Last spring, I attended a memorial for a friend and great storyteller, Gardner Parker. The service was packed with people, like me, who loved Gardner for his wit, wisdom, and gift for spinning a good yarn. There happened to be an empty seat beside me – but not for long. That’s how I met Jeff Steen. As it turns out, Jeff has a habit at gatherings like these: He finds someone he doesn’t know, sits beside them, and quietly inquires how they know the person being honored. In this case, that someone was me. By the end of our conversation, I realized Jeff had some great stories of his own. Lucky for us, Jeff agreed to let us share one of his favorites: the annual quest he and his brother undertake each year in search of Primavera – the first blush of mesquite green that signals spring’s arrival in Texas. It’s a tale full of humor, heart, and backroad wandering. You’ll find it in this issue, along with other Buzzworthy, springy stories. However you find the season – in the garden, kitchen, or on a back road – we hope the stories in these pages bring you a little taste of spring. joni@thebuzzmagazines.com
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Editor-in-Chief
Joni Hoffman
Publisher Michael Hoffman
Editor Jordan Magaziner Steinfeld
Editorial Assistant Mackenzie Malveaux
Design Manager John Duboise
Staff Writers Tracy L. Barnett
Sharon Albert Brier
Cindy Burnett
Andria Dilling
Angie Frederickson
Todd Freed
Cindy Gabriel
Cathy Gordon
Michelle Casas Groogan
Dai Huynh
Annie Blaylock McQueen
Jennifer Oakley
Ben Portnoy
Cheryl Ursin
Accounting & Contract Administrator Meena Dost
Account Managers Andrea Blitzer
Jo Rogers
On our cover: Dr. Wendy Badgwell, Margaret Henry, and freshly retired executive director Jenny Johnson founded childcare community Project One Day. Cover photo by Nikky LaWell, lawellphoto.com
I wanted to let you know how many people are reading your magazine. Since the article on my stroke awareness [Flying Colors: When an artist’s headache was a stroke by Cheryl Ursin] was published [originally in Feb. 2022 and in “From the Archives” in Feb. 2026], I have received numerous calls, texts, emails, and requests for personal meetings.
Two weeks ago, I met a woman visiting from New York whose brother suffered a stroke 18 months ago. This week, I met another woman after her neurosurgeon encouraged her to read the article – she called me soon after. Her 30-year-old daughter had a stroke caused by an aneurysm. None of these families even live in Houston.
I have been overwhelmed – in the best way. If sharing my experience helps even one person feel less alone, it means everything to me. I was so alone during my own recovery. The honesty and strength of the writing have given others something to hold onto – real hope grounded in truth.
Your article may save people. And for sure it has already helped several who are dealing with the catastrophic nightmare of strokes. There is little support for the psychological trauma for the survivor and the caregivers. Perhaps that’s why people have reached out to me – in 2022 and this month.
Thank you for telling the story so thoughtfully.
Karen Landrigan
Connecting with teen volunteers
I enjoyed the article about Helping Hearts Houston [Helping Hearts Houston: Mothers and daughters spreading kindness by Annie Blaylock McQueen, Feb. 2026], and immediately reached out about volunteering with Second Servings, which they will be doing in March! I can’t wait to welcome the teens, who will hopefully waste less food after seeing the severe community need, and witnessing how much food would ordinarily be going to waste.
Barbara Bronstein, Second Servings
Rumor Has It…
Just wanted to send along praise for the “Rumor Has It” column – you never know what Sharon Brier is going to write about, but you know it’s always going to be entertaining! In the February Buzz, the Hooves to Houston [by Cathy Gordon] and Puppy Love in An Empty Nest [by Andria Dilling] were particularly enjoyable reads.
Susan Rosenbaum
The power of Scouting
I really enjoyed reading the article about the Girl Scouts who have been friends their whole lives [Thirteen Years of Friendship: A Girl Scout Troop’s Senior-Year Adventure by Tracy L. Barnett, Dec. 2025]. We have five kids
and have been very involved in both Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, but there’s a new kid on the block. Boy Scouts has become Scouts USA, with both boy troops and girl troops.
I started summer camping with Girl Scout Troop 1314, based in Bellaire, five years ago, well after my kids aged out, because they needed a hand, and have been impressed with how adventurous and welcoming this troop is. We average nine camping trips a year, plus summer camp and high adventure programs for our scouts.
Through beascout.org, you can find our unit and apply, and you can always drop in to check us out. We have not only had lots of girls earning Eagle, but have had quite a few earning their Gold Awards. So if you want to make friends for life, like the young ladies in the article, I’d recommend scouting in any form that fits you best.
Shaun Cohn
Email us at mailbag@thebuzzmagazines.com. Or send to Mailbag, The Buzz Magazines, 5001 Bissonnet St., Suite 100, Bellaire, Texas 77401. Please include your name, address, phone number and email address for verification purposes. Letters or emails addressed to The Buzz Magazines become the property of the magazine, and it owns all rights to their use for publication. Addresses, phone numbers and email addresses will not be published. Letters are subject to editing for clarity and length. 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?
We are looking for residents for upcoming articles who:
• Have a high school senior in the Class of 2026 who would like to be part of our annual “Where Are They Headed?” feature. Deadline: April 24.
• Have unique summer traditions with family or friends.
• Have a milestone life event to share.
If this sounds like you or someone you know, please contact us at info@thebuzzmagazines.com or 713.668.4157, ext 102.
Inside This Issue
4 Editor’s Note
Mailbag: Letters from Readers
The Magic of Creativity: How do we tune in? by Cindy Gabriel
Where does creativity come from? And how do we foster it?
Project One Day: A childcare community with heart by Michelle Casas Groogan
Three Buzz-area moms founded Project One Day, a childcare community in which parents volunteer one day in the classroom alongside experienced educators in exchange for 50 hours per week of free childcare.
A New Leaf: Branch out and try something different by Ben Portnoy
Writer Ben Portnoy learns tree identification from master naturalist Jim McKee.
The Lighter Side of Pasta: Spring pastas for warmer days by Andria Dilling Light, springy, healthy(ish) pasta dishes.
From Our Archives: Ms. Lillian’s Legacy by Andria Dilling
Lillian Illig, founder and first president of the Tanglewood Garden Club, lives on in the plants still thriving in local gardens. This story was originally published in April 2016.
Special Advertising Section: Summer Camp Directory
Find a list of summer camps, including day camps and programs, plus overnight camps, for a variety of ages and interests.
Wedding Buzz: The Whatleys and the Folloders by Angie Frederickson
Katelyn Wallace and Morgan Whatley married on the island of Spetses in Greece; Zoe Kampf and Sean Folloder married in Houston, the weekend when our city was predicted to be hit with a major winter storm.
Rumor Has It by Sharon
Albert Brier
Meandering Toward Primavera
Two brothers, a pickup, and the annual hunt for spring by Cathy Gordon
Brothers Jennings and Jeff Steen undertake an annual quest for primavera – a meandering road trip in search of the first bloom of mesquite trees.
Buzz Reads by Cindy Burnett
Book reviewer Cindy Burnett recommends five recently or soon-to-be released titles.
Travel Buzz: Family Reunion by Tracy L. Barnett
A large family reunion in Germany was the centerpiece of a two-week journey through Europe for the Kimzey family.
SportzBuzz by Todd Freed
SportzBuzz Jr. by Annie Blaylock McQueen
Event Roundup by Jordan Magaziner Steinfeld
Springy April events around town.
Buzz Kidz: Helping our planet one step at a time by Rohan Sinha
Neighborhood Tails by Bindi Henry
Buzz About Town by Angie Frederickson
Back Porch: Crocs, Pajamas, and Athleisure by Andria Dilling
Travelers used to dress up before heading to the airport. These days, PJs are more prevalent.
by Cindy Gabriel, staff writer
The Magic of Creativity
How do we tune in?
Every month, I wonder what will appear on this blank screen. I am coming up with nothing. Nothing! It’s not necessarily a bad thing. Right now, it’s 7:16 a.m. My coffee is at my side. My head is in its float-state, not yet disturbed by thinking.
Paul McCartney says the song “Yesterday” literally fell out of his bed. I just woke up one morning and heard this tune, and I thought ‘what’s that’? He actually thought he must be remembering an old tune. But after playing it for the guys in the band and others, no one had heard it. So he decided to claim it.
He originally called it “Scrambled Eggs” probably because it was a first-in-the-morning thought. And while it’s a romantic heartbreak song for most of us, McCartney thinks it emerged from the loss of his mother at 14. He has always said “Let It Be” was about his mother, Mary, reassuring him in a dream after her death. Sleep and creativity is kind of a thing. Albert Einstein believed naps and sleep were key to his idea process. He was known for sleeping at least 10 hours a day.
Elizabeth Gilbert, author of memoir Eat, Pray, Love says I believe ideas are conscious entities outside of ourselves that do not come from us, but to us. Artists are sort of antennae who absorb ideas; that ideas swirl around the world; knocking on our doors and tapping on our shoulders looking for human collaboration. Gilbert is one of several artists who describe their creative processes in Season Two, Episode 3 of Webby-award winning podcast The Telepathy Tapes
Last month, I wrote about The Telepathy Tapes. Season One is about the apparent telepathic abilities of non-verbal autistic children. Season Two broadens the discussion to tackle questions raised by Season One.
In the same episode, nine-time Emmy Award winner Rick Rubin a record producer, said art is a combination of internal and external collaboration. It’s like a download and all the material we work with comes from outside of ourselves. We participate but it doesn’t start with us… The best artists seem to have an antenna that is open to whatever the universe wanted us to know now in this moment in time.
Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Tom Waits, as
related in The Telepathy Tapes, tells a story of hearing a song while sitting in traffic and telling the song to go bother Leonard Cohen. Even a good joke seems to put itself out there. And while it’s easy for comedians to steal material from each other, comic writers know that great jokes have a way of floating around until they are found. Carl Jung called this the collective unconscious.
Liz Feldman, creator of the hit series Dead to Me, has experienced this. More often than not, when I see an idea that I don’t pursue, I see it pop up somewhere else. Even sometimes when I do pursue it, I see it pop up somewhere else. Rubin agrees. It happens all the time. The information comes in and it’s magic. But it doesn’t start from us.
Similar stories happen in the world of invention. On Valentine’s Day in 1876, Alexander Graham Bell filed for a patent for the telephone. That same day, so did Elisha Gray. Bell was a few hours earlier so the patent went to him. And while the Wright Brothers were the first credited with air flight, similar efforts were underway around the world, at the same time.
But this does not mean creativity is just for the exceptional. The Telepathy Tapes also interviewed Martha Beck, author of the bestselling Beyond Anxiety, who makes a case that creativity
is an antidote to human anxiety.
We’ve known for a long time that anxiety shuts down creativity, but I believe it’s also true that creativity shuts down anxiety… When we choose creativity and…abandon our anxiety, we not only start making things that the world has never seen before we also start to overlap with the parts of the world...that experience mystical states. This doesn’t mean we all need to go out tomorrow and paint the Mona Lisa. Beck says the smaller the better. She says this includes piddling in your garden.
Beck says she laughs when she is introduced as a bestselling author. She says she wrote Beyond Anxiety to help herself with her own anxiety.
Rick Rubin says something I have intuitively felt: The best art doesn’t come by trying to please an audience. I’m not making it for them. I’m making it for me. And it turns out that when you make something truly for yourself, you are doing the best thing you possibly can for the audience. What if this is the tip of the iceberg? What’s if there is a 2.0 version of each of us just waiting to be tapped? Feeling anxious? Create. You can’t do both at the same time.
There. I feel better already. Now I’m hungry for scrambled eggs. Then maybe I’ll piddle with the patio plants before my nap.
THE MUSIC OF THE SPHERES Writer Cindy Gabriel’s Texas Hill Country neighbors Brent and Jan Larsen wake up to a balcony view of a new creation every morning.
by Michelle Casas Groogan, staff writer
Project One Day
A childcare community with heart
Over a decade ago, three Southgate moms – Jenny Johnson, Margaret Henry, and Wendy Badgwell – met while walking their children to school at Roberts Elementary. Little did they know it at the time, but the long-lasting bonds formed during those days of parenting their young children also turned into an ongoing crusade to help lowincome families transform their lives.
Jenny, a former attorney ad litem in Child Protective Services (CPS) court, had stopped practicing to raise her kids, Henry, now 23, Jude, 20, and Jane, 18. About seven years ago, she experienced a compelling desire to give back. Re-engaging with the professional world meant spending many days watching and listening to the gut-wrenching traumas of CPS court – this time not as staff but as an observer.
“I was seeing that the cases fell into two categories. They fell into a drugs category, but the core issue of most cases was childcare,” said Jenny. “When it got down to it, these moms didn’t have a safe place to leave their child so they could go to work.”
Driven by a passion for children and a heartfelt determination to address a systemic problem, she set out on a journey that would lead to the creation of Project One Day (POD) – a mission that has been changing lives the last seven years. The concept is simple: Parents volunteer one day a week in the classroom alongside experienced lead educators and, in return, they receive 50 hours per week of high quality, Christ-centered childcare – absolutely free. In order to be accepted, parents must complete 30 hours of online early childhood courses through the Childcare Education Institute, training which POD covers. Once enrolled, parents must be working at least 25 hours per week or be in school.
Jenny, who had never run a childcare community much less a nonprofit, visited dozens of daycare facilities and churches. Her exhaustive research included reading, cover to cover, the 250-page law, Minimum Standards for Child-Care Centers, eventually coalescing into the one-day parent-volunteer model doodled on a sheet of paper.
“By inviting parents into the classroom –equipping them, empowering them, and walking alongside them, we lower the cost of the program
while also strengthening relationships and creating a more nurturing environment,” said Jenny.
“You see the good that could be done and then you see the mess. And you see this chasm between those two spaces with these gorgeous daycares – a lot of them are sitting in churches and their tuitions are like $18-$20 thousand per year,” explained Jenny. “It’s because they want to provide good care and the truth is they’re not ripping peo-
The concept is simple: Parents volunteer one day a week in the classroom alongside experienced lead educators and, in return, they receive 50 hours per week of high quality, Christcentered childcare –absolutely free.
ple off; that is what it costs to provide good care.”
“When Jenny had this idea about free childcare, even at its inception stage, we were all on board to help fund it,” said Margaret Henry, current board president of Project One Day and mother of three kids who are now 18, 16, and 12.
A few years of relentless fundraising and the slow work of building a board of directors cul-
minated in May of 2021, when the pilot project opened its doors to children ages 0-3 in a small rental home in Houston’s Fifth Ward.
“We had 10 children and 10 moms, and it was basically to see if this concept will work before we invested a bunch of upfront money to either buy or renovate a long-term place,” said Margaret. “We put some sweat equity into painting it and turned it into a reasonable place and put the model to work.”
They spent the next four years ironing out every kink and pouring their hearts into building the program they believed in. In July 2025, they were ready to expand and found a church in the Sharpstown area, Sharpstown Baptist Church, which offered them a building that housed old classrooms. It needed a lot of work, but it is rent-free for five years, so they got busy transforming the place.
The state’s childcare regulation agency approved a maximum of 74 kids, but the POD board set the maximum at 38 kids to keep the staffto-child ratio low and the quality high. They spend $9,000 per child, which is equivalent and comparable to a private program charging $18,000.
“Eighty percent of the brain is developed by age 3,” said Wendy, who has been a pediatrician for more than 20 years and has been with VIP Pediatrics since 2014. “I have dedicated my career to the health and well-being of children. I naturally was drawn to this cause, as it is essential for children to have safe, loving, nurturing childcare during the critical years of brain growth. The smiles on the children’s faces are proof that those that have lived in less fortunate situations can thrive.”
Wendy has served on the board the past six years and has just finished her term as vice president. She will continue work on the scholarship audit committee and
(continued on page 14)
CREATING A CHILDCARE COMMUNITY
Project One Day is a childcare community in which parents volunteer one day in the classroom alongside experienced educators in exchange for 50 hours per week of free childcare. Pictured are board of directors (back row, from left) Brian Jurkash, Peter Wilson, Dr. Suzi Kyle; (front row, from left) Evelyn Smith, Jenny Johnson, Benigna Leiss, Dr. Wendy Badgwell, and Margaret Henry. Not pictured: Chris Herbold.
