PRSRTSTD USPostagePAID PermitNo. 2047Houston,TX
Jennifer Oakley
Yellowstone Chef’sRuckusCorner: Brandi Key Little Ones at the Livestock Show Travel: Unplugged on a Ranch Naomi at 100: HoustonandChampagneKazoosRodeo in the Family The Bubble Gum Lady
José Cruz Jr. and son Antonio Cruz
FromLeagueLittletoRiceby
Editorial Assistant Caroline Siegfried
Published by Hoffman Marketing & Media, LLC
Account Managers Andrea Blitzer Leslie Little Jo Rogers
WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2022 4
Editor Joni Hoffman
5001 Bissonnet, Suite 100, Bellaire, Texas 77401 info@thebuzzmagazines.com • p: 713.668.4157 • f: 713.665.2940
BELLAIRE • WEST UNIVERSITY MEMORIAL • TANGLEWOOD/RIVER OAKS
Contributing Writer Karen Vine Fuller
Associate Editors Cheryl Laird Jordan Magaziner Steinfeld
Design Manager John Duboise
THE BUZZ MAGAZINES
•
Staff Writers Tracy L. Barnett Sharon Albert Brier Cindy
We agree with the Great Bambino that baseball is the best game. In Houston, we are lucky to count Rice University among our teams. This month, we have several Rice stories, including a full-circle one that highlights players who fell in love with the game at local Little Leagues. Little did they imagine they would one day play for Houston baseball royalty, José Cruz Jr., who played at Bellaire High School, Rice, and, after a career in the MLB has returned as Owls head coach. In another story, Cindy Gabriel tells us about Joyce Pounds Hardy, known as “The Bubble Gum Lady” for giving gum to Rice players. Turns out she was also a force for women athletes there. It’s rodeo season, and we spotlight Madison Outhier and her rodeo-going family, including grandfather (and Rice alum) Lou Waters. Madison is competing in the new women’s breakaway roping event. All this rodeo talk inevitably brings up Yellowstone, and we just had to talk with Buzz-area ranchers to get their take on the TV drama with Texas connections. It’s March, y’all. joni@thebuzzmagazines.com
CherylPoojaJenniferAnnieDaiMichelleCathyCindyToddAngieAndriaBurnettFrankfortFredericksonFreedGabrielGordonGrooganHuynhBlaylockMcQueenOakleySalhotraUrsin
EDITOR’S NOTE
Publisher Michael Hoffman
The Buzz Magazines has made all reasonable attempts to verify the accuracy of all information contained within. Advertising claims are solely the responsibility of the advertiser. Copyright © 2022 Hoffman Marketing & Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any portion of this magazine by any means without written permission is strictly prohibited. Printed on recycled paper. Please remember to recycle.
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On our cover: Owls head coach José Cruz Jr., a former Rice and MLB player, is happy to coach son Antonio Cruz at Rice this year. Cover photo by Michael Hart, hartphoto.com
Anna Maria Salas, D.D.S., M.S.
3642
713-481-4885
WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2022 5 Your smile can foreverlast
Diplomate of the American Board of Orthodontics University Blvd., Suite 102 Houston, TX www.westuortho.com77005
Meaningful, powerful, readable
Susan Elkins
Editor’s note: Thank you for your feedback. We agree it's important to be inclusive, and we aim to feature neighborhood residents from diverse backgrounds throughout our four magazines (Bellaire, West University, Memorial, and Tanglewood/River Oaks). We encourage our readers to reach out with story ideas spotlighting interesting neighbors and a variety of topics.
Peter Baird
If this sounds like you or someone you know, please contact us at info@thebuzzmagazines.com or 713.668.4157, ext 12.
I enjoyed reading your article [Marathon Men: In Houston and Athens, by Pooja Salhotra, January 2022], which had a nice flow about it. It did indeed honor George Sarantopoulos for his efforts in creating this exchange program between Athens and Houston, which continues to this day. I also got a great deal of pleasure remembering the vibrant running scene in Houston during the ’80s. Lastly, your article gave a nice insight into the Greek community. Thanks for the good work.
Where’s the diversity?
Your story is beautifully told by staff writer Cheryl Ursin. My hope is that it will be picked up by a broadly syndicated journal or news publication. If not yet, I am certain and hopeful it will be. And your art, Karen, is as inspirational as you are. Both in the emotional stamina it must have taken, certainly at the onset, and your visual expression throughout its stages. Your use of color in your works reinforces that you chose to live a vibrant, abundant, and fulfilling life. Your story touched me deeply. Thank you.
Good work on ‘Marathon Men’
Karen [Landrigan], I am overwhelmed after reading the piece [Flying Colors, by Cheryl Ursin]. What a remarkable woman you are. To have moved forward and onward in your life with such courage, stamina, and perseverance when you could have more easily chosen to give in and give up, well – and I'm certain you've heard this before, but I've great admiration for what you have accomplished. For others faced with challenges of this magnitude, your story is a path of illuminating light. Never stop encourag ing others, as I am certain you continue to do.
Our son graduated from Bellaire High School, and I taught at BHS for 21 years. I often look for my students’ names in ads and articles.
• Have a compelling travel story.
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.
who married or celebrated an anniversary?!
• Know a Buzzworthy neighbor to feature.
We are looking for residents for upcoming articles who:
What’s your stor y?
I love that you added the section at the bottom [a list of books and films featuring stroke survivors]. You managed to write about a horrible depress ing story, [turning it] into a strong message without disturbing the readers. Such a delicate balance. Bravo! Keep on writing the stories that are mean ingful, powerful, and readable.
WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2022 6
MAILBAGYour letters, thoughts, opinions
Cheryl [Ursin], you did a great job [Flying Colors: When an artist’s headache was a stroke, February 2022]! Thank you for helping raise aware ness [about lesser-known signs of stroke].
Inspired by stroke survivor
February 2022 especially struck me – that although I did see a few Asians in advertisements, and two black people in an ad for Legacy Community Health, I found the magazine’s reporting of newly married and remarried couples to be oh-so-white! Were there no black people living in Bellaire
I wanted to let you know that there are a lot of people reading that story. I’ve even had several people asking if this story would be on CBS and all kinds of large news organizations. You guys should be really proud.
Karen Landrigan
• Have a high school senior graduating in the Class of 2022 who would like to be part of our annual “Where are they headed?” feature. (Submission deadline: April 25)
• Have special springtime traditions.
• Have an interesting hobby.
I put the link on my Facebook page – so many comments and many people shared it – my friends in Canada posted it, and then a young man who had a stroke wrote to me. There is an organization in the UK [that] saw it and have reached out to me. The Fibromuscular Dysplasia Association will post it soon (I have FMD and many people have strokes at a young age)….so many people. My friend in New Zealand will likely share as well. Yup – it is raising awareness for sure!
Jo Zider
WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2022 7 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 GrowSmilesTheirWatch imgfinancialgroup.com In today’s complex world, the expertise and clear vision of a financial professional can help you reach your financial goals. Over 1.3 billion of assets under our administration and over 3.7 billion of life insurance in force. 4550 Post Oak Place, Ste 125, Houston, TX 77027 Securities and Investment Advisory services offered through Securian Financial Services Inc. member FINRA/SIPC. IMG Financial Group is independently owned and operated. TN 3460964 DOFU 3/2021 As of Jan 2022
“That’s okay,” she said. “That means you’ve been having a good day.”
It
On a cold, gray, damp winter day, Naomi was radiant in a fuchsia pantsuit. Her newly manicured nails were periwinkle blue.
Tracy Ahrens, director of resident programs and the manager/roadie for the ensemble, says the original idea was to form a choir, but when they decided they sounded horrible, they switched to kazoos.
LIVING LARGE Naomi Friedman, who decorated her apartment herself, says, “It’s me.”
In it, she says, “You know, I see these little people and think, goodness me, they’re going to be where I am someday, but they don’t know it yet. You just hope they have a safe journey.”
She went to Florida State University because her parents were “snowbirds,” spending their winters in Florida. “Can
by Cheryl Ursin, staff writer
“When we could go out to schools and parks, when they’d see the children, they’d light up and look 20 years younger,” says Tracy.
And she comes up with the most insiderfoodie and trendy restaurants to go to on outings. Two of the latest were Himalaya (Anthony Bourdain featured it) and Better Luck Tomorrow in the Heights.
WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2022 8 NEIGHBORS
“Basically, the first thing I said to her was,
“It’s the Pantone color of the year,” explained Naomi.ThePantone
In the film, the ensemble members, wearing matching black t-shirts and zebra-patterned scarves, go to a nursery school to perform. One little boy picks his nose while he watches, rapt.
“To great happiness and a great future,” Naomi toasted.
Or more officially, “a kazoo ensemble.”
The short film, narrated by Naomi, is bittersweet.
‘You’re in a kazoo band?’” says Michael. She is.
Naomi was born in 1922 in Jersey City, New Jersey. She graduated from high school at 16. “My father looked at me and said, ‘You don't know how to do anything, so you go to college.’” She smiles. “What a penalty.”
is president of her senior communi ty's resident council. “I am a very forceful president because I don’t believe in wasting my time,” she says. She is in the midst of a campaign to make sure her neighbors keep their emergency information on their refrigerators in their apartments. She recently put her foot down when the staff contemplated removing the dining room’s latte machine. “What are they going to do, throw me out?” she says. The machine stayed.
Color Institute says the color Very Peri “displays a spritely, joyous attitude and dynamic presence that encourages courageous creativity and imaginative expression.”
The
first time I spoke to Naomi Friedman, I was calling her later than I had said I would.
A little girl mouths the head of her Barbie doll. Another boy starts crying at the start of a song, cracking the ensemble up.
In the award-winning short film, called “Ode to Joy,” that Michael made, one participant explains, “Some of us will start playing Beethoven’s Fifth, but some of us will be playing Beethoven’s Ninth simultaneously … We sound great.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “The day got away from me.”
Naomi at 100 Champagne and kazoos
Nfits.aomi
Naomi Friedman turned 100 years old on Jan. 5. She knows a thing or two about how to make daysWhengood.we sat down for lunch in the dining room of Brookdale Galleria a few days later, Naomi said, “You want some champagne? What the hell, let’s get some champagne.”
So, we did.
About five years ago, Naomi called one of her three grandchildren, Michael Koshkin, a filmmak er living in Brooklyn, and left a message saying she had an idea for a film, about her kazoo band.
lawellphoto.com (continued on page 10)
“They rehearse every week; they laugh and giggle,” says Tracy. “They’re totally in on the joke. We are terrible.”
WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2022 9
“That’s how we got to Texas,” says Naomi. “We were there for about 25 years.”
She has had cancer twice in her life.
laugh about the mistakes that you made and the dumb things that you did, the better off you are,” she
When friends celebrated Earth Day one year, they made a 10-foot-tall figure, calling her Trashy Trudie, out of recycled materials. Naomi made her a skirt out of newspaper, pleated, like something you’d see at the Met Ball, Tracy says.
Naomi Friedman makes being 100 look easy. Also, spritely, joyous, dynamic, courageous, and imaginative.
where he could buy one. “I don’t think you can,” answered Jack. “My wife made it.”
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But her husband died suddenly, at age 58, of a heart attack.
In the meantime, she met her first husband, Bernard Koshkin, who was in medical school. The young couple lived in New Orleans during his residency, then lived in Peru for two years while her husband worked as a doctor for British Petroleum. The government of Peru offered to build him a hospital in Lima if he stayed and practiced medicine, but the couple wanted their two young sons, Ben and Roger, to grow up in the United States, so her husband started a medical practice with a friend from medical school in Beaumont.
Multiple people told me I had to see Naomi’s apartment, calling it “fabulous” and “a treat.”
What is her secret? “I enjoy what is,” she says. Also, she says, “As I tell everyone, know yourself first and become your own best friend. Once you do that, you can conquer anything.”Being honest with yourself, including about your mistakes, allows you to be honest with and relate to other people, she says. “The more you
And her youngest son, Roger, died at the age of 27.Fifteen years after her husband’s death, she met her second husband, Jack Friedman, on a blind date. He was the CEO of a publicly traded company, Friedman Industries, that he had founded. “He was a real country boy, though, and would not live in the city,” says Naomi. “We lived in Longview, Texas.” Here, she mis chievously puts her hand to her brow as if she’s trying to look off into the distance. “But it was a fairly good experience for about 18 or 19 years.”Hedied, soon after they decided to retire to Houston where both had family and while she was undergoing treatment for cancer.
