The West University Buzz - May 2024

The Gift of Quadruplets Peggy Martin Roses

Aunties of India

by Cathy Gordon

Hiking Mount Kilimanjaro Cindy Gabriel: Gone Country Mother’s Day Books

Chinni, Ninni, and Suparna Vashisht

Adam Elkhadem’s Legacy

Houston, TX

Buzz Baby: The Power of Music

Permit No. 2047 PAID US Postage PRSRT STD

Uncovering Family Roots in Greece

EDITOR’S NOTE Sometimes, the most compelling stories bloom right in our own backyards. Or in this case, based on my recent conversation with Buzz resident Mia Parker, in her front yard. Mia was featured in last October’s Buzz for her elaborate, witty Halloween displays. She recently asked me, “do you know the story behind the Peggy Martin rose?” I was a little embarrassed that I had never heard of such a rose, or any rose for that matter. I am no gardener, and I’d much rather talk sports than flowers. But Mia got me interested. The Peggy Martin rose is a symbol of strength, survival, and resilience. So, we went on a quest to find Peggy Martins in Buzz neighborhoods. No spoiler alert, but it turns out that these roses are thriving all over our communities.

Andrea Dilling captures not only their beauty, but the deep roots and strong bonds among the women that grow them, as well as the women instrumental in bringing them to Houston. Wishing all the moms, and especially my beautiful, strong, and resilient mom, who is allergic to flowers, but will love this story, a Happy Mother’s Day. joni@thebuzzmagazines.com

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

Joni Hoffman Michael Hoffman Jordan Magaziner Steinfeld Caroline Siegfried

Contributing Editor Design Manager Staff Writers

Pooja Salhotra John Duboise Tracy L. Barnett Sharon Albert Brier Cindy Burnett Andria Dilling Angie Frederickson Todd Freed Cindy Gabriel Cathy Gordon Michelle Groogan Dai Huynh Annie Blaylock McQueen Jennifer Oakley Cheryl Ursin Lekha Sunder Andrea Blitzer Leslie Little Jo Rogers

Contributing Writers Account Managers

On our cover: Chinni, Ninni, and their mother Suparna love the vibrant colors of India, displayed here in a few mementos from their July 2023 trip.

Cover photo by Nikky LaWell, lawellphoto.com The Buzz Magazines has made all reasonable attempts to verify the accuracy of all information contained within. Advertising claims are solely the responsibility of the advertiser. Copyright © 2024 Hoffman Marketing & Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any portion of this magazine by any means without written permission is strictly prohibited. Printed on recycled paper. Please remember to recycle.

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 4

Your smile can last forever

Anna Maria Salas, D.D.S., M.S. Diplomate of the American Board of Orthodontics

3642 University Blvd., Suite 102 Houston, TX 77005 www.westuortho.com 713-481-4885

I love building, remodeling, and design.

What can I build for you?

281.974.6008 • www.alexandercustomhomeshouston.com WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 5

MAILBAG

Your letters, thoughts, opinions Playing for keeps Annie, I just wanted to give you a very heartfelt thank you for the amazing article [Scored with Love by Annie Blaylock McQueen, Apr. 2024] you wrote about my family. You took so much care and time to research the story and you certainly have a way with words. It was written with such love. You will never know what this meant to me. I’ve always been known as Coy’s wife and CL’s and Chrissy’s mom. All of which has brought me such joy and pride. Your article made me feel like I’ve had a part in their baseball. Thank you again for your precious story.

Jo Anne Baskin

A “yes” of epic proportions Eclipsed! A Love Story is EPIC! Full of heart, sass, patience, and acts of God. This act of God is not the eclipse, but Ellen Hart saying “yes” to marriage!

David Haynes

Fan of Karen’s articles We just wanted to let you know how much we enjoy the articles for The Buzz Magazines written by Karen Vine Fuller. We especially enjoyed the recent article in the March 2024 issue, Works of Rodeo Art. She showcased so many talented young Houston artists and their prize-winning work. We know a couple of the artists, so it was a real pleasure to see them highlighted. Thanks for continuing to publish Karen’s interesting articles and we look forward to many more.

Richard and Laura Elwood

saving the lives of Jewish people in Lithuania in 1940. Also, I saw that Joe Keselman’s wife is Japanese. My grandfather immigrated from Japan in 1907 and settled in Texas. It would be a pleasure to meet the Keselman family.

George Jiro Hirasaki Dear Prof. Hirasaki, [My wife Kayoko and I] thank you for your interest in my father's story of survival during WW2. We will be happy to make your acquaintance and talk about mutual interests and stories.

Jozef Keselman Dear Jozef, I was very moved by reading about your family history. My wife [Darlene] and I are members of the Holocaust Museum Houston and we attended the opening of the Holocaust Garden of Hope. Also, this summer we visited our relatives in Japan. It appears that we may be neighbors. We must arrange to visit some time soon. I would like to show you and Kayoko our Japanesestyle home while the azaleas are in bloom. We will arrange something.

George Jiro Hirasaki 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.

In praise of positivity This article [Heart to Heart: Perhaps love is just waiting to be noticed by Cindy Gabriel, Feb. 2024] encourages me to look at things differently; to seek more of the positive in people and the world; and shut out more of the negative.

Debi Watts Perkins

What’s your story?

Heartening message Wow ... [in response to: Heart to Heart: Perhaps love is just waiting to be noticed by Cindy Gabriel, Feb. 2024]. You always seem to know what we need to hear. Thanks.

Rita Rucksdashel Cohen

Holocaust survivor's story inspires a connection Dear Tracy [Barnett], I read with much interest A Holocaust Survivor's Story Lives On [Jan. 2024]. Do Joe Keselman and his family live in Houston?

If so, I would like to meet him and his family. I am Professor George J. Hirasaki, an emeritus faculty at Rice University and a resident of Bellaire. I also am a member of the Holocaust Museum. I am a former president of the Japanese American Citizens League of Houston. We participated with the Holocaust Museum in the recognition of Yukiko Sugihara’s contribution WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 6

We are looking for residents for upcoming articles who: • Know a buzzworthy neighbor to feature.

• Have a milestone life event to share.

• Have special summertime traditions with family or friends.

• Have a compelling travel tale.

• Have a unique passion or hobby.

If this sounds like you or someone you know, please contact us at info@thebuzzmagazines.com or 713.668.4157, ext 102.

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 7

Morgan Weber

NEIGHBORS

by Cindy Gabriel, staff writer

Gone Country How Covid changed everything

I

t seems so recent, yet so long ago. The great sequestering of March 2020 began. Morgan Weber was trying to ignore the pit in his stomach along with the banging of pots and pans as toddler Eli emptied the kitchen cabinets for the third time that day. With daycare suspended, my daughter Julia, pregnant with Eli’s little brother, was doing her best to contain yet entertain the toddler as Morgan and his Agricole Hospitality partners grappled with plans to shut down the seven restaurants they had nurtured over 10 years. Zoom meetings seemed like a cold way to ask loyal staff to start the tedious work of suspending their livelihoods for who knows how long.

Within a matter of weeks, it dawned on the couple: “We could do this same stuff in Leakey, Texas,” under the Cypresses and Oaks, by the flowing Frio River. They were married on that river in May of 2016, in the tiny town 100 miles west of San Antonio where Morgan spent magical childhood days tubing, fishing, and dancing at Garner State Park. His parents bought a small house on the river before he was born, attracting aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins since the ’70s.

Meanwhile in San Antonio, Denae and Alex Schenker were living an enviable life by any standards in a penthouse called The Cellars next to Hotel Emma near the River Walk on an expanse of green lawns, restaurants, and shops known as The Pearl. Then, suddenly, everything came to a halt. All the amenities they enjoyed disappeared. The pool, the restaurants, even the River Walk had gone silent. Their son Colton’s private school became online only, and daughter Colette “Coco’s” pre-school closed.

Alex was finding traction as a script writer and director for some projects in Los Angeles when the entertainment industry went dark, and everyone went home. Meanwhile, some friends of the Schenker’s, who rented a farm in Leakey, let them know they were moving back to Alabama. The farm was available.

For Julia and Morgan, the weeks in the Morgan family cabin flew by. Morgan was a pro in how to enjoy the place, setting up swinging chairs from the huge oak trees on the lawn between the house and the river, building a WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 8

campfire daily, for warming, cooking and marshmallow roasting. Eli discovered rocks could disappear by tossing them into the river. At night, masses of fireflies took over in a surreal scene that seemed to dance to Morgan’s download mix of country and folk rock music while canines Weller and Lula Mae FREE RANGE FRIENDS Moms Denae Schenker and Julia Gabriel delight in country life crashed by the fire. with children Eli Weber, Colette “Coco” Schenker, Colton Schenker, and Faires Weber.

“We knew how yoga pants,” said Denae. fortunate we were and how special this was. It By then, Denae’s retired parents – real ranchcalmed us all down,” Julia said. It was like a ers and farmers, with the name to go with it – buffer as Morgan continued to head into “The Farleys,” got their own ranch down the Houston for various attempts at masked, curbway from the Schlenker’s after three months of side delivery, then ultimately, the slow, methodsequestering with them. ical reopening of the restaurants.

That same week, Denae, with Julia’s permisBut something had changed. Julia didn’t want sion, organized a pumpkin carving event for kids to go back to Houston. The couple put their outside at Gypsy’s, bringing all the materials plus house on the market and found another house extra moms and kids. Denae was the extrovert on the river while Morgan Zoom-worked from friend who Julia (a tad timid) needed. “Will you home and zoomed to Houston in real miles to be my friend?” Denae proposed. Julia accepted. check on restaurants.

It would be a while before their traveling husOf course, Morgan can’t live in a town withbands met. But by the time they all gathered for out opening a restaurant. So, he and Julia dinner at the Weber house, the conversation remodeled an abandoned gas station into a between the two men lasted until 3 a.m. restaurant and bar, Gypsy Sally’s, on Main “Did you like him?” Denae asked Alex on the Street in Leakey. It was a risk for sure, but way home.

Gypsy’s has become a central hub of the area, “I love that guy,” Alex responded. like in the sitcom Cheers, “where everybody “Well, not as much as Julia and I love each knows your name.” other,” said Denae.

One October day in 2022, while Julia was So add in the writers’ strike to Alex’s work with Eli at Gypsy’s, a young woman and her two setbacks. But he’s back again, finishing up on a kids stepped out of their car and Eli screamed, script based on an award-winning book his “Coco” to a little girl, who responded, “Eli,” as mother wrote called Throw a Hungry Loop. It’s they met in a delightful hug. a cowboy roping term. In Alex’s version, it takes “Coco’s in my class!” Eli announced. Coco’s place in Leakey and has a local dive in it called mom, Denae, took one look at Julia and sensed Gypsy Sally’s. This story is just getting started. a fellow “city girl.” We both had on Lululemon

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 9

Cindy Burnett

ARTS

by Cindy Burnett, staff writer

Mother’s Day Books Recommendations for all kinds of moms

F

inding a Mother’s Day gift can be tricky and sometimes downright difficult. Books make great gifts because they cover so many different subjects and genres – there is something for everyone. Here are a few ideas.

For the mom who enjoys thrills: Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister – As the book opens, Jen witnesses her 18-year-old son Todd murdering a complete stranger in the middle of the night right in front of their house. The following morning, Jen wakes up and finds herself not on the morning after the crime, but the morning before it happened. Wrong Place Wrong Time is an intelligent and compulsive read that kept me turning the pages through all sorts of twists and turns as well as thoughts and reflections on motherhood.

For the mom who likes to learn about other places and time periods: The White Girl by Tony Birch –The White Girl is set in the 1960s fictional Australian town of Deane and focuses on Odette Brown and her fair-skinned granddaughter Sissy. Birch vividly describes what it was like to live as an Aboriginal person then and the countless hardships they endured while also weaving in a tale of family and the lengths people will go in order to protect each other.

For the mom who likes memoirs: A Season with Mom: Love, Loss, and the Ultimate Baseball Adventure by Katie Russell Newland – Newland and her mom loved cheering the Cubs on from their New Orleans home and dreamed of visiting all of the Major League Baseball ballparks one day. When Katie’s mom passes away before they can fulfill this dream, Newland sets out to visit all 30 ballparks in one season to both honor her mother and to reflect on their relationship along the way.

For the mom who likes books about older protagonists: The Spy Coast by Tess Gerritsen - Purity, a small seaside village in Maine, is home to a group of retired CIA agents including Maggie Bird, who has been enjoying a quiet life with her chickens following a long career that ended with a mission gone wrong. She, as well as several WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 10

other former agents, are thrust back into an old operation when a dead body turns up on Maggie’s driveway. The maturity of the welldeveloped characters as well as the spy aspects of the tale combine to make The Spy Coast a standout.

For the grandmothers: Nobody Will Tell You BOOKS FOR MOM Looking for a unique Mother's Day gift? Cindy Burnett provides a wide range of selections, like this book about Audrey Hepburn’s connecThis But Me: A True tions to Paris, for the mom in your life. (as Told to Me) Story meets and falls in love with William Pride. Eager

by Bess Kalb - Bess and her grandmother Bobby to be accepted by the Pride family, Eleanor shared a special bond, and when Bobby died at decides having a baby is necessary. When the age 90, Bess was devastated. To commemorate two women’s lives unexpectedly collide, they Bobby, she wrote a memoir from Bobby’s permust contend with choices that will impact spective utilizing the many voicemails, texts, them both for years to come. and emails Bess had saved. Channeling Bobby, For the mom who likes to read essays: Bess relays the advice she received (sometimes Bomb Shelter: A Memoir in Essays by Mary hilarious, sometimes critical but always heartLaura Philpott – Mary Laura Philpott’s essay colfelt) and tales from Bobby’s childhood. lection is outstanding; her humor, hope and For the mom who likes to travel: insightfulness will resonate with anyone who has Audrey Hepburn in Paris by Meghan struggled to understand life, death, and the last Friedlander and Luca Dotti – Meghan few years. Centered around her response to her Friedlander, curator of the fan site Rare Audrey son’s epilepsy diagnosis, Bomb Shelter tackles seriHepburn, and Audrey’s son Luca Dotti worked ous topics but laces them with funny anecdotes together to craft this beautiful book about about the turtle who lives in her yard and knocks Hepburn and her personal connection to Paris. on her back door, college tours, and her inability Each chapter focuses on a different characteristo keep pet frogs alive. Philpott’s can-do attitude tic of Paris that made it appeal so much to and positive outlook are so refreshing.

