The West University Buzz - July 2021

2021 Buzz Photo Contest Winners Houston, TX Permit No. 2047 PAID US Postage PRSRT STD

Sleeping Lion by Jaana Eleftheriou Third Place, Animals

PUBLISHER’S NOTE This issue reveals the winners of our 16th annual Buzz Photo Contest. As The Buzz has grown, so has our contest.

What began with residents dropping off a few hundred photos on CDs has evolved into a contest with more than 1,200 online submissions, judged by a panel of professional photographers.

This year’s winners range from age 16 to 73. Some are serious amateurs who waited patiently for hours, hoping to capture the perfect shot. Others happened to be in the right place at the right time, some with just a cell phone, but also the creative instinct to see the shot. I hope you enjoy the winning images and will be inspired to enter your own photos in next year’s contest. As our world begins to open back up, I hope you have a lot of activities to capture this coming year. michael@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 Karen Vine Fuller Andrea Blitzer Leslie Little Jo Rogers

On our cover: Jaana Eleftheriou took this photo of a sleeping female lion in Masai Mara, Kenya, in November.

Cover photo by Jaana Eleftheriou 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 JULY 2021 4

Your smile can last forever Anna Maria Salas, D.D.S., M.S. Diplomate of the American Board of Orthodontics

713-481-4885 3642 University Blvd.

Suite 102 Houston, TX 77005 www.westuortho.com

Prevention versus Intervention

Specific Learning Disability (SLD) in Reading and/or Dyslexia • Phonological Awareness • Sound-symbol Association • Reading Comprehension • Reading Fluency PreK 4 - 2nd Grade Tammy Spencer, Founder • The Code Academy 3642 University Blvd., Suite 101, West University Place, TX 77005 832.767.0915 • www.UnlockLiteracy.com "If they can't learn the way we teach, we teach the way they learn" - Ignacio Estrada WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ JULY 2021 5

Bob Gomel

MAILBAG

Your letters, thoughts, opinions About those diving dogs Your recent story on dogs who dive [Dock Diving: Leaping, wet, happy dogs, by Karen Vine Fuller, May 2021] caught my attention. Our Lab, Trigger, learned to retrieve presents from the bottom of our pool. Thought you guys would enjoy this image [pictured above].

When Trigger was a pup, I would put his favorite toy, a 2-pound rubber weight, on the first step down of our pool, a few inches underwater. When he got used to retrieving his toy, I moved the weight down to the next step, which required that he put his entire head underwater to get it. And finally, to the bottom of the shallow end of the pool. After that, he would dive to the bottom of the deep end, about 10 feet, swimming in a corkscrew manner to grab his toy. When nobody was around, he would toss the weight into the deep end by himself and dive down to get it.

Bob Gomel Editor’s note: When photojournalist Bob Gomel showed us this picture, we just had to share it. Bob is a judge for the 2021 Buzz Photo Contest, featured in this issue.

Full-circle story Your current issue of The Buzz includes an article that’s deeply personal to me. “As The Churches Turn” [A tale of coming full circle, by Cindy Gabriel, June 2021] is a complex story of numerous events and numerous personalities woven into a legacy project that my brother conceived. Cindy Gabriel has extracted the essential facts and emotions, and she’s scripted it into a beautiful story. Cindy has found such a beautiful voice in her writing! Repeatedly she nails it: personally and emotionally, with carefully chosen words. I deeply appreciate Cindy and The Buzz honoring my brother Harry with this poignant story. We’re richly blessed. Yes, this story is just getting started.

John Gabriel

Many compliments Cindy Gabriel is a talented writer. I read her stuff regularly. I have just read her article, “As the Churches Turn” about her former husband, John Gabriel, and his brother Harry. From my view, I’m not sure who this article compliments more: Harry, John, or Cindy. We should all seek to live life such that a former spouse could write such prose that is almost poetry about us. “This story is just getting started.”

John Rhem

Another Cindy fan I always turn to the article written by Cindy Gabriel first when I receive my Bellaire Buzz each month. She always piques my interest, and her style of writing and choosing subjects make me eager to see what she has written each month.

When I read her recent article, "As The Churches Turn," I literally cried tears of joy! I met Harry Gabriel when he was a patient at M.D. Anderson, WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ JULY 2021 6

and we became fast friends. I visited him in his hometown of Ponchatoula and actually saw the churches that were to become his vision. I had to share that beautifully written article with all my friends!

Keep up the good work, and please know that there are many who treasure Cindy Gabriel's talent for finding just the right words to make our hearts sing.

Gay McCoy

Timbales recipe correction I think it should be two onions, not 2 tbsp [in June 2021 Cooking Buzz, “Goat Cheese and Potatoes Timbales”]. The photo is clearly showing way more than 2 tbsp. It's a great-looking dish, and my 86-year-old neighbor asked me to make it for her.

Catherine Walsh Editor’s note: Thank you, Catherine. That was an unfortunate typo. In Peace Meals, the recipe calls for 4 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced. We’ve updated this online, and we hope you and your neighbor enjoy the timbales.

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 special back-to-school traditions.

• Know a Buzzworthy neighbor to profile.

• Have an interesting hobby or collection.

• Have a unique travel tale.

• Have a funny or sweet parenting story.

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

Watch Their Smiles Grow

Oral healthcare for the growing & developing child Joel J. Vela, D.D.S. Bellaire Pediatric Dentistry, P.A. 6750 West Loop South, Suite 795 713.661.1100 • www.bellairesmiles.com

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ JULY 2021 7

NEIGHBORS

by Andria Frankfort, staff writer

Happy Birthday, Vic Stanek A West University icon turns 100

CENTENARIAN Left photo: The Stanek family gathers around Vic outside his home to celebrate his 100th birthday. From left: Dennis Stanek, Justin White, Jordyn Stanek, Sydney Stanek, Johnny Stanek, Kim Horn Stanek, Shirley Stanek Webb, Jeff Webb. Right photo: Vic Stanek among the bluebonnets at his farm in Sweet Home, Texas.

I

f you find yourself walking down Milton Street in West U, be sure to look for Victor Stanek’s big, bay windows and wave. He’s probably sitting just inside in his favorite chair, waiting to greet you.

Vic has lived at this same house, on this same street, for 69 years. He’s been in West U for 81 years, since he was 19. Did you do the math?

Yes, Vic Stanek turned 100 this May. But don’t think Vic is known only as the 100-year-old man on the block. As a former owner of what used to be JMH Market on Rice and Edloe, he’s something of a West University icon.

Shirley Webb, Vic’s middle child and only daughter, a designer, told us about her dad. “He was born on a farm in Shiner, Texas, and he preferred fishing to going to school. His mother would always have to go to the creek and chase him to get him to school.”

“Oh, I hated school,” Vic says. “I only went through grade school. But I came out very well.”

Vic, who today looks more like 70 than 100, WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ JULY 2021 8

remembers bringing eggs from his family’s farm to the store in Moulton, Texas, where they would be sold. It was there that he heard about a grocery store in Houston that needed help.

“Huffington [Joe M. Huffington, JMH’s namesake and original owner] was there to pick up the eggs,” Vic says. “I asked him for a job, and he hired me right away. I was 19. I jumped on the egg truck and came to Houston, to JMH. “I had no place to go and had about 50 cents in my pocket,” he says. “Huffington furnished room and board. He fed us above the store, and we lived behind it. Ten or 12 of us lived there, and after we got bigger, my wife and I lived above the store on College. That’s where Dennis was born.”

Dennis Stanek is Vic’s and his late wife Mary’s oldest son, a West U firefighter retired after 43 years, now a painter. “When we were kids, this was a real hometown environment,” Dennis says, sitting just inside his dad’s bay window. “On this block at one time, there were 31 kids.”

“We would take the wooden Coke bottle crates from the store, and we’d use them as bases and play kickball with all the kids on the block,” Shirley remembers.

Vic chimes in: “After that, it was older people like me, and now we’ve got nothing but young people.”

“But Dad, when you’re 100, everybody’s young,” Dennis says.

Joe Huffington put Vic through his paces at JMH. “I was a cleanup man and a stocker, and then a butcher’s helper,” Dennis says. “Then World War II came, and I was drafted into service. After basic training I went overseas to England, and we worked there supplying the underground. When we finished there, a group of us went to Italy, where we served for a few months, and then we were sent back to America on a boat. They didn’t need us anymore; the war was ending. So I came back to JMH.” In 1950, Vic partnered with Joe Huffington and two others – Rudy (continued on page 10)

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ JULY 2021 9

LIFE WELL-LIVED From top left, clockwise: Vic and his company celebrate Thanksgiving at their post in Ironwood, Michigan, in 1943. JMH owners Vic Stanek, Rudy Darilek, and Jody Haas. Vic Stanek helps customers during a raffle giveaway sometime in the 1950s. JMH No. 5 at Edloe and Rice in its early years. Vic Stanek in his military days. (continued from page 8) Darilek and Jody Haas. At

one time, the foursome owned five grocery stores in and near West U. “Every store, we built the building and owned the ground,” Vic says.

“Every one was a separate corporation, and we called them 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11.

“When Huffington decided to retire, Rudy, Jody, and I had to sell the other stores to accumulate the money to buy him out. After that, we had a store on College [JMH No. 3, on the corner of College and Milton Streets] and one on Edloe, No. 5. I managed the College store, and after some years it got so old we decided to sell it, and the City of West U bought [in 1989] it for a park [Huffington Park]. I went to Rice and Edloe and managed that. After some years, all of us were about 85. We decided it was time to sell, and I’ve been retired ever since.

“And by the way, I came to Houston in ’39.”

Vic remembers dusty shell streets. “This was all open prairie,” he says. He bought the house on Milton in 1952 for $12,000.

The local-celebrity status follows Vic’s family.

“I go places, and people learn my maiden name, and they say, ‘Did your dad and mom own the WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ JULY 2021 10

grocery store?’” Shirley says. “It was great to have your dad own a grocery. Every time we walked in, we would go right up to the popsicle cooler, Dad would break a double popsicle in half for us.

We have rotten teeth from all the candy.”

Mary Stanek, Vic’s very organized wife, kept track of all the charge accounts in the neighborhood, which were secured with a name, no signatures required. All three of the Stanek children – Dennis, Shirley, and John Stanek, who now cares for Vic – worked there.

“He put me through everything,” Dennis says.

“I butchered, produced. I don’t know how it was for my brother and sister, but he was always tougher on me [than other employees]. Average was not good enough.” (Grandchildren were another story: Every day after school at West U Elementary, they would run to sit under the courtesy booth counter their grandmother manned and color until Dennis’ wife Kim picked them up.)

Neighborhood kids also worked at JMH. “Maybe 50 different school kids would alternate through,” Vic says. “We operated as a good will.

A mother would come in and say, ‘Could you

put my boy to work?’ We helped people.” Vic even kept a box of clip-on ties for the boys to use if they didn’t know how to tie their own.

He also sponsored Little League teams every year and, at one time, made sure that every Friday he had enough money to cash all of the city employees’ checks. “I had an agreement with Whitt Johnson [a longtime West U city manager and former mayor],” Vic says.

“Everybody that’s ever been involved with that store tells me Dad would help anybody, anytime, no matter what,” Dennis says.

“I have to give credit to Huffington,” Vic says.

“If it wasn’t for room and board, I couldn’t have come here. He helped us.”

These days if Vic isn’t hanging out on Milton, he’s likely with his family at the farm he bought in Sweet Home, Texas. As for the store on Edloe, Number 5: “It’s a restaurant now,” Vic says.

“Shirley took me there one time, and I looked around and said, ‘This used to be the warehouse.’”

If you’re at Tiny’s No. 5, or Milk and Cookies, or Texas Citizens Bank on Edloe and Rice, look up: the JMH sign and a whole lot of memories are still there.

