The West University Buzz - April 2021

CarMichael Kyle

2021 Summer Camp Guide

Let’s Play

Our Birdwatching Paradise

Chess

Herding Cats

by Jennifer Oakley

Chef’s Corner: Greg Gordon Families on Safari Buzz Baby: Get Organized What’s for Easter Lunch?

Cindy Gabriel: The Power of Awe Houston, TX Permit No. 2047 PAID

Pigeon Pandemonium

US Postage PRSRT STD

Big-Hearted Houston

EDITOR’S NOTE In last month’s editor’s note, I ended with how much I love Houston. I wrote that shortly before the entire city was frozen over and without power and water.

I wanted to “stop the presses” and take it back. But then, the sun came out, and so did the helpers. Houston, it has been painful. But once again, neighbors stepped up to help each other. In this issue, Andria Frankfort highlights kind volunteers who jumped into action. Also this month, Meg Scott spotlights one of Houston’s claims to fame: exceptional birdwatching. And Jennifer Oakley introduces bright, young chess players in our midst. Cindy Gabriel, as always, digs deep, tackling the power of awe, nature, scientists, poets, and perfect 2-year-old grandsons. And our annual Summer Camp Directory is full of exciting options for kids (and their parents) after a long year. Houston, I still love you. 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 Writers Account Managers

Joni Hoffman Michael Hoffman Cheryl Laird Jordan Magaziner Steinfeld Jenna Mazzoccoli John Duboise Tracy L. Barnett Deborah Lynn Blumberg 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 Erin Faulkner Meg Scott Andrea Blitzer Leslie Little Jo Rogers

On our cover: CarMichael Kyle loves chess. Here, the first grader is on River Oaks Baptist School’s giant, outdoor chessboard.

Cover photo by Nikky LaWell, lawellphoto.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 © 2021 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.

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ APRIL 2021 4

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ APRIL 2021 5

MAILBAG

Your letters, thoughts, opinions Loved tale of beloved neighborhood We sure are hearing loads of compliments on the special article written on our beloved Riverbend [Growing Up in Riverbend, by Michelle Casas Groogan, February 2021]. Whether friends have walked our streets with us, or have just heard how we gather and enjoy one another, it has been very fun to hear from our friends and family.

My father, George Allen, was really touched by all the sentiment of a very special place close to his heart, and especially because he and Wesley Parker were fraternity brothers and share a special friendship!

Melinda Abell

Story helps Beatlemaniacs unite Judy and I just wanted to mention how much fun we have had sharing our passion with everyone, especially fellow Beatlemaniacs [Love, Love Me Do, by Cathy Gordon, February 2021]. Thanks to Cathy Gordon and the entire staff over at The Buzz, we have connected with many new friends and have rekindled many friendships with those we have lost touch many years ago. We have been able to share many stories and have scheduled a few walk-throughs of the collection with fellow Beatles fans. It is always good to be able to share “Peace and Love.”

We have been in touch with folks from Houston to Chicago to New York and Liverpool! In fact, we are in the infant stages of discussing an eventual pop-up museum. This would be in the interest of fundraising for the arts and special causes, and as you can “Imagine,” this will take a lot of work and a bit of time. Thanks once again to our friends at The Buzz who allowed us to bring out our FAB spirit for everyone to enjoy!

Alex Fazzino

Out looking for art now Thanks and congratulations to Meg Scott on the fantastic article about the Mini Murals [Art in the Street, by Meg Scott, March 2021]. I received so many comments from friends who saw our photos. They were so excited to know someone in the magazine. A few had not paid attention to the Mini Murals before, and I'm sure they'll enjoy spotting them now that they're aware of them. One friend wants to go on a bike ride around town to see a bunch.

I have appreciated all of the encouragement to get my application turned in for the next round. Arts initiatives like these break up the monotony of pandemic life. I think it's awesome that The Buzz Magazines highlighted this awesome project. All the work you do to customize each issue by neighborhood is commendable and makes the magWEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ APRIL 2021 6

azine very special.

Sheila Hall

Elephant column starts new friendship My daughter Eleanor Dick wrote a Buzz Kidz article [The West University Buzz, February 2021] on her passion for elephants. We received a package from a neighbor and fellow elephant fan. The note in the package with the toy elephants read: Dear Eleanor, I had these fabulous animals (beautiful grey and purple elephant ornaments) made by a very talented artist in Europe. I believe you deserve them! I so enjoyed reading your recent article in The Buzz magazine. Keep up the great work. Yours sincerely, Mrs. Dodd Eleanor wrote a thank you note back to her [saying that she hung the elephants on the doors of her room and thanking her for the "amazing gift"].

What a sweet gesture! Thanks to Mrs. Dodd and The Buzz.

Mary Rebecca Dick 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 graduating high school senior who would like to be part of our annual “Where are they headed?” feature.

• Have funny or compelling parenting stories.

• Have a unique or interesting travel story.

• Know a Buzzworthy neighbor to profile.

• Play a musical instrument and would like to be a part of our “Name That Tune” video series online.

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

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ APRIL 2021 7

NEIGHBORS

by Cathy Gordon, staff writer

Pigeon Pandemonium www.istockphoto.com/portfolio/suriyasilsaksom

A primer on the fun, flying ‘P’

S

o far, 2021 hasn’t lacked for news. There are the three “Ps”: Politics. Pandemic.

Pigeon. That’s right, as the pandemic raged, and politics, well, played, a lonely pigeon swooped onto the world stage, ruffling a few feathers, but mostly capturing hearts. So, let’s recap the plight of Joe the Pigeon.

In January, posts were flying about the bird who showed up exhausted and weak in a backyard in Melbourne, wearing what appeared to be U.S. identification. The homeowner named him Joe, after newly elected U.S. President Joe Biden.

The pigeon, authorities assumed, had hitched a ride on a cargo ship. He posed a danger of infection to local birds. A perilous breach to Australia’s strict animal import laws. Execution was slated.

But whoa, not so fast.

The American Racing Pigeon Union (ARPU) concluded that Joe’s leg tag wasn’t genuine. The pigeon didn’t belong to some guy in Alabama, as the band suggested. He was local.

Stay of execution granted.

“The pigeon found in Australia sports a counterfeit band and need not be destroyed per biosecurity measures, because his actual home is in Australia,” the ARPU explained on its Facebook page.

Which brings me to my own, albeit less “presidential,” pigeon encounter in my backyard.

While gardening a few months ago, a pigeon descended from the sky, practically at my feet, head bopping and cooing while following me around the flower beds. I scattered birdseed, and it scarfed it up. That’s when I noticed a blue band on the bird’s left leg bearing the letters AU and a number.

Could it be a carrier pigeon? Hmm… I wasn’t expecting a pigeon post from the front lines. I called Magnolia’s Friends of Texas Wildlife, hoping for answers. My 22-pound tabby cat, Bart, watched from the back door, wetting his lips.

Best talk to Bud Williams, they said, sharing his number. “He’s a pigeon expert.”

I called.

“The pigeon must have been chased by a hawk or something and lost its way home,” said a booming voice, that of Bud who has raised pigeons since his youth. Put it in a box, he said.

He’d fetch it by evening.

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ APRIL 2021 8

MAD SKILLS This “racing homer” pigeon has no trouble finding its way home, due to uncanny navigational skills and a mysterious internal compass.

The bird spent the day on a soft towel in a box in my powder bathroom. It slept. And pooped. (I gifted the bird the towel.) My cat spent the day sniffing at the door, pondering sauces best served with pigeon.

Bud eventually arrived and turned the bird upside down, announcing its gender: male. The “AU” on the bird’s band stands for American Racing Pigeon Union, he explained (that same union that discovered the counterfeit tag on President pigeon Joe). Bud is a member of the union’s board of directors.

My bird friend, it turns out, was a “racing homer,” a breed of domestic pigeon selectively bred for speed and enhanced homing instincts for the sport of pigeon racing. You can release them hundreds of miles away from home, and they instinctively find their way back like a flapping, feathery boomerang. Numbers on the band correlate bird to owner.

Contrast that to Joe the Pigeon of last month’s fame. Joe is a Turkish Tumbler, a breed raised to perform tricks in the air, a pigeon-rescue group in Australia determined. Like a show bird.

“For the races, you take them to a place, and then they fly home. They usually fly home no problem, but this one looks young and that’s

probably why he got lost. Probably something chased him, and he got rattled and off-course,” Bud explained.

“We actually have races up to 500 miles. We had a race a few years ago from Blackwell, Oklahoma, which is right on the KansasOklahoma line. Participants released their birds at 7:30 a.m., and that afternoon I got my first one back at 3:30 p.m., which was eight hours later. That’s pretty quick. Of course, they did have a 20-mile tailwind that day.”

My pigeon friend felt comfortable with me, Bud explained, because he’s already domesticated. “They’re around humans all the time. I’ve got a flock I constantly tend to, feeding them, cleaning their lofts, making sure they’re okay.

These young ones, they’re like toddlers. If there’s trouble around, they’ll find it.”

He made phone calls when he returned home and reunited the bird with its rightful owner and flock northwest of Houston. “The guy said the bird’s happy to be home,” Bud assured me.

But I feel the pigeon and I have bonded, I explained. What if my little friend comes back?

Not likely that’ll happen, he said. “But if it does, you can call me again. Or build a cage.

Your choice.”

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ APRIL 2021 9

NEIGHBORS Julia Gabriel Studio

by Cindy Gabriel, staff writer

Listen to the Birds And to children, before words

H

ere we are, in the midst of the most well-earned spring Texas has seen. I want to notice it for all its worth, in a partial act of repentance for not noticing it more before.

I’m a minor player, a ripple in the ocean of words, in search of softer ways to wonder about this world that seems so bent on being in opposition to itself. We keep talking in terms of “this versus that.” What about “this and that?”

In a time we can’t remember, before we could talk, we saw our first bird, the moon, the stars.

We must have felt a kind of awe about this ground and space that seem so tailored to us, sprinkled with butterflies and flowers. I admire people who do the work to understand these mysteries, the scientists and the laypeople with binoculars. We need more observers and more listeners. We also need more poets, to embrace, to point, to rest in a world that has so much to say to the listeners.

The baby you see in the picture, Eli, is now a 2 year old. He has camped with his parents since he was born. I already envy his connection with the natural world. He picks up a rock with a kind of reverence as if it were a diamond. He said star before he said Mama and Poppa. When he sees the moon, he runs toward it as if he can reach it.

He’ll be 5 for the next total solar eclipse in the United States, April 8, 2024. It’s running right through the middle of the Texas Hill Country. I want to wonder with this little boy how it is that the moon, so small in comparison to the sun, can completely cover it in this mysterious way? Is it an accident that their distance to the earth is so perfectly aligned that they appear the same size to us in an eclipse?

“Few are those who see with their own eyes and hear with their own thoughts.” – Albert Einstein I want to tell Eli about a little boy named Albert Einstein, who stared at the sky and daydreamed a lot. His parents worried about him because he didn’t talk much before he was 5. His own family nicknamed him “the dopey one.”

This quiet little daydreamer grew up to develop scientific theories more than a century ago that continue today to change the world.

What made Einstein Einstein was a mystiWEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ APRIL 2021 10

AWE! Feeling awe can actually improve your health. Cindy Gabriel tests this theory with her grandson, Eli Weber.

cal ability to hold more than one concept in his head at a time. Scientists argued for 200 years over whether light was made up of particles or waves. It was Einstein who suggested light was both a particle and a wave, that the two seemingly opposing ideas existed together in a kind of dance.

Later he would develop an idea that space and time were mysteriously working together in something he called spacetime. Maybe Eli will be able to understand it better than I. All I know is that during a total eclipse, scientists have been able to see stars appear to bend toward the sun due to the effect of spacetime.

Did you know that there is growing scientific evidence that the experience of awe can reduce inflammation, an underlying condition of most diseases? University of California-Irvine researcher Paul Piff says “experiences of awe attune people to things larger than themselves.

They cause individuals to feel less entitled, less selfish and to behave more generously.” Awe is associated with curiosity and the desire to explore, leading to a sense of confidence in your own personal observations.

For instance, have you noticed there aren’t as many bug-splats on windshields as there used to be? This occurred to me recently on trips to the Hill Country. Our windshield scraping isn’t the project it used to be, even five years ago. I thought it was a good thing. But scientists who measure such things report dramatic drops in the masses of insects among us.

Of course, that reduces the food supply for the birds we cherish. Insects spread pollen to the flowers we celebrate, which produce nectar for the honey bees so vital to the pollination of our crops, our food, to our existence.

Out beyond the ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I will meet you there. – Rumi

Create a buzz for your biz.

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WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ APRIL 2021 11

lawellphoto.com

PETS

by Andria Frankfort, staff writer

Herding Cats And meeting lovely neighbors

T

his is a story about a musician who sees sound as color, a colony of cats, a dog named Peanut, and neighbors who found each other.

Robbie Parrish isn’t a typical West U neighbor. On a street lined mostly with big, recently built homes, Robbie lives in an original bungalow – the home where he was born – that his parents kept as a rental house after they moved to Meyerland. Robbie is an artist in a sea of doctors and lawyers, a musician with synesthesia (meaning he sees specific colors for specific sounds).

Being a synesthete gives this eclectic, purpleloving artist an unusually precise tuning ability.

He has tuned drums for the likes of Olivia Newton-John, Etta James, and Prince, and he is an accomplished drummer himself.

Also, Robbie is an animal lover. Which, last fall, led to a predicament.

That predicament involved a nanny down the street who years ago gave Robbie a cat to keep him company. That cat had babies just at the time Prince died, so Robbie named the kittens Mermalicious, Lickadaceous, and so on, all names he thought Prince would have approved.

From there, over the course of several years, the original cat multiplied into 42 of them – all living in Robbie’s West U garage last fall. In addition to being an unhealthy environment for the cats, the situation was unpleasant – and unacceptable – for neighbors.