Audrey, from haute couture to some of her For the mom who likes historical fiction: famous films to the quiet times she spent there Marmee by Sarah Miller – Told in diary just enjoying the city. The book is chock full of form, Marmee revisits the characters in Little never-before-seen photographs and little-known Women through Marmee’s eyes as she navigates stories about Hepburn and her connection to the girls’ various personalities and encourages the City of Lights. their individual strengths, helping them become For the mom who likes compelling stories: the women everyone knows and loves. Marmee The House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson – The is a strong and confident woman, emboldened House of Eve follows Ruby Pearsall, a 15-yearby a healthy dose of anger at what is happening old who plans to be the first in her family to in the world around her as she strives to help the head to college, regardless of the lack of familial less fortunate in her community. Those who support. But when she gets drawn into a forbidlove Little Women will enjoy spending time with den relationship, she threatens to destroy her these characters again, this time through future before it even starts. Meanwhile, Eleanor Marmee’s eyes.

Quarles moves to Washington, D.C., where she

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 11

lawellphoto.com

NEIGHBORS

by Annie Blaylock McQueen, staff writer

A Surprise on Mother’s Day Victoria’s famous quadruplets of 1983

O

n Mother's Day in 1983, Sylvia and Ken Martin of Victoria, Texas received the surprise of their lives – and the best Mother’s Day gift Sylvia could have imagined.

The couple, who had met while studying at Texas State University (then Southwest Texas), had gotten married in 1975.

Eight years later, they were eagerly awaiting the arrival of what they believed would be triplets. Already parents to a four-year-old daughter named Leslye, the Martins were familiar with both the joys and challenges of parenthood.

Throughout Sylvia's pregnancy, she underwent regular monitoring and appointments due to the expectation of triplets. Despite the Martins’ preparations, nothing could have prepared them for what was about to unfold.

Sylvia woke up at 35 weeks along on a quiet Sunday morning – which coincidentally fell on Mother’s Day – ready for labor. As the medical team wheeled her into the delivery room for a cesarean delivery, a team of scrubbed-up doctors and nurses greeted her.

Meanwhile, the waiting room at the hospital was filled with aunts, uncles, grandparents, and more, eagerly anticipating the arrival of the Martin triplets. In those days, anesthesia was standard for such procedures, and Ken, along with other family members, waited anxiously outside.

Following the delivery, with Sylvia still unconscious, the door to the hallway burst open with the announcement of the birth of three healthy babies – two girls and a boy. The room erupted in cheers, and several of the men ceremoniously lit cigars, a 1980s tradition to mark the birth of a child. But amid the celebration, the doctor reemerged with news that would change everything: a fourth baby had unexpectedly entered the world. The Martins had quadruplets.

Amidst the initial shock, the family received the news with a mix of shock and gratitude. The ultrasound technology has evolved since 1983 and was not always fully accurate. Four healthy four-pound babies – a blessing beyond measure.

During the cesarean, the doctor later reported, he felt a slight tug on his finger, and realized it was a fourth baby. Sylvia said the doctor had described that moment as one of the most proWEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 12

found of all his years in practice. The Martins welcomed the babies with overwhelming joy.

They named the first three tiny babies Kelly, MEET THE MARTINS Parents Ken and Sylvia Martin (seated at right) were Ashley, and Clint, and expecting triplets in 1983. On Mother’s Day that year, they welcomed quadruthe surprise fourth baby, plets in their small town of Victoria, Texas. Pictured are the quadruplets with their big sister (in pink). From left: Kelly Beatty, Clint Martin, older sister Leslye Franz, Erin.

Ashley Zacharias, and Erin Stimpson.

The Martins have Sylvia and Ken developed a system for manfond memories of Sylvia’s beloved sister, Maggie aging the babies' care. “Ken and I would take Leake, “Aunt Maggie,” bursting with excitement turns bathing and reading to them. He would – almost unable to contain it. Since Maggie did bathe two,” Sylvia recounted. Aunt Maggie not have children of her own, these babies were often visited to help and play with the kids, as like her own. “Aunt Maggie hid in a broom closshe lived just a few streets over. et at the hospital when they came on and said As Leslye, Kelly, Ashley, Clint, and Erin grew visiting hours were over,” said Ashley, laughing. up, they formed an unbreakable bond. From The Martin babies required time to feed and attending dance recitals to sports games, they grow, so they spent two to three weeks in the did everything together, supported by their famneonatal intensive care unit. During this time, ily. Erin recalled how strangers in Victoria news spread throughout Victoria about the first would approach her and say, “I remember the quadruplets born in the small Texas town, makday you were born.” ing the Martins the talk of their town.

Their upbringing was unique but felt normal Their fame extended beyond the local comto them. Attending a small private school munity, with even President Ronald Reagan meant they always had a sibling in the same sending a note of congratulations to the Martin class, fostering a sense of companionship. family in response to the birth announcement.

While being a quadruplet had its challenges, “We sent out birth announcements, and a friend they made it work. “Growing up, I was envious suggested I send one to the White House, so we of my solo friends because they never had to did,” said Sylvia. While it was a surreal and excitshare. We shared everything,” said Ashley. “But ing experience, it also presented its challenges. it was all normal to us.”

Caring for four babies – alongside tending to All four attended Victoria High School, Leslye's needs – required immense effort and where Sylvia taught, and Ken was a football help from many people. Unexpectedly, a woman coach and teacher. They all chose to attend named Julie Escalona arrived to work as a fullTexas A&M University, living together in one time nanny for the Martins. “She taught me so house from sophomore year to graduation. much about babies,” said Sylvia. Julie became Ken recalled what it was like when the quads their nanny, pouring her heart and soul into carturned sixteen. “Keeping five automobiles filled ing for the babies and allowing Sylvia to return with gas, oil changed, and not to mention car to work full-time as a teacher. Sylvia went on to insurance on five teenage drivers was a chalteach for 46 years before retiring. lenge,” said Ken. The Martin household had a As the babies grew, Sylvia, Ken, along with large amount of car keys, too, many to keep both their parents, Julie, Aunt Maggie, and track of and a lot to get lost on shelves and more members of their tight-knit community underneath couch cushions. The three girls came together for support. “I remember Julie shared one car while Clint drove a pickup truck. teaching us how to dress ourselves,” recalled Ken recalled, “Keys were always missing, and the Erin. “She said, ‘Okay, line up. Once you are question was, who had (continued on page 14) dressed, you can go out and play.’”

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 13

FAMILY TIES The Martin quadruplets and their big sister Leslye live and work within miles of each other. Top left: The Martin siblings enjoy time with their spouses and children in May 2023. Top right: This photo of Sylvia and Ken Martin with their quadruplets appeared in The Victoria Advocate in May 1983. Bottom left: Mom Sylvia Martin decorates the Christmas tree with her kids in 1984. Bottom right: The Martin quadruplets celebrate their 40th birthday together in May 2023. (continued from page 12) them last?’”

Clint grew up in a house of sisters, which presented unique circumstances. “We are all part of one big group as quads,” he said. “I have always been close with my sisters, but growing up, I always had great guy friends either in the neighborhood or school that I leaned on more of a brotherly relationship for playing sports or hanging out.”

Clint was protected by his four sisters. “A lot of brothers are protective of their sisters, but with four of them, you can imagine that was hard to do [for me],” he said. “I think they ended up being more protective of me.”

Today, the quads are all married with children, living and working in west Houston. Older sister Leslye Franz is married to Galen, and has three girls, Kate, 15, Claire, 12, and Lexi, 9; Kelly Beatty is married to Lance, with one girl, Izzy, 5, and one boy, Briggs, 3; Ashley Zacharias is married to Tim, with two boys, Mikey, 10, and Joey, 5; Clint Martin is married to Stephanie, with three girls, Ann Marie, 8, Elise, 6, and Cora, 4; and Erin Stimpson is married to Jerod, with two girls, Natalie, 12, and Rylinn, 9.

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 14

They have celebrated life's most special milestones together, alongside members of their village. “Julie came to my wedding, and it was so special to have her there,” said Erin.

Their older sister Leslye has always been a wonderful big sister to the four. Erin recalled fond memories pretending there was a classroom in their home, with Leslyle as the teacher. “We would pretend we were all Leslye’s students,” Erin added. Leslye went on to become a teacher, too.

The siblings were all born together, but their personalities differ immensely. Leslye reflected on Kelly as responsible, smart, and laid-back; Ashley as a leader and responsible; Clint as quick-witted, with dry humor, and responsible; and Erin, the youngest, as creative, caring, silly, and funny.

As a family, they fondly remember their shared childhood experiences and still make memories together. Last year, they celebrated their 40th birthday together at a private party at a venue in the Memorial area of Houston. “We knew we needed to celebrate together and also bring our family and friends into one place,” said Clint.

As they cheered and smiled in front of their cake, it was evident that they could not imagine life without each other. “When I first got married, we lived in Dallas. I just felt like something was missing being away from them,” said Erin.

Eventually, they all moved back to Houston.

Ashley and Erin now live blocks away in the same neighborhood, where their children attend the same school.

In the Martin family's story, Mother's Day will always hold special significance. Now parents themselves, the quadruplets understand the true meaning of parenthood. “Now that I'm a mom, I realize how lucky we all were,” said Erin.

For Mother's Day, they usually gather at Sylvia and Ken’s house in Victoria, indulging their mom. “They’ve always been so good about treating me on Mother’s Day,” Sylvia remarked.

Each year, they reflect on their journey, a unique one, marked by unwavering family support that multiplied that Mother’s Day in 1983.

The Martins look ahead to the future, knowing that no matter where life takes them, they will always have each other, just like old times.

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 15

Dylan Aguilar

NEIGHBORS

by Andria Dilling, staff writer

Peggy Martin Roses Flowering strength

A

rose is a rose is a rose. Except for Peggy Martins. Peggy Martin roses are not just pretty to look at. Although they certainly are beautiful – their clustered pink blooms resemble naturally-occurring little bouquets – the Peggy Martins tell a story.

It is a story of strength, survival, and resilience. In 2005, when Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans, avid gardener Peggy Martin lost everything. Her beloved home and 12-acre property were flooded. Her husband’s shrimp boat that he used for supplemental income, gone. And worst of all, Peggy’s elderly parents succumbed to the storm.

Two weeks after the storm, Peggy returned to her property to find the 450 rose bushes she had nurtured had all died. They just couldn’t survive two weeks under salt water. Except, in all the rubble, there was one tiny spot of green.

That small new life growing amidst destruction was a rose plant Peggy had grown from a cutting from a friend’s rose bush. Peggy is said to have wondered if it was a divine sign of hope in the middle of such profound loss.

On a pre-Katrina trip to speak at the New Orleans Old Garden Rose Society, Bill Welch, a horticulturist at Texas A&M University, had stayed with Peggy, a past president of the society, and her husband at their home. The pink climbing rose in Peggy’s garden had struck him as remarkable even before the storm – he wrote that it “took his breath away.” Disease-free, thornless, and easy to grow, the rose, which didn’t have a name, seemed to Bill to be a wonder flower. After the storm, when he heard that the rose had survived, he decided everyone should know about the remarkable plant.

What ensued was a campaign to promote the rose throughout garden clubs in the southeast, with one dollar from each sale going to a fund supporting the restoration of gardens and parks in New Orleans, Beaumont, and Laurel, Mississippi. With Houston gardener Nancy Godshall, a director of the Garden Club of America and an active member of the Garden Club of Houston, Bill kept the special rose alive, along with its story. And he named it after his friend Peggy Martin.

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 16

A ROSE WITH HEART After Hurricane Katrina, Nancy Godshall and Marilyn Gregg were instrumental in encouraging members of garden clubs across the southeast to grow Peggy Martin roses. Then, purchases of Peggy Martin rose bushes contributed to a recovery fund supporting green spaces in New Orleans, Beaumont, and Laurel, Mississippi.

Marilyn Gregg, then president of the River Oaks Garden Club, helped Bill and Nancy spread the word about the remarkable Peggy Martin rose. “We needed to keep it going,” she said about the story as much as the rose. “We were constantly going to different garden club meetings around our zone, and I became a director of the zone. It was all word of mouth. We would talk about the rose and the history of it.”

And Marilyn is a big fan of the rose.

“I started growing one,” she says, “and it’s sort of contagious. You want to grow two, then you want to grow a few.” Marilyn successfully grew more than a few in the Memorial house she and her husband lived in for 45 years. But when they moved to a Tanglewood townhome, neither the space nor the light were as plentiful. “It’s trying

to climb the fence and grow over it, but I’m not sure I’ll ever see that unless I live to be 120, which I’m not counting on. But you never know.” Instead of waiting, Marilyn gifted her daughters Julia DeWalch and Andrea Soper Peggy Martins.

“Julia’s didn’t do too well,” Marilyn says with a smile, but Andrea’s flourished. “Then I told her she needed one for their farm in Round Top. We put one on either side of her fence and then on top of her shed, and they’re going crazy!”

Andrea’s strategy is not to trim them, because, she says, they just grow and grow. “She’s the gardener,” Marilyn says of her daughter.

Angela Roth is another avid Houston gardener.

“I started by eating my great-grandmother’s begonia flowers,” she laughs – (continued on page 18)

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 17

Dylan Aguilar

Dylan Aguilar

Dylan Aguilar lawellphoto.com

PAYING IT FORWARD Top left: Marilyn Gregg gave her daughter Andrea Soper (right) Peggy Martins, and they are flourishing in her garden. Top middle: Angela Roth loves Peggy Martin roses for their hardiness and ease. Top right: Angela gifted her neighbor Sharada Gowda (pictured) with cuttings. Bottom left: Mary Rain Daubert’s roses are blooming profusely. Bottom right: Mary's Peggy Martins grow on the backside of their fireplace. (continued from page 16) and she is one of the gar-

den club members who heard Nancy or Bill or Marilyn – or someone – talk about roses. “They said this rose survived, and they were giving money to Katrina recovery.” So she bought one.

“She’s really easy to grow and just so pretty,” Angela says of the Peggy Martins. “All roses will take morning sun, but Peggy’s so tough she’ll take afternoon sun, too. The only drawback is she doesn’t have a scent.

“She’s resilient, just like me. She’s something WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 18

good that came out of Katrina. Maybe just the one thing.”

Angela has gifted the roses to neighbors, including Sharada Gowda, a neonatal physician who lives next door to Angela and is an avid gardener. Sharada has always had a soft spot for roses, which she said have a cultural significance for her.

Back in India where she grew up, she would use roses as offerings during prayer as well as to welcome guests into her home. She’d decorate her hair with colorful roses and even cook with them.

Sharada has been amazed by the Peggy Martins – they are constantly blooming and have survived even the harshest winter storms.

“It’s almost like they don’t care about the rest of the world; they just keeps blooming and growing,” she said. “It’s a little unruly, it doesn’t follow rules, which I like. It’s almost free-spirited.”

