May/June Intown Magazine

intown May/June 2012

Star Wars Southwest and United

6

Top Designer Secrets

The Eatsie Boys

Arts & Events Millionaire Day

www.intownmag.com • Intown September-October 2011

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CONTENTS

12 THE GAME An interview with former Astros manager and current special assistant for the Oakland A’s, Phil Garner

14 HOUSTON

RENOVATOR

6 Top Designer Secrets

28

BBVA Compass Stadium Home of Houston Dynamo Soccer-Opening May 12 6

20 THE GAME Rating Houston’s Public Courses

22 FINANCIAL FOCUS

LIFE

Can You Turn “Be a Millionaire Day” into Reality?

The Eatsie Boys

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intown

www.intownmag.com

May/June 2012

Publisher M.A. Haines Editor Lisa June

IN CASE YOU MISSED THIS

Production Web Design: Melaroo Art Director & Layout Design: Alona Preskovsky Web Design: Jay Ford

Contributors Buddy Bailey Marene Gustin William Hanover John Granato Roseann Rogers Sean Pendergast

24 THE BUZZ 26, 27

For advertising rates and information

713.525.8607

intownmagazine@gmail.com Space reservation deadline is 15 days prior to publication.

Intown Magazine is published bi-monthly by SNS Media. Articles are welcome and will be given careful consideration for possible publication. Intown Magazine does not assume any responsibility for unsolicited materials. Materials submitted will be returned if accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope.

You can also e-mail intownmagazine@gmail.com

Copyright 2012 by Intown Magazine. All rights reserved. Content may not be reprinted or reproduced with permission from Intown Magazine.

www.intownmag.com • Intown September-October 2011

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EDITORIAL

Star Wars Not often is a city afforded the opportunity to have two international airports and to create what is estimated to be 10,000 new jobs and an injection of some $1.5 billion a year into their economy. Well, that is the dire predicament we Houstonians are faced with. Should we or should we not allow Dallas based Southwest Airlines to come to Hobby airport and build an international terminal at Hobby Airport in southeast Houston?

Ask any local chamber, partnership or politician about where they stand on this issue and you will get more dancing around than at Blanco’s Honky-tonk on a Friday night. The mayor’s office, through the Houston Airport System and its recent findings from two city commissioned studies, cite the example of Miami-Ft. Lauderdale and Chicago as cities with two successful international airports.

United, with its stranglehold on Bush Intercontinental and the international flight market from and through Houston, has determined the study biased. Imagine that.

Now the best part. The federal government gets final say on the Hobby expansion. When was the last time they got anything right? Iraq, Afghanistan, Wall Street, and healthcare all come to mind.

Can someone make a decision on what is best for the greatest amount of people rather than who has the most money or influence? Southwest will fund the $100 million terminal construction and will increase passenger fares from $3.00 to $4.50 at Hobby to offset the cost.. Not an insignificant increase, but not a deal killer. It should be noted that Southwest currently carries roughly 90% of the passengers in and out of Hobby. It would appear however, that the Hobby expansion is a slam dunk, but that is far from the case.

United has stated that this competition will cost them dearly and will pull back on their expansion plans at Bush Intercontinental Airport in addition to cutting jobs there. They welcome with open arms any Southwest international flights out of Bush, just not Hobby. United is in the ultimate catbird’s seat of having a near monopoly on international travel in and out of Houston and will not go down without pulling out all the stops. Former CEO and United ambassador Gordon Bethune has said “somebody’s been smoking crack” if they believe what the Houston Airport System’s numbers indicates. No one in their position would relish competition if they can stop it.

Fortunately, we have a free enterprise system and markets should prevail. We all have a horse in this race and we should get it right.

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LIFE

The Eatsie Boys When theater and culinary arts collide, good things happen by Marene Gustin Houston’s own — born on the bayou as he says — Ryan Soroka is a busy boy these days.

Besides the popular Eatsie Boys food truck he runs with two longtime friends, he’s preparing to open a non-mobile Eatsie Boys café in the former Kraftsmen Baking spot in Montrose and a brewery in east downtown. But the 28-year-old wasn’t always in the food and beverage biz.