At some point, Patrick Hughes, also an animal lover, walked by while walking his dog. “I noticed a couple of cats outside Robbie’s house, and something just looked off,” says the recent University of Colorado graduate who is living in the neighborhood with his parents. “I grew up with dogs and cats always around, and on Sundays when I was in Boulder I would go to the Humane Society and help out. So I knocked on Robbie’s door.”

The two hadn’t met before, but, as fate would have it, Patrick is a jazz drummer and had heard of Robbie. Robbie told Patrick he was having “an issue with a street cat problem.”

“Patrick told me he was a volunteer with the Humane Society, and he offered to help,” WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ APRIL 2021 12

Robbie says. After their brief first meeting, Robbie wanted to accept Patrick’s offer, but he didn’t have Patrick’s name or phone number. So Robbie left a note tacked to the front door of his West U bungalow. “I was trying to tell Patrick I’d like to find him.”

That’s when Barbara and Kevin Trautner, neighbors a block over, she an infectious disease specialist and he a lawyer, happened to walk by and read the note. “Barbara is a cat lover,” Kevin says, “and I’m empathetic. We were worried about the cats.”

Barbara called Robbie using the phone number he RESCUE SQUAD Top: Patrick Hughes, Robbie Parrish, and Kevin Trautner (from left) left on the note gather outside Robbie's home where, together, they caught, fixed, and rehomed a colony of cats. Bottom: Robbie Parrish is an accomplished drummer and has tuned drums for for Patrick. “I told famous musicians all over the world. her the story,” he what they turned this into.” says, “that I was in trouble. People were not That’s not how things began. “We saw four happy with the situation. I said, ‘What would or five kittens in Robbie’s yard,” Kevin says. “I you think about calling Patrick and working thought there would be like four or five cats, together?’” and I ordered a cat trap off Amazon so that we Robbie connected the Trautners and Patrick, could get them fixed. Little did we know, the also neighbors who had never met, and they house and garage were full of cats. It was a cat teamed up. “Next thing I know, Barbara has her colony. I had never heard of a cat colony before, husband involved, and he and Patrick are runbut if you adopt strays and don’t get them ning it like a business,” Robbie says. “They’re spayed and neutered, they’ll reproduce and telling me we’re going to rescue this many cats build exponentially among themselves. It was a a day, and you can expect us at this time, and do little overwhelming.” not feed the cats except at this time. It’s amazing (continued on page 14)

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RAINING CATS AND CATS Left: Katherine Nelson and her dog Peanut adopted Bean (also known as Fuzzy Wuzzy). Middle: Some of Robbie’s cats are still looking for homes. Right: Patrick Hughes adopted Ziggy as a kitten and calls him "a good guy."

So they got to work. As Barbara puts it, “Kevin the lawyer put his organizational skills to full bore on the problem.”

Kevin and Patrick went to the city, who loaned them a couple more cat traps – large-ish cages that lure the cats in with wet cat food.

“They love the wet cat food,” Kevin says.

“Kevin and I started trapping the cats,” Patrick says. “There were 42, including 17 kittens.

“I started looking at different nonprofits to see how to handle it. But I realized – I had never dealt with anything to this extent – there’s not really an infrastructure or a one-stop shop to deal with stray cats and dogs. So Kevin and I would trap cats a few at a time and drive them to the low-cost vet to get spayed and neutered, and then they would have to heal at our homes.”

Ethan Dearborn, a college student and nearby neighbor, pitched in to corral the cats at Patrick’s house in order to socialize them. “Then we would go back to Robbie’s place,” Patrick says, “release them there, and contact the nonprofits to make deals for them to come in and take four or five at a time.

“It took a while to get everybody, but all the adults have been spayed or neutered, and they all have their shots.”

The neighbors nearest Robbie’s house got together to cover the costs of the cat surgeries.

To mobilize the process, Patrick set up a GoFundMe account, which raised thousands of dollars to spay, neuter, immunize, and feed the cats.

Robbie calls it a miracle. “I feel like I’ve been blessed,” he says. “I’m not good with counting,

(continued from page 12)

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ APRIL 2021 14

but I knew it was going to cost a lot of money.

This happened because of all these neighbors who are so kind.”

About that dog named Peanut …

Peanut is a shaggy rescue dog who belongs to the Nelson family, more neighbors who didn’t know Robbie. Katherine Nelson, a high school student at St. John’s School, happened to see a text string between her mom Amy and Barbara.

They were texting about the cats at Robbie’s.

While the Nelsons are traditionally dog people, Katherine saw her mom’s text as her way in to becoming a cat owner. “She put together a PowerPoint presentation on all the reasons we should adopt a kitten,” Amy says. “She included how much the cat would cost, who would care for it, and where it would wind up long-term, like seven years from now.”

The PowerPoint worked. Katherine successfully persuaded her mom and dad Paul to meet the kittens. There was one caveat: Peanut had to like the cat.

So Fuzzy Wuzzy, the kitten Robbie knew Katherine would fall in love with (and vice versa) came to live with the Nelsons on a trial basis. The trial wasn’t a trial for long.

“Peanut loved the cat,” Amy says. “The dog wanted nothing more than to lick the kitten, and the kitten wanted nothing to do with him. Now, the kitten wants to play and pounce on the dog, and the dog wants nothing to do with him.”

Obviously, Fuzzy Wuzzy (also known as Bean, as in Jelly Bean, as in Peanut butter and jelly) stayed. “He’s part of the family,” Amy laughs.

“We sleep with our door closed because Bean

likes to pounce in the night. When I open the door in the morning, Peanut and Bean are waiting for me, and they come downstairs with me and make coffee and get their breakfast.”

The other 16 kittens also have been adopted, as have several of the adult cats, thanks to the neighbors and a group called Pet Connect.

“They’ve been super-helpful,” Patrick says. “I’ve been going to PetSmart on Saturdays and Sundays, and Pet Connect helps us try to get them adopted.” Pet Connect uses PetSmart and Petco as the sites where they try to find homes for the cats.

Kevin and Barbara have two grown-up cats in their backyard. Patrick also has two adults, along with Ziggy, a kitten.

“He’s a good guy,” Patrick says of Ziggy. As for the adult cats yet to be adopted, he says, “they’re great cats. I think they’ll find homes pretty soon.”

Robbie still shares his bungalow with several adult cats – now all spayed and neutered and in no danger of multiplying – along with photos and mementos from his years working alongside the world’s best musicians and an ever-changing and extensive collection of small toys arranged on the front stoop.

“If you don’t get to know your neighbors, you would have no idea all this existed,” Kevin says.

“That’s the fun of it.”

MORE ONLINE If you want to adopt a cat or volunteer, or for the GoFundMe page, click the links in the online version of this story at thebuzzmagazines.com. Or contact Pet Connect Rescue at adoptapet.com or petfinder.com.

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forsythefotography.com

NEIGHBORS

by Meg Scott, contributing writer

Spotting Beauty Spring wave of color delights Houston birders

A

long the Gulf Coast and into Houston, spring migration is “extraordinary,” said Sara Bettencourt, longtime bird watcher and Buzz resident. “It’s hard to believe that it really happens every year.”

Nearly 2 billion (yes, with a “b”) birds migrate through Texas each year. In the spring migration, which is at its peak in Houston in late April and early May, the trip north across the Gulf of Mexico leads to a dramatic finish on the upper Gulf Coast.

The migrating birds reach land after flying hundreds of miles without stopping to eat or rest, many crossing the entire Gulf of Mexico in one endless flight. Even tiny hummingbirds make this journey. They arrive exhausted and hungry, so they immediately “drop” to recuperate, creating a bird-watchers’ paradise on our doorstep.

“Spring migration always finds birders struggling to nail down the perfect adjectives for what you see – breathtaking, awe-inspiring, stunning – but really all of those words fall short,” said Sara. “I don’t think the words have been invented yet.”

Because of its proximity to the Gulf of Mexico and its position in the central flyway, Houston is a crucial resting area for migrating birds, said Berri Moffett, conservation specialist at Houston Audubon and a Texas master naturalist.

“In the fall, birds making their way south stock up on the food they need to make it across the Gulf without stopping,” Berri said. “In

spring, the birds are on their way north to their breeding grounds, and they land in our area after their intense travel.

Because the birds are so focused on refueling, and because the timing of spring migration is so much more condensed than fall migration, it is an ideal time for birders to ON A QUEST Sara Bettencourt and Carl Nooteboom share their love of birding while encounter and walking through the woods at the Edith L. Moore Nature Sanctuary in Memorial, one of 17 sanctuaries maintained by Houston Audubon. enjoy hundreds of species.”

“Every bird watcher has a bird that gets you (Keep an eye on the latest bird-migration hooked on bird watching,” Sara said of the forecast maps and real-time results online at moment she declared herself a bird watcher. birdcast.info. ) In July 1989, Sara was staying at her parents’ Bird watching has become a shared joy across vacation home on the Frio River in Leakey, four generations of Sara’s family, a commonality Texas, about 100 miles west-northwest of San nurtured by her parents and now embraced by Antonio, where a bird feeder sat outside the her siblings, nieces, nephews, and even elemenwindow with a pair of binoculars available for tary school-aged great-nephews. Sara, 62, and viewing from indoors. her husband, Mark, 63, joined the nonprofit “I was sitting on the couch and noticed a bird conservation society Houston Audubon more had landed, so I picked up the binoculars,” Sara than 30 years ago, soon after Sara saw her said. “I screamed.” “hook,” or “spark,” bird.

Everyone rushed to (continued on page 18)

Birding in the city The Greater Houston area has countless spots for you to sit a while or stroll in the woods and observe the migration in action.

At the Edith L. Moore Sanctuary in Memorial, home to the Houston Audubon headquarters, 197 species of birds have been recorded on the eBird hotspot, including 39 species of warblers.

“We also host tanagers, buntings, grosbeaks, thrushes, sparrows, blackbirds, finches, and flycatchers,” said Berri Moffett, conservation specialist at Houston Audubon and a Texas master naturalist.

“The creek attracts wading birds like herons and egrets, and we have several raptor species, including nesting owls. My spouse and I saw our ‘lifer’ rose-breasted grosbeak, a scarlet tanager, and a

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ APRIL 2021 16

Baltimore oriole here in April 2018, and we can’t wait to see what 2021 delivers.”

Be sure to track your findings in eBird, where other birders can learn what birds are active in the area. In the app, you can see others’ sightings and set up alerts for any rare birds in your area.

• Edith L. Moore Sanctuary: 440 Wilchester Blvd.

• Houston Arboretum: 120 W Loop N Fwy. • Russ Pitman Park & Nature Discovery Center: 7112 Newcastle St., Bellaire • Hermann Park: 6001 Fannin St. • Bear Creek Pioneers Park: 3535 War Memorial Drive

forsythefotography.com Greg Lavaty

forsythefotography.com

forsythefotography.com

Greg Lavaty

BIRDS OF A FEATHER Top left: Sara Bettencourt's "spark bird," which sparked her love of birding, was a painted bunting. Top right: Sara's life-list journal so far has more than 600 birds classified by the American Birding Association. Her goal is 700. Middle left: Sara's father, Clint Morse, kept detailed notes in his field guide. Here, he captured the date when he saw a scissortail flycatcher. Middle right: Carl Nooteboom is chair-elect of the Houston Audubon Young Professionals Council. Bottom left: Sara takes to the trails with her binoculars and lens. Bottom right: A black-bellied whistling duck first hooked Carl on birding.

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ APRIL 2021 17

FEATHERED FRIENDS Left: Carl Nooteboom watches out the window of his home with his children, Michael and Nora. They quiz each other on the names of frequently seen Houston species, like sparrows and cardinals. Right: Sara Bettencourt's father Clint Morse's binoculars are a cherished family heirloom. Sara's entire family carries on her dad's legacy and love of nature. (continued from page 16) check on her to make sure

she was alright, which she was, of course. But her life had changed.

“It was a painted bunting, and it was shockingly beautiful,” Sara said of the boldly colored blue, green, and red male bird. “That was it. Bird watching became my No. 1 pastime.”

Since then, Sara has documented her sightings of more than 600 species cataloged by the American Birding Association (ABA).

Through the years, she has noticed how bird watchers each approach the hobby in their own way, making birding a truly personal experience.

“I’m on a quest to see 700 ABA birds now,” said Sara of her current goal. “One of my good friends has a goal to see more species in Harris County than the year before, another aims to capture photos of additional species, and another takes videos.”

She recently met two women who travel on bird-watching tours to admire the creatures in their natural habitats, but they do not record their observations or even yearn to learn the species’ names.

“Everyone has a different take. If someone enjoys seeing a flock of birds fly over or a red bird at a feeder, that’s enough. You are appreciating birds,” said Sara. “You don’t have to achieve some standard of excellence to be considered a bird watcher.”

At age 5, Sara was with her father, a Houston-based lawyer, at a family cabin in Hockley, Texas, about 40 miles northwest of Houston. He drew her attention to a scissortail flycatcher, identifying the species by name. This is her first memory of birds, and the scissortail flycatcher remains one of her favorite species to WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ APRIL 2021 18

spot. (The Cornell Lab of Ornithology describes the slender and stout bird with a long, forked tail as “pale gray with blackish wings and tail and salmon-pink flanks and under belly.”)

“Mom and Dad encouraged all of us in the family to appreciate the natural world. As I got more into bird watching, specifically, then so did they,” Sara said.

Her parents, Clint and Mary Frances Morse, have passed away, but her family carries on the legacy. Sara’s son Mike lives in Tuscon, Arizona, and began his birding outings as an infant with his parents. At age 10, his team of young birders even captured first place in the youth division of the Great Texas Birding Classic. He continues to enjoy spotting and identifying birds.

Sara’s brother Clint Morse and his wife Vivian, retired attorneys, and their family enjoy watching birds arrive at their feeders outside their home on the Guadalupe River in Hunt, Texas, 80 miles northwest of San Antonio.

