Brazos 360 Winter 2021 Edition

INSIDE Shane Lechler’s path to recovery, James Huggins of Southwest Card World talks sports-card collecting, and take a peek at Deborah Cowman’s office treasures at the Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History

WINTER 2021 Amelia McCracken and Marie-Anne Mousseau-Holland of Women Entrepreneurs

‘EVERYBODY JUST WANTED A COMMUNITY’ Women Entrepreneurs group serves as a support system in the Brazos Valley

Inside

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EVENT CALENDAR

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Make plans for Santa’s Wonderland, “Elf: The Musical” and the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra performing “The Music of Queen.”

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360 PROFILE

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James Huggins of Southwest Card World discusses the ever-changing hobby of sports-card collecting.

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360 PROFILE How faith and family has helped the recovery process after H-E-B pharmacist Shane Lechler was hit by a car while trying to help another motorist.

COVER STORY

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Marie-Anne Mousseau-Holland and Amelia McCracken started Women Entrepreneurs as a support system to help those looking to start their own businesses in Bryan-College Station.

PARTY PICS

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Photos from the Surviving and Thriving luncheon, Dash for Down Syndrome at Wolf Pen Creek Park and the Brazos Valley Fair & Rodeo.

WHAT’S IN YOUR OFFICE? 28 Executive director Deborah Cowman has an abundance of artistic and personal treasures at the Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History.

THE LAST WORD

BRAZOS 360 | WINTER 2021

Ludo Studio

STAFF Crystal Dupré PUBLISHER

Rob Clark MANAGING EDITOR

Darren Benson EDITOR

Linda Brinkman ADVERTISING MANAGER

Michael Miller Cassie Stricker PHOTOGRAPHERS

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Taking a turn toward more positive entertainment, including goofy standup comedy, hopeful storytelling and the beauty of “Bluey.”

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ON THE COVER Amelia McCracken and Marie-Anne Mousseau-Holland of the Women Entrepreneurs support group. Photo by Cassie Stricker.

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Local EVENTS Event details are subject to change. Please check event websites for updated information.

CHRISTMAS IN THE PARK The College Station lights display will be on through Jan. 1 from 6 to 11 p.m.

Details: Stephen C. Beachy Central Park.

Free. cstx.gov.

HOLIDAY POPS CONCERT The Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra hosts its holiday event featuring the Brazos Valley Symphony Brass and Percussion, the Christ United Methodist Church Sanctuary Choir and Canticle Ringers, and the College Station High School Varsity Women’s Choir.

Details: Dec. 12 at 5 p.m. at Christ United Methodist Church. $20-$40. bvso.org.

‘ELF: THE MUSICAL’ The Theatre Company presents the musical based on the Will Ferrell Christmas film.

Details: Dec. 12-19 at The Theatre Company. $10-$20. theatrecompany.com.

THE MUSIC OF QUEEN The Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra teams up with a rock band to perform songs by the late Freddie Mercury and Queen. Expect the classics, including “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Killer Queen” and “We Are the Champions.”

Details: Jan. 30 at 5 p.m. at Rudder Auditorium. $65-$105. bvso.org.

ROMANTIC PIANO The Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra concert will include Faure’s Pavane in F-sharp minor, Op. 50 and Sibelius’ Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 43. Charles RichardHamelin, silver medalist at the International Chopin Piano Competition, will perform Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2.

Details: Feb. 27 at 5 p.m. at Rudder Auditorium. $20-$55. bvso.org.

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BRAZOS 360 | WINTER 2021

Eagle file photos

SANTA’S WONDERLAND The biggest Christmas attraction in the state features a lighted hayride tour (above), a horse and carriage tour, live music by the campfire (below), shops, food, games and activities.

Details: Open through Dec. 30. 18898 Texas 6. $40.95-$49.95. Petting zoo, pony rides and ice skating cost extra. santas-wonderland.com.

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James Huggins owns Southwest Card World in the Tower Point shopping center in College Station with his longtime friend Wes Kilcrease.

Riding the wave of sports-card collecting Story ROB CLARK

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recent boom in sports-card collecting has led many adults to dig into their closets, garages and attics to retrieve their old childhood collections.

Daydreams of a big payday can end quickly, however. James Huggins of Southwest Card World in College Station says he admires some of these older cards, but often has to bring customers back to reality.

“They come in with this stuff: ‘Hey man, I want to sell this,’” Huggins said. “They think in their minds — not thinking millions, but they think there’s hundreds if not thousands of dollars here. And I’m like, ‘I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I can give you 25 bucks for the whole thing.’ And they’re like, ‘What?’”

Huggins co-owns the card shop — which

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Photos CASSIE STRICKER

opened in April behind IHOP in the Tower Point shopping center — with his longtime friend Wes Kilcrease. They hail from Pineland, and both graduated from Texas A&M in the early ’90s.

During his A&M days, Huggins “fell in love” with the powerhouse 1989 Aggie baseball team, which led to later collecting Aggie standout Chuck Knoblauch’s cards.

He estimates at one point he had 500 Knoblauch cards.

“I always liked sports,” he said. “There really wasn’t money to be made in it. Back then, it was the collection, let’s see if we can complete this set.”

The hobby has evolved rather drastically in the past 20 years. The basic concepts still apply: Rookie cards for star players in baseball,

basketball and football are the most soughtafter, and autographed cards are worth more.

Cards from the 1950s and ’60s have high value, Huggins said. Not so much from the ’80s and early ’90s, or the “junk era” as Huggins calls it, because cards were so overproduced that even the best cards aren’t considered that rare. So if you’re among those attic diggers looking to sell your Roger Clemens or Kirby Puckett rookie cards, don’t expect to retire from the profits.

Cards have been upgraded from those days as well, going from basic cardboard to a flashy and glittery look. Some cards contain pieces of fabric from a player’s jersey, or an autograph, which sends prices higher. And they are produced in more limited numbers, Huggins said, making them more elusive.