It “There’sis. nothing fancy about it,” she protested, opening the door. “It’s just a lived-in, fun apartment.”Withacolor scheme of white, black, and red, the apartment features a life-sized stuffed-animal white tiger, bought on a trip to Germany. The tiger wears Jack’s top hat. There’s a family of slender, six-foot-tall wooden giraffes and a rain forest grouping of orchids.
A photograph of a 51-year-old Naomi hangs in her apartment. In it, she is wearing an off-theshoulder black evening gown that, yes, she made. In her craft room, which she calls her “slop room,” though it is definitely not sloppy, she has a closet full of clothes – suits, dresses –that she’s made herself and drawers full of colorful sweaters she’s made with whimsical pictures knitted into them.
calls Naomi her inspiration. “She gets up, puts her feet on the floor, and gets going. Though she’s faced a lot of challenges, she’s fear less. She’s willing to try new things, and though she’s very sophisticated and worldly, she’s not afraid to be silly.”
Tracysays.
She started graduate school at Columbia University in New York but didn’t finish. “I didn’t have the money. I didn’t know you could borrow the money. When you are 20 years old – I was 19 at the time – what do you know?” she said.
When I am amazed at how she taught herself to sew so beautifully, Naomi says, “Nothing is complicated when you know how to do it. When you can do something, it’s easy.”
See this story for a link to Michael Koshkin’s short “Ode to Joy” film about grandmother Naomi Friedman’s kazoo band.
(continued from page 8)
THE WATER’S FINE Naomi Friedman jumps in whenever she gets the chance.
Instead, she did a year-long internship at a hospital and become a dietician.
WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2022 10
After “Ode to Joy” was finished, Naomi went with grandson Michael to film festivals in Scotland, Oregon, and Marfa, Texas. A photo from one of these trips shows Naomi on a floatie in a swimming pool.
“If you see something that you love, and you can afford it, buy it right then,” advises Naomi. When she was pregnant with her first son, she taught herself to sew. “Because we were so poor,” she explains. Boy, did she teach herself to sew. One day, Jack was in the Neiman Marcus men’s department when one of the salespeople told him his jacket was “magnificent” and asked
“This is life,” she says, “and when you are my age, you never know what’s around the corner. You really don’t know what’s around the corner at any stage, but chances are, when you’re young, it’s going to be good. When you’re old, it’s going to be iffy.”
you believe, when I went to college, it cost $100 per semester for room, board, and tuition? I was one of the lucky few who got a fantastic education.” She majored in food nutrition with a minor in chemistry.
WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2022 11
Are Houston rodeo folks fans?
The show embodies Western heritage at its core and gets a lot of things right, like the highquality quarter horses, real-world champions as equine and human extras, and the cutting, reining, and roping. The murder and lack of morals?
Maybe not so much.
Yellowstone has a lot of connections to Texas, including real-life champion trainers like the McCutcheons and Tim McQuay, plus the Metallic Cat stallion out of Rocking P Ranch. The legendary Guthrie-area 6666 Ranch, which factors into Yellowstone character Jimmy’s story and will be featured in a spinoff TV show, recently was sold to a group led by Yellowstone
creator and actor Taylor Sheridan, who plays Travis on the show and grew up on a ranch in Cranfills Gap, Texas.
are the trailer park. I’m the tornado…. Taking you to the train station…. Not dead yet....
“I think it’s reigniting and reenergizing an interest in Western culture and heritage that is so rich here in the state of Texas,” said Pat, who is a member of the HLSR executive committee and a lifetime vice president of the show. “The whole goal of what we do at rodeo is promoting that Western way of life and the education of agriculture and teaching that next generation.”
While there is a lot of Hollywood meshed into an episode of Yellowstone, our Houston rodeo and ranching experts say there’s also plen
“I definitely think the Yellowstone series has added interest to the cowboy way of life,” said Tim Phillips, former chairman of the Junior Rodeo Committee and president of Revenade, a management consulting firm, who says his most gratifying hours involve working his ranch alongside his wife.
TOWN AND COUNTRY Tim and Pat Mann Phillips, rodeo volunteers pictured here at home in Houston, spend lots of time at their Waller County ranch, Trinity Spirit Ranch.
Pat has a family ranch near Cleburne, and the couple own a smaller 30-acre horse spread in Waller County they’ve named Trinity Spirit Ranch. They first got hooked on Yellowstone when they visited Pat’s nonagenarian parents in Cleburne near Dallas, and her father was a big fan of the show.
Yellowstone Ruckus
If you’re a Yellowstone fan, you know these lines. If not, you’re in the minority. It seems everybody is watching this TV drama about a powerful Montana rancher (Kevin Costner) and his adult children, who will go to any length to hold on to their family land.
committee members Tim and Pat Mann Phillips are fans. The couple live in Memorial by weekday for their “suit jobs” and on a ranch on weekends for their “boot jobs.”
With this month’s return of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, which is celebrating its 90th anniversary, we decided to talk Yellowstone with Buzz-area ranchers and rodeo volunteers who should be in the know.
You
Also, it turns out that the Lone Star State is where the saga originates. The show’s prequel, the popular 1883, follows a wagon train of pioneers as they roll out of Fort Worth.
“It’s interesting to see the parallels in how the show deals with land devel
Rodeo
lawellphoto.com
(continued on page 14)
by Michelle Groogan, staff writer
ty of authenticity.
WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2022 12 NEIGHBORS
AT THE RANCH Top: Actor Kevin Costner plays Montana cattle rancher John Dutton in Yellowstone. Bottom: Tim and Pat Mann Phillips, HLSR committee members, are Yellowstone fans. Here in 2018, Tim is standing by Birdie, and Pat is with Zippo at their ranch. (continued from page 12)
opment. With urban migration to more rural areas and everyone moving to Texas, we see a lot of developers buying large, undeveloped acreage, which is changing the landscape of our Texas countryside.”
NetworkParamountGittings
WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2022 14
sonal injury settlement planning). In fact, she had to cancel her first Buzz interview because she was supervising the birth of a calf.
Troops Houston and the Armed Forces Appreciation Day rodeo committees, says, “Aside from the ‘train station’ [spoiler: not really a train station], Yellowstone is tremendously realistic.”
Robin Young-Ellis, who is on the HLSR board of directors and is founder of the Salute to Our
Her husband, Joe, is a commissioner on the Harris County Housing Authority and has also had a career showing horses. The couple have American Quarter horses (continued on page 16)
Like many in HLSR leadership, Robin is a bona fide cowgirl (when she is not at her firm, RobinYoung & Company, specializing in per-
(continued on page 18)
ed,” she says. “Yellowstone, in its Hollywood way, has brought that excitement and reality alive.”
Brady Carruth has been involved in the rodeo for 40 years. His father, Allen H. “Buddy” Carruth, served as HLSR president 1977-79 and HLSR chairman 1980-82. He has followed in his
HORSES AND CATTLE Top: Joe Ellis and Robin Young-Ellis with their American Quarter horses, (from left) Colonel, Mayo, JR Smart Haida, and Sugar at their 40-acre ranch, Ellis Oaks, near Cypress. Bottom left: Robin and Joe raise Brangus cattle. Bottom right: Joe competes with cutting horses. Here he is with Pepto Primero de Abril as a colt. “Abril” grew up to become a successful cutting horse.
and raise grass-fed, freerange Brangus cattle at their 40-acre ranch, Ellis Oaks, near Cypress. Robin is a huge fan of Yellowstone.
JansonRobin
“It has a cult following of Western and nonWestern followers. Our Western heritage is fan tastic. It’s deep, it’s old, it’s high, and it’s elevat
father’s boot steps, working his way up to chairman. Brady admits you won’t find any cattle or horses on his 1,500-acre ranch in South Texas – he has reserved the tract for native wildlife and hunting. He is hesitant to credit Yellowstone for the current buzz and excitement surrounding rodeo, although he is grate (continued from page 14)
WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2022 16
ful for the spotlight it is giving the horse competition, which happens in NRG Arena (the former Astroarena) outside the bright lights of the main-event rodeo in NRG
3 cans spicy Rotel tomatoes
Just as the show Downton Abbey introduced America to servants’ quarters, Yellowstone takes us into the bunkhouse and a whirlwind of vul garity and humor, brutality and compassion, plus worthwhile discussions that usually happen around the dinner table.
Salt and pepper to taste
“I nearly did a backflip when they brought out Metallic Cat,” said Robin Young-Ellis. “That’s not a Hollywood fake name. It doesn’t get any more real than Metallic Cat. He has an amazing pedigree – horsemen will recognize it. He has amazing cutting blood and talent.”
1 diced jalapeño
Heat up oil in large pot on stove. Add onion, jalapeño, meat, and red pepper flakes. Brown the meat, and add garlic for the last minute. Add oregano, cumin seed, and chili powders and stir for one or two minutes until spices bloom. Add cans of spicy Rotel (undrained) tomatoes, beef stock, and sugar. Reduce to low and simmer for 2 hours, adding water if needed. Salt and pepper to taste.
1 diced onion (yellow)
1 cup beef stock
Not everybody is a fan of the show. Stevens operates a cattle ranch near Snook and is a past president of the American Quarter Horse Association. Passionate about cowboy traditions, he is quick to tell you he doesn’t care too much about introducing the youth of America to Yellowstone.
“WeStadium.havealot going on in the horse arena, and really, it's kind of fun stuff to watch,” he says, “once you figure out what the heck they're doing.”Entrenched in the Yellowstone saga are the portrayals of Native American lives and culture and longtimers’ love of the land. With that comes a reverent celebration of the bond between horse and rider, a partnership evolving out of necessity and refined into sport and art. For many viewers, Yellowstone has been a fascinating introduction to the talent of equine athletes.
2 pounds ground beef (Ellis Oaks Brangus ground beef or any type of beef or venison)
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
The daring Native American sport of bareback relay racing and the Western sports of reining and cutting are among the horse sports that Yellowstone showcases.
1 Tablespoon cumin seed
Editor’s note: The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo runs Feb. 28-March 20 at NRG Park. See rodeohouston.com.
(continued from page 16)
WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2022 18
1 Tablespoon chipotle chili powder
1 Tablespoon dried oregano
Ellis Oaks Chili
Cutting horses jump back and forth with exceptional agility to isolate a single steer from a herd. In reining, riders guide horses through a precise pattern of circles, spins, and stops. “The horse and rider are judged on how well the horse reins, meaning how well it performs at the request of the rider,” said Steve Stevens, a past chairman of the HLSR who still sits on the executive committee, “going right or left or backing up or performing various maneuvers.”
From Robin Young-Ellis
Who can forget the great chili debate in the last episode when one of the cowboys we root for, Jimmy, returns from the Lone Star State and confidently announces, “As soon as you put
1 Tablespoon sugar
As a Texan, Robin Young-Ellis agrees. And she shares her famous no-beans-ofcourse Ellis Oaks Chili recipe here:
beans in chili, it ain’t chili.”
“It's great how the show depicts the Western way of life, and it has been good for the quarter horse industry in that it demonstrates cutting horses. It demonstrates horses that are used in what's known as working cow horse,” he said. “But I personally do not like the language used in the show. I don't watch it anymore for that reason. I’ve been around cowboys for over 5060 years, and they don't talk that way.”
5 cloves minced garlic
TV VS. REAL LIFE Left: Yellowstone character Kayce Dutton, played by Luke Grimes, is always finding himself in a fight to protect the family ranch. Right: HLSR Executive Committee member and past president of the AQHA Steve Stevens has a cattle ranch near Snook. He is not a fan of the coarse language used in Yellowstone and says cowboys don’t talk that way.
the Screen Actors Guild: the stallion “Metallic Cat.”
It’s no secret in rodeo circles that Texas has a top-notch reputation for cutting horses. One of the biggest “guest stars” of this past season of Yellowstone is not a name you will find in
NetworkParamount
Joyce and her bubble gum would attend the College World Series six times under the leadership of Coach Graham, including the one Rice won in 2003. One story is that security wouldn’t allow her into the stadium in Omaha with her bubble gum bag. Joyce wouldn’t have it. She stuck bubble gum in the pockets of her children and grandchildren and snuck it all back into the stadium.
Somewhere mixed in all of this, Joyce, the English major, wrote several books, including some poetry, on a variety of subjects completely unrelated to Rice sports. Her book Roads to Forgotten Texas was featured on Ron Stone’s “The Eyes of Texas.” Her son Larry’s favorite is Surviving Aunt Ruth, the story of how Joyce dropped everything and flew across the country to take care of her aging aunt.
Larry says he’s sure that Lance Berkman’s bubble gum-blowing habits, exhibited later in his spectacular Major League career, are part of his mom’s legacy from his days at Rice.
