Lifestyle Magazine

www.iowacolonytx.gov/

Department Phone

Department of Community Development

281-369-2471

Community Development handles permitting, platting, inspections, and engineering.

Department of Finance

Department of Public Works

281-369-2471

281-369-2471

The Department of Public Works is responsible for keeping all city assets and facilities in a state of good repair. Public Works contains streets and sidewalks, parks, municipal buildings, and right-of-way maintainance.

Municipal Court

281-369-2471

Municipal Courts are the judicial branch of city government. In addition, the Municipal Court is part of the state judicial system. Municipal Courts hear Class C Misdemeanor criminal cases, including traffic violations, for which the maximum fine, upon conviction, does not exceed $500, and for which no jail sentence may be assessed. They also hear cases involving violation of city ordinances, which may have fines up to $2,000 for certain offenses.

Office of the City Manager

Office of the City Secretary

281-369-2471

346-395-4526

The City Secretary is the clerk of the City serving as a link between the citizens and the City organization. The City Secretary’s office is committed to providing excellent customer service to the public in a timely, professional and efficient manner.

Responsibilities: Provides all pertinent information for City Council meetings; Custodian of all official records of the City, including agendas, minutes, agreements, ordinances, resolutions and contracts; Maintains the City Seal and attests official documents; Oversees City elections; Provides the public with information in accordance with the Texas Public Information Act; Administers the oath of office to new City employees and officials; Publication of legal notices

Parks

Iowa Colony City Park • 4003 Meridiana Parkway (Next to Meridiana Elementary School) City Hall Park • 12003 Iowa Colony Blvd (Behind City Hall)

Police Department

Mosquito Spraying

281-369-3444

Requests for mosquito spraying can be made online with Brazoria County Mosquito Control.

CONTENTS

~ Cover Story ~

Page 5

Meridiana Elementary School invited grandparents and students to come together in a fun night of Bingo and refreshments.

~ Junior High Night ~

Page 9

Iowa Colony High School hosted Jackie Doucet Caffey Junior High School in a special night just for them.

~ Day Trip ~

Page 11

Plan for the upcoming long weekend breaks and holiday breaks with a Day Trip to the Fort Worth Botanic Garden.

~ Know Your City ~

Page 14

Iowa Colony City Council and Planning Committee meetings.

In this publication, opinions are expressions of those whose name appears with the article and may or may not reflect the opinions of The Alvin Sun & Alvin Advertiser.

Fun Night Of Bingo

Grandparents Invited

Meridiana Elementary School put on a celebration in honor of Grandparents Day on September 7, 2023 in the school cafeteria.

Students and their grandparents were invited to attend for a family night. Each were given Bingo cards and markers so they could all join in with the fun.

Snacks and drinks were also an enjoyable part of the festivities.

“Protecting Your Home & Family Since 1959”

Roaches, Termites, Ants, Wasps, Bee’s, Silverfish, Rats, Mice, Bed Bugs, Fleas, Ticks, Birds, Squirrels & more.

School Breaks & Holidays

for the remainder of 2023

Plan for the upcoming school breaks and holidays

• Register NOW for the Kid FishFest (Event Oct 21)

Sponsored by Brazoria County Parks Dept (see their ad on Page 12

Day Trip Suggestion (see Page 11)

Amos 3:3: “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?”

Amos is a type and shadow of our Lord Jesus Christ in the scripture.

He was a working man from humble origins. He was a shepherd and a husbandman. Amos was not recognized or sent by man to prophesy, neither was he anointed by a man. But, God anointed, recognized, and sent him to be a prophet to his people.

He gave his message through illustrations to the people. What was his message? Repent and prepare to meet your God.

Jesus was that prophet, anointed by God to preach the acceptable year of the Lord’s favor. He came from humble origins and was not recognized or anointed by men. He taught men through parables, illustrating God’s truths to them that would hear Him. God sent Him with the message to repent for the

Can You Walk With God?

Kingdom of God was at hand.

Amos was a prophet during a time when Israel’s relationship with God was at an all time low. Through their abundant prosperity, they had forgotten and forsaken God. They had become consumed with lust and greed, and coveted the world’s goods more and more.