For those buying and selling, cards are graded, with a perfect 10 as the most valuable.

“The grading changed everything,” store employee Kaden Scheer said. “People were able to calculate value of the card based on the condition, instead of just looking at it. ... People collect 10s — they want perfect cards. You can have a 10 of a crap player, and it’ll still sell for $30 or $40 just because it’s a 10.”

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic was another game-changer, Huggins said. People were stuck at home and looking to rekindle their connections to cards. There were no live sports on television for fans to watch, but there was stimulus check money in their pockets. Meanwhile, several NBA players — Zion Williamson, Ja Morant and Luka Doncic — had recently emerged, and their rookie cards were highly coveted, Huggins said.

As the value of those cards rose, people known as “flippers” started buying up boxes of cards at retail outlets like Walmart and Target, then selling them Southwest Card World has a variety of basketball, baseball and football cards for sale, along online for a huge profit, Huggins said. An example: with autographed baseballs (below) and Pokemon cards and collectibles (bottom photo).

Boxes of 2018-2019 Prizm cards sold for $40, Huggins said, but could contain a prized Doncic card.

A base level, 10-grade Doncic could sell for $1,400, Huggins said, and a 10-grade of the more rare silver version went for more than $4,000. So the resale price of a box skyrocketed.

“It reached the point where so many people, these flippers, they start stalking the distributor, following them on their route,” Huggins said. “It got crazy. You’d have a line of 30 people. I can show you pictures of people camped out: ‘Oh, the distributor’s going to be here at 7 a.m.’”

The market started to calm down in the spring, Huggins said. Walmart raised its prices, which cut down on the flippers’ profit margins. Target stopped selling sports and Pokemon cards altogether after a violent incident at a Wisconsin store.

“The prices are still much better than they were two or three years ago,” Huggins said. “The hobby is still in great shape. But at some point, we knew the bubble would burst, and it did.”

Southwest Card World does the bulk of its sales online through eBay and Facebook, Huggins said.

He and Kilcrease are aiming for the shop to attract families, and they put in three TVs to show sports events and programming.

“We wanted people to come in here, enjoy the game,” he said. “Kind of like ‘Cheers,’ but for cards.

We wanted a place where people can bring their families, their kids. I remember going with my brother — we’d go to the card shop with my dad. We wanted a place where people come in with their kids and bring back that memory from when they were kids.”

Huggins said his favorite part is meeting people who come in and want to talk about the hobby.

“Telling stories and hearing and seeing what they’ve got,” he said. “Educating people about the market. I enjoy being business partners with Wes, that’s a big plus. I’ve always been a big sports fan, so to have this is a good outlet for me to be able to do something that I love.”

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360 Profile

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BRAZOS 360 | WINTER 2021

SHANE AND JENNIFER LECHLER

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The path to recovery through faith and family Story ROB CLARK

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Photos MICHAEL MILLER

n Oct. 3, Shane Lechler offered a show that had been delayed for almost two Lechler saw were headlights and a Mercedes words of faith and encouragement in years because of the COVID-19 pandemic, emblem. a Facebook post: “If you do not know and was eagerly anticipated by his Dude “It just came so fast,” he said. “There was Jesus, message me, because you need to before Perfect-obsessed kids. nowhere to move.” your time is up.”

A rainstorm hit as they made the drive back The sedan struck Lechler at hip level, he This is not necessarily unusual for Lechler, home. Traffic was average, Lechler recalls, and said, lurching him onto the hood and then a devout Christian who attends Grace Bible people were driving normal speeds around 70 airborne. Lechler said that witnesses reported Church Creekside and has led Bible studies on mph. the impact threw him 30 yards.

Facebook.

In West, near the Czech Stop, the car In what Lechler chalks up as a moment only The timing, however, makes such a message in front of Lechler started to hydroplane, made possible by an adrenaline surge, he stood more notable, considering where Lechler was swerving back and forth. The driver lost up, hysterical. He pleaded with the others to just three days earlier: on his back, in a ditch control, and the car veered off the interstate go move his car, for fear it and his kids could off I-35 in West in the pouring rain. While and hit a blue food-and-gas informational be in the path of another hydroplaning car. A trying to help a fellow driver whose car had sign, Lechler said. man named James went to reassure the kids skidded off the road and hit a while Lechler returned to the sign, Lechler had been struck by ground. another car.

The kids had not seen the In those 72 hours of intense impact. James told them that pain and the procedures and their father “was bumped by difficulties that followed, a car” and they were going to Lechler, 42, and his wife, check him out. They were the Jennifer, 41, leaned on their right words, Lechler said, and faith. the children “didn’t really freak “God was working through out.” all those things,” he said in As Lechler lay in the raina November interview at his soaked grass, the pain started home. “To me, knowing that settling in, he said. He was he is the only thing that saves having trouble breathing. His us, and me for that matter, it muscles felt tight, like they were doesn’t seem fair for me not to constricting him. tell others about it who may not His phone was still in the car, Photo courtesy of Shane Lechler know. I think through this, it and the children tried to call Shane Lechler, Madison Lechler, Boston Lechler and Dave Reed attended may just be more of a platform Jennifer, and then Reed, who the Dude Perfect event on Sept. 30 at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth. for me to share and people to was about 10 miles ahead on the Lechler pulled off the road. “Hey,” he said to see.” road. Reed turned around to head back to the his kids, “I’m gonna go check on this person scene.

A long-awaited event and make sure they’re OK.” Lechler estimates he lay there for about 20 On the evening of Sept. 30, Lechler and “Seeing the car hit that sign, I was just minutes, while another man stood by him, two of his three children – Madison, 12, and genuinely concerned,” he said of the moment. holding an umbrella over him.

Boston, 9 – went to Dickies Arena in Fort “I need to call 911 or check on them at least.”