Veterinary pharmacist Mary Raia Daubert loves her Peggy Martins for their own sentimental story. “They are on the backside of a fireplace that’s in our bedroom,” (continued on page 20)

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 19

lawellphoto.com

CANOPY OF ROSES Top left: Peggy Martin roses flourish in Angela Roth’s yard. Right: Mary Raia Daubert and JW Daubert married under the Peggy Martin rose bush that cascades up and over their chimney. Bottom left: Peggy Martin roses are in bloom in Mary’s yard. (continued from page 18) Mary says of the home she

and husband JW built together in 2010. “We built this storybook style, English country, French tudor, whimsical, cottage style, very quirky house with our perfect team,” Mary says.

Their landscaper was Marc Tellepsen, landscape architect was Mark Scioneaux, and architect was Reagan Miller. All three were lost in a small plane crash in Kerrville in 2019. “It was their idea to put in Peggy Martins.”

Mary doesn’t take any credit. “I’m just the owner of them because they’re attached to the ground in my house,” she jokes. “I was always in fear of something happening to them, but everyone said not to worry, the Peggy Martins would survive anything. And I can say from experience they’ve withstood it all – Harvey, all the winds, all the freezes, even baby birds in a nest.

“They are just a joy. You can almost sit here and watch a bloom pop.”

Mary’s Peggy Martins started as plants “maybe three feet” tall. Fourteen years later, they climb up one side of her fireplace and down the other.

“A beautiful thing,” Mary says.

The roses were a special part of Mary and JW’s 2023 wedding. “We got married in the garden, WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 20

with the Peggy Martins there. We just love this home, and they are the very unusual touch that makes the whole backyard. Knowing that our two Marks and Reagan were so instrumental in bringing them here – I have pictures of Reagan training them on a ladder – is so special.”

Mary has a photo of the roses, one that she took from her second-story bedroom window, that she intentionally blurred and blew up. “I have it framed in my bathroom, and it looks like a Monet,” she says.

“It’s such a strong will of a rose, symbolizing that we can persevere and get through all kinds of things,” Mary says. “Sometimes I just come out here to pray or just gather [myself], and I look up at them. They are a beautiful painting with God’s paintbrush.”

Mary Fulgham, who retired as a violist with the Houston Grand Opera and Houston Ballet orchestra, is a master consulting rosarian with the American Rose Society. She grew up with her mother raising roses in their Bellaire garden.

“This is what we did at the end of the work day,” Mary says. “We went out and picked roses and brought them inside. As soon as Randy and I got married, I planted roses in our first house.”

Mary has what she describes as “less than 200 rose bushes” in her garden. “But I also hybridize,” she says, “which means I’m raising seedlings. So I have roses coming and going.”

Any roses Mary decides not to plant in her garden go to her front yard with a sign reading, “Free rose seedlings.”

“I never had room to have a Peggy Martin in my garden, but we have one on an arch in my church. It is just terrific, needs no care, and just grows and grows. You do need to water them.

But that’s basically all we’ve done. And we added organic fertilizer. That’s basically all.”

Marilyn Gregg says there is no other rose bush quite like the Peggy Martin. “I happen to have roses as my favorite flower,” she says. “I’ve always felt that I’d have a mountain of roses if I could.

“It’s amazing that this thornless, beautiful climber with just these massive rounds of color – the smaller roses that create these little bouquets – survived all this,” Marilyn says of the Peggy Martin surviving Hurricane Katrina. “It’s not just a rose. I love the story. I love the fact that so many people have taken it upon themselves to grow them to make sure this keeps going. It’s something truly special.”

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 21

lawellphoto.com

NEIGHBORS

by Cathy Gordon, staff writer

Aunties of India Sugar and spice and everything nice

T

o Suparna Vashisht, it was the magic hour. When the sky morphed from charcoal to a soft dove gray, hints of blue peeking through. Birds, deep in conversation, greeted the dawn. And so did she as a barefoot teen in a guava tree, munching its fruit as soft, golden light woke up the land.

“I was usually the first one up and out,” says Suparna, 52, of life with five siblings on her family’s farm outside of Hyderabad in southern India. She’d scamper up one of the orchard trees, pluck a ripe jewel, and watch the sunrise.

“Sometimes, I’d finish off a lot of the fruit.

Early bird catches the worm.”

Suparna’s love of botany is rooted at the farm.

The T.H. Rogers assistant principal, mother to daughters, Ninni, 19, and Chinni, 13, still prefers her hands in the soil.

Kale, onions, cilantro, parsley, basil, tomatoes, potatoes, squash, okra…When bounty in her Braes Heights backyard garden surpasses her family’s belly intake, the former math teacher shuttles vegetables to school.

“And I’ve never given students things like candy,” Suparna says. “I bring them seeds.”

She has lived in Houston with her husband, a cancer researcher, since the age of 28, both daughters born here. But her native India – with its flavors, colors, and culture – inspires her life’s playbook. And certain women there are its spine.

It was time to see them again.

“My husband’s dad passed away in 2021, and it made me think about people who are getting much older. I told him, ‘I don’t want to wait and visit India because my aunts are getting older. I want our kids to spend time with them, to know these women who are so important to me,’” she says of her “aunties,” an affectionate term she uses for several women, whether technically an aunt or not.

So, she and her daughters made the 8900mile trip last July, visiting her homeland of bustling bazaars, beautiful temples, palaces, and car horns, traveling to Jaipur, Delhi and Suparna’s hometown, Hyderabad.

They visited India’s number one attraction, the Taj Mahal, albeit on a relentlessly hot day WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 22

A REJUVENATING TRIP Suparna (at center) and her daughters (from left) Ninni and Chinni traveled to India last July to spend time with Supana’s “aunties” who raised her.

that made them all miserable. Houston heat?

What Houston heat?

They rode an elephant up cobbled stone to Amer Palace, famous for its gates, large ramparts, and sandstone and marble fort, built in 1592, overlooking the jagged hills of Jaipur.

And they made the rounds to her aunties, reminiscing, laughing, and eating. Then eating some more. Stories flying. Nostalgia on overdrive. Ninni and Chinni hovered over cooktops as aunties assembled recipes Suparna loved as a child. The sisters devoured the food and the culture, so dear to their mom.

And they watched her recharge.

“I am so happy there,” says Suparna, who lost both parents to illness, just years apart, when she was in her 20s. “When I go to India, I always feel rejuvenated. When I returned from this trip with my daughters, I came back even more so.

Two weeks of time I spend with family in India takes me through the year.”

Suparna has made five trips over the years while Ninni and Chinni have made four and three visits, respectively.

This time was different, says Ninni, a biomedical science major at Texas A&M University.

“We were visiting her family. Normally we go see Dad’s family and one or two of her siblings.

But this time we got to see more of her side, people she grew up around. That was nice for her.

They are where she gets a lot of her morals from.”

Suparna, pictures at the ready, discussed the trip recently, explaining the traits that make each aunt special.

“Let’s start with my mom’s sister-in-law,” she

says of Saroj, 85, from Jaipur, the aunt of “smiles and joy.”

It had been 20 years since she’d seen Saroj, who now has Parkinson’s disease. “I have never seen that aunt without a smile on her face,” Suparna says. “She still cuddles me like I’m a young teenage girl. We both soaked up that experience, being around each other again. It was a bit emotional.”

Ninni and Chinni made jalebi with Saroj’s daughter, a funnel-cake-like treat made by piping spirals of slightly fermented batter into hot oil, then soaking the whorls in warm sugar syrup.

“It was fun!” pipes up Chinni, a seventh grader at T.H. Rogers. “And delicious.”

Suparna recalls a scene at Saroj’s house decades ago. “My cousin had a tray with teacups to serve everyone, and she dropped it. China shattered everywhere. My cousin was horrified, I was horrified! But Saroj was like, ‘Oh, that’s okay, let’s just clean it.’ She taught me that it’s okay for accidents to happen. It’s a healthy approach.”

Suparna finds that this personality trait comes in handy when life starts to rattle like a bum wheel on a shopping cart. Like during Houston flooding.

The Memorial Day flood of 2015 was Suparna’s first experience with rising waters.

The family escaped across the street to a neighbor’s house, Chinni on her dad’s shoulders. They navigated chest-deep water, wearing life vests with walking sticks, Ninni with their bearded dragon Lady Jane on her head.

“You have to keep a cool head,” says Suparna, whose home flooded twice more, in 2016, and during 2017’s Hurricane Harvey before their house was demolished and rebuilt higher.

lawellphoto.com

CULTURE AND CUISINE Top left photo: Suparna, Chinni and Ninni rode an elephant up cobbled stone to Amer Palace, famous for its gates, large ramparts, and sandstone and marble fort, overlooking the hills of Jaipur. Top right photo: This colorful box from India is indicative of the vibrant colors in Suparna’s home. Bottom left photo: Suparna poses with her aunt Saroj in Jaipur. Bottom right photo: Chinni learned to cook aloo paratha, a potato-stuffed tortilla, with Suparna’s aunt Manju Deshpande at her Delhi home.

“My neighbors said that throughout, all the way through demolition and construction, every time they saw me, I had a smile on my face. I didn’t realize that, but I just keep going.”

Just as Saroj taught her, Suparna says, “I keep calm and carry on.”

Suparna and her daughters also paid a visit to Manju Deshpande, 69, of Delhi, one of her father’s sisters, “the aunt of lessons and values.”

Suparna loves her storytelling and her ability to impart wisdom without being preachy.

“Manju always gives credit to the person she herself learned the lesson from,” explains Suparna. “She told me if you have a smile on your face and explain to someone what the value is from the lesson, they are more than likely to follow it. I’ve used her example all my life.”

Manju is also an expert cook. Chinni helped her make aloo paratha, a tortilla stuffed with potatoes. They scarfed it down.

Next up, Aunt Indu Kamdar, 77, of Hyderabad, another of Suparna’s father’s sisters.

“She was always nourishing, but in a firm, yet gentle way,” recalls Suparna of her aunt’s nononsense energy. “I spent a lot of time with her just after I married. She took me and my daughters out shopping and out to eat, and she told me ‘Your kids are so sweet, and they adapt to everything. They don’t say no to anything or make demands.’ I took that as a very nice compliment. She says what she thinks and that was very nice to hear.”

Suparna received her undergraduate degree in biology at Nizam College in Hyderabad, years

she looks back on fondly. Part of that fondness is reserved for Usha Manik Rao, 75, mother to one of her best college friends. She spent hours at Usha’s house during those years, lapping up her lentil soup. Their bond endures to this day.

“We visited her this trip, and we had potluck so she wouldn’t have to cook,” Suparna says.

“And her husband is so sweet. He took my daughters out for ice cream.”

“They have guava ice cream there,” says Chinni. “There’s this one specific shop there that had guava ice cream with spices on it. I would have gone there every day if I could!”

Suparna and her husband take turns visiting his widowed mother, who has been ill and bedridden. This trip was particularly special because their daughters had (continued on page 24) WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 23

FUN AND FAMILY Top left photo: Indu Kamdar, a sister of Suparna’s father, embraces Chinni (left) and Ninni (right) at her Hyderabad home. Right photo: Food and memories were flowing at Suparna’s aunt Kamal’s house in Hyderabad. Pictured from left are Ninni, Chinni, Kamal, and Suparna. Bottom left photo: Usha Manik Rao enjoyed spending time with Suparna’s daughters, Chinni (left) and Ninni (right) at her Hyderabad home. Suparna went to Nizam College with Usha’s daughter. (continued from page 23) quality time with the 86-

year-old, creating memories like keepsakes.

“She taught and was a principal in Hyderabad at a government school for years,” Suparna explains. “She was the first woman I ever knew who worked outside of the home. She welcomed me wholeheartedly into the family and taught me what it’s like to balance those portions of your life – being a working woman and tending to the home.”

Ninni and Chinni might still be recovering from one aunt they visited. Suparna’s aunt Kamal, wife to her dad’s cousin, knows no end to hospitality. “You almost feel force-fed,” jokes Suparna of the 90-year-old who kept the food and candy flowing. In trip pictures, they look nearly comatose, sleeping after the feeding frenzy.

“We ate sooo much!” says Chinni.

Kamal remembered Suparna’s favorite dessert: puran-poli, a tortilla filled with molasses and chickpeas, a party for the taste buds. Kamal insisted relatives order it the night before Suparna’s arrival.

“I was so touched that she remembered what I liked after so many years. The girls just loved her.”

As a child, Suparna thought her strict, but she now realizes that Kamal, widowed, had to be strong, structured, and disciplined because she WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 24

was raising three boys by herself. “She had a big job on her shoulders. I admire her so much.”

Seeing all these wise women, staples in her life, jogs rich childhood memories. Little wonder she admires her aunts so much. Her Mom and Dad were much like them. Centered, grounded, strong, Suparna says.

“My parents never had an ego about what they had,” she says of her dad’s successful transportation business. “They were so down to earth, and they taught us that no chore is menial. No one is below someone else. I tell my kids: lead a humble life.”

Suparna’s parents led by example. They invited several hundred of her father’s employees and their families to the farm each year, treating them like kings and queens. “We had a huge meal for them, and our family would serve them. We ate last,” Suparna says of the teachable experience.

“We had helpers at the farm, but my mom never relied solely on others to do the work,” she recalls of the hand-harvested, chemical-free farm. “She taught us. She made sure we knew how to do everything. And I was always going to my aunts’ houses, helping them with whatever they needed. They taught me things, too, and we spent a lot of time together when I was growing up. My dad’s sisters would visit during the summer with family. Counting me and my sib-

lings, plus their children, that was a lot of kids at our house!”

Suparna flitted about the farm’s trails barefoot with her siblings and cousins, like a butterfly high on nectar. And yes, India has snakes. Lots of them.

“One day, I screamed bloody murder in our dining room because I saw a huge snake. I climbed up on the table, just screaming and screaming until someone working in the garden came in and smashed it.”

She felt badly that it turned out to be an innocent rat snake, not poisonous. So, she bought a book to identify venomous from nonvenomous species. She studied it as if prepping for a test. And never hollered about a rat snake again. She did, however, spot a cobra once, from six feet away, and backed off slowly, taking her barefoot romp another direction.

Those childhood snapshots haven’t faded.

Suparna’s memories are as rich as the farm’s red, loamy soil. And thanks to a strong crop of women, her aunties, she always feels connected to her native India.

“I think they make me who I am through the lessons they taught me. I carry them with me, always, no matter the miles between us,” she says. “For my daughters to spend time with them, that means so much to me.”

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 25

NEIGHBORS

by Lekha Sunder, contributing writer

Peak Pursuits The women who tackled Mount Kilimanjaro

W

hen a team of like-minded women band together, anything is possible – even summiting one of the world’s tallest mountains.

After taking a trip to the Himalayas with her daughter and hiking through many national parks during the pandemic, physician and clinical researcher Radha Korupolu fell in love with hiking.

“Every time we’d go to a national park, I'd find the most challenging hike to do,” Radha said. “It really motivated me and a love for mountains.”