Editor’s note: For more on the 2022 Rice baseball team, including head coach José Cruz Jr. and the many players from Buzz neighborhoods, see “From Little League to Rice” in this issue.
Pounds Hardy, Rice University superbooster, left this world in 2018 at the age of 92. I’m hoping she’s getting some wellearned rest. In life, she left bubble gum and all on the field. And now, with José Cruz Jr. head ing up her beloved Rice baseball team, her fam ily is feeling her smiles.
By then her youngest, Larry Hardy, was about 10. Larry grew up to follow in his father’s foot steps as an anesthesiologist after he attended Rice and played Owls baseball between 1974 and 1977. This galvanized Joyce into a diehard Owls fan with some creative ideas on how to support her team.
The story of a fierce Rice fan
HAVE SOME GUM Joyce Pounds Hardy gives encouragement to Rice star Anthony Rendon, named 2010 college player of the year. Rendon is currently a third baseman for the Los Angeles Angels.
Larry recalls that his mother thought the plain wooden benches at Cameron Field (before Reckling Park) should be painted Rice blue. She took it upon herself to organize volunteers to make it happen in time for the Rice-UT game in 1974. “The story is that the paint wasn’t quite dry on the visitors’ side,” Larry says, “and that some UT fans left with blue paint on their behinds.”
WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2022 20 SPORTS by Cindy Gabriel, staff writer
The Bubble Gum Lady sounds a bit tame for a woman who was threatened with expulsion for unladylike conduct as a Rice student in the early 1940s. Her crime? Organizing a girls’ Powder Puff football game on campus in front of, well, other people. But Joyce stood her ground. The administration caved. The girls could play, but on the outskirts of campus where their unladylike conduct would be more discreet.
The Bubble Gum Lady
Joyce and Tom married after her sophomore year. Joyce followed Tom on his naval tour, then back to Houston for his medical practice. Twenty-five years and five children later, Joyce re-enrolled in Rice to finish her English degree. It was 1967.
Joyce vowed that from then on she would do everything she could to enable women to play sports on campus. But then, another vow sent her on a detour. She met a medical student and Rice alum, Tom Hardy.
It was about this time that Joyce earned her nick name, The Bubble Gum Lady. Larry says his mom noticed Rice players chewing tobacco in the field. She and her physician-husband Tom felt bubble gum was a healthier alternative. So she decided to bring a big bag to every game, throwing bubble gum
Joyce
In 1992, Joyce served on a select committee that named the now-legendary Wayne Graham as the Owls’ baseball coach, a decision that would put Rice on the map in college baseball. Graham’s first recruit that year was José Cruz Jr., giving Rice a huge boost in prestige by nabbing such a highly desired player who turned down top-tier schools for the lesser-known Rice.
out on the field and passing it out betweenFun-lovinginnings. as she was, it gnawed at Joyce that she was born too early to play varsity sports as a female. But by 1972, a federal law called Title IX required that women be offered as equal an opportunity to play sports as their male counterparts.Joyce was there to support the first women athletes to arrive at Rice, cheering them on at basketball and volleyball games in the sweltering Autry Court. By 1989, Autry Court had earned the nickname Jungle Gym. Apparently, a Dallas sportswriter came up with the term, intent on making a dig at Houston.Joycebrought up the need to air-condition the gym to the Rice Board of Governors. The response was predictable. “Okay, Joyce, why don’t you just head that up.” By 1991, Autry Court was air-conditioned, thanks to a fundrais ing drive led by Joyce.
“You could see him (Berkman) putting a whole wad of chewing gum into his mouth before batting,” said Larry. “I remember him blowing a bubble with the ball coming at him. Every time I saw that, I thought, ‘That's my mom’sSinceinfluence.’”1975,the school’s highest honor in women’s sports, the Joyce Pounds Hardy Award, goes to the Rice senior who best represents wellrounded excellence in sports, academics, and community involvement. That’s quite a legacy for a woman called “The Bubble Gum Lady.”
WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2022 22 SPORTS by Jennifer Oakley, staff writer
From Little League to Rice
by Karen Vine Fuller, contributing writer
er Parker Smith was a Bellaire Little League standout. When he was a child, an auction item at the league’s fundraiser won by his parents helped fuel his end goal. The prize was throwing out a ceremonial first pitch at a Rice baseball game. On the day of the game, Smith strode out to the mound and threw a strike.
LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON Owls baseball head coach José Cruz Jr. is a former Rice University player. Son Antonio Cruz is on the team too, carrying on the family tradition of wearing the R
For the Rice baseball schedule, which is already underway, see riceowls.com/sports/baseball/schedule/2022.Ifyouhavesomeoneage6througheighthgrade in your house who loves baseball, check out Rice’s youth summer camps at collegebaseballcamps.com/jose-cruz-jr-baseball.
Freshman pitch
José Cruz Jr.’s team is at home
And it’s happening again, with a slate of play ers who grew up playing baseball with and against one another just blocks from Rice now
Cruz, one of the top players in Rice baseball history, is back in a big way. This is his first season at the helm of the university’s more-than100-year-old baseball program. For Cruz, whose career has taken him from Bellaire High School to Rice University to the MLB, returning to campus is like coming home.
sharing the dia mond together.
“There is a tradition of winning at Bellaire that is the same at Rice,” he says, “and I just want to carry that on.”
Many of today’s Rice Owls began their baseball journeys as runthe-bases-backwards tee-ball players and can thank patient volun teer coaches in Bellaire Little League, Post Oak Little League, West U Little League, the Spring Branch-Memorial Sports Association, and other local organizations.
In Bellaire, Smith lived a few streets away from teammates Jack Ben-Shoshan, who gradu-
Smith is proud that he is among the “count less guys” Bellaire High School has sent to Rice.
And Cruz is making it feel like home, too. The team’s 40-man roster includes his son, Antonio, along with a large contingent of other local players. Cruz is keen on making Rice the place to play. “To me, it is personal because I like the guys who are from our area to be here,” says Cruz, the 22nd head coach in the school’s history, who also wears 22 on his jersey. “I mean, how do we not have guys from West U and Bellaire be here? It is a special place, and back in my day, something that happened often was a baseball player from Bellaire coming to Rice.”
“I am a homegrown, hometown kid playing for the hometown team,” says Smith. “I was 10 and wide-eyed, and now it is a reality. My dream was wearing the pinstripes on Friday night and being the Friday night starter, and now I have a chance to be that. I get to pitch off that mound every time I go out there. I am just ecstatic for this season. I grew up going to Rice baseball games and Rice baseball camps and wanting it to be me out there playing.”
Current players went to Buzz-neighborhood schools that include Horn Elementary, Hunters Creek Elementary, Memorial Middle School, Pin Oak Middle School, River Oaks Baptist, River Oaks Elementary, Spring Branch Middle School, St. Francis Episcopal, West University Elementary, and Wilchester Elementary.
José Cruz Jr. stands near home plate at Rice University’s Reckling Park, surveying the green field edged by grandstands and oak trees, with Med Center towers shooting skyward beyond the outfield. He smiles. “Look at this ballpark!” he says enthusiastically. "I mean, I have the greatest backdrop in college baseball here. It is a joy to wake up every morning and come to work. I am very excited to be back.”
Owls in the neighborhoodhartphoto.com
And then came the intensity of high school. These nearby schools all have graduates on the Rice team: St. John’s School (Jack BenShoshan), The Kinkaid School (Drake Greenwood, David Shaw), Stratford (Cullen Hannigan, Mark Perkins), Memorial (Ben Dukes, Jared Plank, Jack Riedel, Tom Vincent), Second Baptist (Dalton Wood), Bellaire (Parker Smith), Lamar (Drew Woodcox), and Episcopal (Tanner Fox, Antonio Cruz).
That’s the kind of buzz Cruz wants to keep going. “I am really excited to have Parker here. He is a Bellaire graduate,” he says. "Hopefully we get that freeway going again.”
TEAM PLAYERS Top: José Cruz Jr. in 1991, pictured in the yearbook with his Bellaire High School teammates. Bottom left: Drake Greenwood, David Shaw, and Jared Plank (from left, in the Rice locker room) all played Post Oak Little League baseball. Bottom right: Drew Woodcox (left) and Tom Vincent hold up a jersey and trophy from when they were 8-year-old Wranglers together.
Vincent, a left-handed pitcher. “Now, it’s so nice to be together again.” Woodcox, an infield er, agrees and says playing baseball for Rice has the bonus of having a built-in family fan base. “My parents are really excited about coming to all the games,” he says. “All of my relatives can come to all of my games.”
That’s just the kind of atmosphere Cruz aims to establish. “I feel like, in many ways, we are this community’s team,” he says. “We are all
WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2022 23
BellGeoff
hartphoto.com
ated from St. John’s School, and Tanner Fox, an Episcopal High School graduate. The trio were Bellaire Little League All-Stars together but as high schoolers were team rivals.
Cruz has a lot to work with when he markets his program – quality baseball with a top-tier education. That’s something he knows firsthand: When he graduated from Bellaire in 1992 and went to Rice, he was one of Coach Wayne Graham’s first premier recruits. “José’s decision to play for Wayne Graham was a paradigm shift for the baseball program,” says Chuck Pool, Rice’s assistant athletic director for athletic communications. “That opened the floodgates, which was a stunning flip at an academic school, where we now had a national-caliber baseball program along with the already established aca demic reputation.”
Freshman infielder Ben-Shoshan loves that Cruz recruits locally. “Houston, in general, has so much baseball talent, and Rice is getting all the really good people who live an hour or less away,” he Growingsays.up in West University Place, sophomores Drew Woodcox and Tom Vincent lived a stone’s throw from Rice campus. The pair played select baseball and West U Little League together and then ended up at different high schools: Woodcox at Lamar and Vincent at Memorial.
(continued on page 24)
the surrounding areas’ team. I want to create that environment, and I want our program here to be a social event, to have people come out and have a good time and enjoy it – and hey, we are pretty good baseball.”
“As for playing baseball with Drew all those years ago and now again, I will say that it’s crazy that was 12 years ago and we have been con nected through baseball all these years,” says
Drew’s mom, Kristen Woodcox, says it’s a dream come true for their family. “Rice has been an integral part of Drew’s life since he was born,” she says. “From pushing him in his baby jogger around the Rice track to attending Rice baseball camps and games as a young boy and even playing in a state playoff game as a junior in high school at Rice, it simply feels like home.”
(continued from page 23)
The cumulative pride for the program is felt by both coaches and players. “I have been a Rice baseball fan my whole life, and I have noticed some of the big names in Rice baseball history, like Anthony Rendon, played all four years at Lamar High School,” says Shaw. “Some of the most successful players in Rice baseball history went to school five miles away. Wayne Graham knew the Houston area had some of the most concentrated talent around. The fact that our roster is local-heavy is a good sign. We are chasing getting back to the Wayne Graham era.”
he is bringing a fresh approach to the team’s baseball training. “We are playing what I like to call a modern baseball game, a lot of different ways of introducing concepts through data and what the data means and how you can be efficient,” he says. “The word
Cruz says being a student-athlete at Rice is all upside. “It is a good business move for any good baseball player to go to Rice simply because not only do you have a nice, beautiful baseball stage to play baseball on, but everybody has a lot of professional eyes here, so we are going to have a lot of exposure, so on that side of life, it’s really good. So on the other part of it, which is the academic part, which is the networking part, which is basically the part about being a successful human, this place here breedsCruzit.”says
WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2022 24
“Pigpen” Pitching Lab, named after Jeremy and Melinda Thigpen, captures motion and compiles data on each pitcher. “The data we can get from the lab is like resources that Major Leaguers have,” says freshman pitcher David Shaw. “I have thrown there twice, and I have already made a mechanical change to help me. It’s such a blessing.”
has spread, and a lot of people are starting to come here and look at what we are doing and taking a look at our pitching lab and how we are utilizing it, taking a look at how we are doing our defense, taking a look at how we are shifting people, how we are doing a lot of things and how we are approaching the game. I think it is attracting a lot of attention because it is different than what has ever been done
HOME OF BASEBALL The 2022 Rice baseball roster includes these players from Buzz neighborhoods. From left: Cullen Hannigan, Tanner Fox, Parker Smith, Drake
Graham took over the baseball program in 1992. At the time, the baseball program had never won a conference championship, after 80 years of competition. Graham turned the program around and led the team to 23 consecutive NCAA appearances
Thehere.”Rice
That’s a legacy Cruz wants to bring back.
"I felt like a piece of me was missing when Dad was with the [Detroit] Tigers [as a coach under A.J. Hinch]. He wasn’t able to watch my games. Our schedules were the complete oppo site. Selfishly, now I have a mentor to guide me. Now, having a leader around the clubhouse, it’s great for staying focused every day and doing well. It feels right.”
WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2022 25
has named his father, the former Houston Astros fan-favorite José Cruz, “special assistant to the head coach.” Cruz says that it means a lot having his father around and that “he might just be in the dugout” during games and practices.
always talked about wearing: the R.
Greenwood, Mark Perkins, David Shaw, Coach José Cruz Jr., Ben Dukes, Tom Vincent, Jack Ben-Shoshan, Drew Woodcox, Antonio Cruz, and Jack Riedel. Not pictured: Jared
That’s a word Cruz likes to use as well. “My staff is amazing,” he says. “It’s family here.” Cruz’s family roots run deep on campus. Cruz and wife Sarah have two other children in addition to Antonio: Trei, who was also a Rice baseball standout and now plays pro baseball, and Alisa Loren, who attends SMU. Additionally, Cruz
Plank.hartphoto.com
When
and 21 championships in 27 seasons, and the team won the College World Series in 2003.
With Antonio playing, now there are three gen erations of Cruz baseball players on one field at the same time. “In an official capacity, that is new in that regard, but I have been coaching him since he was born,” says his dad. “I am so happy for him, and I never thought all of this would be possible here, and hopefully he will have a good year.”
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I was a kid at Post Oak Little League, I remember Jared Plank, and when I was at Kinkaid, I watched Drake Greenwood,” says Shaw, a graduate of The Kinkaid School. “They were both legendary players who I looked up to in a big way. And now my locker is 10 feet away from them – it is pretty amazing!”
For photos of Buzz-area Rice players during their Little League and high school days and the video of Parker Smith, 10 at the time, throwing out the first pitch at a Rice game, see this story at thebuzzmagazines.com.
Antonio says he is excited to have both his father and his grandfather helping guide him and the team. “Now that Dad is the coach, it makes me have even more pride wearing the R,” says Antonio, a junior outfielder who graduated from Episcopal High School. “That’s something we
Editor’s note: Writer Karen Vine Fuller con tributed research to this editorial package.
(continued on page 28)
DETERMINED Madison Outhier ropes while her father, Mike Outhier, and brother, Ace Outhier, look on.
The sport is not new for Madison. Nor is Houston, or RodeoHouston. That’s because Madison, who won the first women’s breakaway roping championship title at the 2019 The American rodeo, is from a long line of star cowboys and horsewomen, all of whom have Houston roots.
wife, Wanda Phears. When she went to Pecos to watch Lou ride in a rodeo, that was it. “I was just pure city,” Wanda says. “I went to Bellaire High School the year it opened, grew up in Southside Place, as city as you can get. And Lou was a pure old country boy and a brilliant engineer, a Rice engineer who rodeoed on the weekends. I thought that was pretty cool.
Madison’s grandfather, Lou Waters, a Houston businessman and founding chairman of Browning-Ferris Industries, grew up in Pecos, Texas, where “it was really, really rural,” says his daughter-in-law, Gerry Waters (married to son Lou Jr.). “Like he rode around on horses and didn’t see a car till he was about 10.”
Lou came to Houston to attend Rice University, and it was there he met his future
JournalHorseQuarterthe&McCartneyEmily
It’s a new women’s event for RodeoHouston, where the rider and her horse leap from a standstill into action at breakneck speed when a calf is released from a chute. The goal is for the rider to rope the calf and bring her horse to a stop as quickly as possible. The rope is tied to the saddle horn with a light string, which breaks easily when the calf hits the end of the rope, ending the time and letting the calf run off. All this is done in a few seconds’ time.
“He always told me he had to have some land,” Wanda says. Fifty years ago, she and Lou bought a ranch in Utopia. The city girl now says, “I love, love, love it more than anything else!”
The ranch is where Wanda and Lou’s chil dren, Lou Jr., Kristy Waters Outhier, and Laurel Waters, spent weekends growing up. All of them learned to love horses
When
by Andria Frankfort, staff writer
WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2022 26 NEIGHBORS
Rodeo in the Family
it comes to RodeoHouston 2022, there’s a new girl in town. Madison Outhier, enterprising and energetic at 19, will be riding in from her sophomore year at A&M to compete in the sevenday women’s breakaway roping event.
Bringing it home in RodeoHouston’s new women’s roping event
CHAMPIONS Madison Outhier and her horse Allo Gallo Colonel (“Rooster”) won The American Rodeo in 2019 and the 2020 and 2021 Women’s Rodeo World Championship.
JournalHorseQuarterthe&McCartneyEmily
PhotographyRC
Competitive’ is the best word for my parents,” says Madison, who practices daily in Fulshear or on the ranch in Utopia. “I grew up going to the Houston rodeo and watching my dad. I definitely get my competitive edge from
“There’s a lot of animal feeding and horse riding and hiking and fishing and ranch-y stuff they do out there,” Gerry says. “Madison rides horses that have been bred, raised, and trained on the Waters’ ranch, by the Waters family. They have
been running this program for over 50 years and have raised over 1,000 American Quarter horses during that time. Having that ranch and that space gave Madison the time and resources to really follow her passion, and it was the same for her mother. My husband spent time there inventing and fixing things, Laurel developed her creativity – she’s an amazing artist. I credit [the ranch] with giving them space to develop the sides of their per sonalities that bring them the most joy.”
Like her parents, Kristy met her future hus band, Mike Outhier – Madison’s dad at a rodeo. Mike was a saddle bronc rider at the Calgary Stampede in Calgary, Alberta, when they met.
Women’s breakaway roping is sanctioned by the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association and is the fastest-growing event in rodeo. This is the second women’s rodeo event in the giant arena at NRG Stadium for RodeoHouston (the first being barrel racing). Men’s events include tie-down roping, bareback riding, team roping, saddle bronc riding, steer wrestling, barrel racing, and bull riding.
WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2022 28
(continued from page 26)
Today, Laurel owns The Laurel Tree, a Texan-French restaurant that sits on the edge of the ranch and is home to a dine-in treehouse. Madison’s younger brother, Ace, loves to fish, “and he’ll feed us all when we’re there,” his grandmother Wanda says. Gerry and Lou Jr.’s three teenage children work at the ranch when they’re not in Houston, running the feed truck and working in the restaurant.
Since winning the 2019 title at The American, Madison has amassed other titles like 2021 Women’s Rodeo World Champion and
there, with Kristy, Madison’s mother, eventually becoming the No. 1-ranked female polo player in the country (she recently spoke to students at Episcopal High School, where she was a member of the first graduating class, about her career).
JournalHorseQuarterthe&McCartneyEmily
RANCH TIME Top: The Waters family at their ranch in Utopia: (from left) Gerry Waters, Sacha Waters, Thalie Waters, Luke Waters, Lou Waters Jr., Lou Waters Sr. (seated), Laurel Waters (Sullivan), Robert Sullivan, Wanda Waters (seated), Kristy Waters Outhier, Mike Outhier, Madison Outhier, Ace Outhier (seated). Bottom left: Foals at the Waters’ ranch. Bottom right: Madison Outhier will ride in the new women’s breakaway roping event at RodeoHouston.
them.” She adds, “Just to have them as coaches at home – you can’t buy coaches like that.”
Like her mom, Madison plays polo, and she also competes in barrel racing. But when she won the breakaway roping championship, Madison says, “it sparked my love for it and made me want to pursue it at the professional level. From then on out, roping has been my main focus.”
JournalHorseQuarterthe&McCartneyEmilyEmilyMcCartney&theQuarterHorseJournal
WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2022 29
“Houston has always been my favorite rodeo to watch, and now I’m getting to compete in it. I’m over the moon excited!”
every way. He and my uncle [Lou] are such role models in business. And Laurel helped me create my jewelry line. She taught me to cook. She’s my creative inspiration. It’s really cool to have such a well-rounded family. I think I have a little piece of each of them.”After graduating from the Mays Business School, Madison wants to be an entrepreneur like her grandfather and uncle.
SUPPORTERS Top: Mike Outhier, Kristy Waters Outhier, Ace Outhier, Madison Outhier on “Rooster,” Wanda Waters, and Lou Waters (from left) at the family ranch. Bottom right: Lou and Wanda Waters with their foals.
“It’s a really intense thing for a young kid to do,” her aunt Gerry says. “She travels many miles every weekend to compete. Madison sort of has her antenna out all the time. She’s launched a line of jewelry, runs a Christian Bible study for cowboys and cowgirls, she manages her social media accounts with sponsors. For some girls, she’s kind of a brand.” Gerry adds, “She’s sort of like a swan because she’s very serene on top, but there’s all this paddling going on underneath.”
“Maybe I’ll even combine business and rodeo some how,” she says.
For now, she’s looking forward to RodeoHouston.
Her grandmother says, “She’s taken the rodeo world by storm. She’s pretty low-key and hum ble, but when that whistle blows, she’s on. Just like her mother and father. Madison just lit everybody’s fire. Now there are all these little girls who know they can go out there and make goodMadisonmoney.”says her grandmother Wanda is one of her favorite people in the world. “She and my grandpa are two of the most supportive people in my life, for sure. I look up to my grandpa in
2021 Resistol Rookie of the Year (her dad Mike was the 1998 Resistol Rookie of the Year in saddle bronc riding). She’s been featured in Western Horseman, Rodeo News, American Quarter Horse Journal, and other publications. Cowgirl Magazine included her in its “30 Under 30” article.
it is again rodeo season in Houston.
Emily says she had been looking forward to taking Mary Catherine to her first rodeo in the months leading up it, and she was excited to find toddler-sized pink cowboy boots for Mary Catherine to wear.
Mapping out a plan for visiting the rodeo, especially if small kids are in tow, will help. We talked to a couple of Buzz parents about their favorite kid-friendly rodeo spots.
Buzz Baby is a column about life with babies. Writer Annie McQueen is a mother of four children under the age of 7.
“It is such a unique spot for the children to sneak away from the chaos and noise of the carnival,” Elizabeth said. “It offers families a quieter spot to learn all about agriculture, which is essentially the foundation of the rodeo.”
Fun on the Farm, which is run by volunteers, gives kids a chance to experience farm chores such as “milking a cow” (not a real cow), gathering eggs, planting, harvesting crops, and feeding pretend chickens. As you exit the farm, the children get a token to spend $1 on a treat at the General Store. Finally, they pass by “Goat Mountain,” where real goats are frolicking on a small fenced-in hill.
Another Buzz mom, Elizabeth Shackouls, has enjoyed bringing her four kids, Annie, Cate, Caroline, and Charlie, to Fun on the Farm for many years. The two sets of twins, now 7 and 9, have visited since they were toddlers.
Emily advises parents visiting the rodeo to bring a lightweight stroller, carry a backpack as a diaper bag to remain hands-free, and bring hand sanitizer and a change of clothes for those messy snow cones, ketchup, and ice cream treats.
KIDSBuzz Baby
Emily and Grant Gooding took their daughter, Mary Catherine (now 4), to her first rodeo in 2019. Emily grew up in Houston, attending the rodeo since she was a child. She remembers her first concert at the rodeo, where she saw Reba McEntire. Reba was lowered down from the ceiling to make an entrance onto the famous rotating stage.
The following year, in 2020, Emily and Grant
Finally,
Through March 20, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo will take over NRG
They also walked up and down the aisles of cows, sheep, and horses at the livestock show inside NRG Hall. They are planning their 2022 visit with Mary Catherine and her new little sis ter Molly, 10 months, for Molly’s first rodeo.
For times and tickets, see rodeohouston.com.
Grant and Emily arrived at NRG Park, parked in one of the lots adjacent to the park, with then22-month-old Mary Catherine in her pink boots. They made their way through the crowds and music and headed to the popular Agventure in NRG Center. Agventure is where kids can learn all about the world of agriculture through interactive exhibits and descriptive displays.
Off to the livestock show
ThisPark.year marks a big one – the show’s 90th anniversary. (To see artist Gonzo247’s colorful, nine-story mural created for the 90th anniversary, head downtown to One Market Square garage at Prairie and Travis streets.) The rodeo is a big part of being a Houstonian and is run by thousands of volunteers.
LET’S RODEO Mary Catherine Gooding, almost 3 at the time, went with her parents to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo in 2020 before it closed due to the pandemic. She gets to go back this year with her new little sister, Molly.
After the carnival, they went to the Agventure’s Fun on the Farm, which is outdoors near the carnival. “Mary Catherine enjoyed seeing chickens lay eggs and pretending she was shopping at the market,” said Emily.