A WHOLE LOT OF HEART Top left: Project One Day (POD) keeps the staff-to-student ratio low, so children get individual attention and reading time. Top right: POD is for children ages 0-3. Bottom left: Jack Badgwell (pictured, middle), along with fellow Scouts, Jonathan and Andrew Marsack, helped complete Jack’s Eagle Scout project at Project One Day. They rebuilt rotting garden boxes and planted vegetable and herb seeds along with some kid-friendly flowers that can be used for school crafts. Bottom right: POD teachers are all about hands-on learning. Pictured (standing, from left) Jessica Durant, Vantonia Johnson, Johanna Villafane, Tameka Sonnier; (kneeling, from left) Michelle Ramirez, Julie Lopez, Valerie Fontenot, and Savannah Carter.
(continued from page 12)
serve as an advisory board member. It’s a project her whole family has been part of; her 19-year-old daughter, 17-yearold son, and 7th-grade daughter have also volunteered. Her son, along with some of his fellow Eagle Scouts, built the flowerbeds in the garden.
The new childcare community opened a little over a year ago. The moment you step through the secured entrance you are surrounded by a tidy, pristine, light-filled space infused with care and compassion. It’s a place where cleanliness reflects intention, and every detail quietly communicates love for the families who grow here, even including the careful selection of openended toys organized on shelves – they don’t make noise; they only encourage creativity.
Maria Sotomayor is a working mom in the program; she says her 3-year-old son, Matthew, is thriving.
“I drive 50 minutes one way to bring my son. With the traffic it can take up to 2-3 hours round trip. But it’s worth it to have my son in this place,” said Maria, who works part-time as a community health worker while also taking a full load of classes at the University of HoustonDowntown. “It gives me so much peace of mind knowing that my child is going to be taken care of. When he started last year, he only had two or
three words and now he can have conversations and says words that I don’t know like ‘excavator.’”
“For a lot of families, it really is this unbreakable cycle,” said Margaret, who is serving her first year as board president. “If you don't have those brain connections made, you are never going to have enough executive function to finish high school and for sure not go to college, which means you're always going to have minimum wage, which means you're always going to be stuck.”
“There were hard days of changing diapers and hauling trash and being scared of stray dogs,” said Jenny. “This has been really hard, and truly a leap of faith. There have been days I have wanted to quit and lots of frustration (dealing with the government) but then God shows up with an anonymous check in the mail. And, of course, the smiles on the children give us hope to go on.”
After a passionate decade shaping Project One Day, Jenny is now transitioning into a new role as board member emeritus, while a new executive director guides the organization’s next chapter. Jenny Jones stepped into that leadership role in February.
Pediatrician Dr. Suzanne Kyle will take on Wendy’s position as vice president of the board. This Bellaire mother of two sons at Strake Jesuit College Preparatory is passionate about early
identification and intervention of autism in young children. She has 15 years experience in the field and has spent 12 of those years at Texas Children’s Pediatrics in the Heights. “I learned about Project One Day through my church,” said Suzanne, who explained that while it happens to be the same church that Jenny goes to, the two didn’t previously know each other. “I reached out to her once I learned about it and I volunteered to do developmental evaluations on children that seemed to have delays. Our goal is to identify interventions that can be used in the classroom that will help get them caught up to other students. When they asked me to join the board, it seemed like a great opportunity to pursue my passion for early childhood development.”
Those first babies and toddlers in the pilot project are now thriving in kindergarten – everyone involved with Project One Day believes that when children are given the opportunity to have resources poured into their growth, the trajectory can be changed for a lifetime.
POD offers volunteer opportunities for anyone in the community every second Saturday of the month. Volunteers can help with a range of projects from gardening, to repairing toys, assembling furniture or painting. To learn more about Project One Day, see www.projectoneday.org.
by Ben Portnoy, staff writer
A New Leaf
When I was growing up in Cincinnati, Ohio, I was an active member of Boy Scout Troop 96. While working on a merit badge, I assembled an album of pressed leaves from almost 100 different trees. At a glance, I could identify that a tree was a pawpaw, a box elder, or a black oak. Of course, I couldn’t do that in the winter after the leaves had fallen off. But as time passed, trees faded away in my mind. I was in my late 20s when I found myself in Houston. Trees? Well, they were different.
It may not seem odd to you native Texans, but to someone from Ohio, it is shocking to see so many trees in the winter that do not lose their leaves. I guess it should come as no surprise, but there are trees here that do not grow in Ohio.
One Saturday morning a couple of years ago, I went to the Nature Discovery Center in Bellaire to participate in one of Jim McKee’s Tree Identification Walks. For an hour, I walked along as Jim pointed out that a Cherry Laurel leaf smelled like chocolate cherry if crushed and a camphor tree leaf smelled like, well, you know, camphor. There were weird-sounding tree names like Gum bumelia or Arrowwood viburnum, and common ones like water oak. But wait a minute, why are the leaves of water oak not pointed like the oak trees I knew from Ohio? Jim revealed these secrets over a few Saturday morning strolls through the center.
Jim is not a native Texan, either. He grew up in Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia. He spent plenty of time there walking through the woods near his house. He moved around, spending four years in the Marines, some of that time in Okinawa. He lived in several places but finally moved to Texas almost 50 years ago. Jim has worked at various jobs, for the longest time as an insurance salesman. In recent years, he works a bit driving people who need transportation to medical visits, shopping excursions, or the airport.
In the 1990s, he started volunteering at the Houston Arboretum, and after some years he took the training course to become a master naturalist. The Texas Master Naturalist program states its mission to be “to develop a corps of well-informed volunteers to provide education, outreach, and service dedicated to the beneficial management
of natural resources and natural areas within their communities for the State of Texas.”
Jim is clearly a master volunteer. In early January, I spent another hour on his tree identification walk. There were two families with five young children on the walk, plus about six or seven adults. It was one of those harsh Houston winter days with the sun shining at 10 a.m. and the temperature at 70 degrees. After Jim demonstrated the unusual odor of a crushed Cherry Laurel leaf, the kids clearly learned to identify that tree. Later in the tour, I saw two young boys pick leaves off a tree, crush the leaf and smell it, then slyly nod to each other that they had correctly identified a Cherry Laurel.
The park has several different oaks, and Jim taught that all oaks produce acorns. One bouncy little girl promptly picked up an acorn, showed it to her father, then smiled at her achievement.
Since it was winter, some trees were bare or practically bare. Jim pointed out the different appearances of bark on various trees that grew along the side of the park that borders Newcastle. There is a line of large trees that have grown quite close to each other. Who would have planted trees so close to each other? Jim explained that birds that perched on the telephone wires above have dropped seeds under the wires, creating this unusual line of trees. One trunk had no bark. What was that? I wondered for a second before Jim informed the group that it was a telephone pole.
My favorite of the day was the Anacua. Jim showed us how the leaves were very much like sandpaper, giving the tree its common name, “sandpaper tree.” You sure don’t find these in Ohio. I know. You could go through life without knowing a maple from an oak and lead a perfectly valid existence. What’s the difference whether you can identify a tree or not? The difference, I believe, is to enjoy the richness and variety that nature has to offer us. If that’s the case, then go ahead and spend an hour with Jim McKee the first Saturday of the month at the Nature Discovery Center. You won’t regret it. Nature Discovery Center is located at 7112 Newcastle St. in Bellaire. See the Events page at naturediscoverycenter.org for upcoming events, including Jim McKee’s free Tree ID Walks.
ROOTED IN NATURE Master naturalist Jim McKee teaches writer Ben Portnoy some leaf identification at Nature Discovery Center.
by Andria Dilling, staff writer
The Lighter Side of Pasta
Spring pastas for warmer days
Just as it’s hard to dress for weather that is still shifting, not settled firmly in warm but also not blustery, it can be a challenge to cook: Should we be making a hearty baked pasta or a springy asparagus salad?
Spring pastas might be the perfect answer to what to make for dinner in the liminal days between drizzly and warm. We haven’t quite made it into salad days, but fresh, vibrant herbs and veggies stay grounded when they’re served in tandem with pillowy gnocchi and chewy noodles. Here are a few easy and healthy(ish) springboard ideas for pastas on the lighter side. Use them to spark your own creativity using your favorite spring veggies and herbs.
Spring Pasta with Peas and Herbs
This pasta is about as simple and springy as it gets. Light but full of flavor thanks to lots of herbs, it is a go-to that is as pretty as it is delicious.
1 pound orecchiette (or another shaped pasta)
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups fresh or frozen peas
¼ cup chopped Italian parsley
¼ cup chopped fresh mint
¼ cup chopped chives
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)
¾ cup grated parmesan
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and season with a tablespoon of kosher salt. Add the pasta and cook for 8 minutes. Drain, reserving ½ cup of the pasta cooking water. Toss the pasta in a large bowl with 1 tablespoon olive oil, and set aside.
Meanwhile, warm 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, stirring, about 1 minute. Add the peas, parsley, mint, chives, thyme, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper, if using, and stir. Cook for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the pasta, ½ cup pasta cooking water, and parmesan. Return the pasta to the bowl and serve with more grated parmesan. Makes 6.
Gnocchi with Asparagus and Leeks
Packaged gnocchi was my savior when my kids were little. Shelfstable and quick-cooking (like 2 minutes), and just the right amount to serve two children and a babysitter, the little potato dumplings could be topped with marinara from a jar, olive oil and parmesan, or pretty much whatever struck a fancy. Here we refine things a bit with leeks, asparagus, ricotta, and lemon, turning a package situation into a sitdown-and-enjoy weeknight treat.
delicious just after they’re tossed with peanut dressing, Thai basil, and toasty sesame seeds, the noodles are even better after having rested in the fridge for a few hours – or even days. Dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow, check.
2 18-ounce packages gnocchi
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1inch pieces
2 leeks, white parts only, sliced
½ teaspoon kosher salt
Several grinds pepper
¼ cup chicken broth
1 cup ricotta
Zest from 1 lemon
Cook the gnocchi according to package directions and set aside.
Warm the olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add the asparagus, leeks, salt, and pepper, and stir. Cook for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to soften. Add the chicken broth and cook for another 2 minutes until the leeks are soft and the asparagus is crisp-tender. Turn off the heat and stir in the cooked gnocchi. Gently stir in the ricotta and lemon zest. Serve warm. Makes 6.
Sesame Noodles with Chicken and Thai Basil
A time-saving rotisserie chicken is your best friend when you need to get a protein-packed dinner on the table in a flash. The bonus in this recipe for sesame noodles is that, while they are
1/2 cup peanut butter
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 ½ tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
2 teaspoons honey
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
½ tablespoon grated garlic (about 1 medium clove)
2 teaspoons chili paste
2 tablespoons sesame oil
8 ounces long noodles (such as ramen, udon, spaghetti…whatever you like), cooked according to the package directions and drained
Whisk the peanut butter, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and lime juice together until smooth. Whisk in the honey. Stir in the ginger, garlic, chili paste, and sesame oil. Set aside.
Place the noodles in a large bowl. Use two forks or your clean hands to toss them with the coleslaw mix, Thai basil, green onions, and sesame seeds. Pour the peanut sauce over the noodles and toss gently
FRESH AND BRIGHT Spring Pasta with Peas and Herbs is easy, quick, and light.
Andria
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with the chicken. Serve topped with chopped peanuts. Makes 8.
*To toast sesame seeds, place them in a skillet over medium heat. Toast for about 5 minutes, shaking frequently, until the sesame seeds turn golden in spots. They will go from toasty to burned very quickly, so watch closely.
David Tanis’ Spring Chicken with Mushrooms and Lemon
Here is a delicious chicken and noodles dish that walks the line between warm and filling and springy and light. You could call NYT Cooking columnist and cookbook author David Tanis’ Spring Chicken with Mushrooms and Lemon a lightened-up, brighter version of beef stroganoff, only using chicken. Leeks (which I subbed in for David’s shallots), bunches of herbs, and peas bring the spring. White wine and crème fraiche make a tangy, barely acidic sauce that is hefty but not heavy.
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided, plus more as needed
1 pound cremini mushrooms, sliced
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
2 sprigs thyme, plus 1 tablespoon chopped thyme leaves
1½ pounds boneless, skinless breasts, cut into
½-inch pieces
¼ cup flour
3 leeks, white part only, sliced thin
1 bay leaf
½ cup dry white wine
2 cups chicken broth
12 ounces wide egg noodles or wide-cut pasta, for serving
¼ cup crème fraiche
1 cup frozen peas
2 tablespoons snipped chives
2 tablespoons roughly chopped dill
1 tablespoon roughly chopped mint
3 tablespoons roughly chopped parsley
Zest of 1 lemon
In a large skillet, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium-high heat. When the butter sizzles, add the mushrooms, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper, and 2 sprigs of thyme. Stir, then let the mushrooms brown for about 3 to 4 minutes. Stir again and brown for another 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer the mushrooms to a bowl, and set aside.
Stir the flour, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper together in a small bowl. Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture,
shaking off any excess flour. Add 2 tablespoons butter to the same skillet and turn the heat to medium. When the butter sizzles, add half of the chicken, letting it brown on all sides, about 5 minutes per batch. Remove to a plate, and add the remaining chicken and repeat. Set the chicken aside.
Melt the remaining 1 tablespoon butter in the skillet over medium heat. Add the leeks and cook until they are soft, 3 to 5 minutes, stirring often. Add the bay leaf and the wine, and simmer for about 2 minutes, scraping the skillet to deglaze any browned bits.
Return the chicken to the skillet and turn the heat to high. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium, and simmer until the chicken is tender and the sauce is reduced, about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook the noodles in salted water according to the package directions.
Add the reserved mushrooms, crème fraiche, and peas. Cook over medium heat until the sauce has thickened, about 3 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Stir in half of the chopped thyme, chives, dill, mint, parsley, and lemon zest.
Serve the chicken over the noodles, and sprinkle the remaining herbs over top. Makes 4.
CELEBRATE THE SEASON Pasta lightens up for spring with help from veggies and herbs. Clockwise, from left: Gnocchi with Asparagus and Leeks, Sesame Noodles with Chicken and Thai Basil, and David Tanis' Spring Chicken with Mushrooms and Lemon all make use of seasonal produce.
Andria
Andria Dilling
by Cathy Gordon, staff writer
Meandering Toward Primavera
Two brothers, a pickup, and the annual hunt for spring
It begins with a decision that is both simple and strangely momentous.
Left or right?
Each year, usually in late February, Jeff Steen and his brother Jennings ease their pickup to a crawl at the cattle guard outside the family homestead northwest of Cuero and debate, gently and without much evidence, which direction to go.
Somewhere in Texas, mesquite trees are starting to bloom, a faint wash of chartreuse. The Steen brothers’ annual quest seeks to find the line where that color begins – the first green seam of mesquite, marking spring’s advance across the state.
There’s no map for it, no scientific formula to find it. Just a guess, a couple of grins, and the great Texas permission slip to meander.
Direction decided, the wheels turn. And just like that, their hunt for spring – The Search for Primavera – begins the same way it does every year. Jennings drives. Jeff rides shotgun with two essential tools: a legal pad for documenting every observance and thought that wanders through his head, and the Texas Atlas & Gazetteer, a full-color behemoth of maps that contains every road, trail, creek, elevation contour – and quite possibly cow path – in the state.
Yep, pretty much everything. Except where spring is.
Off they go. Sticking primarily to back roads. Two brothers, born a decade apart, meandering into another Texas spring and whatever the road decides to show them.
In a departure from the norm, this year they took off Feb. 23 from Jeff’s lake house on Lake McQueeney near Seguin, taking a westerly track that found spring three days later in northeast Hildalgo County, near Linn, Texas. During the 20 years they’ve done the search, this one was wild for its temperature range, say the two. It was 42 degrees the morning they started out, reaching 101 at its hottest in the Rio Grande Valley.
“I mean, in February? I don’t recall it being over 100, ever!” says Jeff of past treks. “Stuff was just begging for moisture. Powder-dry everywhere. Fruit falling off the trees.”
The trail that led Jeff and Jennings to their own search for primavera is a circuitous one. It
could be said that it started way back in 1972 with a knock on the door of the Steen home in Cuero. The visitor was artist Buck Schiwetz, one of the state’s best-known artists, who was curious to see who lived in his childhood home.
Jeff’s mother, Sharon Steen, famous for never
meeting a stranger, invited him in. “My mother adopted people the way people adopt pets,” cracks Jeff. From that day forward, Buck became a part of the Steen household, living with them till his death in 1984. And with him came a parade of colorful characters who passed through. Among
STEEN SPRING SEEKERS Brothers Jennings (left) and Jeff Steen (right) typically launch each year’s search for the first green mesquite seam of Texas spring – the Search for Primavera – from their family homestead northwest of Cuero.
them, legendary newspaper columnist Leon Hale. The original Texas spring-hunter.