Sara’s sister Allison Ryder and her husband Dan travel with their family to Galveston from Kansas City, Missouri, to attend FeatherFest, organized by the Galveston Island Nature Tourism Council, during spring migration. Allison’s son, Stuart Ryder, a veterinarian in Kansas City, started birding as a young boy and has “a natural talent,” Sara said. Allison’s daughter, Sara Taylor, and husband Nathan have two boys, Sam, 11, and Ben, 7, who keep bird lists already featuring more than 80 birds.

(The 19th annual FeatherFest: Birding & Nature Photography Festival is April 15-18, 2021. Visit galvestonfeatherfest.com for more information.)

“Birding is really a family thing,” Sara said. “It unites us all. It has gotten in our bloodstream and stayed. I know Mom and Dad would be so tickled that their great grandsons are bird watchers and that they’re interested in the beauty of nature.

The fact that it’s birds is just icing on the cake.”

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t the home of Buzz resident Carl Nooteboom, birds have been a source of entertainment, intrigue, and solace through the events of the past year – from a global pandemic in 2020 to the lifehalting Winter Storm Uri in February.

“When everything was closed, and the only thing to do was get outdoors, or when the power went out and I could only look out the window, I appreciated their presence more than ever,” Carl said.

His children, Michael, 6, and Nora, 5, engage with his hobby every day. He tests their knowledge with pop quizzes each time a bird – such as a cardinal, blue jay, or chickadee – arrives at the feeder outside their window at home. When around town, they ask him the species of every bird they see in nature.

“I love that they show interest,” Carl said. “I’m able to teach and share my hobby with them.”

Carl, 37, serves as chair-elect for the Houston Audubon Young Professionals group, which hosts educational and social events for young adults. Like Sara, Carl had a moment of revelation that launched his bird-watching journey.

His “spark” bird was a duck.

“I've always appreciated birds but didn’t consider myself a birder until my interest was sparked by a duck that frequented the retention pond outside my window at work,” said Carl, who works as an engineer. “I found it odd-looking and

wanted to know what kind it was, so I made a sketch and some notes about its markings.”

His mom, Janis Nooteboom, a former librarian, owned the Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America, which he borrowed in his pursuit. The bird he drew had a bright pink bill with white patches on its wings.

“I felt a sense of accomplishment when I positively identified it as a black-bellied whistling duck,” Carl said. “After that, I bought my own field guide and binoculars and have been keeping a ‘life list’ [a collection of all of his sightings] ever since.”

Carl likens birding to hunting or fishing in the pursuit of a positive identification.

“It's a rush of excitement followed by intense focus, observation, and appreciation,” Carl said.

The experience “culminates in either a sense of satisfaction, when making a positive identification, or a desire for more, if it moves out of sight before you can determine what it is. The challenge is what keeps you coming back.”

Since record-keeping began, more than 600 species have been recorded by bird watchers in Texas alone, with more than half of that number representing migratory birds, according to Carl.

“Some of my favorites to spot in spring migration are the colorful songbirds – buntings, tanagers, warblers, and vireos. Hummingbirds and various water birds also pass through and are worth keeping an eye out for,” he said.

Several years ago, Carl participated in his first Birdathon competition, a self-guided event hosted by Houston Audubon each spring that challenges participants to spot as many bird species as possible during a 24-hour period.

“My teammate and I spent the entire day visiting several sanctuaries all over Galveston,” he said. “By the end of the day, we had identified more than 100 species, many of which were new to me and could be added to my life list.”

Participants elect their preferred 24-hour window and register online at www.HoustonAudubon.org.

The 2021 Birdathon birding period began March 22 and continues through May 7.

The wildlife sanctuaries along the coast see the highest population of migratory birds; there are 17 Houston Audubon bird sanctuaries in Houston. (Read about The Rookery at Smith

READY Michael and Nora Nooteboom watch at the ready for a visitor on their bird feeder. Spring migration brings millions of transitory birds to our doorstep as they traverse the Gulf of Mexico in a nonstop journey, then land on the Texas coast before traveling through Houston.

Oaks Sanctuary, one of four sanctuaries in High Island, Texas, in Cindy Gabriel’s April 2021 story at thebuzzmagazines.com.)

But you don’t need to travel an hour or more to enjoy this annual phenomenon. Forested preservations in Houston also serve as convenient and mesmerizing birding locations (see sidebar for suggestions).

And, you can always entice birds to you.

Water drips, bird feeders, and native plants all serve to make birds feel welcome.

“The majority of my birding is from watching the feeder and bird bath outside my window,” Carl said. “Don’t get discouraged if birds don’t show up immediately after you hang a new feeder. It will take some time for them to find the new food or water source. Once they do, it is likely they will return, and other birds will

notice. Over time, the amount and variety of visitors will increase.”

To help you identify a bird, Carl recommends a set of binoculars (which he says are a “get what you pay for” type of item and worth the splurge) and a field guide. His favorite field guide apps for download are eBird, BirdsEye, and Merlin Bird ID, all of which pull descriptions from the Cornell Lab’s database. Merlin even allows you to upload a photo you’ve taken to quickly identify using artificial intelligence.

“Bird watching is a great way to connect with nature. Once you start taking notice, you’ll realize they are everywhere.” Much like art, Carl said. “Art is all around us, but we often walk past without noticing. It’s when you stop to appreciate it that you begin to notice the fine details, differences, and beauty.”

Did you know that?

• When River Oaks was developed in the 1920s by the River Oaks Corporation (and founders Will and Michael Hogg and Hugh Potter), the community was intended to co-exist as a residential area and a bird sanctuary, according to the commemorative book River Oaks Eighteenth Year, published in 1941.

• During migration season, the Houston Audubon’s “Lights Out for Birds” initiative – reminding Houstonians to turn out their lights at night – is especially important. Most migratory birds travel at night and rely on the moon and stars to navigate. City lights can disorient birds, making their journey more difficult and lead to building and window collisions, a leading cause of bird fatality.

• Texas Parks and Wildlife recently honored Houston with the title

of “Bird City.” The certification recognizes Houston as a leader in community action and bird conservation.

• Birds are a useful indicator of the well-being of an environment.

They’re sensitive to change, so an imbalance in an ecosystem can be quickly identified by a sudden departure of native birds.

• Landscaping with native plants is one of the best ways to establish a bird-friendly habitat.

• When Ian Fleming was at his home in Jamaica and writing his soon-to-be-famous spy stories, he needed a name for 007, his main character. Fleming was a bird watcher, and as he looked around the room, his eye fell on his field guide: Birds of the West Indies by James Bond.

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ APRIL 2021 19

forsythefotography.com

KIDS

by Jennifer Oakley, staff writer

War Over the Board Young chess players face off

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lexandra Simotas remembers the pivotal moment her 5-year-old son, Niko Laskaris, came home from a birthday party in kindergarten. He did not talk about the cake or the party favors. He talked about chess.

And he wanted to learn how to play.

Niko had watched other children play with life-size chess figures and immediately became intrigued. Now age 11, Niko, along with sister Evie, 12, have become seasoned players who compete nationally in a sport that they both love.

The Laskaris siblings are not the only ones playing chess these days. Although the game was invented in the 7th century, chess is seeing a resurgence due to both widespread interest in playing online during the pandemic and the Netflix hit “The Queen’s Gambit.”

But there’s a contingent of Buzz-neighborhood chess players who have been playing for years. They say they’re thrilled to see chess have a new moment in the spotlight.

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lexandra and husband Aris Laskaris say chess became an important part of their children’s lives after that initial birthday-party introduction. “They were fascinated by it, so I researched about safe chess sites and found one called chesskid.com, and that is how they learned how to play the game,” says Alexandra, an ob/gyn. “I realized how much the kids loved chess one summer when we were at the beach, and instead of building sand castles they were making chess pieces out of sand. I love watching them play chess. All the elements of life come together: determination, patience, focus, and good sportsmanship.”

The siblings played together at home but then they discovered an afternoon chess club at their school, River Oaks Baptist School. “After I had learned the basic pieces and how to play, a coach at school saw me, and he said I was ready for tournaments,” recalls Niko, who is now in fifth grade. “At the time, I was 6 and in first grade, so my mom got a coach that showed me how to notate, which means writing down all of the chess moves of me and my opponent on a piece of paper, and how to use the chess clock WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ APRIL 2021 20

GAME ON Siblings Evie and Niko Laskaris are both rated players in the United States Chess Federation. They compete in local and national tournaments.

so I could play in tournaments.” Evie joined Niko in learning, and they quickly started playing in tournaments, both locally and out of state.

“People play chess in different ways,” says Evie. "Some are very aggressive, and some play the middle game. Most people start attacking in the middle games, and other people play really slowly like me, and then you make some epic win. I love the nerve-wracking moments in the middle of a game, and I also like how good I feel when I win. Sometimes I am a move away, and then I lose. What I learn from chess is that one mistake should not be able to ruin your game, and slowly and steadily you can win your way back.”

Niko and Evie have both earned a case full of trophies and have become rated players, a system used in chess to estimate the strength of a player, based on their performance versus other players. “I got my first rating for a tournament at age 8,” recalls Evie, whose current rating is 1,201. “Ratings show how good you are, and the higher your rating, the better you are. In tour-

naments, ratings help you enter sections with kids around your rating. But chess does not care what your rating is, and it does not care if you are a girl or a boy, unlike in most sports. I would tell any girl that if she enters tournaments, there will be lots of boys but that’s okay – it doesn’t make them harder to beat. In fact, there are so many boys that I just crush in tournaments.”

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ue to the pandemic, many tournaments have had to move online. Brad Raizner, a junior at St. John’s School and vice president of the school’s chess club, says online tournaments are how their club functions right now.

Brad picked up playing chess sophomore year.

"I started playing with buddies at school during lunch. We played all our games online, and we sometimes played during free period. I think my friends started influencing a bunch of people to play, and soon it spread among our friend group.

Whenever I’m playing chess, it’s so easy for me to completely lose myself in a game and forget about all of my stresses. Chess can be a workout

lawellphoto.com

lawellphoto.com

MAKING THEIR MOVES Clockwise from top left: Evie and Niko Laskaris talk strategy. Evie focuses during competition. CarMichael Kyle, a first grader at River Oaks Baptist School, is surrounded by pieces on the school’s outdoor giant chessboard. Brad Raizner is vice president of the chess club at St. John’s School.

for my brain, but it can also make me feel relaxed and rejuvenated.”

To learn how to play, Brad checked out multiple sources. “I started watching some YouTubers, and I read articles online about certain openings. I also play online at chess.com, which is free for everyone,” he says. His family now also keeps a chess board set up on their kitchen table for practice. Brad says that he plays

at least one chess game a day and that practice has made him more steady under pressure.

The St. John’s School Chess Club meets virtually via Zoom, and the members play against one another for fun via chess.com. Brad says the club’s membership has grown recently. “My friends and I always enjoy competing against one another because it gives us something to bond over,” he says. “Plus, the banter is always

enjoyable.”

This past fall, he created a tournament for charity that he opened up to his friends and community. “One of my mom’s friends said that some students at Blackshear Elementary did not have laptops for virtual learning, so I said, ‘Let’s do something about that!’” he says. “We were able to get five laptops for the children at (continued on page 22) Blackshear.”

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ APRIL 2021 21

Mom Randi Raizner, a neuropsychologist, is all for chess. “I think it’s a fantastic way to lose yourself in something that is challenging and relaxing at the same time,” she says.

Brad says chess is good for the mind. “I think I naturally look for things recreationally that are intellectually stimulating,” he says. “Chess is like a constant and ever-changing puzzle, and that’s why it will never get old.”

(continued from page 21)

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eather and Parrish Kyle are fans. Their son, CarMichael, is a first grader at River Oaks Baptist School and has been taking chess lessons for the past four years. CarMichael became interested in chess at age 3 when his grandparents bought him a chess set made out of Legos.

Later, the Kyles found a chess coach.

“CarMichael had a demonstrated interest in the pieces and set, so that was really positive,” says Heather, who along with Parrish, are both architects. “His coach is so deeply passionate about chess, and that has made him a good resource. He can explain complicated things like en passant [a special pawn capture that occurs only after the opposing player makes a pawn move of two squares], which is not a basic beginner’s move, so he is able to explain why and when it happens and when you use it.”

“Chess is one of the few things that has successfully transitioned for us during the pandemic,” says Heather, who notes that CarMichael’s lessons used to be in person with his coach but then moved online. “It has been interesting watching how CarMichael moved from understanding how pieces move into strategy. His plan for play is beyond my understanding of the game, and he now has opening moves and endgame sequences.”

The chess lessons teach sportsmanship as well. “CarMichael routinely beats both of us quickly,” says Parrish, laughing. “The ritual of a handshake at the end of the game is more important than who won or lost. It’s fun to see his problem-solving skills developing alongside his character.”

CarMichael, 7, says he looks forward to his weekly chess lessons: “I like playing Coach John, and I like that he teaches me lots of different openings, like The London Opening.”

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hess, it seems, is opening a lot of doors these days.

“I believe ‘The Queen's Gambit’ has been a game changer for chess,” says John Hendrick, CarMichael’s coach and a former Texas state junior champion, who has taught chess for the past 15 years. “It mimics the real story of Bobby Fischer very closely, except the main character is a female, which is great for chess. The character, Beth Harmon, had her own interesting battles to fight besides chess, just like Bobby Fischer in real life."

He says he is happy to see the game grow. “It depends on the maturity and personality of the child, but 5 to 8 years is a great age to start learnWEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ APRIL 2021 22

CHESS KINGS Top: CarMichael Kyle started taking chess lessons when he was just 3. Bottom: Dad Parrish Kyle accepts a handshake after playing with son CarMichael.

ing to play,” John says, adding that if a child seems interested, introduce the game. “First of all, I would create an account on lichess.org. It is a non-profit site that offers a fun and easy method for adults and kids alike to learn the rules. After this, I would look for a basic chess puzzle book or a book or website that offers tactics puzzles. I would solve even just one puzzle daily with your kid. A chess puzzle is a position that mimics a real game scenario, and in a puzzle the player has to find the best move or sequence of moves to gain an advantage.”

