Issuu

Houston: A ‘Place to Go’ Emerson and Stella Lundquist

Good Grief Photography: All Kinds of Rodeos Sevy Eicher’s Art Pig Tales Cooking Buzz: Crawfish Fave Instagrams

Bluebonnet

Smiles by Annie Blaylock McQueen

Special Children’s Rodeo Committee

Houston, TX

Celebrating Milestones

Permit No. 2047 PAID US Postage PRSRT STD

Going Green: Reduce

AND

The Next Generation Family Office

JEFFREY RILEY JAMES WATERS

EDITOR’S NOTE People ask: “Where do you come up with ideas for articles?” Everywhere. While Michael and I were out for breakfast, I caught him staring intently at a woman. I didn’t mind. Her impressive, handmade Frida Kahlo jacket had caught Michael’s eye and, right away, I shared his feeling – she is a story! And she was, in February: Stitching Frida Kahlo: The creativity of Robin Russell by Cathy Gordon. Our readers bring us ideas too. I was taking a call from a reader and, before wrapping up, I asked – as I always do – for her to let us know if she ever had any story ideas. “Actually…,” she said. Her granddaughter had gotten a pig as a Christmas present. Bingo. Read this month’s Pig Tales: A family falls for Annie by Cathy Gordon. Also in this issue, you’ll find a story about 15-year-old Sevy Eicher, who has Down syndrome and is a talented artist, and her incredible family; writer Angie Frederickson had heard of the Eichers and brought this idea to us. We want your ideas too. Call or email, or stop by. Or if you’re out being Buzzworthy, don’t be surprised if I tap you on the shoulder. 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 Publisher Associate Editors Editorial Assistant Design Manager Staff Writers

Contributing Writer Account Managers

Joni Hoffman Michael Hoffman Cheryl Laird Jordan Magaziner Steinfeld Pooja Salhotra John Duboise Tracy L. Barnett Deborah Lynn Blumberg Sharon Albert Brier Andria Frankfort Angie Frederickson Todd Freed Cindy Gabriel Cathy Gordon Michelle Casas Groogan Dai Huynh Annie Blaylock McQueen Jennifer Oakley Cheryl Ursin Russell Weil Mary Lee Wilkens Andrea Blitzer, Stephanie Goldfield Leslie Little, Jo Rogers

On our cover: Courtney and Will Lundquist had their daughters, Emerson and Stella, photographed in bluebonnets, a Texas tradition. Cover photo by Nicole Ivey Photography 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 © 2019 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 MARCH 2019 4

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

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

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2019 5

MAILBAG

Your letters, thoughts, opinions Treasuring survivors Thanks so much for your profile of Houston's Holocaust survivors and museum [Houston’s Holocaust Survivors: And the museum that shares their stories, by Russell Weil, January 2019]. These people and this organization are treasures. Was so delighted to make the acquaintance of two elderly neighborhood survivors when our young family moved to Woodshire in the ’90s. Both gentlemen were quite the characters, full of life, wit and wisdom. One, Mr. Littman, kindly agreed to be interviewed for my son's fourth-grade history project. I miss visiting with Mr. Mike and Mr. Littman during their erstwhile walks through the neighborhood, conversing, arguing, reminiscing and making this a wonderful place to raise my family. Joyce Sauter

Importance of remembering As I read this month's "Editor’s Note" [January 2019] written by my friend, Joni [Hoffman], the range of emotions I experienced were relief, embarrassment and guilt, to name just a few. I, too, have never been to the Holocaust Museum Houston. It is an admission that I am not proud of on any level. I have been to the museum in Washington D.C., but not in my own hometown for the very reason that Joni stated: "I don't want to be depressed today." After reading Russell Weil's compelling article, along with the personal accounts of the featured survivors, I plan to rectify this situation by going on one of Russell's tours of the museum ASAP. I truly believe that 2019 will begin a more meaningful and memorable year having done so. A heartfelt thanks to all involved in this month's very emotional and significant articles. Neidra Davis

It: Six birthday parties, by Sharon Albert Brier, The Memorial Buzz and The Tanglewood/River Oaks Buzz, February 2019]. Terri is a grand lady who is well deserving of the honor! I, too, was similarly honored in your November 2018 issue regarding my recent marriage [Rumor Has It: Whirlwind Romance, by Sharon Albert Brier, The Memorial Buzz and The Tanglewood/River Oaks Buzz]. I was totally surprised by the numerous telephone calls received from by friends who read the article. There are many folks “out there” who are enjoying reading your magazine. Keep up the good work! Charlene Horton Boyd

Big city, small town Since my picture with my grandson appeared in the magazine [Holiday Heirlooms, by Annie Blaylock McQueen, December 2018], I have received so many calls and emails from friends who saw it. I was shopping in Kroger this morning and ran into four friends, each of whom told me they saw the picture and read the story! I know that I look forward to receiving the magazine each month to read what my neighbors are doing since I always know someone featured in a story. Thanks for making me feel like I live in a small town! Olivia Fisher Send letters to info@thebuzzmagazines.com. Please include your name, address, phone number and email address for verification purposes. Letters are subject to editing for clarity and space. Views expressed in letters do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Buzz Magazines, and The Buzz takes no responsibility for the content and opinions expressed in them.

What’s your story?

Love the love stories Sam and I want to thank you for the honor and privilege of appearing in the February issue of The Buzz [Love Stories: Two couples going the distance, by Jennifer Oakley, February 2019]. Our story is truly a love story. Working with all of you was a joy. The issue will go with all of our special keepsakes. We have had so many calls and emails as a result of the article. All contained compliments and best wishes for our 60th anniversary. We never miss reading the Buzz from cover to cover every month. Thanks again and best wishes for a wonderful magazine. Roxanne and Samuel Gold

Rumor has it… Many thanks for the article regarding my friend, Terrie Straughan, who celebrated her 80th birthday at six different birthday parties [Rumor Has WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2019 6

We are looking for residents for upcoming articles who: • Have a graduating high school senior who would like to be part of our annual “Where are they headed?” feature. • Have traveled to attend music or film festivals. • Have funny or compelling parenting stories. • Have interesting hobbies. • Know a Buzzworthy neighbor to profile. If this sounds like you or someone you know, please contact us at info@thebuzzmagazines.com or 713.668.4157, ext 12.

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2019 7

NEIGHBORS by Tracy L. Barnett, staff writer

Going Green “Reduce” is the most important

homas Wu has been thinking a lot about waste. A few months ago, the St. Anne Catholic School sixth grader was at Barnaby’s Café and was puzzled to see a paper straw in his drink. He asked his mother, Jennifer, about it and learned that the restaurant had switched to paper to cut down on the tremendous volume of single-use plastic that has been flowing into our landfills, waterways and oceans. Not only that, he was pleased to learn that the restaurant is using compostable plastic bags for takeout. He’d been thinking about the plastic-pollution crisis, talking about it at school with his friends. “I’m worried we’re not going to have any room for anything else because it’s all going to be so piled up with trash – because people aren’t doing anything,” he said. But it was the paper straw at Barnaby’s that made him realize that in fact, people are starting to do something. It started a conversation about waste that his family and friends are having to this day, said Jennifer, along with an ongoing effort to continually reduce their ecological footprint. The Wus have been recycling for years – but now realize that recycling is not enough. Especially since the Chinese stopped accepting U.S. recyclables for processing, the market for used plastic has gone into a tailspin, and much of what was once baled up and sent abroad is now ending up in our landfills. That’s why, in the adage of the Three Rs – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – it’s critical they are observed in that order, says Becky Luman of Healthy Tweaks, a Houston-based organization dedicated to helping people reduce their environmental footprint. “The triangle is not recycle, reduce, reuse – recycling is the lowest rung on the ladder,” says Becky. “So when people lead with recycling, I try to figure out how to change the conversation.” For Jennifer, a physician, the plastic-pollution crisis captured her attention when she saw a shocking image of a stork trapped in a plastic bag, and then other photos of animals with their bellies full of plastic – part of a National Geographic series, Planet or Plastic?, which began waking people up to the scale of the problem. WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2019 8

“I think the other thing that’s happening is that we are all paying attention to global warming – and all the reports that have come out in the past year and how that maybe contributed to Harvey being such a bad storm in Houston,” she said. To Jennifer, the connection between climate change and REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE Thomas Wu, 11, works with his parents to help their family do better in waste reduction. He helps his dad take the recyclables out every the plastic-pollution Friday morning. crisis is clear. twice the size of Texas, and that’s only one of at “We’re consuming a lot, and so we’re driving least five vast floating gyres that are killing a lot of plastic to be produced, and plastic prowildlife in our oceans. Scientists estimate that duction causes a lot of CO2 emissions. Then at the current rate, the oceans will hold more there’s the energy to ship the products to us… plastic than fish by the year 2050. so the more we’re consuming these things that Like many families, the Wus and the Lumans are just throwaway items, the more we’re driving have been looking for ways to turn the tide of the CO2.” trash. They’ve switched to reusable water bottles Becky was fortunate to have parents who and food containers; they’ve eliminated plastic loved nature. She grew up to be a civil engineer, straws and carry reusable grocery bags. They working with companies to reduce waste and plan to take food containers with them for their prevent pollution, and an environmental contakeout. And they plan to write to city officials sultant, working with schools and families to to encourage them to implement curbside comlower their impact on the Earth, and save posting programs and a plastic-bag ban like money by doing so. And like Jennifer, she realmany cities have. ized that recycling wasn’t enough. For her part, Becky plans to educate others “People tend to pat themselves on the back every chance she gets. “I know parents care for recycling, but what we really need to do is about their kids and want to leave the Earth in consider the whole life cycle of a product,” she a better state for them,” she says. said. “While you can buy a whole case of plastic To help you along your path, Buzz-resident water bottles for $3.50 – where is that plastic Sandy Spears, a writer, has put together an excelcoming from, and where is it going?” lent resource on her blog, 350 Houston: “Reduce Following the trail of a single plastic bottle Your Landfill and Recycling Waste by 80%.” reveals the violent impacts on communities at the source – high rates of cancer, asthma and Editor’s note: See this story at thebuzzmagazines.com other ailments in areas around petroleum for links. Buzz sustainable-living columnist Tracy L. refineries and the chemical plants that produce Barnett is an award-winning freelance writer coverthe plastics, for example – and then at the end ing travel, the environment and social justice issues point, often a waterway. The Great Pacific in the Americas. Garbage Patch, for example, has now grown to

