Lufkin Daily News - Best Magazine - 03262022

HOT PEAS 'N’ BUTTER

Sat, Jul 16 | 2 PM Pines Theater, $5

FINDING NEMO

Sat, Jul 2 | 2 PM Pines Theater, $5

CHALK

ART DAY

featuring FLY DANCE COMPANY

Sat, Jul 23 | 11 AM – 2 PM Jones Park, FREE

HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE

Sat, Aug 6 | 2 PM Pines Theater, $5

THE SOUND OF MUSIC SING-A-LONG

Sat, Aug 20 | 7 PM Pines Theater, $10

On the cover

FROM THE EDITOR

Charm East Texas is published by The Lufkin Daily News and The Daily Sentinel. No portion may be reproduced in whole or in part by any means, including electronic retrieval systems, without written permission of the publisher. Editorial content does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the publisher of this magazine. Editorial and advertising does not constitute advice but is considered informative.

This

month, we wanted an abstract theme that could be interpreted in multiple ways. With all of the lakes in our area, we thought “the blues” would be perfect. Ironically, we didn’t have any stories about water, not that our lakes are blue, anyways.

We did cover the history of blues music in East Texas all along the Chitlin’ Circuit. Gary Stallard shares how his love of blues music was born. There is a piece about what to expect during the upcoming Blueberry Festival in Nacogdoches. Get to know local blues musician Johnny Riley with a Q&A session.

Ever wonder about the peafowl out at the Ellen Trout Zoo? We’ve got the scoop here. And y’all, we even got to interview a real life Blue Man to chat about life as a blue man and their upcoming performance. For you photographers out there, we’ve got a article on shooting during the “Blue Hour.”

Get to know local police officer Reagan Jordan in the Business of Being Blue. Casey Gerard shared some wonderful recipes: blueberry and cream cheese egg rolls and a blue martini. We also have the down low on caring for plumbagos.

I guess that’s why they call it “the blues ...”

Photo by SG Photography

Hair by Candice Bergman

Makeup by Ashley Conlon

Model Presley Cook

CHARM

Editor

Leslie Nemec editor@charmeasttexas.com 936.631.2671 editorial

Art Director Lance Kingrey

Copy Editors

Stacy Faison Jeff Pownall

Writers

Brittany Barclay Kayley Fraze Jess Huff Leslie Nemec Valerie Reddell Photographers Joel Andrews Lance Kingrey Leslie Nemec

Publisher Jackie Zimmerman jackie.zimmerman@lufkindailynews.com 936.631.2602

advertising Director Stacey Mitchell stacey.mitchell@lufkindailynews.com 936.631.2630

Account Executives

Julia Butler Jenna Lenderman Leslie Nemec

Graphic Artists Megan Buckley Robin Nevills

nacogdoches

Publisher Rick Craig rick.craig@dailysentinel.com 936.558.3200

Account Executives James Allen Dumas Ray Nichols

charmeasttexas.com

CONTRIBUTORS

1. SG Photography is a Lufkin-based company specializing in senior, family and couples photography since 2019. Owner and full-time photographer Sabrina Guerrero is a wife, mom and travel enthusiast who loves to capture all of life’s special moments for her clients, both locally and across the country.

2. Jessica Pebsworth is the spokeswoman and public information officer for the city of Lufkin. Before joining the city in 2015, she spent six and half years chasing crime and court stories all over East Texas. She is married to her husband of almost seven years with whom she shares a wild and crazy toddler, bonus daughter/resident teenager and one scruffy but sweet pup.

3. Gary Stallard, a U.S. Marine, completed his bachelor’s degree at Stephen F. Austin State University, where he majored in English and journalism. Since 2006, he has served as coordinator of marketing and development, writing instructor and sports information director at Angelina College. For more than 14 years, he has worked as a sports writer/columnist/photographer for The Lufkin Daily News. He and his wife, Susan, live in Lufkin. They have four children, five grandchildren (and counting), a dog, a cat and four grand-dogs.

4. Ron Fontenot is a professional music industry photographer based out of Houston. He specializes in live photography, capturing all the artists’ energy, personality and passion they bring to the stage. Ron is a member and photographic contributor to multiple major music foundations and associations. His website is ronfontenotphotography.com

5. Casey Gerard, a former culinary instructor, recently retired from teaching to pursue a new chapter in her creativity by working with SG Photography and Uptown Fashion House. She received her Bachelor of Science in Biology from Stephen F. Austin State University, where her daughter will soon graduate and her son will be enrolling in the fall. She and her husband enjoy time with their two children and three crazy dogs.

6. Jason Hardy is an avid outdoorsman who loves hunting, fishing, camping and photography. Jason enjoys spending time with his rather large blended family of eight kids and the woman of his dreams. Growing up in a Tom Sawyerfashion has left him with many fun stories and scars. If he is not enjoying the outdoors, you’ll find him at a live music venue or cooking in the kitchen listening to bluegrass music covers.

