking part is that we got this really simple tomato sauce that is elegant, silky, and super flavorful.

Spaghetti Lola For Lola Sauce: ½ cup extra virgin olive oil Red pepper flakes 10-12 basil leaves 6 garlic cloves, peeled 2 (28-ounce) cans of San Marzano tomatoes Kosher salt to taste For Spaghetti Lola: 1 pound dried pasta, spinach flavored 2-3 cups Lola Sauce, warm Kosher salt and black pepper 16 basil leaves 4-ounce burrata 1-ounce extra virgin olive oil Maldon salt Lola Sauce: Make Lola Sauce by adding extra virgin olive oil, a pinch of red pepper flakes, basil leaves, and garlic cloves in a small saucepan and place over medium heat. Bring the oil mixture to a simmer, then remove from the heat and allow to steep for 20 minutes to release the flavor of the ingredients into the oil.

Meanwhile, open the cans of tomatoes and transfer them to a bowl. Gently squeeze the tomatoes in your hands to break up the big pieces of tomato so that all pieces are approximately ¼-½ inches.

Place the tomatoes in a saucepan and place over medium heat. Bring the tomatoes to a gentle simmer, then season to taste with kosher salt.

Note: Canned tomato products are not all equal and could possibly need a pinch of sugar to help bring out the natural taste of the tomatoes. The final heated tomatoes should be well seasoned and a touch sweet when the tomatoes are completely ripe.

Once the oil has steeped for 20 minutes and is full of flavor, using a fine mesh strainer, strain the oil into the heated, seasoned tomatoes. Stir

aggressively with a whisk to emulsify the oil into the tomatoes.

The sauce at this point is done and will be silky smooth and well-seasoned with aromatic notes of garlic and basil. Do not overcook the sauce as it is best when it is light, fresh, and not overly concentrated.

Spaghetti Lola: To make Spaghetti Lola, place a large pot of water on the stove and season the water aggressively with kosher salt. The water should taste salty. When the water is boiling, add the dried spaghetti to the pot and cook, stirring regularly to keep the strands separated while cooking.

Cook for approximately 8-10 minutes or until the pasta is just cooked through with a small bite to it.

Meanwhile, place the Lola Sauce in a large pan big enough to hold the pasta and heat gently over medium heat.

Once the pasta is cooked, drain the pasta, reserving ½ cup of the pasta water.

Add the cooked pasta to the Lola Sauce and stir to combine. Add a couple of tablespoons of the pasta water to the pan with the basil leaves and continue to cook for 2-3 minutes or until the sauce begins sticking nicely to the noodles.

If the sauce looks dry, add another couple of tablespoons of the pasta water.

Season to taste with salt and pepper if needed.

Portion the pasta between four plates, making sure to twist the noodles into a high pile in the center of the plate.

Divide the burrata into four pieces and place on top of each bowl of pasta.

Finish with a pinch of Maldon salt on the burrata and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil over each plate. Serve immediately. Makes 4.

Editor’s note: Buzz dining columnist Dai Huynh is a James Beard food-journalism award winner and longtime Houston-based restaurant writer. This Q&A was condensed and edited.

BELLAIRE BUZZ MARCH 2022 39

SPORTS

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by Todd Freed, staff writer

Kevin Long-Gulf Coast Shots

SportzBuzz I

t was a dynamic duo of signees on National Signing Day for the Kinkaid Falcons football team, with Cameron Henry committing to Harvard University and Dillon Bell signing on with the University of Georgia.

“Sending one player to the defending national champion Georgia Bulldogs and another to the nation’s most prestigious academic institution is pretty exciting and a great measuring stick for our football team,” said Kinkaid head football coach Nathan Larned. “One of the knocks you’ll sometimes hear is that we can’t get kids to premier programs, but Dillon and Cameron are prime examples of why that just isn’t so.”

As the No. 1-ranked private school player in Texas, Bell has been the recipient of numerous honors during his career, including the Greater Houston Private School Offensive Player of the Year award. “Dillon had to work his tail off to get through a rigorous academic program like Kinkaid. He deserves every great thing that comes his way. Also, right after Georgia won the national championship last month, Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart paid a visit to Dillon here on campus, so that was pretty exciting for everyone.”