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Both of his parents were physicians when they came here from Argentina and Soroka originally got a degree at Tulane University in New Orleans and went to work in the corporate world of finance. But it wasn’t a good fit.

“We knew he wasn’t happy,” says his mother Claudia Soroka. “He said he wanted to open a restaurant and we told him to go to school for that.”

Which he did, graduating with an MBA from the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management at the University of Houston.

And right about then his school chum Alex Vassilakidis called and said he wanted to start a Greek food truck.

“We saw what was happening with food trucks in other cities,” Soroka says. “But I thought we should have more than Greek food and we should get a great chef.” Enter the third school friend, chef Matt Marcus.

“A food truck was a great way to get into the restaurant business, to roll the dice without losing the house.”

When he told his parents about the idea they were supportive, even though they didn’t know what a food truck was. And in part that was because his mother knew that following one’s bliss is important.

“I went through a career change myself,” she says. “So I knew what it was like to be unhappy going to work every day.”

When Claudia Soroka came to Houston she was a doctor at Texas Children’s Hospital. After eight years she decided she wanted something else.

“

A food truck was a great way to get into the restaurant business, to roll the dice without losing the house.

“

“When we bought our second home here,” she says, “I designed it. And all of my artistic side came out! I realized I wanted to do something else.”

So she also went back to school to get a degree in design and opened her CBS Designs in Upper Kirby. And then in 1989 she went to see a play about Argentina in Spanish. Without any theater background at all, she decided to sign up for auditions, www.intownmag.com

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When Claudia Soroka came to Houston she was a doctor at Texas Children’s Hospital, but after eight years she decided she wanted something else. won the role as the lead in the next play and in 1994 launched Gente de Teatro, a non-profit Spanish language theater producing contemporary Latin America and Spanish plays.

“I get my creativity from her,” says Soroka, who even appeared in one of the theater’s plays as a kid. But it wasn’t the theater bug that bit him, but the culinary one.

“I would say that I have food in my blood, too,” he says. “My mom is a great cook and my Dad’s mother is a great cook and my aunt is a pastry chef. There was always just a lot of great food on the table.”

“He was never a picky eater!” adds his mom.

Today the mother and son duo are combining their artistic talents as Claudia Soroka is doing the interiors of the Eatsie Boys café — set to open in late summer — and Soroka is helping his mom with growing the theater, writing a mission statement and business plan so Gente de Teatro can have a home.

“We need our own home,” says Claudia Soroka. “A place we could do a whole season of plays and present poetry readings and other Spanish arts.” The theater currently performs two to three plays a year at The Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, the first Spanish language theater to perform there.

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Sugar Land

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“The Hispanic art scene is underserved in this city,” Soroka says. “We talked about doing a theater restaurant combination, and we might still do that.”

“He has a great nose for real estate,” his Mom adds. Shortly after Sokora and his partners Vassilakidis and Marcus signed on the dotted line for the brewery space in EaDo the Dynamo’s

announced the groundbreaking for the soccer stadium just four blocks away.

“That was the happiest day of my life,” Soroka says. “It will be great for the brewery business.”

By the way, the beer brewing biz has been fermenting in Soroka’s blood for a long time. He brewed beer at home while in college and for his thesis he wrote a brewery business plan.

“It started as a brew pub,” says Soroka. “But then it switched to just a brewery because of the laws in Texas.

That’s why we’re doing a restaurant and the 8th Wonder Brewery separate, we’re not ADD. We wanted to open them together but if we put them in the same place we couldn’t sell our beers wholesale and we want to sell to grocery stores and bars locally.

We want the brewery and the café to support local producers and create jobs in Houston.”

And Sokora is enlisting his former University of Houston professors to recruit workers for the brewery and hopes to turn it into a lab for a masters program in beer brewing for the university.

Rustic elegance from around the globe.

Mexico

. Brazil . Peru . Morocco and Texas, too.

With all their projects brewing, both mother and son still find time for each other and family events. Gente de Teatro has a performance at The Hobby coming up in September and the brewery should be open next month with the Eatsie Boys café opening in late September.

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“It’s definitely crazy right now,” says Soroka.

But it sound like this mother and son duo can handle it.