Chess, he says, can mean different things to different people. “I believe chess is whatever feels best for that person,” he says. “For serious competitors, it is a sport. For a casual player, it

may be a hobby or game. And, for some, they appreciate the beauty of the puzzles, and it is more of an art form.”

For 12-year-old Evie, chess has become her passion. “My chess goals are to help kids discover this brilliant game, and I would also like to improve my own skills and get better at chess,” she says. “A lot of times I am thinking about chess when I am totally not playing it. I read that playing chess helps improve thinking skills and can help you make better grades. I think that life is kind of like a chess game, where you pick the best move to keep going forward. No matter how bad your position in a chess game or in life is, there is always a move that will make your position better.”

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ APRIL 2021 23

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2021 Summer Camp Guide W

hen we think of camp, so many images pop into our minds. Crackling campfires and sticky s’mores. Silly songs and stories. Chilly lakes and The Blob. Hiking, biking, swimming, dancing, playing. And above all, learning new skills, discovering new interests, gaining sometimes-lifelong friendships and occasionally marriages.

Buzz-area residents are fortunate in that Houston is home to many types of camps, programs and classes to choose from, including specialized sports, arts and educational programs for all ages. Additionally, many overnight camps are located just a car or bus ride away. Choosing the right camp for your child depends on your child’s personality, interests, summer schedule and other factors.

This guide is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all camps. Instead, our goal is to provide readers with a snapshot of each camp and program, as a starting point in the research process. You can also view this directory online, where you will find links to camps’ websites.

Alliance Fencing Academy Summer Fencing Camp Est. 2004 Ages: 5-14 Co-ed • Day camp 1212A Cedar Post Lane, Houston Texas 77055 27326 Robinson Road #110, Conroe Texas 77385 (The Woodlands location) 713-410-6655 • inform@alliance-fencing-academy.com • www.alliance-fencing-academy.com Camp Director: Andrey Geva, U.S. Olympic and National Coach Summer Fencing Camp at Alliance is an opportunity for your children to have fun exploring one of the original and foundational sports of the modern Olympic games while picking up technical and competitive skills that will last them a lifetime. Renowned instructor and Olympic team coach Andrey Geva and his highly trained coaching staff provide a fun, safe, and exciting setting for kids to learn the sport of competitive fencing.

Battle Bots and Drones Robotics Summer Camp Est. 2012 Ages: 4-16 Co-ed • Day camp 4007 Bellaire Blvd., Suite KK, Houston Texas 77025 713-454-7004 • KidsRoboticAcademy@gmail.com • KidsRoboticAcademy.com Camp Director: Dee Memon/Michael Dupre Set the path of building robots and programming. We offer STEM-themed, hands-on activities. The week ends with a friendly battle-bots mini-competition.

We offer options of full-week and half-week day camp, with sessions running June 1 through Aug. 20. The option of select days is available. We have reduced our camp sizes to ensure we adhere to the CDC's proper precautions and protocols with respect to Covid-19. Register by May 1 to receive a 10 percent discount on a full-week, day-long camp.

Bayou City Fencing Academy Est. 1990 Ages: 6-15 camp (6-adults classes) Co-ed • Day camp 4997 West Bellfort Ave., Houston, Texas 77035 832-338-9808 • deycohen@aol.com • myfencingacademy.com Camp Director: Louise Lepie Strategy, tactics, athleticism, and the enrichment of the total fencer are the focus of our program. Engagement and decision making are at the core of our instruction.

With an emphasis on building self-confidence, fencers work on three basic skills: footwork, blade work, and tactics. In addition, they learn about tournament protocol, refereeing, scorekeeping, and the rules of the bout. Our students experience the fun inherent in the sport as they participate in challenging fencing games.

Camp Balcones Springs Est. 1993 Ages: 6-17 Co-ed • Overnight camp 104 Balcones Springs Drive, Marble Falls, Texas 78654 830-693-2267 • info@campbalconessprings.com • www.campiscool.com Camp Director: Christine Baskin At Camp Balcones Springs our mission is to change lives for the better through fun, relationships, and spiritual impact. We aspire to bring solid values from the home to the camp and provide campers with the attention needed to build self-confidence and help them reach their full potential in one of Texas’ most beautiful settings.

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Camp Champions Est. 1967 Ages: 6-17 Co-ed • Overnight 775 Camp Road, Marble Falls, Texas 78654 830-598-2571 • info@campchampions.com • www.campchampions.com Camp Director: Erec Hillis Camp Champions has created a tradition of excellence since 1967. With the facility and staff expected from a premier camp, Champions is distinguished by its developmental focus on building strong kids. Camp Champions specializes in two- and three-week sessions where each camper will be challenged, make friends, and have fun. We operated Covid-free in 2020 and are preparing for another healthy and successful summer in 2021. Reach us at www.campchampions.com, and find a link to our Covid preparation plan on the home page.

Camp Chapelwood Est. 1987 Ages: 5 years-5th grade Co-ed • Day camp 11140 Greenbay St., Houston, Texas 77024 713-465-3467, Ext. 160 • jbuchwald@chapelwood.org • www.chapelwood.org/camp Camp Director: Joanne Buchwald Located in the heart of Memorial, Camp Chapelwood is a longtime summer tradition for children ages five years old through fifth grade. Our enthusiastic and caring counselors ensure each camper has a great experience at each of our five one-week sessions in June and July. Campers will make new friends while participating in fun and challenging activities such as gymnastics, cooking, crafts, self-defense and games. Exciting field trips are planned, and special groups are brought in to provide entertaining and educational shows for the campers. We hope to see you this summer!

Camp Olympia Est. 1968 Ages: 6-16 Co-ed • Overnight camp 723 Olympia Drive, Trinity, Texas 75862 936-594-2541 • campinfo@campolympia.com • www.campolympia.com Camp Directors: Debbie Stubblefield, Administrative Director; Cody Mauldin, Director of Boys’ Camp; Michelle Mauldin, Director of Girls’ Camp Meet Texas’ favorite summer camp! With one-, two-, and three-week sessions and over 45 activities, Camp Olympia is the ultimate overnight camp experience for boys and girls ages 6-16. Located one hour from Houston, Camp Olympia provides the perfect setting for fun and adventure along Lake Livingston in the Pineywoods. Campers gain independence while building teamwork and leadership skills through a customized camp experience and counselor mentorship.

Camp Young Judaea-Texas Est. 1952 Ages: 6-15 Co-ed • Overnight camp 121 Camp Young Judaea Drive, Wimberley, Texas 78676 713-723-8354 • info@cyjtexas.org • www.cyjtexas.org Camp Director: Frank Silberlicht Since 1952, Camp Young Judaea Texas has provided life-changing summers to thousands of Jewish children. Located in the beautiful Texas Hill Country, CYJ offers a fun, supportive environment where campers can explore, challenge themselves, and develop their passions. Here, kids of all abilities, backgrounds, and denominations can strengthen their Jewish identities and build their love for Israel, all while surrounded by beautiful facilities and expert staff. CYJ is a place where kids can be kids, where lifelong friendships are born, and where campers can be themselves and know they belong.

Dyslexia Entrepreneurs & Innovators Summer Camp Est. 2021 Ages: 5th-8th grade Co-ed • Day camp 3642 University Blvd., Suite 101, Houston, Texas 77005 832-767-0915 • TLSpencer@unlockliteracy.com • www.unlockliteracy.com Camp Director: Tammy Spencer The Code Academy has partnered with NoticeAbility this summer. We will be implementing NoticeAbility’s Entrepreneurs & Innovators curriculum, which explores the fundamental tenets of entrepreneurship through a project-based, experiential lens. This opportunity highlights the cognitive skills associated with dyslexia and provides students with practical exercises that help them recognize these attributes in themselves and understand their application in entrepreneurship. Furthermore, students are provided scaffolding to enhance their social-emotional learning and executive functioning skills, which serve as a framework for academic and personal empowerment. (continued on page 26) WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ APRIL 2021 25

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Foundations Early Childhood Literacy Camp Est. 2018 Ages: 4-6 Co-ed • Day camp Bellaire United Methodist Church, 4417 Bellaire Blvd., Bellaire, Texas 77401 713-392-2168 • getreadygetsetlearn@gmail.com • foundationsforlearningsuccess.com Camp Director: Sarah Baker Suminski, MA At Foundations, we believe in laying a strong foundation for literacy success, while also nurturing a love for learning. Learning in early childhood should be an adventure! Children learn through rich experiences, discovery, and play. This educational camp will address all developmental domains through fun, thematic units and hands-on learning experiences, with an emphasis on reading-readiness skills. Explicit, systematic, research-based small-group instruction is unique to this program and will be provided in the areas of reading and writing.

Houston Elite Cheer Summer Camp Est. 2013 Ages: 3-15 Co-ed • Day camp (all day or half day sessions) 1800 Sherwood Forest Street, Ste. B2, Houston, Texas 77043 713-464-1445 • houstonelitecheer@yahoo.com • houstonelitecheer.com Camp Director: Lauryn Arntz Join HEC for a jam packed week of exciting and challenging activities. Summer camp will include gymnastics, cheerleading, tumbling, arts and crafts, water balloon wars, obstacle courses and more! Our goal is for campers to have loads of fun while promoting fitness.

Houston SPCA Summer Critter Camp Est. 2003 Ages: 3rd-8th grade Co-ed • Day camp 7007 Old Katy Road, Houston, Texas 77024, Carruth Education Center at Houston SPCA 713-869-7722 • education@houstonspca.org • www.houstonspca.org Camp Director: Kylie Cooper, Chrissy Cope Get ready for some “off-leash” fun at Houston SPCA Summer Critter Camp! Experience week-long adventures at one of the leading animal rescue and protection organizations in the country. Campers will meet real animal experts, including veterinary team members as well as professional animal rescuers and wildlife specialists; play indoor/outdoor games like Giant Jenga, corn hole, and arena volleyball; and make crafts or treats for pets in need. And what is Critter Camp without critters? They’ll enjoy multiple animal interactions with adoptable pets every day. Camp will be held in-person from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily and run June 7-Aug. 13. Register your animal lovin’ camper today.

HYC Summer Sailing Camps Est. 1960 Ages: 6-18 Co-ed • Day camp 3620 Miramar Drive, Shoreacres, Texas 77571 281-471-1255 • sailing@houstonyachtclub.com • houstonyachtclub.com Camp Director: Charles Barclay Summer Fun Camps are an opportunity for youth to explore all types of water sport activities. Sailors will get to choose between sailing, paddle boarding, kayaking, and fishing. They can bring their own watercraft (with approval of the sailing director) or use HYC-owned equipment. These camps provide a fun introduction to sailing and water sports. Participants will also learn the basics of seamanship, go on field trips, and have fun with their friends. Taught by a U.S. Sailing Level 2 senior instructor with a Level 1 junior instructor and apprentice instructors. Camps will also include Opti, 420 and Laser-on the-water race training.

iKids Camp Est. 2007 Ages: PreK-5th grade Co-ed • Day camp 3701 W. Alabama, Houston, Texas 77027 713-665-5200 • support@ikidsinc.com • www.ikidsinc.com Camp Directors: N/A iKids Inc. is your one-stop, out-of-school shop, offering the flexibility you need with the care you can trust. Providing enriching programs essential to your child’s development since 2007.

Incarnate Word Academy Summer Camps Est. 2002 (camp); 1873 (school) Ages: 6th-8th grade All girls • Day camp 609 Crawford Street, Houston, Texas 77002 WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ APRIL 2021 26

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713-227-3637 • ssheppard@incarnateword.org • www.incarnateword.org/camps Camp Director: Sarah Sheppard Join us this summer for a host of enrichment and educational opportunities! We offer athletics, dance, broadcast journalism and leadership camps.

J Camps Est. 1960 Ages: 3-16 Co-ed • Day camp 5601 S. Braeswood Blvd., Houston, Texas 77096 713-729-3200 • jcamps@erjcchouston.org • www.erjcchouston.org/camp Camp Director: Julie Levine J Camps is your home for the summer! With a wide array of camp options, we have something for everyone ages 3-16. Traditional camps, as well as specialty, sports, art, dance, theater, tennis and gymnastics camps, are available throughout the summer. We have well-trained, experienced and caring staff working with the campers with a low camper-to-staff ratio. All the camps you love with all the health and safety protocols you need!

Lutheran High North Summer Camps Est. 1980 Ages: 6th-9th grade Co-ed • Day camp 1130 W. 34th St., Houston, Texas 77018 713-880-3131 • info@lhnlions.org • www.LutheranHighNorth.org Camp Director: Anthony Barreto LHN is your summer stop to grow your child’s interests and skills! Offering baseball, basketball, coding, drama, football, soccer, strength & conditioning, and volleyball from several all-star coaches and trainers, this is your child’s chance to find their passion and improve their skills.

Panther Camp Est. 2010 Ages: 5-17 Co-ed • Day camp 811 W. Donovan St., Houston, Texas 77091 713-692-3581 • fellerj@stpiusx.org • stpiusx.org/panthercamp Camp Director: Jeff Feller St. Pius X High School’s Panther Camp offers a variety of athletic camps during the summer months that allow youth a great way to develop skills and knowledge in the activity they love. No matter which sport their passion lies with, Panther Camp will help develop young athletes both on the fields and courts and in the game of life.