Then she began setting her sights higher – literally.

While talking to family friends, Radha became interested in climbing Mount Kilimanjaro – the tallest mountain in Africa and the tallest freestanding mountain in the world at over 19,300 feet.

It turned out that many of Radha’s friends had also fallen in love with hiking and had been eyeing Mount Kilimanjaro, such as Bellaire resident and radiologist Veena Sathyakumar Gautam, who started looking into more mountains after hiking the half-dome in Yosemite National Park with her husband in 2018.

“That’s when I started reading up about Kilimanjaro,” she shared. “But you know, it requires a team, so it was just a dream for so long.”

In early 2023, however, this dream quickly materialized into a team and a plan: to hike Mount Kilimanjaro during the last week of December 2023.

Radha brought in her close friend from Oklahoma, gastroenterologist Pramoda Koduru, whom she frequently runs races with. The other five women, including Veena, were Radha’s friends from the Houston Women Physicians Wellness Group, a network of Houston-area, South Asian female physicians.

Some members of the wellness group, including internist and Memorial resident Sweeya Ramireddy, had run 10Ks and half-marathons – occasionally with other group members.

Climbing one of the world’s tallest mountains, however, was a new goal, and it would require a whole lot of training.

Fortunately, this newly-formed group of women was not only committed to their own WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 26

AT THE SUMMIT Friends (pictured, from left) Ritu Patel, Savitha Bonthala, Lee Lerner, Radha Korupolu, Pramoda Koduru, Aaron Bowers, Veena Sathyakumar Gautham, and Sweeya Ramireddy celebrate after making it to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, standing at 18,885 feet. The group completed the climb last December.

preparation, but also to each other’s. The WhatsApp group that formed quickly became an encouraging space, where members shared everything from links to proper hiking gear to advice columns by those who’d already tackled Kilimanjaro. The group chat was also where the ‘Kili Crew’ – as they often playfully called themselves – planned their workouts.

“It was a lot of ‘Okay, what should we do and how are we going to do it?’” said Veena. “You're going to be climbing, so let's plan on doing half an hour of stair master then build it up to one hour. Next, let’s plan on doing five miles, then ten miles and then, as we get close to the hike, let’s do 15-mile walks.”

However, the women knew that a step machine could only partially replicate Kilimanjaro, so they hiked two real mountains before December. The first was Colorado’s Pikes Peak, a 14,000-foot beauty some of the women scaled in June. The second was Mount Elbert, Colorado’s tallest summit, which they braced in August.

The women remember these two climbs as grounding experiences, instilling in them just how difficult December’s would be. In June, only two women successfully summited due to poor weather conditions. In August, the women learned that their entire approach to climbing had to be revisited.

“We tried to walk fast, and that was not the right thing for us to do,” Sweeya said. “Our bodies were not acclimatized to that altitude.”

The women scaled the summer summits with various levels of difficulty – for some, it was a gentle nudge to train more, for others it was a wake-up call. Still, no one surrendered. Instead, they turned inward.

“We said to each other, ‘We can always come down. It's not like there is a prize or something’,”

said Radha. “So nobody gave up.”

On Christmas Day, the seven women, alongside Shad Aaron Bowers and Lee Lerner, two male friends of Pramoda, landed in Tanzania. The next day, the nine of them began their ascent.

They followed the Lemosho Route, one of the six main routes to reach the summit. The route takes roughly seven days to complete – five days for ascent and two for descent – and offers a less crowded, more scenic path up the mountain.

While the overall summit success rate for Mount Kilimanjaro hovers around 70%, the Lemosho Route boasts a higher success rate, closer to 90%.

As the women ascended, they passed through five different climate zones, including rainforest, desert, and alpine. “You have different flora and fauna, corresponding to the climate changes as well,” said physical medicine and rehabilitation doctor Savitha Bonthala. “It’s just so beautiful.

Mother Nature is so beautiful.”

The women were accompanied by a crew of four guides – most had summited Mount Kilimanjaro over 300 times, according to Savitha – and dozens of chefs and porters, who were hired to carry gear during the expedition and assist with other tasks like pitching tents. This crew of over 40 would prove indispensable on the women’s journey, offering comfort and energy.

At the end of each day, as the women headed up to camp, they were greeted by a chorus of porters joyfully singing in Swahili, a ‘congratulations’ for having completed the day’s hike.

The first two days of the ascent were relatively flat (only a total elevation gain of 1,000 feet) and were designed to get the women acclimated to the height, especially given the hike begins at an elevation of over 11,000 feet. Alongside acclimation, the women enjoyed their first breathtaking views of the (continued on page 28)

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 27

(continued from page 26) African savannah and the

Shira volcano, one of the three dormant volcanic cones that make up Mount Kilimanjaro.

Day three of the ascent, on the other hand, is frequently considered the most strenuous because of the large elevation change. The women climbed from roughly 12,000 feet to over 15,000, an elevation gain designed to provoke a little altitude sickness and get you to slow down, according to Pramoda, who experienced mild nausea and headaches.

She wasn’t alone. Many of the women experienced symptoms of altitude sickness, including dizziness and difficulty breathing. What stood out to them, though, were not the symptoms, but how the other women in the group supported each other through them.

Deepthi Bollineni, an internist, suffered from nausea and headaches so severe she considered turning around. However, while resting at the campsite, eating dinner – usually a lightly-seasoned combination of rice or noodles with vegetables – her tentmate Veena encouraged her to take time to listen to her body. This gave her the strength to keep pushing forward.

“Nobody felt shy to show their vulnerable side, because it was just you and them. There was no family. They felt like family at that time,” said Deepthi. “And everyone was ready to offer what they had, whether it be as simple as Tylenol or a sanitary pad.”

For Radha, the women’s shared professions played a role in how they treated one another.

“A physician's background definitely helps,” she said. “We all knew we would be keeping an eye on each other.”

Radha, who was awarded a grant from the National Institutes of Health to study mindfulness meditation training, brought her expertise to her friends on the mountain.

“She would help me meditate while we were resting so I wasn’t too anxious. It helped a lot to be with her,” said Pramoda.

Similar breathwork helped Veena who, during training, performed Pranayama, an ancient breath technique originating from Indian yogic practices, for thirty minutes daily.

“I think it really helped me on the mountain, especially after 15,000 feet,” she said. “It calms your nerves and helps with stress.”

While hiking to slow, classical Bollywood songs, the seven women reached Barafu Camp on day four, the last stop before their final trek up to the summit. This trek, however, was different from the previous four days – it started at midnight.

“We are geared up, we’ve eaten food, we’re fueled and ready to go and we just started climbing. We summited at around 8:40 in the morning,” said Savitha. “It was definitely the hardest thing I've ever done physically and mentally.”

While timing was crucial on each day of the expedition – too fast and you tire yourself out, too slow and you leave yourself vulnerable to the elements – summit timing was particularly regimented, hence the midnight start time. Hikers WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 28

couldn’t camp near the top; they had to summit and start their descent all in one day. So, to keep the hikers on pace, guides implemented a 50-minute hike, 10minute rest rhythm.

Despite this additional pressure, they maintained their spirit, belting songs at 18,000 feet in the air and offering hikers ginger tea with extra glucose for energy.

When Deepthi reached the summit, she felt a spiritual connection.

“I felt connected to God, almost,” she shared. “You don’t see a speck of any life down there. You see just the sun and sky and that's what connects you.”

As she reached the summit, Savitha also felt a connection – to her mom who had passed away from cancer five years earlier.

“I heard her in the back of my mind just being like ‘Nana, you can do this.’ And I heard that over and over and over again,” she shared. “I felt her presence so strongly.”

On Dec. 31st, the ROCKY TERRAIN The hike brought the group through a number of different terseven women all sum- rains, including forests, deserts, and rocky landscapes like this one. mited and felt a range of ‘Okay, if my mom could do this, I could do emotions, from pure accomplishment to invincithis,’” she said. bility, from immense gratitude to relief. Some felt In this way, the energy and spirit of Mount readier than ever to face the New Year; others had Kilimanjaro had an infectious and addictive forgotten entirely that Jan. 1 was the next day. quality. On the hike down, as the women These emotions, as one might imagine, didn't trudged in relief through familiar forests, they got just fade once the women returned to base to planning the next trip. On the shortlist are camp, or even back home to Houston.

Mount Aconcagua in Argentina, Mount Kailash For some, this expedition created tectonic in Tibet, and the “Rim-to-Rim” hike of the shifts in how they view themselves. “It made me Grand Canyon. In the meantime, Sweeya has discover a strength in me that I didn't know I signed her family up for the MS150 bike race, had,” said internal medicine physician Ritu Patel. and a couple of the women are running 25Ks and “It’s incredible how your body can do things 50Ks. New women are also joining the crew. you never imagined it could do,” said Pramoda.

To many of the women, the friendships that Like Ritu and Pramoda, other women discovemerged between each other and the bonds ered a strength within themselves – even forged with the guides, chefs, and porters women who weren’t on the expedition. became the true peak of their quest to the sum“It's cool to see other women when the light mit of Mount Kilimanjaro. bulb goes off in their head. They're like, ‘Really?

“I think it’s so beautiful how each of us came I can do this too?’ And I'm like, ‘Absolutely you together to help each other throughout this can,’” said Savitha. trip,” said Savitha. “You just can’t do great Radha felt this with her own daughter. “Our things like this by yourself.” children look at you, and they really feel like

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 29

NEIGHBORS

by Michelle Casas Groogan, staff writer

Adam Elkhadem’s Legacy Finding beauty in the mundane

T

he rules are simple. Spot a lost glove, take a photo, and post it on the Facebook page called Single Lost Glove.

Lost gloves are the only photos you will find there, but this page is no lost-and-found service.

Instead, it’s a synthesis of art and sport in the eyes of Adam Elkhadem, who, back in 2016, instigated the challenge while a college student at Columbia University.

Adam’s life ended tragically one year ago this month. But his legacy lives on. Today, there are more than 1,300 followers on the page committed to the sport of glove-spotting.

“I don't post every single lost glove that I see because some are better than others,” said West University resident Mitchell Watson, a writer and filmmaker and one of Adam’s best friends.

“Every single lost glove is going through the same existential moment because they're all part of a pair, and their life is forever altered when they get separated.”

Adam posted a few page rules, such as a prohibition against touching or posing with the separated glove. And the glove can't be discarded, only genuinely lost. Adam, a graduate of the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, wrote that glove-spotting is “an appreciation of the tragic, indescribable beauty of a mundane situation.”

“There's so many things you can think about when you see one glove, like, ‘who was the person with the glove? What were they doing when they lost it? Where’s the other glove?’” Mitchell said. “That’s why I think it's so good – it's about trajectories, and it's about paths in life, and about realities.”

When Mitchell spots a glove, he thinks of Adam and his approach to the world.

Adam passed away on May 28, 2023. He was coming home from an outing with friends as the designated driver. The vehicle he was driving was hit head-on by a drunk driver going the wrong way on the Katy Freeway. Adam and the two young adults in the other car all died at the scene.

Adam was just 26 years old – a heartbreakingly abbreviated lifetime filled with accomplishment. While he labored by day for the Harris County District Court, his passion unmistakably was art, in all its forms. Adam’s art covered a WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 30

AN ARTIST’S QUEST Adam Elkhadem, who died tragically in May 2023 in a car accident, graduated from Columbia University in New York City in May 2018. While at Columbia, he created a Facebook community committed to the sport of glove-spotting.

wide range of platforms including one novel, a published book of poetry called Poems Passed like Shapes in Dreams, a board game that he cowrote, medical journal articles, and 28 album covers for bands. He was also the comics editor for Caesura Magazine. He published his own comic book called Octave The Artist and had another weekly comic strip called Gluck. The art he produced includes linocuts, drawings, paintings, and multimedia works.

Adam lived in the Memorial-area home of his mom, Megan Lazarou, a marketing executive.

She is surrounded by Adam’s life’s work and is still discovering his creative expression.

“My house is full of drawings. There's about 150 pieces that we put into big portfolio holders to try to make sense of all the art,” Megan said.

“I went in the garage, and I found pieces I had never seen before.”

Still ridden with the crippling grief of losing her son, Megan finds comfort in knowing about Adam’s near perpetual expression of human kindness — as in the wad of $2 bills she discovered in his coat pocket, destined for those in need.

“It’ll be my mission to help and support other mothers that have to go through this,” Megan said.

“There's legislation that Mothers Against Drunk Driving is always involved in, and they need people to help push the message. As long as it's something that I can get behind, I'll be a participant.”

As far as Adam’s legacy, he will be remembered through his art collection. The family has created

the Adam J. Elkhadem Foundation to provide financial and practical resources for artists to complete a performing and/or visual art project.

It is a legacy of virtue, creativity, and compassion which left a mark.

“He inherently believed that everybody was good, and that's kind of the way he lived his life,” said Joseph Elkhadem, Adam’s dad and a middle school assistant principal. “He always gave people the benefit of the doubt. He always saw the positive in everybody, even when somebody did something bad or wrong. He felt like it was just an isolated case. He never held it against the person. And I can't really say that about anybody else that I've known.”

Adam’s younger sister, 25-year-old Allie Elkhadem, a neurology technician, remembers his phone was always ringing, and he would always answer.

“He did so much as an individual, so much alone creating all his art,” said Allie. “But everyone remembers the countless times he was there for them or came and picked them up when their car broke down, or spoke on the phone with them for hours when they were scared.”

The one-year anniversary of Adam’s death will fall around the same time as the ten-year reunion of his senior class from HSPVA, where he will also be remembered.

“Adam was a man of too many talents to name, but one that is particularly everlasting is his penchant for fostering (continued on page 32)

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 31

ADAM’S ART LIVES ON Top left: An untitled linocut Adam did in collaboration with his sister, Allie Elkhadem in 2020. Top right: Adam pictured with his art on display at G Spot Gallery in the Heights. Middle left: Adam in Washington, D.C. with his grandfather, Richard Lazarou, one of the top contributors on the Single Lost Glove Facebook page. Middle right: Adam pictured with his family while on vacation in Los Angeles in 2019. Pictured from left are Joseph Elkhadem, Megan Lazarou, Allie, and Adam. Bottom left: A single lost glove featured on the Facebook page, which has grown to 1,300 followers. Bottom right: Artwork by Adam titled Man with a Flower, 2017 created with nail polish and pencil on cardboard. (continued from page 30) community,”

said Chandler Dean, a close friend and high school classmate. “He found more joy that I imagined possible in the smallest of life’s wonders and made every effort to share that joy with anyone who would listen. So it does not surprise me that a silly Facebook group he created on a lark continues to live on.”