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WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ JULY 2021 11

NEIGHBORS

by Karen Vine Fuller, contributing writer

The Oasis Tree From Bellaire to Burning Man

I

f you passed by Atwell Street in Bellaire earlier this year, you may have spied the glimmer of a dazzling tree on the horizon of the quiet cul-de-sac. The tree was actually a metal sculpture, its trunk and branches lined with slowly transforming colored lights. Hundreds of diamond-shaped, shimmery leaves in a Crayola box array of colors dangled like crystals from a chandelier. The wind blowing, ever-so-slightly, rotated the baubles in ever-changing color patterns.

This one-of-a-kind tree was created by artist Paul Robertson, a retired geoscientist. The inspiration for his tree sculpture sprang from a dry desert 2,000 miles away.

In 2016, Paul's 24-year-old son, Stewart Robertson, had a memorable first-time experience at Burning Man, an annual nine-day gathering in the Nevada Black Rock Desert the week before Labor Day. Over 70,000 people from around the world gather to create a temporary, seven-square-mile city. The event gets its name from a large wooden sculpture of a man, which is built and then set on fire at the end, with everyone gathered to watch.

Veteran participants, known as “Burners,” say people need to experience it first-hand to grasp the communal interactive art, spontaneous music, singing, dancing, and creating. No money is exchanged. Participants bring their own food and water but also extra items to share.

“Stewart had a great experience and regaled us with stories of the wonderful art at Burning Man,” Paul said, smiling. “He continued to go every year and convinced my wife Frannie and I to make the trip in 2018."

Paul and Frannie were blown away by the fascinating people, fabulous costumes, the generosity, and, especially, all the interactive sculptures.

Walking around the huge area on the flat, hot, and sandy playa to see everything that week – there are no motorized vehicles – gave Paul an interesting idea.

“The displays at Burning Man are spread out, sometimes over fairly long distances about a quarter mile or more,” said Paul. “On one occasion, walking between art pieces, I had the inspiration that it would be neat to have a place to stop, get a little shade and rest, and that was the WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ JULY 2021 12

ART IN THE DESERT Paul and Frannie Robertson and son Stewart Robertson enjoy the Burning Man experience together. Older brother Alex hopes to join them one day.

birth of the art installation that we eventually built called The Oasis.”

The vision is for three conceptual iron sculpture trees, each a little differently designed but all featuring dangling, high-gloss colored leaves that shimmer in the sunlight and light up at night.

Paul submitted the concept to the Burning Man organizers, who approved the installation for the August/September 2020 event. The plan was to start working on three trees in January in Bellaire and have them all done by the end of July to transport to Nevada.

Although none of the Robertsons are artists by profession, they each contributed unique perspectives and valuable skills to the project. Paul had worked with metals and high-gloss car paint. Having experience with 3D CAD (computer-aided design software), Stewart created the engineering schematics. He also assisted with welding, cutting, and initially assembling the piece. Even though Stewart’s older brother, Alex, lives in Boulder, he brainstormed concepts and problem-solved via phone. Frannie, a tech-industry alumna, acted as a sounding board and provided moral support.

In addition to being drawn to art, the family is also passionate about cars. Over the years, Paul had taught Stewart and Alex how to repair and maintain cars, and he even tackled building a SuperLite Coupe race car with Stewart in their home garage. Paul's father and grandfather were both mechanically minded and taught him how to build and repair items, and Paul’s sons apparently inherited the Renaissance Man genes.

“Dad was always having us do DIY projects,” Alex said. “It helped that he was always encouraging – sometimes motivated us with Taco Bell.”

They started in January 2020. A few months later, Covid happened, and Burning Man 2020 was postponed. Paul and Stewart welded, cut

and created the majority of the large iron elements of the tree by early summer and stored the parts in their home garage.

In December, Paul decided to let the Oasis see the light of day and assemble the tree in their front yard to decorate for the holidays. That would also give him the chance to figure out the best way to light the tree and individually create and hang the hundreds of diamond-shaped, hard-plastic, colored leaves.

The mesmerizing Oasis became a fan favorite in the neighborhood.

Soon, dog walkers, passersby, art enthusiasts, and a rapidly growing number of intrigued neighbors were discovering their own oasis with a one-of-a kind interactive tree sculpture gracing the green front yard of a two-story home in the middle of Bellaire. They stopped to talk to the man working on it. Paul decided to keep the tree up after the holidays.

“One of the real bright spots of putting the tree in our front yard is that I have really been able to meet a lot of our extended neighborhood, as the tree now seems to be a destination point for walking,” Paul said. “I have met other artists and people who have gone to Burning Man that live nearby. One night we had a little mini Burning Man get-together under the tree with some neighbors who also had built an art piece for Burning Man a number of years ago.”

“Paul was surprised when various folks asked about his art portfolio,” Frannie said. “He initially said he wasn't an artist, but now he more easily accepts the artist label.”

In January, Paul posted a video of the tree on social media and received a tremendous response. Andy Williamson, head of the Bellaire Culture and Arts Board, saw the video and invited Paul to display his tree as a temporary art installation in Loftin (continued on page 14)

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ JULY 2021 13

FAMILY PROJECT From top, clockwise: The Robertson family created the Oasis art tree together; Alex, Frannie, and Paul (from left) helped set up the tree in its temporary home next to Bellaire City Hall; Paul works in his garage workshop to build the pieces; Paul, Frannie, and Stewart (from left) put in months of work and creativity to bring the Oasis to life. (continued from page 12) Park next to Bellaire City

Hall, 7008 S. Rice Avenue, across the street from Condit Elementary.

Paul happily agreed. Alex came in from Colorado and helped with the task of disassembling the Oasis, transporting it to a new location to reassemble (each leaf had to be rehung), and making sure the lights worked with the new power source. Even though the move was less than a mile, the process took over a week.

The display, shining brightly in its new home, will be up and open to the public until the end of July. Since Burning Man 2021 has also been cancelled, the new goal for the Nevada-desert trip is 2022. The good news is that Paul and Team Robertson will have more time to work WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ JULY 2021 14

on all three Oasis trees.

“This is not something that I had ever envisioned doing, and yet now that I am going down this road, it's very exciting and has really energized both my family and I,” Paul said. “It is a great avenue for my sons, my wife, and I to have a common interest and a shared purpose. I think it is important for families to be able to have something in common that they enjoy doing together like travel, outdoor activities, hobbies, etc. Having taken the leap to build this piece of art has inspired both my sons and I to do other things as well. It also gives a sense of possibility, which changes your mind and gives one the idea they can do a lot more.”

Paul is currently working on the second tree

in his home garage, larger than the first tree and more complicated, with a ladder. Burners will be able to climb to the top to sit and look out, and there will also be places to climb up the branches to sit under the canopy.

Paul is thrilled that the reaction he hears most often from people is that seeing the Oasis makes them feel happy. It has been an unexpected pleasure that the tree destined for Burning Man also has spread happiness in his own Texas home.

Connect with Burning Man fans, volunteers, and artists in Houston at regionals.burningman.org/regionals /north-america/houston/. Or see the Houston Burners Facebook page or Facebook group.

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ JULY 2021 15

DINING

by Dai Huynh, staff writer

Waterfront Dining In Bayview, Bacliff, and San Leon

L

aughing gulls, brown pelicans, shrimping boats, barges, speedboats, glittery Galveston Bay, and distant tanker lights – food eaten by the water always seems to taste better.

The tranquil waters around Galveston Bay can stir the soul and appetite just as much as San Francisco Bay or Long Island Sound. At sunset, over giant fried Gulf shrimp, the ripple of the water dances to a kaleidoscope of yellows, oranges, reds, and purples.

As the sun meanders across the horizon on long summer days, diners can linger over icy beers and fried oysters on breezy decks or, more recently, in a glass-walled patio at the new Pier 6 Seafood & Oyster House in San Leon. Of course, several places along Kemah and Galveston Island overlook the water, but few hold onto the last ray of sunshine like San Leon and neighboring Bacliff.

When my editor suggested a waterfront piece, I thought about showcasing eateries in Galveston, Seabrook, Kemah, and Clear Lake.

One particularly stylish surf-and-turf place, Opus Ocean Grille (1510 Marina Bay Drive), overlooks the Clear Lake Shores marina. Less than three minutes away in Kemah is an oldie, but still a goodie – Sundance Grill II (800 Mariners Drive), adjacent to sailboat masts at the Waterford Harbor Marina.

Landry’s Kemah Boardwalk also offers plenty of family options, but beware: The kids might talk you into riding the Boardwalk Bullet Roller Coaster after dining at the Flying Dutchman (9, Waterfront) or Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. (5, Boardwalk). If that’s the case, know with satisfaction that you rode on one of only four wooden roller coasters in Texas.

But after listing waterfront restaurants off the top of my head, I kept coming back to the unincorporated communities along Galveston Bay: Bayview, Bacliff, and San Leon. Like a string of pearls, the trio span about 12 square miles, with a combined population of 15,000 or so. Imagine a half-waning crescent moon beginning at Bayview and ending at San Leon.

Aside from boaters and anglers, weekenders often have overlooked the area. There is even WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ JULY 2021 16

SEAFOOD AND SEA VIEWS Waitress Nicole Trout delivers fried shrimp and other seafood to diners at Topwater Grill in San Leon.

an annual music festival called “Where the Hell Is San Leon?” at Waynos, a local watering hole.

Until recently, developers ignored the area, leaving the laid-back, scrappy communities relatively underdeveloped and the salt marshes with cordgrass and saltgrass intact. As a result, the restaurants on the Bacliff and San Leon shores boast hard-to-beat water views.

The busiest day of the year is July 4, when the area swells with visitors seeking prime vantage points to watch the fireworks over Kemah, a spectacle that can be seen as far as San Leon.

Folks here also can view fireworks in Baytown and League City. Many people will rent two years in advance to see the spectacular display, says Airbnb host Nancy Greenstein.

Greenstein compares coastal living to “being on a permanent vacation" with abundant, fresh, and local seafood. People in the know come from all over to sample the menu at land-locked Gilhooley's – the adult-only oyster stronghold famous for wood-grilled oysters.

The original Gilhooley’s location in Bacliff is now Noah’s Ark Bar & Grill (4438 Boulevard Street), where Greenstein sends guests for breakfasts. Greenstein also likes Sunday brunch at Marais (2015 FM 517 Road East) in Dickinson, with its beer garden and adult swings. However, the Louisianan dining complex enjoys a bayou view vs. the bay view at Noah’s.

At Noah’s, Harley-Davidson motorcycles park by the rail fence with an American flag.

Saturday starts quietly at the multi-level food and music venue. Breakfast attracts baby boomers, who dress in protective leather gear on the weekends and in designer suits on weekdays.

At the largest palapa bar in the area, you never know who you’ll run into – a struggling sculptor

or biotech millionaire dreaming of Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville.

A waitress breezes by a three-person band with a plate of Hot Mermaids – bacon-wrapped shrimp with jalapeños. The best-seller comes beer-battered and fried or grilled. In her other hand is a vodka-spiked chocolate mudslide with Blue Bell vanilla ice cream and Kahlúa. Eyes widen when her blond colleague brings out a half-foot-tall Hog Burger, stacked with three 8ounce beef patties divided by two kinds of cheeses and four slices of bacon.

The second-floor Parrot’s Nest affords a bird’s-eye view of the bay, bordered by wild grass and sunflowers. A father with two teenagers throws a line off a pier in front of the eatery.

“We’re on island time,” co-owner Kellie Verlander says. “People will spend hours here. Then, when they leave, they’re a little more relaxed.”

Noah’s makes a banana drink, the Dirty Monkey, with 2-year-old reserve XO rum from Railean Distillers.

Kelly and Matt Railean opened the first Texas rum distillery in 2006 on 5th Street in San Leon.