As for Henry, the Harvard signee was an allstate kick returner this past season and the recipient of the Greater Houston Iron Man of the Year award for excelling at multiple positions on the football field. “Cameron is a hard-working and intelligent young man,” said Larned.

“We’ve had a few other guys play football at Ivy League schools such as Dartmouth, Columbia, Cornell, and Penn, but I believe he’s our first Harvard kid. Cameron’s also really humble, which says a lot about his character.”

T

he Lamar Texans football team will again be well-represented at the collegiate level, with five players signing their letters of intent on National Signing Day. The fivesome includes Jaivion Green (Washington), Jordan Jackson (Stephen F. Austin), Kobe Jones (Kilgore College) Orion Irving (Tyler Junior College), and Will Richardson (Colorado School of Mines).

“It was a really good day for us, and we expect to have even more guys sign to play college footBELLAIRE BUZZ MARCH 2022 40

FLOWER POWER It was a sensational performance for St. John’s senior Ella Flowers at the SPC South Zone Swimming and Diving Meet. Flowers finished first in a pair of individual races along with another two first-place finishes in the relays as St. John’s won the meet by a dominating 45-point margin.

ball in the coming months,” said Lamar head football coach Mike Lindsey. “All five of the guys played and excelled at multiple sports here at Lamar, and it’s really exciting to see their hard work and dedication pay off. Also, with current college players receiving an extra year of eligibility due to Covid, the opportunities for scholarships are tougher these days, so it’s really nice to see our guys move on to the next level. I think they all have a bright future ahead of them.”

Impressively, with three of the five signees being defensive backs, Lamar will have nine defensive back players at the collegiate level next fall, including players suiting up at The University of Texas, University of Houston, Prairie View A&M, and McNeese State. “That’s pretty cool to have that kind of representation,” said Lindsey.

I

t was a dominant showing for St. John’s School at the SPC South Zone Swimming and Diving meet, with first-place championships for both the boys and girls swim teams. The St. John’s girls won the meet by 45 points over second-place John Cooper, while the boys finished first over second-place Kinkaid by a lofty 67point margin. “I was extremely proud of the way our entire team competed,” said Mavericks swim coach Ron Raper. “They were just fantastic.”

The Mavericks were fantastic in virtually every event, including a sensational meet from senior Ella Flowers. Flowers finished first in both the 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard breaststroke while also teaming up with Lexi Lukens, Lillian Poag, and Katie Czelusta for a pair of victories in the relay events. “Ella is one of the best swimmers in the state,” said Raper.

On the boys’ side, Mavericks senior Todd Achuff and sophomore Alex Miao led the way as high scorers with victories in multiple events. Miao set meet records in the 200-yard medley (butterfly) and the 200-yard freestyle, and while teaming up with Achuff, Warren Kozak, and Nick Hensel, for victory in the 400-yard freestyle relay.

The boys also finished first in the 200-yard freestyle relay behind the foursome of Kozak, Ryan Guthrie, Jeremiah Broughton, and Michael Skaribas. In addition, Achuff, Guthrie, Miao, and Hensel raced to victory in the 200yard medley relay.

Editor’s note: Todd Freed is the host and executive producer of H-Town High School Sports, which airs Saturday at 10:30 p.m. on CW39 and MondayThursday on AT&T SportsNet SW. To submit high school sports news for possible inclusion in SportzBuzz, please email todd@thebuzzmagazines.com.

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BELLAIRE BUZZ MARCH 2022 41

SPORTS

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by Angie Frederickson, staff writer

SportzBuzz Jr. W

elcome to SportzBuzz Jr., a column spotlighting neighborhood athletes in elementary and middle school.