There are hundreds of photos of single lost gloves posted on the page from all parts of the world. There is an original post from Adam that WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 32

embodies the group’s mission: “It may seem like a joke, but once you start glove-spotting you will experience something truly rewarding and satisfying,” the post says.

This has proven to be true for the group’s top contributor, Richard Lazarou, Adam’s grandfather who never even owned a cell phone until just this year. He walks several miles a day motivated and inspired by his grandson’s mission, picking up some trash along the way, but searching for the treasure of finding a single

lost glove, according to Richard’s daughter, Megan Lazarou.

“He did so many impressive, ambitious things, and he did them with a love of life that was unparalleled,” Mitchell said. “And Single Lost Glove was a perfect example of the kind of fun and brilliant ideas he had.”

Editor’s Note: For more information about the Adam J. Elkhadem Foundation please visit www.AJEfoundation.org or email info@ajefoundation.org.

KIDS

.

by Annie Blaylock McQueen, staff writer

Buzz Baby

The Power of Music

Buzz Baby is a column about life with little ones.

Writer Annie McQueen is a mother of four children under the age of 9.

A

s evening approached on Feb. 20 of this year, expectant first-time parents Katelyn and Ryan Kanaley settled into their labor and delivery room at the hospital.

Katelyn was in labor with their first child, and contractions were slowly starting to intensify.

In the room, with nerves and anticipation, one thing remained steady – the comforting presence of music, a Spotify playlist that Katelyn had created with songs that she hoped would set a calming mood. One song on the playlist has remained a constant throughout Katelyn’s life, and she made sure to include it on the playlist.

Katelyn’s late father, Fred Bowyer, was the beloved principal of Condit Elementary School for 13 years. He passed away in fall 2022 after living with Marfan syndrome for thirty years.

When Katelyn was growing up, Fred had always loved the music of Elvis Presley including the song “Fools Rush In”. When Katelyn was a teenager, the 1997 romantic comedy Fools Rush In, starring Matthew Perry and Salma Hayek, came out. Katelyn loved the movie, and she would watch it often. She and her father bonded over their love of music, singing, and Elvis.

Fast forward to Katelyn’s wedding, where Fred walked her down the aisle to their favorite song, a remake of the Elvis classic “Fools Rush In, Can’t Help Falling in Love” by Haley Reinhart. Katelyn was thrilled to add the sentimental song to her delivery room playlist – a nod to her memories with her late father and the day of her wedding.

Katelyn and Ryan had decided to bring the playlist as a necessity on their hospital packing list. “Music is so powerful, and so motivational,” said Katelyn. After a nights’ rest with her epidural, and with the hospital staff ready in the room, they hit play on their playlist. Some of the artists on the playlist, titled “KK labor playlist,” included John Legend, Mumford and Sons, Coldplay, and Alabama Shakes. The playlist was not in any order, and the songs were shuffling as she was starting to push.

Katelyn’s mom, Olga Bowyer, recounted the WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 34

moments leading up to the birth of her grandson with nostalgia. "I know right before the last push, the [Haley Reinhart] song came on," Olga recounted.

The same song Katelyn had walked down the aisle to with her dad on her wedding day. As the song played, she pushed in labor.

"Katelyn was pushing, drawing strength from her father's memory,” Olga said. “She knew she could do it because her dad had faced chal- A MELODIC ARRIVAL New parents Katelyn and Ryan Kanaley welcomed their first baby in February, son Rhodes Frederick, who they named after Katelyn's late father, lenges due to his Fred Bowyer. A sentimental song played during her labor. medical issues. If Research has found that music can trigger the he could endure, she could too." release of dopamine and serotonin, two horBaby Rhodes Frederick Kanaley was born at mones known to help promote relaxation.

11:16 a.m. on Feb. 21, weighing seven pounds, For Katelyn and Ryan, the decision to incorpowhile that familiar tune played, filling the room rate music into their birthing experience was a nowith memories of Fred. Katelyn often sings to brainer. "We knew we wanted music to distract from Rhodes and listens to the playlist with him. Olga the pain," Katelyn explained. "It was something we visits them in Los Angeles where they live. “I agreed on beforehand. Music is so calming." try to spend as much time as I can," she said, As Katelyn faced each contraction, the song reflecting on the precious bond she shares with that came on at the right time, unplanned, her grandson. served as a reminder of her father's love and supThey hold the cherished memories close. port throughout her life. She participated in “Fools Rush In” will always bring a connection musical theater during middle school and high to her father's love for Elvis Presley, whose renschool, and as a result, music and singing have dition of the title song became a motivation in always been a big part of her life. “[Growing up], the delivery room for Katelyn. we would sing in the kitchen while we were The power of music to calm nerves and allecleaning up,” said Katelyn. viate pain is well-documented. Numerous studFor Olga, her daughter's sentimental birthing ies, such as from the National Institutes of experience was an extra special reminder of her Health, have shown that music has a profound late husband. Rhodes’ grandfather and nameeffect on reducing anxiety and stress, making it sake, Fred, is living on in memory through music. an invaluable tool in the delivery room.

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 35

Cindy Burnett

ARTS

.

by Cindy Burnett, staff writer

Buzz Reads

Five picks for May

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

Crow Talk by Eileen Garvin (fiction) – Frankie O’Neill is an ornithologist working to save her dissertation about the spotted owl following trouble with her advisor. When she heads to her family’s summer home on Beauty Bay in the dead of winter, she encounters Anne Ryan, an Irish musician living in the Pacific Northwest. Anne’s 5-year-old son Aiden has stopped speaking, creating a rift for Anne with her husband and his overbearing family. Anne and Frankie’s unexpected friendship develops against the backdrop of life on this remote Pacific Northwest lake and Frankie's elaborate observations of the crows who live around her cottage. Her fascination with crows appeals to Aiden, and the two slowly bond over their shared interest. Garvin weaves in engrossing details about the sophisticated communication of crows and how engaging with the natural world is healing. I loved that each chapter is introduced by a line or two from a birding guide that details the habits and songs of birds and relates to the themes of that particular chapter. Crow Talk is a beautiful story about hope, love, grief, the importance of friendship, and the healing power of nature.

Dogland: Passion, Glory, and Lots of Slobber at the Westminster Dog Show by Tommy Tomlinson (nonfiction) – Dogland is enthralling and entertaining as well as thought-provoking and educational. As a longtime dog lover, I was fascinated by some of the questions Tomlinson raises. Are show dogs happy? And what about pet dogs – are they happy? These questions sent the author on a three-year quest to better understand the dog show world and its inhabitants and to gain insight into the relationship between humans and dogs. The result is this delightful book. Dogland mainly follows a champion show dog named Striker as he competes at the Westminster Dog Show in New York, but the author includes how dog shows began, who participates and why, how the relationship between humans and dogs has evolved, and how to evaluate the happiness of dogs. This book will appeal to those who adore their dog(s) and will make a WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 36

great gift for dog lovers or anyone who likes absorbing nonfiction.

A Game of Lies by WHAT TO READ This month’s selections include a nonfiction book about the Westminster Dog Show, two thrillers, a historical fiction title set in England Clare Mackintosh (mys- between the wars, and a sweet story about an unlikely friendship. tery/thriller) - Clare ized citizen who was interned on the Isle of Man Mackintosh is back with another outstanding during the war. As they work to recover from the thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat. Set in horrors of war, they realize that life as they knew Wales where Mackintosh lives, the story revolves it has permanently changed and that their counaround a reality show filming on Pen y Ddraig try is on the brink of significant transformation.

Mountain. While the show was billed as a Simonson creates a fascinating glimpse into a Survivor-styled show, the contestants learn, when drastically shifting world as the reader underfilming starts, that not only are they competing for stands how much more change is coming. cash, but also to keep each of their very own perThe Return of Ellie Black by Emiko Jean sonal secrets hidden. If another player can guess the (mystery/thriller) – Seventeen-year-old Ellie truth, the player with the unveiled secret will be Black leaves a motel party in search of a bathroom eliminated, and his or her secret will be exposed live and disappears without a trace. Two years later, on the air. A day after the first episode airs, a conshe’s discovered alone and alive in the woods of testant goes missing, followed by a murder on set.

Washington State. However, Ellie does not seem DC Ffion Morgan and her fabulous dog are brought like herself and refuses to tell the police where she in to solve the case with the help of DS Leo Brady. has been or what happened to her. Detective Mackintosh’s well-crafted characters as well as the Chelsey Calhoun is assigned as lead detective on stellar sense of place contribute to the strength of the case, which feels very personal to her since her the story. This fast-paced thriller also tackles timely own sister vanished when they were teenagers. topics including society’s obsession with reality TV, Baffled by Ellie’s refusal to explain where she has how scripted these shows actually are, and social been, Chelsey presses Ellie to talk in order to save commentary on the lengths people will go to be anyone else who might also be held captive by famous. While this is book two in a series, it can Ellie’s abductors. This is not a fast-paced thriller; easily be read as a standalone. instead, it takes the reader into the minds of the The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and monsters who prey on women and how living in Flying Club by Helen Simonson (historical ficfear can destroy a person’s will. The ending heads tion) - Helen Simonson’s wonderful new historin an unexpected direction, which I always appreical fiction novel centers around a group of people ciate, and this dark, timely, and twisty thriller will in England trying to find their footing following appeal to those who enjoy missing persons cases the end of World War I. With the war over and and strong character development. One caveat – men returning home, women have once again it is darker in tone and subject matter than I norbeen relegated to the sidelines, and the jobs they mally read and the books she has previously writheld during the war are no longer available to ten, but I could not put it down. females, often by law according to the War Practices Act. The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle Editor’s note: Southside Place resident Cindy and Flying Club follows numerous individuals livBurnett also writes our weekly Page Turners coling in the seaside town of Hazelbourne as they umn at thebuzzmagazines.com. She hosts the come to terms with what the return to peace award-winning Thoughts from a Page Podcast, is means for them. These characters include a co-creator of the Houston literary event series woman who lost her job working on a farm to Conversations from the Page, runs the Instagram returning soldiers, a socialite who forms the account @thoughtsfromapage, and regularly speaks motorcycle and flying club, her brother who lost to groups about books. his leg in the war, and a German-born, natural-

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 37

TRAVEL

.

by Tracy L. Barnett, staff writer

Travel Buzz

Roots Revisited: Unearthing family ties in Greece

B

eneath the blue Aegean sky, the island of Patmos rises from the sea, a storied tapestry of faith and stone. For Carol Senkel and her family, this rugged jewel of Greece is not just a holiday destination — it's a pilgrimage back through time, to the roots that have held firm across countless generations.

Carol’s parents are both of Patmian heritage; her mother, from four generations back, and her father, from seven. Her first journey was at the age of 12, when her parents took her for the first time to meet her relatives — most memorably, an uncle who is a Greek Orthodox monk. And not just any Greek Orthodox monk, but one assigned to the Cave of the Apocalypse, where St. John wrote the biblical Book of Revelation.

Her parents took her to Patmos every couple of years after that, and the island became a part of her. When she married, she and husband Larry kept up the tradition, and they continued it after daughter Natalie and son Nick were born. The children grew up knowing their ancestral home.

Patmos has long been a Christian pilgrimage destination, especially during the Holy Week celebration, a deeply spiritual time marked by much ceremony and prayer.

“It's just spectacular there,” said Carol. “It’s referred to as the second Jerusalem for Easter, and people from all over the world come to view all the services during Holy Week and then the Easter service.”

Every year, on the Thursday before Easter, or Maundy Thursday, the monks reenact Jesus’ washing of the disciples’ feet. For years, her uncle, Efthymios Koutsanelos, played the lead role, that of St. John. Carol always wanted to go, but as an honors English teacher at Lamar High School, it was hard for her and for the family to get away at Easter time. After her retirement, she and Larry finally were able to go for Easter in 2014, and she shared the story in Cathy Gordon’s article, Patmos Paradise.

She and Larry would talk about taking their grandchildren one day, but the time never seemed right. Sadly, Larry passed away in 2016.

But the family kept talking about making that dream come true.

Uncle Efthymios was turning 98, and she wanted to be sure they would have a chance to WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 38

meet him while he was still his sharp and active self.

There were other reasons, too, said Carol.

The extended family is very close, and they share good times and memories that go back generations. They also share some lovely homes, such as the family beach house on the side of a mountain where she stayed as a child, with an COUSIN TIME Carol Senkel celebrated a dream come true when she was joined enormous veg- by her whole family on her ancestral island of Patmos. Here, all the grandchildren take in the sights in Chora, Patmos, near the town square. From left: Lauren Kirklin, etable garden, fruit Annabeth Kirklin, Woody Senkel, Mac Kirklin, Susie Senkel. trees, and a vinebeach house for them to stay in, which had a yard. That house has been in the family for four large garden and fruit trees similar to the one she generations. grew up with.

“The mulberry tree that my mother and her seven “It was really special for them to get to meet siblings played under is still standing,” said Carol. the extended family that all lives there, and to She also wanted the grandchildren to see the expose them to the culture and the heritage and family homes built in the 1700s that are located the family and the food, the language, all of it,” in Chora, the town at the top of the mountain Natalie said. where the monastery that is dedicated to St. Annabeth was especially excited. She John is located. The homes are passed down to remembered all the stories she’d heard about the the next generation with the furniture, accesisland, the beautiful beaches, the wonderful sories, and family portraits, so it’s a bit like being food, the raucous parties. in a family museum.

Natalie recalled her mom talking about the “The lesson that I wanted to relay to my Greek tradition of breaking the plates when she grandchildren is that we do not tear down our was young. homes but instead value our heritage by preserv“She used to love to talk about these big, fun ing what we have,” said Carol. “It is comforting parties that they would have with all the family to have consistency and to have the ability to gathering and the music and the food, and that return to the old and familiar with both family they would get so carried away and that they members and their homes.” would smash plates,” said Natalie. “And then Finally, this past summer, the time was right. the next day, her dad would have to go into "We've been talking about it for years, and town and buy all new plates.” we've been waiting for the youngest to be old Those kinds of parties don’t happen anymore enough to handle the trip," said Carol. since the plate-smashing generation grew older Natalie was excited about being able to take and the government outlawed plate-smashing, her three children — Annabeth, 11, Lauren, 9, said Natalie. But the liveliness and love of good and Mac, 7 — for the first time. Carol rented a

FAMILY TIES At left: Uncle Efthimio, Mary Senkel, Carol Senkel, Natalie Kirklin, and Lauren Kirklin have a lively conversation in Uncle Efthimio’s living quarters in the monastery of St. John the Divine. At right: Nick, Mary, Susie, Woody, and Carol Senkel enjoy time together.

times continues, and that was one of the things Annabeth liked best. “They had a lot of personality,” she said of her kinfolk with a laugh. “And some of the older relatives, they were still full of energy and always wanted to do things.”