For more than 20 years, Hale and friend Charles Eugene “Gene” Morgan Jr. – Old Friend Morgan as Hale called him – embarked on their Search for Primavera. The green shoots of the mesquite tree were their bellwether. The sign that the danger of frost had passed.
“I was talking to my dad about it early on, long before me and Jennings started doing it, telling him how much I loved Leon’s search for spring and that he took a good friend Gene Morgan along. Dad says, ‘Oh yeah, Gene.’ I’m like ‘Wait… you know his friend Gene?’ Dad says, ‘Yeah, he lived in your grandparents’ house. He was their boarder upstairs when he came to Cuero.’ Gives me goosebumps still thinking about that.”
Jeff recalls a certain phone call with Hale.
“When Gene died, Leon did the search for a couple of years. But due to his age and loss of his buddy, he announced he wasn’t going to do it again. So, I called him and said, ‘Listen, please don’t stop. Everyone loves the story. Keep it going. We can drive. Just keep it going.’ But Leon said he was tired and didn’t want to do it anymore without Gene.”
If Jeff wanted to pursue it, he had his blessing.
“I called my brother and said, ‘We’re going to do this.’”
The Steen brothers have been meandering ever since.
In the brother’s early years, they approached the search with something close to scientific zeal, Jeff says, documenting trees and buds in detail. But somewhere along the miles, they found their rhythm: The real discovery wasn’t the line of green itself, but the wandering – and all the strange, wonderful stops the road had in store.
“The story is really two friends – in this case, me and my brother – who don’t know where we’re going, where we’re going to end up laying our head that night, and the wanderlust of all of that,” explains Jeff, 67, an attorney by trade who, among other accolades, argued before the U.S. Supreme Court and the Supreme Court of Singapore during his more than 33 years in leadership roles in the energy business.
“I think the most important thing is not that we’re going to find springtime. It’s very simply the journey itself,” agrees Jennings, 58, of Austin, partner in one of the country’s largest cattle trading companies. Lots of cattle talk on speaker phone on these trips. “It’s when the earth comes back to life after winter. That’s very cool and regenerative and making this journey is a parable for what life is. You’d better take stock in that journey.”
The accomplished pair love adventure. And the fun doesn’t end when they roll back home. Upon return, Jeff lets thoughts percolate then writes up the journey as a roadside memoir, full of wit, wonder, and fun absurdities. His missive about meandering is an annual must-read for fans. He sends the dispatch the old-fashioned way – not via social media, not on a blog – but
straight to email inboxes where a loyal and everwidening circle of readers eagerly await the tale.
“Let me tell you, when you play six degrees of separation with Jeff Steen, you’re going to get it down to three degrees because of his connections. It’s unbelievable the network that man has, all who can’t wait to read that thing,” says the Steen brothers’ friend Porter Garner, a rabid Search for Primavera fan who says he’s known the pair “since the earth cooled.”
Garner and the brothers have college ties, attending Texas A&M University back in the day. That bond has only strengthened. For the past 27 years, Garner has served as the university’s CEO and president of The Association of Former Students, a post he will retire from this December. Jeff is now serving his eighth and final year as a director on the association’s board and was its chair last year.
Friends lavish the traveling pair with gate codes, offering their ranches for overnight
respite. But the brothers rarely take up the offers because they don’t know where they’ll be when the sun goes down.
Garner, sitting in a meeting one day, looked down to see his phone buzzing with an alert from Jeff. “He got into my ranch outside of Encinal and he’s sending me this set of pictures and video around my house and the ranch. I didn’t even know they were in the vicinity! I thought they were further north.”
A few years back, the three did sync up at his south Texas ranch, dining together with Garner’s guests. “It’s one of the favorite nights at the ranch I can remember. Jeff’s an excellent storyteller and writer. So entertaining. The two kept my guests fascinated with their stories.”
“People know Jeff for a lot of reasons,” says Tanglewood resident James Boynton. Boynton, a plastic surgeon, bonded with Jeff over their shared love of art. “Those brothers are adventurers. I’ve sent Jeff’s email
(continued on page 24)
BACK ROAD PAIR Top: Jennings drives while Jeff rides shotgun, consulting his trusty Texas Atlas & Gazetteer as they meander down back roads in search of spring. Bottom: Jeff (left) and Jennings (right) sit a spell on the porch of an old, abandoned homestead at the family’s ranch in Westhoff, near Cuero.
(continued from page 23)
about their search to so many people. It’s very Texas. It’s tradition. It’s so neat because it hits at the right time when people are coming out of the gloominess of winter and looking for those signs. And their knowledge of the land… well, that’s such a cool thing.”
“You know, even though I was there for all of it, I can’t wait to read what he writes every year,” says Jennings, referred to as “Brother Jennings” in Jeff’s travel chronicles.
“Many people over the years have asked if he was a man of the cloth,” Jeff says, with a chuckle.
“Obviously, they haven’t met me,” Jennings deadpans.
The road supplies its own cast of characters.
There was a man selling his mom’s homemade pralines from the back of a trailer, lounging in a recliner so tightly wedged that it seemed to defy the laws of geometry. They pulled up, he sat up, handing them a bag. Then there was a fellow in Benavides in Duval County, leaning over a dutch oven at the juncture of two dusty
roads, making pan de campo – campfire bread –$6 a batch. A dollop of butter included. “I mean, in the middle of nowhere, where two farm-tomarket roads come together,” says Jeff.
In last year’s search, they spied an abandoned toilet, stark against the brush, on a dusty road. Jeff wrote:
As we prepared to have a margarita on the tailgate, reflect upon another year gone by and the rejuvenative nature of the coming of spring, I spied something white in the brush off the side of the road.
Someone had dumped a fine porcelain toilet at the exact spot where we found Primavera…. Seemed like a perfect photo op for a man to sit and think with his Texas Gazetteer to chart the route ahead….
In election years, the backroads bloom with campaign signs like mushrooms popping after a rain. On a little country road on the border of San Patricio and Jim Wells Counties, eyes fell on a big colorful sign touting “Ponch” Rosenbaum for what appeared to be some political office.
Upon closer inspection, the sign had a big picture of Ponch and said “Just Wanted a Sign – The
People’s Choice for No Office At All” … I am not sure Ponch is a real guy, but he damn sure has my respect and I hope that all of us have the gumption to put out signs and run for nothing! In this virtual world, Ponch should go viral and become an internet sensation …. Go PONCH!!
Side note, Jeff wrote: Jennings got home just in time after that 2020 trip to vote on Super Tuesday, writing in Ponch for president.
Yes, a significant part of their annual journey centers on braking for things that catch their eye. Like a sign for the South Texas Children’s Home off FM 623 out of Pettus. Jeff wrote in the March 2022 entry:
An engaging campus minister met us at the front door like we had an appointment and promptly offered to lead us on a tour of the campus headquarters and grounds. We were treated like old friends who had stopped by for a chat and he never really asked why we stopped in. The unplanned visit touched our hearts and made us feel warm as we departed. We counted our blessings, having grown
WHERE ROADS WANDER Jennings (left) and Jeff (right) pause at one of the gates on a county road that cuts through the Steen ranch. Like this SLOW sign, they see a lot of back roa
up with wonderful parents in a loving and safe environment. Many young folks are not so lucky.
The Steen family donates to the cause annually.
Music follows the brothers down the road. Jennings is a gifted guitarist and Jeff, who says he “can bang out about three songs,” is apt to settle at a piano when he finds one.
Twice over the years, they’ve paid a visit to a little country church left open to the world in Simmons City in Live Oak County. Jeff played its piano to an empty house. The two brothers said a prayer, Jennings slid a $100 bill between the pages of a Bible, then slipped back onto the road.
“The best thing about our trips is there is no sense of urgency,” says Jennings. His wife Yuni, high school daughter Scarlett, and grown stepson, Fauye Bennett, in government affairs with Chevron, have heard their share of stories that come with the miles. He jokes that it might perturb his wife that he doesn’t divulge much while on the trip. “I tell her she has to wait till Jeff’s story comes out.”
Jeff’s wife Barbara loves that the two brothers
do it together. Offspring Fletcher, 14, and son, Jake, an Austin attorney specializing in water law, also love their dad’s adventurous spirit.
“Yeah, it’s like I’ll see you when I see you,” Jeff says of his annual trek that typically finds spring within four to five days.
Meals often happen in small-town dives Texans know never to pass up. The brothers love to leave a generous tip, then skedaddle and watch the waiter’s burst of joy from a distance.
They hear from fans all the time. Readers reach out, some to report they’ve reconnected with family members. Touched by the brothers’ traveling escapades. “I heard from a guy who said he hadn’t spoken to his two brothers in 39 years. He said, ‘I absolutely hate it and it’s made me a bitter, small man,’” Jeff recalls. “He said ‘I read your story and called my brothers and we’re planning to get together in California.” He followed up that the trip went well.
When the brothers do find primavera each year, they pull over the truck, let the engine tick down,
and climb onto the tailgate. They sip on whatever libation they fancy that year. Often a cold beer or margarita. Due to the 101 temps this year – and not wanting to sear rears on the tailgate – they moved into the truck to carry on the tradition.
They raise a drink, take in the quiet, and toast the people they’ve lost since their last search for spring. Friends. In recent years, family.
Their 2022 trip was the first spring they ushered in without their mother, who died the previous November. A woman who took “great pride in breaking barriers and upsetting apple carts,” Jeff wrote in the obituary. She was the first woman to run for and be elected to the Cuero City Council. She ran for mayor and only came up a few votes short in a record turnout. Jennings finds it fitting that his daughter, Scarlett, chose to sing I Am Woman by singer Helen Reddy at her memorial. He accompanied her on guitar.
Then came the brothers’ hunt for spring in 2025, their first without their father, Lias B. “Bubba” Steen for whom (continued on page 26)
ad beacons along their trek. “Always have a few bullet holes in those signs,” quips Jeff. There’s nothing better than a dusty country road, leading to who knows where, say the brothers.
Jeff is named – full name, Lias J. “Jeff” Steen. Bubba worked for leaders from both parties “back when such things were possible,” Jeff says, heading up state agencies during the tenures of Texas governors Bill Clements, Mark White, and Ann Richards.
His last post as head of state purchasing and general services produced a story that Jeff loves to share: Bubba was tasked with overseeing the removal, repair, and replacement of the heavy iron and zinc statute, the Goddess of Liberty, from the Texas Capitol dome. It had been there since 1888. Engineers and experts were baffled as to how to get her off the dome and install a replacement, Jeff says. It was his dad who came up with the idea of a helicopter for the heavy lifting.
It was regarded as a ridiculous idea that “became genius,” Jeff recalls. “Bubba and his team commandeered a heavy-duty twin-rotor helicopter from the Texas National Guard, tied a rope around her waist, and lifted her right off the dome.”
The following year, his dad, cinched tight in a safety harness while bucking rotor winds, guided the new Goddess back on the dome.
“If you are ever in the Bullock State History Museum in Austin and see the original Goddess of Liberty on display, tip your hat to her in honor of Bubba,” Jeff wrote.
Indeed, it was dedicated, creative, accomplished, and empathetic parents who shaped them, say the brothers, adding sister Shannon Mann, a top Houston interior designer, to that fold. Their parents preached a tireless work ethic, the brothers agree.
“There was no thought of easing back,” Jeff recalls. “It was work hard, play hard, but get the work done first. All three of us have been rewarded by working hard all our life.”
To that end, Jeff is also an accomplished film producer. He has 23 films to his credit, another three now in progress. His recent documentary Hard Twist, a documentary exploring the pain and beauty of ranch life in the American West, as seen through the lens of iconic Montana photographer Barbara Van Cleve, received a standing ovation at the Sun Valley Film Festival in December. His film career started years ago with his first movie Whole Lotta Sole, featuring actor Brendan Fraser.
“I’ve always said that Jeff was an artist stuck in a lawyer’s body,” quips Jennings.
The two have learned a lot about spring through their travels, like the fact that it seems to advance north anywhere from 10 to 15 miles per day. They’ve also learned that they can travel 30 miles down a dusty gravel road, only to find a locked gate. “I remember that road. I won’t be taking it again,” assures Jennings.
Some years bring the same friendly argument: Jeff tends to favor patience, waiting before making the call. “And he thinks I sometimes want to call it too early,” Jennings says. “He calls it my ‘youthful exuberance.’ Then I’ll say, ‘Nah, in your golden years you’re wanting to draw this thing out as long as you can.’”
“I do think he tends to pull the trigger a little
TRAILS AND TAILGATES Top: The Texas Atlas & Gazetteer, a cartographic behemoth that shows just about every state land feature – except where spring is – is like a traveling Bible to this pair. Jeff goes through them like a baker goes through flour. They’ve had constant use during their 20 years searching for spring. Bottom: Jennings (left) and Jeff (right) sit on the tailgate each year after finding spring, toasting and reflecting on the friends and family they’ve lost since last year’s Search for Primavera.
too fast sometimes,” says Jeff. “But when we do finally agree, it always seems to be at the right place. You can almost feel it. This is it.”
But in 2023, spring had a surprise.
The night before their trip, the brothers gathered at their dad’s house at the family homestead northwest of Cuero, as was tradition. Bubba, 87, usually had advice about his sons’ upcoming trip, but this time, he was unusually quiet. He suggested a good night’s sleep, meeting at his kitchen at daybreak.
Jeff wrote of their dad in that year’s meandering report:
He was in a jovial mood as he hovered over the coffee pot and laid out his thoughts on where to search for spring…. “I tell you what boys, if you go out the back door and walk about 75 yards into the horse
trap, you will find all the damn spring you’ll ever need to find.” He further opined – “I did not want to bust your South Texas bubble last night, but Primavera is north of here!” Sure enough, as the sun’s bright yellow glow crept over the eastern horizon, we set out on foot and soon stood under a big old bull mesquite that was solid green, 75 yards from the casa?! After sixteen years of running south to find the mesquite bloom, Mother Nature threw us a curveball, reminding us she is still very much in charge!
“Yeah, that happened,” says Jennings. “It’s like Leon Hale said…you can fool a lot of trees, but you can’t fool a mesquite tree.”
Editor’s note: Email searchforprimavera@gmail.com to follow the brothers’ future journeys. See this story at thebuzzmagazines.com for more photos.
FROM OUR ARCHIVES
by Andria Dilling, staff writer
Ms. Lillian’s Legacy
Beloved gardener’s plants live on
This story was originally published in April 2016.
Buzz readers first met Ms. Lillian Illig in April 2006 in the article The Constant Gardeners by Michelle Casas Groogan. We also ran a tribute, The First Lady of Tanglewood, by Andy Blitzer in May 2009 for Ms. Lillian's 100th birthday. Then, in spring 2016, we caught up with Tanglewood Garden Club members, and discovered how Ms. Lillian's legacy continues to live on. This story was originally published in April 2016.
Every once in a while, someone comes along who not only brightens the lives of those close to her, but also lights up the lives of countless friends, acquaintances and strangers. Lillian Illig was one of those people.
Ms. Lillian, as she was affectionately known, moved with her husband Carl, associate general counsel for Humble Oil, and three children into one of the first homes in Tanglewood in 1950. Her son, Dale Illig, an attorney who lives in Georgetown, Texas, remembers the neighborhood as “highly uncivilized and wonderful for a kid. It was wide-open spaces,” he says. (Dale’s sister, Elaine Illig Davis, lived in Houston and recently passed away; his other sister, Carol Illig Lake, lives in Tanglewood.)
As the neighborhood grew up and the Illig family settled in, Ms. Lillian and her friends came up with an idea: Establish a neighborhood garden club. And so, in 1951, the Tanglewood Garden Club came to be, with Ms. Lillian serving as its first president. This spring, the club celebrates 65 years with a special tribute to Ms. Lillian and her gardening friends.
“Mother grew up kind of poor,” Dale says. “She didn’t really have a lot of pretty things or gardens. So I think when she was given the opportunity to plant her own garden, there was no question that she was going to plant flowers and take care of them.
“She picked roses every single day,” Dale says. “They had to work hard to produce, but she always said, ‘The more you pick the more they bloom.’ It was one of her favorite phrases.”
Ms. Lillian shared her love for gardening, both
through the garden club that she founded and through other neighbors. “Mother literally took a flower arrangement to the garden club every time they had a meeting or event. From 1951 until the year of her death in 2011.” She was 102.