Get Ready for Summer Patio covers • Outdoor living rooms Outdoor kitchens • And more! Texas Custom Patios • 281-265-1994 Check out more projects on our website www.PatioHouston.com

Summer Camp Program June 4th - August 23rd Elementary Students Kindergarten Through 6th Grade • STEM Focused Activities • Art & Theatre • Music • Academics (math, reading, science, geography) • Sports • Technology • Character Education

600 Shepherd Drive, Houston, Texas 77007 713-880-3318 • www.thekiplingschool.com WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2019 9

NEIGHBORS by Pooja Salhotra, staff writer

Houston: A ‘Place to Go’ Pooja Salhotra

A hometown through another’s eyes

s an avid traveler, I eagerly await the annual New York Times “52 Places to Go,” a compilation of top travel destinations created with input from writers, photographers and correspondents. A few weeks ago, I was scrolling through this year’s list, and, somewhere between natural beauties like Santa Barbara and historical epicenters like Munich, I read “Houston.” Stunned, I nearly choked on my morning coffee. Houston? Where I spent the first years of my life, mostly fantasizing about leaving for a place with real seasons and more happening. But, as I learned from Sebastian Modak – the writer selected by the Times to embark on a yearlong trek to all 52 destinations, Houston was chosen with good reason. “One of the main reasons is food,” Sebastian said. “A lot of people don’t realize [Houston] is the most diverse city in the U.S. I think especially coming from New York, people have whatever stereotypes they have about Texas. This is kind of the complete opposite of that.” I reached out to Sebastian through Instagram a few weeks ago. I was working on a Buzz article about rediscovering this city as an adult, and had come up with some spots outside of familiar neighborhoods. We decided to check some out together, meeting for lunch first at Govinda’s Vegetarian Cuisine, an Indian restaurant on the grounds of the Hare Krishna Temple, in the Oak Forest/Garden Oaks neighborhood. “I may have overdone it yesterday,” Sebastian said with a laugh before we heaped our plates with saag paneer, daal and other Indian specialties. I had seen Sebastian’s Instagram story the day before; it featured plates – and plates – of Houston food. Sebastian had eaten each meal in a different immigrant community. He started with a dim sum breakfast at Ocean Palace, then lunch at Afghan Village on Hillcroft, followed by a dinner of Michoacán specialties at Raizes Mexican Kitchen in Stafford. He topped it all off with beers at Cafeza, a Spanish-influenced café/bar in the First Ward. Sebastian, who is of Indian and Colombian descent, has lived in Hong Kong, Australia, India WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2019 10

HEADING TO HOUSTON Sebastian Modak, the “52 Places to Go” travel writer for The New York Times, checks out artist Gonzo247’s iconic Houston mural in Graffiti Park.

and Indonesia and has traveled to over 60 countries. You can understand why I was half-expecting him to find Houston dull. But he seemed genuinely excited, especially about the food. It became clear why Sebastian was selected for this dream gig to travel the world. Most important, he seemed to have an iron stomach. “These were all back-to-back meals,” he clarified while detailing his prior day’s marathon. He came across as optimistic yet rational, the kind of person who confidently attempted to pack only a carry-on for this year-long escapade, but ultimately opted for a more reasonably sized check-in to fit both a swimsuit (for Panama), and a winter jacket (Ontario Ice Caves). “I’m excited about everywhere because I think a lot of places will surprise me,” he said. “Las Vegas is on the list. That’s not exactly my style of travel, but I’m ready to get surprised.” I realized that, despite my Houston upbringing, I was almost as much of a tourist in this city as he was. I had not dined at any of the restaurants he mentioned, nor had I visited several places he hoped to check out, such as the taco trucks in the Northside district north of downtown or the renovated Menil Collection in Montrose. So, after we finished our “light vegetarian meal,” as Sebastian called it (I needed a siesta after), I joined him to explore Houston. We drove to Graffiti Park on the East End to capture some iconic Houston photos. I’d like to say I was

taking Sebastian around, but the reality is I needed him to navigate using Google Maps. Our next stop was Bayou Bend Gardens in upscale River Oaks. Only 10 minutes before, we had been surrounded by graffiti. Now, we were entering a 14-acre property with gardens and a mansion that was once the home of the iconic Ima Hogg. Although Bayou Bend is near St. John’s School, where I attended, I had somehow never noticed it. After I dropped Sebastian off at his downtown Airbnb and returned to Bellaire, I admired the photos of Bayou Bend and admitted I had been too hard on Houston. I decided I should learn from Sebastian – who says he intentionally lets go of any preconceived notions of the places he visits – and discover what it means to live in the most diverse city in America. Sebastian, meanwhile, is off on his next adventure to the Ontario Ice Caves, and he’ll then continue on to 48 other destinations. After that, Sebastian looks forward to “staying put for a while,” likely in New York City, with his partner and his cat. You can follow his travels on Instagram (sebmodak) and Twitter (@sebmodak). Editor’s note: Keep an eye out in the next print issue for Buzz writer Pooja Salhotra’s story on Houston’s hidden gems. To share your own favorite Houston spots, email info@thebuzzmagazines.com or comment at thebuzzmagazines.com.

Courtesy of Houston Cinema Arts Society

Discover Buzzworthy Events

You’ll find tons of Houston happenings on our events calendar. Go to thebuzzmagazines.com and click on Events to find out what’s happening around town. WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2019 11

NEIGHBORS by Andria Frankfort, staff writer

A Time to Celebrate Marking the major milestones Life is full of daily achievements. Starting the first day of school, acing a test, getting a promotion. Little things that make us smile, prompting little celebrations. But then there are the big milestones – less frequent, for sure, and often cause for months of asking the question, “How are we going to celebrate?”

lissa Varadi, a psychotherapist, recently shared her 60th birthday with 15 lifelong friends. “We’ve done this together at 30, 40, 50, and now 60,” she says. “The first time we got together, we loved it so much we said, ‘Let’s do this every 10 years.’” The birthday friends had met mostly during their days at The University of Texas, although some met in middle school, some in high school at Bellaire and others through friends. Today, they live in Houston, Detroit, San Diego and as far away as Toronto. “One year we went on a cruise, one year to Santa Fe,” Elissa says. “Our friend Pam Roberts, who lives in Richmond, Texas, always plans it.” Pam knows how to plan; she and her mother had a meeting-planning business. For 60, the celebration landed them at the new Miraval Austin Resort and Spa for four days. “We started organizing it about a year ago, and you had to be turning 60 this year to go,” Elissa says. “Husbands are not invited. It’s just very bonding. We sat and talked about where we are, where we see the next decade going. We’ve gone through a lot with each other. Lots of happy things, some sad things, and we’ve all remained very close through the years.” The group came up with themed nights, and everyone went all-out to dress on point. “One night we had a red-hot mama night and everyone wore red,” Elissa says. “The other night was a ’60s night, where we all dressed in ’60s costumes. We were just thinking of cute things to do.” Because most of the women live in Houston, they see each other regularly. But they’ve decided not to wait too long for their next get-together. “At this point, we’ll do it at 65 because we’re not waiting for 70!” Elissa says.

or Susanne and Gerald Sullivan’s 50th wedding anniversary in 2017, their five children

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2019 12

FAITH AND FAMILY The Sullivan family gathered in Galveston this Christmas to celebrate their Catholic faith, 51 years of marriage and their ever-growing family.

– Kelley Sullivan, Kristen Berger, Todd Sullivan, Johnny Sullivan and Billy Sullivan – and their spouses threw a surprise party for them. “It was out of nowhere,” says Kristen, a volunteer and mom of four. “Johnny [her brother] and Sydney’s wedding was a month before, and Mom and Daddy had intended on doing a party but didn’t. We kept ours on the down-low.” Every year, the family – longtime Galvestonians – gathers on Dec. 23 for dinner at Shearn’s restaurant in Galveston. “Last year, my parents walked in and thought they were just going to dinner, and there was this huge party. We did a video. All the grandkids were there. We had them hook, line and sinker.” But the surprise tables turned this past Christmas, when Gerald Sullivan made the decision to surprise his passionately Catholic wife and family by converting to Catholicism – on his and Susanne’s 51st wedding anniversary. He enlisted his daughter-in-law, Billy’s wife Jocelyn, to help plan the surprise. “Jocelyn had converted [she was formerly Baptist] when she married Billy 13 or more years

ago,” Kristen says. “Daddy went to the classes with her back then, maybe to honor the fact that she was doing this for his son. And this year he decided it was his time. So Jocelyn called the church and the priest and put together a little invitation and sent it to all of us via email. He had surprised us right back! “We never worried about the fact that he was not Catholic before,” Kristen says. “He’d always go to church with us, and we believe the basic tenets of all religions are the same. But we were thrilled because it was a sweet act of love for my mom, and that was really special.” On Dec. 23 of 2018, the entire Sullivan clan – all 25 of them – went to church together as their patriarch received his first Holy Communion and then renewed his wedding vows with his wife. Then the 12 grandchildren lined up in birth order, walked to the altar, and sang O Come, All Ye Faithful. “It was just wonderful,” Kristen says. By chance, Kelley got engaged two days later, on Christmas. “It was joy overflowing,” Kristen says. “Just a few milestones to celebrate in our family this year!”