“I have no idea who he was,” he said. “I was Worth to see Dude Perfect, the trick-shotThe driver was shaken, Lechler said. She just holding onto his calf, squeezing his calf, comedy phenomenon made up of former and another man who stopped to help were because I was in pain.”

Texas A&M students. Lechler’s friend Dave examining the damage to the front of her car, Once in the ambulance, an EMT told Reed and his son, also named Dave, joined while Lechler examined the tires on the right Lechler he had to calm down so that he could them. side to see how deep they were in the mud, breathe.

Lechler — an H-E-B Tower Point and if they could pull the car onto the access “Right,” Lechler recalls thinking. “I’m pharmacist and an A&M graduate whose road. trying.” identity is often confused with the former Suddenly, another hydroplaning car came Continued on Page 10 A&M punter of the same name — said it was into view, careening off the interstate. All

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‘I don’t know how you got out of this’

Jennifer was at home in College Station, asleep. Her phone was on silent mode. In the ambulance, Shane was able to reach her father, who went to the Lechlers’ home to wake her.

In a strange twist, the Lechlers say the EMT told Shane — and Jennifer by phone — that Shane would probably get a muscle relaxer and be able to go home, perhaps because he had briefly stood after the impact. So as a friend drove Jennifer to the hospital, she didn’t think it was terribly serious.

“The way that it unfolded, it was probably God’s way of protecting me,” Jennifer said.

At the Baylor Scott & White Medical Center — Hillcrest in Waco, the doctors were concerned about internal bleeding. Lechler had “every type of X-ray,” he said, and a CT scan to check for head trauma. Because of this, he said, he had no pain medication for hours.

Jennifer said she was calm on arrival, based on the conversation with the EMT. She found Shane as he was being transferred from the emergency room to another department, and heard a nurse explaining the situation to another nurse.

“I just lost it,” she said. “That was the first time that I knew what had really happened and how serious it was.”

To the relief of all, there was no internal bleeding. But the injuries were significant: a broken pelvis, a broken rib, a broken right leg (fibula), a torn ACL and LCL on his right knee. His seventh thoracic spinal process was also broken, but just “the little part that hangs out the back,” Shane said, “not the internal part of the spinal cord.” Other injuries were more superficial — lacerations, swollen fingers and “tremendous bruising all over.”

The way the pelvis was fractured was fortunate, Shane said. The iliums — the big hip bones — were cracked, but the two pubis bones broke in a way that compacted them toward each other, jamming them, and almost fusing the two bones together. Shane said the doctor described that when people are hit by cars at the hip level, typically that area is crushed. But because of how the pubis bones came together, they essentially protected that area against any potential punctures that could cause internal bleeding.

“The doctor was like, ‘I don’t know how you got out of this,’” Shane said.

Shane talked with his children — Boston, Madison and 14-year-old Camden — by phone about the situation and told them that he would have to have surgery.

“They were frightened,” he recalls. “All I could do was convey to them that I would be OK, and people were taking good care of me.”

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BRAZOS 360 | WINTER 2021

Shane and Jennifer Lechler attend Grace Bible Church Creekside in College Station.

“It’s OK to cry, it’s OK to be sad,” Jennifer recalls telling the kids the day after surgery.

“I did tell them that a lot of people in this situation probably would have died instantly.”

Screws were put into Shane’s ilium bones, and a plate with screws was installed across his pubis bones. Leg surgery won’t happen until his pelvis has healed, which should be sometime in early 2022.

Post-surgery, the pelvis pain was immediately better, Shane said. It was only then that he started feeling the pain from his other injuries.

For the first 24-48 hours, Jennifer said she was “pretty numb,” and it took a few days to process what had happened and what they were dealing with.

“Finally, when he had been through surgery and come out of that, after two or three days, then I started waking up every morning, crying,” she said. “‘This is not a dream. This is really happening.’ Then I started thinking about what could have happened. It could have been so much worse.”

As news of the accident spread, the Lechlers’ family and friends sprang into action.

Jennifer’s sister flew in from Florida to take care of the kids and so Jennifer could stay with Shane in the hospital. Shane’s sister took over when Jennifer’s sister returned home.

Friends and members of Grace Bible Church Creekside helped with everything from meals to mowing the Lechlers’ lawn.

“We definitely felt loved and taken care of,” Shane said. “We knew we didn’t have to worry about what was going on at home. That was definitely comforting.”

Shane was transferred to the rehab unit for occupational therapy, to train him to use his upper body and to use a wheelchair. After several days, Shane and Jennifer were surprised to learn that they would be able to return home on Oct. 15.

Jennifer rushed home to see what alterations would be needed to help Shane get around.

Ramps were installed, a door was taken down, and a bed’s box springs were removed to bring it lower to the floor.

Shane had contact with the woman whose car hit the sign: “She said she was praying for me. She was super thankful that I stopped and was concerned for her. She felt horrible this had happened.”

The other main person on the scene — James — was not included as a witness in the report, so the Lechlers only know his first name.

“We kinda classified him as an angel,” Shane says. “He was the one who appeased my children and was talking with them and keeping them calm until my friend got there.

And then he kind of disappeared.”

The Lechler kids even received special well wishes. A friend of Shane’s roomed with Dude Perfect member Cory Cotton in college, and reached out to him after the accident. Cotton made a video directed to the kids: “I heard what happened to your dad, and I just want to tell you guys that I’m praying for you guys and so are the rest of the dudes. … Thank you guys for coming to the show, and I’m so sorry that that happened. I pray that your dad’s gonna do great and he’s gonna be OK. Love you guys.”

‘We could not do this on our own’

Returning home to College Station was a relief, the Lechlers said. Shane hadn’t seen the kids in more than two weeks.

“Just knowing we could all be together as a family, that was super important,” Jennifer says.

“I think it put everyone’s minds at ease.”

Shane and Jennifer say their children have stepped up to help Shane around the house, and have even cut down on typical youthful arguing. Shane’s limitations created new challenges, as Jennifer realized as the only remaining driver in the house.