To celebrate her birthday every year, Ms. Lillian would walk Tanglewood Boulevard, handing out gardenias from her beloved gardenia bush, which always bloomed just a few days before her
“I started by asking if she was aware that she had the most famous garden in Tanglewood,” Gigi says. “’No,’ she told me....”
May 14 birthday. “She’d give away those gardenias to people,” Dale says. “It didn’t matter who they were. She’d walk out to people’s cars and give them away. It was always at 7 in the morning.”
In addition to the flowers, Ms. Lillian would bring birthday cake. Even on her 102nd birthday, her last, she was outside, handing out cake and her famous gardenias. “She was just a gregarious person who knew how to be happy,” Dale says.
After Ms. Lillian’s death, the family decided
to sell her house. The lot sold to a builder, its fate determined as a tear-down. “The worst thing was not the house being torn down, but the garden,” Dale says. “We were having this terrible feeling that we all loved the garden, and we really didn’t know how to handle it. So we sent messages to some friends, asking them to come take plants and cuttings.
“I wanted to move that gardenia bush so that it would still bloom every year on Mother’s birthday. Davey Tree tried to move it. They came with all this equipment, and finally they said, ‘If we remove it, it will die.’
“The gardenia bush didn’t want to leave. It wanted to stay there.”
Other plants were happy to find new homes, mostly with Ms. Lillian’s fellow garden club members.
Kristine Solberg, a member of the club since 1997, has two of Ms. Lillian’s ferns. “Ms. Lillian would bring samples to garden club meetings,” Kristine says. “Little pieces, with the stems wrapped in wet paper towels. My Boston fern started with just one or two little pieces, maybe 10 years ago.
“I also have an asparagus fern in a pot that came from her yard, when her son told us to take pieces. Then the builders shut us down. I was laughing then because what I really wanted to take was some of her dirt! She had some of the best-looking black dirt in Houston.
“I was there when she was over 100. She had little pots with tomato plants growing from
GROWING STRONG Diane Hale, Gigi Shapiro, Barbara Rizzo, and Melissa Reichert (from left) remember Ms. Lillian under the tree planted in her honor on Tanglewood Boulevard.
seeds, and she was telling her gardener what to do right up until she died.”
About the gardener: Dale says she had a “succession of them,” but that Raoul, who has since moved, was the one Ms. Lillian spent time with most recently. “She loved to walk around the garden and tell Raoul what to do, even when she was traveling in a chair. They would hold hands. They were very close.”
Diane Hale, a past-president of the garden club and a member since moving into the neighborhood in 1978, also remembers Ms. Lillian’s compost. “She had a huge supply of homemade compost made by continually adding leaves, soil, water and other greenery, and turning it so it could compost,” Diane says. “This was one of her specialties and one reason for her great results.”
Diane says, “I have a beautiful bougainvillea in a large pot, [that we somehow lifted] into my car when Lillian’s family offered to share her plants. It always outperforms my other bougainvillea, which is 25 years old. I always think of Lillian when I see the splendor of this plant!”
Diane also enjoyed tomatoes – “transplants” from Ms. Lillian’s garden – for many years. “Ms. Lillian favored Celebrity tomatoes and would grow them painstakingly in her kitchen from seed, then transplant them into an efficient tomato garden in her yard,” she says. “I enjoyed many great tomatoes from those transplants.”
Another garden club member, Nelda Moffatt, thinks of Ms. Lillian whenever she uses chives from her garden. “I still have a bed of [Ms. Lillian’s] garlic chives that I use all the time except in winter when the plants die back. But with spring, the slender blades add taste to every salad and occasionally to pan-sauteed scallops. And yes, I do think of Lillian every time I use it.”
All over Tanglewood, Ms. Lillian’s garden is alive. Even in Georgetown, Dale has a cutting from a fig tree, one that Raoul harvested for him. “I don’t have the patience [Mother] did, but I planted that cutting in my backyard maybe 20 years ago, and it’s a 40-foot fig tree now.”
But what about the gardenia bush that was left behind for the builders to tear down?
That’s what Gigi Shapiro wondered when The Buzz started talking about Ms. Lillian’s story and the garden club’s 65th anniversary. Gigi, who has been a member of the club since moving to Tanglewood in 1996 and has held the position of president, and nearly every other board position, set out to discover what had happened to the beloved gardenia. She did that by knocking on the door of the new home on Ms. Lillian’s lot.
“One does not know how they will be received or who is on the other side of the door,” Gigi says. “But Melissa had a nice smile, so I knew it would not be painful.”
“Melissa” is the new home’s owner, Melissa Reichert.
“I was very surprised,” she says. “Gigi came to my door, and I had never met Gigi. I actually had just joined the garden club and thought, ‘Oh no, what did I do wrong?’ But she wanted to tell me
about the history of Ms. Lillian. I had no idea.”
“I started by asking if she was aware that she had the most famous garden in Tanglewood,” Gigi says. “’No,’ she told me. So I asked if she was aware that the first lady of Tanglewood lived there. ‘No.’ So I said, ‘Do I have a story for you!’
“Melissa was fascinated and smiling, and she asked why she didn’t know this story already. I just said, ‘I guess I hadn’t knocked on your door before.’”
Gigi asked Melissa if she had any plants that might have been Ms. Lillian’s. Melissa told her no, the builders had cleared the lot. “It broke my heart, because she had the most beautiful garden,” Gigi said. “I got a little teary, and Melissa did too, and we hugged. Then Melissa said, ‘You know, there are two old plants behind the garage, and I don’t know what they are.’ I asked if I may see them.”
One of the plants, behind the garage, wedged between a generator and a wall, caught their eyes. “It had the bloom of a gardenia,” Gigi says. “I said, ‘I think that’s it!’ We all got very excited. Melissa’s husband got involved. They called someone out the very next day to start caring for it.”
BLOOMING Lillian Illig, founder and first president of the Tanglewood Garden Club, lives on in the plants still thriving in local gardens. The potpourri and cuttings surrounding this marker on Tanglewood Boulevard are from plants she originally nurtured, now thriving in the homes and gardens of Garden Club members.
“I feel pressure not to let anything happen to that plant,” Melissa says. “Johnny Steele [the landscape architect] has been taking care of it now. He thinks it can be moved, and we are hoping to find a beautiful spot in the front yard so everyone can see it. I feel so honored. It’s the only thing that was left behind!”
Gigi says, “If you think about it, there was no reason for Melissa to think anything special about that plant behind her garage. For all practical purposes, it hadn’t been cared for simply because no one knew of its significance.
“The fact that it is still surviving and can be restored to perfect health, it must have the constitution and fiber of Ms. Lillian.”
And through her resilient, beloved gardenia and the Tanglewood Garden Club, Ms. Lillian lives on.
2026 Summer Camp Directory
Summer camps can provide a special opportunity for growth, a place for kids to discover new interests and skills, meet new friends, and flourish as individuals. Buzz-area residents are fortunate in that Houston is home to many types of summer camps, programs, and classes to choose from, including specialized sports, arts, and educational programs for all ages. Additionally, many overnight camps are located just a car or bus ride away.
Choosing the right camp for your child depends on your child’s personality, interests, summer schedule and other factors. This directory is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all camps. Instead, our goal is to provide readers with a snapshot of each camp and program, as a starting point in the research process.
View the 2026 directory online at thebuzzmagazines.com/summer-camp-directory. Please check back as new camps will be added frequently.
A.D. Players Emerging Artist Theatre Camp is presented in week-long sessions designed to nurture and challenge students as they work towards an endof-camp showcase. Our Emerging Artist Theatre Camp is built for students who are theatre-curious and just starting out on their journey into drama. Campers will thrive in a positive and encouraging environment centered on Christian values. Our camps will be in 10 different locations this summer and serve students Kindergarten through 8th grade, with one Shakespeare camp for entering 7th through entering 10th Grades. Be sure to check each location for the age range.
Camp Director: Andrey Geva, U.S. Olympic and National Coach
Summer Fencing Camp at Alliance is an opportunity for your children to have fun exploring one of the original and foundational sports of the modern Olympic games while picking up technical and competitive skills that will last them a lifetime. Renowned instructor and Olympic team coach Andrey Geva and his highly trained coaching staff provide a fun, safe, and exciting setting for kids to learn the sport of competitive fencing. Houston summer camp dates: June 1-5, June 22-26, July 27-31, August 3-7. The Woodlands summer camp dates: June 22-26, July 27-31, August 3-7. Katy summer camp dates: June 22-26, July 27-31, August 3-7.
Art Camps at Cordovan Art School
Est. 2009
Ages: 5-16
Co-ed • Day Camp
Multiple locations in the Houston area 346-352-3980 • Bellaire@cordovanartschool.com • www.cordocanartschool.com
Camp Director: Kelsee Carlile
We Create Artists! We, at Cordovan Art School, see the happiness every day that comes from creative people doing what they were born to do. Everyone who enters our doors will be greeted with a smile, and we hope that they leave with a smile when their class is over – that is our “smile-smile” policy. We try to create an environment that is positive, uplifting, and enjoyable so that our students can relax while they paint, draw, and learn the fundamentals of art and design. And, along the way, we hope that our students and our teachers gain a deeper appreciation for the arts and each other.
BattleBots, Drones, AI & Machine Learning, Arduino, Space Robotics Summer Camps
Est. 2012
Ages: 4-18
Co-ed • Day camp
4007 Bellaire Blvd., Suite KK, Houston Texas 77025
Join the Ultimate Robotics Summer Camp! Over 12 weeks, students (ages 4-18) can explore exciting themes like BattleBots, Drones, AI & Machine Learning, Arduino, Space Robotics, Java & Python Programming, and Competitive Robotics for FIRST & Tech Challenge Leagues (2025-26). Each week offers hands-on STEM learning, creativity, and friendly competitions. Set the path of building robots and programming for PK-12. We offer STEMthemed, hands-on activities where the week ends with a friendly battle-bots mini-competition. Choose your favorite weeks with full-week & half-week options from May 26- Aug. 14. Register by April 15 for 10% off!
Strategy, tactics, athleticism, and the enrichment of the total fencer are the focus of our program. Engagement and decision making are at the core of our instruction. With an emphasis on building self-confidence, fencers work on three basic skills: footwork, blade work, and tactics. In addition, they learn about tournament protocol, refereeing, scorekeeping, and the rules of the bout. Our students experience the fun inherent in the sport as they participate in challenging fencing games. Fencing for all levels. All equipment provided. Sessions are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Afternoon workshops will include Robotics, Coding, Science, and Engineering.
One-week, adventure-filled sessions foster godly growth for church members and community friends through new skills and interests, awesome speakers, and new friends! June 1-4, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Camp World Cup / June 8-11, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Under the Big Top / June 15-18, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Brick by Brick / June 22-25, 12-3 p.m. Post-VBS (must register for VBS) / June 29 -July 2, 9 a.m.- 3 p.m. Star Spangled Adventure / July 6-9, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Passport to Adventure.
Camp Directors: Debbie Stubblefield, Cody and Michelle Mauldin Camp Olympia is dedicated to having fun together, helping people grow in body, mind, and spirit.
Transform your child's summer into an epic adventure at Campelot – The Regis School of the Sacred Heart's summer program – where learning meets legend! Through our carefully crafted program, we create an environment where minds are challenged, creativity flourishes, and friendships are forged. Campelot will run for four weeks, from June 1-June 26. Each week-long camp is full-day and lunch is provided. Campelot is co-ed, and non-Regis students are welcome. Come get in-squired!
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Girl Scouts of San Jacinto Summer Camps
Est.: 1922
Ages: 5-17
Girls • Day and Overnight
Casa Mare in Seabrook, TX; Misty Meadows Ranch in Conroe, TX; Camp Agnes Arnold in Conroe, TX; Program Place for Girls in Houston, TX; Katy Mills Resource Center in Katy, TX 713-292-0300 • customerservice@sjgs.org • gssjc.org/summercamp
Camp Director: Mariah Balmer
The Girl Scouts of San Jacinto Council’s summer overnight and day camps are ready to welcome girls of all backgrounds and interests to its five properties. Traditional camp activities such as horseback riding, campfires, archery, crafts, games, and kayaking help build girls of courage, confidence and character. Interested campers do not already have to be in Girl Scouts.
Houston Christian Summer Camps
Est. 1998
Ages: 4th-8th grade
Co-ed • Day Camp
2700 W. Sam Houston Tollway N, Houston, Texas 77043 713-580-6020 • admissions@houstonchristian.org • houstonchristian.org/camps
Camp Director: Taunya Rawls
Houston Christian High School is excited to offer Summer Athletics Camps as well as host Camp Invention. Rising 4th through 8th graders with additional sessions for high school students can join our highly acclaimed coaches and program directors for unforgettable experiences. Visit our camp website to learn more, see dates, and register for: Basketball Camp, Track Camp, Baseball Camp, Lacrosse Camp, Volleyball Camp, Football Camp, Camp Invention, and Fine Arts Camps.
Sailing camp is an opportunity for youth to learn to sail. Our goal is to create lifelong sailors. Kids sail small boats single-handed or in pairs while US Sailing certified instructors coach from small power boats. We use Optimist, Sunfish, FJs, and ILCA-Laser dinghies with opportunities to try keel boats during camp. For sailors passionate about the sport, we offer a full year race team that competes regionally and nationally. Ragnots, Friends ForeverSkills For Life!
iKids Camp
Est. 2007
Ages: PreK-5th grade
Co-ed • Day camp
Westbury Christian School – 10420 Hillcroft St., Houston, TX 77096
iKids Inc. is your one-stop, out-of-school shop, offering the flexibility you need with the care you can trust. Providing enriching programs essential to your child’s development since 2007.
Kidventure Day Camp
Est. 1994
Ages: 3-16
Co-ed • Day camp
2501 Central Parkway, Suite B2, Houston, Texas 77092 (camp office)
At Kidventure, summer camp is designed with purpose. For more than 31 years, Houston families have trusted Kidventure to deliver structured, growthcentered experiences that build confidence, independence, and strong character. With camp locations across Houston and weekly sessions from June 8–Aug. 7, families can choose the schedule that fits their summer. Programs serve Discoverers (ages 3–5), Explorers (1st–5th grade), and Leads (6th–9th grade), all led by trained, certified adult staff in a no-tech environment with low camper-to-counselor ratios. More than fun, Kidventure delivers purposeful growth that lasts beyond summer.
Kidventure Overnight Camp
Est. 1994
Ages: 8-16
Co-ed • Overnight camp
515 S. Capital of Texas Hwy., Austin, Texas 78746 (camp office) 512-263-8992 • overnight@kidventure.com • kidventure.com/overnight-camps
Camp Director: Nicole Davis
At Kidventure Overnight Camp, adventure is designed with purpose. For more than 31 years, Kidventure has created structured, growth-centered experiences where kids build independence, resilience, and lasting confidence. Away from screens and everyday distractions, campers are challenged to climb, paddle, explore, and lead in a carefully supervised environment guided by trained adult mentors. Each experience is intentionally designed to help kids step beyond their comfort zone while feeling supported and known. Kidventure offers three distinct overnight programs: Safari (ages 8–12), Quest (ages 8–12), and Echo (ages 13–16). With low camper-to-counselor ratios, strong safety standards, and consistent mentorship, families trust Kidventure to deliver more than adventure—we deliver growth that carries home.
Language Kids World - Spanish, French, Mandarin Chinese, English & Sign Language Camps
Est. 2011
Ages: 3-5 and 6-11
Co-ed • Day camp
Multiple locations in the Houston area 281-565-1388 • info@languagekids.com • languagekids.com
Camp Director: Vanessa Simpson
Childhood is the best time to learn another language, and it has never been so much fun! Make the most of your child’s summer with our engaging immersion camps in Spanish, French, Mandarin Chinese, Sign Language, and English, as well as our exciting World Explorers’ Club, where children discover countries from around the world and explore their cultures through hands-on activities and play. With more than two decades of language teaching experience under our belt, we are masters at teaching languages to children in fun and innovative ways. Multiple locations and extended schedules. Payment plans are available.
River Oaks Dance Summer Dance Camp
Est. 2005
Ages: 3.5-9
Co-ed • day camp, Monday-Thursdays
River Oaks Studio: 3641 Westheimer Rd., Unit C, Houston, TX 77027; Tanglewood Studio: 5750 Woodway Dr., #156, Houston, TX 77057
Summer Dance Camp is the perfect way to try a new style, jump back in after time off, or simply have fun with friends! These short Monday–Thursday sessions mean no long commitment. Each themed week includes creative crafts, high-energy dance classes, and tons of laughs. Camp wraps up with a special performance for family and friends. This year’s themes are the most fun yet!