Gente de Teatro’s production of Dias Contados by Oscar Martinez is September 6 – 8 at The Hobby Center for the Performing Arts with subtitles in English. The Eatsie Boys café is set to open in July or August at 4100 Montrose Boulevard and the 8th Wonder Brewery at 2202 Dallas St. should open shortly.

Cita Resort Interiors 129 N. Alister Port Aransas, Tx 78373 361-749-2711 FURNITURE LIGHTING

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IN CASE YOU MISSED THIS

A Museum Like Setting For Home Furnishings HJ Bott: Rhythm & Rhetoric New Works Celebrating 40 Years of the DoV System Artist Reception, Saturday, May 12, 2012, 6:00 - 8:30 pm On view May 12 -June 9, 2012 at Anya Tish gallery at 4411 Montrose “HJ Bott celebrates the 40th anniversary of the DoV System with the presentation of his most current paintings at Anya Tish Gallery in Rhythm & Rhetoric.For the past forty years, HJ Bott has been developing and perfecting the Displacement-of-Volume, or DoV System, a system which he himself conceptualized. In Bott’s own words DoV “is the foundation of the tiling of interlocking lines, into patterns, a system of concepts used throughout my oeuvre since March 7, 1972.”

Bott presents the complexities of our three-dimensional universe as a flat smooth surface, achieved through the painstaking layering of paints and glazes, applied sometimes 100 times..

Bott’s works are included in more than seventy museum and corporate collections worldwide, amongst them the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Denver Art Museum, New Orleans Museum of Art, Kunsthalle der Garten, Dusseldorf, Germany and Columbia University, New York.

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An Innovative new retail concept brings rooftop garden and conservatory, Bellocq Tea Atelier, and a Fresh Floral Boutique to Highland Village at 4030 Westheimer Road. The Corte Madera, California based Restoration Hardware has over 25,000 square feet in this location and represents the largest and most dramatic expression of the brand to date.

Designed by Architectural Digest Top 100 architect, Howard Backen and Jim Gillam of Backen, Gillam & Kroeger Architects, in collaboration with Restoration Hardware Chairman and Co-CEO, Gary Friedman and acclaimed retail concept designer Richard Altuna; the Gallery at Highland Village has been envisioned as a majestic estate with beautiful European proportions and exterior walls of charcoal Venetian plaster. Guests enter through striking 14-foot gates into an oculus-shaped vestibule set within a crushed granite garden courtyard leading to a hall with soaring 14-foot ceilings and a series of illuminated arches.

The 7,000 square-foot Rooftop Garden is a conservatory of glass and exposed steel with 20-foot ceilings at its apex.

Athleta, the Sonoma, CA based premium fitness and lifestyle brand for women, will open its doors in Houston’s Town & Country Village on May 9th. Athleta is a division of Gap Inc., and offers stylish, high-performance athletic and everyday apparel for female athletes.

The store will feature a broad assortment of apparel for run, yoga, gym/training, swim and hike/explore.

The store will offer free alterations in store, kiosks that link directly to the website offering customers access to additional product and sizes, free fitness classes and in-store discounts for fitness professionals.

The Flor Store

In West Ave on Kirby Drive, Flor has opened its sixth US store. It features a 30 foot runner of tiles in varying colors, textures, and patterns.

Sorrel Urban Bistro

Sorrel Urban Bistro was named one of the best new restaurants in the United States by the 10 year old travel site Gayot.com.

The European style eatery narrowly slipped in at number 9 and received a 14 out of 20 rating. Chef Soren Pederson features farm to table menus on a chalkboard that rotates daily.

MOCAH and The Boniuk Center Unveil Public Art Mural Over the course of two months, 24 students from 15 different schools across Houston worked alongside The Boniuk Center for Religious Tolerance at Rice University staff and Museum of Cultural Arts Houston (MOCAH) artists to create a mural that answers the question, “What does a religiously and culturally tolerant society look like?” The mural unveiling took place on March 3. at MOCAH Studios (908 Wood St.), While visiting 12 Sacred Spaces throughout the city, the students transferred their collective experiences from the SSQ II into a vision board which ultimately serves as the foundation for the mural they’ll developed for display alongside the MOCAH building.