7. Cary Sims is the county Extension agent for agriculture and natural resources serving Angelina County. He, his wife and their two teenage boys live on a small farm in the Clawson community. For more than 20 years, he has aided agricultural producers and homeowners alike in understanding food production and the natural processes around us.

8. Candice Bergman is a hairstylist and lash and brow specialist at Blown Away Salon in Lufkin. She has been in the hair game for 20 years and still loves pushing the limits on new color trends and fun fresh styles. She was born and raised is Lufkin and has a 7-year-old daughter who loves to play hair and makeup with mom. Candice’s passion for hair came from her grandmother, Billie Bryce, who was a hairstylist for more than 50 years.

9. Ashley Conlon is the owner of Bloom Beauty Lounge and has more than 14 years of experience in aesthetics and makeup artistry. She is a Certified Elleebana USA Beauty Educator and specializes in many services involving lashes, brows, skincare, makeup, permanent cosmetics and more. Her work has been featured on the covers of several magazines, books, commercials, political campaigns, fashion shows and USA Network. She enjoys spending her time taking care of her guests at Bloom, serving on the worship team at her church and volunteering throughout her community.

Lee Container Grows in Nacogdoches

Since coming to Nacogdoches in 2005, we have built a great team, and we’ve invested in our Texas facility with new state-of-the-art production lines. The Nacogdoches members of our Lee Container Family have helped us earn quality awards from several of our key customers, such as Chevron, Texaco and Syngenta Crop Protection.

Since coming to Nacogdoches in 2005, we have built a great team, and we’ve invested in our Texas facility with new state-of-the-art production lines. The Nacogdoches members of our Lee Container Family have helped us earn quality awards from several of our key customers, such as Chevron, Texaco and Syngenta Crop Protection.

Lee Container Grows in Nacogdoches

Lee Container Grows in Nacogdoches

Lee Container Grows in Nacogdoches

Since coming to Nacogdoches in 2005, we have built a great team, and we’ve invested in our Texas facility with new state-of-the-art production lines. The Nacogdoches members of our Lee Container Family have helped us earn quality awards from several of our key customers, such as Chevron, Texaco and Syngenta Crop Protection. We are proud to be in Nacogdoches and support our community.

Since coming to Nacogdoches in 2005, we have built a great team, and we’ve invested in our Texas facility with new state-of-the-art production lines. The Nacogdoches members of our Lee Container Family have helped us earn quality awards from several of our key customers, such as Chevron, Texaco and Syngenta Crop Protection.

Find the charm hidden in the magazine the same color and size as the one shown here, and you could win a $50 gift certificate to the Charm advertiser of your choice. It will not be hidden in an ad or on the cover. Email us at editor@ charmeasttexas.com or write to us at Charm, P.O. Box 1089, Lufkin, TX 75902 with your name and phone number and tell us where you found it. All correct entries will be entered into a drawing. The lucky winner will be announced in our next issue.

Brand new — scan this QR code to submit your contest entry with your mobile device.

Congratulations, Maria Jaime from Lufkin!

Maria found the charm hidden on page 23 of the May issue. She won a $50 gift certificate to the Charm advertiser of her choice. Maria chose Real Time Breads of Lufkin.

OF Kaye M. Alderman FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY

It’s hard to believe it has been two years since the country shut down amid the global pandemic. But while disease struck the world, the practice of family law did not slow down but rather, picked up. Our office received phone calls from clients to help them interpret court orders when schools shut down after spring break. The Texas Supreme Court provided orders to guide individuals through this process. Quarantine led many couples to file for divorce. So, our courts and attorneys had to adapt to keep cases moving along. Zoom helped alleviate many of the concerns on how courts and attorneys would practice law to continue to help the individuals who sought resolution to their family law conflicts.

Is Zoom litigation still happening?

Zoom litigation is still very much alive. Several of our East Texas counties are still conducting hearings via Zoom. While the trend is again moving towards in person hearings for contested issues, most courts will allow individuals to appear by Zoom for matters such as agreed final hearings.

As our courts and attorneys slowly worked out

The Virtual Courtroom: Family Law in the Age of Zoom

the glitches with Zoom over the past couple of years, it does not appear Zoom litigation will completely disappear. Zoom allows our judges, court reporters and attorneys to work remotely from anywhere in the world with a strong internet connection.

Are there any benefits of Zoom?

Believe it or not, Zoom can help clients save money. Zoom allows clients to save on travel expenses. Additionally, many of our cases involve subpoenaing expert witnesses from all over the state and country. Prior to Zoom, these experts would have to take the day away from their ordinary business to attend and give testimony at a hearing. As you can imagine it can be a costly expense for an individual to pay for an out-of-town doctor to testify at a full day hearing.

Zoom has allowed experts to testify from the comfort of their office and continue with dayto-day business without much disruption and without the necessity of having to sit outside a courtroom for hours at a time before they are called to give their testimony.