Today, it produces seven rums, three agave spirits, two whiskeys, and vodka. At 3 p.m. every Saturday, the tasting room opens for tours. For $20, participants get a shot glass and a tasting.

An easy day trip would be touring Railean for a couple of hours and then forking into some of the juiciest oysters around at Pier 6 Seafood & Oyster House (113 6th Street).

With 300-plus seats and an expansive twolevel patio, the San Leon restaurant couldn’t have opened at a worse time, amid the Covid crisis last October on Halloween. Some say owner Raz Halili and executive chef Joe Cervantez switched on the stove to meet the

Prestige Oysters

Isabel Protomartir Kimberly Park

ON THE WATER Top left: Pier 6 executive chef Joe Cervantez cooks up oyster dishes along with crispy red snapper and lobster bisque. Bottom left: Located on the San Leon peninsula, Pier 6 has an expansive view of Galveston Bay. Right: Diners get a front-seat view of boats in the bay.

challenges head-on when opening an upscale seafood palace in an area that doesn’t like to take on airs. Or, Halili had the foresight that times and tastes are changing. People wanted something more upscale but still unpretentious along the docks where he grew up.

Before the doors open on a recent Saturday, people line up outside Pier 6. With more than 5,000 weekly visitors, those without reservations might be out of luck on the weekend.

“I’m humbled by how much people enjoy coming here,” Halili says. “I guess we fill a void.”

His executive chef commanded the kitchen at Killen’s Steakhouse, then Brennan's of Houston – both Gulf Coast-driven – before Halili lured him away. Cervantez’s refined touches are apparent throughout the menu, starting with the refreshing plumb, raw Texas oysters topped with a lime-tart cucumber granita. The Art Institute of Houston grad showcases them in the appetizer section and on the cold seafood platter for weekend brunch. For $49.99, it includes lobster tail, boiled shrimp, and a mellow smoked octopus ceviche.

At Pier 6, diners can make an entire meal out of oysters in their various guises, from the aniseanointed Rockefellers with chiffonaded spinach or garlic-butter Prestige draped in Parmigiano Reggiano, to the Hot Blooded, garlic-spiked sriracha and habanero butter.

Getting the best bivalves for Halili is as easy as a two-minute drive down the street to 1st Street in San Leon, literally. His Albanian father, Johnny, started their immigrant rags-toriches family business, Prestige Oysters, with his mom, Lisa, diligently working alongside as deck-

hand. Prestige now supplies oysters to restaurants and companies in the United States and Canada with a fleet of 100-plus boats, processing facilities, and docks in four states.

Chef Cervantez’s task was to elevate familiar favorites. He excelled in the jumbo Gulf shrimp swathed in golden breading and immaculately fried. The hamburger is a surprise favorite. Soft, tender buns benefitted from a loosely handshaped Akaushi patty gooey with American cheese. Cervantez’s simple yet perfectly executed approach is elegant. It complements the brisk contemporary 5,000-square-foot space, formerly Bubba’s Shrimp Palace.

Most places in the area will allow leashed pets on the outdoor patio, and Pier 6 is no different.

A glistening chocolate Lab looks around the sprawling South Beachesque deck, then calmly returns his gaze to the sparkling bay, only marginally marred by the marina’s construction.

Halili hopes to finish part of Pier 6’s marina in the summer. It’s hard to pin down the date.

But he looks forward to when 70 or so boats pull into the slips, and boaters can dine on fried snapper without stepping off their yachts or sailboats. Instead, waiters will come to them.

Across town, an hour before sunset, fishing boats and a 30-foot Albin pull into Topwater Grill (815 Avenue O) in southern San Leon, home of another major Gulf oyster producer, Misho’s.

A 50-something man, his sun-kissed wife, and her sister step off a cruiser, then slide into a gliding booth that swings back and forth, and order a couple of pounds of Royal Reds.

“Most people come here for the steamed Royal Red shrimp,” waitress Nicole Trout says.

I ate at Topwater Grill every weekend for years when I was a boater in another marriage, another life. I hadn’t been back in a while, and while it has changed, in other ways, it’s the same.

It’s incredible, considering that Hurricane Ike leveled the place in 2008, and then it reopened a year and a half later. Not much has changed except for the size of the restaurant. Topwater started in a 900-square-foot cinder- block building that grew and grew to 8,000 square feet.

The fried shrimp is still the No. 1 seller, hands-down. “Momma” Angelica still makes the blueberry bread pudding out of everything she can get her hands on, including hot dog buns.

The thing that still sets Topwater apart is that it will fry or grill your catch for $14 per person.

The roof remains blue, and the cheerful yellow building beckons diners, mirroring the staff’s sunny disposition. After 22 years, Robert Jakubas still runs Topwater with a sense of humor. Regulars still can catch a glimpse of his dad, Capt. Wally, surveying the marina.

People thought Capt. Wally and wife Barbara were nuts to purchase a four-acre marina on April Fool Point in the ’70s. More than four decades later, they are viewed as brilliant and lucky.

April Fool Point remains surreal at sunset, especially on warm evenings when the sunset bleeds across humid skies. Then, almost magically, the evening light washes everything in a golden halo. Birds drift through, flying high, then low one last time before the water goes dark.

Editor’s note: Buzz dining columnist Dai Huynh is a James Beard food-journalism award winner and longtime Houston-based restaurant writer.

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NEIGHBORS

by Cindy Gabriel, staff writer

On Loving America In a “Fiddler on the Roof” kind of way

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halom Aleichem. It’s Yiddish for “Peace be unto you.” We could all use a little more wishing for peace unto us, particularly between us, as we approach our country’s birthday. I’m not Jewish, but I am learning a lot about what that means through my Jewish boyfriend, Stan-the-Man Ehrenkranz.

I thought, yes, I know about Jewish people.

I’ve had Jewish neighbors. I’ve seen “Fiddler on the Roof.” They have great weddings. But this picture of Stan’s grandmother is a whole other story. I mostly smiled through “Fiddler on the Roof.” Stan’s grandmother cried.

The writer who inspired the story, Sholem Aleichem, the pen name of Solomon Rabinowitz, is often called the Mark Twain of Russia. Both writers used pen names, and both were pitch perfect in their ability to capture the everyday thoughts of common people in two different worlds at the turn of the 20th century.

Families like Stan’s grandmother’s would spend their Friday nights gathered around Aleichem’s stories. Most famous was his series on Tevye the dairyman and his seven daughters, stories that would later inspire the Broadway musical “Fiddler on the Roof.”

“May God bless and keep the Czar … far away from us,” a line in “Fiddler” says. Between 1880 and 1920, over 2 million Russian Jews, most penniless, made their way to America after being forced from their homes during the reign of the Czar. A series of raids called “pogroms” on Jewish villages, or “shtetls,” would terrorize the locals into leaving.

Aleichem himself left for New York with his family in 1906. In “Fiddler on the Roof,” the fictional Tevye and his family would stay with an uncle he “didn’t like” in New York.

In real life, the young woman you see pictured here, Rochel Ginsburg, was only 16 when she reached Ellis Island, while claiming to be 18, the legal entry age. Just as the fictional families in “Fiddler on the Roof” were given three days to sell their homes and get out, Rochel’s family was given two.

Customarily, as the oldest of 10 children, she would be the first to arrive and get established enough for the rest of the family to join her as WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ JULY 2021 18

they could. Rochel took the Americanized name of “Rose” and quickly put her seamstress skills to work in a New York City sweatshop.

Her only American family connection was a cousin, “Aunt” Ida Goldberg, down in Houston, Texas. It would be years before they met. Once Rose made it to Houston, Ida felt her matchmaker duty to find Rose a “good Jewish boy.”

According to family lore, Baruch Nissimovich, another Jewish immigrant, land- INDEPENDENCE DAY Rose Ginsburg, 16, makes the brave journey to America, ed in Galveston in a alone in 1910. Among her eight grandchildren are “Stan-the-Man” Ehrenkranz (writer Cindy Gabriel’s boyfriend), his sisters Aimee McCrory, Heather Westerndarp, “banana boat” in 1911 and Mindy Wertheimer, cousins Danny Newman, Michael Newman, Yvonne Hall, after escaping from the and Johnny Newman, and 16 great-grandchildren.

Romanian army. He to Henry Ehrenkranz. Marion would host her said he was given the name Ben Newman upon parents’ 50th wedding anniversary in 1969. entering Galveston because he was a “new man” In 1971, the movie “Fiddler on the Roof” on American soil. opened in Houston. By then, Rose was 77.

Rose and Ben Newman were married in Cousins Mindy Ehrenkranz Wertheimer and Houston in 1919 and became local merchants.

Michael Newman say their grandmother, or By the 1920s, the local KKK was targeting “Bubbie,” cried through the whole movie. “I Jewish businesses. Rose, Ben, and their two sons remember her saying it was just like her life, migrated north to friendlier territory in except that they didn’t sing and dance as much,” Sycamore, Illinois, where a daughter, Stan’s said Michael. mother, Marion, was born. Finally, the family This year, 2021, is the 50th anniversary of the returned to Houston in the 1940s. movie debut of “Fiddler on the Roof.” Thanks to When World War II broke out, with two sons Rose’s story, I re-watched it with new eyes, more fighting in Europe, Rose received a letter from a teary this time. As a non-Jewish person, I am sister saying it would be her last because it was struck by the many painful events of history that becoming too dangerous to correspond. In 1945, touched this one woman’s life. I am also heartened Rose got the shocking news that her parents and by the happy, fruitful lives of her grandchildren all but two of her siblings had lost their lives in and great-grandchildren who enrich me every day. the Holocaust. Rose went to her room and Stories, as captured by Aleichem and Twain, didn’t emerge for three months. show us how much more we are alike than difNo one knows why her family did not migrate ferent. As Mark Twain put it, “I am the Sholem sooner. Rose spoke little of her past, choosing to Aleichem of America.” Happy Birthday, focus more on present times. Aunt Ida played America. matchmaker again for Rose’s daughter Marion,

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KIDS

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by Annie Blaylock McQueen, staff writer

Buzz Baby

Road trip with kids

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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long road trip with small children? No problem, we think. It’ll be an adventure.

Planning parents will shrug off the reality of strapping tiny humans into car seats where they cannot get their wiggles out. Instead, they think, with unlimited snacks and a charged-up iPad, time will fly. And it sounds less tedious and complicated than long airport lines.

As some Buzz parents can attest, this happy vision can come true. But, they say, expect everything to take longer, potty breaks to be more frequent, and to hear, “Are we there yet?” on repeat.

The McKnight families vowed to turn a possibly daunting, long journey into a fun, memorable, and educational experience for their kiddos. Brothers Jeremy and Kyle McKnight, along with spouses Amelia and Lindsey, and the families’ combined six kids, ages 6 months up to 9, needed to get from Houston to Las Vegas for their grandmother’s 90th birthday, so they devised a plan: Rent two RVs, meet up at the Buc-ee’s on I-10 after school on the Friday of Spring Break, and hit the open road.

Kyle and Jeremy drove, and it took some time for them to get used to driving the big rigs (rented from Cruise America), and for the kids to ride in them. On the first day, they drove only about four hours with a stop in Kerrville.

Kyle’s wife, Lindsey, an attorney, says road trips were not a part of her childhood. “My family used to fly to Dallas,” she said, laughing. “We researched doing something last summer, but no one was flying because of Covid. We never got organized. This idea was lingering.”

The RV trip would last five days. They packed tons of snacks for the kids. “Kids are just hungrier on the road,” Lindsey said. The cousins switched back and forth between the RVs. Along the way, they made stops at Big Bend National Park, Marfa, White Sands National Park in New Mexico, and then Tucson before finally reaching their destination of Las Vegas.