The Boniuk Center for Religious Tolerance is dedicated to nurturing tolerance among people of all and no faiths, especially youth.

To learn more about MOCAH, visit www.mocah.org.

713.957.0449 www.ajslandscaping.com

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THE GAME

In 2005 , Garner led the Astros to their only pennant

An interview with Former Astros Manager and current Special Assistant for the Oakland A’s, Phil Garner

John Granato & Sean Pendergast

John Granato: What do you do if you’re Brad Mills and your team is going into the season as an underdog? How do you keep your team’s confidence up?

Phil Garner: Well, I think Brad’s main task will be is getting these guys to show improvement. I don’t think anyone within the organization will expect them to win a lot of games, so they will need to find answers at a few different positions. They need to identify guys who can step up and, in a few years, be solid players who can help you win a pennant. They also need to get better as the season progresses and, if they do that, that can be considered a successful season.

Sean Pendergast: Is there a way the organization will measure Brad Mills success? Will it be by wins? Will it be how many players are developed?

PG: From my standpoint, it would be

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unfair to hold him to a win-loss record.

The measurement is somewhat subjective, there are a certain level of numbers (such as batting average) that you’d like to see.

Beyond that, you need the at-bats getting better, the pitchers need to get the ball over the plate with more than one pitch, and learn to pitch from behind. Those are the things that I’d look for to be able to say “we’re showing some progress here.” If you do enough of those things right, they eventually turn into wins.

JG: Astros General Manager Jeff Luhnow told us that 10 out of the Astros 25 guys had never been on an opening day roster.

Did you ever coach a team this young?

PG: Well, no. The short answer is I don’t that I did. For a couple of years in Milwaukee, we had some really young teams and it didn’t work out too well. It’s very hard to compete when you have 2 or 3 rookies on your team in a well-established ball club,

but its extremely difficult when you have a whole team of them.

SP: You’re currently working with a team [the A’s] in the American League West.

What are your thoughts on the Astros moving to the AL West next season?

PG: I think it’s going to be tough. You’re looking at 2 teams, the Rangers and Angels, which look to be built for several years and have the resources to keep adding players.

They will be extremely tough to unseed in this division. As for the rebuilding teams, the Astros are now a year or two behind teams like Seattle and Oakland. So it will be an interesting challenge to compete in this division. For the Astros, they thought they were rid of Albert Pujols and now he’s back in your division again!

JG: You’re a “special assistant” with the Oakland A’s. What does that mean?

What are you doing?

PG: [Laughing] I’m a confidant to the manager, I guess. He calls it the “consigliere.” I’m just a sound board for the manager, Bob Melvin. I’ve worked with some of the younger players. We lost our 3rd baseman [Scott Sizemore] on the first day of spring training; he blew his knee out.

So we had a young catcher, Josh Donaldson, who had played third base in college, move to third base so I spent a lot of time working with him. I’ve also worked with some of the other infielders in camp, and I’ve had fun doing that.

JG: You went to Japan recently with the A’s. How was that?

PG: I enjoyed it. I’ve wanted to go for years and finally got to go. It was interesting and they certainly take their baseball seriously over there. We left for Japan after 3 weeks of spring training, which (if you don’t have anyone injured) its just about the right time to start playing games. It was a little unusual, we left spring training geared up to play games, played well in Japan, but returned to play more spring training [exhibition] games. But the Japan trip was a whole lot of fun.

JG: Since the movie Moneyball was released, the A’s GM Billy Bean is now a superstar. As a lifelong baseball guy, what do you think of Moneyball?

PG: Well, its a little bit overblown in the sense that Billy is credited with being the founding father of using statistical analysis to evaluate players. That’s the concept people have when they think of “Moneyball” and Billy Bean. That’s a little bit over the top and I think even Billy would say that. A lot of people had used statistical analysis to evaluate players and try to determine how to best set their lineups. Billy might have gone a little farther than most people in the sense that used it to the exclusion of scouting data, in order to find undervalued players. He was trying to find a different way to identify players for a team that didn’t have a lot of money to spend. Basically, when you look at pure statistical analysis, it didn’t work.