What are the pitfalls of Zoom?

One of the most common problems with Zoom is the lack of dependable internet connectivity in some of our rural East Texas communities. Frequently, an individual may be able to log on successfully to a Zoom hearing and subsequently be dropped from the Zoom meeting because they have lost internet access. Additionally, some individuals rely on their cell phone service providers

to gain internet access which can cause the connection to “freeze” without their knowledge.

This issue can cause court proceedings to go a little longer or require the court reporter to ask the witness to repeat their testimony due to the lost connection. Nevertheless, the age of COVID has also brought along advances in internet access.

Has everyone learned Zoom etiquette?

No. Not everyone has learned Zoom etiquette. Because Zoom proceedings allow individuals to often appear from the comfort of their homes, people frequently become a little too comfortable and forget that they are still participating in a court proceeding. Our firm has seen individuals testify from bed in their pajamas—this did not sit well with the judge! People have appeared in a hearing while they are driving—again, the judge did not appreciate this. And the most common lack of etiquette we see is that individuals hold up their phones to their face and walk around their homes attempting to conduct their usual chores and tasks without being attentive to the court proceedings. Our firm makes every effort to educate witnesses on Zoom etiquette to avoid any issues with the court.

We’re here to help.

It is clear that Zoom has made its mark and it is here to stay. Let us help you present your case clearly and professionally—whether in person or by Zoom. We’re here to help.

Dealing with divorce, child custody, child support enforcement, termination, adoption, modification of custody, visitation and/or child support? We’re here to help.

I’m talking about “blues” as in the music.

I grew up a total head banger when it came to music. I needed it loud and rebellious so I could get loud and rebellious. From Led Zeppelin to KISS to Van Halen to everything else with raucous guitars and drums, it was my kind of music. I never grew out of it completely.

As a kid, I certainly couldn’t listen to any “old” stuff. If my parents liked it, by default I had to hate it if I wanted to be considered cool among my peers. My dad loved Johnny Cash. My mom loved Elvis.

Lame. Had to be, if they liked it.

Same with blues music. I didn’t hear much of it growing up, mostly because I jammed my ears with heavy metal. Blues was old news, and I was too cool.

Imagine my surprise when, later in life, I found my brother’s

Buddy Guy, Stevie Ray Vaughan, John Lee Hooker and all the others. I was stationed in Memphis, Tennessee, for a short while. I strolled Beale Street and heard the blues music, and while I didn’t mind sitting and listening, I never really connected with any of it. (I’m still embarrassed to admit it.)

I didn’t influence Little Brother’s musical tastes one little bit. He found those blues all by his lonesome. So when Jack and I lived together for a short time as adults, our one shared jam box in our apartment’s living room didn’t blast out my metal.

Nope. That sucker crooned us into our moods with the blues.

It didn’t take Jack long to convert me into a fan. I ended up blowing entire paychecks to add to our — well, mostly his — blues CD collection.

Then came our chance to see the legendary B.B. King in concert. It was right around Jack’s birthday, and I couldn’t think

of a better gift than tickets near the stage. (OK, they were for me, too, but Jack didn’t need to know that.)

We sat just a few rows from the stage, and Jack was fired up from the opening acts: Dr. John and Little Feat, along with a host of other blues artists.

As much as we enjoyed the openers, we were really just waiting for the King.

I’d brought my camera for the occasion. This was before digital photography, so I had a couple of extra rolls of film. I was gonna hook Little Brother up with some pics.

Then I found out there was no photography allowed. The security guys let me hang onto my camera with the warning I’d get tossed out on my booty if I used it.

I really, really tried to comply. I knew the film would get confiscated if I shot anything, but I was determined to get my little brother another birthday present.

When Mr. King broke into Jack’s all-time favorite, “The Thrill is Gone” (it’s actually my ring tone now), I couldn’t stand it.

I devised a plan and let Jack in on my scheme. I’d shoot a few pics, unload the real film roll for Jack to hide in his pocket while I loaded another roll. If they confiscated it, they’d get a blank roll.

Danged if it didn’t work. I snapped five or six quick pics, jammed the roll into Jack’s waiting hand, and acted completely shocked when security escorted me outside while taking my roll of film.

For years, Jack had that blown up picture of B.B. King performing “The Thrill is Gone” on his wall. I’m still proud of how we managed to pull that off.

We attended any blues concerts we could find, noticing most of the great ones took place in the summer. We hit an outdoor arena in Houston for a real blues fest featuring a ton of Jack’s favorites – including Buddy Guy and B.B. King. That trip was memorable not only because of the artists, but because Jack’s wife Rachel and our friend Mike Zimmerman’s wife Jackie were pregnant at the same time. We set them up with blankets in the lawn and made sure they were comfortable.

Sadly, a couple of jack donkeys decided to stand up in front of everyone despite the pregnant ladies’ sweet requests for them to move down a little.