They spent each night at RV parks in various WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ JULY 2021 20

rural areas along the way. “There is a road tripping app we used,” called Roadtrippers, said Lindsey. “If you put your route in, you can zoom in and see the parks along the way.”

Lindsey says the smallest road tripper of the bunch, E, now 7 months old, was surprisingly rather easy to entertain in the RV. They had been most worried about keeping her entertained. The real struggle, however, turned out to be 4-year-old Harrison, who was HIT THE ROAD The McKnight families took an RV road trip over Spring Break. Top photo: At a stop in Big Bend National Park are (top row, from left) Kyle, Lindsey, Finley, at a busier age.

They played a Jeremy, E; (front row, from left) Amelia, Blaire, Harrison, Jamison, and Kingston McKnight. Bottom photo: In Seligman, Arizona, on Route 66 are (from left) Jamison, lot of movies in the Finley, Harrison, Kingston, and Blaire McKnight.

RVs and switched Amelia did opt to fly back with their three around spots. They laughed, like when it took youngest kids from Vegas to Houston, but the an entire 30 minutes to fill up the gas tank. They rest of the crew took a shortened version of the had spontaneous stops, like for root beer floats road trip on the return and got back to Houston along Route 66. in just two days.

Lindsey and Kyle had taken a long road trip Another Buzz parent, Lindsay Whelan, takes before in their SUV. Back in June 2016, they road trips each year to Florida with her family. were unexpectedly forced to move out of their She says she and her husband learned the hard home for mold remediation. Kyle, a native of way to reconsider waking the kids up at the Lubbock, attended Texas Tech University and crack of dawn in the hopes they would fall back has been a lifelong fan. Texas Tech had just to sleep in their car seats. made it to its first-ever College World Series in “They would never go back to sleep after and Omaha. Kyle, on a whim, suggested to Lindsey ended up causing trouble before we even got a that they pack up their then 4- and 7-year-old full sunrise,” she said, laughing. “They were missons and drive the 15 hours to Omaha to see erable when we would get to our destination and them play. They left the following morning. then would fall asleep.”

Lindsey says the road trip was worth the chalIf you get a few travel tips and can put up with lenges and restless hours in the car with memocrumbs between seats, a road trip with kids could ries they still talk about. be the perfect summer adventure.

The birthday trip to Vegas was a success.

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NEIGHBORS

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by Cindy Burnett, staff writer

Buzz Reads

Five picks for July

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

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mericanon: An Unexpected U.S. History in Thirteen Bestselling Books by Jess McHugh – McHugh traces the history of 13 nonfiction books that shaped the United States from the late 1700s to the late 1900s, including Webster’s Speller and Dictionary, The Old Farmer’s Almanac, Betty Crocker’s Picture Cook Book, Emily Post’s Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics, and at Home, and more. For each book, McHugh first details the book’s creation and purpose, including information about the author(s), and then moves on to the impact the book had and why. Throughout the early chapters, McHugh points out that in the 1700s and 1800s, most people owned only one or two books, which often granted those books outsized importance and influence, allowing them to substantially shape people’s views on various subjects. Americanon is a thought-provoking and fascinating deep dive into how these books helped shape a nation.

Blush by Jamie Brenner – Perfect for a beach vacation, Blush will appeal to book lovers everywhere, as the three Hollander women turn to books, specifically the “trashy” romance novels of the 1980s, to try and save their family vineyard and legacy. While very different, all three women, Vivien, Leah, and Sadie, bond over books written by Jackie Collins, Judith Krantz, and others, and find inspiration and ideas for moving forward as long-buried family secrets are exposed, and wounds from the past reappear. This highly entertaining book is a fun-filled and entertaining read.

Hostage by Clare Mackintosh – Hostage is a timely and fast-paced thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end.

Flight attendant Mina is working the inaugural flight from London to Sydney, the first time a commercial plane will fly that distance (20 hours) without stopping. Once in the air, she receives a threatening note advising her to WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ JULY 2021 22

help hijackers overtake the plane, or her husband and child will be killed.

Told in many alternating viewpoints, including Mina, her husband Adam, and numerous passengers, Hostage is clever, thoughtprovoking, and full of fabulous twists and turns.

Advice on reading this one – do not go on Goodreads WHAT TO READ This month's picks include two works of historical fiction, a nonfiction examination of the books that shaped this country, a fun beach read, and an entertainand read the ing thriller. reviews because including the Gutenberg bibles, the first books important parts of the story will be spoiled; it printed in English and who printed them, and will be a much better read if you go in blind. I so much more. I loved this book so much and highly recommend this one. know it will be in my top 10 for the year.

The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict Songs in Ursa Major by Emma Brodie – and Victoria Christopher Murray – Belle da This beautifully written debut tells a fictionCosta Greene worked as J.P. Morgan’s personalized, loosely based version of the relationship al librarian and curator of his private library between James Taylor and Joni Mitchell in the housed in a townhouse off of East 36th Street late 1960s. This coming-of-age tale follows before the collection became the Morgan Jane Quinn, a talented singer, as she rockets Library and Museum. While she became an to stardom, encounters extreme sexism in the influential individual in the art world and one music industry, battles with wanting to stay of the country’s most prominent librarians, she true to herself and her music, whether to hid a devastating secret – she was a Black choose love or a career, the stigma of mental woman “passing” as a white woman and, moreillness, and more. Brodie brings the music of over, was the daughter of the first Black gradthe era to life and had me wishing I could uate of Harvard. The Personal Librarian chronactually listen to Jane’s music. Songs in Ursa icles Belle’s life and legacy and what it was like Major is truly stunning and is my favorite book to be torn between success and the desire to of the year so far. be herself. Benedict and Murray effectively evoke Belle’s constant struggle to straddle the Editor’s note: Southside Place resident Cindy two worlds she is caught between and the Burnett also writes our weekly Page Turners column downhill trajectory of race relations during her at thebuzzmagazines.com. She hosts the Thoughts life that further complicated her choices. All from a Page Podcast, is co-creator of the Houston sorts of fascinating book-related information literary event series Conversations from the Page, is woven seamlessly into the story, including runs the Instagram account @thoughtsfromapage, details related to rare books, manuscripts, and and regularly speaks to groups about books. incunabula (books printed before 1501)

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ JULY 2021 23

Elizabeth Garabedian

TRAVEL

by Tracy L. Barnett, staff writer

Travel Buzz

Four small-town Texas escapes

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s we saw two months ago in Travel Buzz: Three tiny Texas gems, getting away for a while doesn’t need to involve a huge investment of logistics, time, or cash. We had so much fun reporting that story that we decided to circle back and seek some more Texas small-town destinations – and we didn’t have to look far. From Smithville to Luckenbach, small-town Texas is calling to many of our readers.

A girlfriend getaway, a concert, a search for a wedding destination, and a dream to reconnect with a simpler lifestyle led some of our readers to set their sights on peaceful burgs throughout the region. Four of them shared their stories with us.

Round Top: Jorden and Reed Reed Hogan and Jorden Jolley were all set to tie the knot in a destination wedding in Italy, where Reed’s mother Terrie has a second home.

Covid made that impossible, however, so the family put the plan on hold.

Meanwhile, Reed’s birthday was coming up, and they were casting about for a different sort of place where they could savor some of Italy’s flavors closer to home. “Reed’s mom really knows her way around Italian food, and she suggested Lulu’s in Round Top,” recalled Jorden. They were just going to make the hour-and-a-half drive for dinner and then come back. But a spectacular dinner, combined with lots of wine and a foggy evening, turned it into an overnight – and thus began the couple’s love affair with the Hill Country town.

They loved it for its nostalgic feel, for its cowboy chic, for its unexpected sophistication.

That night they found The Frenchie — a boutique hotel in a renovated vintage 1890s farmhouse – and they began, as Reed put it, to connect the dots.

“We had no idea what to expect because when we got there, it's the middle of the night, and it's completely foggy. We wake up, and it's gorgeous.”

The fall leaves were coming down around them, and the couple looked around the chic farmhouse filled with colorful retro French and other European décor. “I was like, where are we?

What is this place? This is so cool. I was just not expecting it.”

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“And that's when we decided officially, OK, we love this,” said Jorden.

“It depends on where you’re going. Some places lean more into the countryside; others lean more into like European culture,” said Jorden. “So it’s Cowboy European, I guess you could say.”

The wedding was at The Frenchie, and the wedding dinner was at Lulu’s, with the rehearsal dinner at Royer’s Round Top Café – a place of happy childhood memo- COUNTRY NUPTIALS Jorden Jolley and Reed Hogan fell in love with Round Top, which ries for Reed, is where they ended up tying the knot; the wedding was at The Frenchie Boutique Hotel, whose vintage 1800s farmhouse set the scene for an intimate country retreat. Top photo: whose family from the wedding; bottom photo: a ranch on the outskirts of Round Top. would often go up Transier had decided to make the move to to spend the weekend in the town.

Colorado. She wanted to do a special farewell, Jorden gets teary-eyed when she talks about so she decided on a girl’s retreat. Fredericksburg the gathering. The Italian ceremony would have rose to the top; she hadn’t been there since colleft out Jorden’s sister-in-law, who was pregnant, lege, and she knew it had changed. and her grandparents, who didn’t want to fly that “I knew it had great little wine trips and side far. It would have also been much bigger. But as trips and fun shopping,” she said. “So it seemed it turned out, the 18 people who attended were like the perfect girls’ getaway.” together in the Frenchie for two to three days Of the larger group that started planning and ended up bonding through the experience. three months before, a threesome actually saw “We were in a small hotel in a small town, it through – Lynda, Donna Lewis, and Patsy and we spent like every second together – and I Chapman. They landed at The Inn on Baron’s think it made it much more intimate overall,” Creek, just two blocks from downtown but a said Reed. world apart. “You can sit on your rocker on your Jorden agreed. “I feel like it put our marriage porch and just enjoy the afternoon and the sunoff to a good start because it's like our whole set; it’s very relaxing.” family got joined together,” she said.

They signed up for a wine tour and were charmed by their guides. Deb, a Fredericksburg Fredericksburg: Lynda and friends native, had recently gotten engaged to Brayden, After a lifetime living in Houston, Lynda Jorden Jolley

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Mike Marvins Lynda Transier

A GERMAN TOUCH Clockwise, from upper left: Main Street Fredericksburg in the holiday season, by Mike Marvins, author of four books about the Texas Hill Country; Gruene Hall before the Wynonna Judd concert: (from left) Melissa Hobbs, Leah Ragiel, Cece McCann Flynn, Elizabeth Fulghum, Melissa Dramberger, and Lynne Fowler; Lynne (left) with Melissa Hobbs, drying off after jumping into the icy Guadalupe River for a swim; back in Fredericksburg, nonprofit-fundraiser Lynda Transier (center) enjoys a selfie at the Augusta Vin winery with friends Patsy Chapman, CEO of the Nutcracker Market (left), and Donna Lewis, owner of Tootsies.

from a small town near Dallas, and the two of them had started 830 Elevated Wine Tours – named for the Texas Hill Country area code – together. They bought a 15-person van and set about tailoring their trips to what the guests are most interested in.

“They were super wonderful,” said Lynda.

“They’re knowledgeable and funny, and they’re young and in love – and it’s refreshing to be around that.”

With 60 vineyards in the Fredericksburg area (and another 70 applicants awaiting their permits), there was no shortage of places to choose from. Their favorite: Augusta Vin, a picturesque estate winery overlooking the Pedernales River, which “makes you feel like you’re in Napa Valley,” according to Lynda.

They also had to check out the outrageous Fat Ass Ranch and Winery. “It was mainly out of curiosity more than anything else,” she confessed. “Their wines are a little sweeter than what we prefer, but they also sell something called an orange mimosa – orange juice mixed

with white wine – and I did walk out with quite a few bottles.”