A lot of the players that are undervalued, there’s a good reason. Billy did find some decent players along the way. Still, if a guy can’t throw 95 mph or isn’t a $2 million draft choice, there’s a reason. Finding those undervalued players isn’t as easy as the movie Moneyball would suggest.

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HOUSTON RENOVATOR

6

Top Designer Secrets

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Mary Lindsey Wilson, ASID

1. Don’t begin to redesign or design a room without a decorating plan. Tear out pictures from magazines and write down ideas you are drawn to when viewing other people’s homes.

2. Don’t try to “hide” the bones of the room.

Accent the architectural features of the room.

3. Do take risks in decorating and don’t have everything matching in the room.

The more diverse the furnishings the more interesting the space.

4. Use a common thread such as color, line or scale to pull all of the elements of a room together and make it feel cohesive.

After using these design strategies you should be able to create a crisp, classically inspired room that will maximize the impact of your interior space.

Melissa Snow Designs

Melissa Snow Designs Interior Designer 281-639-0039 www.melissasnowdesigns.com

One of the most exciting times for everyone is to refurnish your space. The first step, and often skipped step is Space Planning. At The Luxe Designer, we provide 2D and 3D virtual tours. However, 3 methods to achieve good space planning are 1. Theres an App For That!

2. Blue Tape on Floor, 3. Scale Ruler.

Lisa Goe Kidder, The Luxe Designer www.TheLuxeDesigner.com Lisa@TheLuxeDesigner.com www.intownmag.com

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Melissa Snow Designs

The secret to freshening up a room can be as simple as a fresh coat of paint. If you are worried about changing colors, you can stay with the same color and go a shade lighter or darker.

As a designer, I like to add finishing touches to a room that are unexpected such as hanging a decorative mirror on top of a mirror.

My last secret, I don’t leave anything to chance.

Jane-Page Crump, ASID Jane Page Design Group 500 Durham Drive, Houston, TX 77007 713-803-4999 www.janepagedesigngroup.com

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AT LAST.

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Pebble Isle Collection Dressing windows is one of the most impactful ways to give any space a designer edge. The goal is to design elements which enhance the aesthetics of the window and the room.

To make a small room look larger, make the color of the window treatments closely match that of the walls. To make a small window appear larger, use side drapery panels. The impact of custom window treatments pays for the project every day they gracefully cover your windows.

• Get ready for Summer with all-weather synthetic wicker • Perfect for carefree outdoor living & entertaining • Protection against fading, cracking or peeling

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Jane-Page Crump, ASID www.intownmag.com

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My philosophy is “Beauty by Design. Live Beautifully, Live Fully.” It is a holistic approach to interior design.

We start with learning how you live and how you would like to be living and use these details to create a space that really works for you.

We also assist with removing the blocks to Living Beautifully.

Always start with the focal point of the room…(favorite piece of art, rug, architectural feature, view, etc…) and layer around it… balancing the color, proportion and other elements of design.

Mary Lindsey Wilson, ASID Live Beautifully, LLC 713.201.8313 www.livebeautifully.net

Sandra Lucas, ASID Sarah Eilers, ASID Lucas/Eilers Design Associates, L.L.P.

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Sandra Lucas, ASID

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THE GAME

By John Granato

I am proud to say that a few years ago the legendary Dick Harmon dubbed me “America’s guest” for my innate ability to get free golf wherever I go.

This is something you cannot teach. I’m hoping it’s genetic so my son can carry on the tradition but I’m not counting on it.

With that ability though comes a tremendous responsibility, namely, taking advantage of the situation, and trust me, I do.

I have scoured the area to find the best golf at the perfect price for more than 17 years now so I feel comfortable with the task at hand – rating Houston’s best public courses. By now, I’ve played them all and therefore I’m uniquely qualified to bring you my top 5 in no particular order.

Wildcat Golf Club

This should not be a shocker to anyone who knows me or has heard my radio show. I speak for Wildcat but I also host at least three tournaments a year there. I have hosted and played in countless tourneys at other courses and I can honestly say Wildcat blows them all away. 36 holes is a key but so is the fact that you have an indoor grill and banquet area that can accommodate any sized tournament. The course is always in great shape and it’s by far the best links golf you’ll find in the area.