STE Summer Programs offer dynamic, enriching opportunities for preschool through high school students to thrive all summer long. From hands-on innovation in our Summer STEM Institute – featuring robotics, coding, and space exploration – to the rich Scottish tradition of Balmoral with bagpiping, drumming, and Highland dance, there’s truly something for every interest. Students can deepen their faith at Vacation Bible School, elevate their game at our high-energy Basketball Camp, and dive into large language models and generative AI through the Inspirit AI Program, taught by graduates of MIT and Stanford. At STE, summer isn’t just a break – it’s an opportunity to spark creativity, cultivate friendships, and build character.
Summer camps at St. Pius X High School offer a variety of athletic and fine art experiences during the summer months of June and July. The expert coaches and faculty at SPX coordinate these fun activities for all participants to grow in skills and knowledge while making new friendships in the process. From musical theater to baseball, there is a camp opportunity for everyone!
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St. John the Divine Vacation Bible School
Est. 1943
Age: 4 years (as of Jan 1, 2026) through 5th grade Co-ed • Day camp
2450 River Oaks Blvd., Houston, TX 77019
713-622-3600 • hkight@sjd.org • sjd.org/vbs
Camp Director: Holli Kight
Vacation Bible School runs June 15-18, 2026, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Join us for the brightest week of the year as we explore what it means in John 8:12 when Jesus says, “I am the light of the world.”
STH’s Aquinas Academy offers a variety of enrichment, athletic, and academic day camps, providing 3rd-8th grade boys and girls with personalized instruction from expert teachers and coaches, opportunities to make new friends, and resources to develop essential life skills. Additionally, St. Thomas offers original credit for STH students and co-ed credit recovery courses for Houston-area Catholic high school students who need to retake a previously failed course.
Summer at St. Mark’s
Est. 2015
Ages: 2 years-rising 8th grade
Co-ed • Day camp
3816 Bellaire Blvd., Houston, Texas 77025
713-667-7030 • jrush@stmes.org • stmes.org/summer
Camp Director: Juli Rush
The Summer at St. Mark’s Day Camp theme for 2026 is “Sightseeing with St. Mark’s” with Activity Routes like Creator, Adventurer, and Inventor, which include activities like taekwondo, global tasting, dance, yoga, drama, robotics, global sports, and more! This year’s theme has the camp traveling the globe to visit different countries and cultures! Our campers get the chance to dive into unique experiences, water play, and “Here Trips.” Hours are 7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Middle school students can complete our popular Counselor in Training and new Internship Programs where they receive leadership training, service learning, advanced specialty camp classes, and off-campus field trips. Check out stmes.org/summer for our full description of each week’s theme and to register!
The learning never stops at The Village School's Summer Camp. Summer 2026 features 8 weeks of fun! Camp begins May 26 and runs through July 17, 2026. It is open to all Houston area students (Village and non-Village). Each weekly theme includes water activities, arts & crafts, sports, games, and awesome experiences! Athletic Camps include Racquet Sports, Basketball, Flag Football, Swim, Volleyball, Soccer, Dance, Golf, Cheer and Tennis, led by our very own Viking coaching staff. In addition, specialty enrichment camps will be offered July 27–31, including TMSCA Math Camp, Creative Writing Camp and Fine Arts Camp. Our camps are designed to be full- or part-day options, allowing families to mix and match day and athletic camps to fit their schedules. For more information, visit our website or contact us at vssummer@thevillageschool.com.
Summer Chess Camp with The Knight School
Est: 2007
Ages: 5-12
Co-ed • Day Camp 5601 S Braeswood Blvd., Houston, TX 77096; 14120 Memorial Dr., Houston, TX 77079; 1800 Sul Ross St., Houston, TX 77098 713-489-8830 • justin@theknightschool.com • www.theknightschool.com/summer-chess-camps Camp Director: Justin Polk
With a fun and friendly spirit, The Knight School Summer Chess Camps are the perfect way for kids to keep the brain sharp over the summer while having a real blast! Chess Camp is a super-fun, high-energy chess experience in which kids celebrate a new chess tactic each day with silly videos, music-driven puzzlers for prizes, colorful silicone TactixBands, funny movies, and fast-paced party-bead tournaments! Laughter, fast clocks, and compelling teaching approaches make this camp the summertime highlight for hundreds of kids nationwide. Browse all summer chess camp dates/locations at rebrand.ly/chess-camp.
TUTS Humphreys School of Musical Theatre Summer Camps
Est.: 1972
Ages: 4-14
Co-ed • Week-long camps that take place during the day Locations: The Hobby Center, 800 Bagby, Houston, TX 77002 713-558-8801 • education@tuts.org • tuts.org/enrollhsmt
Camp Director: Adavion Wayne
Theatre Under The Stars offers engaging musical theatre summer camps for students ages 4–14, where kids sing, dance, act, and explore their creativity in a fun, supportive environment. One-week and two-week camps are available.
TUTS The River Summer Camps
Est.: 1996
Ages: 4-Young Adult
Co-ed • Week-long camps that take place during the day
The Metropolitan Multiservice Center, 1475 West Gray, Houston, TX 77019 713-558-8801 • education@tuts.org • tuts.org/enrollriver
Camp Director: Adavion Wayne
The River provides inclusive, arts-based summer camps designed for students with disabilities and their siblings. Through music, movement, theatre, and visual art, campers are supported as they try new things, express themselves, and discover what they can do – all while having fun and building community.
The University of Austin (UATX) presents the High School Honors Program from June 20-21, 2026, immediately followed by a residential, for-credit Summer Fellowship, celebrating America’s 250th and concluding July 3. Both the Honors Program and the Summer Fellowship are defined by rigor in the pursuit of truth, featuring small college-level seminars on our Austin campus. Costs: Honors Program - Free, Fellowship - $2,500 (covers housing, meals, and activities; tuition is free).
Westbury Christian School offers two engaging summer camp experiences for students. iKids Camp (June 1–July 31) serves potty-trained 3-year-olds through rising 5th graders with weekly themed adventures filled with arts, experiments, games, and hands-on learning. Flexible scheduling and before/after care are available. WCS Sports Camps, open to Kindergarten–8th grade, include basketball, soccer, volleyball, football, baseball, and cheer– helping young athletes build skills, confidence, and teamwork all summer long.
The Yorkshire Academy Summer Program offers weekly camps from June 1-July 24, open to the entire community, with convenient morning and afternoon options that families can mix and match. Campers explore STEM, creative arts, performing arts, and athletics in a safe, supportive environment. We partner with trusted enrichment providers, and many camps are led by our experienced faculty, with administrative staff on site to ensure safety and care. The full schedule and registration details are available on our website.
. by Angie Frederickson, staff writer
Wedding Buzz
The Whatleys and the Folloders
From the first date to the honeymoon, and everything in between, these newlyweds have buzzy stories to tell. We wish them the best as they begin their exciting new chapters.
Katelyn Wallace + Morgan Whatley
Family and friends traveled across the globe to celebrate the marriage of Katelyn Wallace and Morgan Whatley. Set against a stunning backdrop in Greece, the couple exchanged vows at an oceanfront venue on the small island of Spetses. Accessible only by boat, Spetses is a picturesque spot off the coast of Greece where residents and visitors get around on foot or other nonmotorized transportation, as cars are not permitted.
Wedding festivities began with a traditional Greek kaiki boat ride around the island for the wedding party and guests. Some of the more adventurous guests disembarked for cliff jumping and a swim in the Bekiri cave before enjoying lunch at a beach taverna. On the day of the wedding, Katelyn and her father, Bass Wallace, arrived at the ceremony in a horse-drawn carriage before the bride and groom said, “I do.”
After the wedding, it was time to celebrate –poolside – at the Pine Estate Villa where a Greek violinist and cellist entertained during cocktail hour before turning things over to a local DJ. Katelyn and Morgan participated in the Greek tradition of smashing plates to welcome a new beginning, known as pagoprísmo, before bidding their guests farewell as they rode away in a threewheeled tuk tuk.
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Katelyn is the daughter of Jackie and Bass Wallace. She attended Memorial Drive Elementary, The Kinkaid School, and Memorial High School before leaving Houston to study communications and journalism at Texas A&M University. Morgan, son of Melanie and Robert Whatley, attended Valley Oaks Elementary, Spring Branch Middle School, and Memorial High School. He studied economics and business at Texas A&M University. The couple met through a mutual friend at an Aggie football tailgate, and dated until Morgan proposed in Mallorca, Spain. The happy couple honeymooned in Italy before returning to their home in Houston.
MARRIED IN GREECE Top photo: Katelyn Wallace and Morgan Whatley exchanged vows on the Greek island of Spetses after a horse-drawn carriage delivered the bride to the coastal ceremony. Bottom photo: Flanked by groomsmen, Morgan Whatley was ready to see his future wife. Pictured, from left: Cameron Whatley, Tyler Dore, Bailey Burford, Michael Lucrezi, Johnny Galloway, Morgan Whatley, Nathan Bremner, Britton Burr, Ian Weaver, and Griffin Doyle.
Jacobo
Jacobo
Jacobo Pachon Photography Jacobo
Jacobo Pachon Photography
GREEK TRADITIONS BY THE SEA Top left: The Wallaces welcomed Morgan to the family after a beautiful seaside ceremony. Pictured, from left: Bass Wallace, Katelyn Wallace, Morgan Whatley, Jackie Wallace, and Sydney Wallace. Top right: In traditional Greek fashion, Morgan and Katelyn shattered plates on the floor as a toast to their new life together. Bottom photo: The coastline of Spetses was the perfect setting for the intimate ceremony with family and friends.
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Zoe Kampf + Sean Folloder
When Zoe Kampf and Sean Folloder met as young children, they never dreamed that one day they would be married. The pair both attended The Shlenker School and crossed paths many times as family friends but didn’t know each other well. Sean even celebrated his Bar Mitzvah with Zoe’s cousin. It wasn’t until Zoe became a teacher at her former alma mater, The Shlenker School, that the two began a relationship. Sean’s grandmother, Barbie Freedman, a coworker of Zoe’s, suggested (repeatedly) that the two should get together, and eventually they took her advice. After a couple of years of dating, Sean proposed on vacation in Seaside, Florida where the couple was enjoying a romantic beach pic-
nic. It took a while, but Sean and Zoe learned that Barbie knew best!
Zoe is the daughter of Liz Seitz and Ed Kampf, and she graduated from Bellaire High School. Sean, the son of Lisa and Scott Folloder, graduated from Lamar High School. Both the bride and groom attended Texas A&M University; Zoe earned a bachelor’s degree in professional event management and Sean earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics.
The couple married at The Heights Villa in late January when Houston was predicted to be hit with a major winter storm. Fortunately, the storm was less intense than expected and all guests arrived safely. The weather even cooperated enough for outdoor photos. After the ceremony, Zoe and Sean celebrated with their guests, enjoying live entertainment from the Jordan
Kahn Orchestra. Everyone danced the Hora, and Aggie alumni belted out the Aggie War Hymn. At the end of the evening, pet-owning guests took home tennis ball party favors that were signed “With Love, Georgie,” in a nod to the couple’s beloved dog.
Zoe and Sean spent the next week on the island of St. Lucia where they enjoyed a honeymoon getaway with zip lining, Jeep rides, kayaking, and massages on the beach. They are now home in Houston and back to work as teachers, with Zoe teaching PreK4 at Shlenker and Sean teaching geometry and coaching football and baseball at George Bush High School.
Editor’s note: If you were recently married and would like to submit your wedding to The Buzz, email us at info@thebuzzmagazines.com.
FROM PRESCHOOL TO FOREVER Left photo: Sean Folloder and Zoe Kampf, who first met as classmates in preschool, said “I do,” many years after their first meeting. Right photo: Dressed in a stunning gown and veil, Zoe prepared for the ceremony with wedding party members, including (pictured, from left) Carly Allen, McKenzie King, Ashley DeSimone, Jolie Bolen, and Jennie Taer.
Aly Matei
Aly Matei
Aly Matei
FRIENDS, FAMILY, AND LOTS OF LOVE Top photo: The Kampf and Folloder families joined together to celebrate and wish the couple well. From left: Scott Folloder, Lisa Folloder, Sean Folloder, Zoe Kampf, Liz Seitz, and Ed Kampf. Bottom left: Bridesmaids united to support their friend on her big day. From left: Erin Scarbrough, Shelby Shade, McKenzie Davis, Carly Allen, Zoe Kampf, Ashley DeSimone, Jennie Taer, and Jolie Bolen. Bottom right photo: Sean and Zoe were all smiles after dodging a winterweather scare and enjoying a picture-perfect ceremony and reception.
. by Sharon Albert Brier, staff writer
Rumor Has It
Hearts exploded. The over-the-top Galentine’s bash was inspired after sisters Blair Seibert and Brooke Seibert attended one in Oklahoma with their mom, Pat Seibert, and decided subtlety was overrated. Twenty-nine friends in Valentine’s finery roamed Brooke Seibert’s home tackling challenges in every room – guessing candy kisses, butchering a Valentine’s word scramble, and working the crowd via a grid game (who plays canasta? who owns cattle?).
Lisa Sternschuss and Lisa Liles were all giggles but Susan Taggart strutted off with the Pink Shoe Award, Jill Needham discovered a gold star prize under her chair, and Sharla Struffolino, the punctual college roommate, won simply by being first through the door. Love – and competition – were everywhere.
Roaring with champagne. The “Putting on the Ritz” Happy Hour sparkled at stylish Jane Page Crump’s home. The staircase boasted balloons and flowers on steroids, while the food table flaunted 20 vases bursting with red, pink, and white roses. Dressed to the nines were Sue Howe, Sharon Cordes, Cary Davis, Julie McGee, and Kairy-Tate Barkley. Forty friends from every walk of life clinked glasses of French 75 – Jane’s favorite bubbly cocktail, cheekily named after a 75mm French WWI artillery gun. True to the theme, Sally Saulnier had a faux gun in her hand and garter belt, but fortunately, the only shots fired were celebratory.
Tea, you, and me. Once again, McHugh Tea Room sparkled with pink, red, and 40 of Linda Suib’s nearest and dearest – proof that friendship pairs beautifully with tea sandwiches and chocolate. Her Galentine’s luncheon was equal parts sugar and sentiment, as Linda graciously shared what each guest meant to her (there wasn’t a dry eye – or empty teacup – in sight). Among the fabulous crowd guessing answers to Linda’s questions about famous lovers were Amy Grenader, Anne Frachtman, Elizabeth Netting, Harriet Gertner, Vicki Samuels Levy, Syndy Gold, Gail Silver, Linda Schwarz, and Sandy Lessing. The gals toasted to loyalty, laughter, and long-standing bonds. It was heartfelt, high-spirited, and just sweet enough to require a second dessert.
Love me tender.
Elvis arrived at Ciro’s in two outfits and in the form of cardboard cutouts to set the scene for a Friendship Party hosted by Memorial Drive Garden Club. Members and some significant others arrived in a festive spirt to toast each other. Amid the clinking of Chianti glasses and a swirl of pasta were president Jana and Scott Stiffel, Connie and Cal Dalton, Mala and Gerry Salvador, Sandra Hotz, Sushila Mathew, Mary Kay and Dick Fruth, Ray and Marsha Floyd, Kristi Rowland, Sandy Wilkens, and Renee Svitek
GALENTINES GATHERING Brooke Seibert hosted a glamorous Galentine’s party, inspired by one she attended with sister Blair and mom Pat. Pictured are (from left) hostess Brooke, Lisa Sternschuss, and Lisa Liles.
Rolling scenery and credits. For 20 years running, Katie Sammons and Terry Lohrenz have bunked at Mark Wawro and Melanie Gray’s Deer Valley hideaway for their annual Sundance sequel. This January’s plot twist featured eight films in week one, plus a heartfelt tribute to Robert Redford – no director’s cut required. Favorites included Wicker, Tuner, Josephine, and The Invite, earned by standing in line an hour and a half early just to score seats inside the tent (method acting at its finest). Back at the house, Mark served comfort food by fireside. Happy-hour chatter delivered rapid-fire reviews while missing Chris Bryan and Trey Peacock, who usually join them. Critics unanimously awarded Wicker Best Picture… at least in this very cozy academy. Gourmet feasts. Blue lobster, butter as art, and a lucky streak at the track. Hong Kong delivered spectacle by the bite. Rachel Messina and Victor Yang celebrated several birthdays with Victor’s family, plus a side dash to Shenzhen. The trip, a gastronomical joy ride, included a sculptural circle of butter cradled with caviar on marble and a four-hour lunch that featured soufflés in individual cups. At
Michelin-starred Man Wah, royal-blue walls and dangling gold lanterns framed Cantonese excess, capped by dessert under a glass dome. When the dome lifted, a cloud of smoke appeared before deliciousness was revealed. Nights ended at the newly glam Mandarin Oriental with their room overlooking the harbor lights. And yes, Rachel won at the Jockey Club.