They kept up an assemblance of spirituality, but tainted it with the convenience of men’s doctrines, pagan places, and pagan practices. In the distance that this false worship created, they began to become unthankful and unholy. Because they did not regard God, they became hardened also to their fellow man, the poor, and the stranger.

Because they refused to repent and return to the Lord, God delivered them over to their own way of thinking. They began to pervert all God’s ways. First, a sexual revolution, then a homosexual revolution, and finally a reprobate mind. In the forsaking of God and pursuit of pleasure, they began to selfdestruct as individuals and as a nation.

Does any of this ring a bell America? The natural outcome of a nation’s self-destruction is to become vulnerable to their enemies and eventually overthrown.

Can you walk with God without agreement? Of Course Not, what a silly notion. Our walk with God is contingent on our ability to agree with Him and follow Him. When we disagree, we begin to walk away from God. This creates distance that brings conviction.

If ignored, God will release a person to his or her depraved mind, to eat the fruit of their

ways. If this does not lead to their repentance, God will destroy them in His judgment at the last day.

There is no fellowship without agreement. We have all had disagreements that broke fellowship between us and others. To walk with God, we must agree with Him as Lord and Savior. He will not condescend to agree with you. That is where so many get offended. They want to recreate God and Church as to agree with their views, wants, and wishes. This puts us in the same position as Israel during the time of the Prophet Amos.

Pastor Bill Derixson

Jackie Doucet Caffey Junior High Cardinal band performed during Junior High Night at Iowa Colony High School.

Jackie Doucet Caffey Junior High School

DAY TRIP______________

Fort Worth Botanic Garden

Featuring: Florigami In The Garden

The Fort Worth Botanic Garden invites guests to unfold the wonders of nature during the Texas premiere of “Florigami In The Garden,” a six-month outdoor art exhibit featuring 18 museum-quality sculptures inspired by the Japanese art of paper folding.

Ranging from a few feet to more than 30 feet tall, the pieces will be located throughout the Garden Aug. 19, 2023 through Feb. 14, 2024 and portray a variety of forms, including animals, flowers and various geometric shapes.

“Florigami In The Garden brings art, Japanese culture and nature together to create emotional souvenirs for the entire family,” said Garden President and CEO Patrick Newman. “Children will especially appreciate the emerging butterflies, big birds, grazing deer and blooming flowers – all of which celebrate the process of plant pollination, an educational concept we highlight on our campus Pollinator Pathway and in our family education courses.

“We are delighted too that the launch of this origami-themed art exhibit coincides with the 50th anniversary of our iconic Japanese Garden, a place beloved by generations in the Fort Worth community,” Newman added.

Created by Santa Fe artists Jennifer and Kevin Box, the show presents a fresh look at paper folding in the 21st century with large-scale, origami-inspired metal sculptures.

The colorful, whimsical and kinetic sculptures were created in collaboration with modern

masters of paper folding: Robert J. Lang, Michael G. LaFosse and Beth Johnson. Their intricate folds have been transformed into monumental metal sculptures by Box and his studio team to inspire, educate and entertain audiences in the outdoor setting of public gardens.

One of the installation highlights and featured campaign image is “Scents of Gratitude, “measuring more than 30 feet high and located in the Rose Garden. This piece was a year-long project for Box and incorporates 77 origami-inspired flower components. Most of the flowers are kinetic, gently turning with the breeze, and amidst the profusion sit a butterfly and a crane. The towering bouquet, powder coated in exuberant colors, is a “firework of celebration and joy,” Box says.

“It was the biggest expression of gratitude, in every sense of the word, that I could manifest from my heart.” If you’re looking for a wonderful fall escape from the bustling city and need to relax, Fort Worth Botanic Garden is the perfect destination.

Located in the heart of the Fort Worth Cultural District and just minutes from downtown, our combined 120-acre campus offers stunning garden views, horticultural displays, exciting exhibits, gift shops, a café and more.

The Fort Worth Botanic Garden was established in 1934 and is the oldest major botanic garden in Texas.

In addition, the Garden contains numerous naturalized areas and vistas. Spend the day strolling through the Japanese Garden with its koi-filled pools, land-

scaped hillsides, crafted stonework and dramatic waterfalls.

