Clear Lake Chatter 1

Assistance League Holiday Tea Hostess Mavis Irvan shows off one of the hundreds of Santas decorating her home for Christmas. Beverly Braden, stops to chat with Patty Hoffman at the Assistance League Holiday Party. President-Elect Marie Keener, left, greets guests with Assistance League President Charlene Donovan at the Holiday Tea. Patty Southmayd chats with Assistance League Advisory Council member Jonathan Cottrell.

Assistance League celebrates another year of helping others

MARY ALYS CHERRY

ASSISTANCE LEAGUE members took time out to celebrate the season Dec. 6 at “Santa’s Wonderland Tea” after a year of work providing back-to-school clothing for some 2,000 students in Clear Creek, Friendswood, Dickinson, Deer Park, Texas City and Galveston ISDs, along with Odyssey Academy.

And what a celebration it was. Hostess Mavis Irvan invited everyone to walk around and see all the dozens and dozens of Santas decorating her home for Christmas. In fact, guests were asked to guess how many Santas were used in the Christmas decorations. Would you believe about 170? Rita Baldwin was the winner with the closest guess.

Bringing smiles to the faces of Melanie Lovuola,

Kathy Panneton, Elizabeth Arceneaux, Dawn Duncan, Lisa Holbrook, Linda Byrd, Badiha Nassar, Pam Cronk, Cindy Senger Lewis, Betty Walcott, Deb Karam, Deb Calacione, Priscilla Magnuson, Cathy Wolfe, Carole Eitzen, Becky Saavedra, Bev Braden, Barbara Weitenhagen, Susan McCoy, Carole Perry, Lorraine Cappell, Jayne Dannecker, Mary Pergande, Mary Young,

Elaine Rister and Jill Smitherman as they joined in the merriment.

Then, as they wandered about, many stopped to remember the bright smiles on the area students’ faces when they received their new school clothes through the league’s Operation School Bell. Smiles that made all their hard work worthwhile as Sandra

Sellers, Linda McCormack, Sarah Foulds, Darlene Snell, Ann Hammond, Clara Perry, Betty Walcott, Lynn Bell, Peggy Clause, Carolyn Hopkins, Patty Hoffman Buckner, Lori Johnson, Terry Overcash, Carol Base, Izella Dornell,

Shirley Lang and Jennifer Broddle will be quick to tell you.

Also joining them were two members of the Advisory Council – Jonathan Cottrell and Rita

Baldwin.

Mary Pergande, Izella Dornell and Lori Johnson, from left, join the crowd at the Assistance League Holiday Party.

Daughter follows in dad’s footsteps

THE FIRST American flight into space was by astronaut Alan Shepard aboard the Freedom 7 Mercury-Redstone 3 almost 60 years ago on May 5, 1961.

Now his eldest daughter, Laura Shepard Churchley, has also gone into space, taking along mementos from that first flight and his Apollo 14 moon visit on her flight aboard Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket on Saturday, Dec. 11, along with five other space travelers.

It was 50 miles and five minutes shorter than dad’s, but quite an adventure just the same.

“It was unreal,” said ABC Good Morning America cohost, Houston native and NFL Hall of Famer Michael Strahan, who was also aboard the New Shepard, which bears Laura’s family name.