A wrestling comeback After several years of fielding small teams, this year’s Kinkaid middleschool wrestling team (top photo) has 18 members and placed second at the Houston Middle School City Championship. This impressive finish, including half of the team finishing in the top three, is the best in any coach’s memory, and teammates are excited about continuing their newfound momentum. When they reach high school, the boys hope to continue wrestling for The Kinkaid School’s varsity team, which recently has sent wrestlers on to the United States Naval Academy, Princeton University, Harvard University, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The winning wrestlers and their coaches are (top row, from left) Takori Bradford, Parker Herleth, Kavin Mukerji, Ben Pielop, Morgan Tannery, Gregory Otjen, coach Justin Flores, Pierce Hicks, Ben Turner, Graham Erwin, David Suttles, Thomas Leman, coach Tony Dobson, (bottom row, from left) Huxley Johnson, and Connor Hanson; (not pictured): Charles Davis, Hale Muir, Jordan Garcia, Kush Hingorani, Nathan Segal, coach John Beckwith, and coach Bobby Eggleston.

Lacrosse for a cause The Pin Oak girls lacrosse team (middle photo) participated in the Burning Flower Tournament held at Zube Park. The annual event honors a former player for the Cy-Fair Iron Maidens lacrosse team who passed away unexpectedly at the age of 13. Players donate stuffed animals that are provided to local police departments to give to children to hold for comfort in times of crisis. The Pin Oak tournament players and coaches are (top row, from left) coach Joe Arnett, Kahlan Desrosiers, Jane Apple, Madeleine Tejtel, Caroline Fajkus, coach Alan Ledergerber, Anne Marie Maurer, Charlotte Heemer, Kamilla Ledergerber, Cadence Richardson, Lior Levi, Sophie Polasek, Gabi Blankenship, Audrey Conklin, Emerson Etheridge, Olivia Sette, Fiona Duncan, Molly Jones, Reagan Pinkerton, coach Tabitha LeMaster, coach Trevor LeMaster, (bottom row, from left) Ainsley Mann, Kathryn Balke, Reese Robinson, Candace Hirschi, Madison Wasaff, Addison Garrow, Reed Adair, Charleigh DeArman, Tekla Borski, Cecily Tardy, and Teresa Pinkston.

On the rise Arda Cepni (bottom photo) runs toward the ball in a Rise Soccer Club game with the 12B Magista Vivid team. The Condit Elementary School third grader has played soccer for three years, including seasons with the Weekley YMCA and the Bellaire Rec Center. This season, Arda plays for Rise Soccer’s competitive division, the Youth Academy, and his favorite position is center midfield. During the Volt Cup Classic tournament, Arda’s goal tied the score in the final five seconds of the game and helped the team earn a spot in the final game.

BELLAIRE BUZZ MARCH 2022 42

Editor’s note: Send your best high-resolution photos and behind-the-scenes stories about young local athletes, in both team and individual sports, to SportzBuzz, Jr. at info@thebuzzmagazines.com. Include all contact info, names, ages, grades and schools. Featured athletes must live in Buzz-circulation neighborhoods. Items will be published on a space-available basis.

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To submit photos, and for contest rules and prize details, visit thebuzzmagazines.com/photocontest.

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BELLAIRE BUZZ MARCH 2022 43

GIVING BACK Vivaan Sadare, a fifth grader at Horn Elementary, volunteered to help hurricane victims at the Houston Food Bank.

KIDS

by Vivaan Sadare, age 10

Buzz Kidz

The orange juice guy

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urricane Ida made landfall near Port Fourchon, Louisiana, on Aug. 29. It was devastating to see the news of how thousands of people were left without home, food, water, power, and basic necessities. I wished I could help.

I had been volunteering with NEHS (National Elementary Honor Society) for a few months, but when I read a headline in a local newspaper, “Houston Food Bank Needs Volunteers,” for Hurricane Ida disaster-recovery efforts, I saw my chance to give back to the community.

I registered for a shift at the Houston Food Bank and went with my dad that weekend afternoon. Our shift began around 1 p.m. with security, safety guidelines, and other instructions. Our job was to pack meal boxes at the warehouse.

Each person was given a certain place behind the conveyor belt. Some people were making boxes, some were sorting, some were packing items such as canned meat, oatmeal, and juice, and others were labelling and sealing boxes.