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Redstone Golf Club

When the PGA tour stops by every year you know that you’re on a course that’s one of the elites. It’s playable if you’re on the right tees yet tough enough from the tips for the best players in the world. Charlie Epps once said “it’s open but wooded” and that’s a perfect description. The amenities are second to none.

Budget-wise it’s not a place many of us can play every day but if you love golf you have to splurge at least once to see how you stack up against the pros.

Memorial Park Golf Course

It’s got by far the richest tradition of all our public courses.

You can still hear Tommy Bolt and Jimmy Demaret laughing in the clubhouse. It’s also the most affordable on the list which is a big positive but can have its drawbacks as well. 60,000 rounds per year wear on a course and sometimes lead to 6 hour rounds. But it’s hard to complain about cheap rounds on a great course in the middle of the city. So I won’t.

Black Horse Golf Club

This is another Redstone property that’s a premier destination from anywhere in the area. There’s a north and south course and I can’t pick my favorite. The back nine on the south is the most memorable visually but the front nine on the north is the most playable.

Combine the north’s front with the south’s back and you’ve got 18 awesome holes. The grill is great but you don’t have an indoor banquet room for big tournaments which is a small drawback.

Meadowbrook Farms Golf Club

Greg Norman could not have done a better job designing this beauty on what was once farmland and is now in the middle of a thriving metropolis called Katy. It’s fair but tough and always in awesome shape. It’s been one of my favorite courses since it opened but if you’re in the city it’s a long way from home. Still, it’s affordable and well worth the drive from no matter where you are. www.intownmag.com

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FINANCIAL FOCUS

Can You Turn

“Be a Millionaire Day”

into Reality?

by Buddy Bailey

If you look hard enough, you can find many obscure holidays, but few of them can instantly capture people’s interest as much as Be a Millionaire Day, which is “celebrated” on May 20. While amassing a million dollars may not be as significant a milestone as it used to be, most of us would still feel pleased if we could someday attain “millionaire” status. While there are no perfect formulas or guarantees, here are some steps to consider when working toward any investment goal: • Put time on your side. The earlier you begin saving and investing, the better your chances of reaching your financial goal. You can’t expect to “strike it rich” immediately with any single investment, but by investing year in and year out, and by choosing quality investment vehicles, you have the opportunity to achieve growth over time.

• Pay yourself first. If you wait until you “have a little extra money lying around” before you invest, you may well never invest. Instead, try to “pay yourself first.” Each month, move some money automatically from a checking or savings account into an investment. When you’re first starting out in the working world, you might not be able to afford much, but as you advance in your career, you can increase your contributions.

• Control your debts. It’s easier said than done, but if you can keep a lid on your debt payments, you’ll have more

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money with which to invest.

• Take advantage of tax deferral. When you invest in taxdeferred vehicles, such as a traditional Individual Retirement Account (IRA) and your 401(k) or similar employer-sponsored retirement plan, your money has the opportunity to grow faster than it would if placed in an investment on which you paid taxes each year. Of course, when you start taking withdrawals, presumably at retirement, you’ll have to pay taxes, but by then, you may be in a lower tax bracket. And since you’ll have some control over your withdrawals, you can help control taxes, too.

• Build share ownership. As a n investor, one of the best things you can do to build your wealth is to increase the number of shares you own in your investments. So, look for buying opportunities, such as when prices are low. Also, consider reinvesting any dividends or distributions you may receive from your investments.

• Don’t be overly cautious. For your money to grow, you need to put a portion of your investment dollars in growthoriented vehicles, such as stocks. It is certainly true that stock prices will always fluctuate, sometimes quite sharply, and you may receive more or less than your original investment when sold. But if you avoid stocks entirely in favor of more stable vehicles, you run the risk of earning returns that may not keep you ahead of inflation. As you approach retirement, and even during retirement, your portfolio will probably still need some growth potential. Work with your financial advisor to determine the appropriate approach for you.

• Think long term. By creating a long-term investment strategy and sticking to it, you’ll be less likely to take a “timeout” from investing in response to perceived negative news, such as market downturns and political crises.