Indeed, that’s one of the perks of island life; Carol said it’s not at all uncommon for people to live long and healthy lives, so much so that the island could easily be considered what’s known as a “Blue Zone,” a region where people not only live longer but also enjoy a high quality of life in their old age.

But there were so many things to love: swimming, snorkeling, catching fish with nets; the beach house with the huge garden; and, speaking of beaches, the white sands and crystalline waters of the Aegean, a big contrast from the Gulf Coast beaches she was used to in Galveston.

“It was just very beautiful,” she said. “It didn't look like it did here.”

Nick and son Woody, 8, shared their experi-

ences and special moments from the trip, as well.

Nick, who traveled with wife Mary and daughter Susie, 6, reminisced about unique family dinners, engaging with local characters like his cousin Jimmy, who owns a restaurant, and the importance of heritage and family. In particular, a long and memorable dinner at Jimmy’s Balcony stood out, with the restaurant closed down for the whole extended family. Jimmy cooked fresh codfish and made everything homemade and served them himself.

“It's situated at the top of the island, and you get this fantastic view,” Nick said. “But beyond that, Jimmy himself is a very colorful character, so he's always entertaining to witness in action.”

Nick brought along his mandolin and organized a sing-along one special night he will never forget.

“Woody and his cousin Mac wound up learning “Take Me Home Country Roads” with me,” he recalled with a smile.

But especially meaningful to him were the

times they spent with his great-aunt, Maria Valvis, also in her 90s, and Uncle Efthymios.

“It was kind of a blessing just to see them and be with them and to go to a church service in the Cave of the Revelation,” he said, “and just to be a part of something that has been there for a thousand years now is just a really special and striking experience.”

For Carol, the trip of a lifetime met all her hopes and expectations. She was gratified to watch as her children and grandchildren soaked up the unique island culture, coming to understand a different set of values and priorities than those emphasized in the U.S. “I remember my first trip, and then when we took my daughter-in-law the first time, she and I both had that same experience of where it's life-changing,” she said. “You just realize what's really important in life, all about relationships and just enjoying life. Slowing down a little bit and just enjoying nature… and then, the spirituality of the island makes it unique.”

Tips for Travelers

By Carol Senkel Worth the splurge: Renting a home vs. staying in a hotel. Renting a home offers a more authentic experience.

Don’t miss: 1. The Cave of the Apocalypse - the cave where St. John the Divine, one of Jesus’ disciples, was exiled about 2,000 years ago as a very old man. It was there that he wrote the Book of Revelation, hence the name The Apocalypse.

2. The Monastery of St. John the Divine, founded in the year 1088.

3. Tiganakia beach on the small island of Arkoi, located about 11 km southeast of Patmos. Other favorite family beaches: Kambos, Agriolivadi, and Leivadi Yeranos beaches.

Favorite restaurants: Vangeli’s, Pleiades, and Aloni Packing: Don’t bring overly dressy clothes and shoes. And don’t forget athletic shoes and a hat!

Safety tip: Patmos is a safe island; however, it’s best to stay with your group and not venture off on your own. Also, travel ratings are not always accurate.

Unexpected hit: Day trip to Leipsoi, a chain of small islands that dot the Southeastern Aegean and form the northern part of the Dodecanese group of islands.

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 39

DINING

by Dai Huynh, staff writer

Chef’s Corner

That’s Amore: Nothing hits your eye like a pizza pie

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 40

Alex Montoya

T

here’s more to love, too, with new pizzerias opening in Houston. Pizza connoisseurs have more serious local contenders for the best pies to bicker endlessly over. In my three decades of covering the food scene in this city, I’ve never seen such a wide array of notable artisanal pizzerias, with some of the city’s most talented chefs elevating their obsession with pizza into a vocation.

So, does a wood-burning oven yield more flavorful crusts than a gas-burning one? How long should you let the dough rise? Three hours?

Three days? Truthfully, you can go in circles, trying to pin down answers for extraordinarily flavorful dough. Everyone has their preferences – all ending in a tasty reward. It’s pizza, after all.

What is apparent is that many restauranteurs want in on pizza, as do some classically trained, notable chefs. See the sidebar for a snapshot of some recent newcomers. Meanwhile, I decided to do a deep dive into the recently opened Elro (2405 Genesee Street) and Magdalena’s Trattoria & Pizzeria (5110 Buffalo Speedway Suite B). Both restaurants serve Italian fare, but they couldn’t be more different, especially in their pizza.

For five years, I’ve lamented the celebrated Pass & Provisions closing, which Elro chefowner Terrence Gallivan opened with talented Seth Siegel-Gardner in 2012. So, when I heard that Terrence (a two-time James Beard Award nominee for Best Chef: Southwest) had resurfaced with a fresh Italian crudo and pizza concept, I was intrigued. Particularly since I relished his former co-chef’s wood-fired sourdough pizza at Para Llevar in Marfa, Texas for four summers, a reward for driving my daughter for eight-plus hours to Prude Ranch in West Texas. Even though Seth has left the pizza business and is back in Houston to oversee Benjy Levit’s restaurants as culinary and creator director, I wondered if Terrence’s sourdough version of the circular classic resembles Seth’s.

As for Magdalena’s, that goes back to 2006 when there weren’t many “authentic” handtossed Neapolitan options. On numerous nights, I entered the dark, gloomy interior of the nowdefunct Dolce Vita in the Montrose area. I was

CHEF NICOLAS Restaurant veteran Nicolas Nikic serves Neapolitan pizzas, classic Italian desserts, and recipes inspired by his Northern Italian mother at her namesake restaurant, Magdalena’s Trattoria & Pizzeria.

transported to sun-kissed Italy by the slice, thanks to chef-owner Marco Wiles’ nicely charred margherita pizza crust topped with silken buffalo mozzarella cheese and fresh basil.

Eagle-eyed Nicolas Nikic was always present. He had worked for Marco as general manager and sommelier at Da Marco and Dolce Vita for more than 17 years.

“Sure, beer goes well with pizza,” Nicolas would say, “But you can be creative with pizza.

You can have a nice pinot noir. You can have a medium-bodied Brunello di Montalcino.

Barolos also go nicely with pizzas.”

When Nicolas unveiled Magdalena’s in West University, I was eager to witness the culmination of his decades-long career spanning cruise ships, hotels, and restaurants. Named after his Northern Italian mother, her namesake eatery showcases handmade pastas and dishes inspired by her recipes.

I

ventured into Elro on a breezy spring evening.

Although tempted by the tree-covered outdoor patio lit with table orbs, I opted for indoor

seating inside the 1928 bungalow near downtown. I was transported to a poetic Jane Austen sphere of vintage chairs, art deco pendants, and enchanting French gray and emerald wallpapers of frolicking butterflies, turtles, sparrows, and hares. A framed pizza made of Lego blocks hangs on the wall. The artwork is by chef Terrence's son, Ronan, whom this petite 100-seat restaurant is named after, along with his daughter, Eleanor. A couple sat at barstools at an intimate L-shaped counter next to a giant pizza-dough mixer, which served as decoration and a kitchen workhorse. The machine gets cleaned and mixes the sourdough for the pizza crusts. When it comes to pizza, it all comes down to the crust.

Ninety-one percent of the 2,000-plus people polled earlier this year by General Mills Foodservice said that a good crust matters, and a lousy crust can ruin a pizza. The online nationwide poll also found that 80% of Americans are willing to pay more for a high-quality crust.

At Elro, you have a high-quality sourdough crust puffy around the edges, lightly blistered, deep golden-brown on the bubbles, and blissfully

Julie Soefer

Julie Soefer

AN ITALIAN FEAST Elroy chef-owner Terrence Gallivan’s array of pizzas (at left) and his hearty, crowd-pleasing tuna on toast crudo (at right).

not charred. Don’t get me wrong, I love a flamethrowing coal or wood-burning oven that can give a sooty crust. But in this case, Terrence prefers the consistency of a 500-degree electric oven from Sweden. And without that char veil, the crust’s complexity sings – starting with its yeasty fragrance from a three-day rise to the precise equilibrium of saltiness and tang. It was more like eating a bread baker’s pie, a deftly raised crust that stays crisp to the center, yet chewy and full-flavored even without toppings, and with a cornice or raised wheaty rim that may remind you of fresh baked old-world bread.

So, no, chef Terrence’s sourdough pizza isn’t anything like his former partner’s wood-fired scorched pizza back in Marfa.

The care Terrence puts into his food and the quality of his ingredients remind me a bit of Alice Waters. In the 1970s, this pioneer of the farm-to-table movement built a brick oven after a trip to Italy and started making Neapolitanish pizza – her way. She got creative with her toppings and topped pizzas with shrimp, yellow tomatoes, crawfish, nettle, and fennel. Her California-style pizza inspired Wolfgang Puck, who introduced California-style pizza to the rest of America in the ‘80s.

Like the culinary legends above and many chef-driven pizzerias, Elro takes a free-form approach. Sure, he has the margherita-style mozzarella with fresh basil and zippy tomato sauce, but the rest are his twists. Take the mortadella pizza with pistachio pesto and balsamic onions or the mushroom pie with smoked maitake, Italian scamorza cheese, and rosemary. Understated, but not to be overlooked, is the tomato pizza with clear, bright marinara, wheels of tomatoes, and pickled Calabrian chiles showered with toasted breadcrumbs and grated Parmesan.

With the Houston heat, seafood crudo plays equal billing at Elro. Plus, Terrence says this is how he likes to eat – this and that, everything on the table at once and shareable. “You don’t have to think about ‘What’s my first course?

What’s my second course?’” he says. “I wanted

this place to be casual. I want people to come here for date night or in flip-flops and T-shirts with families or friends.”

E

lro’s pizza is a unique and flavorful experience, while Magdalena’s pizza offers a more traditional taste.

“It’s hand-crafted, artisanal Neapolitan-style pizza,” says chef-owner Nicolas. “A great pizza is about 70% flour and the ratio of salt and yeast you use, along with how long you rise the dough.

Oh, forget what I said. The truth is a pizza is a pizza. It’s been around for hundreds of years.

What makes the difference is the talent that makes the pizza and how you execute it.”

At Magdalena’s, Nicolas relies on executive chef Luis Silva, who honed his skills at Vic & Anthony’s Steakhouse and La Griglia. For the pizza dough, Luis uses the Italian brand Caputo, known for its “00” flour. You’ll frequently hear chefs use the term “00” to make their pizzas.

Italians don’t use such terms as self-rising, allpurpose, etc. Instead, they use numbers, from double zero to two, to indicate how finely sifted and milled the flour is. Double zero is the finest grind, and two is the coarsest.

Whether it’s the kitchen talents or the quality ingredients, three-month-old Magdalena’s is off to a promising start. Packed during the week, this upscale casual spot with cozy cognac PU leather banquette seatings attracts nearby River Oaks, South Hampton, Bellaire, and West University neighborhoods with classic Neapolitan pies emerging from a 500-degree white tiled pizza oven that are thin, supple-centered, and with character-building leopard spots of char along a crispy rim.

But aside from the pizzas, I plan to return for chef Nicolas’s hand-made pastas and entrees such as the fork-tender Barolo braised veal osso bucco with risotto. And I’m thrilled, too, to have found my new dessert haven. When I lived in Europe, I loved the desserts. They were never too cloying, which is often the case here. And some of the best desserts I had were in Vienna,

which is legendary for desserts. So, I wasn’t surprised to learn that chef Nicolas was born and raised in Vienna.

His panna cotta had just enough jiggle, creaminess, and sweetness. His tiramisu was perfection – the creaminess had stature, and the ladyfinger still had a bit of crispiness for texture.

It wasn’t the atypical soggy mess. But the highlight was the lilting budino di limone, a fluffy lemon cake pudding with homemade lemon gelato. It’s always especially sweet to end a meal with an unexpected find, such as this Northern Italian dessert you rarely find in Houston restaurants.

Elro’s Tuna Crudo on Toast This flavor-packed crudo is one of chef Terrence's most popular creations. If you can, he suggests asking your fishmonger to give some tuna belly, too, to add extra richness to the crudo.

1 head of garlic 2 cup mayonnaise 2 1/2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 2 1/2 teaspoons ground fennel 2 teaspoons smoked paprika 1/2 teaspoon salt 3 whole Calabrian chiles in oil (stems and seeds removed and finely chopped) 1 pound sushi-grade tuna loin 1 loaf of sourdough bread ¼ cup of pistachios, toasted and chopped 1 bunch chives, chopped fine 1 ounce nori paper, sliced thin Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the garlic in half and drizzle with olive oil. Wrap in aluminum foil. Bake in the oven seam side up for 2030 minutes until soft and golden brown. Remove it from the oven and allow to cool. Once cool, squeeze out the garlic into a bowl and mash into a paste with a fork, discarding the skins.

In a bowl, make seasoned mayonnaise by combining the roasted garlic paste, mayonnaise, lemon juice, ground fennel, smoked paprika, salt, and Calabrian chilies. Mix (continued on page 42) WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 41

Alex Montoya

Alex Montoya

DINING AT MAGDALENA’S Magdalena’s panna cotta with fresh berries (at left) and fan-favorite prosciutto pizza topped with fresh arugula (at right). (continued from page 41) well to combine, cover

with plastic wrap, and set aside in the refrigerator (this can be made several hours ahead).

Using a sharp knife, dice the tuna loin into small ¼ inch squares or to the desired texture.

Transfer to a large mixing bowl and combine with seasoned mayonnaise. Add more lemon juice and salt to taste if desired. Cover the tuna crudo with plastic wrap and set aside in the refrigerator.

Slice the bread into 1-inch-thick slices and toast on both sides. Spoon the tuna crudo mixture onto the toasted bread and top with chopped chives, toasted pistachios, and sliced nori paper. Serve immediately.

Makes 4-6 servings, depending on the size of the loaf of bread.

Panna Cotta with Strawberries Compote

Fresh

Panna cotta translates to "cooked cream," and Magdalena’s version from pastry chef Maribel Zarate has the perfect amount of jiggle. This is an adapted version of this ideal summer dessert.

For panna cotta: 2 tablespoons cold water 1 tablespoon powdered gelatin 5 tablespoons sugar 2 ½ cups heavy cream 1 ½ cup whole milk 2 whole vanilla beans, split lengthwise or 1 ½ tablespoons vanilla extract For strawberry compote: 1 pint of fresh strawberries, sliced 1 tablespoon sugar Place water in a small bowl and sprinkle gelatin over the top. Stir and set aside to soften for two to three minutes.

Prepare the ice bath for the sauce. Half-fill a large bowl with ice and add enough water to make the ice bath. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, heavy cream, whole milk, and split vanilla beans over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and whisk in the softened gelatin (add vanilla extract if using). Remove the vanilla pods and scrape the seeds into the mixture.

Discard the empty vanilla pods.