I was in charge of lifting and packing heavy orange juice boxes. The belt was moving quite fast. I have to admit it felt a little stressful and exhausting at times. I had to lift a juice box quickly, put it in, and then lift the whole box to finally put it back on the conveyor belt. I went on non-stop till 4.30 p.m. and did not even notice the time until the wrap-up instructions came in.

Everyone on our team was in the best spirits and was kind and supportive. We packed 540 boxes and made 12,600 meals. The shift was

filled with hard work and a little bit of laughter.

I was the youngest to pack juice for a non-stop 2.55 hours that day, and they even named me “the orange juice guy,” which made me laugh.

I felt like I made a tiny bit of a difference. It was a unique experience, and I can’t wait to help out again. Knowing that I might have helped a few people with just a few hours of my time felt incredibly satisfying. I have to agree there is only one thing more precious than our time, and that’s what we spend it on.

Want to be a Buzz Kid? Email approximately 350 words, a high-resolution photo and caption to info@thebuzzmagazines.com. Or mail it to The Buzz Magazines, 5001 Bissonnet, Suite 100, Bellaire, Texas 77401.

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Why allergy shots don’t work Claritin, Zyrtec, Xyzal, Allegra, Nasonex, Flonase, Singulair. All treat allergy symptoms, but none actually makes you less allergic. You stop the medicine, and it soon stops working. Allergy shots are unique in that if taken at the right dose for at least three years, they can continue to provide beneficial immunologic effects after you stop taking them.

Frequently, though, people say allergy shots don’t work. Why is that?

Most likely, it’s an inadequate dose. To a point, the higher the dose, the better the protection it gives you. Ask your allergist, “How many micrograms of Der p 1 does my maintenance dose for dust mites contain?”

Higher doses are associated with increased side effects, but most reactions are mild – itchy arms, local swelling. Taking antihistamines before getting the shot or applying ice to the site of the shot usually works.

Rarely, high effective doses of allergy shots can cause serious reactions – wheezing, throat tightness, hives all over, even anaphylaxis. That’s why we monitor each patient with a digital timer after each shot, and then send patients out with their own EpiPen or Auvi-Q to use if they have a late reaction. Why else don’t allergy shots work? It’s important to split up some components into separate vials. For example, mold extract can digest grass extract. If you are allergic to several things, but your allergy serum is all in just one vial, it is possible that some of its contents are being degraded. There is enormous variability in how allergy shots are formulated, and how they are dosed. Many allergists continue to follow recommendations made 30 or 40 years ago. At Houston Allergy and Asthma Clinic, we base our recipes on guidelines published

in 2011. Maybe that is why we hear “these shots have changed my life” more often than “these allergy shots don’t work.” Need quick relief? Look into our RUSH procedure. Don’t like needles?

Allergy drops that go under the tongue may be a good choice. Though drops are not FDA approved (and therefore not covered by insurance), they are safe, effective and legal.

The cost of $192/month is a lot of money, but consider the time you save not having to go to the doctor’s office to get shots, and that you can take them with you when you travel. Bootleg allergists may offer drops for less money, but you have no certainty that their recipes have any input from physicians certified by the American Board of Allergy & Immunology.

No one nose allergies like we do.™ Note: Information contained in this article should not be considered a substitute for consultation with a board-certified allergist to address individual medical needs.

David B. Engler, M.D., The Allergy Clinic, 7707 Fannin, Suite 100, Houston, Texas 77054, 713.797.0993, *1200 Binz, Suite 180, Houston, Texas 77004, 713.522.9911, www.allergyclinic.com, *Operating as Houston Allergy and Asthma Clinic

Celebrate Family.

Now reserving sessions for Mother’s Day. LaWell Photography 713.523.4916 • nikky@lawellphoto.com • www.lawellphoto.com BELLAIRE BUZZ MARCH 2022 45

PETS

Neighborhood Tails Lola, age 2, Mini Lop, Valerie St. My name is Lola Rabbit Parker, and I hoppily live on Valerie Street. I am a pedigree Mini Lop. In fact, my uncle was the 2021 Houston Rodeo Reserve Grand Champion! I used his fame to get to be ABC13’s Easter Bunny last year – they live-streamed my hoppiness throughout the week. Since I am a doe (female), I have a huge squishy piece of fat under my chin called a dewlap. My owners, Amie and Corbett, think it is adorable. Maybe that is why I live a charmed life with my very own room. I get fed oatmeal with breakfast and fresh veggies twice a day, and love morning and evening hops around our backyard. Want something to take your mind off whatever is gnawing at you or has you hopping mad? Follow me on Instagram @LolaRabbitParker. So the relationship isn’t Lop-sided, I will follow you (or your furry friend) back.