The Goodings walked in and took Mary Catherine to the petting zoo and pony rides. “Each time we walked up to a new animal, Mary Catherine would start making the sound that the animal makes,” said Emily. “That is some thing I'll never forget watching and telling myself to remember.”
. by Annie Blaylock McQueen, staff writer
WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2022 30
went back to the rodeo before it shut down for Covid. This time, they took Mary Catherine, then 3, to see the carnival. “Grant was excited for her to try a funnel cake, but she was more interested in the gigantic corn dog.”
Five picks for March
WHAT TO READ This month’s picks include a thriller set in the high stakes art world, a creative story about maps, and three historical-fiction titles, one set in Australia, one in China, and the other in North Carolina.
The Tobacco Wives by Adele Myers –Myers’ debut historical-fiction novel follows a young seamstress who unearths terrible secrets that a local tobacco company is hiding from its consumers and its employees. A recent arrival to 1946 Bright Leaf, North Carolina, Maddie Sykes is enthralled by the wives of the tobacco executives who run the town and lead seemingly perfect lives. But when Maddie uncovers some dark truths about the tobacco company’s prod ucts, she must decide if unveiling the harm being done by the company is worth upending the lives of the tobacco women and the rest of
WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2022 32
–
When Nell Young’s estranged father, a renowned cartographer, is found dead in the New York public library where he works, she discovers that he was clutching the same gas station map that caused their falling out years before. Curious about the importance of the map and its potential link to her father’s death, Nell conducts research and discovers that the map is exceedingly rare, and in fact, it is the only one left of its kind because an unknown collector has destroyed every one but the one her father owned. Baffled by this bizarre discovery, Nell sets out to uncover the secrets behind the map. This unique and creative tale is a page turner with an intelligent and engaging plot; I highly recommend it.
Peach Blossom Spring by Melissa Fu – This multi-generational tale begins in 1938 China when Meilin and her 4-year-old son Renshu must flee the rapidly approaching Japanese Imperial Army. The one solace amid the hardship is their beautifully illustrated scroll containing ancient fables; this manuscript provides them hope as they are forced to move from place to place across China, then to Taiwan, and eventually to the United States. Spanning decades and continents, this gorgeous historical-fiction saga reveals that one’s past is never quite forgotten and that physically leaving a place does not erase the mental scars.
the townspeople who depend on the company for their livelihood. Myers’ detailed descriptions of working in a cigarette factory, combined with the hindsight of understanding the harm caused by tobacco and tobacco executives, make this a compelling and sometimes haunting read.
The White Girl by Tony Birch –
.
Buzz Reads
The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd
Editor’s note: Southside Place resident Cindy Burnett also writes our weekly Page Turners column at thebuzzmagazines.com. She hosts the Thoughts from a Page Podcast, is co-creator of the Houston literary event series Conversations from the Page, runs the Instagram account @thoughtsfromapage, and regularly speaks to groups about books.
by Cindy Burnett, staff writer
Woman on Fire by Lisa Barr – After fledg ling reporter Jules Roth talks her way into a job with Dan Mansfield, Chicago’s preeminent investigative reporter, he assigns her to a top-
ARTS
The White Girl is set in the 1960s rural Australian town of Deane, a fictional represen tation of a typical small town in Australia. Odette Brown and her fair-skinned granddaughter Sissy live in the Aboriginal section of the town, Quarrytown, and are subject to the restrictions placed on them by the welfare authorities. When a new policeman arrives, Odette realizes that Sissy is in danger of being taken from her with absolutely no recourse on Odette’s part because during this time period Aboriginal people could not be Australian citizens or make basic decisions for themselves, such as when and where to travel or what job they will hold. While Birch does a thorough job explain ing what it was like to live as an Aboriginal per son then and the hardships they endured, he weaves these heartbreaking details into a beau tiful tale of family and the lengths people will go to in order to protect each other. I loved Odette, and her strength and perseverance against all odds will stay with me for a long time.
Buzz Reads is a column about books by reviewer Cindy Burnett. Each month, Cindy recommends five recently or soon-to-be released titles.
secret story, locating “Woman on Fire,” a valu able painting purloined by the Nazis during World War II. But Jules doesn’t have much time because the man Dan is helping find the painting is dying. In Europe, heiress and art collector Margaux de Laurent hunts for the same painting and will stop at nothing to find it. As Jules gets drawn into the dangerous and seductive art world of the uber-wealthy, she uncovers secrets and betrayals while becoming intrigued with the mesmerizing painting (and its subject) at the center of the drama. Using realistic twists and turns, combined with a stellar plot and an intriguing cast of characters, Barr has created a thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat.
.
WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2022 34 TRAVEL
But they were all ready for something different when Maya, searching the web, randomly came upon Chandler Ranch in West Texas. It was on a site called exploreranches.com, a website like VRBO, but for ranches. It looked like a dream: soaring limestone bluffs, wide-open expanses of forest and rangelands, two free-flowing rivers, and a spring-fed swimming pool. A friendly-looking fellow named Richard Jasso would cook for them and serve as their host – and they’d have the whole 1,500 acres to themselves.
“Of course, the Hill Country is always every one's first go-to because it's close,” said Maya. “We've all been there. We know it. There's lots to do, lots of hiking, outdoor time – and there's also the wineries.”
Yael’s family, on the other hand, decided that with their four kids – 13-year-old Gabe, 11-yearold Shai, 9-year-old Eden, and 5-year-old Emmett, it would be easier to make the drive all in one “Weday.made it an adventure to get there,” said Yael. “With four kids getting in and out of the
Yael
by Tracy L. Barnett, staff writer
Unplugged at a West Texas ranch
Each family had its own creative approach to getting there. Nicole was the first to chart a course. She would be traveling with husband Andrés, 8-year-old Ariella, and 4-year-old Matias. They needed to be at Chandler Ranch by Sunday night. So they decided to drive the three hours to San Antonio, spend the night there and start fresh on Sunday morning, driving
GiskeMaya
Travel Buzz
Lately, at least for their winter vacations, they haven’t had to go too far. But this winter, they decided to do a getaway together that would be entirely different.
“We have kind of started to realize that Texas winter is pretty awesome and that we shouldn't leave because the weather is so great,” said Maya. The kids like to hike and fish and explore, so they look for trips that give them free rein to do those kinds of things. Past vacations have taken them to Galveston and to Wimberley, Austin, and other places in the Texas Hill Country. For this winter vacation, they were ready to go a little further afield.
four more hours west to the Caverns of Sonora. There they met up with the Giskes – Maya and Gustavo and their two boys, 11-year-old Samy and 8-year-old Nathan, and spent about an hour exploring the cavern before continuing on their way, arriving at the ranch just before sunset. The Giskes had decided to spend the night exploring charming Boerne, a charming German-Texan town near San Antonio.
WEST TEXAS ADVENTURE The Giske, Rahimi, and Splenser families (from left): Gustavo Giske, Maya Giske, Samy Giske, Nicole Splenser, Andrés Splenser, Matias Splenser, Eden Rahimi, Yael Rahimi, Ariella Splenser, Shai Rahimi, Gabe Rahimi, Neil Rahimi, Emmett Rahimi, and Nathan Giske.
On the down side, there was the drive – seven and a half hours to the West Texas ranch, two hours shy of Big Bend National Park. The hus bands were not thrilled with the prospect. But they kept talking; the ranch had captured their imaginations.“Eventually we all came to terms with the fact that it was a worthwhile opportunity regardless of the drive,” said Maya. She put in a call to the
number on the website and asked a lot of questions. “We realized that it met most of our needs and that it had great lodging. Food was taken care of. There was fishing on the property. They had ATVs for us to use to explore. There were hiking paths and, of course, the stars at night to see. And so we decided to take a chance and go for it.”
Rahimi, Maya Giske, and Nicole Splenser have been planning getaways for a few years now, always with the objec tive of immersing the kids – and themselves –in the natural environment. The three longtime friends had the mutual goal of unplugging from technology and going to places where the kids could “run and be free in nature and just be joy ful,” as Yael put it.
EXPLORING TOGETHER Clockwise from upper left: Exploring the waters and banks of Independence Creek; Samy Giske takes the lead in checking out a creek, followed by Shai Rahimi, Nathan Giske, and Gabe Rahimi; the same boys trek through the creek to explore the other side during their tour of the ranch with Richard Jasso; Nathan Giske enjoying one of the many beautiful sunsets; Nathan Giske and Ariella Splenser, friends since birth, enjoying the last hours of fishing before night falls.
(continued on page 36)
WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2022 35
“My first reaction was, I was in awe of the beauty of it,” said Maya. “I had no idea. I imag ined in my head this arid, flat, dry land with tumbleweeds and nothing else, right? But it was not that at all.”
One day the dads took over caring for the kids so the moms could take a long hike to the lookout point, where the expansive vista included their accommodations. The next day they reversed roles. The highlights included bonding time on the trails and in the woods – and in one case, bonding with someone entirely unexpected. One evening as Yael stepped out to see the sunset she heard a noise and then saw something moving – an armadillo.
ulously restored cabins. Dating back three generations to the early 1900s, Chandler Ranch has a history all its own. Founded by a young cowboy, Charlie Chandler, the ranch grew into a successful operation where his six children grew up. His sons took over and turned it into a guest ranch in the 1950s, hosting local rodeos, barbecues, and dances. In the 1980s, they became unable to manage the ranch, which was leased to hunters and eventually fell into disrepair.
their cabins, all of which were freshly renovated and immaculate. But with the blue skies calling them in the daytime and the campfires under the starry sky at night, they didn’t spend much time indoors, and next to no time in front of screens. When they did come in, it was to play ping pong or pool or foosball in the well-stocked game room. On their last day, they did notice a large-screen TV in the game room, but they never got around to turning it on.
So she and husband Neil and the kids piled into the car on Sunday morning and headed west.
“It was totally fine,” she said with a laugh. “There are enough Buc-ee's to get us through.”
The wild beauty of the place charmed them all, as did the accommodations, four metic
The ranch, at the confluence of Independence Creek and the Pecos River, is sur rounded by mesas, or flat-topped mountains, and the scenery is breathtaking. Yael, too, was taken aback — first of all, with the silence of the place. She felt herself exhaling the stress of the city and breathing in the fresh air of the countryside.
For all of them, it was the first time they’d ever been to West Texas – it was the furthest west that any of them had been.
car and staying places, it’s actually more work.”
“It was beautiful. We arrived at 4 or 5 p.m. and the sun was starting to set, and they started a fire pit,” she said. “We had a fire pit every single night, and the women sat and we each had some wine, and the kids immediately ran to the fishing pond.”
Their first day on the ranch, Richard took them all on an ATV tour, showing them the highlights of the 1,500-acre ranch: the trails, the streams, the pond that is kept stocked yearround, the free-roaming horses that can be fed, but not ridden.
Richard was a first-rate cook and impromptu DJ, curating a special selection of music during their entire stay. His contagious laughter quickly endeared him to the group, and he ended up being a big part of the fun.
In 1991, the family signed an agreement with the Nature Conservancy, creating a con servation area and restoring habitat where a once-popular nine-hole golf course had been. In 2014, Joe A. Chandler, the great-grandson of Charlie, together with wife Nan, decided to revive the ranch and embarked on a restoration and rebuilding program. The ranch reopened in 2015, this time with an emphasis on ecotourism – just what Yael, Maya, and Nicole were looking for.
They felt right at home in the main facility, a big roomy kitchen and game room area, and in
“I got within probably four feet of it and I sat down, and we just sort of hung out,” she related with a laugh. “I drank my wine, and he was looking for bugs in the ground
(continued from page 35)
Maya touched on an observation Nicole had
“I think for a lot of parents, Covid made par enting without technology really a challenge,” she said. “That technology has become a part of their everyday life in school, and then they want it for entertainment outside of school. It's almost like an addiction.”
made earlier. “We are very lucky that with this group that had a wide range of ages and gen ders, everybody sort of had a place, no matter what was going on. Big kids, little kids, girls, boys, everyone. And I do feel like the family came back recharged, and I know that at least for me, it was one of the better family vacations we've taken. It was just five days of no chaos, no arguments, no technology, no fighting. Just bliss, really.”
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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.
So before the trip, they all talked about the intention to make the vacation a tech-free time – and that it was. The kids never asked for their iPads. “I felt like I saw a lot of joy come back to
HOME ON THE RANGE Clockwise from upper left: Ariella Splenser enjoying time with one of three retired horses on the property – she brought them carrots every day; host and chef Richard Jasso making the kids their favorite pancake breakfast; a stop on the tour Richard gave of the property, a hidden spot used for gatherings by the original owners. The kids loved using ATVs to get around; another of the magical sunsets at Chandler Ranch. These sunsets were the cue that dinner was to be served soon, followed by good times at the bonfire, listening to music, and enjoying a sky full of stars.