What ensued was the stuff of family legend: Jack, former defensive tackle; brother Randy, a police officer; and me, a Marine — all converging on the two idiots in an effort to get them to get out of the way.

Believe it or not, they moved. Otherwise, they were gonna get a whole different kind of the blues. Don’t go blocking Buddy Guy or B.B. King.

Finally, I had to attend a business conference in Chicago back

in 2012. My wife has always wanted to go to Chicago. She’s a hard-core Bears fan, so of course she came with me.

Know who else is in Chicago? Buddy Guy.

On one of our nights out, we walked to Mr. Guy’s club, “Buddy Guy’s Legends.” I just wanted the chance to say I’d been there.

Inside, we found where they were selling Mr. Guy’s biography right near the front door. I bought a copy just for Jack, and a young bouncer asked if I wanted it signed. I explained we were from out of town, so we wouldn’t be able to wait.

“No, you can get it signed tonight,” the guy said. “Mr. Guy is here.”

Thought I was gonna pass out. I was breathing the same air as Buddy Guy?

Sure enough, the bouncer came back through the crowd, escorting the Guy with the brilliant smile and a million stories. He signed the book and agreed to let us have our pic taken with him.

I put my arm around him, but he gently pushed me away.

“I don’t want to stand next to you,” Buddy Guy said. “I want to stand next to that pretty thing.” He was talking about my wife.

In any other bar in any other time of my life, those would have been fightin’ words.

But when Buddy Guy compliments your beautiful wife, you beam like a fool during the pic. He managed to charm the both of us, and my lady’s smile stayed lit for weeks.

I don’t know why they call ’em the blues. The lyrics may speak of loves lost and broken hearts, but the musical delivery is more like “I’m sad and mad. I’m gonna pound this here guitar and you’re gonna like it.”

Weird. None of my blues memories are sad. As many concerts and performers as I’ve chased over the years, I can’t remember a single time ever leaving with an actual case of the blues. In fact, that stuff pumped me right up.

Summer is concert season nearly everywhere, meaning one can find some blues if one looks hard enough. The big venues are great, but let me tell you, there’s something about the smaller locales that just fits the blues aura. Fewer rules, and a dance floor big enough for all us people who couldn’t disco for a paycheck but can shuffle out our blues like pros. The names on the stage might not be recognizable, but trust me, the feelings they’re conveying through the blues will be.

We all get the same color blues in some form or fashion. It’s not like we can avoid it. But hearing someone else singing our own lives right out loud is like salve for the soul.

Give it a shot. You just might find out just what Buddy Guy meant when he sang the following:

“Somebody asked me, why I live the blues. I said the blues is all around me; I just find something I can use.”

ETX BLUES

THE HISTORY OF

by JESS HUFF

The boppin’ Boogie Woogie Highway along U.S. Highway 59 north from Houston through the Pineywoods of East Texas set the stage for a musical revolution in which Angelina County was instrumental, although its contributions may only be faintly remembered.

After the Civil War, people freed from slavery found employment along the East Texas rail lines building infrastructure to move timber from mills to markets, according to Texas Highways magazine. Those same people, inspired by the beats and rhythms heard in the rail yard, would create the fast-paced boogie woogie that led to the creation of jazz, blues and rock ’n’ roll.

Boogie-woogie may have reached the extent of its popularity after the end of World War II, but the love of music in the region continued to grow.

W.J. “Professor” Jackson, an early boogie woogie musician and Diboll native, taught Big Band superstar Harry James, known for his 1939 hit single “Back Beat Boogie.” Jackson was renowned for his prowess on the piano and trumpet in circus bands across the south.

Jackson died in 1972, at the age of 102, but he left an extensive look into his story with The Diboll History Center.

Jazz, the rambunctious younger brother to Boogiewoogie, swept through the nation following the Second World War and found its home in the small-town clubs along the Chitlin’ Circuit.

Now-famous musicians including B.B. King, Ella Fitzgerald and Ray Charles made names for themselves along the circuit.

During the decades of segregation, the circuit allowed Black performers, whether singers, musicians, comedians or otherwise, to find employment touring through towns in the Northeast, along the East Coast and through the South.

North Lufkin was home to several of the hundreds of clubs in the growing world of the Chitlin’ Circuit’s heyday. Local stops included The Pine Grove, Charlie Malone’s, the Cotton Club and a little spot on Cotton Belt that was owned by Church Wells, according to Ellis Carrington Sr. in an interview with The History Center.

Carrington saw T-Bone Walker, Fats Domino, Ray Charles, B.B. King, Buddy Johnson, Tyler Bradshaw, Joe

all photos courtesy of associate press

Turner, the Daughters of Rhythm, the Sweethearts of Rhythm and Ivory Joe Hunter at the local clubs.

The East Texas Cotton Club was one of the most notable clubs at the time.

“The Cotton Club was part of the Chitlin’ Circuit,” according to the late Phillip Morris, a blues historian who had a scrapbook of dance tickets and photographs.