RISE at the Warehouse Camp Est. 2020 Ages: 5-12 Co-ed • Day camp 2323 W Sam Houston Parkway N, Houston, Texas 77043 713-715-7473 • hello@risewarehouse.com • risewarehouse.com Camp Directors: Stephanie Meeks and Jason Biddle RISE is a one-of-a-kind center for the whole family that brings together athletics and the arts, featuring gymnastics, dance, music, ninja, and musical theater. Our goal is to offer a fun, creative environment that helps our students learn and grow, all while emphasizing the importance of family, friendship, and teamwork. We offer classes, workshops, camps, and more – see you at the Warehouse!

Second Baptist School Summer Camps Est. 1946 Ages: K-12th grade Co-ed • Day camp 6410 Woodway Drive, Houston, Texas 77057 713.365.2310 • ctauber@secondbaptistschool.org • secondbaptistschool.org/summercamps Camp Director: N/A SBS is thrilled to offer a variety of academic, sports, and arts summer camps for students entering grades K-8, plus one grades 9-12 option. Weekly summer camps are offered June 1-24, 2021, with morning (9-11:30 a.m.) and afternoon (12:30-3 p.m.) sessions available. Each camp will be led by our highly acclaimed teachers and coaches as they work alongside students with excellence and expertise. We look forward to having your student on campus!

Summer at St. Mark’s Est. 2015 Ages: 3 year olds through rising 8th grade

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Co-ed • Day camp 3816 Bellaire Boulevard, Houston, Texas 77025 713-667-7030 • jrush@stmes.org • www.stmes.org/summer Camp Director: Juli Rush The community of St. Mark's Episcopal School celebrates the uniqueness of each child. We are stewards of our students' intellectual curiosity, faith, and passion for discovery. We cultivate joy, playfulness, and growth in a child-centered environment. Join us this summer for safe fun in the sun at St. Mark’s Episcopal School! Half day and full day camps available.

Summer at The Parish School and The Carruth Center Est. 1983 Ages: 2-17 Co-ed • Day and overnight camps 11001 Hammerly Blvd., Houston, Texas 77043 713-467-4696 • camp@parishschool.org • www.parishschool.org/summer Camp Director: Molly Weisselberg/Mimi Branham Since 1983, The Parish School has educated children who have communication delays and learning differences, empowering them with the tools to succeed.

Join us this summer for programs that promote hands-on learning, grow self-esteem, enhance social skills, and develop communication. Programs include Camp Acorn, Adventure Play at Camp Acorn, Camp Social Superheroes, Camp Connect, Kaufman-Apraxia Bootcamp, and Camp Super Writers.

Summer Camps at The Houston Museum of Natural Science Est. 1987 Ages: 6-12 Co-ed • Day camp 5555 Hermann Park Drive, Houston, Texas 77030 and 13016 University Blvd., Sugar Land, Texas 77479 713-639-4625 • summercamp@hmns.org • www.hmns.org Camp Director: Scott Stevenson Against the backdrop of real dinosaur fossils, chemistry in action, and a world class institution, kids can experience a summer of education and adventure.

Geared for kids ages 6-12, summer camps at HMNS use fun, hands-on learning and distinguished teachers to inspire the next generation of engineers and scientists. What will your child discover? The week-long day camps run June 7-Aug. 13 at HMNS Hermann Park and May 31-Aug. 6 at HMNS Sugar Land.

The camps cover a wide range of topics, from physics and coding to paleontology and forensic science. Both virtual and in-person camps are available.

Summer Camps at The Village School Est. 1990 Ages: Pre-K3-8th grade Co-ed • Day camp 13051 Whittington Drive, Houston, Texas 77077 281-496-7900 • vssummer@thevillageschool.com • thevillageschool.com/summer Camp Director: Kim Healy Summer camps at The Village School are here! This summer, Village is offering Math and Reading Catch Up camps designed to give students from all over the community the chance to fill in gaps they may have experienced over the school year. Additional camps are available, focused on athletics, art, and music. All camps are open to children Pre-K3 through 8th grade. Join us for a fun summer experience designed to help students learn and grow, all while emphasizing the importance of collaboration, academic success, and innovation.

Summer@STH Est. 2009 Ages: 9th -12th graders Co-ed • Day camp 4500 Memorial Drive, Houston, Texas 77007 281-864-6348 · summer@sths.org · summer.sths.org Camp Director: Deanna Woodlief Our extensive summer offerings provide an array of academic, enrichment, athletic, and credit recovery (high school only) camps for students. Our mission is to provide an experience which sparks curiosity and ignites passion while improving core skills through a wide range of fun yet challenging activities in the classroom, on the stage, in the lab or on the field. Rethink your summer – Summer @ STH!

URJ Greene Family Camp Est. 1976 Ages: 7-17 Co-ed • Overnight camp 1192 Smith Lane, Bruceville, Texas 76630 254-859-5411 • gfc@urj.org • www.greene.org Camp Director: Rabbi Erin Mason WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ APRIL 2021 28

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Summer 2021 at URJ Greene Family Camp is going to be an exciting summer filled with incredible programs, activity offerings, and the same Jewish community that has transformed the lives of campers for 45 years. From swimming in Lake Jake to climbing the Alpine Tower, performing on stage to painting a mural, doing Israeli dances to swaying at Shabbat services, there’s something for everyone at GFC. We look forward to seeing you this summer!

Vdanse Academy Est. 2014 Ages: 3-18 Co-ed • Day camp 3300 Chimney Rock Road, Suite 500, Houston, Texas 77056 832-248-0106 • vdanseacademy@yahoo.com • www.vdanse.com Camp Director: Verneal Morin Camps are taught by certified instructors who inspire students. We have cutting-edge choreographers, so students can explore a variety of movement styles, techniques, and performance skills. VDA can also custom create a private camp for your group. We offer Acro, Ballet, Hip Hop, Contemporary, Modern, Jazz, Jazz Funk, Musical Theatre, Tap, Ballroom, Dance Team Prep, Audition Prep, Creative Movement, Progressing Ballet Technique, Mommy & Me, and more. Studio rooms have sprung floors for injury prevention as well as air-filtration systems.

YMCA Camp Cullen Est. 1974 Ages: 7-17 Co-ed • Overnight camp 460 Cullen Loop, Trinity, Texas 75862 936-594-2274 • campcullen@ymcahouston.org • www.ymcacampcullen.org Camp Director: Andrew “Mish” Hood Our goal is to provide a summer camp experience rich in tradition and centered on our core values of caring, honesty, respect, and responsibility, while allowing campers to gain independence, a higher self-worth, and lifelong, positive memories as they continue to grow as individuals and leaders. At YMCA Camp Cullen, campers will learn new skills, develop their character, and make forever friends.

Start Your Day With a Smile Every weekday morning, enjoy your coffee + the buzz in your inbox. Our e-newsletter, Morning Buzz, features buzzworthy stories about neighbors plus a link to a video clip to make you smile.

Sign up to find out what we’re buzzing about at thebuzzmagazines.com/morning-buzz.

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ APRIL 2021 29

KIDS

by Annie Blaylock McQueen, staff writer

Buzz Baby

Get organized

Buzz Baby is a column about life with babies.

Writer Annie McQueen is a mother of four children under the age of 6.

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omeone said, “For every minute spent organizing, an hour is earned.” That someone must have had small children. And spring is a great time to get organized, parentally speaking, before the sprawling, unfocused summer arrives.

Some folks are just born with a tendency for neatness, like Jenna Patel. Jenna says staying organized and keeping a routine bring her joy and always have. Being an organized person came in handy when she and her husband, Shalin Patel, had Sophie, now 2, and Louis, 6 months.

Jenna, a graduate medical education project manager for Houston Methodist Hospital, has two main rules: Keep a routine, and maintain a shared family calendar.

“I thrive on routine, my children thrive on routine, my husband thrives on routine, and everyone has clear expectations of what is going on,” she said.

They keep a shared calendar on their iPhones. “It consists of school days, work days, nanny days, housekeeper days, pay days, doctor appointments, date nights, days my husband works late, and the list goes on,” she said. She even puts trash days on the calendar.

They have a nightly bedtime plan, too. “This is what it looks like: Clean up toys, go upstairs, start bath, brush teeth, pick out jammies, read a book, say prayers, and kisses goodnight,” said Jenna. Toys left out make for a hectic morning, she says, so put those toys away before you retreat.

Jenna has always kept an old-school paper list as well. One of her favorite tips from childhood friend Emily Ley, the founder of the planner company Simplified, is “do a brain dump,” said Jenna. “Write down everything going through your mind and what all needs to be done. Study it. Break it out into categories, and then make your list of to-dos or whatever you need.”

Jenna said she knew it was time to get serious about a shared family calendar when she was picking up Sophie at preschool and realized she had a doctor’s appointment at that very WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ APRIL 2021 30

moment.

(We have all been there.)

Jenna suggests not putting off those tiny decisions throughout the day, the ones that, left alone, can add up to a mountain of mess.

See some mismatched socks in the dog bowl?

(Hey, it happens.)

Put them away.

Spy a sippy cup in the toy box? Fish it out and load it in the dishwasher.

The more you tackle these little tasks, the more they do not pile THEY GOT THIS The Patel family uses a shared family calendar to stay organized. up. “Spend five Jenna and Shalin are parents to Sophie, 2, and Louis, 6 months. minutes and give a clinical counselor in Vancouver and author of those things lying around the house a home,” Rest, Play, Grow, a manual for parents. “They Jenna said. She says it is important to do this will explore their environment and examine every day, throughout the day. articles that are interesting to them – from pots Another Buzz mom, who chose to remain and pans to blocks.” anonymous, shared what not to do. “I am a cauOverwhelmed? Start with a small task. tionary tale on failed organization tips,” she said, Tackle one messy corner or overpacked drawer laughing. “I spent years having way too many a day. Set a timer on your watch to give yourself toys for my kids. They never touched half of a start and end. them, but we had baskets and baskets.” Last year, Here are a few tips from Good Housekeeping: she got on board with the philosophy that kids Make sure your kids have a clear visual to their do not need all those toys. Keep it simple. Some toys. For example, store the toys in small, lidless researchers say kids only need 20 toys or fewer. bins, so kids can easily see what is available to An article on the Today’s Parent website disthem. Toss out the boxes and plastic wrapping cussed this topic, pointing to a study that said the toy came in, which just add clutter. Another less is more when it comes to overflowing rooms tip? Purchase those hanging shoe racks (the ones of toys. “The study found that when toddlers had that hang on the back of closet doors) to put fewer toys in their environment,” said the artitoys in. It is also a good idea to have donation cle, “they played with each toy longer, allowing bags and trash bags nearby so you can purge. them to focus more and play more creatively.”

Put on a podcast or find an audio book and get Keeping it simple with the toys will help keep to cleaning. A spring refresh will feel good, and a tidier house. “Children need to play, but this you will thank yourself when summer comes. doesn’t require toys,” says Deborah MacNamara, Katie Hill Photography

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NEIGHBORS

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by Cindy Burnett, staff writer

Buzz Reads

Five picks for April

Buzz Reads is a column about books by reviewer Cindy Burnett. This month, Cindy recommends five recently released titles.

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and of Sisters by Lauren Willig – During World War I, a group of women volunteers from Smith College traveled to France to help the country’s citizens whose lives and livelihoods were destroyed by the German invaders. The Smith College Relief Unit, including two female doctors, arrived in France ready to contribute aid, but found that, first, they had to overcome numerous obstacles, including dissension within their own group. Much of the historical-fiction novel is based on letters from the actual women who served in the Smith College Relief Unit, and Willig fills the book with fascinating facts about these Americans who headed to Europe as part of relief efforts, the work they did, and the role they played in the war.

I Have Been Buried Under Years of Dust: A Memoir of Autism and Hope by Valerie Gilpeer and Emily Grodin – Emily Grodin was diagnosed with non-verbal autism as a child and did not communicate until she was 25 when she typed the following phrase: “I have been buried under years of dust and now I have so much to say.” Emily’s mother, Valerie Gilpeer, writes about Emily’s early years and this extraordinary breakthrough in I Have Been Buried Under Years of Dust: A Memoir of Autism and Hope, which incorporates poetry and stories told from Emily’s perspective about their lives together. A story of unconditional love and faith in the face of difficulty, this powerful mother-daughter story highlights the importance of acceptance and perseverance. This one is a tear jerker.

When Women Invented Television: The Untold Story of the Female Powerhouses Who Pioneered the Way We Watch Today by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong – The arrival of television was ignored by many men in the entertainment industry who felt radio was the better platform. Four women, Irna Phillips, Betty White, Gertrude Berg, and Hazel Scott, individually used this opening to each forge their own path in the television industry and, as a result, significantly impacted the way we still watch the WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ APRIL 2021 32

medium today. When television did in fact prevail, these women were pushed to the side as men began to dominate the industry. When Women Invented Television spotlights their forgotten stories and their significant contributions. I was captivated by their stories.

Win by Harlan Coben – Harlan Coben is known for his fabulous Myron Bolitar mystery series about a basketball star turned private detective. In Coben’s latest novel, the story centers around Myron’s sidekick Win, full name Windsor Horne Lockwood III, as he is drawn into a complicated but thoroughly engaging mystery from WHAT TO READ This month's picks include the start of a fabulous new mystery series, two nonfiction books, a tale based on Lafayette's chateau and its inhabithe past when the FBI tants, and a story about the Smith College Relief Unit in World War I. recruits him to help Women of Chateau Lafayette highlights the solve a case. Combining missing Vermeer and extraordinary women whose lives intersected Picasso paintings and a domestic-terrorism with the Chateau and who sacrificed and fought attack, Win kept me turning the pages as fast as for freedom during these wars. In this epic hisI could, trying to figure out what would happen torical novel, Dray tells the stories of Adrienne next. Win is the classic antihero who lives in an Lafayette during the French Revolution, New uberwealthy world (which Coben frequently York socialite Beatrice Chanler during World details) and is not bound by any type of moral War I, and French school teacher Marthe code, and his humor and wry personality drive Simone during World War II. The author’s the story. While a small portion of the ending is meticulous research and vivid prose bring these unrealistic, it does not ruin an otherwise stellar women’s powerful stories to life. and highly entertaining mystery. I thoroughly enjoyed this one and read it in less than a day.