Following these suggestions may someday allow you to reach the point when your financial goals become a reality for you.

This article was written by Buddy Bailey - River Oaks your local Edward Jones Financial Advisor. www.intownmag.com

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The

BUZZ

by Roseann Rogers

Target for Tourettes at the Greater Houston Gun Club.

The Texas-inspired clay shoot tournament and dinner raised more than $120,000 for the Tourettes Foundation of Texas.

Houston Apartment Association Golf Tournament

Greg Faulkner, Humphreys & Partners Architects, L.P.; Jack Dinerstein, Dinerstein Cos.; Brian Dinerstein, Dinerstein Cos.; Cameron Cureton, Holliday, Fenoglio, Fowler L.P

Jackie & Chris Roy

Photo credit: Mark Hiebert, Hiebert Photography

Jonathan & Maggie Dismuke

Alan Rosen

Willie Wood

Keith Calcolte

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Photo credit: Catchlight Group

Mother’s and father’s day

GI F T I. W. Marks LR ANTIQUES

Tag Heuer’s Grand Carrera automatic chronograph.

The perfect gift for dad or the graduate.

Come see the entire Tag Heuer collection available at I W Marks Jewelers.

3841 Bellaire Blvd. Houston TX 77025 , Phone: (713) 668-5000

antique & estate jewelry

Elaborate gold Jeweled Pendant/Brooch with portrait on Ivory.

C. 1800’s 2230 BISSONNET, Texas 77005, Phone : 713-524-3272

Force4Compassion

Mom deserves the best! Stop in to see our wonderful selection of antique & estate jewelry. Offering jewelry repair & design services along with the best estate jewelry Houston has to offer.

Freedom Chains - the perfect gift and Donation

4901 Locust St. Bellaire, Texas 77401, Phone: (713) 666-6683 | www.queenofheirs.com

Website: www.f-4-c.org

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The

BUZZ

by Valerie J. Sherlock

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Norton Ditto hosts reception for

OPERATION SUITS FOR SOLDIERS LAUNCHED MARCH 14TH BY LEADING RESIDENTS TO HELP RETURNING TROOPS FIND JOBS Operation Suits for Soldiers, a nonprofit initiative to help returning veterans find jobs, was launched with military style at a Norton Ditto reception saluting Iraq and Afghanistan heroes. For soldiers entering the workforce, OSFS provides free job search assistance provided by Burnett Staffing Services and interview-ready professional attire contributed by Norton Ditto and Dress for Success Houston. Premier-quality pre-owned suits and sport coats also have been donated by leaders like President George H.W. Bush (41) and former Houston Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich.

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Dr. Robert Ivany, Ginger Hite and Jimmy Battista Dick Hite, Dr. Robert Ivany donating suit, Dr. Kenneth Mattox, Chief of Staff, Ben Taub General Hospital

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Dick Hite greets future Marine Jarrett James Gordon

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Major Tyson Voelkel and Steve Raben U.S. Army Major Tyson Voelkel, Jimmy Battista, Steve Raben

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6 Major Tyson Voelkel, Dick Hite, Buddy Grantham Photo Credit: Michelle Watson Norton Ditto CEO Dick Hite and returning troops at OSFS Launch

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The

BUZZ

by Roseann Rogers

The Center’s Annual Luncheon.

The Center’s 11th Annual Luncheon was recently held at River Oaks Country Club and featured former Houston Oilers quarterback Cody Carlson as the keynote speaker. Luncheon Chair, Kari Gonzalez, was excited that the sell-out crowd of 400 raised over $200,000 for The Center’s programs benefiting people disabilities.

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1 Paula Paine, Judy Ann McCartney 2 David Baldwin, Cody Carlson 3 Kim Moody, Kelli Kickerillo Forester 4 Jennifer, Shepherd, Shannon Braniff, Stephanie Shanks

5 Kari Gonzalez, Tana Wood 6 John Dagley, Elaina Rogers

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Photo Credit: Michelle Watson

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Arts & Events Houston Museum Of Natural Science

Houston Grand Opera

Asia Society Texas Center

Sports

Ongoing -September 12 Warriors, Tombs and Temples: China’s Enduring Legacy Ongoing - Spring Gemstone Carvings: The Masterworks Of Harold Van Pelt

Anthony van Dyck, PrincessHenrietta of Lorraine Attended by a Page, 1634.