Got a cute critter? Email a picture of your pet with approximately 150 words to info@thebuzzmagazines.com or mail it to The Buzz Magazines, 5001 Bissonnet, Suite 100, Bellaire, Texas 77401.

Create a buzz for your biz.

BELLAIRE MEMORIAL RIVER OAKS TANGLEWOOD WEST UNIVERSITY Est. 2002. Mailed to 58,000 homes monthly.

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Trust distribution standards Have you made a will? With trusts? Simple wills often include a contingent trust, in case a beneficiary is too young or too old to manage the inheritance. Clients that are allergic to trusts still want contingent trusts, to avoid even the remote chance of that most dreaded proceeding known to the law, a contested, court-created, court-supervised guardianship.

Once a trust is funded, the trustee stands between the money and the beneficiary. Distributions are made on the trustee’s say so, not the beneficiary’s. Most trustees answer both to current and remainder beneficiaries, e.g., to the decedent’s children now, and to the grandchildren later. The trust itself sets the ground rules, i.e., how much comes out, when, and who decides. This is the subject of trust distribution standards.

A trustee may have i) complete discretion, e.g., distributions are never mandatory, ii) no discretion, e.g., 5 percent per annum until the money runs out or the beneficiary dies, or iii) something in between, e.g., an “ascertainable distribution standard.” An ascertainable standard is one that is objective, and that different people could agree on, including a judge. The beneficiary can compel the trustee to distribute that much and prohibit the trustee from distributing more than that.

The so-called “HEMS standard” is an ascertainable distribution standard that permits distributions for a beneficiary’s health, education, maintenance, or support. In plain English, the trust enables the beneficiary to maintain their lifestyle, including travel and gifting. If the beneficiary car-camped in the summer and flew to Florida once each winter, the trust should not pay for European riverboat cruises.

It's common to require the trustee to consider the beneficiary’s other sources of income. If the beneficiary’s lifestyle costs $60,000 per year, and the beneficiary’s income is $65,000, no trust distributions are made under a HEMS standard.

When that same beneficiary retires, and their income drops to $40,000 a year, the trustee may distribute $20,000 to make up the shortfall, and without requiring the beneficiary to dip into their savings. The trustee may distribute more as needed, e.g., to pay for increased medical or nursing care as the beneficiary ages. The beneficiary’s own savings are conserved for other things, e.g., gifts or inheritance for the beneficiary’s family.

The HEMS standard effectively imposes an accounting requirement on the beneficiary. Without a budget or at least proof of actual expenses, how is the trustee to know whether they are subsidizing a lifestyle or silliness?

These are hard matters, perhaps harder when the trustee and beneficiary are friends or family. Not every trust is worth the candle.

We write wills and go to probate court. Foreign nationals and international families welcome.

Russell W. Hall, J.D., LL.M. (Tax), Board Certified – Estate Planning and Probate Law, Texas Board of Legal Specialization, 6750 West Loop South, Suite 920, Bellaire, Texas 77401, 713.662.3853, bellaireprobate.com/blog

Two generations.

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Eric Campbell • Collin Campbell Coldwell Banker United Realtors Bellaire Office • 713-349-7236 BELLAIRE BUZZ MARCH 2022 47

Lisa Beth Photography

NEIGHBORS

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by Jordan Magaziner Steinfeld, staff writer

Buzz About Town Friends of Phillis Wheatley

Ericka Hernandez

Three neighbors are celebrating the one-year anniversary of the nonprofit they founded. Retired Rice University professors Diane Wolfthal and Linda Neagley and Diane’s daughter Leah, who works in the Fifth Ward, established Friends of Phillis Wheatley High School to serve students who are experiencing poverty, food insecurity, or homelessness. Initially, they focused on stocking the school with food, clothing, and hygiene products. By the

second term, they began supporting the students’ academic progress through STAAR tutoring and SAT prep classes. Volunteer tutors come from St. John’s School, Rice University, and alumni of Morehouse College. Ninety-four percent of Phillis Wheatley High School students meet the income criteria for free/reduced lunch. To donate or volunteer, contact friendsofphilliswheatleyhs@yahoo.com.