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2019 13

NEIGHBORS

Aimee McCrory

by Cindy Gabriel, staff writer

Good Grief Couldn’t we all just die laughing?

hile everyone dies, it’s not very high on my “to do” list. Birth is another thing. Just last month I was basking in ecstasy over the birth of my first grandson. “Expecting” is what we say when babies are coming. But when death approaches, the word is “shocked.” In the average lifetime, we will experience approximately 50 deaths. You’d think with all of the occurrences that we wouldn’t be so surprised every time it happens. In the November Buzz, I mentioned a string of my own losses. After experiencing the deaths of three parents within 72 days, then two years later my husband, I’m surprised I wasn’t a crime suspect. I always thought my two grandmothers had their own interesting ways of approaching the subject. Mimmie and Inez each lived well into their 80s. One night, Inez called my father in the middle of the night, and with no particular change in inflection, she said, “Clymer Jr., I think I’m dying, and I just want you to know what a wonderful son you have been….” She would have waxed on, but my father interrupted with the usual references to hospitals, ambulances, etc., to which my grandmother sighed, “Well, I haven’t done my hair.” Inez had very curly hair that, in her estimation, required a good hour of maintenance. We were always waiting on her to do her hair. They did manage to get her to the hospital, and later that morning I found her in the emergency room awaiting an EKG. Inez looked at me and said, “What do you wear to an EKG?” She always said wear as if it were two syllables, as in “wa-yah.” She thought my generation had totally lost its way in the fashion department. She lamented that green scrubs weren’t nearly as flattering on nurses as white dresses with waist lines and stiff white hats. It was ironic she would die in a place she had rarely been her whole life. She lingered a few days, finally passing with my dad at her side. They spoke of Charlotte, a cousin my age, who was killed in a car accident when we were both 18. Neither of these grandmothers’ cheeriness WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2019 14

ALL THE SIDES Cindy Gabriel looks at the upsides to the downsides of life.

was an indicator that nothing “bad” ever happened to them. Inez was more on the warm-fuzzy side, while Mimmie was a feisty, skinny, getafter-it kind of person. Dr. Denton Cooley had to patch Mimmie together once after a major heart attack. From there, she attacked life another 20 years with exercise, gardening and travel, along with my equally healthy grandfather, in a marriage of more than 65 years. Between her heart attack, my mother’s death at 54, and finally the slow and painful bone cancer death of my grandfather, she chirped and chugged long. She used to refer to life as “this veil of tears,” in her smirky, perky way, that sounded, sort of, okay. She only brought death up to show me how her bank CDs were doing. I later learned that she thought I had not expressed appropriate gratitude on the subject of my inheritance. I guess I was supposed to jump up and down and ask her if she was feeling any pangs. The truth is they were Depression-era savers who worked hard with little education and were mighty proud of their CDs. After my grandfather died, she put the house on the market, sold it, hired movers and called from the nursing home in Nacogdoches into which she had checked herself. This was one low-maintenance octogenarian. Her daughter, my mother, was diagnosed with terminal cancer at 52, just as my daughter, Laura, her first grandchild, was born. Mom lived

long enough for 2-year-old Laura to run in and snuggle with her under the covers while I read lines from Erma Bombeck, the humorist of her generation who helped make being a housewife in the ’60s and ’70s bearable. Coincidentally, about that time, I was working at a Houston radio station. Erma Bombeck was coming into town to promote her latest book, I Want to Grow Hair, I Want to Grow Up, I Want to Go to Boise, a compassionately funny book for kids with cancer, where she discovered wit in those kids that matched her own. Her initial reluctance to link cancer with humor dissipated. I recorded an interview with her over the phone, in which I mentioned that her books were furnishing many laugh-out-loud moments for my mother and me as she faced cancer. When she got to town, I went to her talk and was escorted to the media table where one woman sat quietly with her hands folded. As I introduced myself, she looked at me and said, “Hi, how is your mother?” It was Erma Bombeck, remembering our 2-month-old conversation. I had to tell her that my mother had died weeks earlier. It was 1989, the year Erma’s book was published, the year my mother died, the year my second daughter was born. Every now and then, it seems as if a common thread is holding this life and death thing together and all of us together as well. As Morrie Schwartz says in Tuesdays with Morrie, “Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.” To accept one and not the other is to deny both.

NEIGHBORS by Michelle Casas Groogan, staff writer

Photographed Events by jema

Rodeo for All Thanks to a special committee

ou don’t have to look far to see a wide range of smiling faces at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. But if you look closer, you’ll notice the rodeo leaves no one out. Organizers mean it when they say it’s an experience everyone should enjoy. Buzz resident Jackie Andrews, a photographer, has been bringing her 9-year-old daughter, Haley, who loves horses, to participate in the Lil’ Rustlers Rodeos the last three years. The events – this year on March 5, 6 and 11 – at the main arena at NRG Center allow children with special needs to be the stars of the rodeo, with stickhorse races, bucking seesaws and hay barrels to rope. Haley is challenged with Down syndrome, autism, ADHD and Hirschsprung’s disease. That’s where the Special Children’s Committee comes in. “They don’t let you worry about anything,” said Jackie. “They take care of our parking, and they shuttle us to the arena, and they assign a volunteer to Haley. They get to ride the horses around the ring and play games and play with the clowns. Their name and pictures are on the big screen, and an announcer is calling their names out. They take really good care of us in the Lil’ Rustlers program.” The vastness of the HLSR, with all the sights, sounds and smells, can be sensory overload for anyone, but for someone with a disability it can be overwhelming. Volunteers who make up the Special Children’s Committee (all 222 of them) help families navigate events like the Lil’ Rustlers Rodeo and Top Hands Horse Show. They also help organize the three rodeo nights where HLSR donates 1,000 tickets to families with special needs. It is a well-run machine that they have been making happen since 1952. It’s meaningful service for volunteer committee member and Buzz resident Carol Lee Lyons. “One of the things that is so special about this committee is that it has been serving children and adults with intellectual or physical differences since the 1950s, which historically has been a population kind of ignored or unseen,” said Carol Lee, who has a niece with autism. “The fact that this organization recognized so long ago that individuals with special needs WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2019 16

LIL’ RUSTLER Haley Catherine Andrews rides in the Lil' Rustlers Rodeo, which is organized by the Special Children's Committee.

deserve to participate and enjoy all that the rodeo is, it’s pretty remarkable.” The committee was born of the vision of Lucia Painter Eaton, who had a child with cerebral palsy. Eaton's family proudly recalls her fierce advocacy – lobbying for her son and other children with special needs in the state legislature when her child was denied enrollment to his public school in 1942. She organized a group called the Mother’s Club to fight for the rights of children with different abilities. By 1944, children with disabilities were invited to the rodeo's opening-day performance as the special guests of caring ticket holders. “My grandparents had tickets to the rodeo, and they donated their tickets, and they asked everyone around them to donate their tickets for a particular night so my Uncle Tuff and his classmates could come to the rodeo. That’s how it started and later became a committee,” said Claire Stuewer, Eaton’s granddaughter, who along with her father, Tom Eaton (Tuff’s brother), have all served as chairs of the committee. Claire’s sons, Karl and Chris Stuewer, are new committee members. “I think as a woman she was quite a trailblazer,” Stuewer said of her grandmother. “I’m very proud to continue the legacy.” In 1952, the (formerly named) Houston Fat

Stock Show recognized the actions of the Mother’s Club and created the formal Special Children’s Committee. The committee has evolved to include tours in Agventure, the Lil’ Rustlers Rodeo and the Top Hands Horse show (this year, Feb. 1516 in NRG Arena), which offers physically challenged riders of all ages the opportunity to compete in six events, including showmanship at halter, English equitation, Western equitation, trail, pole bending and barrel racing. Buzz residents Tim and Pat Phillips volunteer on several of the 108 committees that make up HLSR. But they say serving on the Special Children’s Committee the last 14 years has been the most rewarding. “You develop these friendships and these bonds, not only with the children but with their families and the adult volunteers and staff members at the schools,” said Tim. “It’s kind of like a family reunion.” This will be Haley’s last Lil’ Rustlers Rodeo, since children age out at 10. There's little doubt her final round-up will again make lasting memories, of a child's joy and a parent's gratitude. “I can’t say enough good things about this committee,” said Haley’s mom, Jackie. “Everyone is smiling; they don’t have that look on their face. And the volunteers are so ready to give of themselves.” The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo runs Feb. 25-March 17. See rodeohouston.com.

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2019 17

NEIGHBORS by Cathy Gordon, staff writer

Pig Tales lawellphoto.com

A family falls for Annie

uby Neath, 10 going on 30, understands the tenets of a successful campaign. Know your audience. Stay on message. If need be, filibuster. “I didn’t give up,” says the unwavering Ruby, who’d corral her dad on occasion for a captive audience. “I really really wanted a pig. They’re cute and smart and clean, not dirty like some people think. I just couldn’t get it out of my mind.” Yes, Operation Pig went on for more than a year with the fifth grader at Trinity Classical School proffering her porcine proposal. Might her parents see fit to add a pig to their family of five? Well, six if you count rambunctious wiener dog Chili. “One hundred percent against it,” recalls dad Charlie. “When Ruby said ‘pig,’ I’d just shut down,” chimes in mom Susan. Which leads to the question of an adorable mini pig, Annie, doing a tail-flipping, hoof-tapping, rodeo dance on their den floor this day, like an over-cranked wind-up toy. “I’m in love,” deadpans the dad, a convert. “I’ve never had somebody in the family rally me for so long. Any way Ruby could insert ‘pig’ into a conversation, she would. But that little thing has ripped my heart in half. She’s better pottytrained than my wiener dog, for sure.” Annie, who has returned to the swaddled comfort of mama Ruby’s arms, snorts a retort. Yes, I am adorable, and way better behaved than your wiener dog. Earlier, she demonstrated full vocal range with a high-pitched squeal and bolt to a litter pan of pine shavings. The family expects her to be fully housetrained soon, conducting business solely outside. She rocks a tiny pink leash and harness and roots around for acorns in their backyard. “I think we are all in love,” admits Susan, who did plentiful pig research before trekking to Texas Tiny Pigs in Waco with son Andrew, 14, the Sunday before Christmas as a holiday surprise for Ruby. Family friends Cynthia and Chris Wenz and their sons, Caleb, 14, and Justice, 16, kept the pig on the down-low at their home for two days, surprising the relentless porcine campaigner at her doorstep WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2019 18

PIG PARADISE Ruby Neath, the ultimate porcine campaigner, is all grins with her American mini pig, Annie.