Lots of red and glow. The Lunar New Year of the Horse dinner, hosted by Sassy Stanton and Bill Pinckard, proved one thing: 60 friends secretly own fabulous Asian attire. Guests arrived in robes, a dragon mask, crowns, bamboo hats, and pigtails, while Candy and Rob Pinckard literally rode in on an inflatable horse – looking for hay. Beverly Mattern and Barbara Files recycled Mardi Gras horse masks for an encore performance. The hosts spared no lantern, decking the house with glowing décor, photo backdrops inside and out, and enough Chinese food to keep the whole herd, including Barkley and Lori Wedemeyer, Denise and Will Harrison, Patti Knoll Culbert, Austina and Troy Stanton, Audry and Ralph Gates, and Katrina and Mark Elvig happily grazing.
MORE ONLINE
See Rumor Has It at thebuzzmagazines.com for additional photos. Have some good news to share? Email us at info@thebuzzmagazines.com.
. by Cindy Burnett, staff writer
Buzz Reads Five
picks for April
Buzz Reads is a column about books by reviewer Cindy Burnett. Each month, Cindy recommends five recently or soon-to-be released titles.
How to Hold Someone In Your Heart by Mizuki Tsujimura (magical realism) –
Translated from Japanese, How to Hold Someone In Your Heart follows Aymui, a man who has the ability to reunite individuals with their dead loved ones. The chapters feel like connected short stories, each one centered around a character who is seeking closure, redemption, or understanding through a reunion with a deceased person. Some stories are more fulfilling than others for the individuals in the book, but every encounter serves a purpose and has meaning. This thought-provoking and magical book is a reminder to embrace life and the people around us, live without regret, and take time to enjoy those we love. This is the second in a series but can easily be read as a standalone, and it will appeal to those who love creative premises.
London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family's Search for Truth by Patrick Radden Keefe (nonfiction) – In his latest book, Patrick Radden Keefe searches for answers about why a young man from a loving London family pretended to be the son of a Russian billionaire and why he subsequently jumped from the balcony of a luxury apartment building into the nearby Thames. In a quiet London neighborhood in 2019, Rachelle Brettler had begun worrying about her son who had not come home after telling her he was spending the night with a friend. Days later, two officers appear at the Brettler home with terrible news: Her son was dead. Patrick Radden Keefe chronicles the Brettlers’ journey to understand their son’s mysterious death and why he adopted an alter ego, doing a deep dive into the seedy aspects and dark underbelly of London’s elaborate highrise apartments and nightclubs. I loved this intimate portrait of a family’s love, loss, and search for answers as well as the commentary on how hard it is to parent today. London Falling will be a great fit for those who love stellar nonfiction and stranger-than-fiction stories.
The Shock of the Light by Lori Inglis Hall
(historical fiction) – The Shock of the Light is a moving exploration of sibling relationships, courage, and secrets set during World War II. Wanting to contribute to the war effort, twins Theo and Tessa are both recruited, Theo as a pilot for the Royal Air Force and Tessa as a member of the Special Operations Executive (SOE), a group operating in France to sabotage the occupying Germans. Two years later, Tessa is missing, and Theo is sent home, physically wounded and emotionally devastated by his sister’s mysterious disappearance and the deaths of so many of his fellow pilots. Decades later, Edie, a PhD student researching the SOE, connects with Theo, and the duo finally determines what happened to Tessa. Hall’s exhaustive research shines through particularly in her depiction of how women recruited for the war effort often lacked a government’s formal recognition, which made tracking them as prisoners of war and elsewhere incredibly difficult. What makes this book stand out is the author’s ability to depict how dehumanizing various aspects of the war were as well as focusing on lesser-known events. This book will appeal to readers who love family sagas, stories about sibling relationships, and beautiful prose.
Upward Bound by Woody Brown (fiction) – This standout debut novel is a deeply moving portrait of the various individuals who attend and work at a dreary adult day care center in Southern California. The characters’ stories all come together with the intermittent voice of Walter, a recent graduate who returns to their company after a family tragedy. The author, Woody Brown, is autistic and nonspeaking and provides such insight into the various autistic and disabled individuals who attend the day center, Upward Bound, and the challenges they each face. With extraordinary empathy and drawing on his own personal experience, Brown
brings to life a group of people rarely found in literature. I have not stopped thinking about this book since I finished it. Readers who love stories about overlooked communities, engaging characters, and unique formats will devour this one.
Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke (fiction) –An Instagram influencer billing herself as a traditional American wife and mother, (a “trad wife”), sells her pioneer lifestyle of raw milk and farm-fresh eggs to her millions of social media followers while living a completely different life behind the scenes. When she wakes up in 1805 and finds herself living the actual life she had been projecting to her followers, she works to determine what is truly happening – is this a prank, a strange reality show or something else entirely. This book is best approached with little advance knowledge so that no aspect of the storyline is spoiled. Yesteryear is going to be one of the books of 2026, and it deserves all of the hype. The premise is creative and unique, and the ending is fabulous as is Burke’s commentary on social media, the “trad wife” world, and identity. This book is a great fit for fans of intriguing storylines, clever plots, and timely reads.
Editor’s note: Book reviewer Cindy Burnett also writes our weekly Page Turners column at thebuzzmagazines.com. She hosts an award-winning book podcast entitled Thoughts from a Page Podcast www.thoughtsfromapage.com, runs the Instagram account @thoughtsfromapage, and regularly speaks to groups about books.
WHAT TO READ This month's selections include a new Patrick Radden Keefe about a mysterious death in London, a twisty "trad wife" tale, historical fiction about a set of twins during World War II, a thought-provoking story with a magical realism element, and a fabulous book set at an adult day care for disabled individuals.
Cindy Burnett
. by Tracy L. Barnett, staff writer
Travel Buzz
Family Reunion: 150 Relatives, Three Countries, and One Unforgettable Family Trip
When Erin Kimzey began talking with her German cousins about organizing a family reunion, the idea sounded almost impossible. Their extended family had spread across continents over generations, and coordinating even a handful of relatives would have been a challenge. But the idea kept growing.
By the time the Neuhoff family reunion took place last summer in Bad Honnef, a small town on the Rhine River near Bonn, nearly 150 relatives had arrived from the US and Germany –cousins meeting cousins for the first time, younger generations discovering branches of the family they had heard about in stories.
For Erin, the reunion continued a tradition that had shaped her family for decades. She served as the principal U.S. organizer, coordinating the logistics and challenges of bringing so many relatives together across an ocean.
“Someone did it for me,” one of her cousins told her, recalling earlier reunions that helped connect relatives. Now Erin, whose father and grandmother were big proponents of family and continuing the reunions, and several German cousins and their spouses had taken on the task of carrying that tradition forward.
The gathering became the centerpiece of a two-week journey through Europe for Erin, her husband Shane, and their children – Reagan, 23, and James, 21 – a trip that would combine family history, world history, and the simple pleasures of traveling together.
As they began planning, each family member helped shape the itinerary.
James had one request from the beginning: Monet’s gardens in Giverny, outside Paris. The family stopped there on their way to Normandy, wandering through the famous flower gardens and the lily pond that inspired some of Claude Monet’s famous paintings.
James and Shane are both runners, and they often explore new places on foot. Shane adopted the habit years ago after reading that running is one of the best ways to get to know a city. On this trip, they ran through Bayeux and Bad Honnef, along Vienna’s Ringstrasse and in Salzburg, where a sudden storm – complete with hail – left them soaked and laughing.
For Shane, a longtime history enthusiast, Normandy held the greatest pull.
The family spent several days exploring the beaches and battle sites of the Allied invasion of World War II – places whose names had filled history books for decades: Omaha Beach, Pointe du Hoc, and the American cemetery overlooking the sea.
Standing on the wide stretch of sand at Omaha Beach, Shane looked up at the bluffs and the remains of the German fortifications.
“The overwhelming feeling is awe at how anybody could have done what they did,” he said.
Today the beach is peaceful, dotted with visitors walking along the shoreline. But the landscape still bears traces of the past – bomb craters scattered across the fields and the concrete bunkers of Hitler’s Atlantic Wall staring out toward the English Channel.
One of the most powerful moments came at the Normandy American Cemetery, where nearly 9,400 white headstones stretch in perfect rows across the hillside above the water.
Shane and James arrived just as the American flag was being lowered for the evening.
Both father and son – Eagle Scouts – instinctively stood with hands over their hearts as the flag ceremony took place.
Just down the road, another cemetery left a different impression. At the German cemetery, darker headstones lie flat against the grass, many marking the graves of soldiers barely out of their teens.
“The contrast is stark,” Shane said. “You realize there are certainly, undoubtedly people there who were Nazis, but a lot of those soldiers were just young men who had been conscripted. Many of them were teenagers who had no choice.”
Throughout the trip, reminders of Europe’s difficult history appeared in unexpected places.
In Vienna, small brass plaques embedded in the sidewalks – known as Stolpersteine (“stumbling stones”) – mark the homes of Jewish residents deported during the Holocaust. The simple memorials, engraved with names and dates, were among the most haunting reminders of history the family encountered.
After several days in Normandy, the family boarded trains heading east toward Germany and the heart of the trip: the reunion itself.
FAMILY ROOTS Shane, Erin, Reagan, and James Kimzey (pictured, from left) pose beside the sign for Oberasbach, the small German village where the Neuhoff family – Erin’s ancestors who emigrated to the United States – were born.
Bad Honnef sits along a broad stretch of the Rhine River, surrounded by forested hills known as the Siebengebirge – the “Seven Mountains.” The area is dotted with castle ruins, including Drachenfels, a dramatic medieval fortress perched high above the river.
Over the next several days, nearly 150 relatives gathered for events organized by Erin and her cousins – bringing together family members from across the US and Germany.
The reunion formally opened at Bad Honnef’s city hall, where the town’s mayor, Bürgermeister Otto Neuhoff, welcomed the group and acknowledged the international gathering.
From there, buses carried the extended family to Oberasbach, the small village where their shared ancestors once lived.
For many in the group, the visit was the emotional center of the reunion. The family saw the modest house – and even the room – where four brothers bearing the family name had been born before emigrating to the United States generations earlier.
Later, the gathering continued in a nearby barn where long wooden tables were set with coffee and traditional German cakes, and an oompah band played as cousins who had never met before introduced themselves and compared family stories.
But the reunion was about more than shared meals and group photos. For Erin and her cousins, the real reward came in watching the younger generation connect – teenagers and twenty-somethings meeting relatives their own age and forming friendships that will hopefully carry forward.
The gathering ended with a sunset cruise on
the Rhine, where relatives filled the upper deck of the boat – sharing stories, raising glasses of German wine, and watching castles pass along the riverbanks.
After the whirlwind of the reunion, the Kimzeys continued east through Austria, spending several days in Vienna exploring imperial palaces, museums, and grand boulevards. Erin and Reagan, both music lovers, even managed to catch an intimate string quartet performance in the Capuchin Church.
Next came Salzburg, where the family stayed in an apartment built into the mountainside, parts of the building nearly 800 years old. During the day, they explored Salzburg’s baroque old town, climbing to the massive fortress overlooking the city and wandering streets where Mozart once lived.
Salzburg turned out to be Shane’s favorite stop. Nestled between mountains along the Salzach River, the Austrian city feels almost storybook – its baroque churches and pastel-colored buildings rising beneath the massive Hohensalzburg Fortress that has watched over the city for centuries.
The family spent their days wandering the narrow streets, climbing to the fortress for sweeping views of the Alps and exploring Salzburg’s musical history, including the home where Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born.
On longer trips like this one, the family sometimes split up to explore different interests. Shane advises, “Don’t feel compelled to do everything together all the time! Sometimes one or more of us would beg off a certain activity if
we were tired, wanted to see something else, or just needed some alone time – then we'd reconvene.” For example, in Salzburg, Reagan and James went on a Sound of Music tour, visiting filming locations from the beloved movie that winds through the surrounding hills and lakes. Meanwhile, Erin and Shane, who had experienced that tour in the past, visited the Eagle’s Nest, Hitler’s mountaintop retreat in the Bavarian Alps – a place whose beauty contrasts sharply with the history associated with it.
After full days of sightseeing, the four often returned to their small apartment carved into the mountainside, sharing meals and stories from the day.
Like many travelers trying to pack light, they had planned to do laundry along the way. One evening, they discovered their Airbnb lacked the promised washing machine. So the four of them spent the evening washing clothes by hand and hanging them out the window to dry.
At one point James returned from a run to discover his clothes – including boxers and a favorite shirt – lying on the street below.
The result was a scramble – and a lot of laughter – as the family rushed to retrieve them.
The reunion may have been the reason for the journey, but the moments the four of them shared along the way – from historic battlefields to improvised laundry nights – are the memories that will stay with them the longest.
Editor’s note: See this story at thebuzzmagazines.com for tips from the Kimzey family plus a list of Shane’s recommended readings for historical context.
EUROPEAN HIGHLIGHTS Clockwise, from upper left: Hohensalzburg Fortress overlooking Salzburg, Austria; a quiet canal in the historic Norman town of Bayeux, France, near the cathedral and the famed Bayeux Tapestry museum; and the Kimzey family –James, Erin, Reagan, and Shane – visiting Claude Monet’s gardens at Giverny.
SportzBuzz SPORTS
. by Todd Freed, staff writer
It was history in the making for the Strake Jesuit Crusaders who finished in second place at the UIL 6A State Swimming and Diving Meet. While posting its highest finish in the team standings since joining the UIL in 2003, Strake Jesuit junior Jacob Bougaieff also became the first Crusaders swimmer to win an individual gold medal at the UIL State meet. Bougaieff captured the gold medal with his victory in the 100-yard breaststroke.
“That was really cool and special to see,” said Crusaders head coach Tim Keough. “It’s been over 20 years since we joined the UIL. We have some great kids that worked extremely hard and wanted to be successful.”
The Crusaders success was shared across multiple events with the foursome of Bougaieff, sophomore Jack Maddan, senior Michael Yuen, and junior Evan Halastaras teaming up to finish second in the 200-yard medley relay while also finishing third in the 400-yard freestyle relay. In addition, Bougaieff and Maddan finished second and third, respectively, in the 200-yard individual medley. Maddan also added a second individual bronze medal with his third-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke.
“This team had amazing leadership and commitment,” said Keough. “The best teams are the ones that are athlete-led and driven. It was a joy to be part of this historic team.”
For the second time in the last three years, the St. Thomas Eagles took hold of the TAPPS State Wrestling Championship. The Eagles won this year’s state title by a decisive 36-point margin over second-place Bay Area Christian. A total of 22 teams had advanced to the state championship meet. “This championship was dominant,” said St. Thomas wrestling coach Mike LeHolm. “From start to finish, our guys were just incredible.”
The Eagles placed in the top four in 10 of the 14 weight classes, with five St. Thomas wrestlers capturing gold medals. Four of those championship victories were as a result of pins, while the other was by a 15-point margin. “We virtually scored the maximum number of points,” added LeHolm.
The Eagles gold medal parade included victories by sophomore Pierce Ritchey (120 lbs.), sophomore Behzod Rakhmatov (126 lbs.), senior Jackson Vaughn (132 lbs.), junior Grant Hay (157 lbs.), and junior Jet Rank (166 lbs.).
In addition, senior Tucker Bayer (138 lbs.) and senior Italo Chavarria-Mendez (285 lbs.) were runner-up finishers while freshman Zac Salvatierra (113 lbs.) captured third place and junior Will Callahan (190 lbs.) and sophomore Eli Mensing (215 lbs.) were fourth-place finishers.
“It’s just a testament to how hard these guys have been working,” added LeHolm. “Everyone on our team contributed to this championship. I’m just proud of how they finished the fight.”