“I learned really quickly to accept offers for help and for carpooling,” she said. “I always took our kids everywhere. That’s just something I wanted to do as their mom. I’ve learned how to rely on other people through this. That’s been the biggest lesson for me. We could not do this on our own.”

“The other side of that,” Shane added, “is it’s taught us how to serve others when they’re in the same situation.”

Jennifer is also a pharmacist, and took a break to be a stay-at-home mom. She had just started work at Baylor Scott & White three days before Shane’s accident. As Shane’s progress has continued, she has started to work part-time again.

Days for Shane are spent reading books

and the Bible, watching Netflix and sitting outside on the porch “like an old lady and watching the birds,” he says. He’s able to get into their car, so he’s able to attend church and see his kids’ games and performances.

He hopes to return to H-E-B early next year.

A pharmacist’s role requires many hours of standing, and Lechler said a transition could start with typing and data entry.

There are down moments, Shane says, especially if he can’t get comfortable at night, which leads to difficulty sleeping. And he says he’s frustrated when he feels like Jennifer has more than she should have to handle.

“All I’m doing is adding on to the stuff for her, and sometimes that upsets me,” he says.

“When I do get upset and talk to her about it, she’s like, ‘I’m glad I get to do this for you, because the opposite of that would be that you’re not here, and that would be so much harder.”

In troubled moments, Shane says he turns to prayer, and that their faith has had a major role in working through the difficulties of the situation. Shane points to his children not seeing the car’s actual impact as a “huge blessing,” along with the assistance of James, and how he used the right words to keep the kids calm.

“For me to be hit, there was a reason

I was hit,” Shane says. “There was also a reason that most people that get hit like that have all these internal complications which can eventually lead to death, or they die immediately from bleeding out. I was fused and saved in that manner, which was miraculous in itself. The surgeon even used the word ‘miraculous’ when he looked at the X-ray.

“Being hit by a car at 70 miles per hour or whatever it was — and my only issue was pelvic surgery and I get to come home 14 days later — is nothing short of a miracle in my opinion.”

Jennifer says the situation gave them some clarity on sharing their faith and pointing people toward God. “I think our part in this, and what God is leading us to, is to show people that not every day is going to be good, but he is good every day,” she says. “Sometimes things are going to be hard, but we can still choose to follow him and to love one another through this.

Sometimes it’s hard, but it’s something that we know is going to grow us in the long term.

It’s what we learn from it, and what we can share with others through our situation that’s more important than feeling bad for ourselves.

“Even though this is really hard, and there are going to be hard days, overall we’re just grateful. There’s so much to be thankful for.”

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Cover Story

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Members of Women Entrepreneurs gather for a monthly lunch event and a happy hour to discuss their businesses and to support each other.

AMELIA MCCRACKEN AND MARIE-ANNE MOUSSEAU-HOLLAND

Supporting women with an entrepreneurial spirit

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hat began as a Facebook page has grown into a support group for many women entrepreneurs in the Brazos Valley.

Marie-Anne Mousseau-Holland, 31, laid the groundwork for Women Entrepreneurs in 2018, when she realized the community of businesswomen she was trying to find did not exist. Amelia McCracken, 33, joined Mousseau-Holland to officially create the group in early 2019.

Women Entrepreneurs operates as a forprofit organization in which members get access to the support and resources of fellow members on the private Facebook page, along with invitations to members-only networking events and other business opportunities.

Members pay a $77 annual fee.

“I know people throw around the word ‘empowerment’ a lot,” McCracken said, “but it is really empowering to see how much people have been growing, and it’s just crazy to be able to say all these people are friends, like all these badass women.”

The organization’s events include monthly

Story CHELSEA KATZ

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Photos CASSIE STRICKER

networking lunches, dubbed the “lunch bunch.” Evening get-togethers to support each other when things might not be going right are called “bummer hour.”

“We resonated with other people because entrepreneurship is pretty lonely,” McCracken said. “Everybody just wanted a community.”

Getting started

Since 2018, Women Entrepreneurs has grown to nearly 2,000 people in the Facebook group. In that time, it has seen members expand their businesses and some move their operations out of their homes and into brickand-mortar stores.

At first it was just about supporting each other’s businesses, Mousseau-Holland said, but she found the “secret sauce” was meeting in person. The key, she said, is not selling to each other, but getting to know the other members, then supporting them as business owners and as women.

“Because I love Amelia, I will tell everyone about her,” Mousseau-Holland said. “I just think that’s a lot simpler.”

McCracken and Mousseau-Holland, both Texas A&M graduates, showed their entrepreneurial spirit as children. McCracken sold handmade jewelry at the end of her driveway when she was 10. MousseauHolland began by selling flip-flops with her brother and creating canvas bags in middle school.

McCracken, who was raised in Austin, opened a wedding business called You Name It before working at Messina Hof doing graphic design. She returned to entrepreneurship and opened Ment Marketing and Creative Services in 2018, where she combines marketing and graphic design with mentorship.

Mousseau-Holland, who was born in Montreal, Canada, and moved to Texas when she was 10, briefly operated a consignment store in San Antonio in college and worked in software development after college. She purchased First Adventures Daycare and Preschool in College Station, where her Continued on Page 14

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daughter, Lily, attended in 2017.

McCracken said she and many WE members have been told at some point to “get a real job,” and she enjoys seeing the group help people turn their small businesses into something much more than a “real job.”

Success stories

Kat Thompson, co-owner of Landscaping Ninja, said she has benefited from having a space to be with other women in business.

“There’s nothing else like that here,” Thompson, 31, said. “It’s nice to have that community because it’s so, so important. As entrepreneurs and being women, it’s a whole different world, especially for me personally and a couple of other of the women here.”

Thompson said she is among the members who own businesses in male-dominated industries: “It’s a whole different dynamic, and it’s nice to have other people that understand what it’s like to be a woman-owned business.”