Back in town, they spent hours browsing the stores and boutiques up and down Main Street – Auer Haus home décor stood out for its furnishings and accessories.

For meals, breakfast at Emma + Ollie Bakeshop topped the list – an elevated version of your grannie’s kitchen, to loosely quote their website.

“That was our favorite meal of the entire trip,” said Lynda. “Their breakfast was phenomenal.

They had special coffees and teas, and a little retail side. You don’t think of breakfast when you’re traveling as being your favorite meal, but it’s just charming, and it has a lot to offer.”

The trip reminded Lynda of the special character that can only be found in small towns.

“Those little towns, you can see that they are existing on the charm; hopefully, people are coming back to that,” she said. “My mother grew up in a small town, so, visiting relatives, you realize you need to support small, especially the Mom and Pop businesses. So that’s why we felt

we wanted to keep it small, go local, and keep it something we could drive to.”

Gruene: Leah and friends For Leah Ragiel, the occasion was a Wynonna Judd concert at Gruene Hall. A friend procured 10 tickets, and another friend who owns a house a few blocks from the venue offered a place to stay – so a Gruene girls’ getaway was born.

She’d been to Gruene once before during the pandemic and knew it wouldn’t be the same as the old times – mandatory masks, distanced seating, no standing and dancing in the aisles – but it was Wynonna, and it was Gruene. So it was a festive occasion.

It was mid-April, and the timing was perfect.

“The bluebonnets were in bloom; it was just a wonderful escape out into the Texas countryside,” said Leah.

Elizabeth Fulghum rolled out the red carpet for her friends, offering a color-coded Mexican blanket for each guest to wrap up (continued on page 26) WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ JULY 2021 25

Betsy Taylor

Lori Gola Photography, Smithville, TX

SMITHVILLE MOMENTS Mitch and Betsy Taylor take a stroll down Smithville's Main Street; Betsy on the ranch, feeding her miniature pigs, Niffler and Winifred. They were 2 months old here; despite being miniature, they are now about 130 pounds each. (continued from page 25) in on the deck overlooking

the Guadalupe River. There was coffee in the mornings and wine in the evenings the three days the friends gathered, and this quickly became their place to bond and share stories.

“We just really enjoy the town and the shopping and the eating,” said Leah. “We can walk everywhere from Elizabeth’s house, and we generally bring our cowboy boots.”

The girls started rolling into town on Friday night, with four of them joining for a late-night dinner at McAdoo’s Seafood Company. A leisurely Saturday morning began with breakfast tacos on the terrace, and when everyone was ready, they all walked into town for a day of shopping and dining and more shopping.

“Some shops offer snacks or cocktails while you shop,” Leah recalled. “Gruene Market Days was happening in the public square, and they had live music.”

Finally it was time for the main event.

“We had been listening to Wynonna Judd songs all week in preparation,” said Leah. “She was awesome… it was really intimate, so close and personal.” It was her first show since Covid began, and she was so happy to be performing, she came out barefoot.

After the concert the girls stayed up late chitchatting and then rose late and breakfasted on pastries from Naegelin’s, the stellar German bakery nearby.

After a rough year, this group of empty nesters just needed to get out of town and have some fun, said Leah.

“It’s such a change of scenery to live in the big city and just have a reset,” she added. “Not just a change of scenery but a change of ambiance. I’m getting back to my Texas roots, WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ JULY 2021 26

and I’m not even Texan, but I brought my boots and my hat.”

Smithville: Betsy and family For Betsy Taylor, Smithville has been more than a destination; it’s been the fulfillment of a dream. Eighteen years ago, when daughter Maddie was in second grade, her scout troop wanted to take the girls on their first campout. One of the moms in the troop had a ranch near Smithville.

“We took the girls out there so we’d have easy access to bathrooms and the house; it was good for first-time campers,” said Betsy. “We had a great weekend, and the friend showed us the town of Smithville, and we thought it was adorable.”

Betsy showed husband Mitch the town on the way to Austin, and they had talked about getting a weekend place there. But a couple of years went by before they got serious about it. Betsy contacted a realtor who began looking around for them — top on the list was a nearby place to board horses.

The realtor knew just the place – right across the road from the only horse-boarding place in the area.

“It was prettier than I had ever imagined a property in Texas would be,” said Betsy. It was covered with trees, on a hill, with a pretty house. An older couple had built it five years before, and had decided to retire in town. It would be the perfect place for the ranch they had been dreaming of.

Sixteen years later, that ranch is now their second home. They are now the weekend caretakers of four horses, five miniature donkeys, three goats, two pigs, 14 chickens, four cats and two dogs, and 135 acres of former cattle ranch, which they are managing for wildlife, trying to bring back the biodiversity. There’s a lot of work to be done, but when it’s time for a break, or

when there are visitors, the go-to place is Smithville, for its mosaic murals, delightful dining, fun shopping, live music, and antiquing.

The antique railroad town, with its railroad depot-turned-museum and its historic Main Street, has changed a lot in the 16 years since the Taylors made their move. At the time it was a sleepy little place without much going on.

Since that time it’s woken up in a big way.

Betsy’s favorites include the Back Door Café, Honey’s Pizza, the Mosaic Art & Home gallery, The Royal Tomato specialty grocery store, and an unusual restaurant with a unique concept: the Comfort Café, a pay-what-you-can restaurant run by recovering addicts from Serenity Star, a local rehab center.

“Our Smithville life is so different than our Houston life,” said Betsy. “Out here we feel more connected to the earth, more affected by the weather, closer connections to small businesses and their owners, with associated greater hopes and fears for their success. We love the slower pace of change and the real excitement when something new comes along.

And we cherish the friends we’ve made out here, with so many interesting life stories, most of which culminate with their thrill at having landed in Smithville.”

MORE ONLINE For more on traveling to Texas towns, see “Travel Buzz: Three tiny Texas gems” at thebuzzmagazines.com.

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

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NEIGHBORS

The Buzz Magazines 2021 Photo Contest

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sponsored by

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fter reviewing more than 1,200 submitted images, we are pleased to present the winners of The Buzz Magazines’ 16th annual photo contest. Congratulations to all and especially to our grand prize winner, Scott Mochon, for his photo, Royal St. Blues.

As our grand prize winner, Scott will receive a couples staycation package compliments of The Houstonian Hotel, Club & Spa. With any contest like this, the process is subjective. However, there are basic principles of photography that must be met, such as lighting, focus, exposure, and composition. And there are personal elements to consider: subject, emotion, and storytelling. Judging is blind, as the judges do not see names or any information about the photographers.

We also let our readers vote. We posted 45 finalists on our Facebook page, and the photos that received the most “Likes” became our Readers’ Choice winners.

The Buzz Magazines’ annual photo contest is open to all amateur photographers, so keep that in mind as you are shooting pictures in the upcoming year. Watch for next year’s call for entries on our website and social media and in the March 2022 print issue. Thanks to everyone who entered, our judges, our readers who voted online, and our contest sponsor, The Houstonian Hotel, Club & Spa.

Royal St. Blues, Grand Prize Winner Scott Mochon, 65, took this photo of an unknown musician playing bass on Royal Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans. “It was taken in September of last year on an extremely hot day in the middle of the afternoon. He works hard for a living and was sharing his gift of music with people who walked by.”

The judges' response: The instant this image flashed on the screen we all went, “Whoa!” We immediately knew this photo was likely going to be the winner. The photographer’s choice of black and white amplifies all the textures in the photograph. We know it’s an unposed, live event because we see onlookers in the background, which are out of focus and add another layer to the image. It’s a nice piece of street photography that tells a compelling story.

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A Leaf Through the Dew on a Spider's Web Third Place/Nature Matthew Strausser, 34, goes on “bug hunts” with his 2-year-old daughter. “I noticed some funnel spider webs in the grass near a wooded area, and we got down close to search for the builders. The spiders were nowhere to be seen, just dead grass and wet, brown leaves.

Although not a particularly photogenic area at first glance, up close I could see the water drops were almost perfect spheres and functioned as tiny lenses. I began experimenting to see if I could photograph the leaves below, focusing through these nearly microscopic drops. What started out as a photoshoot of animals in their natural environment ended up being a much more experimental and abstract exercise in how light bends, blurs, and reflects off water and spider silk.” This photo also received first place in our Readers’ Choice contest.

It Feels Like Rain Fifth Place/Nature Jan Buchholtz, 64, said she took advantage of clearing skies on a late afternoon in July and traveled to Brazos Bend State Park. “After arriving, a lone rain cloud drenched the park. Not deterred, I continued to explore the trails teeming with wildlife. I crept toward a yellowcrowned night heron (Nyctanassa violacea), waiting for it to turn toward the sun. I knelt to capture the bird surrounded by wetland grasses sparkling with raindrops.

This is one of my favorite photos of the day because it depicts the heron in its lush environment."

Goats in a Field Fourth Place/Animals Bonnie Davidson, 72, took this photo south of Sheffield, Texas, in August. “We were on our way to Big Bend and typically take the offbeat road. These goats were just laying around and begging to have their picture taken.

When I got out of the car, they all got up and came to the fence. I love goats and a few other animals (i.e. donkeys and sheep). These goats wanted to be petted, which I did not do, since I did not know them, nor their owner.”

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Highway Through the Canyons, Second Place/Landscapes Mitch Boeck, 33, took this photo of the Historic Columbia River Highway that runs through the Columbia River Gorge. “I had noticed this unique ‘horseshoe’ view of the road earlier the day prior and made it a point to go out and shoot it during sunrise.

I was blessed with beautiful conditions in a beautiful area. My explorations of the Columbia River Gorge were incredible. From broad vistas and rivers to secluded and incredible waterfalls, this place was a dream.”

Inquisitive First Place/Animals Chantal Liekens, 57, took this photo of a northern crested caracara last April on North Boulevard in Boulevard Oaks.

Chantal was out taking photos in the early evening for a longexposure exercise when an ambassador of the Wildlife Center of Texas passed by with this caracara on his arm. He was walking down the street to get the caracara used to a noisy environment with people before being brought to schools and organizations.

“We started chatting about this beautiful bird, and I took the opportunity to take some photos. My challenge for this photo was the low light I had to deal with while keeping a high shutter speed, as the caracara was moving his head a lot.”

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Amaryllis, Second Place/Nature David Silberman, 67, took this photo of an amaryllis in April 2021 in his neighbor’s yard. “Many gardens were impacted due to the freeze Texas experienced this winter. This flower was a welcome survivor. Unable to travel due to Covid, I found beauty close to home. Wonderful things are all around us.”

Into the Looking Glass, Fourth Place/People and Portraits “This photo was taken in the front yard when it was almost impossible to professionally capture our son turning 1 year old during the Covid pandemic, so we decided to take some home photos ourselves,” said Danielle Crockett, 51. “On one of our Houston, hot, humid, sunny days in September 2020 we dressed up Knox to match one of our large mirrors in the house and crossed our fingers he could be still for a few seconds. At the age of 50, I have had many titles, but the best title I will ever have is being a mom.

Knox was born just one month after I turned 50 years old, and he will continue to keep us young. We are happy to share what a joy he has been to our family.”

Sleeping Lion, Third Place/Animals Jaana Eleftheriou, 57, took this photo of a sleeping female lion in Masai Mara, Kenya, in November of 2020. “I travel frequently to Africa. I mainly volunteer in wildlife-conservation projects. This place in Kenya is by African Impact. They have a volunteer project in Naboisho, greater conservation area to Masai Mara.

This lion was part of a legendary pride in Masai Mara. She was sleeping in a bush, and I was drawn to the variations of the light and shadow on her sleeping face. It created a very peaceful picture.”