Withits 65-57 victory over rival Houston Christian in the SPC tournament final, the Kinkaid Falcons capped off a spectacular season by winning the SPC 4A Girls Basketball Championship. “It was just a great game with two really good teams going against each other,” said Falcons head coach Stacey Marshall. As it stood, the title game pitted a Kinkaid team ranked number one in the state in private school basketball against state number two ranked Houston Christian.
In rallying from an eight-point halftime deficit, the Falcons were led by a sensational game from Ma’ryiah Alfred, who scored 21 points in the championship final. For the season, Alfred averaged 19 points a game, while
Kinkaid’s Sydney Marshall, Lauren Hull, and Alex Gordon also averaged in double-digit scoring this season.
“We just had great depth on our roster that helped us all season,” said Marshall about a Kinkaid team that was ranked number one in the state from the pre-season all the way through the conclusion of the season. “Whenever you can get great talent to play as hard as our girls did, game in and game out, while playing for each other, it’s truly a special mix and a coach’s dream.”
For the season, the 30-5 Falcons average margin of victory was by an eye-popping 32 points a game, while securing a second straight SPC Championship and fifth title in the last nine seasons.
For Marshall, it’s also marked her eighth SPC Championship over her 20-year tenure with Kinkaid, where she’s posted a remarkable 536 career victories. “I’m blessed to have had a great staff of coaches and teams over the years, and it’s been a wonderful experience. I still love coming to practice every day and the games hold a special place to me,” added Marshall.
Editor’s note: Todd Freed is the host and executive producer of H-Town High School Sports, which airs Saturday at 10:30 p.m. on CW39 and Monday-Thursday on AT&T SportsNet SW. To submit high school sports news for possible inclusion in SportzBuzz, please email todd@thebuzzmagazines.com.
STATE CHAMPS The St. Thomas Eagles dominated the field en route to winning its second TAPPS State Wrestling Championship in the last three years.
Class of 2026
Graduating high school this year? We want to hear from you!
To be considered for our annual “Where are they headed?” feature, all you have to do is:
1. Fill out our survey at thebuzzmagazines.com/forms/featuring-new-grads
2. Email your senior picture and a kindergarten throwback picture to jordan@thebuzzmagazines.com
Deadline: April 24. Don’t miss it! Space is limited so please submit soon.
Kara Trail at Miroma Photography and Design
Gittings Photography
Gittings Photography
Michael Peavy – Texas State University
Grace Dholakia – The University of Texas at San Antonio
(A sampling of 2025 grads)
Emma Scudder – Southern Methodist University
Robert Edward Langston Satcher III – Harvard University
. by Annie Blaylock McQueen, staff writer
SportzBuzz Jr.
Welcome to SportzBuzz Jr., a column spotlighting neighborhood athletes in elementary and middle school.
Bubble Bandits
The fourth-grade West University Methodist Bubble Bandits closed out a memorable basketball season by winning the final championship game. Team members included (pictured, from left) Jack Magill, Ford Jackson, Davis Jackson, Sebi Garza, George Dols, Peter Eagleton, Roy Smith, Henry Shanahan, Grahm Polluck, and Austin Amolenda; not pictured: Edward Tschen According to their coach, Raj Amolenda (back row), the season was “about more than wins or losses” but about the way they came together as a team. Several of the boys have been part of the basketball program since they were five years old. Among the most memorable moments were players arriving at practice eager to share how they had worked on trap defense during recess at school at St. Vincent de Paul School, where many attend.
Making waves
The Pershing Middle School swim team, coached by Yasin Puertas, turned in a dominant performance at the recent HISD District 2 Middle School Championships. Daniel Gu led the way, breaking previous district records with two new HISD all-time bests. Among the standout moments, Gu won gold in the boys 100 individual medley with a time of 58.22 seconds and the 50 butterfly in 26.35 seconds. Zoe Cheng claimed gold in the girls 100 individual medley and 50 breaststroke, while Olivia Prouhet earned gold in the 200 freestyle and silver in the 100 freestyle. Zoe Bradshaw and Dean Wells each captured silver medals in the 50 freestyle. Noah Lazard contributed to the boys’ relay team’s silver medal in the 100 individual medley relay and a bronze medal in the 100 freestyle relay. Pictured (top row, from left) are Olivia Prouhet, Zoe Bradshaw, Maddy Melville, Dean Wells; (bottom row, from left) Noah Lazard, Alex Mahan, Daniel Gu, and Zoe Cheng.
Claiming the title
Congratulations to The Emery/Weiner School’s sixth grade basketball team, which captured the Greater Houston Athletic Conference Basketball Championship title. Pictured (front row, from left) are Jonah Rose, Geoffrey Friedman, Jack Colvin, Aaron Levy, Eden Mele, Asher Braun, Nico Hirsch, Isaac Capone, Charlie Bormaster; (back row, from left) coach Zach Fry, Drew Sorkin, Yalu Cohen, Jack Perry, and Oliver Stern
A number of the basketball players also competed together on the football team this past fall, clinching that championship title as well. They include Geoffrey Friedman, Jack Colvin, Aaron Levy, Eden Mele, Asher Braun, Nico Hirsch, Charlie Bormaster, Drew Sorkin, Jack Perry, and Oliver Stern.
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.
ENTERTAINMENT Event Roundup
by Jordan Magaziner Steinfeld, staff writer
April in Houston means Earth Day festivities, the legendary Art Car Parade, plus tons of springy happenings. Here’s a sampling of some Buzzworthy events happening this month:
Celebration Earth at HMNS
Throughout April
Houston Museum of Natural Science
General admission: $25/adults ages 12+; $16/children ages 3-11; free for infants ages 2 and under; separate tickets for Butterfly Center, Planetarium, and Theatre
HMNS hosts a variety of events and attractions celebrating Earth this month, including GAIA by Luke Jerram, a 23-foot diameter sculpture in the Grand Hall (on display from April 18-28); City Nature Challenge, which invites the community to record observances of plants, animals, or fungi (submit observations between April 24-27); and fun events such as Plant Bingo (April 2, 10, 17, and 24, 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., for 18+); Hummingbird Feeder (April 8-9, 1:30-3 p.m.); and Bookmark Planting Station (April 13-14, 10 a.m.-12 p.m.). See www.hmns.org/celebration-earth.
Green 6.2, The Greenest Race
Sat., April 4, 7-11 a.m.
CityCentre
$25/Kids + Family Fun Run; $50/5K; $60/10K
Join thousands of runners to celebrate Earth Week with Houston Running Co.
Jazzy Sundays in the Park
Sundays, April 5, 12, 19, 26, 5-7 p.m.
The Water Works in Buffalo Bayou Park Free
Every spring, Emancipation Park, Discovery Green, and Buffalo Bayou Park team up to present free jazz concerts. Bring your picnic blankets and lawn chairs to The Water Works in Buffalo Bayou Park Sundays in April for an afternoon of family-friendly live music.
Jazz & Juleps at Bayou Bend
Tues., April 7, 6-8 p.m.; last admission at 7 p.m.
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
$35/person
(includes a drink ticket and entry to the house and gardens. Additional drinks may be purchased.)
WHEN ANDY TOOK THE WHEEL The popular Houston Art Car Parade takes place Sat., April 11 downtown. Pictured: Andy the Sheepdog starred in the 2025 Houston Art Car Parade, taking the wheel of a 2004 BMW. Usually, Andy rides shotgun but owner Billy Cohn had converted the car into a radio remote-controlled vehicle, so Andy was in the driver's seat during the iconic Houston event.
Sip mint julep cocktails under an elegant Southern garden tent, and listen to live music by the Paul Chester Quartet. Take a twilight stroll through the Bayou Bend estate’s beautiful springtime gardens, relax on the Diana Terrace, and visit the first floor of Ima Hogg’s famous home.
Art Car Sneak Peek
Thurs., April 9, 6-9 p.m.
Discovery Green
Free
View more than 100 incredible art cars and meet the artists. This free, family-friendly event offers a first look at the art cars before the parade. There will be live music and hands-on art activities. Food and drinks available for purchase.
Art Car Ball
Fri., April 10, 6-11 p.m.
Downtown Houston
$50
The Art Car Ball features wild costumes, live music, interactive and performance art, food, drinks, and a huge selection of art cars.
Party at the Pavilion: Reverb Cartel
Fri., April 10, 7-9 p.m.
Bellaire Town Square
Free
PATRONS for Bellaire Parks and the City of Bellaire bring Party at the Pavilion, a free live music series, to the community. Enjoy rock ‘n’ roll from Reverb Cartel. Bring a chair or blanket and your own food and drinks.
30th Annual Bellaire Trolley Run
Sat., April 11, 7:30 a.m.
Bellaire Town Square
$28+
Join Bellaire neighbors for the annual Trolley
Run, including a 1-mile (adult and kid) run, 5K (timed and untimed), 5K stroller division (timed and untimed), and 5K wheelchair division (timed).
Team 27 Family Fun Run
Sat., April 11, 8 a.m.
Houston Sports Park
$15
Join Team 27 for the Dynamo and Dash Charities Fun Run presented by the Houston Marathon Foundation and Chevron. Team 27 benefits the Heaven’s 27 Foundation. Choose a one- or two-mile route and stay for the free festival afterward with soccer drills, bounce houses, STEM activities, and more. Registration includes a shirt, medal, free Dynamo or Dash ticket, and family-friendly fun. See @team27htx on Instagram.
39th Annual Houston Art Car Parade
Sat., April 11, festivities start at 11 a.m.; parade rolls at 2 p.m.
Along Allen Parkway and Smith Street
Free to attend; reserved seating is available for purchase
For the 39th year, 250 colorful, creative works of art on wheels will take over Houston as 300,000 fans cheer them on from the sidelines. The parade officially begins at the intersection of Dallas and Bagby Streets (on Allen Parkway) heading into Downtown before circling City Hall and heading outbound onto Allen Parkway out of Downtown until dispersing at Waugh Drive. Prior to the parade, the Kids Creative Zone will be open at Sam Houston Park, 11 a.m.2 p.m. The VIPit Party and Benefit takes place 12-4 p.m. at Hermann Square at City Hall.
2026 Tour de Houston
April 12, 8 a.m.
Starts and finishes at Discovery Green and Avenida Plaza in front of the George R. Brown
Convention Center
Tour de Houston, now in its 19th year, will feature a new route with three distance options (45 miles, 20 miles, or 10 miles) ideal for families, leisure riders, or cyclists training for the upcoming MS 150. The ride offers a unique way to view the city with bike rides winding through Houston’s historic neighborhoods, scenic districts, and parks. Riders can enjoy a post-ride party with music, free food, and drinks.
Spring Fling Festival
Sun., April 12, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
Nature Discovery Center
Free
Enjoy a fun family event with outdoor nature activities including arts and crafts and prairie and pond explorations. Bring your own picnic blanket to picnic with the animals on the front lawn and visit NDC’s ambassador animals. Play along with the North Harris County Dulcimer Society and visit with exhibitors and vendors like Texas Snakes and More and Mathnasium. Attendees can also tour the future site for the Enchanted Woods Nature Play Space & Classroom in the park.
The Park Ball: Gala in the Glades Thurs., April 16, 6:30-10 p.m.
Memorial Park, Clay Family Eastern Glades Lawn
Individual ticket: $1,000; see website for table pricing
Support and celebrate Memorial Park at its annual gala. The event supports the day-to-day care of Memorial Park, which includes 1,100 acres of urban forest, savanna, and prairie, and is home to hundreds of wildlife and plant species. Tickets include a seated dinner, open bar, and entertainment. Event honorees are Jim and Whitney Crane and the Astros Golf Foundation. Event chairs are Emily Clay and Bill Schneidau and Mary Kay and Brandt Bowden.
Houston Ballet Nutcracker Market SPRING Fri., April 17, 10 a.m.-7 p.m.; Sat., April 18, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sun., April 19, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. NRG Center
General admission: $20 (one-day admission only); children ages 2 and under are free
After a four-year hiatus, the Nutcracker Market SPRING will take place at NRG Center this month. Hosted by Houston Ballet, this vibrant shopping experience will feature nearly 150 merchants offering spring and summer essentials, seasonal décor, warm-weather apparel, accessories, gourmet treats, and oneof-a-kind gifts.
Memorial Villages Police Foundation's Food Truck Rodeo
Sat., April 18, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
Chapelwood UMC
Free
Memorial Villages Police Foundation presents the annual Memorial Villages Food Truck Rodeo, including a lineup of tasty eats from a variety of food trucks plus family-friendly activities such as karaoke, bull riding, inflatables, and more. Enjoy a fun day in support of Memorial Villages Police Department.
Evelyn’s Park Picnic in the Park Sat., April 18, 12-4 p.m.
Evelyn’s Park Free
Celebrate Earth Day and Evelyn’s Park’s ninth anniversary at the park’s annual Picnic in the Park. Grab your picnic blanket and join for an afternoon of family-friendly fun at the park. Enjoy live music, fitness classes, kids’ activities, treasure hunts, and more.
Great Age on the Green Fri., April 24, 12-5 p.m.
Discovery Green
Free; reserved runway seating will be available
The Great Age Movement, a nonprofit dedicated to activating and empowering seniors through dynamic wellness programming, is partnering with Discovery Green Conservancy to present the inaugural “Great Age on the Green” – a high-energy health and wellness music festival and fashion show. The family-friendly festival will include live performances, an intergenerational dance zone, a class led by the Houston Ballet, health talks from leading experts, and activities such as a putting green, bocce ball, shuffleboard, bingo, and hula hoop sessions.
Bellaire Arts and Crafts Festival Sat., April 25, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Paseo Park
Green Mountain Energy Earth Day
Sat., April 25, 12-5 p.m.
Discovery Green
Free
The Earth Day celebration at Discovery Green, themed “Our Power, Our Planet,” features community artists and projects including a fashion show, art installation, Houston recycled goods artist Glee Ryan, and a community art project by puppet-maker Dennis McNett of Wolfbat.
Planet Earth Celebration
Sat., April 26-Sun., April 27, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Space Center Houston
Included in general admission: $24.95-39.95; free for children under 4
Celebrate Planet Earth and learn about all we can do to conserve and preserve its natural resources. Space Center Houston’s annual Planet Earth Celebration includes fun and interactive activities and activations, including learning how to give your food waste a new life in the food lab; enjoy a special storytime; take home a tree from Trees for Houston; learn about recycling with City of Houston Recycling; and learn about marine mammals with Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network. Outdoor activities include games, chalk artists, a DJ, and pop-up science activities.
Editor’s note: Events are subject to change. See this article at thebuzzmagazines.com for links. Also, find more events at thebuzzmagazines.com/calendar and see our weekend roundup online every Friday.
Free Browse arts and crafts from local vendors at Paseo Park in Bellaire.
EARTH DAY Celebrate our Earth this month at festivities such as Green Mountain Energy Earth Day at Discovery Green. This year's event is themed “Our Power, Our Planet.”
Photo courtesy of Discovery Green
KIDS
by Rohan Sinha, age 10
Buzz Kidz
TDOING OUR PART TO SAVE THE WORLD
Rohan Sinha, a fifth grader at The Awty International School, is eco-delegate for his class. Here, he shares his thoughts about caring for the Earth.
Helping our planet one step at a time
his school year, I was elected eco-delegate for my class. I believe that the way we treat our planet is a big problem that needs to be solved. As eco-delegate, I have the responsibility of raising awareness about climate change and inspiring my classmates to make a positive impact on our environment. What sparked my enthusiasm was seeing photos and videos of what pollution and global warming can do to our planet. My teacher, Ms. Villamagna, showed my class a video about an island that was submerged completely due to rising sea levels.
I also learned that the CO2 (carbon dioxide) being produced by factories acts like one big blanket, trapping all the heat and causing temperatures to rise.
Due to all the plastic being thrown in the
ocean, creatures such as sea turtles are dying by choking on the plastic. I see that, because of our actions, the world is crumbling around us, and I want to help fight this. A few ways we can all help are:
1. Composting your food waste instead of throwing it away where it can go in the landfill and produce harmful gases.
2. At the grocery store, request paper bags instead of plastic bags whenever possible. Plastic bags can’t be recycled and are instead sent to landfills where they don’t biodegrade. Paper bags, on the other hand, are recyclable and break down much quicker. Of course, the best option is always to bring your own shopping bag!
3. If you live near a park with good soil or have a garden, you should plant trees. I know it
sounds generic, but plants absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen. Oxygen is the second most popular gas in the air we breathe (~21 percent) after nitrogen (~78 percent). There are also many nonprofits that hold events where you can plant saplings.