McCracken said it was important to put their focus on women business owners because of the challenges they face that men typically do not, such as questions about how they will take care of their children.

One of the things that attracts women to the group, McCracken said, is how informal it is, saying one of the key tenets is “come as you are.” For some, this means arriving at an event in sweatpants. For others, it is an invitation to attend an event, no matter how they are feeling emotionally that day.

Kendra Villarreal, 39, was in the midst of opening the new location of her business — Kendra Renee Holistic Skin Nutrition & Expert Waxing in College Station — when she had a water leak that added stress and time to the process. So she was going to skip October’s lunch bunch event, but said she knew she needed to be around those who inspire and understand her.

“As a solopreneur, to have a community and have people that genuinely want you to succeed and want you to be the best that you can be, that’s what WE is to me,” she said.

Early on, Mousseau-Holland and McCracken tried to establish that the members are not in competition with each other, and that there is enough room for multiple people in the same type of business.

Kristin Strother, 31, real estate agent at TM5 Properties Group brokered by EXP Realty and social director of Women Entrepreneurs, said the organization helps “flip the script.”

“We get put against each other so much, or ‘Oh, it’s competition,’ and it’s just really neat to see us help each other,” she said.

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Kendra Villarreal credits Women Entrepreneurs with the growth of her skin and waxing business.

Support and encouragement

McCracken said the group includes people at all stages of entrepreneurship — some just thinking about starting a business and others who have years of experience — which allows people to learn from each other and see they are not alone in their struggles.

Thompson described entrepreneurship as “a roller coaster that’s on fire.”

“The first two years, it’s just crazy,” Mousseau-Holland said. “You’re learning everything, and you’re doing all that, so you just want to quit every other day. And then you’re so stressed that every little thing sets you over the edge and makes you want to quit.”

It is in those moments when the support can be crucial, she said.

When someone on the Facebook group says that they’re feeling down or thinking about closing their business, about 500 people comment in support, encouraging them to keep going and explaining why they should not give up, McCracken said.

That is one of the reasons behind the organization’s new mission statement: “Sometimes all you need to keep going is a single word of encouragement.”

Mousseau-Holland said she hopes the group can serve as a lifeline for those who are struggling, as it was for her.

In 2020, challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic forced some members to make the difficult decision to close their businesses, McCracken said, but they saw others get the support they needed to remain

open.

“When the feeling of pursuing your passion outweighs all the ups and downs and headaches and chaos, I think that’s when you know that you should be an entrepreneur,” Villarreal said.

Villarreal, who established her business in 2019, said Women Entrepreneurs is what has helped her establish and cultivate relationships in the community and grow her business.

“WE really is the fertilizer,” she said. “It, like, catapulted my business. After being here for the short amount of time, coming from out of state, not knowing anyone here, WE is the reason why my business has grown so much, and that I was able to open a new location. I mean, literally, that’s it. If it wasn’t for WE, my business would not be where it is today.”

Looking ahead

Mousseau-Holland said she would like to see Women Entrepreneurs grow beyond Bryan-College Station and become a resource for women entrepreneurs around the country.

“It’s super simple,” she said when it comes to expansion. “It’s a Facebook group and a monthly lunch bunch and a monthly happy hour. It’s three little things.”

The organization recently struck a deal with Post Oak Mall that will allow a small group of Women Entrepreneurs members to share a space there to showcase their businesses through the 2021 holidays.

For more information or to join Women Entrepreneurs, go to www. womenentrepreneurstexas.com.

The Barnhill Center

Everly Brothers Experience

Riders In The Sky Saturday Jan 22

by Zmed Brothers  Sat Sept 3

Nashville Songbook by Mandy Barnett  Sat Feb 5

Saturday September 24

Suzy Bogguss

An intimate musical experience in a beautifully-restored 1925 Vaudeville theatre.

Todd Oliver & His Talking Dog Friday February 18

Treat yourself to Season Tickets.

Reserve your favorite seats for all shows you attend.

The Doo Wop Project Saturday October 15

Tickets are great gifts !

Texas A & M Singing Cadets Thursday March 10

Michael Martin Murphey

Billy Joel Tribute by Brett Cline  Friday April 22

The Isaacs

Ronstadt Revue & John Beland  Friday May 21

Friday March 25

Friday April 8

Rumours: Fleetwood Mac Tribute  Saturday June 11

Radney Foster and Darden Smith  Sat Nov 5

Crystal Gayle

The Texas Tenors Christmas

Saturday June 25

Friday December 2

Aaron Barker, Allen Shamblin The Grand Ol Christmas Megan Linville  Friday Aug 12 Show  Saturday December 17

TheBarnhillCenter.com  979-337-7240  111 W. Main Street, Brenham  Box Office in Visitor Center THE EAGLE | BRAZOS360.COM

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We’re at our best when you are.

There’s no question everyone needs time to do the things they love. So we extended hours. Because we’re at our best when you can do what you love. To learn more, visit St-Joseph.org/Services/Primary-Care.

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BRAZOS 360 | WINTER 2021

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

The George Bush Presidential Library and Museum is pleased to be open again

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he George Bush Presidential Library and Museum is pleased to be open again and is looking forward to welcoming you! Admission tickets for the museum need to be purchased in advance on the library’s website, at bush41.org.

The Bush Library and Museum cares for more than 44 million pages of official documents and donated collections from George H.W. Bush’s presidency and throughout his public career, as well as more than 60,000 artifacts and an extensive audiovisual collection. Many of these papers and artifacts are on display in the museum and are accessible to researchers. While telling the story of the 41st president, the museum covers several aspects of U.S. and world history for the past 100 years. In addition to the main galleries, the museum features changing temporary exhibits that highlight various aspects of President Bush’s life and career. Due to the many things that happened during his long life of public service, the Bush Library and Museum is able to cover a wide variety of topics.

