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Saturday, June 15, 2024 • Vol. 69 • No.24
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Discover the Magic of Doodle Land: Houston’s new interactive art museum
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By LISA MORALES The Leader News Contributor Looking for a unique and enriching experience to entertain kids and yourself this summer? Doodle Land in the Heights, an innovative interactive art museum inspired by the whimsical world of Alice in Wonderland, has just opened its doors. Promising a blend of fun, education, and sensory engagement,
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this new hotspot is perfect for visitors of all ages. Located at 1320 North Loop, Doodle Land offers a journey through nine distinct exhibit areas, each designed to challenge and delight with various puzzle-solving activities. The museum’s creators, Lulu Fang and Amy Lin, who also founded the popular Honey Art Cafe on S Shepherd Dr, have meticulously crafted each exhibit to immerse visi-
tors in an art escape room-like experience. The founders shared the inspiration behind Doodle Land and what makes it stand out. “We decided to build Doodle Land because after 6 years of running Honey Art Cafe, we had gotten really wrapped up in the day-to-day of running a restaurant/coffee shop,” they See DOODLE LAND P. 4
The Doodle Land passport
REMEMBERING D-DAY
City trash schedule for the holidays
The year was 1966. White Oak Bayou was just changing into what we know today. This young explorer roamed with a 10-year-old’s curiosity. What I discovered was an abandoned oil well field, and without knowing it, a gateway to past greatness. The crisp fall days concealed oil pipes, buildings, and roads long tucked away in the woods, and set me on a journey to a legend long ago.
Local restaurants present check to DePelchin Children’s Center, Houston Food Bank
alumni formed The WWII Alumni Association dedicated to this pursuit. Their association is given credit for the inspiration and initiation of a memorial to honor Heights residents that had served in the war. Many of those graduates were also influential members of the community and served in various civic organizations including the Heights Rotary Club, which ultimately partnered with the association to fund and maintain the monument. After raising the required capital, Conrad G. Walton was commissioned to bring the dream to fruition. It is a beautiful semi-circle wall containing the names of 2100 Heights-area residents who served their country during WWII, including the 224 that gave their lives in combat. The wall is encompassed by concrete pillars paying tribute to and providing history for each of the individual battles that col-
Eureka! (from Greek, “I found it!”) Before any concrete, before any roads, C.B. Bunte had a vision of finding oil in Harris County. The experts told him to not to even bother, but in 1934, in the middle of the Depression, Bunte’s team took the chance, and it paid off. On Nov. 22, 1934, the drilling bits stopped and the oil began. The next years would take northwest Houston out of the Depression and into oil and gas legend. It all began near the corner of Bevis and West 18th, which at the time was considered a highway, bringing in goods for sale downtown. The city limits were still a half mile away at North Shepherd, and would not catch up for 10 more years. People flocked to the new discovery to find work. It was hard work, hot summers and cold winters, and in one year four more wells came in, producing oil in record amounts. The biggest influence in this endeavor, now named the Eureka Heights Oil Field, was Howard Hughes, already a millionaire in his 20s. He came with his newly invented drill bits, which in 1934 drilled holes even straighter and faster than previous bits till then.The Eureka Field turned into the model for oil and gas exploration the world over from that point on. The newspapers had a field day with the good news. “Eureka well flowing 700 barrels oil now”; “Frazier-Vollmer test flowing crude oil in Houston Heights area”, newspaper headlines read. On September 24, 1937, the Houston Chronicle reported, “The export demands are a large factor in a request
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Page 2 City of Houston Mayor John Whitmire addresses an attentive crowd on June 6, 2024, in remembrance of D-Day.
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By STEPHANIE SHIRLEY The Leader News Contributor
Kids’ Meals Inc. breaks ground on new headquarters in Spring Branch
On June 6, in celebration of D-day, The Rotary Club of Houston Heights, in partnership with the Rotary Club of West U, sponsored an event at The Houston Heights World War II Memorial Plaza at 9 a.m. and announced a beautification and restoration initiative that is being implemented to restore and update the magnificent granite monument back to its original glory. The structure, even in its current time-worn condition, is a majestic tribute to lives that were sacrificed for American democracy and freedom. Photo by Stephanie Shirley Time passes and new conflicts The WWII Memorial proudly stands on compete for the world’s attention, but the Heights Boulevard esplanade, just WWII cannot ever be allowed to be- south of 11th St. come a historical footnote. As a result, there are numerous individuals and pired and the lives that expired during organizations dedicated to preserving this war. In the ‘90s, a group of the the memories of the battles that trans- former Reagan Heights High School
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Heights girl scout’s Gold Award project fights childhood hunger and food insecurity By RUBENA GRACIA The Leader News Contributor
Art Valet: The whole world is inspiration for this artist’s canvas
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Livy Guyre, a rising Senior at Saint Agnes Academy, joined Girl Scouts when she was in kindergarten. Today, her troop has 15 members, and many of the girls have been in the program together since elementary school. She is now focusing on her Gold Award and has found a worthy task – addressing childhood hunger and food insecurity. After she graduates from High School, she would like this project to continue through the younger Girl Scouts. “My Gold Award project aims to ad-
We empower people to thrive. S TE LL A R . BA N K NM L S # 4 5 1 3 1 2
Photo by Stephanie Shirley
The evolution of a monument promises the elevation of a memory
Acres Homes hosts Annual Cultural Art Festival on Juneteenth
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Eureka! The days of black gold discovery in the Heights By CHRIS DAIGLE The Leader News Contributor
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Meet David Meowie, this week’s Friends For Life Pet of the Week
Submitted photo
dress the lack of nutritional food for kids,” Livy explained, saying that kids who normally receive free breakfast and lunch during the school year may not receive adequate nutrition during the summer break. This summer, Love Park Community Center, located on West 12th Street in the Heights, is hosting a camp for 50 elementary school students for 10 weeks. Besides sports and other activities, the camp will provide much-needed nutrition. But Livy’s goal is to do more. Livy’s family has lived in the Woodland Heights since 2002. Her mom Emily Guyre, Executive Director
Submitted photo
Livy Guyre’s goal with her Gold Award project is to alleviate food insecurity for children at day camp this summer.
of the Houston Heights Association, is a member of the Love Park Community Center Park Advisory Council (PAC). Pam Foote is the Love Park Community Center Facility Manager and Daphne Bell is the President of the Love Park Community Center PAC. Livy heard the three women discussing the summer camp and learned that the City of Houston provides a simple lunch and snack for the campers, who are there 9.5 hours each day and play outdoors most of the time. She decided she wanted to add a nutritious snack that See GIRL SCOUT P. 3
Allegiance Bank and CommunityBank of Texas have come together as Stellar Bank. While our name has changed, our commitment to serving our customers and supporting our local communities will stay the same. We look forward to a bright future together.
2222 North Durham | 281.517.8760 Margaret Vandever, Bank Office President Cecilia Rodriguez, Office Manager