Women’s Initiative

Picture-perfect proposal

United Way of Greater Houston’s Women’s Initiative gathered in the outdoor courtyard of United Way’s headquarters to celebrate the $4.7 million the group raised to support the nonprofit’s work in the community. Leading the celebrations were Women’s Initiative cochairs Tara Nutik and Karen Kershner Slack, along with United Way of Greater Houston president and CEO Amanda McMillian. The Women’s Initiative is made up of more than 800 female professionals, community volunteers, and business leaders who contribute $2,500 or more to the United Way of Greater Houston annually. Throughout the year, members participate in educational, networking, and professional-development opportunities.

Pictured are (from left) San Burnett, Kelly Whitley, and Amanda McMillian.

It was on a barge in the middle of Lake Travis in 2018 when Hayley Weycer met Jared Sperling. The two were brought together for a Memorial Day celebration hosted by mutual friends in Austin. Hayley and Jared started dating shortly after that weekend. Three and a half years later, which included long-distance and a global pandemic, Jared told Hayley he had planned a photo shoot with their dog, Pierre. He had planted the idea that his parents wanted professional photographs for their new home.

With the lake at Memorial Park’s Eastern Glades in the background, Jared fastened a bandana around Pierre’s neck that read, “Mom and Dad are getting married,” and he got down on one knee to propose. After she said yes, Hayley was surprised with both families waiting to celebrate at the Weycer home, including parents Aileen and Mark Weycer and Robyn and Rich Sperling. Jared is an Austin native and Hayley, a graduate of The Emery/Weiner School, grew up in Houston. The two have set a date for March 2023 and plan to marry in Houston.

STEM scholars at Carnegie Carnegie Vanguard High School students Nikitha Kota (pictured, following page, on left) and Disha Bhattacharya (on right) were named Regeneron Top 300 Scholars of 2022. Scholars were chosen based on exceptional research skills, innovative thinking, and promise as scientists as demonstrated through the submission of their original, independent-research projects, essays, and recommendations. As semifinalists, Nikitha and Disha each received $2,000, along with $4,000 total for CVHS. Their research projects, both of which were completed on the CVHS campus, will be (continued on page 50) BELLAIRE BUZZ MARCH 2022 48

BELLAIRE BUZZ MARCH 2022 49

(continued from page 48) judged for the chance to

win $25,000 prizes. Nikitha’s research project, “The Tense of Psychological Distancing Self Talk and Test Performance Among GT High School Students” is published in the Journal of Student Research. In November, she presented at the International Sigma Xi Research Conference. Disha studied the effects of critically high environmental metal concentrations on usnic acid production in Cladonia rangiferina lichens. This was an experimental AP Research project conducted with the help of Dr. Ana Giraldo, Joshua Garcia, James Barnes, Amalia Masiglat, and Pulcherie Gueneau. Disha also was awarded $5,000 from the CITGO Distinguished Scholars program.

New band member

Emma Knowles

Jenny and Eric Gustafson welcomed Margaux Stella Gustafson into their family this fall. She is named for Jenny's late grandfather, Marvin Speer, and her middle name is a nod to one of the Gustafsons’ favorite Grateful Dead songs.

Big brother Raegan, who’s 2 years old, is warming up to his little sister, who can't stop watch-

ing his every move. Grandparents are Sara Speer Selber, Mandy and Ronna Selber, and Stephanie and Paul Gustafson.

MLK Day of Service In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Lauren Soliz, Caylee Canonico (age 6), and Kinley Canonico (age 4), along with friends Kadriye

Alcorn, Adeline Alcorn (age 6), and West University Elementary student Sage Davis (age 6) worked together on a service project as part of River Oaks Baptist School’s Day of Service.