For the newest focus exhibit, the Bush Library and Museum partnered with Texas A&M University to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Texas Sea Grant College Program. Texas Sea Grant: 50 Years of Science and Stewardship explores the rich history of the Texas coast and how the university has supported the shoreland and its people through cutting-edge research and innovative outreach and educational programs. From maintaining healthy coastal ecosystems to aiding sustainable fisheries to promoting resilient communities, Texas Sea Grant has helped Texans protect and enhance the unique, culturally significant, and economically important resources of Texas’ coastal marine environments. The Texas Sea Grant exhibit will be on display in the Ansary Gallery of American History through July 5, 2022.

Additionally, the Bush Library and Museum is proud to feature Oceans of Plastic, a strangely beautiful collection of art made from plastic waste acquired from beaches along the Texas Gulf Coast. Artist and

beachcomber Shelia Rogers began collecting discarded plastic and then transformed it into vibrant works of art to bring awareness to the true impact of plastics on our wildlife and marine ecosystems.

A third exhibit, George Bush: An Environmental President outlines President Bush’s environmental initiatives and legislation, including the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendment, which many experts contend is the most significant piece of environmental legislation of the 20th century. Other acts featured are the Everglades National Park Expansion Act, the National Environmental Education Act, and the Antarctic Protection Act, among others. Visitors will hear President Bush’s thoughts on the environment in his own words, and they will discover a selection of environmental-related artifacts from the collections of the Bush Library and Museum.

These temporary exhibits will be on display until July 5, 2022. For more information or to purchase your tickets, visit bush41.org

To purchase tickets or for more information, visit Bush41.org.

follow us @Bush41Library

1000 George Bush Drive West

979.691.4000

come visit us!

THE EAGLE | BRAZOS360.COM

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FALL FASHION PREVIEW Brazos 360’s seasonal guide to a more stylish you!

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BRAZOS 360 | WINTER 2021

SEE STORE FOR PRICING

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BRAZOS 360 | WINTER 2021

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SURVIVING AND THRIVING LUNCHEON COLLEGE STATION HILTON • SEPT. 30, 2021

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razos Valley’s Pink Alliance held its 18th annual Surviving and Thriving Luncheon at the College Station Hilton on Sept. 30. The keynote speaker was breast cancer survivor Lori Allen, star of the reality show “Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta.”

The event is a fundraiser to support efforts to advocate for breast cancer awareness and support patients.

Photos by Michael Miller

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BRAZOS 360 | WINTER 2021

LOWER LEFT: Leanne Drgac, Marian Rose Varisco, Paula Russell, Tracy Kyle, Teresa Horn, Amber Cox and Lisa David. BOTTOM LEFT: Laura Jakubik, Gina Rowe, Cherrie Pullium, Shirley Davidson, Nancy Fahrenwald, Sharon Dormire, Patty Rabel and Kala McCain. BELOW: Heather Bush and Melinda Gandrud. BELOW MIDDLE: Dedra Neville, Sarah Curylo and Holly Shive. BOTTOM RIGHT: Marci Jackson, Kimberly Nelson and Deborah Cowman.

TOP LEFT: Kelli Linza, Angela Vasquez and Susan Ballabina. TOP RIGHT: Bailee Osina, Alexandra French, Jenna Butler and Cate Steel. 2ND LEFT: Ruth Vincent, Mary Armstrong and Georgia Hogan. 2ND RIGHT: Debbie Brown and Yvonne Mol. LEFT: Mary Ann McLoud and Judy Edwards. ABOVE: Cheryl Anderholm and Teri Czachowski.

THE EAGLE | BRAZOS360.COM

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DASH FOR DOWN SYNDROME WOLF PEN CREEK • OCT. 3, 2021

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he Down Syndrome Association of Brazos Valley hosted the Dash for Down Syndrome awareness walk on Oct. 3 in Wolf Pen Creek Park in College Station. The event included games, activities, entertainment and food.

Photos by Michael Miller

TOP LEFT: Jason Goodman, Tucker Saegert, Nowlan Savage, Elizabeth Savage, Kimberly Gaines, Madeline Gaines (baby), Kenny Saegert, Jack Gaines and Charla Saegert. BOTTOM LEFT: Toni Theiss, Daniel Theiss, Lakeyn Theiss (front) and Bryce Lide. TOP RIGHT: Cadence Shive, Kara Shive, Janita Johnson, Shelton Johnson (back), Rowdy Johnson and Taryn Savage. 2ND RIGHT: Michelle Wooldridge, Adeline Simmons and Hannah Cheney. 3RD RIGHT: Andrea Mikeal, Bentley Mikeal, Briar Hathaway and Judy McLeod. ABOVE RIGHT: Joe Kirby, Kaylee Kirby and Marcy Kirby.

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BRAZOS 360 | WINTER 2021

TOP LEFT: Clare Birdsall, Kassy Reyes, Samantha Bourque, Jacob Zapalac and Alec Francis. TOP RIGHT: Jordan Ellison, Becca Tillery and Parker Agunbiade. LEFT: Gabby Lloyd, Peggy Zapalac, Michelle Zapalac, Allison Dohrman and Doug Dohrman. LEFT MIDDLE: Donnie Calhoun, Wendy Erdman and Belinda Mikeal. LEFT BOTTOM: Huck (dog), Scooter Brownlee, Cynthia Benner, Caleb Benner and Carl Benner. BELOW: De’Angela Vazquez, Ericka Vazquez, Carlos Vazquez, Valeria Vazquez (front), Crispin Vazquez, Yaritzi Vazquez and Johan Vazquez. BOTTOM RIGHT: Randi McAleese and Madee Hodges.

THE EAGLE | BRAZOS360.COM

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BRAZOS VALLEY

FAIR & RODEO BRAZOS COUNTY EXPO • OCT. 24, 2021

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he 10th Brazos Valley Fair and Rodeo included a carnival, rodeo, musical entertainment, livestock shows, vendors and more from Oct. 16-24 at the Brazos County Expo in Bryan. Funds raised from the fair are used for youth scholarships. The 2022 fair is set for Oct. 15-23.