One of the most romantic gardens is the iconic and must-see Rose Garden, which features hundreds of roses, formal hedges, perennials and annuals. This garden, built with 4,000 tons of rock from Palo Pinto County and completed in 1933, is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

Step inside and explore the tropical plants in the 10,000-square-foot rain forest conservatory. Finally, visit the BRIT building where you will learn about botanical research through fascinating art galleries, libraries, dried plant specimens

and science-related exhibits.

BRIT, an international scientific research and learning center, has a mission to conserve our natural-world heritage by sharing knowledge of the plant world and helping the public understand the value plants bring to life. The research institute serves as a think tank and a catalyst in conservation.

Schedule a tour of the Philecology Herbarium, which houses more than 1.5 million plant specimens from around the world, making it one of the largest herbaria in the United States, or the BRIT Research Library with nearly 125,000 volumes of botanical books and journals.

This botanical garden features over 20 acres of lush landscapes and plants that will make your visit worth it.

Florigami In The Garden features a variety of larger-than-life forms that can be enjoyed by all ages.

by Shirley Prihoda

Dog Days Of Summer

Introduction: My attempt in writing is to touch the heart and inspire the reader to look beyond the situations of life.

Additionally, because I am a “wanna be” chef, recipes are usually included with my articles.

Growing up on a sharecropper farm didn’t offer a great deal of diversion during the hot days of summer. It was working in the fields or playing under the house where the temperature cooled to a balmy 95 degrees.

My mother, not prone to playing under the house, was busy in the kitchen cooking over a wood-burning stove while fanning herself with an apron, swatting at flies, and soulfully sighing about the “Dog days of summer.”

I never understood what a dog had to do with the sweltering heat but was quite sure it couldn’t be good.

Sometimes separating the truth from the tale can prove hazardous to one’s health since deep East Texas people are not unlike Appalachian people. Both are “clannish” and reflect the clan structure of their Scotland and Ireland origin.

They created a society that is extremely difficult to penetrate. Being questioned, they often close ranks and revert to their own dialect of English which appears unsophisticated but is remarkably close to the original dialect of their homelands.

As the years passed and the smell of the outhouse increased, those long hot days of

summer finally receded into the places where memories go. So, always the detective, I began to ponder about the dog’s connection to the heat.

What dog started this in the first place? Was it a coon dog or a hound dog? Was that where Elvis got his inspiration for “You ain’t nothing but a hound dog?” Or was this just one in a passel of tales so common among the backwoods people of East Texas?

Finding myself too tall to play under the house and being forced into wearing shoes - every day - I began to look outside the unknown of “if grandma and grandpa didn’t talk about it, then it ain’t so” to find the origin of how a dog could change weather.

With a Diet Coke in one hand and Rabbi Google on the computer, in the other, my quest began.

The exact dates of the Dog Days are traditionally tied to the rising of Sirius, not the radio station you play on your car radio as you twist and turn trying to find the right position of Sirius.

The period usually begins around July 3 and lasts to August 11. I discovered that Sirius is one star in a group of stars forming the constellation Canis Major, meaning “Greater Dog.” It’s no surprise, then, that the nickname of this big, bold star became “the Dog Star.” I was relieved to find Elvis and his hound dog were safe from accusations and liabilities.

With my youth and cooking over a wood

stove gone, I don’t head under the house to cool off anymore. I sit inside and read. Just don’t question the titles of what I’ve read since I would be forced to be truthful – that’s expected of preachers – go figure!

If questioned, I would have to respond my book reading is my handbook, the Bible. Closely followed by Facebook. Don’t get your underwear in a wad, as my mother would say. I may have ten friends on Facebook and nine of them never post.

Don’t jump to the conclusion that I am “unfriend able” it’s just that my posts are mainly food since I am a wanna be chef who loves to read and try recipes. This would be a suitable time to ask for prayer for my husband. He is my official taste tester and believe me, some of my dishes required a lot of love on his part.

When not cooking, or running to the store to buy ingredients, I stay indoors where my laziness finds respectability. Other than church my only other venture out in the sweltering heat is to the Lord’s craft store, Hobby Lobby. Where in July I can see Christmas decorations!

I’ve found the trek across the steaming parking lot to be a valid excuse for my excessive sweating. Once back home, I sit in my La-Z-Boy and longingly wait for the official last day of summer where I can bury my shame for lack of exercise … in bulky sweaters!

