2023
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Conlon named recipient of 12th Helen Cordes Award by FBRC By Juhi Varma SPECIAL TO THE STAR
Last week, the Fort Bend Regional Council (FBRC) hosted its 12th Helen Cordes Awards Luncheon – the first since 2019 – at Sugar Creek Country Club, focusing on substance abuse awareness, prevention and recovery programs. This year’s Helen Cordes Award was presented to Sugar Land’s Dr. Bob Conlon, recognized for his decades of work supporting at-risk youth through education, prevention, and mental health programs. “For a young person who chooses to engage in risky behavior like substance abuse, the consequences can last a lifetime, and often, consequences don’t fall only on them, but their families bear the weight, and that’s why the work of the prevention specialists at Fort Bend Regional Council is so vital,” Conlon said. This year alone, FBRC has reached over 4,500 at-risk students through an eightweek curriculum that not only educates but also fosters safe, supportive spaces where students feel heard and understood, Conlon said. This year’s theme, “Lighting a Path to a Brighter Tomorrow,” called attention to the need for stronger prevention efforts, as young people now have unprecedented access to misleading information about how to acquire, use, and hide drugs.
Meet the honoree In his remarks, Conlan underscored the importance of community-driven support systems and early intervention programs to combat addiction and guide young people. “Dr Conlon changed the very essence of FBRC,” Lisa Poynor, the group’s CEO, said. “He changed our soul. He changed the way we look at mission, and he changed the way we treat each other.” Conlon earned his bachelor’s degree in social sciences from Drexel University and a Ph.D. in educational psychology from the University of Texas at Austin. He began his career working in a residential treatment center for delinquent youth before serving as a public school psychologist. In 1992, he became the Director of Special Education and eventually the director of Student Support Services at Fort Bend ISD. There, hiis work earned him the FBISD Outstanding School Psychologist Services Award, and his character education program helped the district earn the National School of Character Award. Conlon also served for years on the state’s School Health Advisory Council, including two years as presiding officer. Since joining the Fort Bend Regional Council in 2015 as director of prevention programs, he has led efforts to build resilience and promote early intervention among atrisk students. He played a key role in launching FBRC’s Com mu n ity P revention Coalition and continues to advocate for whole-child approaches to education that support both physical and
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Retiring Fort Bend Women's Center CEO leaves legacy of expertise, hope, healing By Dayna Worchel SPECIAL TO THE STAR
Vita Goodell, retiring CEO of the Fort Bend Women’s Center, recalled one of her first acts when she began serving in that role 22 years ago. A woman approached Goodell at an event and told her that her husband had beaten her every day for the past five years. “I offered her shelter, but she said no. I didn’t realize then a woman tries about seven to nine times to leave an abuser before she actually goes,” said Goodell. “When she finally called back to say her husband had left the house, I took my minivan and my kids to pick to pick her and her kids up at her house
and brought them to stay with me,” Goodell said, She didn’t know at that time that was the wrong protocol to follow when rescuing someone from an abusive situation because of the possible danger that could be involved. The woman and her family eventually went to stay at the Fort Bend Women’s Center’s emergency shelter. “I found out all of this stuff through trial and error. My staff teases me and calls me Pollyanna,” Goodell said, referring to her endless optimism in the face of adversity. But she comes by it all naturally. Her mother, Yvonne Streit, founded Houston’s Briarwood School in the 1960s for children with
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Vita Goodell, CEO of the Fort Bend Women’s Center, third from right, poses with the center’s board members and building company staff after the 2023 expansion of the center’s long-term shelter. Goodell is retiring from the center after 22 years. Contributed photo
SUGAR LAND PAYS HOMAGE TO THE FALLEN By Ken Fountain
KFOUNTAIN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
Unseasonably muggy weather and the threat of rain didn’t dissuade hundreds of people from gathering at Sugar Land Memorial Park on Monday to honor those who have fallen in their service to the country during the city’s annual Memorial Day Ceremony. The event, one of the biggest in the Fort Bend Country region, drew visitors from near and far, offering attendees stirring speeches from dignitaries, patriotic music, and many other signature moments marking the nation’s most somber holiday. Veterans from nearly all of the nation’s military branches, including members of several area veterans groups, gathered along with family members of those of fallen service members, were joined by many people with no direct connection to the military under the park’s large pavilion to take part in the ceremony. Members of Boy Scout Troops 731 and 1731, boys and girls, gave U.S. flags to attendees as they arrived in the park and led the Pledge of Allegiance and performed a wreathlaying during the main festivities. Members of the Stephen F. Austin High School Naval JROTC Male Varsity Color Guard posted the U.S. and Texas flags at the start of the ceremony. Visitors were also able to take a close look at several vintage military vehicles and other memorabilia provided by the Houston-based Sixth Cavalry Historical Association. As usual, retired U.S. Army Brig. Gen. David Van Kleeck served as the master of ceremonies of the event. New this year was a video of Van Kleeck paying his respects at the park’s obelisk-shaped Remembrance Tower, which includes the names of fallen Sugar Land residents from all branches of the U.S. military. Van Kleeck also read aloud those service members’ names as they were displayed on the large video screen. Van Kleeck also again read the famous poem “In Flanders Fields,” written by John McCrae, a Canadian physician who served in World War II, in remembrance of a friend killed in battle. McCrae himself died of pneumonia near the end of that war. Area singer Elisha Jordan performed a stirring rendition of the National Anthem. (She would later join Clayton Mabin for a rendition of Lee Greenwood patriotic anthem “God Bless the U.S.A.”) Throughout the event, the Katy-based Lone Star Symphonic Band performed patriotic music. Aircraft from the Commemorative Air Force, Houston
TOP: Members of the Stephen F. Austin High School Naval Junior ROTC Male Varsity Color Guard post the colors at the beginning of the Memorial Day Ceremony at Sugar Land’s Memorial Park. LEFT: Main speaker Brig. Gen. Michael S. Shanley, commanding general of the 85th U.S. Army Reserve Support Command, offers remarks during the event. Photos by Ken Fountain
Wing, which restores and flies military aircraft from the World War II era, did a missing-man formation over the park. Sugar Land Mayor Pro Tem Suzanne Whatley, welcoming the main guest speaker, told the audience that “members of our country’s freedom as early as World War I, when Sugar Land was still just a company town. And there have been many more that have fought for our country since.” The main speaker of the event was Brig. Gen. Michael S. Shanley, commanding general of the Chicago-
based 85th U.S. Army Reserve Support Command (although Shanley is a resident of Katy). Shanley noted at the outset of his remarks that 2025 marks the 250th anniversaries of three of the U.S. Army, which was formed in the earliest days of the American Revolution, before the formal signing of the Declaration of Independence the following year. “As we think about those who have fought and died for our country, we remember the Continental Army’s battle cry, which is also our theme for the anniversary of the Army’s
founding: ‘This we’ll defend.’ Which reminds us that our Army purpose is clear: fight and win the nation’s wars,” he said. “We remain committed to honing our warfighting skills, enforcing standards of discipline, and living the values that have defined our Army culture for the past quartermillennium,” he said. “On Memorial Day, we reflect on our history and legacy of service, sacrifice, and dedication. From the Revolutionary War to present-day missions, our soldiers have consistently demonstrated their resolve to defend freedom, both at home and abroad.” Shanley noted that the holiday now known as Memorial Day first
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