“Blacks couldn’t play in (white) clubs; they had to play in auditoriums, in road shows, or in the Black clubs, and that was the Chitlin’ Circuit. Anybody that was somebody played there.”

The Cotton Club was popping at least once a week, and historians told The Lufkin Daily News that crowds could range between 200 and 300 people.

It was started by Dr. Claude Stewart on the corner of Wilson and Culverhouse streets in the early 1940s. It began as a small store, then expanded into a dance hall that also functioned as a social center, housing banquets and meetings for the Brakemen’s Wives Club.

Records indicate Duke Ellington, Ethel Waters, Ike and Tina Turner, and Sammy Davis Jr. each made appearances there.

“Integration really started there because the white kids wanted to come and hear these outstanding entertainers,” late historian the Rev. Bettie Kennedy told The Lufkin Daily News in 2006.

“These men were called brakemen, and they would work on the railroad, and their wives organized themselves, and they would do things like fashion shows, and they would come and have dances,” Kennedy told The History Center in an interview. “The Cotton Club was an outstanding club in this area, and they would have it at the Cotton Club.”

Kennedy remembered participating in the fashion shows there as a girl. But she mostly remembered the other women, dressed in their finest, adorned with diamond rings and glittering earrings.

Otis Rhodes, another longtime resident, saw Little Richard and Tina Turner at the Cotton Club.

“A lot of the big bands came to this Cotton Club, and the people from Nacogdoches would often come down,” he said. “Now this was also during the time when they had the big apple hats, the zoot suits — the drape pants, for those younger people that don’t know what the zoot suits are.”

He said Black people from Nacogdoches would wear their work clothes on the bus to Lufkin because Nacogdoches Police Chief M.C. Roebuck didn’t allow them to come the 25 minutes south of town if he knew they were going to a club.

He also wouldn’t allow them to wear the big apple hats, which typically featured large feathers. When he saw them, the chief would take a knife and cut the feathers off, Rhodes said.

“Roebuck did not allow those Blacks there to do hardly anything,” he said. “He called the shots. He would tell you when to get up, when to go to bed, when to get off the street. He would pass by and he would use this little teasing phraseology, like ‘sweetheart’ — ‘Sweetheart, I’ll be back by here in about 30 minutes, and I don’t want anybody standing on the street.’ And you knew you better get gone.”

The Cotton Club closed sometime around 1967. Trees and houses now fill the space where great musicians once played for hundreds of East Texans on Saturday nights.

BERRY’D Treasure

Fans are eagerly awaiting their berry favorite activities at the most delicious festival in Texas — the 32nd annual Blueberry Festival set for Saturday, June 11, in Nacogdoches. Whether you prefer root beer floats or the Fredonia Brewery’s special Brewberry beer, there’s plenty of family-friendly fun celebrating Texas’ native superfood.

Festivities begin with the Blueberry Bluegrass Concert in the Park from 6-9 p.m. Friday, June 10, at Festival Park in downtown Nacogdoches. Enjoy performances by Little Roy and Lizzy, The Baker Family and Catahoula Drive and a special appearance by up-and-coming group the Gent Mountain Grassburs.

“Having Little Roy and Lizzy come to Nacogdoches is a huge honor,” said Scott Waller, co-organizer of the Blueberry Bluegrass Concert in the Park. “These two are legends in their own right, and when you put them together, you get pure

by

magic. It’s going to be an amazing night.”

Food trucks and other vendors will be on-hand. Concertgoers are encouraged to bring blankets and lawn chairs. Organizers also ask that you leave coolers and alcohol at home.

The Running of the Blueberries begins bright and early Saturday morning and takes runners, walkers and joggers along the Lanana Creek Trail. Proceeds benefit Dog Park Nacogdoches.

The 10K begins at 7:15 a.m., 5K at 7:30 a.m. and a 1-mile route through the Clint Dempsey Soccer Complex starts immediately after the 5K.

Dogs are invited to walk or run with their leashed human and will receive a commemorative bandana. Register at tinyurl. com/BBrun22. Virtual race options are available.

But that’s the first of many competitions at the Texas Blueberry Festival. After your run, you can take a peek at the

VALERIE REDDELL | photos by TIM MONZINGO

The Blueberry Festival has been a Nacogdoches tradition for more than 30 years.

car show, quilt festival and sign up for the 42 tournament.

The Blue Brrrrry Dunking booth, pet parade and Berry Best photobooth will keep everyone entertained on the brick streets downtown throughout the festival. Water slides and bounce houses also will be open and ready for cool blue fun.

Local chefs will be whipping up some blueberry delights in the Regions Bank Community Room at 10 a.m. Cooking up the Blues features Dr. Mary Olle and Claudann Jones.