Set the saucepan in the ice bath, making sure it is well above the surface of the water. Whisk the mixture until lukewarm. Feel the mixture with your fingers. There should be no grit from the undissolved sugar or gelatin.

Ladle the mixture into the ramekins and chill for at least 4 hours or overnight. If you keep them longer than overnight, cover them with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap gently against the panna cotta to prevent a skin from forming.

Preparing panna cotta more than 24 hours in advance will result in a firmer setting.

While panna cotta sets, combine all ingredients in a saucepan to make fresh strawberry compote. Add strawberries and sugar over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Stir gently until sugar dissolves. Continue to stir occasionally until the fruit softens and the compote thickens to the desired consistency, about three to four minutes. Transfer to container, cover, and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

To serve, top the strawberries compote on panna cotta and serve immediately. Makes 8 servings.

Houston Pizzerias Antonio’s Flying Pizza (2920 Hillcroft St.), Coltivare (3320 White Oak Dr.), Amore (3310 S. Shepherd Dr.), Bollo Woodfired Pizza (2202 W. Alabama), and Vinny’s (1201 St. Emanuel St.) are some of the pizza favorites Houstonians already know. Here are more recent pizzaiolos.

Coastline Pizzeria (1720 Houston Ave.) – Located between downtown and the Heights, this joint is quickly building a devout fan base for stellar Texas and 900-degree wood-burning Neapolitan pies. What’s Texas-style? Oblong-shaped, thin pizzas that are oiled, topped with herbs, and grilled crisp.

Tiny Champions (2617 McKinney St.) – Imaginative pizzas by the sister concept of Nancy’s Hustle, such as anchovies with salsa verde and spicy salami with hot honey and goat-cheese ricotta star at this east side joint.

The Gypsy Poet (2404 Austin St.) – This Heights restaurant offers two winning combinations – live music and 13-inch artisan pizzas, including prosciutto and arugula with truffle oil, and fan-favorite pepperoni with mozzarella and hot honey.

Nonno’s Pizza (1613 Richmond Ave.) – Martin and Sarah Sayer, the owners of Nobie’s and Toasted Coconut, serve tavern-style pizza with an extra-thin and crispy crust and combos such as spam with pineapple and smoke jalapeño.

VIA 313 (10201 Katy Freeway, Suite 350) – Rectangular Detroit-style pan pizza seems to be a “thing” these days. Even though this is a chain, Food & Wine magazine proclaimed it “one of the very best pizzas,” and the Food Network recognized it as among the “Top Pizzas in America.”

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 42

VIRTUAL TRAINING PERSONAL TRAINING MASSAGE THERAPY NUTRITION COACHING LIFESTYLE MANAGEMENT Reclaim your energy, passion and motivation in body, mind and spirit.

Call 713.401.2841 or visit PledgeToFitness.com to schedule your free session assessment + workout + stretch Offer expires 5/31/24

Visit our COVID-19 protocol-compliant location at 5312 Bellaire Blvd., Suite A

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 43

SPORTS

.

by Todd Freed, staff writer

SportzBuzz W

ith a thrilling 56-49 overtime victory over Arlington Grace Preparatory Academy, St. Thomas’ Episcopal captured the TAPPS 4A Boys Basketball State Championship. The victory also marked the Saints first state title in boys basketball since 2014.

“It just means everything,” said Saints senior Nathan Law. “We came up a little short my freshman, sophomore, and junior seasons, and to finally get it done for our coach and our whole school is especially great. After all the hard work, practices, and weight room workouts we went through all year, it feels really special to win a state championship.”

The state title was especially gratifying considering that STE overcame a rash of injuries throughout the season to secure the championship. “You had guys in that championship game step up that have may have looked at themselves as role players,” said STE head coach Chris Twine. “But I like to think that all our guys play a different role with all of those roles significant to winning a championship.”

The championship for STE was the second under the direction of coach Twine, with the Saints rallying from a double-digit second half deficit in the championship game victory.

“Sometimes you have to pull back from these experiences in playing in a game like this,” said Twine. “It was the type of game in which you have to dig deep and find something special within yourself to come out on the winning side.”

“Our coach said something very awakening during halftime,” said STE senior Micah Gichana.

“He said ‘win or lose I don’t want you guys to leave here with any regrets,’ and I think that really changed our mindset to the way we came out and played in the second half. Afterwards, it was a lot of tears and joyfulness especially since it was my last high school game ever.”

F

or the first time in school history, St. Francis Episcopal has itself a state championship. The Wolves were crowned state champions with a 6153 win over Lubbock Christian in the TAPPS 3A Boys Basketball State Championship game.

“It’s a really big deal for our entire school to win our first ever state championship,” said

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 44

STATE CHAMPIONS It was sheer jubilation for St. Thomas’ Episcopal as the Saints celebrated the TAPPS 4A State Championship. The Saints 56-49 overtime victory over Arlington Grace Prep marked the school’s first state title in boys basketball since 2014.

Wolves head basketball coach Harold Baber.

“We’re a primary school continuing all the way through 12th grade. We like to say two campuses-one family. Everyone here has a lot of pride in St. Francis.”

“It’s just an honor to be the first team to win a state title for our school,” added St. Francis Episcopal junior Nigel Walls. “You always want to be the first at anything you do and it’s amazing to be part of school history and in a sense engraved in the record books.”

The win in the title game capped off a magnificent season for the Wolves while avenging last season’s defeat to Lubbock Christian in the state final. “We always had them in our mind,” said Wolves junior John LaBoy. “Since our first day of practice and in virtually every practice our coach reminded us about what happened last year, so that really pushed us to succeed. We just couldn’t have the same feeling in the locker room that we had the year before.”

En route to winning the state title, the Wolves closed out the season with a 15-game winning streak while also finishing ranked number one in the state among all private schools.

“We played a super tough schedule in the preseason by going to San Diego and South

Carolina for some unbelievable tournaments and showcases,” said Baber. “We also played some really great schools in Houston and I think all that really prepared us for the run at a state championship.”

The state title victory was also especially significant for a tight-knit group of teammates who’ve been playing together for several years in AAU basketball and then when first stepping on campus at St. Francis Episcopal. “To be able to grow up with these guys has been special,” said LaBoy. “I’ve been with most of them since around seventh grade and know them both as players and people.”

“We’re comrades both on and off the court,” added Walls. “Just being together since our freshman year and even longer for some of the guys and going through the ups and downs of losing and winning makes us even closer.”

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 Monday-Thursday on AT&T SportsNet SW. To submit high school sports news for possible inclusion in SportzBuzz, please email todd@thebuzzmagazines.com.

Enter The Buzz 2024 Photo Contest Deadline May 15, 2024

Submit photos for our 19th annual Photo Contest.

Deadline May 15.

To submit photos, and for contest rules, visit thebuzzmagazines.com/photocontest Winning photos will be published in our July issue and on our website.

To view our 2023 winners, visit thebuzzmagazines.com/2023-photo-contest Our grand prize winner will receive a Canon EOS R10 mirrorless camera with a RF-S18150mm F3.5-6.3 IS STM lens kit from Houston Camera Exchange. Also, a two-night stay in a deluxe suite at Blossom Houston, plus a $200 dining credit to their new restaurant, MoLiHua, and a $150 credit to The Total You Spa inside of the hotel.

Sponsored by

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 45

SPORTS

.

by Annie Blaylock McQueen, staff writer

SportzBuzz Jr. W

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

Challenger Sundays The spring season of the Challenger Division of West University Little League is underway, and the Yankees are having a great season. Challenger provides an opportunity for children with special needs, ages 5 through 22, or the final year of high school (whichever comes first), to play baseball. The Yankees are coached by parents Jared Grodin, Drew Scoggins, and Sam Stafford. This season's lineup includes (pictured, from left) Parker Naponic, Kit Scoggins, Blair Elder, Jack Grodin, Robert Ryan, and Dalton Tobola.

Baseball players from local high schools assist with pitching, catching, and various fielding positions. Each game consists of two complete innings, affording every player the opportunity to bat twice. Scores are not tallied, and outs are not recorded. The season comprises six games, all held on Sunday afternoons at the West U Little League fields. The success of Challenger baseball hinges on the dedication of volunteers, including teen buddies who assist players on the field. For more information, see westull.org/challenger.

10U Serpents The West University Softball Association 10U Serpents are having an awesome spring season. The team did not let it rain on their parade at the WUSA openings ceremonies. Despite unfavorable weather conditions and zero wind to help fly their 50-foot-long snake kite, they persevered. Their season is off to an excellent start with two exciting ties that they secured after coming back from way behind. They are looking forward to an exciting season together as a team. Pictured (from left) are Emma Worley, head coach Garth Beinart, Vivian Varner, Emily Dabney, Savannah Beinart, Evelyn Baker, Scarlett Formidoni, Hannah Morris, Keelie Cordova, Anna Katherine Hulsey, Olivia Salmeron, and assistant coaches Nicole Goulet and Russ Morris. This season has the largest enrollment in WUSA history, with close to 1,000 girls participating across 99 teams.

LAX pals The Hylax 4U Lady Hornets, a lacrosse team of fourth-grade girls from West University Elementary School, recently competed in a close game in Cypress against Cy Fair. Although they lost by just one point at the final buzzer, the players and their coach, Annie Schaefer, were proud of their hard work and determination. Coach Annie, a lacrosse star from Episcopal High School, is leading the Lady Hornets through their first season. Pictured (from left) are Greta Seidel, Meg Wright, Scarlett Formidoni, Sloane Nicodemus, Collins Pittman, and Emma Hughes. The team is already making a name for itself with the players’ dedication to the game of lacrosse.

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

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 46

Perfect Santa Fe Getaway!

• Panoramic mountain views • Elegantly comfortable • Santa Fe Opera Season - August Availability • Monthly rental or longer Visit CasaSantaClaraSantaFe.com for the full experience!

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 47

HEALTHY HABITS DeBakey sophomore Mahika Joshi (left) and junior Siena Bush (right) co-founded the nonprofit PEA. PEA (Personal Effectiveness Association) aims to educate adolescents and teens about how exercise and nutrition can enrich people’s lives and promotes those habits through events like Yoga in the Park.

KIDS

by Siena Bush, age 17, and Mahika Joshi, age 15

Buzz Kidz

Hap-PEA: Spreading the joy of movement

A

s high schoolers, we've noticed limited opportunities for teenagers to address anxieties and everyday worries. So, we decided to create a safe environment where teens could exercise and communicate with one another.

Personal Effectiveness Association (PEA) is a certified 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization designed to support and improve mental health through exercise. Whether you are an athlete or have never been to the gym, this is the place for you. Our mission is to expose teens to fitness, help teens better their mental health through exercise and nutrition, and spread awareness of medical literature that physical activity increases self-esteem, reduces anxiety, improves mood, and releases hormones. Most importantly, we want to create healthy long-lasting habits (while having fun).

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 48

We run group exercises, lead group therapy sessions, offer nutritional and fitness advice, and create a community of teens to help one another.

Our events include a weekly rotation of yoga, body weight exercises, and running, with many special events along the way.

As we celebrate our six-month anniversary, we are proud of our accomplishments and hope to achieve even more. Through partnerships with school running clubs, nutritional awareness teams, and even the Hindu Worship Society, we've widened our reach and have inspired countless individuals to embrace healthier lifestyles and prioritize mental health. We envision bringing our mission to more communities. We hope to create a platform where everyone, regardless of background or location, can access resources to pursue

their fitness and mental health goals.

Establishing our nonprofit taught us about more than just charity work. We gained insight into community dynamics, entrepreneurship, and effective marketing strategies. Interacting with diverse individuals built our empathy and communication skills.

Overall, our nonprofit journey has been a transformative experience, fostering personal and professional growth for ourselves and the communities we serve.

Editor’s note: Check out more events on Instagram @pea.exercisetherapy and website happypea.org.

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

A

D

V

E

R

T

O

R

I

A

L

Child support after Dad dies Once upon a time, when parents divorced, child support usually ended when the obligor died. The parents could divorce one day, Dad (or Mom) could die the next, and that was the end of child support. Couldn’t afford to raise three kids alone? Too bad, so sad, and no matter how much Dad left to Trixie, his wife of 72 hours. Delinquent support wasn’t excused: just future support.

However, since 2007, even future support obligations survive death.

Better yet, the remaining child support is accelerated, so that the surviving parent (the “obligee”) can collect it all at once and doesn’t have to sue Trixie each month to collect from Dad’s estate.

Future support isn’t like CDs or savings bonds that get collected with just a death certificate. Instead, a lawsuit in the family court is required to determine the amount of support due. If Dad was in arrears, that past due amount is included in the judgment. Past support is just math: whatever wasn’t paid as due is added up through the date of death.

The determination of future support starts from scratch. The present value of future obligations under the last order in Dad’s lifetime is considered (but cut off at 18, even if the last order extended support to 21, e.g.). The present value of health and dental insurance to 18, based on cost at death (versus cost at divorce) is another factor. The child’s own financial situation is reviewed, including life insurance, Social Security, and other benefits paid on Dad’s death. If the child is better off without Dad, it’s possible the family court could disallow future support altogether.

Once the amount of support is reduced to judgment in the family court, a claim in probate court is often needed to compel payment from Dad’s

estate. Support claims have priority over taxes and unsecured creditors, but are subordinate to funeral and expenses of last illness, expenses of estate administration in the probate court, secured debt (mortgage and car note, e.g.), and any allowance to Dad’s new family. If Dad didn’t leave enough money for everyone, child support still doesn’t get paid.

Was Dad a trust fund baby? The family court may order the trustee to make support distributions for the child. Trust income may always be reached for support.

Principal may or may not be exempt from support obligations, depending on the distribution standard in the trust instrument.

Best practice is to include a life insurance requirement in any child support order, to fund postmortem support without the family and probate court drama.

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

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

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 49

A

PETS

D

V

E

R

T

O

R

I

A

L

Importance of communication

Neighborhood Tails Ms. Tomato, age 5, Corn Snake, Tartan Ln. Hi, I am Ms. Tomato. Yes, even I thought that was a funny name. In April 2023, my owner passed away at age 86, and no one wanted me, so I was taken to a reptile rescue.

One day, a lady walking by my terrarium stopped to take a look at me and commented on how gorgeous I was! I heard someone warn that I was not easy to handle, but the next thing I knew, the lady asked if she could take me. She became Mom. I was introduced to my sisters, Dad, and dog brother! My sister called me Tomato, and we all chuckled.

My mom works at a school, so I live there and come home on weekends.

Everyone was surprised that I drink water, yawn, crawl under giant dry leaves, and love to look at people. Now all I hear is how cool I am!

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.

Part 2: Last month, I mentioned how Marjorie and Jim discussed their care preferences with their daughter Susan (not their actual names) in case they became unable to care for themselves.