Editor’s note: Southside Place resident Cindy The Women of Chateau Lafayette by Burnett also writes our weekly Page Turners column Stephanie Dray – The Women of Chateau at thebuzzmagazines.com. She hosts the Thoughts Lafayette is based on a true story of the Château from a Page Podcast, is co-creator of the Houston de Chavaniac, the family home of the Marquis literary event series Conversations from the Page, de Lafayette in France. The Chateau played a runs the Instagram account @thoughtsfrompage, pivotal role in three major wars, the French and regularly speaks to groups about books.

Revolution and both World Wars, and The

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ APRIL 2021 33

TRAVEL

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by Tracy L. Barnett, staff writer

Travel Buzz

Families on safari

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ APRIL 2021 34

Freyja Lauritsen

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reyja and Travis Lauritsen were all set to go on safari in the summer of 2020. But, as with so many other families, their travel plans were waylaid by the pandemic.

“We were going to go to Tanzania and do a deep dive in the Serengeti,” recalled Freyja. “We had it all put together and finalized over Spring Break – but obviously the whole world went on hold, so we said, ‘We’ll try for summer 2021.’”

But then the stars lined up just right for a trip over Christmas. The Kenyan government had opened up tourism in a safe way in limited areas, their friend and tour operator Andy Biggs told them. You had to have a PCR test for Covid to come into the country; the camps were required to have clear protocols; the staff had to quarantine ahead of time away from their villages and stay in the camp. Andy was organizing a tour for his family and needed a few more people to fill up the slots so they could get their own private camp.

“Yes, you had to get there, but once you got there, it sounded pretty safe,” said Freyja. “So then the decision became: ‘Do we really want to do this?’”

They would be in the middle of the game reserve, with their own family and in their own tents. Their three children – Lydia, Caris and Henrik – were already back in school at Memorial High School and Spring Branch Middle School, so exposure was a fact of life.

Travis’s parents were invited as well, and for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make these memories with their grandchildren, they were willing to take the risk.

And so it was that the Lauritsens spent an unforgettable week in Kenya, most of it in a remote bush camp in the Maasai Mara region.

“We spent five solid days on amazing game drives in jeeps, interactions with the Maasai people at our camp, and overall an amazing experience,” said Freyja.

The pandemic shut down safari tourism for months, but that shutdown is now officially over, said Andy. “People are starting to plan their trips right now. And they’re wanting to get outdoors because nature heals. People are not looking to travel to big cities; they’re looking to travel and have unique experiences in wilderness,” said

SAFARI TIME Top: The Lauritsen family, (from left) Lydia, Caris, Henrik, Travis, and Freyja, along with Maasai camp staff of various ages, including pen pal Joseph, 22, on the far left. Bottom: One of the highlights was watching a mother cheetah with her new babies.

Andy, citing Travel + Leisure on “Why This Could Be Your Year to Take a Safari.”

Likewise, it’s a good time to support community-based businesses in hard-hit regions like Africa whose economies depend on tourism.

That’s a major focus for Tanzanian native and safari planner Mefi Pishori Alapat, who says, “Africa needs you as much as you need Africa.”

The Lauritsens’ trip began with two nights in Nairobi with a visit to the Sheldrick Wildlife

Trust, an elephant orphanage and nonprofit that rescues and raises abandoned infant elephants. Then it was off to a private camp on the edge of the Masai Mara National Reserve. They were taken to their Hemingway-style tents, each one with its own bathroom and king-sized bed.

That night they would open the tent flaps and hear the hippos down by the river.

At each tent, a Maasai warrior stood watch all night to ensure the safety of (continued on page 36)

Natalie Engineer

Freyja Lauritsen

Freyja Lauritsen Freyja Lauritsen

OUT OF AFRICA From upper left: Henrik Lauritsen, laughing with guide Ping during a spear-throwing lesson; a starving lion digs in the mud in a desperate hunt for a warthog; the Engineer family stops for a pose during one of their nightly sundowners, when they enjoyed drinks and appetizers from the beauty of a scenic overlook; the Lauritsen family enjoys a sundowner at the top of a hill in the Mara with drinks, a fire and lively conversations with the Maasai staff, who demonstrate some of their tribal rituals and songs; Freyja was amazed by a herd of giraffes so elegantly arranged that they seemed posed; the Engineers stopped at a local school where the students were asking son Ariyan about his daily routine.

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Natalie Engineer

IN THE WILD Left photo: Vipul, Natalie, Ariyan, and Alisah Engineer on an early morning drive as they witnessed a wildebeest migration. Right photo: One of Natalie's favorite shots was taken after witnessing a mother elephant break up a fight between two teenagers. This one took an interest in the family and looked for a moment as if he would charge.

"He just wanted to scare us," speculated Natalie. (continued from page 34) the guests. “If a hyena or

lion wants to come into your camp, it’s not a problem,” said Freyja. “The Maasai use their spears, not guns, and the animals are born into a reserve with no weapons, so there’s no fear.”

Their Maasai companions were a highlight.

They were able to enjoy plentiful interactions, and before it was over, they had become friends, with one of them becoming a pen pal.

Highlights included a mother cheetah with four new babies and a herd of giraffes standing stock-still, as if in formation. One of the most unforgettable experiences happened when they came across an old, very thin male lion. He had dug a huge hole trying to catch a warthog, a small tusked pig, and was covered in dirt and mud.

There they watched mesmerized as a natural drama unfolded for more than an hour and a half.

“He was trying so hard to dig out that warthog, flipping upside down, burning all his energy.

When he came up, his face had been ripped under his eyes.” They realized the lion was starving. “You could see how skinny and desperate he was,” said Freyja. “The guides said that was one of the most unique hunts they’d ever seen.”

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atalie Engineer had a lifelong dream of going on safari. Born and raised in the south of France by Indian parents, she would go much further than Africa before zeroing in on that goal. Natalie, an oil trader, and husband Vipul, a project manager, ended up settling in Bellaire in 2011 and traveled the world from there. But safari was always in the back of Natalie’s mind; she and the children – daughter Alisah, 11, and son Ariyan, 9 – would go to the zoo every weekend and dream. “It was something that was always very dear to me,” she said.

So for her 40th birthday, she and Vipul decided to finally take the leap; they would treat themselves and the kids to a Tanzanian adventure. Natalie had read about a safari lodge that WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ APRIL 2021 36

supports the environment and the communities of its workers – Singita.

“It was a great place to go – not only because it’s a great way to see Africa but also because it was a way to do the small part that we could.”

She booked their trip with Mefi (Tanzanian native and safari planner Mefi Pishori Alapat), who knew about the lodge, for August of 2019.

And their guide ended up being the same one who had served as a guide to the Obamas when they were there on safari.

The trip was everything they’d dreamed of and more. They flew from Houston to Qatar and stayed a couple of nights there in Doha to acclimate to the time difference. From there they flew to Kilimanjaro and boarded a small plane to take them to the heart of the Serengeti.

“That experience was out of this world because you land – not on a runway, but on the Serengeti itself, and giraffes and all this wildlife is right near you as you deplane. And then on our way to our lodge we had a little detour and there was a lioness who was feasting on a wildebeest. And she was literally less than two feet away. And with little kids in an open-air Jeep, you’re very nervous; but my kids were amazed by seeing this wildlife so close.”

Like the Lauritsens, they rose early every day and went on a game drive, spending up to six hours in the jeep every day. “Never once did my kids complain,” she said. “They were mesmerized.”

She gave each of the kids a Polaroid camera and a journal, and every day, between morning and evening game drives, they would write about their experiences and draw pictures of what they’d seen.

“It was like being in a movie for them, with all these amazing wildlife creatures around you,” said Natalie. “We spent two hours just watching a cheetah fail in her hunt – she was trying to get an antelope, and she missed. Eventually, she found a baby antelope and was able to kill it,

which was a little emotional – but it’s just the circle of life, if you will.”

One night they couldn’t even go back to their lodge for a while because an elephant herd was crossing in front of their jeep, so they had to stop and wait. Another day, they saw two teenage elephants fighting, and the mother trying to separate them, as the baby slept through it all on the sidelines.

Back at the hotel, the wildlife was plentiful as well. A family of monkeys was an endless source of entertainment – but prone to mischief.

“They liked to play in our pool; for them it’s a party resort,” she recalled with a laugh. “One day they came trying to steal Alisah’s markers.

They were playing with our towels and we were watching them behaving like children.”

All too soon it was over, and all that was left were the memories – and journals and pictures.

On the flight back they spent some time perusing them.

“Seeing the safari through my kids’ eyes was hilarious,” said Natalie. “They saw different things than I did.”

The Lauritsens, too, treasure their photos and memories, and they are quick to urge others to follow their lead.

“There’s a lot of travel shaming going on; travel is kind of dicey these days. You want to do the right thing, but you want to live your life,” said Freyja. “We chose Africa knowing we’d be out in the open with a private group of people who had all been tested. We tried to do a vacation that was somewhat Covid-friendly and take advantage of this awesome look at the wild with our family.”

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.

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ APRIL 2021 37

lawellphoto.com

DINING

by Dai Huynh, staff writer

Chef’s Corner

Greg Gordon

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hen La Vista opened in the late ’90s, it was bare-bones, plain Jane. But Greg Gordon wasn’t relying on the décor to draw a crowd. He was putting faith in his oven-hot flatbread dotted with caramelized figs, lusty venison ragù, and plump mussels bathed in tomatoey white-wine sauce. His first restaurant, credited for introducing many Houstonians to the upscale BYOB concept, was an instant success and remained that way for 20plus years.

But in 2018, Gordon relocated La Vista to the Timbergrove area. The rechristened La Vista 101 closed within a year. Now, the Houstonian has returned to his old neighborhood with Del Vista Local Bar and Grill (6565 Del Monte Drive), minutes from the defunct La Vista on Fountainview.

Here, the 55 year old discusses the challenges of opening a 100-seat restaurant amid Covid-19, the best place for cheese enchiladas, and why he had no choice but to shutter La Vista.

Five months ago, you partnered with restaurant veterans Tim Jones and Rob James and opened Del Vista – the third incarnation of La Vista. How has it been so far?

Idiots are geniuses who open a restaurant during a pandemic. We’ll figure out which one I am. So far, Del Vista is doing well. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity again. It’s been a rough three years. But that is the great thing about this country – the ability to rebuild and rebound.

What was it like, raising capital during one of the restaurant industry's darkest periods?

Covid is not a time to raise capital and open a restaurant, and everybody was saying, ‘Man, it’s not a good time.’ So, I reached out to my close, personal friends. We sent emails to people. We did small calls – five grand, ten grand – until we put enough together to open Del Vista. I redid the whole interior and then quietly opened the doors on October 13.

In 2017, La Vista was humming. Why did you close it? Where you ready for something new?

Hell no. But after a 20-year run, it’s time to renegotiate, and your landlord thinks he has you over a barrel.

You described the food at Del Vista as La Vista’s, WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ APRIL 2021 38

but better. Is Del Vista BYOB? When I became a partner with Rob and Tim, they had an existing liquor license, and you can't have a BYOB with a full bar. So, I did the next best thing; I put a cost-plus wine list together.

It's close to what you would pay at the liquor or grocery store. And it’s all recognizable.

That’s what I learned from Bill (Floyd): Have an amazing wine list CHEF GORDON Greg Gordon returns to his old stomping grounds near Tanglewood that is recogniza- with his latest concept, Del Vista Local Bar and Grill. ble. say this, El Patio (6444 Westheimer Road) has During your stint last year at Porta’Vino with the best cheese enchiladas in the freaking world.

Floyd, did you get to work alongside Potente execuYou don’t consider yourself a chef. Why not? tive chef Danny Trace, whose side gig is to oversee I’ve been cooking professionally for 35 years, but the Porta'Vino menus? for me, that term, chef, is earned from going to The seasonings of my food, the brining, the culinary school and getting that diploma. But I am preparation are different from what I used to do a cook. I am a restaurateur, waiter, and dishwasher. at La Vista. Those are things I learned from How did you segue into the kitchen?

Danny Trace. Take the brine. It’s not just sugar, I’ve always associated food with family. But water, and salt. Instead, you cook down the brine you know what did it for me? My dad always told with lemon, parsley, crushed red peppers, and me that I would work even though I grew up in sugar. I never used to brine the chicken. Now I Tanglewood and my family did well. Dad would brine my chicken. I now add demi-glace to my say, 'You're going to earn your money,” and so beef tenderloin sauces. I use anchovies and calone summer, in the ninth grade, while I was abrese peppers in remoulade. working at the Braeburn Country Club, cleaning Pick your three must-try dishes. golf clubs, I caught a turtle. I was told to take it The mussels that I learned how to cook in to the chef. I did, and he cooked it. I don't Spain. The pork chop with brandy black pepperremember eating his soup. I just remember the corn and braised shallots. For dessert, the size of the kitchen. I was floored. It had everycoconut cream pie or the smoked doughnut. thing. That was my first deep breath.

Please share your favorite dishes and where to find them.

Have you been to Roegels Barbecue Co. Editor’s note: Buzz dining columnist Dai Huynh is (2223 S. Voss Road)? It’s got the best barbecue. a James Beard food-journalism award winner and The best mole I’ve ever had was at Irma’s longtime Houston-based restaurant writer.

Original (22 N. Chenevert Street). And I will

FOOD Photo courtesy of The Junior League of Houston

by Erin Faulkner, contributing writer

Cooking Buzz What’s for Easter lunch?

Cooking Buzz is produced in partnership with the Junior League of Houston, a women’s charitable and education organization founded in 1925.

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fter 40 days of reflection, some fasting, and too much fish on Fridays, Lent culminates in a Sunday celebration. Easter is often the first major gathering of the new year and marks an occasion best served by bringing family and friends together for lunch.