Christmas morning. “I heard a squeal. I was like, ‘Wait, that sounds like a pig!’” recalls Ruby, grinning. “I was kind of shocked for the first hour or two.

Sometimes I still have to pinch myself.” “Annie is so much fun,” agrees sister Nola, 8, scratching the pig’s lower back, just near her hind-end. “A favorite spot.”

lawellphoto.com

lawellphoto.com lawellphoto.com

CUTENESS OVERLOAD Top left: Playful Annie accessorizes for the camera, bracelet in snout. Bottom left: Mom Susan, once skeptical of a pig as a pet, is smitten with Annie, Ruby’s surprise Christmas present. At right: American mini pig Annie in little sister Nola’s lap, with Ruby, mom Susan and brother Andrew.

The mini pig was 9 inches tall and 6 pounds by late January. She’s weaned from formula and is now on a regimen of nutritional pellets with vegetables and fruits for treats. She’ll top out at around 30 pounds, the size of a small beagle, says Savannah Green, owner of Texas Tiny Pigs, who considers Annie’s breed, an American mini pig, the ideal pet. “They’re non-allergenic, shedless and odorless. They won’t smell up the house like some dogs, and they’re easier to train. People often confuse them with pot-bellied pigs that can become quite large and tend to be lazy. The American mini pig is more athletic.” Susan has heard horror stories about pigs that quickly balloon past expected parameters. “But we plan to keep Annie on a proper pig diet and not give her table scraps, because we

don’t want to start bad habits with her,” she says. On the off-chance Annie does pork up to a size not befitting house life, she’ll go to Susan’s sister’s ranch in Yorktown, Texas. Annie’s already made a family trip to the ranch, where she brazenly chased peacocks and posed for house-on-the-prairie-style pictures with family dressed as pioneers. And she’s made the social circuit near home, too: Starbucks, The Dish Society restaurant on San Felipe, basketball practice, the hair salon, among other places. Swaddled in a blanket, she’s often mistaken for a puppy until people see the snout. “I really want her to go a lot of places and people will love her like I do,” says Ruby. “She’s really a good girl. Pigs don’t like drama. She fits in to our family.”

“Yeah, she’s been a great bonding experience,” agrees Susan, who, at day’s end, puts Annie into a portable crib where she burrows under a blanket for the night, nary an oink. Apparently, Annie also likes pedicures, or whatever you call it in the pig world. “I was watching a movie with her last night and filed her hooves with an emery board. They can get sharp if you don’t,” Susan says. With life expectancy from 15 to 18 years, Ruby’s mom offers this future snapshot. “The kids are grown and gone, and it’ll be me and Annie on the couch, filing our nails and watching I Love Lucy reruns.” Editor’s note: On Instagram, you can follow Annie at little_annie_oinkley and The Buzz at thebuzzmagazines. WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2019 19

KIDS by Angie Frederickson, staff writer

Speaking Through Art Lisa Eicher

Sevy Eicher’s unfolding talent

t’s not your average art studio. When you walk through the doors at Sandal Gap Studio, a nonprofit studio for artists with intellectual disabilities, you might be surprised by what you see. Fifteen-year-old artist Sevy Eicher cruises by, perfectly balanced, on a battery-powered hover board while her 4-year-old brother Radko chases after her, yelling for his turn to ride. Radko’s forehead looks like an artist’s palette, with brushstrokes of bright magenta and gold paint that Sevy applied to his round face earlier in the day. In the corner, a three-legged dog lounges on a blanket, completely unfazed by the chaos. The Eichers are every bit as unconventional as their Memorial-area art studio. Mom Lisa, a writer, and dad Joey, a consultant in the waste industry, have four children, two of whom were adopted from Bulgaria and have Down syndrome. They also have seven disabled rescue dogs, six of which have only three legs. Lisa, who happens to be a two-time competitor on NBC’s American Ninja Warrior, homeschools all four children, Sevy, Archie, Ace and Radko. In between school lessons, all six Eichers work together to get the studio ready to open to the public. About a year ago, Lisa and Joey discovered that Sevy, despite being nonverbal, is a talented artist. She enjoyed spending time in the evenings sitting at the kitchen table, drawing on paper with a pencil, and one day her doodling caught Lisa’s eye. “I started paying attention to what she was doing, and it was really intricate,” said Lisa. “It wasn’t just random scribbling.” They gave her some colored markers and set her loose to draw whatever she wanted. Sevy took the opportunity to draw all over the walls in her bedroom. “It was really good. It was like she drew a full mural,” Lisa said. Curious about what else she could do, Joey went to the garage and searched for anything he thought Sevy could use for an art project. They didn’t have paint brushes, but he gave her random supplies left over from their post-Hurricane Harvey flood renovation. Scraps of wood, house paint, scrapers and even a crow bar became artist’s tools, and Sevy started painting on a wood panel. She couldn’t communicate what WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2019 20

FABULOUS FOUR The Eicher children, Archie, Radko, Ace and Sevy (from left), are ready to open Sandal Gap Studio, a studio for artists with intellectual disabilities.

she was creating, but Lisa says each paint stroke was intentionally placed, and somehow it seemed Sevy knew exactly what she was doing. “It was like she was brought to life,” Lisa said. Painting became the focus of Sevy’s days. She created brightly colored, modern, oil-on-wood paintings in a makeshift studio in her parents’ bedroom. The number of paintings and supplies constantly grew, and eventually Sevy’s work took over the entire master bedroom. Feeling edged out of their room, Lisa and Joey relocated upstairs to give her more space. “It wasn’t my idea to move upstairs and live like roommates with our kids, but I knew it was the best option for Sevy,” said Joey. “She needed somewhere that she knew was her place to paint, instead of just wherever we set her up around the house.” Lisa took photos of Sevy’s paintings and posted them on the family’s Instagram page (eicherumba). The response from friends and family was overwhelming, and led the Eichers

to create Sevy’s own Instagram page (SevyMarieArt) to showcase her work. After initially brushing off suggestions that they sell Sevy’s paintings, Lisa and Joey realized art could be a real career for her, a way to earn money and find fulfillment into adulthood. In the past year, Sevy has created more than 200 paintings and attracted more than 23,000 Instagram followers worldwide. When the Eichers released her first collection online in April 2018, it sold out in less than an hour. Sevy has several different painting styles, depending on her mood, but she always paints on wood. She prefers it to canvas, because she can scrape and stab the wood, creating a unique look. Her pieces are brightly colored and are always several layers thick. She adds paint strokes, sometimes dripping additional paint onto the wood, and works until she’s happy with it. When she’s finished, Sevy steps back to admire her painting with a big smile. “She’s always in awe of her own work,” said Lisa.

Lisa Eicher

PLEASED Artist Sevy Eicher’s joy is undeniable when she completes each of her oil-on-wood paintings.

The Eichers never imagined their lives would take this path into the art world, but ever since she was a child, Lisa was sure about two things: she wanted to adopt children and she wanted to help people with special needs. As teenagers, she and Joey, who were high school sweethearts at Memorial High School at the time, spent their weekday afternoons babysitting a neighbor’s child with Down syndrome. The experience sparked a passion for special-needs children. Not long after they married, Lisa and Joey welcomed biological daughter Ace. When it came time to add another child, they researched international adoption and found Reece’s Rainbow, a Bulgarian adoption ministry for children with Down syndrome. It was the perfect way to blend their interest in adoption with their love of special-needs children. They brought their son, Archie, home from Bulgaria in 2011. After Archie came biological son Radko, and Sevy was adopted from Bulgaria in 2016. The family’s two adoptions were quite different. Archie’s integration into the family was seamless because of his loving, easy-going personality, but Sevy’s experience has been more difficult. After moving around through different Bulgarian institutions for her entire life, Sevy arrived in Houston untrusting and generally angry. “She was walls up,” Lisa said. Lisa candidly shares her struggle to form a strong attachment with Sevy on the family’s Instagram page, and concedes that, while there has been a huge improvement, there is still progress to be made. After talking to other

moms who adopted, Lisa learned that many of them had the same attachment issues she has with Sevy, but they were afraid to tell anyone. “I understand why people want to keep quiet. It feels shameful to not feel that love,” Lisa said. She also uses social media to show the reality of life with special-needs kids. “There are so many fears and unknowns around kids with Down syndrome and disabilities, and I want to debunk the myths and really promote inclusion by showing a little bit of everything in our unconventional life,” she said. In a couple of months, the Eichers plan to have Sandal Gap Studio up and running. Sevy has already claimed her spot in the new studio, giving her an additional place to paint. The studio got its name from one of Lisa’s favorite physical traits of people with Down syndrome. A “sandal gap” is the extra space between the big toe and second toe that appears in people with Down syndrome. “It’s a place where people can come and feel included,” Lisa said of the studio. Local artists will be invited each day to learn various techniques, practice, create and sell their work. The studio will rely on volunteers and donations to ensure that artists receive 100 percent of the earnings from their art sales. Sevy’s art led the family to open the new studio, but the idea of creating something to include and integrate people with special needs was around long before Sevy began painting. It was Ace’s idea. In her short 10 years, Ace has a history of wanting to include people who are differ-