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Farmer’s Paradise-Ubud First Place/Landscapes Payman Karimi, 53, took this photo of a rice field in August in Sidemen Village in Bali, Indonesia. “The person in the photo is an unknown farmer (to me) who was working on his field while I was taking a walk around the village. The symmetry and the harmony that this farmer had created attracted me to capture this photo. And even though I could not see his face, I could feel that he must’ve been very proud of it. It was late afternoon, and it was during pandemic, and it was very quiet times indeed with not many people around, but to me it demonstrated the hard work that this farmer had put in his field – pandemic or not! And life was going on as normal for him while wrapping up another day in such a beautiful place.”

Frozen Tears, Second Place/Readers’ Choice Dana Katz, 44, says, “This is a photo of my sweet, 1-year old nephew Luca Yudovich taken in Bellaire during the arrival of the exciting and unanticipated February ice storm. Wearing a snowsuit and snow boots for the first time, Luca didn’t know how to walk on the snow and began to cry. When his mother went to pick him up, he stopped crying, but the manifestations of his weeping were caked on his face. Perhaps these frozen tears were a portent of the devastation many of us would feel in the days and weeks to follow.”

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Bee Haven First Place/Nature Jan Buchholtz took this photo last July in Sheldon Lake State Park as a change of pace from her regular early-morning walking routes. “I was pleased to discover an alligator-observation boardwalk over the water. Though no gators were in evidence that morning, I did enjoy an unusual downward viewpoint of a lotus flower. Stamens tenaciously grasped the seedpod, as if they were protecting the precious cargo. Then I noticed others found the sunny glow at the center of the flower compelling; one and then another honeybee approached to collect pollen, the wing blur adding a dynamic element to the photo.”

Tunnel View, Third Place/Landscapes Shunney Nair, 49, took this photo of Yosemite Valley from Tunnel View at sunrise. “Growing up I recall seeing black and white photos of this vista view made famous by Ansel Adams and [was] intrigued by write-ups highlighting how it changes from season to season and even moment to moment. While this is a must-see, popular spot to take photographs, I wasn't sure what to expect due to the California wildfires. It turns out the haze from the smoke created a dramatic, painting-like effect on the landscape and sky that continuously changed the view even more than usual. It was well-worth the 5 a.m. wake-up call and [I was] fortunate to be there over Labor Day weekend – especially since two weeks later, the park closed temporarily due to smoky skies and hazardous air quality.” This photo also received third place in our Readers’ Choice contest.

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Portrait in B/W Second Place/People and Portraits Mauricio Recinos, 50, took this photo at home while his wife’s family was visiting. “Sometimes it is not easy to take pictures of young people because many times they are camera shy, but I was lucky all of them did great. This picture is of Valentina, one of my wife's nieces. I was able to take a few pictures of her. For this one, I asked her to sit sideways and turn and look at me. Fortunately, she did precisely what I wanted, and the picture came out nice. Black and white was just the final touch.”

Four, Fifth Place/Animals Mauricio Recinos took this photo in March on a trip to Galveston. “It was a sunny day with a little wind, and the seagulls were flying low. They caught my attention because they were flying almost in a straight line. I tried to take some pictures, but the first time I was not able to get a good one. Fortunately, they came back a second time, and it was then when I got this shot. The four of them looked well synchronized as they flew by.”

Skyspace, Fourth Place/Landscapes Don Dorsey, 67, took this photo of James Turrell’s “Skyspace” installation on the Rice University campus in July 2020. “I ride my bike past it at different times of day, and that day the light and angles made it an interesting subject. I thought the geometry and form of it would come across best in black and white.”

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Sand Play Third Place/People and Portraits Whitni Parker, 42, took this photo of her son, Emmett, at Inlet Beach, Florida, in August 2020. “I was just trying to capture the feel of the trip and pulled my camera out to document what my kids were up to on the beach. The color of the beautiful sea water in contrast with the white sand is the perfect backdrop … you can't take a bad picture in this setting. It begs to be photographed.

Everyone knows kids don't keep, so I try to grab pictures of my kids being kids often.”

This photo also received fourth place in our Readers’ Choice contest.

Arrival of Summer, Fifth Place/People and Portraits Bora Rockov, 39, took this photo of his son Kai, 4, in their backyard in the afternoon. “The pure joy he was having prompted me to take the photo. He kept running through the sprinkler, and the flowing water added an interesting effect to the image.”

Please Open the Door, Second Place/Animals Deborah Seghers, 46, took this photo of her rescue dog, Clover, last year by the back door of her home. “Despite her unusually calm temperament and genteel tendencies, Clover has a high prey drive. She was staring at a lizard on the back patio. I walked over to see what had caught her attention. I had my camera phone in my hand. As I approached, she looked up at me with a look of intent. I couldn’t help but take a photo.” (The lizard got away.)

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Bloodshot First Place/People and Portraits Estefania Lopez-Salas, 16, took this photo of her own eyes while she was on a trip in Rome with her family in November 2020. “I wanted to get an interesting panorama of my eyes, which is how I ended up with this photo. I then cropped it and edited it. I was trying to take a so-called ‘selfie’ of my face, and I manipulated the photo digitally to make everything in the picture black and white except my eyes.”

The Lone Fisherman, Fifth Place/Readers’ Choice Loyd Dalton, 73, took this photo in June 2020 at San Luis Pass between Galveston and Surfside. “I traveled there early one morning to arrive at dawn for a photo op and was rewarded with a glorious sunrise and corresponding reflections at the water's edge. The composition just jumped out at me. The bonus was the fisherman that was setting up his rods on the beach! I thought the image was worthy of entering in the Buzz Photo Contest!”

Giant Swallowtail on Firespike, Fourth Place/Nature “My husband is the gardener in the family, so I always go running, with my camera, when I hear his call because I know he has found something great!” said Bonnie Davidson. In June, her husband called her from the garden. “This butterfly [giant swallowtail] sat on the firespike blossom for some time with its wings spread, allowing me to zoom and get a sharp picture.”

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Point First Place/Sports and Action Edie Stavinoha, 62, was at the Glassell School of Art on the third floor in April and “looked down to see this fantastic scene on the steps below. It seems to be a place people like to take pictures, myself included.”

Rice Blessing-Ubud Fifth Place/Landscapes Payman Karimi captured this photo in August 2020 in Sidemen Village in Bali, Indonesia. “The beauty and tranquility created by these rice fields attracted me to them, which also showed how the farmer puts his hope and blessings (small temple in the middle) for the healthy growth of his rice plants.”

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Judges’ Bios

Bob Gomel became a photographer with LIFE magazine in 1959. During the ’60s, his subjects included such luminaries as President Kennedy, The Beatles, Muhammad Ali, President Nixon, General MacArthur, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Marilyn Monroe, Peggy Lee, and Dustin Hoffman. In addition to his LIFE assignments, he shot covers for magazines that included, among others, Fortune, Sports Illustrated, Newsweek, and Forbes. In the ’70s and ’80s, he shot notable ad campaigns such as Merrill Lynch’s “Bullish on America'' series.

His work has been reproduced in over two dozen book collections. His awards include the prestigious Missouri School of Journalism’s Best Picture of the Year. Both the Library of Congress and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston have several of his works in their permanent collections. A recent documentary filmed in Houston about his career, Bob Gomel: Eyewitness, is viewable on Amazon Prime Video. Another documentary, Muhammad Ali: A Life in Ten Pictures, is on BBC – it features interviews with Bob about his famous image of Malcolm X taking Ali’s picture at the victory party after Ali became the champion. The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at The University of Texas at Austin has committed to cataloging and preserving his archives for future generations. Read more about Bob Gomel at thebuzzmagazines.com in Behind the Lens: The Life of a Life Photographer. gomelbob@gmail.com

Michael Hart has provided photographic images to corporations, design firms and advertising agencies for almost 40 years. His assignments have taken him to 49 states and more than 30 countries. Michael’s work is consistently represented in the international Black & White Spider Awards, and an image appears in its book, The World’s Greatest Black and White Photography.

Recent exhibits include multiple shows at the New York Center for Photographic Art, and the Southeast Center for Photography. Recent accolades include local Gold and Silver ADDY awards and a national ADDY award from the American Advertising Federation. He is a member of the national board of directors of the American Society of Media Photographers. His book, Biggio: The Final Game, is in the library of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, and a photo from it is in The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. www.hartphoto.com www.michaelhartfineart.com mhart@hartphoto.com

Rocky Kneten came to the great city of Houston in 1984 and began his career making photographs for corporations and magazines including Texas Monthly, Sunset, Forbes, Discover, and Esquire. He was commissioned by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston to do principal photography for two books, and his work has been included in the books Texas on a Roll, Houston: A SelfPortrait, and The Pictures of Texas Monthly: 25 Years. Always visually curious, he shoots personal work that has been exhibited in galleries, the Houston Center for Photography, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Windows on Houston (Bush IAH), and many group shows during the FotoFest biennials in Houston. He is thankful for a profession that has taken him to unusual places and to meet interesting people. Rocky is a member of the American Society of Media Photographers and the Pixels + Silver Fine Art Photography Group. www.rockykneten.com rocky@rockykneten.com

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SPORTS

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by Todd Freed, staff writer

SportzBuzz F

or the first time in school history, the Second Baptist Eagles are state softball champions. The Eagles captured the TAPPS Division 2 state championship with a decisive 13-0 victory over Grapevine Faith Christian in the state title game.

“Our girls kind of flew under the radar for much of the season, but we peaked at the right time,” said Eagles softball coach Brandy Mardis. In the playoffs, the Eagles defeated St. John Paul II 4-0, Lutheran South Academy 100, and Fort Bend Christian Academy 5-3, and capped it all off with the decisive victory over Grapevine Faith.

Senior pitcher Rachel Riley starred both on the pitching mound and at the plate all season for the Eagles with a .530 batting average and a 15-5 record on the mound. Riley was also a perfect 5-0 in the playoffs, including a two-hit shutout victory in the state final. Riley and standout hitter Leyla Ertan (.458 average) were the only two seniors on the Eagles’ roster.

Behind the plate, it was a sensational season for junior catcher Emma Garcia, who led the team with 25 RBIs and a lofty .515 batting average. Another major contributor in the statechampionship run was sophomore shortstop Emily Rogers, who led the team in runs scored while hitting for a .473 batting average.

“The season was special to us for a lot of reasons,” said Mardis. “The girls battled through some tough years and a lot of adversity. For them to have their moment and see all their hard work and dedication pay off is truly rewarding.”

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he St. Thomas Eagles are the TAPPS 6A boys state track and field champions for the third time in the last five years. The Eagles captured this year’s state title by a hefty 31-point margin over second-place Trinity Christian.

“Our motivational motto all season was finish with purpose,” said Eagles head track and field coach Nathan Labus. “Qualifying for state wasn’t going to be good enough. We had a great group of leaders on this team who were intent on winning the state championship.”

One of those leaders was senior standout Cameron Bonner, who won a pair of gold

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ON THE FAST TRACK The St. Thomas Eagles won this year’s TAPPS 6A boys state track and field championship. The victory marked the Eagles’ third state championship in the last five seasons.

medals, including a state-record victory of 47.98 seconds in the 400-meter dash. In addition, Bonner teamed with Joseph Romero, Heriberto Villegas, and Luke Anigbogu to win the 4x400 meter relay. If that weren’t enough, Bonner ran on the Eagles’ second-place 4x100 meter relay team.

Even before hitting the fast track, the Eagles set the tone for the state title by dominating the field events on Day 1 of the meet. Junior Andre Meza finished first in the high jump, while freshman Marquis Kiatta was second in the triple jump and third in the long jump.

“We loaded up with 49 points in the field events, which put us in a great position to win the title,” said Labus. “All of our guys really performed at their best, and the exciting thing is, out of our 18 competitors, only three are seniors.

So, we’re definitely excited for next year.”