For Yael, one of the best parts of the vacation was being offline most of the time – and noticing that her kids were doing the same.
them,” said Yael. “You know, we're all little kids inside, no matter what age, and I think especial ly for teenagers, they forget that. But I saw them remember that: ‘I really like running around and getting wet in the pond, and I'm not too cool for all Thethat.’”memories abound. “There was a moment where my daughter was running in the dis tance,” recalled Nicole. “You could see her hair flying and she was just running as fast as she could. And I was like, This is the kind of vaca tion that I want to be on, where there's plenty of activity, nobody's sitting around bored, and she's looking for fossils and fishing, and that's just the dream right there.”
and we're just like, having a lovely evening together.”
These dishes do take you to various places, but they're also all American because they are Houstoninspired. Did the idea of shared plates come up before Covid? Dining is a different animal these days.
Sure, one great example is our bone marrow dish. Bone marrow is one of those classic French things. You typically see it where it is roasted, and it usually has some sort of gremolata on it. You also have bread on the side to spread every thing on top of it. So, my thing was, “How can we take it to a different place?”
You did a similar thing with good ol’ cornbread.
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It is. But I was brought on a year ago, and we were smack in the middle of Covid. There was a long period when restaurants were shut down, and people were encouraged to stay home. So, there was a lack of hospitality, and there was a craving to connect around the table, engage, catch up, and share.
My focus was to have these shared plates hit a lot of textures, flavors, and countries. So, the idea is to have American fare that was approachable, and people would understand, but also take some turns along the way that would give it a new face, a new flavor.
food and to connect with friends and family.
Laredo Taqueria (915 Snover St.) off Washington is another favorite. Their fideo is just so good. So are the nopales tacos. Last night, we ate at Little Pappasito's (2536 Richmond Ave.). I'm biased, but their fajitas are always on point. They got it locked in, and who doesn't want great fajitas?
When cooking at home, what are your go-to ingredients?
I grew up on cornbread. It's a very Southern thing. But how do we use cornbread as a vehicle for another place? What we did with cornbread is it becomes a vehicle for (Mexican) elote. We cook corn in this chili-lime butter that gets poured over the cornbread, then we top it off with cotija, crema, and cilantro.
What about you? Name places you go to for tasty
I really love this Vietnamese place, Nam Eatery (502 East 20th St. B), for soft shell crab bun (noodles), caramelized pork spareribs, filet banh mi, and shrimp spring rolls. I also love eating at Aladdin Mediterranean Cuisine ( 912 Westheimer Road and 1737 W 34th St.). I'm big on vegetables, and I'll order tabouli and eggplant with grilled chicken, or I can load up on salads, and I'll be happy.
DINING
GATHER ’ROUND Five 12 Restaurant Concepts founder and owner Aaron Lyons, with culinary director Brandi Key and co-owner Trent Patterson, have opened the full-service Daily Gather, following the success of Dish Society.
by Dai Huynh, staff writer
Dish
At the time, Brandi Key was working at Alice Blue in the Heights. But the CEO was familiar with her classic bent with a creative twist during her seven-year tenure with Clark Cooper Concepts. The Texas native helped open Coppa Osteria, Punk's Simple Southern Food, The Dunlavy, and SaltAir Seafood Kitchen. She had the knowledge of overseeing multiple locations andLyonsconcepts.andKey clicked, and she agreed to don the executive chef hat for his full-service, Memorial-area restaurant, Daily Gather (800 Sorella Court, Suite 940), plus take on the role of director of culinary operations for Dish Society's six locations, with more to open down the road. Here, Key shares “key” ingredients behind her cooking, the recipe for her most pop ular dish, and where she dines.
I love Vietnamese food, and it is showcased here in Houston really well. So, our bone mar-
When Aaron and I started working on this project, one of the things we wanted to bring to the forefront was the idea of gathering around the table. So, we wanted a menu that would encourage sharing and has small plates you can put on the table and enjoy passing them around the table.
MiskellySabrina
What is Daily Gather's central theme?
row is roasted with an oyster sauce glaze, and then we topped it off with Vietnamese herbs that makes it really interesting. So, you get the best of both worlds – this unctuous bone marrow that you know what it is. But we take you to a different place with all the Vietnamese flavors.
I'm 100 percent a citrus acid fan, and what it can do for food, like elevating something as simple as a sauce. Sometimes, a squeeze of lemon is all it needs to bring that freshness. I love green onions. I can put green onions in everything. My other ingredient? Yogurt. I love marinating meat in yogurt and grilling it over the fire to get that
How would you describe the food?
Can you give some examples?
Chef’s Corner Brandi Key
Society founder Aaron Lyons had the concept name and a sought-after space on CityCentre’s main green (vacated in 2019 by the restaurant International Smoke). Now he needed his chef.
WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2022 39
Lola Sauce: Make Lola Sauce by adding extra virgin olive oil, a pinch of red pepper flakes, basil leaves, and garlic cloves in a small saucepan and place over medium heat. Bring the oil mixture to a simmer, then remove from the heat and allow to steep for 20 minutes to release the flavor of the ingredients into the oil.
Editor’s note: Buzz dining columnist Dai Huynh is a James Beard food-journalism award winner and longtime Houston-based restaurant writer. This Q&A was condensed and edited.
cheese.DeboraSmail
Season to taste with salt and pepper if needed.
Who influenced your cooking the most?
For Spaghetti Lola:
Portion the pasta between four plates, making sure to twist the noodles into a high pile in the center of the plate.
Add the cooked pasta to the Lola Sauce and stir to combine. Add a couple of tablespoons of the pasta water to the pan with the basil leaves and continue to cook for 2-3 minutes or until the sauce begins sticking nicely to the noodles. If the sauce looks dry, add another couple of tablespoons of the pasta water.
Indian cooks use yogurt to tenderize the chicken. But how do you marinate salmon in yogurt?
One of my favorite things is vadouvan, a French-styled curry. It's very heavy on the onions and shallots. Along with the vadouvan spices, I marinate salmon filet in yogurt for about 15 to 20 minutes, then I cook the salmon on the grill. It is the most delicious thing. The key is to make sure the grill is super-hot and free of debris.
16 basil leaves
Meanwhile, open the cans of tomatoes and transfer them to a bowl. Gently squeeze the tomatoes in your hands to break up the big pieces of tomato so that all pieces are approximately ¼-½ inches.
Spaghetti Lola: To make Spaghetti Lola, place a large pot of water on the stove and season the water aggressively with kosher salt. The water should taste salty. When the water is boiling, add the dried spaghetti to the pot and cook, stirring regularly to keep the strands separated while cooking.
Spaghetti Lola
For Lola Sauce:
PLATES TO SHARE Daily Gather highlights small plates to share, such as deviled eggs, roasted cauliflower, and elote cornbread. Chef Brandi Key pays homage to her grandmothers with Spaghetti Lola, topped with creamy burrata
MiskellySabrina
Maldon salt
1-ounce extra virgin olive oil
1 pound dried pasta, spinach flavored 2-3 cups Lola Sauce, warm Kosher salt and black pepper
Kosher salt to taste
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
Onceripe.the oil has steeped for 20 minutes and is full of flavor, using a fine mesh strainer, strain the oil into the heated, seasoned tomatoes. Stir
A handful of people. But at the core of it, my upbringing and the way we ate around our dinner table at home. My grandparents were really fantastic cooks, and I grew up on a step stool next to them. I watched my grandfather make the fluffiest buttermilk pancakes I've ever had in my life. I watched my grandmother making homemade biscuits, and I watched my other grandmother on my mother's side harvesting vegetables out of her garden. I spent the summers picking tomatoes and eating them off the vine.
Cook for approximately 8-10 minutes or until the pasta is just cooked through with a small bite to it.
Place the tomatoes in a saucepan and place over medium heat. Bring the tomatoes to a gen tle simmer, then season to taste with kosher salt. Note: Canned tomato products are not all equal and could possibly need a pinch of sugar to help bring out the natural taste of the tomatoes. The final heated tomatoes should be well seasoned and a touch sweet when the tomatoes are com pletely
Divide the burrata into four pieces and place on top of each bowl of pasta.
Red pepper flakes
We wanted to feature a recipe by you. Any ideas?
4-ounce burrata
Finish with a pinch of Maldon salt on the burrata and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil over each plate. Serve immediately. Makes 4.
charred, caramelized flavor. I love what yogurt does to proteins, like salmon and chicken.
10-12 basil leaves
aggressively with a whisk to emulsify the oil into theThetomatoes.sauce at this point is done and will be silky smooth and well-seasoned with aromatic notes of garlic and basil. Do not overcook the sauce as it is best when it is light, fresh, and not overly concentrated.
There is a particular pasta dish that I've had for a while, called Spaghetti Lola. I chose to put it on this first round of menus for Daily Gather because it brings the story full circle. The dishes not only come from different places, but they have a reference or an influence, a story that happened in my life or Aaron's.
Both of my grandmothers were named Lola. One was a gardener, and the other was a really fantastic cook. I wanted to put together a pasta dish that took both of those ideas and put it into one, so it is a green spinach-based spaghetti with a bunch of basil and other wonderful herbs. That's the gardening part. The cooking part is that we got this really simple tomato sauce that is elegant, silky, and super flavorful.
6 garlic cloves, peeled 2 (28-ounce) cans of San Marzano tomatoes
Meanwhile, place the Lola Sauce in a large pan big enough to hold the pasta and heat gently over medium heat.
Once the pasta is cooked, drain the pasta, reserving ½ cup of the pasta water.
Impressively, with three of the five signees being defensive backs, Lamar will have nine defensive back players at the collegiate level next fall, including players suiting up at The University of Texas, University of Houston, Prairie View A&M, and McNeese State. “That’s pretty cool to have that kind of representation,” said Lindsey.
NATIONAL SIGNING DAY The Lamar Texans had five players sign their letters of intent to play college foot ball. From left: Kobe Jones, Jaivion Green, Jordan Jackson, Will Richardson, and Orion Irving.
As the No. 1-ranked private school player in Texas, Bell has been the recipient of numerous honors during his career, including the Greater Houston Private School Offensive Player of the Year award. “Dillon had to work his tail off to get through a rigorous academic program like Kinkaid. He deserves every great thing that comes his way. Also, right after Georgia won the national championship last month, Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart paid a visit to Dillon here on campus, so that was pretty exciting for everyone.”
Editor’s note: Todd Freed is the host and executive producer of H-Town High School Sports, which airs Saturday at 10:30 p.m. on CW39 and MondayThursday on AT&T SportsNet SW. To submit high school sports news for possible inclusion in SportzBuzz, please email todd@thebuzzmagazines.com.
“Sending one player to the defending national champion Georgia Bulldogs and another to the nation’s most prestigious academic institution is pretty exciting and a great measuring stick for our football team,” said Kinkaid head football coach Nathan Larned. “One of the knocks you’ll sometimes hear is that we can’t get kids to premier programs, but Dillon and Cameron are prime examples of why that just isn’t so.”
The Mavericks were fantastic in virtually every event, including a sensational meet from senior Ella Flowers. Flowers finished first in both the 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard breaststroke while also teaming up with Lexi Lukens, Lillian Poag, and Katie Czelusta for a pair of victories in the relay events. “Ella is one of the best swimmers in the state,” said Raper.
WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2022 40
The boys also finished first in the 200-yard freestyle relay behind the foursome of Kozak, Ryan Guthrie, Jeremiah Broughton, and Michael Skaribas. In addition, Achuff, Guthrie, Miao, and Hensel raced to victory in the 200yard medley relay.
ball in the coming months,” said Lamar head football coach Mike Lindsey. “All five of the guys played and excelled at multiple sports here at Lamar, and it’s really exciting to see their hard work and dedication pay off. Also, with current college players receiving an extra year of eligibility due to Covid, the opportunities for scholarships are tougher these days, so it’s really nice to see our guys move on to the next level. I think they all have a bright future ahead of them.”
As for Henry, the Harvard signee was an allstate kick returner this past season and the recip ient of the Greater Houston Iron Man of the Year award for excelling at multiple positions on the football field. “Cameron is a hard-working and intelligent young man,” said Larned. “We’ve had a few other guys play football at Ivy League schools such as Dartmouth, Columbia, Cornell, and Penn, but I believe he’s our first Harvard kid. Cameron’s also really humble, which says a lot about his character.”