ent, and she was searching for a way to share what she learns from her siblings. When Sevy started painting, friends would come over to the Eichers’ home to paint and hang out. Art was the great equalizer between them, and Lisa and Joey realized it was the perfect way to bring Ace’s dream to fruition. “Sandal Gap Studio isn’t necessarily about art, per se, but about using art as the vehicle to promote inclusion,” said Lisa. Lisa and Joey are not surprised that Ace was the one who came up with the idea. She is protective of her siblings and has always been interested in the ideas of justice and equality. Last year, Ace was asked to speak to the second graders at Hunters Creek Elementary about how to approach people with Down syndrome and other disabilities. She brought Archie and Sevy with her, and gave this advice: “You can always go up and talk to them. Always just be friendly and talk to them how you would talk to anyone else. If you need help, go ask their mom.” Sandal Gap Studio is already a second home for the Eichers. Sevy has her own dedicated studio space, and all of the kids are enjoying using it as a playground until the other artists arrive. Sevy’s works in progress line the walls, and the floor in her studio is appropriately covered in several shades of paint. Now that they are getting settled, Lisa and Joey can finally move back into their bedroom. “We still have to use the bathroom upstairs, though, because the master bathtub is where she cleans her paint brushes, and it’s permanently stained,” said Joey, smiling. “That paint isn’t coming off. It’s there forever.” WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2019 21

KIDS

by Annie Blaylock McQueen, staff writer

Buzz Baby

Smiling in the bluebonnets Nicole Ivey Photography

Buzz Baby is a column about life with little ones. Writer Annie McQueen has three children age 4 and under.

hey are about to bloom – those vibrant, purple-blue wildflowers that sprinkle the hilly horizons of Texas, beautiful reminders of spring, our state flowers, bluebonnets. The seasonal flowers even have their own paparazzi. If you drive west on Highway 290 on a spring afternoon, you’ll see swarms of people taking photos in the bluebonnets. If you’ve never seen a field in full bloom, you need to. But don’t dally because once they bloom, typically March to mid-April, it’s not long before they fade into the Texas sunset. The colorful view is thanks to Mother Nature, but with some help from Texans, including the Texas Department of Transportation, which scatters about 30,000 pounds of wildflower seed each year. In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Highway Beautification Act, and First Lady “Lady Bird” Johnson was extensively involved in the beautification of Texas highways. If you’re ever in Austin, be sure to check out the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Taking family, couple and even pet photos in the bluebonnets has become a popular Texas tradition. My husband Tyler and I drove to Chappell Hill a couple of years ago to take candid phone shots of our twins (then 18 months) in the bluebonnets. We stopped for lunch and made a fun day out of it. Last spring, we decided to hire professional photographer Nicole Pawloski to take photos in a bluebonnet patch in Houston when our twins were 3 and our daughter was 14 months. Although the patch was small, she amazed me with her ability to make it look like we were in Washington County (it’s all about the angle). I talked with some other Buzz parents who have taken family photos in the bluebonnets. Melissa and Callum Lawson, who moved to Houston from Australia in 2011, had their younger girls’ pictures taken in bluebonnets for their first birthdays (they were living in Australia when their oldest turned 1). “There is WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2019 22

COWBOY Josh White wore his namesake great-grandfather’s cowboy hat in his bluebonnet photo session.

just nothing sweeter than a baby surrounded by bluebonnets,” said Melissa. Grace is now 9, Lucy is 7, and Abigail is 4. Parents Abe and Shellie White also felt inspired, thanks to young children, to capture bluebonnet photos. “We had never [done them], but once we had Josh, I suddenly felt like it was

something that I wanted to do,” said Shellie. Mom-of-four Melissa Goodman wanted a Texas backdrop for her family photos, so she signed up for a “mommy-and-me” bluebonnet mini-photo session with Nicole two years ago. She said the shoot was a little challenging – twins Cade and Logan were 5 and (continued on page 24)

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2019 23

Nicole Ivey Photography

Nicole Ivey Photography Nicole Ivey Photography

FIELDS OF BLUE Pictured surrounded by bluebonnets are (top row, from left) Georgia McQueen, Abigail Lawson, Hadley and Logan Goodman, (middle) Lindsey Gordon, (bottom row, from left) Jonah Spelkin, Reese and Mila Lee, and Riley Call. (continued from page 22) daughter Hadley was 3 –

but she cherishes the photos now. “I just remember it was super windy, and my hair was flying everywhere.” They recently welcomed baby No. 4, Carter, and plan to take more this year. Mom-of-two Courtney Lundquist says it’s important to let kids be themselves during a photo session. “I’ve found that finding a photographer who rolls with the punches and lets kids be kids is the key to great bluebonnet photos,” she said. Mary and Ryan Lee also took their girls Reese and Mila for family photos in the bluebonnets. “We had just moved back to Houston from the WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2019 24

northeast, and I really wanted something truly Texan to have displayed in our new home,” she said. They taught their girls not to pick the flowers – a good reminder for all young Texans. If you drive west on 290, there are usually large bluebonnet patches right off the highway in Washington County, just before you hit Brenham, plus in Old Baylor Park where the ruins of the original Baylor University are, in the town of Independence, and at the Washingtonon-the-Brazos historic site along the Brazos River in Washington County. You don’t always have to take a road trip to find bluebonnets. Some places they usually

bloom in Houston are along Buffalo Bayou near downtown and the stretch that runs alongside T.C. Jester from West 34th Street to Ella Boulevard, White Oak Bayou (near Loop 610 and 18th Street), and areas near Memorial Park. If you’re heading out this spring, remember to teach kids not to pick the bluebonnets or stomp on them. It isn’t illegal to pick them, but it interrupts their blooming cycle for the next year. Of course, avoid taking photos next to busy roads or on private property. And once you get home, don’t forget to follow through on the printing and framing, so you can enjoy your most Texan of family memories forever.

TRAVEL

by Tracy L. Barnett, staff writer

Travel Buzz

Photographer explores wide world of rodeos

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2019 26

Bob Schwartz

s the city once again discovers its inner cowboy with the annual celebration of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, Travel Buzz decided to take a look beyond the fanfare. This month we take a deep dive into the very heart of rodeo – through the lens of Bob Schwartz, longtime oilman turned photographer, who has spent five years exploring different kinds of rodeos in Texas and Wyoming. Bob, who has been taking photos as long as he can remember, used to take his camera with him on business trips in the Far and Middle East. He has photographed subjects from Namibia to Cuba, but since his retirement, he’s been focusing on a subject closer to home. About five years ago he was taking a class with Peter Brown at Rice University, and Brown suggested he take on a project. On his way to the airport, he saw a billboard advertising a Mexican rodeo. An Oklahoma native, Bob moved to Texas in 1961 and had been to many rodeos, but never a Mexican one. He decided to check it out – and other kinds of rodeos, as well. Five years later, he and his camera have followed that billboard into an alternate rodeo universe. With the fencing of the American West and the industrialization of agriculture, cowboys had to find a new livelihood, and popularizing the competitive riding events that had grown up out on the range over the years was one way to do that. But the West being as segregated as the rest of the country, Hispanic, black and even Native American cowboys ended up developing their own rodeos, as Tracey Owens Patton and Sally Schedlock wrote in Gender, Whiteness and Power in Rodeo. Bob found that those intricate subcultures continue to this day. He also found other lively rodeo subcultures wherever he looked. All of them, he found, had several things in common: They exhibited extraordinary horsemanship, they were passionate about their sport, and they were wonderfully photogenic. “I’ve done youth rodeos, I’ve done black rodeos, I’ve done Hispanic rodeos – I’ve done rodeos that are every Friday night, kind of like the Friday night lights in football, but for rodeos – and it’s really been a lot of fun,” said Bob. “I enjoy the people – they are just wonderful people

CLEAN THROW A rider and his horse are a good team in a timed calf-roping contest at a small rodeo near Wharton. The rider has thrown the lariat, and the horse has begun to stop, which will pull the calf to a halt. The rider then jumps off and ties the calf’s legs.

to be around – and I’ve made a lot of friends.” He’s also made a lot of images. One of his favorites — of his friend, black cowboy Daryl Anderson of Egypt, Texas – was just accepted in a competition to be displayed in the Rice Brown Gallery for the upcoming year. “For people who want to go see something different, some of these small rodeos are really incredible,” he said. He discovered the website rodeosusa.com; within an easy drive of Houston, there are at least 15 small-town rodeos in March and April alone that are sanctioned – and that does not include many small-town, unsanctioned rodeos that don’t show up on the website. One that he shot recently was a roping event in a small, historically black town south of Houston called Kendleton, just past the town of

Wharton. The event was quite the occasion, with hundreds of people, a big barbecue and a fish fry. Bob knew that black cowboys are neither a new nor an unusual phenomenon, but he was surprised at the extent of the black rodeos that go on almost every weekend within a few hours’ drive of Houston. He learned more about the depth of the tradition when he read the story of Myrtis Dightman, the so-called “Jackie Robinson of rodeo,” in Texas Monthly. The story tells of how the son of an East Texas farmhand broke through the color barriers to be one of the best bullfighters who ever lived. But he was just one of a long line of black cowboys; back in the golden days of Charles Goodnight, Oliver Loving and the vast herds being driven across the

Bob Schwartz

CHARREADAS AND BRONCS At left: A rider at a charreada in San Antonio wears revolutionary-era dress, in the Mexican charra/charro style. In this event, she rides at full speed and then pulls her horse to a full stop at a marked spot. Speed and form count, as well as how well she centers the stop. At right: A professional rider competes in a saddle bronc event in a PRCA rodeo in Belton. Riders compete in sanctioned rodeos for prize money and the chance to ride in the National Finals in Las Vegas.