(Recipe continued on page 15)

Brazoria County ESD No. 3

EMS Division Is Raising The Bar

It is the mission of the Brazoria County ESD No. 3, EMS Division to provide the best service to the community, both operationally and clinically. To continuously “Raise the Bar,” the EMS Team has recently made significant changes to its operational and clinical initiatives.

Under the direction of Medical Director, Scott Weisenborn, the EMS Division has enhanced the clinical training and added point of care initiatives that yield the best possible outcome for patients.

The District recently took delivery of stateof-the-art Frazer ambulances, ensuring ambulance reliability for several years to come.

Other operational initiatives include the redevelopment of the Field Orientation Program (FTO). The Field Training Evaluation Program (FTEP) has taken the place of the FTO program.

FTEP is a phased training program designed for the new clinician to progress from the role of an observer through skill use and directing care to an ability to function as a team leader on EMS responses. All new clinicians are required to complete a minimum of 384 hours of training.

Included in the FTEP program is the Field Training Academy. The academy is a forty-hour classroom and field-based training program in which new EMS team members learn BCESD 3 operational processes, clinical procedures and participate in clinical and operational didactic and dynamic training.

Clinical Initiatives include annual cadaver

lab training under the direction of the Memorial Hermann Life Flight team. EMS staff are required to perform our low frequency, high risk procedures which is part of their Annual Competency Evaluation testing.

“Annual Cadaver lab training is something we feel is well worth the investment. This training is superior to simulation training and will improve the skills of our clinicians, providing better outcomes for our patients. Our partnership with the Memorial Hermann Healthcare System and Memorial Hermann Life Flight gives us the opportunity to access world class training. The newest training endeavor with Memorial Hermann will give our Paramedics the ability to shadow Dr. Christopher Stephens who is the Director of the Trauma Anesthesiology Division for UTHealth. This high level of training is not available to many EMS providers and is something that sets our division apart from other services,” said Brazoria County Emergency Service District No. 3 EMS Chief, Tim Welch.

Additionally, the EMS Division has recently updated their Patient Care Guidelines. The clinical enhancements in the Patient Care Guidelines enable clinicians to provide cutting edge clinical care including a multimodal pain management regimen, new medications to treat patients in septic shock, and antibiotic therapy for patients with open fractures. In addition, the clinicians are now using IV pumps purchased through a grant from the Savannah North Foundation that will aid in administering the new medications.

Future goals of the clinical leadership team are to add mechanical ventilators to the ambulances as a clinical enhancement. Additionally, Point of Care Ultrasonography (POCUS) and the administration of blood products will be used by EMS Captains/Field Supervisors in the future to enhance patient care.

Brazoria County Emergency Services District No. 3 provides Emergency Medical Service and Fire Suppression to 650 square miles, serving a population of over 86,000. The district includes 4 Emergency Medical Service providers and 9 volunteer and municipal Fire Departments.

First Field Training Class - 2023

Chief Tim Welch

Festivities will be at the Iowa Colony City Hall and include tree lighting, hot cocoa, Santa, crafts, ‘The Grinch’ movie, tunnel of lights, face painting, 30,000 lbs of SNOW and musical performances by Jackie Doucet Caffey Choir.

My Favorite Chicken Spaghetti

1.5 pounds chicken breast

Cooked and shredded

16 oz spaghetti broken into 2-inch pieces

2) 10.75 oz cans condensed

Cream of Chicken Soup

10 oz Ro-Tel diced tomatoes & green chilies

Sauté the onions and peppers until soft and set aside. Break the spaghetti into 2-inch pieces and cook until tender in boiling, salted water. Drain and set aside.

Mix the soup, Ro-Tel, and cream cheese in a microwave safe dish. Heat stirring every minute, until the mixture is smooth and creamy.

Stir in 2 cups of cheese until

6 oz cream cheese

3 cups Cheddar cheese shredded - divided

1/4 cup heavy cream or milk

1/2 cup green peppers, chopped

1/2 cup onion, chopped

smooth. Add the chicken, onions and peppers, and cooked pasta into the cheese mixture.

Spoon into a greased casserole dish. Top with the remaining 1 cup of cheese.

Bake at 350F for 25 minutes or until heated through and the cheese has melted. Allow the dish to rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Baseball - Football - Basketball - Hockey