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he St. Agnes Academy Tigers dominated the field to capture their fifth consecutive TAPPS 6A girls state track and field championship, winning the meet by an amazing 92point margin. “It was definitely our biggest margin of victory to win a state title,” said Tigers track and field coach Kristi Robbins. The Tigers were so dominant that the team racked

up first-place finishes in nine of their 16 events.

Tigers junior Leah Klenke put forth an especially spectacular meet by winning gold in three distance races, including the 800 meter, the 1,600 meter, and the 3,200 meter. While becoming the first St. Agnes runner ever to win all three of those distance races, Klenke also set a TAPPS state-record time in the 1,600-meter victory.

“She’s definitely a special athlete,” said Robbins.

Junior Allie Scott was another multiple goldmedal winner for the Tigers, with victories in the 100-meter hurdles and the 300-meter hurdles. In the field events, Faith Mitchell set a state record while winning the shot put and also captured gold in the discus throw. In addition, senior Crystel Ozigboh won the triple jump, and fellow senior Mimi McHugh captured gold in the pole vault.

“Our girls simply went above and beyond,” said Robbins. “We were an especially wellrounded team.”

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.

SPORTS

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by Angie Frederickson, staff writer

SportzBuzz Jr. W

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

Earth-shaking win The Earthquakes (top photo) are West University Softball Association (WUSA) 7U champions, after a 16-14 win over the Whirlwind. Both teams had excellent batting lineups, and the Earthquakes also relied on good defensive plays. The Earthquakes are a true neighborhood team, with girls from multiple elementary schools: Condit, Horn, West U, Twain, Lovett, and Presbyterian School. This year’s softball champs are (top row, from left) assistant coaches Seth Borland, Marko Hirvensalo, and Nick Palaskas, manager Garth Beinart, (bottom row, from left) Olivia Palaskas, Scarlett Formidoni, Savannah Beinart, Emily Dabney, Lexi Cohen, Cate Pieper, Grace Hirvensalo, Caroline Borland, Louise Veit, and Katelyn Stein.

The city’s best The 5/6 Dragons girls lacrosse team (middle photo) finished an undefeated run to win the Greater Houston Girls Youth Lacrosse Association (GHGYLA) city-wide championship. This is the first city title for any of the Dragons teams. The talented team dominated each game, with solid victories over HYLAX and Cy Fair in the first two rounds. In the championship game, the Dragons battled the Woodlands, a team that is known for exceptional talent and lots of big wins. The first half ended with a 1-1 tie, but the Dragons scored 12 straight goals in the second half. City champs are (top row, from left) assistant coach Clara VanLandingham, assistant coach John Mason, Hadley Burrow, Elizabeth Dale, Carly Buck, Amanda Stinson, head coach Marissa Ramey, Maddy Zhang, Claire Thames, Caroline Peterson, (bottom row, from left) Caroline Tcholakian, Layton Vaneck, Bailey Ultis, Catherine Clampitt, Peyton Whittaker, Addy Grover, Averey Miller, Noelle Miller, and Sophia Judd; not pictured: CoCo Ballette, Brynn Derrick, and Adelaide Strange.

First-time softball champs The Presbyterian School Lady Panthers (bottom photo) defeated The Kinkaid School to win the Houston Junior Preparatory Conference (HJPC) softball championship. After losing to Kinkaid 0-8 in the regular season, the teams met again in the final game, and the Lady Panthers dominated the field with a 7-3 win. Softball is a relatively new sport at Presbyterian School, and 2019 was the team’s inaugural season, followed by the canceled 2020 season. Their re-debut in 2021 was a huge success with the school’s first softball championship. The Lady Panthers are (top row, from left) coach Casey Rosselet, coach Leslie Ukandu, Sophie Phillpott, Warner Stahlbaum, Emily Kopel, Brett Selldin, Bella Woodcox, Hollyn Hanslik, Claire Murray, coach Joe Woodcox, (bottom row, from left) Phoebe Bruchman, Cale Cross, Lara MacFarlane, and Sophie Girotto; not pictured: Macy Mehos.

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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.

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ JULY 2021 43

HELPING OUT Matthew Jeong, a rising freshman at Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA), helped out his community during the pandemic by collecting and distributing dental supplies, sanitation materials, and Covid-prevention items.

KIDS

by Matthew Jeong, age 14

Buzz Kidz

The sanitation project

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ovid-19 has had a profound impact on the world and my community. My family and I were able to get by without severe difficulties, but many people I know have struggled greatly. I wanted to be involved in the process of helping my community after Covid.

Although I wasn’t qualified enough to do significant research in the Covid-prevention effort for those affected by the pandemic, I could help prevent people from catching it, or at least reduce the chances of doing so.

I decided to organize a project based on helping people stay healthy and sanitary in order to stay as safe as possible.

First, I had to put together the necessary supplies for hygiene and Covid prevention. By reaching out to the Greater Houston Dental

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ JULY 2021 44

Hygienists' Association, I received dental supplies, sanitation materials, and other related items. In total, I collected 18 boxes full of dental and sanitary products that were ready to be dispensed. The project was a go.

With the supplies at hand, I began to reach out to hospitals, clinics, and homeless shelters.

After some time, I received a response from the Harris Health Ben Taub Hospital, who expressed interest in my project. Soon after, I managed to communicate and set up a date for me to deliver the supplies, and finally met at the hospital to transport the goods.

The project was a great experience and an accomplishment that was deeply personal to me.

Although we had been in a pandemic, I had managed to do my best to help those around me. It felt

satisfying and uplifting to know that my efforts and the supplies would be a helpful benefit towards those struggling with the unique and often negative circumstances that Covid had put many of us in.

Even with limitations, it was still possible to do my best towards helping make the world a better place.

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

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Five-syllable words Doctors often seem to have their own language, speaking in scientific medical terms that often confuse those trying to understand them. Even when a doctor says, “I don’t know,” it can come out as, “The precise mechanism has yet to be fully elucidated.” Seriously, I heard a speaker use those very words at a Q&A session at a recent medical conference.

Inside the hospital, it’s especially bad. Did you get sicker after you were admitted to the hospital? Perhaps a nosocomial, iatrogenic case of pneumonia?

That probably means someone didn’t wash their hands and infected you.

In the field of allergy, we describe hives as “urticaria” and swelling as “angioedema.” It’s bad enough that you can’t stop itching, but it adds insult to injury when the doctor’s explanation involves terms such as “eosinophil,” “immunologic” or “idiopathic.” In fact, attempting to use the internet to translate some of these terms can lead an unsuspecting individual into a deeper maze of medical jargon with even more five-syllable words!

Our doctors certainly know all the five-syllable words, but we focus on making ourselves understood, so we reserve those fancy words for the times we’re speaking with medical professionals. Even if there comes a time when patients can use Google Translate or myLINGO in their doctors' office, we will continue to emphasize patient education because we realize there is a lot of confusion about allergies and how they can be treated.

Instead of treating you with “corticosteroids” or “bronchodilators,” we will treat you with medications that decrease inflammation and open up the airway.

Speaking of treatments, another common place to find more five-syllable words is in the package insert that comes with all medications. Patients with

an inhaler often try to read the package insert for guidance on how to use their inhaler. This insert usually has barely legible microscopic fine print with several pages’ worth of instructions and directions. There is no substitution that can replace one-on-one, hands-on training with an inhaler. As board-certified specialists in adult and pediatric allergy, asthma and immunology, we will also sit down with you and explain how these medications are to be taken and how to operate any medication device, such as an inhaler. We are armed with the latest advances in the diagnosis and treatment of allergies and asthma, balanced with the common sense that comes from decades of experience.

The Allergy Clinic welcomes Emily Medley, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, who earned her Master of Science in nursing in 2018. Emily suffered from both eczema and asthma, and as a child, was a patient of Dr. Joseph Engler, the first fellowship-trained allergist in the city of Houston.

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

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sponsored by

PETS

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Are we ready for normal?

Neighborhood Tails Goose, age 2, Goldendoodle, Charlotte Howdy! I’m Goose. But I don’t quack – I woof! I have two humans and a big brother. I love them all very much. We’re family. I’ve been a bit stir crazy the last few weeks, but Mom always makes sure I get my case of the zoomies out six times a day.

Sorry, Mom. I’m not a fan of social distancing, as I’m always next to someone in my family, and I’ve felt more compelled to love on everyone I see. Mom takes me on so many adventures.

I’m not much of a complainer since I’m practically stuck to her. My favorite place is the dog park. I’ve met so many new friends there, while also slowing my energy box down for bedtime. To see my doodle-oodle-loving adventures, follow me on Instagram, @goose_thegoldendood.

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

The world at this time last year was quite different than it had ever been.

This year I would venture to say it is less different than last year but still different nonetheless. It also goes without saying that we are all ready to get back to more of a sense of normal. Back to normal routines. Back to family gatherings. Back to being with friends. And more importantly, getting the kids back to school. In-person school. New school shoes. New school clothes or uniforms. New backpacks.

New schedules. A new school year brings, among other things, new routines.

And a renewed commitment to healthy smiles.

This renewed commitment to optimal oral health should include brushing twice daily using a fluoridated toothpaste and flossing teeth that touch side by side. We recommend brushing for your child at least once a day until they reach the age of 8. Make packing lunches educational for your child by discussing and including healthy, nutritious items that promote healthy teeth.

If organized sports are on the schedule, consider mouth guards even for noncontact sports such as baseball and basketball. These two sports contribute to the majority of dental injuries, especially for boys between the ages of 7 and 12 years of age.

We yearn for a return to more of what we call normal. Let’s include a return to optimal oral health as well!

Bellaire Pediatric Dentistry, Dr. Joel J. Vela, 6750 West Loop South, Suite 795, Bellaire, Texas 77401, 713.661.1100, www.bellairesmiles.com

Create a buzz for your biz.

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

To advertise in The Buzz Magazines, contact us at 713.668.4157, ext. 11 or advertising@thebuzzmagazines.com WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ JULY 2021 46

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Married couples, the estate tax, and portability Bernie Sanders scared the pants off estate planners by suggesting a $3.5 million estate tax exclusion and a top estate tax rate of 65 percent. In May we all exhaled, when Biden’s “Green Book,” a tax wish list, was published, apparently leaving in place the current $10 million exclusion and 40 percent top rate.

Indexed for inflation since 2011, the exclusion amount for decedents who die during 2021 is $11,700,000. For those dying in 2026 and later, the $10 million figure is cut in half, to $5 million (still indexed for inflation). That reduction is black letter law, and not a Biden proposal.

The Green Book proposed carry-over basis for surviving spouses, and realization for everyone else, subject to a $1 million per-person exclusion. More on this if it passes, which it may or may not.

These moving targets, real or imagined, illustrate the legislative risk inherent in every estate plan. A surviving spouse can mitigate that risk by electing portability of the deceased spouse’s unused estate tax exemption (DSUE) amount. Doing so shields the kids’ inheritance with two parents’ estate tax exemptions, not just one. If Dad dies before 2026, and Mom’s own exemption drops to $3.5 million, Dad’s $10+ million exemption means the kids can inherit over $13.5 million, estate-tax free.

Portability is only available to a surviving spouse who files an estate tax return (IRS Form 706) within nine months of the first spouse’s death (a sixmonth extension is automatic if timely requested). The surviving spouse adds the DSUE amount to his or her own exemption, both for gift and estate tax purposes. The survivor can save it all for his or her own death, or use it

on lifetime gifts.

Remarriage jeopardizes the DSUE, because the statute refers to the “last deceased spouse.” The inherited DSUE is lost, not upon marrying someone new, but when the new spouse predeceases the taxpayer.

Lifetime gifts are still shielded; postmortem transfers are not. A second marriage doesn’t automatically waste the inherited exemption, but it does encourage lifetime gifts that might not be in the budget.