Southwest, an estimated one in four cowboys was black, according to historian Kenneth W. Porter. A sizeable number were Latinos and Native Americans, as well. Native Americans and Latinos developed their own rodeo circuits, as well. For MexicanAmericans, rodeo has been part of their tradition since the early days of the Spanish conquest. Rodeo traces its roots to the Spanish missions in the American West and the vaqueros, native people who joined the missions and learned to ride and rope and manage the Spanish herds. As settlers moved westward, they adopted many of the practices, the western wear and the terminology of the vaqueros – even the word “rodeo” comes from the Spanish word rodear, or surround – as in roundup. Bob’s first alternate rodeo immersion was into the world of the charreada, the Hispanic rodeo, still practiced in San Antonio and other Southwestern towns much as it has been in Mexico for generations. The Asociación de Charros de San Antonio, which is more than 67 years old, celebrates four major events each year, including a gala event that coincides with Fiesta San Antonio. “We sometimes forget the Mexicans learned to ride horses from the Spanish, and some of these horses and some of these riders are just incredible,” said Bob. “The women wear these incredibly beautiful embroidered dresses that are big and ruffled, and they wear these huge hats that flip up in the back.”

The charreada is different in several ways from what Bob jokingly refers to as the “gringo rodeo.” The traditional charro-style dress is one obvious difference; the participation of women is another. In typical American rodeos, he says, the women mainly participate in barrel racing, while in the charreada, the men and women face off in an event that Bob likens to “square dancing on horseback.” The shape of the arena is different, as well; unlike in the typical oval-shaped arena, the Mexican-style lienzo charro is shaped more like a banjo, with some of the events beginning in the “neck” of the banjo and making their way out into the circular ring. One of his favorite events is the charreada held in conjunction with Fiesta San Antonio (this year, the Day in Old Mexico Charreada will be held on April 21 and 28). “That’s worth seeing, when all the cream of Hispanic society shows up,” he mused. “It’s something to see, the getups – I just enjoy it. I think they’re neat people.” His most recent show, which was exclusively of Hispanic rodeos, was on display at the Cloister at Christ Church Cathedral, with another image in FotoFest. He also had two on display last year in the Brown Gallery at Rice, to be replaced by his Daryl Anderson photo this year. Bob’s rodeo rovings have taken him much further afield, as well. Last summer he did a road trip with a couple of buddies through the Texas Panhandle and Colorado all the way to Wyoming. A friend in the tiny town of Dubois, near Yellowstone National Park, got word of

Bob’s project and invited him up to photograph their local rodeo. Every Friday night, from the first of May to the first of October, there’s a rodeo – a combination of young kids and local riders who want to try their hand at it. It’s not a professional rodeo, but it’s good fun – and amazing in its own way, said Bob. “The lady who runs it, her daughter was competing, and she wanted to ride bulls – and so she did. They’ll let the kids go ride whatever they want, and the horsemanship is amazing,” he said. “These young kids grew up riding.” The event draws 400 to 500 people each week. “They sell barbecue and beer, and people wander around. There are a lot of dogs that are fun to photograph, and of course the young kids who are going to ride – and beautiful horses.” The rodeo life has been an eye-opener for Bob, who didn’t expect to find so much culture so close to home. He laughs when he thinks of the trepidation expressed by some who heard about his cultural incursions where often, he’s the only “gringo.” But more than that, it has moved him deeply to be accepted into their lives. “I just love these people – I love being around them,” he said. “I’ve seen how kids with nothing have carved out lives for themselves. And that’s what this country’s about.” Editor’s note: Buzz travel columnist Tracy L. Barnett is a Lowell Thomas travel journalism award winner and longtime travel and environmental writer. WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2019 27

FOOD by Mary Lee Wilkens, contributing writer

Cooking Buzz Crazy for crawfish Photo courtesy of the Junior League of Houston

Cooking Buzz is produced in partnership with the Junior League of Houston, a women’s charitable and education organization founded in 1925.

f you spend enough time in the Junior League Tea Room, you will see – in a chef’s coat – a Junior League institution. Michael “Chef Mike” Smith has been making Junior League of Houston favorites for over 23 years. His cheer and easygoing Louisiana demeanor make him a favorite with everyone. Here, we talk with Chef Mike about his favorite season – crawfish season – and share recipes for your own at-home boil. When did you learn to cook? My grandmother taught me to bake a cake from scratch when I was about 6 or 7. I was hooked. Tell us about your grandmother. Granny was a great lady. She lived in New Orleans and helped raise all of us. She cooked a huge feast for the whole family on Sundays in the summer. What were the favorite things she cooked for you? She made delicious smothered okra. Her pie was so good too. And great gumbo – usually with filé [sassafras powder] but sometimes okra. What were some of your favorite memories of growing up in New Orleans? Life was simple. If you wanted something, you made it. My older cousins and I would use scooping nets to get our own crawfish when I was 10 or 11. [We were] not able to run to the store to get everything like you can these days. How often do you get back to your home city? I try to go every Mardi Gras and maybe once a summer. What makes a great crawfish boil? Peak season is March, April, May and June. We usually cook about five to six sacks for 100 people. With the crawfish, you have to have corn, potatoes and andouille sausage. And Dos Equis beer. Beer just tastes better with spicy food. I like my crawfish pretty spicy, so I have to cut back on spice for guests. I invited all the League staff to my house for a big boil last year and definitely did cut back for them! WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2019 28

CHEF MIKE Chef Michael Smith has been making Junior League of Houston favorites for more than 23 years. A New Orleans transplant, Chef Mike’s favorite time of year is crawfish season.

Cooking for a hundred people? That’s a party! Oh, yes. That’s nothing in New Orleans. You’re in family mode and having a good time, so you’re happy to have anyone come.

South Texas Crawfish Boil From Stop and Smell the Rosemary 1 bottle ice-cold beer 5 pounds fresh crawfish 1¼ cups salt, plus more as needed 8 lemons, quartered 2 ribs celery, chopped 4 onions, quartered 4 heads garlic 6 bay leaves 3 to 4 sprigs fresh thyme 4 bags crab boil

1 to 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper 8 small red potatoes 3 ears corn, cut into thirds Pop the beer and have a drink to prepare for some fun. Cover crawfish with cold water and add salt. Purge 10 minutes, drain and rinse. Add more water and salt to crawfish, rinse and drain, until water is no longer muddy. Place 4 to 5 quarts cold water in a large soup pot. Add lemons, celery, onions, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, crab boil and cayenne pepper. Bring to a boil. Add potatoes. Boil 7 minutes. Add corn. Boil 3 minutes. Add crawfish and enough water to cover. Return to a boil. Cook 4 to 6 minutes depending on size of crawfish. (Crawfish will turn bright red when

Photo courtesy of the Junior League of Houston

CRAWFISH BOIL The peak season for crawfish is March-June. Chef Michael Smith suggests serving it with corn, potatoes, andouille sausage and beer.

done.) Drain. Discard bay leaves, thyme and crab boil bags. Pour crawfish and vegetables onto a table that has been covered with plastic and newspaper. Serve immediately. Have several rolls of paper towels handy, and be sure to try the onions and garlic! Serves 4.

Crawfish Pie Filling From Talk About Good! (The Junior League of Lafayette, Louisiana) 2 sticks margarine ½ cup flour 2 cloves garlic 1 onion, chopped 2 bunches shallots, chopped (keep tops separate and save) 1 green pepper, chopped 1 cup celery 3 Tablespoons tomato sauce 3 pounds crawfish tails (and fat) 2 Tablespoons cornstarch (optional) 1 bunch parsley, chopped

2 Pie crusts Salt, cayenne, black pepper to taste Melt margarine. Add flour, brown lightly. Add garlic, onions, shallots (bottoms), green pepper, celery and tomato sauce. Cover and fry about 1 hour. Stir frequently to keep from sticking. Add 3 cups water – “taree” (simmer) for several hours. If mixture thickens too much, add more water. Mixture should be creamy and thick when tails and fat are added. Add tails and fat. Cook 15 minutes or until tails are tender. If mixture thins after above step, thicken by adding 2 tablespoons of cornstarch mixed with water (consistency of cream). Add shallot tops and parsley. The mixture is now ready for the pie shell. (It may also be served over steaming rice for étouffée.) Pour filling over bottom pie crust. Cover with other pie crust. Cut slits in top. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 300 degrees and bake for another 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Serves 6.

Praline Cheesecake From Star of Texas 1 heaping cup graham cracker crumbs ½ cup butter, melted ¼ cup sugar 3 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, at room temperature 1¼ cups brown sugar 2 Tablespoons flour 3 eggs 1½ teaspoons vanilla ½ cup grated pecans Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine graham cracker crumbs, butter and sugar. Press into 8- or 9inch springform pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove crust, and reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees. In a large bowl, beat together cream cheese and brown sugar. Add flour. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Add vanilla. Pour into crust and top with pecans. Bake for 45 minutes. Turn off oven and allow cheesecake to remain in oven with door closed for 30 minutes. Cool and refrigerate for 2 hours before serving. Serves 10 to 12. WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2019 29

DINING

by Dai Huynh, staff writer

Blood Bros.