Activities for blueberry lovers of all ages include makeand-take arts and crafts, a pet parade, “The Big Blue” mural painting, Blueberry Hill Soda & Sweet Shoppe, pie-eating contests, washer board tournament, and food and arts vendors. Downtown merchants and local businesses offer blueberry sweet specials inspired by the festival. The entire day is a fun, family-oriented event and many of the activities are free of charge.

Stop by Brookshire Brothers’ mobile blueberry store for your favorite blueberry-themed items.

Be on the lookout for Sasquatch, advised Neal Staten, owner of Tipton Ford, presenting sponsor of the festival. The giant human-ish creature will be hanging out with members of the dealership’s off-road adventure club.

KSWP/KAVX is sponsoring a kids’ obstacle course in Festival Park, and a petting zoo and the U.S. Army interactive activity trailer will be nearby.

Festival park is the shaded, grassy area just down the hill from the downtown brick streets.

Festival hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 11. Live music will be performed on stages downtown and in Festival Park throughout the day featuring acoustic folk guitar, country, jazz and soft rock. Shuttles will be provided for those who want to pick blueberries right off the bushes at nearby farms.

TheBluesMan

by JASON HARDY photos by RON FONTENOT

Johnny

Riley was born in Kountze in 1966. His father, a talented musician, and his mother, who hailed from Mississippi, instilled in Johnny his passion for the blues. Like most musicians, he grew up around a family who had a love of music.

Johnny has shared the stage with musicians including Leon Rhodes, Mickey Rogers and Blind Mississippi Morrison. He has played at The Grand Ole Opry and festivals all over the world. In 2015, Johnny was nominated for a Grammy for a song he wrote titled “Crossroads of My Life.”

Q: Why the blues?

A: I grew up in a poor household where abuse was prevalent. My dad was a preacher who preached all over, but a lot of times at African American churches. Due to the abuse by my father, I was a very angry young man. The blues gave me a way to let it out without getting killed or going to prison.

Q: When did you pick up your first guitar?

A: My mom tells a story about a picture of a red guitar that I had torn out of a magazine when I was around 3. She says I played with that picture until I wore a hole in it. Then, it was a toy guitar. I have always just been fascinated by anything with strings.

Q: What was your first guitar?

A: I found an old gut string guitar with a hole in it and only 2 strings. The first guitar I bought, I worked for three months to purchase a Pan guitar because it looked like a Gibson SG.

Q: What do you play now?

A: I have a Martin and a Gibson and I love National.

Johnny strives to stay humble, never get jealous and be the best version of himself that he can be. He maintains his faith in God and gives Him the glory for every door that was opened to him. A quote he told me at another show of his stands out as a perfect way to sum Johnny up: “I’m not doing anything that’s not been done before but I am doing it for a generation that’s

Q: Do you name your guitars?

A: I call them “my ladies” and “my ladies” make me money.

Q: Do you have any hobbies aside from music?

A: I like to watch documentaries and extreme cooking shows, where they eat bats and such. But I still have a guitar in my hands because I can’t sit still.

Q: Describe your writing process.

A: It just comes to me. I may be sleeping or sitting on my porch watching a sunrise. I always write it down. I’ve even found songs I forgot I wrote.

Q: Who would your dream collaboration be, alive or dead?

A: Country it would be Tom T. Hall because he can tell a story like no one else.

Rock would be Sam Phillips, because he was the P.T. Barnum of the music industry.

Blues would be Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf or someone like that because they are the real deal.

never seen it.”

Johnny recently returned from Memphis, Tennessee, where he played for thousands at the International Blues Challenge. He made it to the semifinals after winning in Houston. You can find him playing in Lufkin most weekends, and he is on most music platforms. His website is JohnnyRiley.com.

Blue Beats

Those seeking entertainment heavy on percussion, paint and PVC pipes need look no further than Lufkin’s Temple Theater, where whimsical act The Blue Man Group will bring their experimental production — with so much messy audience participation that those seated front and center will be provided ponchos — June 14 and 15 during their North American Tour.

Blue Man Group is an American performance art company formed in 1987 by friends Chris Wink, Matt Goldman and Phil Stanton on Manhattan’s Lower East Side.

The performances include drumming, colorful movements, creativity and comedy. The group performs original music using custom-made instruments.

Mike Brown recently celebrated his 19th year (17th if you count the two years they were out for the coronavirus pandemic) as a Blue Man in April.

Brown first saw the show in, he thinks, 1997 on a college trip.

“I had no idea what to expect when I saw the show,”

Blue Man Group coMinG to the teMple theater in June by BRITTANY BARCLAY

he said. “And I just absolutely fell in love with it because I love drumming and — I was going to school for theater — I love acting, so it was kind of the best of both worlds. So as soon as I saw it, I knew it was something that I wanted to do and wanted to focus on.”

He moved to New York in 2001 and by late 2002 he was working for the group as a crew member.

“I used to work backstage, setting up the show and running the show,” he said. “And then after about six months, I decided to audition. And it was because I really wanted to do it.”