Tax-planned wills and trusts have advantages over portability alone. Assets of the first spouse to die are asset-protected. Not only the estate tax (think children) but also the generationskipping transfer tax exemptions apply (think grandchildren). Trust assets can grow, and the appreciation passes transfer-tax free, too. Not so with the DSUE amount, which is never adjusted for inflation.

For the moderately wealthy, the best strategy may be to sign tax-planned wills now and consider portability later. In other words, maybe do both.

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

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

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Katelyn Wallace

NEIGHBORS

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by Jordan Magaziner Steinfeld, staff writer

Buzz About Town Hannah Mougel

Meant to be

coast already under his belt. He loved hanging at the beach, swimming at the pool, and roaming the streets of NOLA. For his next adventure, Levi is taking his newly minted passport to visit his Canadian family in Montreal this summer.

Jonathan Schaffer and Megan Greene were waiting for the elevator in the apartment building they both live in when Megan asked, “Are you Alyssa [Schaffer’s] brother?” Jonathan replied: “Yes, are you Lindsay [Albert’s] cousin?”

Yes. Megan and Lindsay are cousins, and Lindsay and Alyssa are best friends, and although they had always thought Jonathan and Megan should meet, they never had until the encounter at the elevator. They didn’t even realize they lived in the same building. Soon after, they went on their first date, and the rest is history. Recently, Jonathan and Megan got engaged at the Memorial Park Eastern Glades followed by a celebration with friends and family, including parents Jack and Suzy Schaffer, Mark and Susie Greene, and siblings Jeremy Schaffer and Alyssa Schaffer. Jonathan and Megan plan to marry in the fall of 2022 and are hoping to be settled into the new home they’re building by that time, along with their dog, Tito.

From West U to Germany Lucas Salaberry, who recently completed his sophomore year at Lamar High School, will spend time this summer preparing for his upcoming school year – in Germany. Lucas received a scholarship to continue his high school education at United World College Robert Bosch in Freiburg, Germany. He was WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ JULY 2021 48

among 60 U.S. students selected for the meritbased Davis Scholarships. UWC is an international high school for 16 to 19 year olds with 18 campuses worldwide whose mission is to unite cultures through education and working to create a more peaceful world. UWC offers the international baccalaureate, a two-year pre-university program that is widely recognized. Lucas says he was drawn to UWC because its mission aligns with his passions and goals. His mother graduated in ’85, coming from Uruguay, and although he’s never visited the campus in Germany, he’s very excited. Proud parents are Rafael Salaberry and Maria J. Tort.

Adventures with Levi Emily and Steven Shannon welcomed their son Levi Sawyer Shannon (Hebrew name Moshe) to the world Feb. 7. Levi has had no shortage of love and attention from grandparents Marla and Billy Drori and Amy and Jerry Shannon; aunts and uncles David Shannon, Greg Shannon, Lisa Shannon, Rhonda Grintuch and Adam Drori, Jesse Drori and Mel Commisso; and cousins Dalia and Jonah Drori. Levi is named after his late great-grandfathers Seymour “Slugger” Cohen and Moshe Drori. Levi wasted no time setting out on his first adventure, with a road trip to New Orleans and the Florida

Courtesy of Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston

Jet setting for pets

More than 200 animal lovers “took flight” with Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston to the 8th Annual Wags & Whiskers Brunch and Pet Fashion Show. “Captain” (event chair) M.A. Shute led the virtual event, themed Jet Set Pets.

IM’s team of Meals on Wheels drivers delivered a carry-on lunch from Phoenicia Specialty Foods for guests at home. Guests donned their best jet set or vintage attire along with Delta Airlines slippers, included in their carry-ons. IM board chair and “Co-Sr. Captain” Jay Harberg prepared guests with virtual boarding passes while “Lead Flight Attendant” Casey Curry (pictured) served as emcee. Guests enjoyed “dutyfree shopping” during the online auction and raffle. Pets took to the run- (continued on page 50)

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(continued from page 48) way

during the Pet Fashion Show at the Lone Star Flight Museum.

The title of Animeals Top Pet was awarded to Rachel Feiertag with Zim (cat) and Kuma (dog). Coco and pet parent Ali Al Sudani won the People’s Choice Award. The Aviators Host Committee included Dr. Vasant Garg, Tyler Juergens, Paula Sutton, and Nadia Tajalli. The event raised more than $70,000 for the Animeals program, which provides free pet food and vet care to 1,300 dogs and cats of homebound seniors.

Special delivery

to disrupt a gene in bacteria and observe a clear phenotypic change as a result. Pictured are Emma Barber (on left) and Heidi Tarr.

Walking together Easter Seals Greater Houston recently marked the 10th year of its annual Walk With Me event to raise funds for local families in need of its services, including mental health and case management. After taking a virtual approach last

Mailman Patrick Sanchez has a huge fan club in the neighborhood. West U neighbors decided to deliver something nice in return. When Whitney Krueger discovered that Patrick’s birthday was coming up, she thought it would be fun if the neighbors surprised him with a birthday celebration. The word spread, and neighbors decorated their doors and passed along festive birthday cards or treats. Pictured is Patrick receiving a birthday hug from Annie Kate Krueger. See "Special Delivery for a Special West U Mailman" by Karen Vine Fuller at thebuzzmagazines.com for more details and photos.

It’s in the genes Emery/Weiner students in Ms. Heidi Tarr’s AP biology class were the first high school students in the world to conduct the CRISPR-Cas9 lab developed by MiniPCR. Students worked to edit genes using the CRISPR-Cas9 technology that won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry. MiniPCR had reached out to Ms. Tarr to request help with the piloting and changing protocol portions of the development of the lab. She was sent a trial kit and performed the lab, making and reporting adjustments that were needed. Based on her feedback, Emery students were provided with a new version of the lab. This lab serves as an introduction to genome editing for students; the class practiced micro-pipetting and bacterialtransformation techniques. Over a two-day process, the class used the CRISPR-Cas9 system WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ JULY 2021 50

year due to Covid, the organization moved to a hybrid model in which participants were able to choose their route and walk, roll, or stroll the non-competitive 5k at the Houston Zoo or in their own neighborhoods. This year, around 1,600 supporters joined in person at the zoo, and more than 1,000 joined virtually with participants from Texas, Sweden, India, and France to raise funds and awareness. Pictured is ambassador family Harris, Amma, (continued on page 52)

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(continued from page 50) Jared, and Jack Grodin of

Team Jack’s Pack.

Giving 1,200 books

Natesha Tama-Madison (pictured) spearheaded a book drive in the spirit of honoring Mental Health Awareness Month. Over four days, nearly 1,200 gently used children’s, teen, and nonfiction books were collected and distributed to local daycares, school campuses, and refugee camps in Harris County. The book drive was a spur-of-the-moment decision, when she came across a statistic that 61 percent of low-income families in Houston don’t have books in their homes for their children. She plans to host another book drive soon.

Golfing for West U parks

Island time Marco Merino and Jennifer Deaver enjoyed a

week-long getaway to Saint John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Snorkeling with the sea turtles in Maho Bay was a special highlight. Other adventures included hiking the Reef Bay trail to the ocean, spotting deer, mongoose, birds, hermit crabs, and an old rum distillery from the 1700s along the way. They also enjoyed boating around the island, exploring beaches, and seeing coral, fish, rays, and an octopus while snorkeling.

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

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

Lauren DeFrehn Photography

In lieu of the annual Park Lovers’ Ball, the Friends of West University Parks Fund hosted

their first Park Lovers’ Golf Ball Tournament and Auction at Wildcat Golf Club. Cochaired by Sami and Jud Morrison and Christine and Owen Parker, the event included an afternoon of golf, a raffle, an online silent auction and a whiskey putt that gave participants the opportunity to win coveted whiskeys. The golf tournament raised $133,000 for West U parks. Pictured are (from left) Nipul Patel, Robert Fullick, Raj Guharoy, and Jeffrey Chen.

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ JULY 2021 52

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ JULY 2021 53

NEIGHBORS

by Andria Frankfort, staff writer

Back Porch

Teen-vocab primer No. 2

I

know I cannot be the only parent who sometimes listens to their kids and has no idea what they’re talking about. Example: Last week my girls were telling me about a new ’fit one of them had bought. What? I thought you had a fit when things weren’t going your way.

Could you buy a fit? And even if you could, why would you ever want to buy a temper tantrum?

Come to find out, ’fit is short for outfit, just one of the many elusive words and phrases I hear my girls and their friends voice.

This has been going on for a while, I am assuming not just for me. That’s why, a couple of years ago around this time, we published a “Teen-vocab primer for grownups” in an attempt to help grownups understand what their younger friends were talking about. We ended the story with, “Good luck with the lingo. And expect it to change in, oh, the next five minutes.”

It’s been more than five minutes. Definitely time to revisit the primer, especially because it has almost totally changed since – gasp – 2019.

Once again, we’re working on providing an important service to our readers. Hopefully our conversations with the under-25s (or so) will be better for it. Here we go…

Buggin’ – Starting out easy here. I think I remember people saying buggin’ when I was in high school? Anyway, buggin’: Used when someone is nervous, annoyed, or paranoid. I have to be home by 11:30 because my mom is buggin’.

Bussin – Used to indicate that something, usually food, is excellent. Bussin is often used doubly. This burger is bussin bussin. Also: If you really want to get this, you should know that Janelle Rohner, a TikToker with 3 million-plus followers who posts herself eating low-carb foods, posted a video a few months ago asking for the definition of bussin. That prompted thousands more TikToks to be posted in response, depicting responders also eating, asking the question, “Is it bussin, Janelle?”

Deuces – Goodbye, or Peace. Deuces can be used when leaving a person, group, or situation; in this case it is often accompanied by the two-finger Peace sign. Or it can be used to end a conversation, as in a more colorful, “Okay.” I’m out – deuces.

Fire – This one stood the test of time, being WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ JULY 2021 54

behance.net/runamokstudios

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included on both the 2019 list and our current list.

Fire is an adjective used to describe something very cool. Can also be emphasized by “straight,” as in straight fire. That party was fire. This dinner is straight fire, Mom. ’Fit – As explained above, a ’fit is an outfit. A girl might Snapchat her best friend with the text, What do you think about this ’fit?

Gas – See fire; can also be emphasized by straight.

Again, like bussin, usually used to describe food.

These cookies are straight gas.

Lost in the WHAT? Sometimes we need a dictionary to keep up with ever-changing teen vocabulary. sauce – This one mother: “So what do you call that thing you do was described to me as just vibing, which means with your bottom?” That’s twerking. someone is absorbed in what they are doing.

Saucy – Think snazzy in retro-speak. That You’re busy working and not listening to your shirt you have on, it’s saucy. child? You’re lost in the sauce.

Sheesh – Used to express amazement or surMosh pit – A crowd of people “dancing” realprise. Jack’s girlfriend made him go shopping with ly closely to one another, jumping and pushing. her… sheesh.

Also can be a verb, as in Let’s mosh. I can’t walk Vibing – What we might describe as chilling, because my foot got stomped on in the mosh pit (a or going with the flow. We were all vibing to that true story in our house). song at Kate’s house last night.

No cap – Also made the 2019 list, means Wack – Bad. Described to me as, “Like, you you’re telling the truth. I slept until noon, no cap. know, wack.” Duh. My mom took my phone last Slaps – Another superlative. This song slaps. night. Bro, that’s so wack.

Geek/Tweak – Used interchangeably, geek Try a few of these out, and let us know how it and tweak can be used to indicate adrenaline in goes. Or save the eye-rolls and don’t. The way good or bad situations. Dude, I’m geeking, I just some of us can’t speak a foreign language but can got tickets to Post Malone, or Dude, I’m tweaking, get by, at least you can understand.

I just failed my math test. Question from my