Find out about your favorite chefs in our Chef’s Corner column. This month, restaurant writer Dai Huynh interviews Quy Hoang, Terry Wong and Robin Wong of Blood Bros.

t was the Saturday before Super Bowl LIII. Outside Blood Bros. BBQ (5425 Bellaire Blvd.), the Pitmaker smoker brimmed with 10-pound briskets and billowed with pecan-andoak smoke. Quy Hoang, 46, the self-taught pit boss, checked two rows of perfectly lined blackened beef. His eyes, behind square-framed glasses, darted nervously. The combo of smoke and meat can be finicky, he explained. “I can have 10 briskets – all weighing 10 pounds – and they will all require different smoke times,” he said. The pitmaster didn’t want to keep the smoker’s door opened for long, not even for a photoshoot. For an action shot, the photographer suggested lifting a brisket with a fork. “No way,” Quy replied. It is this kind of precision that has turned a hobby for Quy and the Wong brothers, Terry, 45, and Robin, 44, into serious business and serious eating. The “blood brothers” – including partners Felix Florez of Black Hill Meats and Ryan Echiverri of NettBar – sold more than 200 pounds of black pepper-infused brisket, 40 split chickens and 30 racks of pork ribs on Super Bowl Sunday. Here, Hoang and the Wong brothers talk about their new restaurant in the Bellaire Triangle. Despite not having a restaurant, you guys have garnered a large loyal following over five years with sold-out barbecue pop-ups on weekends. Before opening Blood Bros. BBQ, what were your daytime jobs? Robin: My brother and I still have Glitter Karaoke bar (2621 Milam) in downtown. That’s how Quy started with us. We asked for his help when we started steak nights at Glitter. Quy had a successful high-end aquarium business with his uncle. He did that 30 years until we opened Blood Bros. You branched out from steaks to smoking barbecue at festivals and pop-ups at bars around town. You’re all self-taught cooks. Quy, you’re in charge of smoking the meats. Who oversees the side dishes? WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2019 30

Robin: I’m in charge of sides. We do a traditional slaw and potato salad. But we’ll have fun with the sides, too. We do a spin on my Aunt Nancy’s fried rice. It’s like a rice casserole with sour cream, mozzarella and green chilies. People love it. We also have a baconcrawfish mac and cheese. A lot of barbecue places will have great BLOOD BROS. After building a loyal following from weekend barbecue pop-ups, childhood friends Terry Wong, Quy Hoang and Robin Wong opened their first brickmeats, but they’ll and-mortar barbecue joint in the heart of Bellaire. open a can of favorite places? green beans for the sides. We didn’t want to do Terry: Oh man, there are so many. that, so we make everything here from scratch, Robin: You can’t go wrong with any of Mike including our pickles. Tran’s restaurants. He owns Tiger Den (9889 Quy, you immigrated to the United States from Bellaire Blvd.) and Mein. Vietnam in 1975. What about the Wong brothers? Terry: Mein (9630 Clarewood Drive), defiTerry: Robin and I were born in Houston. nitely. Some people will describe Blood Bros. as Asian Robin: You’re there every week. barbecue. But we try not to pigeon-hole ourselves. Terry: I know. Try the eggplant with garlic We call it Houston barbecue. We grew up with sauce and the Taiwanese lava toast if you go. Indians, Mexicans, Chinese, Koreans, The red oil dumplings are good, too, and the Vietnamese, and you’ll see aspects of that here and braised duck. Another favorite – it’s old school, there, but for the most part, our barbecue is seabut Mein does it well – is the salty fish patty. But soned with salt and pepper, like in Central Texas. be warned, not everybody likes it. It’s smelly. We heard about Blood Bros. from James BeardAnother place I like is One Dragon (9310 winning chef Chris Shepherd. He raved about your Bellaire Blvd). If you go, try the soup dumplings barbecue. for sure and the braised pork belly. They also Terry: You see these chairs? These are the have pan-fried bun. That’s the Chinese version original Underbelly chairs. Chris has been of Vietnamese banh bao. behind us from day one. Quy: Tan Tan (6816 Ranchester Drive) is Quy: We call it the Houston barbecue family. always solid. You must order the No. 1 – the We all support each other. It’s wonderful really. turnip with fried egg. It’s a tight-knit community. If I had a question, Terry: Oh yeah, you have to get that. I would call up Patrick Feges of Feges Barbecue (3, Greenway Plaza), and he wouldn’t hesitate Editor’s note: Buzz dining columnist Dai Huynh to give me pointers. It’s great to be a part of that. is a James Beard food-journalism award winner and You guys grew up exploring Houston’s longtime Houston-based restaurant writer. Chinatown. Can you recommend a few of your Tony Bullard

Chef’s Corner

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2019 31

SPORTS

by Todd Freed, staff writer

SportzBuzz T

he powerhouse St. John’s Mavericks wrestling team has added another impressive title to its championship resume. The Mavericks beat out the state’s premiere private school programs to win the 2019 Texas State Prep Dual Wrestling championship. “We’ve won several SPC titles, and two years ago also won our first individual state championship, so this championship really caps off a wrestling trifecta of sorts for our guys,” said Mavericks head coach Alan Paul. “I was really happy for the team.” The Mavericks boasted five wrestlers who went a perfect 5-0 in the dual meet, including a magnificent victory for senior Harrison Fernelius. In the championship finals, Fernelius upset Bishop Lynch’s Warren Walls, who is ranked seventh nationally in prep wrestling, to win the 220-pound weight division. “That had to be the highlight of the meet,” said Paul. “Harrison somehow fought off his back to pin the guy. It was a remarkable win.” Also going undefeated for St. John’s in the meet were sophomore Ken Matsunaga (106 pounds), junior Thomas Grannen (126 pounds), sophomore Sebastian Jimenez (138 pounds) and senior heavyweight Roman Lewis. In addition, sophomores Michael Daichman and Thomas Chang, as well as senior Malcolm Sturgis, secured key victories in the final duel of the day versus Bishop Lynch. “The boys really wanted to get this championship,” said Paul. “It was a huge victory for us.” With a 28-6 record late into the season, the St. Agnes Academy Tigers were again ranked among the state’s top private school girls’ basketball programs. Plus, the season took on added significance for Tigers head coach Jeff Hollinger, who secured his 300th career victory in the Tigers’ semi-final win during the Houston Christian Mustangs Classic. “The thing that’s most special for me about the 300 victories is that all of those wins have come in my 13 seasons at St. Agnes,” said Hollinger. “It’s just a great place to coach. The kids and parents are awesome. My assistant coach, Chelsea Bass, was a four-year letterman here before playing for Texas, while 2014 grad-

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2019 32

STATE CHAMPS The St. John’s School Mavericks claimed another state title by winning the 2019 Texas State Prep Dual Wrestling championship. The Mavericks have won several SPC titles, as well as a pair of individual state championships.

uate Michelle Nwokedi scored over 2,000 points at St. Agnes before playing at the University of Pennsylvania. A lot of great players have come through our program.” One day after Hollinger’s 300th career victory, Tigers senior Katie Dickerson scored her 1000th career point, doing so in the Tigers’ tournament championship victory over The Village School. A few weeks later, Dickerson’s twin sister Kelly scored her 1,000th career point. Tigers senior Madison Lucas reached the same scoring milestone two days later in a St. Agnes win over Beaumont Kelly, while Tigers senior Emily Nelson surpassed the 1,000-career points mark as a junior last season. “All four of those girls have been varsity players since they were freshmen, and to have all four of them reach that kind of scoring plateau is pretty incredible,” said Hollinger. The Stratford Spartans kicked off the girls’ soccer season in impressive fashion by winning their bracket in the prestigious I-10 Soccer Shootout. The Spartans defeated FB Austin, Morton Ranch and Foster to win the title. “It definitely was an exciting way to start the season,” said Spartans head coach Gena McGee. The Spartans then followed up their victory in the I-10 Shootout with a strong second-place finish in the Spring Branch ISD Girls Soccer

Tournament. The Spartans advanced to the championship final before falling to the defending 6A state champion Memorial Mustangs by a 1-0 final in the title game. “It was a fun game to watch and coach,” said McGee. “Both teams played well and had lots of scoring chances. Playing a great team like Memorial really motivates our girls to make a name for themselves. I feel like every time we play them our team puts every ounce of energy they have into the game.” As for the games so far this season, McGee says the Spartans’ offensive attack has been led by junior midfielder Ashton Kettler. “She’s definitely a dangerous player with the ball.” In addition, junior forward Allison Fuller was the Spartans’ leading scorer leading into district play. On defense, McGee had high praise for sophomore defender Ally Padron, as well as senior defenders Liv Green and Peyton Nichols. “We pretty much have girls who contribute across our entire lineup.” Editor’s note: Todd Freed is the Emmy Awardwinning co-host and producer of the KUBE SportsZone, which airs Saturday and Sunday at 6 p.m. on Channel 57-KUBE. To submit high school sports news for possible inclusion in SportzBuzz, please email todd@thebuzzmagazines.com.