Lamb is a nice change of pace from the turkeys and hams of the winter holidays. The Mesquite-Grilled Leg of Lamb allows you to take advantage of prime Texas grilling weather and cooks in less than an hour. Pair it with the Spinach and Goat Cheese Salad with Warm Balsamic Vinaigrette and Balsamic Glazed Carrots. For dessert, the Normandy Peach Tart is inspired by French patisseries and pairs wells with coffee or hot espresso.

Now I understand that lamb is not enjoyed by many Americans – it’s been falling in popularity since the 1940s. When prepared with fresh American-grown lamb, this recipe is absolutely delicious, and this is coming from someone who hates lamb 95 percent of the time.

But perhaps ham is your Easter go-to. You could bake and glaze a ham like everybody else, or you could do something a little wild! I’ve never stuffed a ham, but this Vicksburg Stuffed Ham recipe makes me want to. And further, in the spirit of traditionalism, here’s a recipe for Best Ever Stuffed Eggs. For those who want a twist, try the Smoked Salmon-Stuffed Eggs.

Lastly, fresh, homemade bread is a nice touch to holiday meals. Try our Easy Dinner Rolls recipe.

Mesquite-Grilled Leg of Lamb From Stop and Smell the Rosemary 12 ounces of beer Juice of 1 large lemon ½ cup virgin olive oil 6 large sprigs fresh rosemary, chopped 2 bay leaves, crumbled 3 cloves garlic, crushed 1 Tablespoon sugar ½ cup soy sauce 2 teaspoons dry mustard WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ APRIL 2021 40

SPECIAL DAY Mesquite-Grilled Leg of Lamb is a good choice for a special occasion.

1 leg of lamb (5 to 6 pounds), butterflied ½ cup unsalted butter, melted 2 gloves garlic, crushed Salt Freshly ground pepper Combine beer, lemon juice, olive oil, rosemary, bay leaves, garlic, sugar, soy sauce, and dry mustard in a large nonmetallic bowl. Place lamb in marinade. Cover and refrigerate 6 to 12 hours, turning occasionally.

Prepare grill with mesquite chips and charcoal. Remove lamb from marinade and discard marinade. Grill 15 to 20 minutes. Turn and grill other side 15 to 20 minutes. Set aside and keep warm.

Combine butter, garlic, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Brush butter over cooked lamb and serve. Serves 6.

Spinach and Goat Cheese Salad with Warm Balsamic Vinaigrette From Stop and Smell the Rosemary ⅓ cup balsamic vinegar 1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard 1 Tablespoon honey ½ teaspoon poppy seeds ⅔ cup extra virgin olive oil 2 pounds fresh spinach, torn and coarse stems discarded 2 red bell peppers, roasted, seeded, and cut into strips 4 ounces crumbled goat cheese 1 red onion, halved and thinly slices

Combine vinegar, mustard, honey, and poppy seeds in a small saucepan. Whisk in oil. Bring to a boil over medium-low heat. Remove from heat.

Arrange spinach on individual plates and drizzle with vinaigrette. Top with red pepper strips, goat cheese, and red onion. Serves 6-10.

Balsamic Glazed Carrots From Peace Meals 2 Tablespoons olive oil 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter 1 pound fresh baby carrots, peeled 2 large shallots, thinly sliced 1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced (about 1 cup) 3 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar 1½ Tablespoons light brown sugar ½ teaspoon coarse salt ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper 2 Tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley Heat the olive oil and butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté the carrots, shallots, and bell pepper until the carrots are tender and slightly browned, stirring occasionally. Stir in the vinegar, brown sugar, salt, and pepper.

Reduce heat and cook for 5 minutes or until the liquid is reduced and the vegetables begin to glaze. Remove from heat, garnish with the parsley and serve immediately. Serves 4-6.

MORE ONLINE See this story at thebuzzmagazines.com for the rest of the recipes.

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ APRIL 2021 41

SPORTS

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by Todd Freed, staff writer

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ith a 62-51 victory over Westbury, the Memorial Mustangs boys basketball team secured its first playoff victory in 19 years.

“Last year we reached our goal of winning the district championship, but this year we set our sights on getting that playoff win,” said Mustangs head coach Nathan Lay. “It was a group of young men that worked so hard, even through Covid-19, to reach for that moment.”

The Mustangs’ talented lineup included senior standout Gaston Elie, who averaged 22 points a game this season. “Gaston makes incredible things look easy. He has great vision, body awareness, and temperament,” said Lay. In addition, Lay had high praise for fellow seniors Michael Branca, Gaston’s brother Glenn Elie, Ben Clanton, Carson Ultis, and Jack Janowski.

“Michael led us with incredible effort, while Glenn gave us great defense and an added scoring punch. Ben also gave us scoring and an inside presence, while Carson was kind of our glue on the court, and Jack was our energizer bunny as well as a 5-foot-9 rebounding machine.

In addition, sophomores Sean Rodriguez and Matthew Janacek were big contributors.”

The St. Agnes Academy swim team captured its sixth consecutive TAPPS Division 1 state swim championship. The Tigers won the title by a 74-point margin over second-place Dallas Bishop Lynch. “We put our points on the board behind a total team effort,” said Tigers swim coach Kaitlin Kelley. “Our team depth came into play big time.”

Among those contributing major points was senior Pearson Kurka, who, along with her third-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle, was part of two second-place finishes for the Tigers in the medley and 200-yard freestyle relays.

“Pearson is our team captain, who was a big part of state-champion teams all four years on varsity.

We are going to hate to lose her, but what a great way to finish it out,” said Kelley.

The Tigers were also bolstered by a big firstplace finish in the 100-yard breaststroke by sophomore Sarah McCarty, while freshman Amelia Nelson and junior Elizabeth McGee

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GOOD AS GOLD The St. Agnes Academy swim team captured its sixth consecutive TAPPS Division 1 state championship. The Tigers dominated the state meet with a 74-point victory over second-place Dallas Bishop Lynch.

scored valuable points for the Tigers. “Amelia was third in the 200-yard IM and second in the 100-yard breaststroke. She’s going to be an integral part of our team for the next four years,” said Kelley. Meanwhile, McGee finished second in the 50-yard freestyle and third in the 100-yard freestyle. “Elizabeth is our fastest swimmer. She is a great closer on our relay teams, or she can chase people down.”

The St. Thomas Eagles came ever so close to winning their second TAPPS Division 1 state championship in the last four years while finishing second by a mere 11-point margin at the state meet. As it is, the Eagles can still lay claim to two state championships and two state runner-up finishes over what has been a phenomenal four seasons for its senior class of swimmers.

“Our seniors were part of the winningest class in our swim program’s history,” said Eagles swim coach VanArthur Jones. “This season our kids swam above and beyond expectations at the state meet. Every one of the guys swam well, which is hard to do. The proof is in the times, and I couldn’t be any prouder.”

For the Eagles, Dylan Michaels broke a school record while finishing second in the 200-yard butterfly. He also won the gold medal in the 500yard freestyle and teamed up with Josh McLean,

Alexsei Silvestre, and Patrick Pham for first place in the 200-yard medley relay. The foursome of Michaels, McLean, Tyler Sandrock, and Carrick Brogan finished third in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Individually, McLean set a school record while capturing the bronze medal in the 200-yard IM, Brogan placed sixth in the 50-yard freestyle, Sandrock came in sixth in the 100-yard butterfly, and Pham was seventh in both the 100-yard fly and 100-yard backstroke.

With her third-place finish at the UIL Region 4 swimming and diving championships, Bellaire Cardinals senior Avery Cooney broke a school record in the 100-yard backstroke that stood for 38 years. Cooney’s time of 1:02.5 broke the record held since 1983 by Bellaire’s Kelly Johnston.

“It was a goal of mine since even before my freshman season to break the school record,” said Cooney. “I could tell from the start that it was going to be one of my best races. It’s a memorable way to close out my senior season.”

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

Enter The Buzz 2021 Photo Contest Win a Couples Staycation Package at The Houstonian Hotel, Club & Spa

Entries are now being accepted for our sixteenth annual Photo Contest. Entry deadline May 15.

Our grand prize winner will receive a couples staycation package at The Houstonian Hotel, Club & Spa. This luxury weekend package includes a Friday and Saturday night stay in one of the hotel’s newly renovated rooms, a “TEX-LEX” dinner for two in the private Wine Room of TRIBUTE restaurant, couples 60-minute Trellis Custom Massages, and complimentary access to the prestigious Houstonian Club. Winning photos will be published in our July issue and online beginning July 1.

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

You can also view our 2020 winners online.

Sponsored by

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ APRIL 2021 43

SPORTS

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by Angie Frederickson, staff writer

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

Race to the base Maddie Cozart and Jessie Whitley (top photo, from left) run a drill at softball practice that ended with a perfect tag out. Maddie, a sixth grader at Presbyterian School, and Jessie, a fourth grader at St. Vincent de Paul, play for the West University Softball Association (WUSA) 12U Volts team, coached by Adam Pollock and Tom King. Thanks to the February freezing temperatures, WUSA had a delayed start to the season and some canceled games. The Volts returned to the field as soon as they could and started the regular season with pandemic precautions in place. WUSA is grateful to be able to have a spring season and is following guidelines to ensure physical distancing and safety for players, coaches, and fans.

Ready to tri Triathletes Lana Davis, Lyla Davis, and Owen Grieves (middle photo, from left) competed in the Lago Mar Aquathon in Texas City.

Owen, 9, a third grader at Roberts Elementary School, has been competing for three years, and his favorite portion of the race is the bike ride. Lana, 7, and Lyla, 8, attend West University Elementary School.

Lana is also a biking enthusiast, while Lyla prefers the swim portion of triathlon. All three triathletes practice swimming, biking, and running on a regular basis to prepare for competitions throughout the year. The triathlete community is hopeful for a regular 2021 season. Lana, Lyla, and Owen are ready for a full calendar of upcoming triathlon events including Typhoon Tri, Lone Star Splash and Dash, Captain Tri, and the Bayou Series.

It starts with a draw Sassy Huff and Taylor Ricklefsen (bottom photo, from left) line up for a draw during lacrosse practice with the Dragons 7/8 A team. Associated with the Spring Branch-Memorial Sports Association (SBMSA), Dragons lacrosse is the largest youth girls lacrosse program in the city of Houston, with three middle-school club teams. The spring season is going well, with teams navigating pandemic restrictions in order to be able to play a regular schedule. The Dragons had a strong showing at the Burning Flower tournament and then turned their attention to regular-season games. Both Taylor and Sassy have played multiple lacrosse positions, but are primarily midfielders. In addition to Dragons lacrosse, the girls also play together on a South Coast select team.

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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KIDS

Liz Junell

THANKS, MOM Claire Frankfort, a 12th grader at Episcopal High School and daughter to Buzz writer Andria Frankfort, is often the unwilling subject of her mom’s “Back Porch” column.

by Claire Frankfort, age 18

Buzz Kidz

Nowhere to hide

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ooking through my family's mail three years ago, I came across The Buzz Magazines’ issue of the month, with my mom’s article in “Back Porch.” As usual, I did not think much of it, flipping through the pages looking at the many houses for sale in the neighborhood. Then I read my mom’s article. The article was about me (no surprise there!), specifically about the journey I was about to embark on: driving. I ran to my mom, needing answers to my multitude of questions: Why does it sound like I’m a terrible driver? Why does it sound like I’m going to crash at any moment? Why does it sound like nobody should ever get in my car?

My mom has been telling stories about my life since she started writing for the magazine. She started with when I was traumatized with bed

bugs (that article was published right before starting a new school … great timing, Mom). While this is a bit of a stretch, it almost feels like half of Houston knows what has been going on in my life for quite some time. I love the stories that are written, and if I had minded it so much, she would not have written them. Little did I know, though, Houstonians would be stopping my dad in the courtroom to comment on my driving.

A judge asked the morning after the paper was mailed, “So, Todd, how’s your daughter’s driving going? I hope you’re not in the same car together!”

How mortifying! We still get remarks about that infamous article, three years later. Learning to laugh about it has become my specialty, even when dads approach me at parties asking if my driving has improved (this really happened). I

heartily enjoy seeing how far my mom’s articles have reached, even though it might embarrass me a little bit.

Maybe next month Houston will be learning where I end up going to college or if I get another terrible case of bed bugs – because that is just what I need.

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.

Licensed clinical psychologist with over 25 years’ experience • Specializes in working with males from 10 years old through adulthood • Struggling couples that “just don’t get each other” Dr. Trent Everett, PhD Clinical Psychologist

4130 Bellaire Boulevard #208 Houston, TX 77025 713.993.7030 • theconativegroup.com

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ APRIL 2021 46

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Real estate and probate Every Texas lawyer knows that “there is no shorter interval of time than between the death of a decedent and the vesting of his estate in his heirs.”

Every bereaved family soon learns no one else feels that way, and that paperwork if not probate is required to collect assets and administer the estate. “Administration” is short-hand for collecting assets, paying debts and taxes, and distributing what’s left. “Probate” is about someone going to court and assuming personal responsibility, and in a formal way that relieves banks and others from liability for creditors’ claims against the estate.

This plays out in unique ways in real estate, with respect to property and casualty insurance, homestead exemptions, tenants, and title insurance.

Probate never hurts, but is not always required.

Let the insurance agent know of the insured’s death. Coverage may lapse absent probate, or an inexpensive endorsement might suffice.

Was decedent a landlord? If no landlord survives and the lease won’t transfer without probate, ask tenants to pay rent with a cashier’s check or money order made to decedent, which the executor or administrator can endorse and deposit on receipt of letters from the clerk of the court.

Ad valorem tax exemptions are determined as of January 1 each year.

Next year, will someone else qualify for a different exemption, or will the property be sold first?

Property may sell at a 50 percent discount if a lender’s policy of title insurance is not available. Selling now? Sign a listing agreement “subject to probate,” so the agent and buyers are on notice, and then send the sales contract to an independent title company, one that represents several underwriters.