Oil on canvas, 84 x50 in.

Kenwood House, English Heritage; Iveagh Bequest, 1927 (88028826), Courtesy American Federation of Arts

14 April - 16 September: Treasures of Asian Art: A Rockefeller Legacy 14 April - 16 September: Contemporary Asian Art: Texas Connections

Arts & Events A. D. Players Theater

May 2-June 10 The Beams are Creaking Ongoing-May 25 Cinderella

Company OnStage

Museums Museum Of Fine Arts

Ongoing-May 6 Snail Mail Ongoing-June 3 Shifting Paradigms in Contemporary Ceramics:The Garth Clark and Mark Del Vecchio Collection - over 160 objects of ceramics and works on paper Ongoing-May 28 Elegance and Refinement:The Still-Life Paintings of Willer van Aelst paintings celebrating the neglected 17th century master Ongoing-June 10 Utopia/Dystopia: Construction and Destruction in Photograph and Collage From 19th century to the present Ongoing-June 29 Egyptomania-Exploring the Egyptian Revival of the 18,19th and early 20th century Ongoing-July 8 Drawings by Rembrandt,His Students and Circle Ongoing-August 5 Modern and Contemporary masterworks from MalbaFundacion Costantini June 3-September 3 Rembrandt,van

Dyck,Gainsborough:The Treasure of Kenwood House, London June 10-September 23 Unrivalled Splendor: The Kimiko and John Powers Collection of Japanese Art June 24-September 9- Duncan Phyfe: Master Cabinetmaker in New York

Contemporary Arts Museum

Ongoing- July 8 Perspective 178: Cineplex May 12- July 29 It Is What It Is.Or is It?

Holocaust Museum

Ongoing- 8/19 The Impact of Racist Ideologies: Jim Crow and The Nuremberg Laws 2/17-8/12 - Returning: The Art of Samuel Bak

The Menil Collection

Ongoing-3/18 Imprinting the Divine: Byzantine& Russian Icons form The Menil Collection

May 4 -June 9 The Foreigner June 29-July 28 Black Coffee

Main Street Theatre Ongoing - May 13 Richard lll Ongoing-May 25 Superfudge

Broadway Across America May 15-20 Wishful Drinking - National Tour

The Hobby Center

May 3-5 Spring Mixed Rep-Dominic Walsh Dance Theater May 6 Women on the Verge May 10 Now you has Jazz May 11- Music Doing Good Houston’s Homegrown Jazz May 13 Music from Stage and Screen May 18-27 The Civil War June 5-17 The best Little Whorehouse in Texas June 8-10 Heaven and Hell

Houston Ballet

May 2 and 4 - Gaetano Donizetti Mary Stuart May 5 and 6 - Recital at Rienzi

BBVA Compass Stadium Home of Houston Dynamo Soccer-Opening May 12 28

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Made In America May 24,26, June 1 and 2 Matinees May 27 and June 3 Romeo and Juliet June 7,9,15-16 Matinees June 10,16,17

Ice at The Galleria

Summer Camps June 4th- August 17th Public Ice Skating M-T 10am -5pm 6:30pm -10pm F 10am-10pm Sat. 12:30am-10pm Sun. 1pm -8pm Junior Hockey Camp Beginner and Intermediate Classes www.iceatthegalleria.com For more info call 713-621-1500

Houston Astros Baseball Home Games May 1-2 NY Mets May 4-6 St. Louis Cardinals May 7-9 Miami Marlins May 16-17 Milwaukee Brewers May 18-20 Texas Rangers May 21-23 Chicago Cubs June 1-3 Cinncinatti Reds June 5-7 St. Louis Cardinals June 18-20 Kansas City Royals June 22-24 Cleveland Indians June 25-28 San Diego Padres

Houston Dynamo Soccer May 12 DC United May 18 Portland Timbers May 26 LA Galaxy May 31 Velinca June 16 FC Dallas June 20 Toronto FC June 30 Philadelphia Union

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