Reduce your income taxes Reducing your income taxes may require a different approach than your current annual routine. That’s because the standard approach to filing a return – gathering mailed tax forms and other tax information, completing the accountant’s questionnaire, submitting the information to your accountant, and hoping for the best – limits your accountant’s ability to recognize your unique tax reduction opportunities. We have gained insight from working with our clients’ accountants, whom we often invite, along with their other advisors (attorney, investment advisor, insurance professional), to meet about a client’s wealth management needs. We find that a team of advisors with diverse backgrounds and areas of expertise produces a great brainstorming session for a client. Beneficial ideas for the client often emerge from this meeting. One of the first documents we present at such a meeting is the client’s net worth statement – a snapshot list of assets and liabilities summarizing the client’s total financial situation. Rarely do accountants have this comprehensive view of a client’s situation, so seeing this document, the client’s accountant often reacts as if they are meeting the client for the first time, even if they have been a client for years. As we review the document line-by-line and give context to the items on the statement, the accountant’s creative “light bulb” usually turns on and beneficial ideas start pouring out. To take advantage of this phenomenon with your accountant, we recommend these four steps: 1) Schedule an in-person appointment with your accountant – Pick

another time of year than Spring and Fall, which are particularly busy times for accountants as they work to meet filing deadlines. A teleconference will suffice if necessary. 2) Present a succinct, current and complete snapshot of your financial situation – A net worth statement is ideal. 3) Be prepared to tell the story behind the numbers – Remember: Your financial situation is unique. The items you mention can stimulate creative, taxreducing ideas from your accountant. 4) Repeat the process as often as recommended by your accountant. Of course, these steps are not guaranteed to reduce your taxes, but they give you the best shot at retaining more of your money. A less-obvious benefit is that your return will stand out amidst the sea of tax returns your accountant processes each year. You may receive special attention, which can also lead to beneficial ideas. Who knows? You may be fortunate enough to hit a tax reduction home run. James R. Waters, CFP®, PARTNERSINWEALTH, 3400 Bissonnet, Suite 145, Houston, Texas 77005, 713.964.4028, jrw@partnersinwealth.com, www.partnersinwealth.com

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2019 33

SPORTS

by Angie Frederickson, staff writer

SportzBuzz Jr. W

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

Court control The St. Anne Catholic School’s men’s varsity basketball team (top photo) finished the regular season with an 11-2 record and tied for first place in their division. Part of the Galveston-Houston Catholic Athletic Association, the St. Anne Shamrocks faced a tough season against teams from other Catholic schools in the area. Most of the boys have played together since second grade, and they have grown as a team over the years. At the end of the semester, the team is graduating several eighth graders who will be off to high school next year. The first-place Shamrocks are (top row, from left) Will Pilibosian, Jack Merrill, Nolan Hughes, Trey Robinson, Will Wachel and Arjun Chahal; (bottom row, from left) Joey Sigler, Trevor Lombard, Tripp Arnold, Graham Kenneally, Brandon Laughlin and Eduardo del Olmo.

Building up baseball Members of the St. Mark’s Episcopal School baseball team (middle photo) work with their coach, Jarred Cosart, to get ready for the spring season. Baseball is a relatively new program at St. Mark’s, with the inaugural team playing in the 2016 season. This school year, the team is full of enthusiastic fifth-eighth grade boys who are ready to take the field and face a competitive season. The faculty, staff and students at St. Mark’s are ready to cheer on the Lions (from left): Chase McGarr, Alex Taylor, Nicholas Swanston, Owen Lynch, Sam Kennett, Fletcher Dyke, David Chiu, Mason Chiu and Ethan Bradford. Not pictured: John Artlip, Trip Ducey, Andy Fuselier, Colsen Huthmacher, Max Kaase, Oscar Lipski, Davis Metz, Zach Paull and Kent Wolfe.

Shooting champs St. Vincent de Paul Catholic School’s seventh-grade boys’ basketball team (bottom photo) placed first in the Second Baptist School Tournament. The boys battled it out with teams from four other schools to win it all. Thomas D’Onofrio led the team in scoring and was named the tournament’s most valuable player, while James Ulm led the team in rebounds and was named to the all-star tournament team. The basketball champs are (top row, from left) coach Tony Gatlin, coach Trey Young and coach Ivory Young; (middle row, from left) Noa Clifford, Jake Wakil, Bennett Connelly, Burke Ramirez, James Ulm, Henry Maytum and coach Jonathan Lee; (front row, from left) Hayden Osborn, Ryan Cortez, Luke Visintine, Luke Tholany, Andrew Buettgen, Oxford Colley, Knox Vacek and Thomas D’Onofrio. 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 MARCH 2019 34

Mental capacity and estate planning Your gifts, wills, trusts, and powers of attorney may be set aside by creditors and unhappy heirs if you lacked sufficient mental capacity. If you were beyond knowing what you were doing, and the right person objects the right way, transfers and documents may be undone. All adults, including the elderly, are presumed to have capacity. However, the law protects you and your heirs by allowing interested persons to offer evidence to the contrary. The burden of proof falls on the party claiming insufficient capacity. A preponderance of the evidence is required, i.e., little more than a 50 percent certainty. A presumption of incapacity arises only by prior court order. Even then, legal incapacity does not automatically disqualify a person from signing documents or transferring property unless those powers were expressly transferred to a guardian. When a guardianship is granted, the burden of proof shifts to the ward to establish capacity. This is of little comfort to wards, but should assure everyone else that it is a rare case where the law bets against those of us who plan, no matter how late in the day. What is capacity? For contracts: sufficient mind and memory to understand the nature and consequences of your acts and the business you are transacting. In Texas, gifts, trusts, and powers of attorney require contractual capacity. For wills, lawyers refer to “testamentary capacity.” Experts differ whether testamentary capacity is less than contractual capacity or whether it’s really the same test just articulated differently. After all, giving away money now, when you still need it, is different than giving the same money away when you’re dead and gone. If the testamentary capacity

threshold is lower, it may be only because the stakes are lower. Few people contest plans that leave them an intestate share, i.e., what they would have received without a will. So-called unnatural dispositions, disinheriting a spouse or child, invite contests. There are many ways to minimize the risk of a challenge. Sign a will the same day as an annual physical, and have the physician note whether you are in good health, alert, and oriented. Sign the same will more than once, leaving contestants to establish incapacity on different days. Write gift checks to potential contestants. (Cash the check or contest the will? Doing both impeaches the contestant.) Add no-contest clauses, baited with modest bequests. The best defense to a capacity challenge remains planning sooner rather than later. We write wills and go to probate court. We offer no-obligation initial interviews for estate planning and administration, so it costs nothing to hear specific recommendations that suit your needs. 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

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2019 35

FRET NOT Sophia Swan, a freshman theater student at Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, found her instrument and her art in guitar.

KIDS by Sophia Swan, age 15

Buzz Kidz

Piano was a no, but guitar was a big yes

rowing up, my family was always listening to music. From classical to rock, I knew every genre and always wanted to listen and sing along. When I was around 9, my mom signed me up for piano lessons. I tried to tell her that I didn’t like the piano and couldn’t understand why she was forcing me to play. She said she wanted me to learn an instrument, and piano was the best way to start. But wasn’t there another instrument I could learn? Both of my parents agreed that I needed to learn piano before anything else, so I found a teacher and took weekly lessons. After two years of reluctant piano playing, I decided I didn’t want to learn anymore. My parents understood and let me stop lessons, but were hoping I’d try again later. Then, one day, my dad’s friend Patrick Cullen

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2019 36

came over, and brought a guitar with him. “It’s for you! I know you are going to do great things with this,” he said. I smiled with excitement. I’d always liked the idea of a guitar, although couldn’t imagine actually playing it. My parents were thrilled to see me excited and signed me up for lessons. Over the next year, my coach taught me to play riffs and songs, and I started to sing with my guitar. I’d been singing all my life, and finally I could produce my own accompaniment! I didn’t want to play in front of my friends until I was good, so I spent hours practicing Riptide by Vance Joy. My teacher was happy with my progress, and just a few days later I performed the song for my friends, parents, and Patrick. It’s been almost two years with my guitar. I love having an escape, a way to connect with my art.

The ability to produce any song or sound with just finger movements is incredible; there are no limits. So, thank you to my parents for instilling in me their love of music, and thank you to Patrick, for the guitar (of course) but also for inspiring me to learn and love this beautiful instrument. 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.

Don’t let asthma control you Susana came to us as a new patient last year for another opinion on her asthma. She was still experiencing asthma attacks in spite of using her maintenance inhalers daily. Overall, though, she thought her asthma was “pretty well controlled.” Asthma is a chronic condition manifest by wheezing, shortness of breath, cough and/or chest tightness. Some patients have all these symptoms; some just have one or two. Asthma can be mild, moderate or severe. But mild, moderate and severe asthma can all be controlled. Asthma control is defined by how often and how severe the symptoms are. To assess control, we ask five questions: 1) Have asthma symptoms kept you from getting as much done at home, school or work? 2) How often are you experiencing shortness of breath, wheeze, cough or chest tightness? 3) Are you waking up at night because of any asthma symptoms? 4) How often do you have to use your rescue inhaler (e.g., albuterol)? 5) How well do you think your asthma is controlled? Each question can be answered from 1 to 5, with 1 indicating poor control and 5 indicating complete control. When we add up the five answers, we get a total score ranging from 5 to 25. A score between 20 and 25 indicates good control. If your score is below 20, your asthma could be better managed. Many patients with asthma use Advair to prevent asthma symptoms. Advair was state of the art 15 years ago, but much better alternatives are now out. As Advair’s ingredients became generic, the name-brand drug’s price skyrocketed. It now retails for over $450. But a therapeutic alternative, AirDuo, has the

exact same ingredients and can be purchased for $51 at Walgreens using GoodRx. Big difference. For those whose symptoms aren’t adequately controlled on Advair, we have about 8 to 10 newer inhalers that work better. Sometimes, no combination of inhalers provides adequate relief. Fortunately, we also have five biologic injectables to help control asthma. These classes of medication neutralize either the allergic antibody or the allergic white blood cell, and have been shown to be very effective in patients with the most severe types of asthma. Although expensive, each company has very generous co-pay assistance to keep the out-of-pocket costs affordable. Susana’s initial asthma control score was 14, but is now consistently between 19 and 25. She now takes the stairs instead of the elevator, and no longer dreads having to walk across a parking lot to her car. If you feel your asthma is not controlled, we can help. No one nose allergies like we do.™ Note: Information contained in this article should not be considered a substitute for consultation with a board-certified allergist to address individual medical needs. David B. Engler, M.D., The Allergy Clinic, 7707 Fannin, Suite 100, Houston, Texas 77054, 713.797.0993, *1200 Binz, Suite 180, Houston, Texas 77004, 713.522.9911, www.allergyclinic.com, *Operating as Houston Allergy and Asthma Clinic

Watch Their Smiles Grow

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

WEST UNIVERSITY BUZZ MARCH 2019 37