4. Lastly, turn off lights and do not turn them on when there is lots of sunlight in the room. Doing this can save both your electricity and the environment.
We need everyone’s help to make it count. Together, we can all work to make a change to save our Earth from the fate we have set for it.
Want to be a Buzz Kid? Email approximately 350 words, a high-resolution photo and caption to info@thebuzzmagazines.com.
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PETS Neighborhood Tails
Bindi Henry, age 5, Mini Bernedoodle, Goldsmith St.
If you ask me, I’m basically a celebrity. I don’t mean to brag (okay, I do) but everywhere we go, people stop us saying, “She’s so cute! Can I pet her?" I modestly accept their admiration. My humans act surprised, but I know the truth – I am the main event, and they are my entourage. At home, my main job is redistribution. Shoes belong in the living room, socks look better on the couch, and underwear deserves to be placed in high-traffic areas. I call it interior design. I’m also a world champion at tug-of-war. Once I grab the rope, I transform into a tiny, determined buffalo with victory inevitable because if they let go, I win. And if they don’t, I win. My other key job is barking at my food bowl. I love food (including the suspicious floor discoveries) and I would absolutely eat forever if unsupervised. But mostly, I’m soft, sweet, and cuddly. A famous, sock-stealing, snack-loving angel.
Got a cute critter? Email a picture of your pet with approximately 150 words to info@thebuzzmagazines.com.
Trustee duties to inform and to account
People make wills to leave their money to preferred friends and family. People add or create trusts to maintain control. With control comes duties and liabilities. Long after the will is probated and the decedent’s estate is settled, a lazy or ignorant trustee may be sued for an accounting.
The default rules look simple: a trustee must keep beneficiaries reasonably informed (the common law duty to inform), and beneficiaries can demand an account every 12 months (Section 113.151 of the Texas Trust Code). “Beneficiary” is broad, and includes the 18-year-old with a drinking problem, the third cousin twice removed, and the almost-not-quite ex-spouse. Minors can’t demand an accounting, but the guardian of their estate can, as can a deceased beneficiary’s executor. The trustee has 90 days to account before the beneficiary may file suit.
Texas allows you to modify some but not all the default rules. If the trust is revocable (a “living” trust), your trust instrument may waive the duties to inform and to account. If irrevocable, your trust instrument may waive those same duties to contingent beneficiaries and those younger than 25 (but not to then current or remainder beneficiaries). Laughing heirs don’t get information or accountings if your trust agreement or declaration says not; otherwise, they do.
The common law duty to inform doesn’t wait on a beneficiary’s demand. Unless expanded (or contracted) by the trust instrument, the trustee should promptly share the trust instrument and asset information with each beneficiary. Communicate major events, e.g., when the death of a parent makes the child a current rather than remainder beneficiary or when the trustee or
trustee’s contact information changes.
The statutory duty to account begins with a demand. The statute refers to “a written statement of accounts covering all transactions since the last accounting or since the creation of the trust, whichever is later.” The simplest account includes trust assets (beginning/end of the period), trust liabilities (beginning/end of the period), income and principal (received during the period), disbursements (made during the period), and a reconciliation. Federal income tax and trust distribution standards compel more complex accountings. An honest, accurate account starts a 4-year statute of limitations, after which beneficiary rights to revisit that particular account are extinguished.
Simply filing accurate income tax returns and retaining records is a great start. Tax season is a good time to collate account statements, real estate appraisals, and other support. A tax return isn’t an adequate accounting because it doesn’t include account balances, asset values, or non-deductible expenses. Best practice is to volunteer an account annually, but only to those beneficiaries actually entitled to demand one.
We write wills and go to probate court. Foreign nationals and international families welcome.
Russell W. Hall, Bellaire Probate, Attorneys at Law, 6750 West Loop S. Ste. 920, Bellaire, Texas 77401, 713.662.3853, bellaireprobate.com/blog
. by Angie Frederickson, staff writer
Buzz About Town
¡Viva la comunidad!
Rania Edlebi, María Moncada Alaoui, Rachel Regan, and Donae Chramosta (pictured, from left) joined a record crowd at The Podium for a kick-off party for the upcoming 2026 annual luncheon benefiting the Latin Women’s Initiative (LWI). Luncheon committee chair Julie Garza and LWI president Vicky Dominguez welcomed more than 200 supporters of women and children in the Latin community. Guests at The Podium enjoyed live entertainment, tasty bites, beverages, and models featuring looks from Tootsies. The 24th annual fashion show and luncheon, Viva la Comunidad, Viva la Moda, will be held May 1 at Hilton Americas-Houston and will honor María Moncada Alaoui. For ticket information, visit latinwomensinitiative.org/upcoming-events.
Finding hope
Event chairs Haresh and Sushma Yalamanchili and Julianne and Chris Kugle (pictured, from left) led a successful evening at the Hearts of Hope Dinner benefiting Bo’s Place. Supporters gathered at The Post Oak Hotel to raise funds for the nonprofit that offers free-of-charge grief-support services for chil-
dren, families, and adults in both English and Spanish. Special guest speaker Jonathan McComb shared his story of finding hope after tragedy when he lost his wife and children dur-
ing a flash flood in Wimberley, Texas in 2015. Hearts of Hope honored Dr. David Sandberg with the Robin Bush Award in recognition of his impact on children in the community. The award is named in memory of Robin Bush, daughter of President George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush, who died of leukemia when she was three years old. President and Mrs. Bush were early supporters of Bo’s Place.
Cancer-fighting champions
Sippi Khurana and Jenny Todd (pictured, from left) honored supporters of the American Cancer Society (ACS) at the third annual Champions Against Cancer celebration. The event recognized top supporters in a range of categories. Individuals honored at the event include: Chree Boydstun and Tripp Carter, Visionary Award; Kittsie Klaes Hance, Spirit of Service Award; Mari Gray, Mission Amplifier Award, Samantha-Anne Nadolny, Rising Star Award; and Briana Trevino, Employee of the Year Award. Keynote speaker James Gray, senior government relations director for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), spoke to the crowd about the state’s cancer research and prevention efforts. ACS board chair Leisa Holland-Nelson Bowman then announced the creation of the Robert F. Bowman Fund for Leukemia Research
in honor of her late husband, who passed following a five-month battle with acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
Sip and celebrate 60!
Birthday girl Karen Vine Fuller (pictured, second from right) celebrated her 60th at a birthday celebration that lasted 12 hours. Donning her signature bright-red lipstick, Karen kissed her 50s goodbye at a party hosted by childhood friends Shelley Hoge Schneider, Sandra Rohlfs Younger, and Kristen Nelson Lauro (pictured, from left, with Karen). Starting at 10 a.m., partygoers raised their glasses every 60 minutes for a toast to Karen. The party continued all day and night before wrapping up at 10 p.m. In addition to brunch and dinner, guests enjoyed a lipstick-mark-kissed cake and lip-shaped sugar cookies. Party favors included tubes of red lipstick, lip-shaped whistles, “Sip and Celebrate 60” cups, and swizzle sticks decorated with a photo of the guest-of-honor in a 60th birthday hat. A highlight of the party was Kinder HSPVA senior Braeden Payne leading the crowd with a “Happy Birthday” singalong while playing his tuba.
Dancing the night away
Nick and Beth Zdeblick, Beth Muecke, and Stacey Lindseth (pictured,
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Quy Tran
Jacob Power
from left) enjoyed the 2026 Houston Ballet Ball at the Wortham Theater Center. The event welcomed more than 500 black tie-clad guests and raised $1.6 million for Houston Ballet, led by executive director Sonja Kostich and artistic directors Stanton Welch AM and Julie Kent. This year’s event drew inspiration from Giselle, Stanton Welch AM’s reimagined interpretation of one of ballet’s classics that is scheduled for performance later this year. The evening was chaired by Christine and David M. Underwood, Jr., and honored Richard Flowers and Houston First. When guests entered the Wortham Theater Center, they were greeted by costumed dancers and a Giselle-themed photo op. Partygoers also enjoyed curated cocktails, silent auction items,
and a three-course gourmet meal. Members of the Houston Ballet Corps de Ballet and Houston Ballet Apprentices surprised the crowd with a performance set to the music of ABBA, choreographed by soloist Jacquelyn Long, before welcoming the crowd to the dance floor with live music by Stratosphere.
Leading education
Tiffany Cuellar Needham, Phoebe and Bobby Tudor, Doug Foshee, and Reginald and Paula DesRoches (pictured, from left) gathered at River Oaks Country Club to celebrate Teach for America (TFA) Houston. The 2026 Ignite Potential Luncheon welcomed more than 400 supporters and commemorated 35 years of efforts to impact and transform education across
Greater Houston. Chaired by Reginald and Paula DesRoches and Phoebe and Bobby Tudor and honoring Doug Foshee, the luncheon raised more than $850,000 to recruit and develop educators, strengthen partnerships with local schools, and encourage leadership in classrooms.
Greatest luncheon on earth
Holly Alvis, Meredith Johnson, Demi McCormack, Christina Greene McAllen, and Whitney Lawson (pictured, from left) celebrated at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo (HLSR) Trailblazers Luncheon. The Greatest Luncheon on Earth welcomed nearly 2,200 guests dressed in colorful fashions for the 26th annual Trailblazer Awards Luncheon and Fashion Show. The Saks Fifth Avenue show was produced by Lenny Matuszewski and Tamara Klosz Bonar. Crowds of supporters occupied both the second and fourth floor ballrooms at the Hilton Americas-Houston and honored six women who have provided a combined 157 years of service on 23 different Rodeo committees: Tammy Barrier, Lisa Blackwood, Beth Cardono, Wendy Lewis Armstrong, Jennifer Lowery, and Julie Sacco.
Mardi Gras comes to town
Amira Staller, Allison Leibman, Jennifer Haikin Zach, Lauren Sorkin, and Abby Ackerman (pictured, from left) joined more than 250 supporters for LEAD’s (Letting Everyone Achieve Dreams) sixth annual Mardi Gras event. The New Orleans-themed soiree was held at Le Tesserae and raised more than $350,000 for LEAD’s mentorship and leadership development programming. Chaired by Jennifer and Ron Zach, the celebration began at the door with music from the New Orleans Hustlers Brass Band. Cocktail hour featured a hidden speakeasy lounge with a fire performer, music from saxophonist Will Fortune, and hand-rolled cigars, followed by dinner and a live auction. The Children’s Fund was honored with the Visionary Partnership Award, accepted by the organization’s presidents
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Michelle Watson
Daniel Ortiz
Hung
Truong
Allison and Chuck Helms. After the formal program, supporters hit the dance floor to the music of Step Rideau & the Zydeco Outlaws.
Making waves
Gary Greenberg, Cindy Greenberg, Barb Bratter, Brad and Sharon Rauch, Barbara and Barry Lewis, and Karen and Buster Freedman (pictured, from left) joined fellow supporters at the Seven Acres Jewish Senior Care Services annual gala. Held at The Hilton AmericasHouston, Making Waves for a Better Home raised $1.7 million to support senior care and community programming. Chaired by Barb Bratter,
Karen and Buster Freedman, and Merav and Daniel Sternthal, the underwater fantasythemed event featured a live auction and magic show from award-winning magician Ben Jackson. Barbara and Barry Lewis and Sharon and Bradley Rauch received this year’s Joyce Proler Schechter Spirit of Life Award for their dedication to Seven Acres. The award was presented by Leslie Karpas, daughter of Joyce Proler Schechter
Shop with purpose
Susan Rosenbaum, Heidi Davis, Marissa Amar, and Rosa Zavala (pictured, from left) are preparing for The Houston Junior Forum’s
(HJF) fifth annual The City Market, a fundraising shopping event benefiting outreach programs across Houston. To celebrate HJF’s 80year anniversary, this year’s market is bigger and better than ever, featuring more than 75 curated vendors offering one-of-a-kind creations from boutique fashion and home décor to gourmet treats and artisan goods. Each purchase directly benefits HJF’s hallmark programming: College Scholarships, Community Grants, and the newest program, Daily Essentials – Everyday Confidence, which provides toiletry packages to women and senior adults. Shoppers can take advantage of additional experiences during the two-day event, including First Look Festivity, Opening Night Cocktail Buffet Dinner, Early Bird Shopping with Biscuits & Bagels, Retail Therapy Luncheon, and Decadent Dessert Bar. Join the fun on Thursday, April 9 and Friday, April 10 at the new location, Silver Street Studios at Sawyer Yards. For more information and ticket sales, visit thecitymkt.org/tickets.
Be seen in Buzz About Town. Send your high-res photos and community news to info@thebuzzmagazines.com. Items are published on a space-available basis. Also share your upcoming-event listings on thebuzzmagazines.com.
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Jessica Uresti
Daniel Ortiz
. by Andria Dilling, staff writer
Back Porch Crocs, Pajamas,
and Athleisure
Where did air travel dress codes go?
Remember when people dressed up to fly? If you were born before 2000, the answer is likely yes, and if you were born after 2000, the answer is likely no, but I’ve heard about it from my parents/grandparents
Used to be, travel clothes were a thing: Men wore jackets, women and girls wore skirts and dresses. But as air travel increased – there were 106 million air passengers in 1960 compared to 3.5 billion in 2015 – the dress code standard dropped.
Reasonable enough, right? Air travel is more common, less special, and therefore less deserving of our Sunday best. That coupled with the advent of super-cozy, but also good-looking knit travel sets and everyday athleisurewear, makes it easy to feel put-together and comfortable for a long day navigating terminals.
But as the Tampa International Airport recently pointed out, travel dress codes seem to have lost all semblance of a code. In February, the airport published a social media post that read: “We’ve seen enough. We’ve had enough…After successfully banning Crocs and giving everyone the amazing opportunity to experience the world’s first Crocs-free airports, it's time to take on an even larger crisis. Pajamas. At. The. Airport.…The madness stops today. The movement starts now.”
The post referred to a July post by the same airport that read: “The TSA will now let you keep your shoes on through security at TPA!!!!! Unless you’re wearing Crocs…you should take those off and throw them away.”
While airport officials confirmed that both posts were just for fun – neither Crocs nor PJs are banned – they struck a nerve and went viral. That’s probably because we have all seen a version of the passenger dressed in midriff-revealing, shoulder-baring leopard Lycra from which body parts are escaping on all sides (I saw this exact outfit last month in the San Antonio International Airport – aren’t they cold?!).
A friend who is a 28-year veteran flight attendant who made me promise not to use her name or her airline – We can’t talk badly about our passengers! – says she’s seen it all.
“I fly international a lot to vacation spots, and
the lack of undergar ments people feel the need for!” she says, remembering a recent trip to Cancun. “The whole plane is loaded and we’re waiting for one passenger. Finally, she gets there and she’s in a skin-tight white tshirt with zero bra and everything going to and fro. The whole plane is waiting, and I could see everyone’s head pop up as she walked down the aisle. You don’t want to sit next to that!”
In November, on the cusp of the holiday trav el season, US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy launched a “civility campaign” he calls “The Golden Age of Travel Starts with You.” His goal: to “restore courtesy and class to air travel” and to minimize bad behavior, which has increased 400 percent since 2019.
WHAT NOT TO WEAR – IN THE AIR Everyone has their own interpretation of appropriate travel attire.
“I will dress up to fly when they give me back my leg room…Short of that they’re lucky I’m wearing pants at all.”
“Ask yourself,” he says, “are you helping a pregnant woman or the elderly with placing their bags in the overhead bin? Are you dressing with respect? Are you keeping control of your children? Are you saying thank you to your flight attendants?”
It can be hard to be your best when government shutdowns are leaving TSA workers without pay, causing extra-long security lines that, as I write, are stretching outside the doors of Hobby. How can we stay calm and collected when airport officials are telling us to get to the airport four hours early?
“Tell you what,” one X user commented in response to the campaign. “You get the planes running on time, and we won’t dress to spend the night in the damn airport.” Another wrote,
My flight attendant friend says most people are respectful but, “there’s about a quarter who, whatever happened with them before they got on the plane, it’s our fault. I’m good about taking care of that type of behavior, but there are limits,” she says. “One time I was walking down the aisle and a passenger held out his hand with trash. So I held out my hand until I realized he was giving me his toenail clippings. I put his tray down calmly and said, ‘I’ll be back with a bag.’” Her passenger stories make up an entirely independent “Back Porch” that we’ll tell another day. But for the clothing? “The whole pajama thing,” she says, “isn’t just about air travel. It’s about some people just not caring. Or thinking a nude-colored unitard with nothing underneath is okay.”