Photos by Michael Miller

TOP LEFT: Amber Stone, Alison Stone, Tyler Stone and Aiden Stone.

BOTTOM LEFT: Richard and Rachel Squires. TOP RIGHT: Chene Kuhn, Ashley Miles and Jake Zamora. LEFT MIDDLE: Kyle and Kayden Cunningham. RIGHT MIDDLE: Michael Leveroni, Sarah Leveroni, Olivia Leveroni (on shoulders) and Sophie Leveroni (in stroller). ABOVE: Sophia Lara and Ariel Ruiz.

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BRAZOS 360 | WINTER 2021

RIGHT: Abigail Metsch, Caleb Britt and Ashley Douthitt.

FAR RIGHT: Daniel Cortez, Alejandra Cortez and Daniel Cortez Jr.

FAR LEFT: Kim Harriel, Kassidy Harriel and Shelvonna Harriel. LEFT: Pfc. Julian Villanueva, and Staff Sgt. Nicholas Cordoba.

ABOVE: Fabiola Sanchez and Jose Santana. RIGHT: Johnny Myers, Susan Myers and Justus Myers. FAR RIGHT: Amber Mahi, Sophia Mahi, Ryan Mahi, Malook Dugg and Jordan Dugg

THE EAGLE | BRAZOS360.COM

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What’s in your

OFFICE? DEBORAH COWMAN Executive director, Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History

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eborah Cowman takes the concept of being active seriously at her office at the Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History.

The museum’s executive director has a treadmill that leads to a stand-up desk. So when she’s working on her computer, a lot of the time she’s also walking.

“It keeps me more alert,” she says. “I get more tired if I sit a lot. You need to get up and move. I rarely call my staff, I just go wherever they are. I’m getting older, I have to keep moving. Use it or lose it. So it’s part of my goal to be healthy.”

Born in Panama and raised in Iowa, Cowman came to Texas to work at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. She attended Texas A&M to get her master’s degree and doctorate in wildlife and fisheries sciences with an emphasis on eco-toxicology.

Cowman joined the museum in 2008, and describes her role as a mixture of fundraising, grant writing, networking, marketing and research. She calls her office “very eclectic,” thanks in part to the influence of her father (part Cherokee) and her mother (part Central American Indian).

The museum aims to educate, motivate and inspire, she says.

“I think the best part of my job is to see that light bulb go on in a kid’s face when they come in the gallery with their parents, or they’re in one of our classes,” she says. “Because we’re celebrating our 60th anniversary this year, we have people come back who are now professional scientists, or who have gone into the museum field, tell us they got their start here. This was the place that turned them on. That’s what really motivates me to preserve what we have for future generations.”

Story ROB CLARK | Photos CASSIE STRICKER

This is my daughter, Erika M. Nealey. She’s my only biological child. She went to Allen Academy, and she was accepted into Harvard, and she graduated Harvard with honors. For our family, neither one of my parents went to college. My dad worked really hard and became a research engineer without the degree, but it was really tough. I took my mom — my father had already passed away ... my mom and I went to take her to Harvard. It was this huge moment for our family. ... I’m very proud of her. She’s now a radiologist, she’s a full partner in a radiology group in the Seattle area.

She’s a mom and has two beautiful daughters.

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BRAZOS 360 | WINTER 2021

This Acoma Pueblo pottery is a signed piece that a native friend of mine gave me. The hand-etched detail work is stunning and includes etchings of a bear and a deer. It holds a variety of feathers along with my turtle medicine rattle. To me, the turtle shell rattle symbolizes the healthy rhythms of Earth, a way to keep the proper beat in healing ceremonies. Turtles represent steadfast strength and are often depicted as carrying the world on their backs.

The focus piece in my office is this. This is a piece that was done

by Frank Howell, a very famous artist. He’s passed away now, but he was in the Santa Fe area. One of his trademarks was that he liked to paint a lot of Native American women. So often you’ll see the subject matter is more of the men, but he did women.

This is actually a serigraph. This is called “Eagle’s Path.” When I was a graduate student I happened to run across this in a book.

It so inspired me, because to me, she’s got a goal. You see her clenched fist. But you see the eagle’s feathers growing out of her arm? Those to me represent truth, honor and courage. So she is going to reach her goal with truth, honor and courage. She’s on the eagle’s path.

My first mentor and real museum mentor was Dr. Richard Baldauf of the Houston Museum of Natural Science. He had also been the head of the wildlife department for a time at A&M. He was the first president of the board of this museum. It’s kind of interesting how it came full circle. He told me so many stories about this museum, and at the time I never really thought I would end up working here. It just kind of happened. I’m really glad it did. … When he passed away I was able to establish a scholarship in his honor, get it endowed. We were able to raise $25,000 to establish a scholarship for graduate students in the wildlife department in his name. … I just really wanted his name to live on at A&M because he inspired so many students, people like me. He used to tell me when I started working for him, he said, “You really need to go back to school.”

I said, “But I have a degree in music!” He basically believed in me before I believed in myself. I think everybody needs someone like that.

One of the other things that is very meaningful for me in this office is this shield. My husband [Donald R. Clark Jr.] created it; he’s not Native American but loves Native American art. He’s very good at bead and leather work, flint knapping and wood and bone carving. He made the frame from black willow he cut himself and dried in a circle, and stretched and shaped bovine rawhide over it. He painted the shield with acrylic paints, and added decorative items using glass seed and pony beads, trade cloth, deer antler, painted turkey feathers to look like eagle feathers, imitation bear claws, artificial sinew, buckskin thong, cow bone and abalone shell. It was patterned after one he saw in a museum. By putting the black bear on his shield, the warrior received the bear’s attributes in battle. The design depicts the bear at the entrance of its den, protecting its young. Wavy lines represent approaching bullets. The warrior’s personal medicine bundle is attached. Eagle feathers represent battle honors.