The group distributed gift baskets to fire Stations 2, 11, and 68 and the Houston Police Department Southwest Substation and the Northeast Substation. Highlights included a tour of a police station, visiting an empty jail cell, honking a fire truck horn, sliding down a fire pole, and spraying a fire hose. Pictured from left are (top) Sage Davis, Caylee Canonico, (middle) Adeline Alcorn, Kinley Canonico, (bottom) Kadriye Alcorn, and Lauren Soliz.

Whiffenpoofs in the house Ryan Bronston, a 2018 Emery graduate, is on tour with the world-renowned Yale Whiffenpoofs. The Whiffenpoofs are the oldest collegiate acapella group in the United States, founded at Yale in 1909. It’s tradition for each member to take a year off from Yale to tour the country and sing together. Each member gets to add their hometown as a stop. During the stop in Houston, the Whiffenpoofs – all 13 of whom stayed at the Bronston family’s home! – performed at schools, including Episcopal and Strake Jesuit. The concert that was open to the public was held at Ryan’s alma mater. The group, clad in the traditional tux and tails, sings a range of music, such as Beatles classics and a mashup of Whitney Houston’s “And I Will Always Love You” with Olivia Rodrigo’s “Good 4 U.” Ryan (pictured, following page, center stage) is a tenor II and (continued on page 52) BELLAIRE BUZZ MARCH 2022 50

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BELLAIRE BUZZ MARCH 2022 51

Caroline Siegfried

ings, drawings, collages, or photography depicting inclusivity, respect, and equity. Participants are eligible to receive tickets to a Rockets game.

Pictured, with their art, are third-grade students (from left) Vivi Garner, Mason Wu, Benjamin Rosenfeld, Malley Lutschg, and Manya Mehta.

Spring shopping

(continued from page 50) assistant business manager

of the Whiffenpoofs, and his major is Ethics, Politics, & Economics. While in Houston, Ryan took the group to favorite Houston spots including Whataburger, House of Pies, Torchy’s Tacos, and Agora. See “Yale Whiffenpoofs in Houston: Emery Grad Returns in Tux and Tails” by Caroline Siegfried at thebuzzmagazines.com for more details and videos.

Home. Pictured are members of the Children’s Charities Committee: (from left) Kathy Archer, Laurie Farris, Ellen Goodrich, Claire Rabalais, Aileen Reilly, Jane Howerton, Joey Mann, Mary Lynn Murphy, Laura Monroe, and Betty Donohue. See charityguildshop.org.

Art with heart

Charity Guild’s centennial Founded in 1922, the Charity Guild of Catholic Women is celebrating its centennial anniversary this year. The organization awarded $547,599 to 47 Houston-area nonprofits to fund programs that assist children in need. This year’s president, Ginger Niemann, presented the awards at the Charity Guild Shop located at 1203 Lovett Blvd.

Recipients included Harrison’s Heroes, Clothed

by Faith, Houston Furniture Bank, Second Servings, Be an Angel, Cherish our Children, Child Advocates of Fort Bend, and Nora’s

BELLAIRE BUZZ MARCH 2022 52

Horn Elementary students are participating in an art challenge. The Houston Rockets teamed up with the No Place for Hate program to launch the challenge, which invites students to submit paint-

Shop for a cause at The City Market, the Houston Junior Forum’s inaugural event benefiting charitable services for children, youth, women, and seniors. Featuring art, clothing, gifts, accessories, jewelry, and more, The City Market takes place March 22, 10:30 a.m.-6 p.m. at the Bayou City Event Center. The VIP Preview Party March 21, 6:30-9:30 p.m., will include wine tasting, chefinspired appetizers, and a cocktail buffet dinner and live entertainment. Pictured are (from left) Judy Perkins, Linda West, Susan Rosenbaum, Laura Bruce, Laura Hellums, Joey Rovira, Lauri Wasmuth, and Sherri Cooley. See thecitymkt.org.

Be seen in Buzz About Town. Send your high-res photos and community news to info@thebuzzmagazines.com.