Schedule C of the title commitment lists the requirements to close, with or without probate. Some underwriters will accept an affidavit of heirship, the cheapest and fastest way to proceed without court. Others may require an heirship determination or probate of a will.

What if Dad just died, and Mom isn’t selling? Mom can record an affidavit of heirship now, but there’s no guarantee that a title company will accept it later.

Underwriting standards change. At a minimum, Mom should also deliver Dad’s will to the county clerk, so the kids can probate it if required later.

Trusts and transfer on death (TOD) deeds can avoid probate altogether, but must be done before the owner’s death. Some powers of attorney let agents sign trusts and TOD deeds during the owner’s disability.

We write wills and go to probate court. We offer no-obligation initial interviews for estate planning and administration, so it costs nothing to hear specific recommendations that suit your needs. 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

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ APRIL 2021 47

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PETS

Neighborhood Tails Sam, age 2, Lab, Charlotte St. Hi! My name is Sam. Or Sammy, Jammers, or Samrador Indian Ninja Warrior. My human has a lot of names for me. I’m a 2year-old Lab, but at heart, I’m an 80-pound lap puppy. I can tell that humans didn’t feel this way, but I loved quarantine! My human going to school at home was the best thing ever. Spending all day every day with my head in her lap while she clicked away on her computer was the best. We’ve also been learning new things about each other. I’ve discovered that she doesn’t like it when I sleep on her face, and she’s learned that I might be the only Lab in the world that is afraid of the water. I like to go outside and meet people too. Come see me, at your own risk though. I’ve been known to cuddle people to death!

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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

Call to reserve your senior portrait session now.

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WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ APRIL 2021 49

Daniel Ortiz

NEIGHBORS

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by Angie Frederickson, staff writer

Buzz About Town Bat mitzvah sleepover received a gift from SpringSpirit president Kenny Baldwin.

After a small, family bat mitzvah ceremony, Faye Harrington (pictured, center) was joined by friends Gemma Huang and Margot Levy (left and right) for a celebratory sleepover.

Donning matching loungewear that was gifted

by Faye’s mother, Kim Harrington, the girls enjoyed an evening of pizza, swimming in the heated pool, and virtual games on Oculus. The next morning they were treated to breakfast with donuts that were shaped to spell out “Happy Bat Mitzvah, Faye.” The ceremony was held at Congregation Emanu El, and Faye was joined by parents Kim and Zac Harrington, sisters Hazel and Lila, and a small group of other family members. Faye gave a speech that compared the Covid-19 pandemic to the biblical plagues of Egypt, and she plans to donate a portion of her monetary gifts to Interfaith Ministries to help refugees in Houston.

Biking girlz Abigail Smith and Ella Hawes (pictured, from left) are new brand ambassadors for Electra Bicycles. What started as a way to kill time durWEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ APRIL 2021 50

ing the pandemic lockdowns grew into an active hobby, several hundred Instagram followers, and the title of brand ambassadors. Abigail, a senior at the University of Oklahoma, and Ella, a senior at the University of Texas, have ridden their bikes all over the city. Their adventures led them to discover new drive-through bars, restaurants, museums, and bike trails. Some of their rides were close to 20 miles and took more than four hours to complete. When they began posting their outdoor adventures on their Biking Girlz Instagram page (@biking.girlz) and tagging Electra, the company reached out via Zoom and plans to use video footage from their call in an upcoming ad campaign. The bikers are back on their college campuses for the semester, but plan to resume more adventures together this summer.

E+e Photography

They eloped!

Breakfast with baseball legends Jimmy Disch and Jon Prather (pictured, from left) were among the 175 guests at the SpringSpirit 11th Annual Breakfast for Champions held at River Oaks Country Club.

Another 200 people live-streamed the event that raised more than $800,000 for Christianbased programs that support kids through sports, education, and mentoring. Major League baseball player and World Series champion Anthony Rendon interviewed another baseball great, Lance Berkman, and it was the highlight of the event. Guests enjoyed listening to them trade baseball stories and share their experiences being involved with SpringSpirit. Julie and Brooks McGee chaired the event along with honorary chairs Cara and Lance Berkman. Reid Ryan, former Astros president, was honored for his long-time mentoring involvement and

The third time was the charm for newlyweds Robbie Rexford, son of Kim and Robert Rexford, and Andrea Acuff, daughter of Fernanda and Michael Acuff. After canceling two earlier wedding dates because of the pandemic, the couple eloped in Oahu, Hawaii.

Instead of having the ceremony as planned with 150 guests, Andrea and Robbie had a Hawaiian beach wedding with only a minister and photographer. On the day after the ceremony, they celebrated by freediving with sharks. Andrea and

Robbie met in middle school at T.H. Rogers School and began dating during their junior year at Bellaire High School. They currently live in California while Robbie pursues an MBA degree from the University of Southern California.

DeAnna Villalobos

Around the world in West U

Tahra and Craig Peterson, Meg and Philip Rife, Caroline Schlemmer and Jason Homrighaus, Leslie Shick, Emily and Michael Sperandio, Nikki and Brian Thomason, Janae and Ken Tsai, Tyrell and Michael Venditti, Valorie Waggoner, and Lindsay Yates. Tickets are $60 at peopleagainstleighs.org.

We need PALS

A pandemic story for kids

People Against Leigh Syndrome (PALS) volunteers, including president Lori Martin, Elizabeth Billip Elder, Dr. Mary Kay Koenig, and Lindsey Thomas Klingensmith (pictured, from left), kicked off the annual fundraiser at the home of Valorie Waggoner. Leigh Syndrome is a pediatric-onset progressive and fatal neurological disease that is closely linked to Parkinson’s Disease. The 2021 fundraiser will take place May 20 at Goode Company Armadillo Palace, and proceeds will fund research and clinical care for patients with Leigh Syndrome, like Asher Times, whose parents will speak at the event. Serving on the host committee are Adonia and Kevin Cokinos, Joelle and Mitch Derrick, Elizabeth and James Elder, Lisa Falco, Andre Granello, Adam Greer, Jennifer and Justin Hall, Catherine Hardy, Sara Jackson, Elizabeth and Cullen Kappler, Jessica and Michael Keegan, Missy and Ben Knight, Bethany and Kelly Layne, Abby Lestin, Sara and Dan Lindsay, Katherine and Daniel Ludwig, Mike Mahlstedt, Lori and Neil Martin, Annie McQueen, Robert Noack, Andrew Pappas, Lizzy and Carter Perrin, Nick Peterson,

In an effort to help children understand and cope with the pandemic, author Julie Beasley and illustrator Robyn Goldstein (pictured, from left) teamed up to publish a new book, Winona and Gus and the Coronavirus. The book tells the story of Winona and her brother, Gus, as they adapt to a new way of living during the pandemic and learn to look around for silver linings.

Julie and Robyn both have a history of using their creativity to help during a crisis. Julie wrote her first children’s book, H (continued on page 52)

Sara Murphy

West University Elementary School’s (WUES) annual international festival became a drivethrough event along the streets of West University Place. Martina Luke-Dorn, Julie Gibson, and Anastasia Domakhina (pictured, from left) created the pandemic-approved format so WUES could continue the tradition of the beloved event. Participants used an interactive Google map to find out where different

“countries” were located along the route.

Students, parents, and neighbors were treated to authentic international foods like Russian baranki, German gummibärchen (aka gummy bears), and Taiwanese bubble tea while listening to bagpipe music and enjoying a special visit from the “Queen of England.”

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ APRIL 2021 51

(continued from page 51) is for Harvey, in the after-

math of Hurricane Harvey. Robyn made a name for herself during the early days of the pandemic with her hand-painted “thank you” signs featuring mail carriers, doctors, first responders, and shop workers. Read more about Robyn’s and Julie’s H is for Harvey at thebuzzmagazines.com.

The slopes of West U

November 2019) pulled out their skis, gloves, and helmets to make an urban Texas-version of a snow day and attempt something they probably thought they would never do. Scott’s wife, Emily, found some rope she had used for their twin boys’ birthday piñatas, and they tied it to Alex’s toe hitch so they each could take turns “skiing” behind the Suburban. See thebuzzmagazines.com for more details by Annie McQueen plus a video clip of the snow-day adventure.

Inclusion through art

Andie Palagi, JFS Houston/ReelAbilities

Brothers George, Scott, and Alex Jackson, and Scott’s son Davis Jackson (pictured), got a taste of Colorado in their own backyard. On President’s Day, Houstonians woke up to fresh snow that had fallen in their yards overnight.

Prior to the disastrous power and water losses, the morning of rare snow on the ground brought more fun than worry to residents, including these avid skiers. The brothers (who were featured on the cover of The West University Buzz in

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ReelAbilities chairs Marcy Margolis, Dee Dee Dochen, Benjy Hershorn, and Eve Lapin (pictured, from left) led the 9th annual ReelAbilities Houston Film and Arts Festival.

The virtual event, produced by the JFS Alexander Institute for Inclusion, in collaboration with the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities, featured 16 award-winning films, a speakers’ event, ReelMusic concert, and virtual art experiences. ReelAbilities uses the arts to educate and change perceptions about disabilities, and the festival promotes inclusion by celebrating the talents of people with disabilities.

Home tour for Twain Braeswood Place has seen more than its share of Houston flooding. Despite the devastation, many families have chosen to stay in their beloved neighborhood, even after multiple flood events, and rebuild together. Neighbors Amber Blossom, Cricket DeWalch, Kristin Hamilton,

and Mandy Loper (pictured, from left) are coordinating a home tour to showcase and celebrate the newly rebuilt homes and the resilience of the community. “The Home Tour for Twain,” presented by Texas Mattress Makers, is a fundraiser for Mark Twain Elementary School and will feature 10 homes that are all post-Hurricane Harvey rebuilds. The event will be held on May 15, and tickets are available for purchase on the Twain Elementary PTO website: marktwainpto.org.

Editor’s note: The Buzz congratulates associate editor Jordan Steinfeld and her husband Matthew on the recent arrival of baby Sloane. Jordan is taking a short break to spend time with Sloane. In the meantime, Buzz writer Angie Frederickson is handling this column. As usual, please send your high-res photos and community news to info@thebuzzmagazines.com.

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ APRIL 2021 53

NEIGHBORS

by Andria Frankfort, staff writer

Back Porch

Big-hearted Houston

A

s I write, we are one week out from a winter storm that brought freezing cold, ice, and snow ... and a big mess to Houston.

We are used to being hot, to losing power during hurricanes. But we are not as adept at managing cold. Truth be told, many of us live here so that we don’t have to deal with crazylow temps. Sitting outside on a recent February day having lunch with friends, we all decided the gorgeous weather was one of the things we loved most about Houston – especially while friends in other states were fighting the cold. That was before the week of Feb. 15, 2021.

It’s been a long year. Someone said the other day that, for the first time he could remember, it was acceptable to respond, “I’m okay,” when asked how you’re doing. No pressure to say, “I’m great,” although “great” is relative in the year we’ve had.

Still, we have a lot to be grateful for. Which is sometimes clearest when things don’t seem to be that great.

Houstonians make that clear every time we face a challenge. When Hurricane Harvey hit, we showed our hearts by rescuing people across town, bringing cold drinks to neighbors, and helping strangers tear out wet sheetrock.

“Everyone looks the same when they’re getting rescued by a boat,” we said.

And now, again, Houstonians have stepped up to help neighbors and strangers. With plumbers in scarce supply and pipes bursting at what seemed like every other house, neighbors who were able to took in other neighbors – whole families, plural – when their homes lacked water and power. Our neighbor, who happened to have some handy skills, came to help us figure out a solution to a broken pipe, just as he had with many other friends. He even suggested using his handheld chef’s torch to rig a temporary fix.

And as we worked in our own communities to support one another, some were helping on an even larger scale.

“We were very lucky,” Donna Gershenwald says of her family of four. “We had a pipe burst WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ APRIL 2021 54

in the garage, so we did have to shut off the water to the whole house. My husband, who is very handy, went to six stores to find the things he needed.

We’re fine; it’s a hassle and an expense. But in terms of suffering and freezing cold, we had a lot of privilege.”

That is why, when Donna read a Facebook post from Angela Furnari, a teacher at Benavidez Elementary, about children in the Gulfton community facing life- COLD WARMTH When the big freeze hit, Houstonians came together to help each other. threatening condiCara Adams heads up the nonprofit Texas tions – lack of heat, water, food, and blankets – Relief Warriors and coordinates much of the disshe began acting. tribution of those donations with help from “We drive around, and it’s like nothing has some 200 volunteers. “I first posted on Facebook happened,” Donna says, “but right around the after Harvey and said it was a good time for peocorner, invisible to us, people don’t have food ple to go through their stuff and see what they and water, and they can’t go pick it up because could donate to people who had flooded,” she they don’t have cars. Plus, during the freeze, the says. “It just took off from there. kids had a lot of their meals at the school.

“When it froze, we knew there were seniors Suddenly they didn’t.” relying on machines to survive. Our first goal So Donna helped the best way she knew how: was to get generators and heaters to people who She posted the needs on social media. depended on them. Then we switched, distrib“My reach is different from Angela’s reach,” uting 100 pallets of water and 33,000 meals” to she says. “Immediately, tons of people wanted to senior living facilities, individual seniors, and help. Another friend posted it on her page and families in the Gulfton community. set up an Amazon wish list and had everything “We live in the best city for volunteers and delivered to her house in West U. When the people coming together to help out,” Cara says.

Amazon driver delivered loads of diapers and “Houston is full of amazing, kind-hearted people.” food and toiletries to her front yard, he said he’d That’s never more evident than when our never had an entire truckload go to one house. neighbors need help.

And there was so much more. That’s the posiTo donate or volunteer, go to txreliefwarriors.org. tive power of social media.” behance.net/runamokstudios

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