He said the audition process was “definitely unique.”

“The first thing you do is just go in and they just want to see if you can drum,” he said. “It’s basically kind of a sequential thing. The next thing you do is you go in and they’re gonna have you do some acting exercises but just with your eyes ... do something like that with your physicality where they just want to see how they can use your body and your face.”

He said they then combine the two — acting and drumming — and then put you into costume.

“Then if everything goes well and you continue to improve, you get hired for training,” he said. “And training basically means you made it through the audition process and now you’re gonna start learning how to become a Blue Man.''

That can take anywhere from four to eight weeks, he said.

“Maybe even longer,” he said. “It’s definitely a unique process and a little long. My audition process was about twoand-a-half months. It was great.”

Brown said when he was a teenager, he used to drum on stacks of books. Eventually, he convinced his mom to buy him a drum set for his birthday.

“I taught myself how to play drums by just playing along with music in my room,” he said. “And making music with my friend, and I say ‘music’ with air quotes because I’m sure my mom would disagree. I was just playing in bands with friends in high school and then in college I just continued to do the same thing and got a little bit better.”

He learned the most about music while being in the Blue Man Group, however.

“I learned more about drumming, I learned more about listening, I learned more about dynamics, I learned more about control,” he said. “My musical knowledge definitely benefited from working at Blue Man.”

The Blue Man Group uses paint drums, which combine drumming and paint. He said he never gets tired of being covered in paint and that it adds to the show in a visual way.

“It really adds to the drumming in a great way,” he said, “because you can literally visually see the sounds we’re making.”

He said they learn how to improv as a Blue Man.

“What’s really fun about being a Blue Man is you basically learn the structure,” he said. “Think of it like a giant circle and that’s the template for the show, but you can ride the edges of that circle and even go outside the circle where you’re doing something that wasn’t planned. So what you do is you learn that foundation template so that then you can feel comfortable stepping outside of that circle or stepping outside the normal thing.”

The Blue Man Group promises a different experience every show, and Brown mainly attributes that to the audience.

“The audience is really what makes the show different every night,” he said. “Because they’re a different energy, they’re a different being as a collective. So we approach that differently every night. They could be really quiet, they could be really loud, they could be very physical, they could just be sitting in their seats not really doing anything, and we respond to that.”

The connection with the other Blue Men, the band and the crew also make a difference, he said.

“You also have the different factors of the three Blue Men,” he said. “And that shifts throughout the night ’cause it could just be one day you’re working with two different guys, the next day you’re with another two guys, and that shifts the show. Same thing happens with the relationship between the Blue Men and the band, the Blue Men and the crew. It just shifts everything so it makes it more organic and more new every time.”

Brown said they come to know their fellow Blue Men in a “very intimate, respectful and awesome way.”

“I work with some really, really great people,” he said. “And people who have become some of my best friends. And that’s actually just a huge testament to Blue Man Group because you’re entering a family that has a very specific vibe and energy, and it's just super welcoming and warm and really great to be a part of.”

He said the audience is kind of like their family, too.

“Any audience interaction is just gold,” he said. “Like when we bring people up on stage to interact with them — there’s nothing more special. Being able to travel the country and being able to meet people all over the U.S. and perform for thousands of thousands of people, I mean, it’s a dream come true.”

He said they are excited about coming to Lufkin.

“And just super pumped for everybody to see the show,” he said. “It’s pretty much a whole brand-new show, so people can expect the unexpected and know that they'll have a great time.”

For more information on the Blue Man Group, go to blueman. com. For tickets to the 7:30 p.m. shows, go to angelinaarts.org. The show is suitable for all ages.

Peafowl Getting Personal With

text by KAYLEY FRAZE photos by LESLIE NEMEC

Anyone who’s ever been to Ellen Trout Zoo in Lufkin knows that while taking a peek at the other animals, you’re more than likely to happen upon a peafowl strutting along the walkways.

The peafowl roam freely throughout the zoo, and it’s been that way — at the very least — since 1976, when Gordon Henley became director.

“They’re pretty much a home-range bird, and they don’t migrate far off the property,” he said. “It’s been kind of nice to have them.”

The staff members don’t have to do anything to get the birds to remain at the zoo — they just stay. At night, the peafowl normally flock to the treetops, Henley said.

“They’re interesting in that sometimes they’re indicators of things,” he said. “If we are gonna have a storm come up, they don’t get in the trees — they stay under, low to the ground, and they’ll get flat. When you see them do that, it’s almost as good as the weather man.”

Currently, there are around 50 peafowl that roam the zoo.

“There used to be a lot more and they went to other locations who needed some real pretty birds, and that helps maintain the population that we have,” he said.

Henley said the zoo sometimes has little kids who will try to play with the peafowl.

“That’s what kids do, so we just try to watch for that,” he said.

There are three species of peafowl: Indian, Green and Congo. The ones at the zoo are Indian peafowl, Henley said.