“It was a really good day for us, and we expect to have even more guys sign to play college foot
It was a dynamic duo of signees on National Signing Day for the Kinkaid Falcons football team, with Cameron Henry committing to Harvard University and Dillon Bell signing on with the University of Georgia.
SPORTSSportzBuzz
. by Todd Freed, staff writer
On the boys’ side, Mavericks senior Todd Achuff and sophomore Alex Miao led the way as high scorers with victories in multiple events. Miao set meet records in the 200-yard medley (butterfly) and the 200-yard freestyle, and while teaming up with Achuff, Warren Kozak, and Nick Hensel, for victory in the 400-yard freestyle relay.
The Lamar Texans football team will again be well-represented at the collegiate level, with five players signing their letters of intent on National Signing Day. The fivesome includes Jaivion Green (Washington), Jordan Jackson (Stephen F. Austin), Kobe Jones (Kilgore College) Orion Irving (Tyler Junior College), and Will Richardson (Colorado School of Mines).
It was a dominant showing for St. John’s School at the SPC South Zone Swimming and Diving meet, with first-place championships for both the boys and girls swim teams. The St. John’s girls won the meet by 45 points over second-place John Cooper, while the boys finished first over second-place Kinkaid by a lofty 67point margin. “I was extremely proud of the way our entire team competed,” said Mavericks swim coach Ron Raper. “They were just fantastic.”
After several years of fielding small teams, this year’s Kinkaid middleschool wrestling team (top photo) has 18 members and placed second at the Houston Middle School City Championship. This impressive finish, includ ing half of the team finishing in the top three, is the best in any coach’s memory, and teammates are excited about continuing their newfound momentum. When they reach high school, the boys hope to continue wrestling for The Kinkaid School’s varsity team, which recently has sent wrestlers on to the United States Naval Academy, Princeton University, Harvard University, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The win ning wrestlers and their coaches are (top row, from left) Takori Bradford, Parker Herleth, Kavin Mukerji, Ben Pielop, Morgan Tannery, Gregory Otjen, coach Justin Flores, Pierce Hicks, Ben Turner, Graham Erwin, David Suttles, Thomas Leman, coach Tony Dobson, (bottom row, from left) Huxley Johnson, and Connor Hanson; (not pictured): Charles Davis, Hale Muir, Jordan Garcia, Kush Hingorani, Nathan Segal, coach John Beckwith, and coach Bobby Eggleston
On the rise
Lacrosse for a cause
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.
Arda Cepni (bottom photo) runs toward the ball in a Rise Soccer Club game with the 12B Magista Vivid team. The Condit Elementary School third grader has played soccer for three years, including seasons with the Weekley YMCA and the Bellaire Rec Center. This season, Arda plays for Rise Soccer’s competitive division, the Youth Academy, and his favorite position is center midfield. During the Volt Cup Classic tournament, Arda’s goal tied the score in the final five seconds of the game and helped the team earn a spot in the final game.
SPORTS
The Pin Oak girls lacrosse team (middle photo) participated in the Burning Flower Tournament held at Zube Park. The annual event honors a former player for the Cy-Fair Iron Maidens lacrosse team who passed away unexpectedly at the age of 13. Players donate stuffed animals that are provided to local police departments to give to children to hold for comfort in times of crisis. The Pin Oak tournament players and coaches are (top row, from left) coach Joe Arnett, Kahlan Desrosiers, Jane Apple, Madeleine Tejtel, Caroline Fajkus , coach Alan Ledergerber, Anne Marie Maurer, Charlotte Heemer, Kamilla Ledergerber, Cadence Richardson, Lior Levi, Sophie Polasek, Gabi Blankenship, Audrey Conklin, Emerson Etheridge, Olivia Sette, Fiona Duncan, Molly Jones, Reagan Pinkerton , coach Tabitha LeMaster , coach Trevor LeMaster , (bottom row, from left) Ainsley Mann, Kathryn Balke, Reese Robinson, Candace Hirschi, Madison Wasaff, Addison Garrow, Reed Adair, Charleigh DeArman, Tekla Borski, Cecily Tardy, and Teresa Pinkston
SportzBuzz Jr.
Welcome to SportzBuzz Jr., a column spotlighting neighborhood athletes in elementary and middle school.
WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2022 42
A wrestling comeback
. by Angie Frederickson, staff writer
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WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2022 43
by Sophia Tang, age 10
A week later, Tsunami’s coach unexpectedly invited me to join his team for the season’s final tournament in Humble. In the scorching heat, we played for hours. After overcoming the diffi cult loser bracket, we came in second place! I got my first tournament ring soon after, and the ball became my ball.
of sadness swept our team. The season was wind ing down, but I knew I’d given it my all.
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KIDS
If we lost, my summer-tournament season at the West University Softball Association would come to an end. Tsunami, a higher-ranked 10U team, might beat my team, Hailstorm. We battled like warriors while leaving dust trails that formed clouds in the air. We were tied at the end of the third inning. My courage grew as the game progressed. After the first two batters, I almost struck out the third.
inch of my skin had been scorched by the Texas sun. As I dragged my feet from the dugout to the mound, spinning the ball between my fingers, it felt like miles away. My heart was racing, my hands were trembling, and I was sweating. As soon as I stepped atop the mound, my muscles and bones sprang with new vitality. I spun around to face the catcher’s glove, ideally positioned behind home plate.
STRIKE ’EM OUT Sophia Tang, a fifth grader at West University Elementary School, loves to pitch and plays in the West University Softball Association.
I began pitching six months ago and have thoroughly enjoyed it. “New pitcher, watch her!” screamed the opposing squad. As if nothing had happened, I continued pitching. However, the ball did not always follow me. I wrote “Listen or lose” on it and trained in my backyard, rain or sun, day and night. I hoped that the ball would one day become my ball.
Buzz Kidz
The pitcher
Every
The third batter swung at my third-strike ball but missed it. The batter dashed across the diamond as soon as she saw the catcher miss, making it to first base ahead of the ball. It was a heartbreaking moment for Hailstorm. Tsunami began to wreak havoc on all bases, even home. We lost by a hair in the end. With no ball in my glove, tears streamed down my cheeks as a wave
Russell W. Hall, J.D., LL.M. (Tax), Board Certified – Estate Planning and Probate Law, Texas Board of Legal Specialization, 6750 West Loop South, Suite 920, Bellaire, Texas 77401, 713.662.3853, bellaireprobate.com/blog
WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2022 45
The so-called “HEMS standard” is an ascertainable distribution standard that permits distributions for a beneficiary’s health, education, maintenance, or support. In plain English, the trust enables the beneficiary to maintain their lifestyle, including travel and gifting. If the beneficiary car-camped in the summer and flew to Florida once each winter, the trust should not pay for European riverboat cruises.
The HEMS standard effectively imposes an accounting requirement on the beneficiary. Without a budget or at least proof of actual expenses, how is the trustee to know whether they are subsidizing a lifestyle or silliness? These are hard matters, perhaps harder when the trustee and beneficiary are friends or family. Not every trust is worth the candle.
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A trustee may have i) complete discretion, e.g., distributions are never mandatory, ii) no discretion, e.g., 5 percent per annum until the money runs out or the beneficiary dies, or iii) something in between, e.g., an “ascer tainable distribution standard.” An ascertainable standard is one that is objective, and that different people could agree on, including a judge. The beneficiary can compel the trustee to distribute that much and prohibit the trustee from distributing more than that.
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It's common to require the trustee to consider the beneficiary’s other sources of income. If the beneficiary’s lifestyle costs $60,000 per year, and the beneficiary’s income is $65,000, no trust distributions are made under a HEMS standard. When that same beneficiary retires, and their income drops to $40,000 a year, the trustee may distribute $20,000 to make up the shortfall, and without requiring the beneficiary to dip into their savings. The trustee may distribute more as needed, e.g., to pay for increased medical or nursing care as the beneficiary ages. The bene ficiary’s own savings are conserved for other things, e.g., gifts or inheritance for the beneficiary’s family.
Have you made a will? With trusts? Simple wills often include a contingent trust, in case a beneficiary is too young or too old to manage the inheritance. Clients that are allergic to trusts still want contingent trusts, to avoid even the remote chance of that most dreaded proceeding known to the law, a contested, court-created, court-supervised guardianship.
Once a trust is funded, the trustee stands between the money and the beneficiary. Distributions are made on the trustee’s say so, not the beneficiary’s. Most trustees answer both to current and remainder beneficiaries, e.g., to the decedent’s children now, and to the grandchildren later. The trust itself sets the ground rules, i.e., how much comes out, when, and who decides. This is the subject of trust distribution standards.
Scout, age 4, Wheaten Terrier, Blue Bonnet Blvd.
PETSNeighborhood Tails
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.
Hi! I’m Scout. I’m a Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier. My favorite part of my day is my daily walk with my mom (I miss her because she’s in Spain right now! Bring me back a Jamón milk bone!). Though I can be a troublemaker, when I’m around my nieces Carmichael, Eli, and Stevie, I have to take care of them. They’re 5, 3, and 1, so they’re always getting into trouble. I sleep outside their bedroom door at night. I have a lot of responsibilities. Every day, my dad and I go to our furniture store. I don’t sit on the furniture even though I think it would be a really good idea (I want to show people how comfy the couches are). I don’t jump on the customers either, even though I find them very suspicious. I live a busy life. Most dogs don’t have to juggle a hectic work/life schedule like I do, but I manage.
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Why allergy shots don’t ADVERTORIALwork
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No one nose allergies like we do.™
Mailed to 58,000 homes monthly. To advertise in The Buzz Magazines, contact us at 713.668.4157, ext. 11 or advertising@thebuzzmagazines.com
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
in 2011. Maybe that is why we hear “these shots have changed my life” more often than “these allergy shots don’t work.” Need quick relief? Look into our RUSH procedure. Don’t like needles? Allergy drops that go under the tongue may be a good choice. Though drops are not FDA approved (and therefore not covered by insurance), they are safe, effective and legal. The cost of $192/month is a lot of money, but con sider the time you save not having to go to the doctor’s office to get shots, and that you can take them with you when you travel. Bootleg allergists may offer drops for less money, but you have no certainty that their recipes have any input from physicians certified by the American Board of Allergy & Immunology.
WESTTANGLEWOODRIVERMEMORIALBELLAIREOAKSUNIVERSITY
Claritin, Zyrtec, Xyzal, Allegra, Nasonex, Flonase, Singulair. All treat allergy symptoms, but none actually makes you less allergic. You stop the medicine, and it soon stops working. Allergy shots are unique in that if taken at the right dose for at least three years, they can continue to provide beneficial immunologic effects after you stop taking them. Frequently, though, people say allergy shots don’t work. Why is that? Most likely, it’s an inadequate dose. To a point, the higher the dose, the better the protection it gives you. Ask your allergist, “How many micro grams of Der p 1 does my maintenance dose for dust mites contain?” Higher doses are associated with increased side effects, but most reac tions are mild – itchy arms, local swelling. Taking antihistamines before getting the shot or applying ice to the site of the shot usually works. Rarely, high effective doses of allergy shots can cause serious reactions – wheezing, throat tightness, hives all over, even anaphylaxis. That’s why we monitor each patient with a digital timer after each shot, and then send patients out with their own EpiPen or Auvi-Q to use if they have a late reaction. Why else don’t allergy shots work? It’s important to split up some components into separate vials. For example, mold extract can digest grass extract. If you are allergic to several things, but your allergy serum is all in just one vial, it is possible that some of its contents are being degraded. There is enormous variability in how allergy shots are formulated, and how they are dosed. Many allergists continue to follow recommendations made 30 or 40 years ago. At Houston Allergy and Asthma Clinic, we base our recipes on guidelines published
Note: Information contained in this article should not be considered a substitute for consultation with a board-certified allergist to address individual medical needs.
Create a buzz for your biz.
Time for tea
Boys vs. moms
. by Jordan Magaziner Steinfeld, staff writer
Supporters of Blue Bird Circle, which helps children with neurological disorders, gathered to kick off the upcoming luncheon, themed “Better Together.” Tea hostess Dodi Willingham, tea co-chair Jan Rhodes, and luncheon co-chairs Trish Greaser and Ellen Stough welcomed attendees and ensured each received a colorfully wrapped teacup as a party favor. Attendees toasted with wine and champagne as they cele brated the news that defective genes and genetic
NEIGHBORSBuzz About Town
disorders are being identified and treated through DNA sequencing in the Blue Bird Clinic for Pediatric Neurology, in partnership with the Whole Genome Laboratory at Baylor College of Medicine. The upcoming luncheon will take place March 23 at The Briar Club. Pictured, at the kickoff tea, are (from left) Nikita Shukla, Betsy Chuchla, Julie Little, and Sarah Risen. See thebluebirdcircle.com.