I had an intern who was one of the best interns that I ever had. I always like to tell interns little things that you don’t read in books about work and things in general. I didn’t realize that when I would tell her things, she would go home at the end of the day and she wrote them all out. Every single thing that I said, like they were pearls of wisdom, she said. Then when she was leaving, she typed them all out and put them in here like fortune cookie things. She said, “You know Dr. Cowman, if you’re ever having a bad day, I want you to just reach in and pick out one of your sayings.” Like this [pulls out a slip of paper] — she said I said this, I don’t remember: “It’s not what’s behind you or before you, it’s what’s inside you that counts.” I still cry when I open this up. I love her so much, and I still keep in touch with her.

There’s a large Asian population in Panama. When I grew up, our house was full of Buddhas and Asian things. My mother belongs to a Protestant church, but she even had a little Buddha on her keychain. I love Buddhas. I’m not really a Buddhist but I like Buddhist philosophy. It fits very well with the Cherokee philosophy. My favorite Buddha that I have in my office is this one. I got this in France. It’s a bell. It’s the four faces. I would joke with my staff, “If you come in my office and he’s turned like that [to the stern face], beware.” [Laughs.] No, I’d never turn him like that.

This is probably my favorite one. I like the gentleness and the kindness in that philosophy.

THE EAGLE | BRAZOS360.COM

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I

POWER OF POSITIVITY A cure for the TV blues: turning off the politics

t can take time to realize when we have developed bad habits. Earlier this year, it hit me that I spent far too much time watching political programming on cable news networks each weeknight.

While keeping up with the news is of course important, these shows have grown awfully toxic over the years, just as politics has as a whole.

It’s across the board, from left to right, and I finally decided that these shows were causing me more harm ROB CLARK rob.clark@ than good. theeagle.com There are more positive ways to spend your time, as I learned by turning to these three fine examples.

Part II: The Hopeful

All kinds of accolades have been heaped upon “Ted Lasso,” the Jason Sudeikis-led soccer comedy on Apple TV+. All are welldeserved. It may be the ideal show, with a rare blend of hope, heart and humor.

There are certainly mature elements of the show, but then an adult comedy can’t just be Biz Markie references, tea disses and mustache jokes. And there are hokey moments that border on mawkish, like when Rebecca asked Ted if he believes in ghosts: “I do. But more importantly, I think they need to believe in themselves.” (Come on.)

But that’s a minor quibble. The writing is actually brilliant, the casting is inspired and you’re instantly invested in the personalities.

It’s unusual to actively root for so many fictional characters, but it’s inevitable when they are as appealing as Ted, Rebecca, Roy, Keeley, Sam, Higgins, Coach Beard and even Trent Crimm … The Independent.

The only real negative is waiting for the next season to come around.

The lesson: Hope can be hard to come by, and inspiration can be even more elusive. I’ll take it where I can get it.

Part III: The Sweet

It’s rare as a parent to find children’s programming that you can actually tolerate.

My family has enjoyed “Yo Gabba Gabba,” “Wonder Pets” and “Peppa Pig,” along with the longtime champ, “Sesame Street.” ( Just about everything else is pure agony to sit through, so here’s to small victories.)

I heard a buzz about a Disney Junior show earlier this year but knew nothing about it. So I turned it on one day with my kids. That was the day we fell in love with “Bluey.”

For the uninitiated, it’s an 8-minute Australian animated show about a family of blue and red heeler dogs. What’s remarkable is how much they cram into those 8 minutes.

First, it’s funny, and not just for the kids. Any appearance by “the Grannies” will bring some hearty chuckles. (“I slipped on my beans!”)

It’s relatable for parents, watching father Bandit and mother Chilli deal with mundane Part I: The Goofy home tasks (laundry, toilet-plunging, ovenThere is something charming about cleaning). They are terrific parents, devoted to comedians who don’t need to curse to be their highly imaginative kids Bluey and Bingo. funny. Jim Gaffigan, Nate Bargatze and Bandit’s creative role-playing may even Jerry Seinfeld come to mind. My favorite of make fathers feel a bit inferior. He’s a lot to the clean bunch is Brian Regan, who I have live up to. enjoyed ever since the late ’80s Where “Bluey” really hooks you on MTV’s “Half Hour Comedy is in its gentle moments. Several Hour.” episodes are so expertly done Endlessly silly and capable of that tears of appreciation are a absurd facial contortions, Regan is real possibility, like with Bingo’s consistently funny and yet terribly gorgeous dream in “Sleepytime,” a underrated. long-lost friend returning to Bluey If you’re in need of a giggle, in “Camping,” and Chilli’s father’s search online for his bits on the wistful recognition of how quickly gap between manslaughter and time passes in “Granddad.” loitering, a trip to the emergency It’s 8 minutes of perfection. My room and walking on the moon. wife and I have found ourselves Ludo Studio His latest Netflix special, “On the watching it even when the kids Rocks,” is full of laugh-out-loud aren’t around. moments, including his breakdown The lesson: Lots of shows focus on of the differences in “itty bitty,” how important family really is, but “teeny weeny” and “teensy weensy.” few do it as well as “Bluey.” I can’t Most of all, the explanation of his recommend it enough. disdain for raisins made me howl.

The next time you find yourself And multiple viewings later, it still in the gross cable-news muck of does. politicians on the attack and pundits The lesson: Nothing could be pushing an agenda, consider some further from venomous politics than alternatives. raisin-based comedy. Goofy is good, Apple TV+ via AP AP photo Aim for something that feels good. and it helps us to not take ourselves Top: The animated family in “Bluey.” Above left, comedian Brian Regan.

Maybe something goofy, something Above right: Jason Sudeikis in the title role of “Ted Lasso.” so seriously. hopeful, something sweet.

THE EAGLE | BRAZOS360.COM

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HAPPY HOLIDAYS

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