However, what would happen if their other adult children, who were not as close to them and did not understand their wishes, became involved?

In this all-too-common situation, Susan's sister suggested moving Marjorie and Jim to an assisted living facility near her. Their brother believed that hiring caregivers to come into the home for several hours a day would be too expensive and didn’t want to use their parents' assets to pay for it.

As a result, the siblings were fighting with each other. Meanwhile, Jim and Marjorie's wishes were being ignored, and they felt depressed about their children's arguments.

I facilitated a discussion among the siblings, explaining that moving Marjorie and Jim to an unfamiliar place without friends or relationships with established medical professionals would lead to adverse outcomes far outweighing any benefits. Ultimately, the siblings agreed to keep Marjorie and Jim in their home with loving caregivers.

Unfortunately, in many cases, siblings are unable to agree, and their parents’ wishes are ignored. This can lead to additional stress and loss of control, which can accelerate the parents’ mental and physical decline.

S. Gerber & Associates, 3730 Kirby Dr., Suite 1200, Houston, TX 77098, 713.857.3227, sid@personalcaregiving.com

for mental health

Take a break from your phone. Read The Buzz.

Inspiring and connecting residents since 2002.

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 50

A

D

V

E

R

T

O

R

I

A

L

Food allergy treatment A new era in the treatment of food allergies has begun.

It is estimated that 6% of Americans have a food allergy. So, roughly 17 million individuals have a problem where their body reacts to one or more foods. Their reaction is often manifested as hives, swelling, shortness of breath and even possibly death from a severe reaction (anaphylaxis). These problems are driven by a protein called IgE (Immunoglobulin E; we will come back to that later). An allergy reaction is different from an intolerance or sensitivity such as lactose intolerance. Food allergies can be lethal whereas most intolerances are bothersome but not life-threatening.

For decades, treatment of food allergies has been strict avoidance. Other approaches have been tried with some success but not robust protection for all and required daily treatment that cannot be interrupted.

Now things change. Omalizumab, trade name Xolair, has received FDA approval for use in food allergies (for patients aged one year and older).

Omalizumab is a medication we have used for asthma, and a few other conditions, for 20 years (it was first FDA approved in 2003). This agent is an “anti-IgE” medication. By blocking IgE, we can greatly reduce the risk of an allergic reaction.

A National Institute of Health funded study showed 68% of participants taking Omalizumab could tolerate the equivalent of two large peanuts without having a reaction (only 6% of participants in the study who received placebo (fake medicine) could tolerate this amount of peanut. Likewise, this treatment will confer some protection against other foods such as milk, egg, wheat, tree nuts…). (And yes, it can help patients with multiple food allergies.)

To be clear, this is not a cure. It does not allow a food allergic individual to eat what they are allergic to at will. What it does is greatly reduce the risk of a severe, anaphylactic reaction if there is accidental ingestion.

Patients with food allergies (and their loved ones) currently live in a constant state of fear that a mislabeled product or accidental mix up at a restaurant could land them in the Emergency Room or worse.

Omalizumab is an injectable medication typically taken every two or four weeks. It is generally a safe medication, but you would want to speak to an experienced boardcertified allergy specialist about the particulars.

We have treated food allergies for over 65 years and have been using Omalizumab in our offices for 20 years. So come see the board-certified allergists at The Allergy Clinic to find out what may be possible for you.

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

Anthony J. Weido, M.D., The Allergy Clinic, 7707 Fannin, Suite 100, Houston, Texas 77054, 713.797.0993, *1200 Binz, Suite 1400, Houston, Texas 77004, 713.522.9911, www.allergyclinic.com, *Operating as Houston Allergy and Asthma Clinic

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 51

Thomas Campbell

NEIGHBORS

.

by Angie Frederickson, staff writer

Buzz About Town STEM girls on the international stage

years. Now in their third year of competing in the FIRST Tech Challenge, the girls also mentor other students to learn the basics of building and programming. Their website, themomentmakers.org, helps other STEM students and FIRST LEGO teams grow and compete.

100 years of West University Place

Nancy Levicki and Janis Jarosz (pictured, from left) celebrated with Dress for Success Houston at the 21st annual Models of Success event.

Supporters gathered at the Dress for Success Houston facility for a fashion show to raise funds to support local women entering the workforce.

Guests mixed and mingled on the outdoor terrace and enjoyed food and wine before gathering in the professional development room that was transformed into a models’ runway. The wellsuited “models” rocked the runway while emcee KTRK/ABC13’s Mayra Moreno shared stories of the models’ successes. In addition to funding professional attire, the Models of Success event will support programs including the Professional Women's Group, Job Search Skills, the AltmanGoldstein Scholarship Fund, and the Women Veterans Program.

Senior prom

Tracy Eason Photography

For the third year in a row, an all-girls team advanced to the FIRST Tech Challenge world robotics competition. Julia Barkley, Mary Anna Barkley, and Anika Krishnan (pictured, from left) are the Moment Makers team, and they are the only team from Houston to advance. The girls won first place in Southeast Texas at the regional competition and continue to dominate the greater Houston robotics scene competing against larger teams of older students.

The Moment Makers team began in 2016 and competed in the FIRST LEGO League for five

The big day is finally here! The West University Place Centennial Celebration Festival is scheduled for May 4 at Colonial Park. Join your friends and neighbors for the historic event commemorating 100 years of the city we call home. The Hybrid 7 band takes the stage at 4 p.m. to play the best of the oldies and today’s hits, and food trucks will be ready to feed the crowd with a variety of treats. Honoring West U's commitment to reducing waste, the city will be providing water refill stations, so don’t forget to pack your reusable water bottles. Residents are also encouraged to walk, bike, or carpool to the event. For more information, visit www.westutx.gov/centennial.

Pictured are Centennial committee members (from left) Eric Orzeck, John Koenig, Soraya Brombacher, Dick Yehle, Bianca Cuccerre, Anastasia Domakhina, Marnie Leishman, Kalie Rainsberger; not pictured are Irene Alvarez, Lindsy Steinberg, and Deborah Harper.

Models of success

St. John’s School (SJS) senior Ayla Hasan (pictured, left) enjoys an intergenerational prom with Bebe McDougal (pictured, right), a resident at Belmont Village Senior Living. Ayla is co-leader of the prom project that brought 20 SJS students to the senior-living facility for the festive event.

The prom is an annual event for high school students and seniors, hosted by the senior residents.

This year’s celebration was a (continued on page 54) WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 52

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 53

(continued from page 52) 1950s/1960s-themed party

with dancing, karaoke, and student musical performances, and at the end of the event, a prom king and queen were crowned.

Youth of the year

Boys and Girls Club of Greater Houston (BGCGH) president and chief executive officer Kevin Hattery (pictured, right) and BGCGH board member Michelle Young (pictured, left) awarded the 2024 Youth of the Year award to deserving local student, Jonathan (pictured, center). The Julius Young Youth of the Year award includes a $10,000 scholarship from BGCGH and a $5,000 scholarship from Chevron. Jonathan was selected based on his commitment to academics, club advocacy and participation, and his speaking and writing skills. After his local win, Jonathan now moves on to compete for Youth of the Year of Texas.

Empowering young women Joan Karff’s Women on the Way Up (JKWOWU) held its annual brunch at the home of Christine and Mark Laskin. Board members and alumnae from the high school graduating classes of 2002 through 2023, along with this year’s students (pictured), gathered to

celebrate their successes and road to higher education. JKWOWU was created in 2001 by the late Joan Karff and provides a mentorship program and scholarships to underserved girls in the community who attend Lamar High School.

Before her passing in 2016, Joan, a mother, grandmother, and dance-company owner, personally mentored more than 150 girls.

Continuing her legacy, each year a group of 10 girls begins the year-long program that consists of weekly sessions to learn about everything from current events to world affairs to art, dance, theater, and classical music. Girls also learn about money management and how to navigate relationships and parenting. After completing the program, graduating seniors receive a $1,500 scholarship and laptop computer to continue

their education. Since the organization was founded, JKWOWU has provided more than $225,000 in scholarships.

Ireland comes to Bellaire After a chance meeting in Ireland, Aileen and Andy McCormick hosted Irish musicians for a concert in their Bellaire home. While hiking around the Dingle Peninsula, the McCormicks and their travel companions (pictured) met Tommy O’Sullivan, a traditional Irish musician who performs with his native-Texan wife Saundra, in their Dingle, Ireland pub, The Courthouse Pub. The group all started following the musicians on Facebook and discovered they travel to the United States during the winter months and will perform house concerts. Aileen and Andy hosted 50 of their friends to hear Tommy and Saundra perform for a night of great music, food, and drinks. A highlight of the evening was Aileen’s impromptu Irish jig in honor of her mother who taught her the traditional dance as a child. Pictured are (from left) Vanesa Carr, Dave Beathard, Mike Carr, musicians Tommy and Saundra O’Sullivan, Aileen McCormick, Cathy Beathard, Sharon Thompson, Andy McCormick, and Jesse Thompson.

Creative problem solving Presbyterian School’s eighth grade Odyssey of the Mind team (pictured) won first place at the recent regional tournament. The team was one of 17 Presbyterian School teams that competed at the Odyssey of the Mind Houston regional tournament, and nine of those teams qualified to move on to the state competition in Denton. Each team tackled a long-term problem for six months and brought their solutions to the regional tournament. The eighthgrade team selected the “Deep Space Structure” problem that unravels an original mystery of a balsa wood structure discovered in deep space. The struc- (continued on page 56) WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 54

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 55

(continued from page 54) ture is examined and

tested to balance and support weight, and then the students create and present a performance including the structure and the scientists who study it. The winning eighth graders are (from left) Evan Abney, Elijah Pollack, Nicholas Arribas, Isabella Vargas, Alaia Grannis, and Catherine Phillips.

Getting creative in the kitchen Rebecca Coker, Louise Campaign, Pili Vilalta, Libby Fuller, Sara Thompson, and Valentina

Vitale (pictured, from left) spent time in the kitchen with Creative Cuisine to learn handson culinary skills. For 40 years, the Sheridan Study Center has provided educational and mentorship programs for women and girls to promote family and community development.

Creative Cuisine began in the fall of 2000 and is the center’s longest-running program. During the two-year class, middle school girls learn recipes from around the world as a way to expand their horizons and gain exposure to other cultures.

Breaking the glass slipper Suzanne Stiles, Emily Harris, Dabney Junell, Georgia Harmon, Nicole Eidman, Lisa Oren, and Courtney Robertson (pictured, from left) attended the Pi Beta Phi Love of Literacy luncheon at the Houston Country Club. Luncheon

chair Nicole Eidman welcomed guests to the Breaking the Glass Slipper-themed event featuring keynote speaker Elaine Turner and her book with the same title. Members of Pi Beta Phi advocate for literacy, and the Houston Pi Beta Phi Foundation aims to make a difference in children’s lives through access to books. Alumna Kath Dooley Boles was honored at the event for leadership and service to both Houston Pi Phi Foundation and Houston Pi Phi Alumnae Club.

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.

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 56

6719 Weslayan St., Houston, Texas 77005 713-723-8100

Proudly serving our fresh fajitas, handmade tortillas, and made-from-scratch sides for 15 years! Whether it's your nightly family dinner or a large catered celebration, we are here to serve.

Free Delivery, Curbside Pickup or Dine-in available.

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 57

NEIGHBORS

by Andria Dilling, staff writer

Back Porch

Airplane Stories: Surprise encounters in the air

M

y husband’s birthday gift last August happened because of a flight I took after dropping my daughter off at college. The man who sat down next to me was coming from a Gulf Coast family fishing trip and was still in party mode. When he asked the flight attendant for a mini bottle of vodka, he offered one to me. I declined, so he bought one for me and gave it to himself. It was going to be a long flight.

But a little way into the conversation he was having with himself or with me, I’m not sure which, I realized he was devoted to his grill. He started on about using a sous vide contraption to slow-cook marinated, vacuum-packed meat in a water bath before charring it on the grill.

He said it was the best steak he had ever cooked.

That got my attention, and 10 minutes later we had sky-texted my neighbor’s brother, they had conferred about their favorite sous vide machine and vacuum-packer, and I had ordered my husband a very well-received birthday gift.

You just don’t know what you’ll get when you step onto an airplane. One friend remembers a family vacation when her two teenaged children and husband grumbled in the back of the plane while she was upgraded to first class. “Enjoy your warm cookie,” the daughter said with an eye roll as she left her mom in the front of the aircraft.

“Warm cookie, ha,” my friend told me as she recalled the trip. “About mid-flight, I decided to do my Bible study. I pulled out my Bible, and when the man next to me saw it, he decided I was the person he should confess his sins to.

And then he started telling me all about how he wanted to kill his first wife.”

Over the course of an hour, the man told my friend how he had hopped into his car with a gun after having learned that his wife was cheating on him. “He was planning to do something really bad,” my friend said. “The story is a little fuzzy to me because I can’t totally distinguish it from that country song mama’s in the graveyard, papa’s in the pen [“Papa Loved Mama,” by Garth Brooks]. I got a true confession of a considered crime that he did not go through with, thank the Lord. Wowza.”

Perhaps it’s the flight attendants who have WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MAY 2024 58

seen the most. Kimberly Miller, who recently signed on as a travel advisor with Fora Travel, flew for Delta after graduating college.

Among all the airplane stories she could tell, the best one is the story of how she met her husband.

“I had just transferred to New York and was living with a couple of Texas friends there, also flight attendants,” she says. “I was working my very first New Yorkbased flight, and Chris was on his way home from a friend’s wedding in the Bahamas. Back in the ’90s, they had paper tickets, and seat dupes were kind of common.

Someone was sitting in his seat.”

Kimberly called the gate agent, and while they were getting the seating squared away, she visited with Chris.

“We realized he had UP IN THE AIR You just never know who you will meet or what you might gone to SMU and I had learn from the person sitting next to you on an airplane. gone to Baylor, and we called. But when we tried to get together, I was had lots of mutual friends. No overlap for the scheduled to work every weekend, and he was two of us because he was four years older, but working a lot [in investment banking], so weekone of his friends was dating one of my high ends were his only time off. We talked every day school friends at the time. There were all kinds for a month before we went on our first date. By of connections.” that time, we felt like we were friends already.

Chris was getting ready to have a 30th birth“Our families were so excited because, of day party with his New York roommates, and he course, we were two Houston people, and they invited Kimberly to come. “He said there would were hoping we would come back.” The Millers be lots of Texas people,” Kimberly remembers. married, then moved to Houston in 2000, when “But I never ever gave out my number on the they were expecting their first child. plane. So he gave me his card, and I checked up “The rest is history,” Kimberly says. And it all on him.” He checked out. “Mutual friends all started on an airplane. said ‘He’s great, you should give him a call.’” So I behance.net/runamokstudios

.