Ashley Colón, a member of the Class of ’22 in the University of Houston’s Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship, is the first recipient of the MasterWord Endowed Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship Scholarship. The scholarship was announced at the Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship Donor Appreciation reception at UH Bauer College of Business. Ludmila (Mila) Golovine, MasterWord founder and president, studied under WCE co-founder William Sherrill, the late business entrepreneurship icon and her mentor. It’s all come full-circle for Mila (a 1995 graduate of the inaugural class of then-UH Center for Entrepreneurship), who did not imagine as a college student that she would have the means to endow a scholarship at her alma mater. Ashley’s first foray into entrepreneurship was at age 12; she started a pop-up bake stand to help cover family expenses when her mom was being treated for breast cancer. The business grew so rapidly that she soon started catering parties and making deliveries. Her class business-plan project is to create an e-commerce company that sells self-defense products geared to women. Pictured are (on left) Mila and (on right) Ashley, giving the UH “Cougar Paw” sign. Ashley is wearing her WCE blazer, show ing the logo that Mila’s peers helped design when the school first launched.
Rodeo art at Roberts
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(continued on page 50)
West University Elementary School second-grade boys gathered at Bullard Field to play baseball against their moms. The sociable event, which raised money for WUES, was hosted by Casey Ball, Robyn Goldstein, Emily Leitch, and Katherine Plumb. The boys were coached by the dads and ultimately pulled out the victory over the moms. Participants included Britt and Bowen Beresi, Yesley and JJ Love, Kristen and Kyle Bayazitoglu, Erin and Liam Hubbard, Robyn and Austin Goldstein, Hilarie and Grey Fisher, Brianne Wheeler and Jansen Baird, Emily and Davis Leitch, Katherine and Jack Plumb, Brittany and Haden McDowell, Engie and Zachary Attia, Melissa and Thomas Turowsky, Nicole and Zavier Alousi, and Casey and Duke Ball. After the game, everyone enjoyed pizza, popcorn, and concession-stand candy.
Cougar pride
ThigpenErin
RodeoHouston’s School Art Program gives stu dents, pre-K through 12th grade, the opportunity to compete, earn scholarships, travel to summer workshops, and have their artwork displayed in the Hayloft Gallery during the livestock show. This fall, 26 Roberts Elementary students spent time in Ms. Marina Jenkins’ art room every morning before school to
band, Ryan, has Type 1 diabetes, and she was thrilled that she raised more than $6,500 for dia betes research. She was encouraged by Ryan and kids Jack, 5, and William, 1, who created sup portive signs and t-shirts. Neighbors and friends Joy and Joe Kaplan, the McDavid family, and Dan Box and Alex Dailey were stationed on University Boulevard to cheer her on. Along the route, friend Allison Chavez and her family met
work on their rodeo art pieces. At the elementary level, there were almost 1,000 entries, but only 10 submissions could be chosen to move on to NRG Center. Of the 10 elementary pieces chosen from around the district, four were Roberts students. The 14 remaining students who were judged all received finalist ribbons. Pictured are Ms. Jenkins’ art students, ranging from second to fifth grade. See this story at thebuzzmagazines.com for photos of the students’ artwork.
In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Lauren Soliz, Caylee Canonico (age 6), and Kinley Canonico (age 4), along with friends Kadriye Alcorn, Adeline Alcorn (age 6), and West University Elementary student Sage Davis (age 6) worked together on a service project as part of River Oaks Baptist School’s Day of Service. The group distributed gift baskets to fire Stations 2, 11, and 68 and the Houston Police Department Southwest Substation and the Northeast Substation. Highlights included a tour of a police station, visiting an empty jail cell, honking a fire truck horn, sliding down a fire pole, and spraying a fire (continued on page 52)
Whitney Burns ran the 26.2 miles in the Chevron Houston Marathon – her first-ever marathon – to raise money for JDRF. Her hus
her at several locations along with Whitney’s mom, who went to several mile markers. The Harbin family cheered her on from Kirby Drive. Whitney’s aunt, who has run the Houston and NYC marathons, came in from Austin – which was particularly special because she had never met Whitney’s youngest son because of Covid. “I felt so much love from so many people, and it really encouraged me to keep going strong!” Whitney wrote. “Every sign, every cheer, every hug was so encouraging and helped me achieve one more goal – a sub-4-hour time!” Whitney placed among the top 600 females.
Milestone marathon
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MLK Day of Service
(continued from page 48)
United Way of Greater Houston’s Women’s Initiative gathered in the outdoor courtyard of United Way’s headquarters to celebrate the $4.7 million the group raised to support the nonprofit’s work in the community. Leading the celebrations were Women’s Initiative co-chairs Tara Nutik and Karen Kershner Slack (pictured, from left), along with United Way of Greater Houston president and CEO Amanda McMillian. The Women’s Initiative is made up of more than 800 female professionals, community volunteers, and business leaders who contribute $2,500 or more to the United Way of Greater Houston annually. Throughout the year, members participate in educational, networking, and professional-development opportunities.
The Broach Foundation for Brain Cancer Research is presenting comedian Mike Birbiglia at the 10th Annual Stand-Up for Brain Cancer Gala on April Fool’s Day April 1 (rescheduled from Oct. 14) at River Oaks Country Club. In 2011, James Broach was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer. This came just 10 months after his previous diagnosis of a grade II astrocytoma during a surgery in 2010. He underwent many difficult treatments. James and his wife, Jamie, helped start the foundation to raise funds for adult brain-cancer research. James lost his battle against brain cancer in 2013. The Broach Foundation has raised over $6 million. Pictured are (from left, at the 2019 gala) Jeff Byrd, Jamie Broach Byrd, Oliver Broach, Harrison Broach, and Parker Broach. For more, see thebroachfoundation.org.
and a cocktail buffet dinner and live entertainment. Pictured are (from left) Judy Perkins, Linda West, Susan Rosenbaum, Laura Bruce, Laura Hellums, Joey Rovira, Lauri Wasmuth, and Sherri Cooley. See thecitymkt.org.
Research. In November, she presented at the International Sigma Xi Research Conference. Disha studied the effects of critically high envi ronmental metal concentrations on usnic acid production in Cladonia rangiferina lichens. This was an experimental AP Research project con ducted with the help of Dr. Ana Giraldo, Joshua Garcia, James Barnes, Amalia Masiglat, and Pulcherie Gueneau. Disha also was awarded $5,000 from the CITGO Distinguished Scholars program.
Nikitha Kota (pictured, on left) and Disha Bhattacharya (on right) were named Regeneron Top 300 Scholars of 2022. Scholars were chosen based on exceptional research skills, innovative thinking, and promise as scientists as demon strated through the submission of their original, independent-research projects, essays, and rec ommendations. As semifinalists, Nikitha and Disha each received $2,000, along with $4,000 total for CVHS. Their research projects, both of which were completed on the CVHS campus, will be judged for the chance to win $25,000 prizes. Nikitha’s research project, “The Tense of Psychological Distancing Self Talk and Test Performance Among GT High School Students” is published in the Journal of Student
(continued from page 50)
Mike Birbiglia, no joke
Women’s Initiative
hose. Pictured from left are (top) Sage Davis, Caylee Canonico, (middle) Adeline Alcorn, Kinley Canonico, (bottom) Kadriye Alcorn, and Lauren Soliz.
Shop for a cause at The City Market, the Houston Junior Forum’s inaugural event benefiting charitable services for children, youth, women, and seniors. Featuring art, clothing, gifts, accessories, jewelry, and more, The City Market takes place March 22, 10:30 a.m.-6 p.m. at the Bayou City Event Center. The VIP Preview Party March 21, 6:30-9:30 p.m., will include wine tasting, chef-inspired appetizers,
DicksonPriscilla
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Hermit crab homecoming
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.
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Sarah Beckmann was running in the neighborhood when she spotted something unusual – a hermit crab on the sidewalk. Sarah’s family has pet hermit crabs, so she went on a mission to reunite the hermit crab with its owners. She brought it home and shared a photo on social media. She quickly received a response from Linda Yu. Her family’s hermit crab, Kizer Sands, had run away from home more than two months before. Her sons, Andrew and Jason, were thrilled to have Kizer home. And, it turns out Sarah knows Kizer’s owners – Andrew and Jason are students at St. Mark’s Episcopal School, where Sarah is the school nurse. A few weeks later, Sarah (middle), Jason (on right), and Andrew (on left) brought their hermit crabs to school so they could let the crabs play together. Jason plans to write a children’s book about Kizer’s adventures. See more details and photos; search “Hermit Crab 'Homeward Bound’” by Karen Vine Fuller at thebuzzmagazines.com.
STEM scholars at Carnegie Carnegie Vanguard High School students
Spring shopping
Charles Fletcher, director of client services at Danziger & De Llano, LLP, not only plays with a strategy, but he is one of the hardcore fans, staying up until midnight to play. “Midnight is when the new game comes out. Since it’s the same word for every player in the world, waiting
Elizabeth began playing Wordle when she saw friends on Facebook posting screenshot shares of their scores. “It looked mysterious with those green and black blocks,” she says. “I spent about a day and a half looking for the app!”
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later, and sometimes the same second word, odium or opium.
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by Andria Frankfort, staff writer
The New York Times bought Wordle in January for an amount in “the low seven figures.” Players were worried the purchase would preclude free play, but the Times promises to continue offering it at no cost, at least for now. Wardle, the creator, also stated he is working with the Times to ensure that players’ scores and streaks will remain.
Anne Tulek had played about 10 times when she told us, “I saw everybody playing, and I said, ‘I’m not doing that, I’m gonna get addicted.’ But then I saw one more post about it and said, ‘Okay, I’ll try.’ It’s so clever, and so constrained. You get six tries, and you get it or you don’t. You can only do it once a day, so you can’t go down the rabbit hole!”
Many times, I’ll put in my first and second word, and if it isn’t obvious after that, I go to sleep thinking about it and finish the game in the morning.”Charles texts his dad in College Station and broth er in San Antonio with scores. “We rarely get to see each other, so Wordle has been nice since we have been in communication daily since it started.”Consultant
until later means I could see a spoiler in social word,withsays.somewhere,”mediahe“Ialwaysstartthesame
Elizabeth Elliot, a mother of three who works at Pepper Lou Gifts in Memorial, plays with a strategy. “I pick a first word that has a lot of vowels,” she says. “Adieu, abide, piano, orate. The word I got on a whim [meaning she won on the first try] was ‘moist.’ You’ve got a couple of vowels there, and some frequently used consonants.”
Even still, people are self-proclaiming to be obsessed. Elyse Kalmans says she recently start ed playing and had a realization: “I sometimes am thinking of five-letter words to guess as I’m falling asleep!” Maybe she and Charles need to teamBarbaraup. Catechis says Wordle has brought family in Houston, Round Rock, Denver, and Fayetteville, Ark., together. “I started playing
But, Elizabeth points out, Wordle is not an app. To get it, go to www.nytimes.com/games/wordle and follow the easy instructions.
ARE YOU PLAYING? Wordle’s word game of the day is all the buzz.
behance.net/runamokstudios
Are you playing Wordle yet? Either way, it’s likely you’ve heard of it. “I’m obsessed!” is the answer we received over and over when polling Buzz readers about the new Wordlegame.isa once-a-day game of elimination. With the goal of figuring out the word of the day, players randomly choose a five-letter word, enter it into the puzzle, and Wordle responds: Green means you’ve got the right letter in the right spot; yellow means the letter is in the word of the day, but it’s not in the right spot; black or gray means the letter isn’t in the word of the day at all. You’ll get six chances to guess the word. Kind of like a cross between Mastermind, Boggle, and Wheel of Fortune.
NEIGHBORSBack Porch Riding the Wordle wave
with my sisters, sharing our scores and com menting on the ease or difficulties,” she says. “Weeks later, one of the with-it, internet-savvy nieces popped into a family group text to ask if her mother and aunts had heard of this thing called Wordle? Now we have a bigger family Wordle text group. We celebrate the [secondguess wins] and commiserate the all-too-often [six-guess wins]. It’s been a joy to play and a great touchstone for all of us.”
Part of the allure is Wordle’s simplicity: no ads, nothing to buy, nothing gathering data on you. That’s because Wordle started as a game Brooklyn software developer Josh Wardle (hence the name Wordle) created for his wife, who loves word games. First, he and his wife played. Then they shared it with family. Then, after it was released to the world in October, users of the game soared from 90 in November to 300,000 in January. According to The Conversation, players totaled 3 million as of mid-February.