Items are published on a space-available basis. Also share your upcoming-event listings on thebuzzmagazines.com.

BELLAIRE BUZZ MARCH 2022 53

NEIGHBORS

by Andria Frankfort, staff writer

Back Porch

Riding the Wordle wave

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re you playing Wordle yet? Either way, it’s likely you’ve heard of it. “I’m obsessed!” is the answer we received over and over when polling Buzz readers about the new game.

Wordle is a once-a-day game of elimination.

With the goal of figuring out the word of the day, players randomly choose a five-letter word, enter it into the puzzle, and Wordle responds: Green means you’ve got the right letter in the right spot; yellow means the letter is in the word of the day, but it’s not in the right spot; black or gray means the letter isn’t in the word of the day at all. You’ll get six chances to guess the word.

Kind of like a cross between Mastermind, Boggle, and Wheel of Fortune.

Part of the allure is Wordle’s simplicity: no ads, nothing to buy, nothing gathering data on you. That’s because Wordle started as a game Brooklyn software developer Josh Wardle (hence the name Wordle) created for his wife, who loves word games. First, he and his wife played. Then they shared it with family. Then, after it was released to the world in October, users of the game soared from 90 in November to 300,000 in January. According to The Conversation, players totaled 3 million as of mid-February.

Elizabeth Elliot, a mother of three who works at Pepper Lou Gifts in Memorial, plays with a strategy. “I pick a first word that has a lot of vowels,” she says. “Adieu, abide, piano, orate. The word I got on a whim [meaning she won on the first try] was ‘moist.’ You’ve got a couple of vowels there, and some frequently used consonants.”

Elizabeth began playing Wordle when she saw friends on Facebook posting screenshot shares of their scores. “It looked mysterious with those green and black blocks,” she says. “I spent about a day and a half looking for the app!”

But, Elizabeth points out, Wordle is not an app.

To get it, go to www.nytimes.com/games/wordle and follow the easy instructions.

Charles Fletcher, director of client services at Danziger & De Llano, LLP, not only plays with a strategy, but he is one of the hardcore fans, staying up until midnight to play. “Midnight is when the new game comes out. Since it’s the same word for every player in the world, waiting BELLAIRE BUZZ MARCH 2022 54

until later means I could see a spoiler in social media somewhere,” he says. “I always start with the same word, later, and sometimes the same second word, odium or opium.

Many times, I’ll put in my first and second word, and if it isn’t obvious after that, I go to sleep thinking about it and finish the game in the morning.”

Charles texts his dad in College Station and brother in San Antonio with scores. “We rarely get to see each other, so Wordle has been nice since we have been in communication daily since ARE YOU PLAYING? Wordle’s word game of the day is all the buzz. it started.” with my sisters, sharing our scores and comConsultant Anne Tulek had played about 10 menting on the ease or difficulties,” she says. times when she told us, “I saw everybody play“Weeks later, one of the with-it, internet-savvy ing, and I said, ‘I’m not doing that, I’m gonna nieces popped into a family group text to ask if get addicted.’ But then I saw one more post her mother and aunts had heard of this thing about it and said, ‘Okay, I’ll try.’ It’s so clever, called Wordle? Now we have a bigger family and so constrained. You get six tries, and you get Wordle text group. We celebrate the [secondit or you don’t. You can only do it once a day, guess wins] and commiserate the all-too-often so you can’t go down the rabbit hole!” [six-guess wins]. It’s been a joy to play and a great Even still, people are self-proclaiming to be touchstone for all of us.” obsessed. Elyse Kalmans says she recently startThe New York Times bought Wordle in January ed playing and had a realization: “I sometimes for an amount in “the low seven figures.” Players am thinking of five-letter words to guess as I’m were worried the purchase would preclude free play, falling asleep!” Maybe she and Charles need to but the Times promises to continue offering it at no team up. cost, at least for now. Wardle, the creator, also statBarbara Catechis says Wordle has brought ed he is working with the Times to ensure that playfamily in Houston, Round Rock, Denver, and ers’ scores and streaks will remain.

Fayetteville, Ark., together. “I started playing behance.net/runamokstudios

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