“The Congo is a threatened or vulnerable species, and the Green ones are endangered,” he said. “The blue neck — the males and females are what’s called ‘dimorphic.’ They don’t look alike, except the white ones that we have, and those are not albino, they’re just mutations.”

In the case of ordinary Indian peafowl, males have blue necks and females have tan bodies. Female Green peafowl have green necks and can have the “train,” Henley said.

“Both males and females have those, and the Congo peafowl are smaller and gray and do not have the big, long train that we think of with peafowl, the big spread,” he said.

Staff members pay attention to public input the zoo gets, and for the most part, people enjoy seeing the peafowl, Henley said. The birds are something people can connect with as they’re walking through the zoo.

“People like them. Every now and then, you’ll hear somebody say, ‘Oh, there’s too many peacocks out there.’ But most of the time, it’s ‘Oh, they got the peafowl and they’re walking.’ And they don’t bother anybody,” he said. “Most of the time, if you read the comments about the peafowl, people love them. They’re iconic and impressive.”

Summertime Blues

photos by SG PHOTOGRAPHY hair by CANDICE BERGMAN makeup by ASHLEY CONLON

THERE: White single-sleeved summer dress and earrings by Uptown Fashion House; Bracelets by Spruce

HERE: Cobalt single-sleeved dress by Uptown Fashion House; earrings by Spruce

Models: Mattie Nicholson, Presley Cook and Kailey Sowell

THERE: Navy blazer, light blue dress shirt and white pleated shorts by Uptown Fashion House; earrings by Spruce

HERE: White halter top by Uptown Fashion House

CHASING THE BLUES AWAY

text and photos by LESLIE NEMEC | additional photos by JOEL ANDREWS & JESS HUFF

Whilethe infamous “golden hour” is widely sought after by many photographers, its equally stunning successor, the “blue hour,” is often the time when their cameras get put away. Contrary to the name, its duration is much shorter than an hour — more like 30 minutes. It occurs twice a day: the span of time before the sun comes up and the time just after the sun sets.

With the right equipment and techniques, the blue hour offers rich, moody skies to contrast with any available light. We’ve provided some tips to help you capture some stellar shots.

• Choose your location wisely. Once the sun sets, you won’t have much time to capture your images, so planning ahead is essential. When choosing a location, keep in mind: The sky itself cannot be the subject. Some ideal subjects would be cityscapes, a prominent building, an architectural structure, natural landscapes, trees, rocks or anything you can light up or that has some sort of illumination.

• Use a tripod. This is essential to get these low-light shots. You will need to shoot with longer shutter speeds and lessthan-ideal aperture and ISO levels. Utilizing a tripod will prevent your images from being blurry. You also will need to have a cable release or use the camera’s self timer.

• Shoot in RAW format so that you can have the maximum control in the post-editing process. Make sure you are not blowing out your highlights — it is easier to recover shadows than overexposed highlights.

• Settings also are crucial to getting the perfect shot. You will want to shoot in manual mode to have full control of all of the camera’s settings. Your ISO settings should be low to keep from having noise, or grain. The target ISO is 100-400.

• In the dark, autofocus may have a hard time finding your subject on which to focus. You can troubleshoot this by finding a bright object for your camera to lock onto. Make sure to use back button focus so that your camera does not try to autofocus. If it’s still struggling to find you focal point, use manual focus. Utilize your live view and zoom in on the screen to ensure precise focus.

• Choose a medium size aperture, no more than f/8. Shooting anywhere from f/16 to f/22 will result in city lights captured as twinkling starbursts.

All of these settings will determine where your shutter speed needs to be to properly expose your images. Use the camera’s meter to set your shutter speed and take a test shot.

• Check your camera’s histogram to ensure proper exposure. You are shooting at night, so most of your graph should be pushed mostly to the left. To make sure your details are showing up, make sure the graph at least touches the right side. Don’t just rely on the overall histogram but the separate histograms for each color to make sure they are not blown out. If your graphs are off, change your shutter speed to a slower setting until you achieve the right exposure.

Have fun and send us your images to editor@charmeasttexas.com.

J o el a nd R e W s

While the rest of us are sound asleep, Officer Reagan Jordan is patrolling the streets of Lufkin.

The 28-year-old Dallas-area native loves the nightlife, opting to work the weekend, overnight hours known as D shift.

“Nightshift is the in-progress stuff — the disturbances, or the situations where someone walks outside and catches a guy digging through their car,” Reagan said. “That’s what I like so much about it.”

The other thing Reagan enjoys about D shift is the camaraderie amongst her other D-shift officers. Though many of them have seniority and could have their pick of any day shift, they keep coming back to D shift.

“The bond that we have on D shift is different. We’re very close and we do things outside of work together,” she said. “I would jump in front of a bullet for any of those guys in a heartbeat and I know they’d do the same for me.”

Reagan didn’t start her career in law enforcement with the Lufkin Police Department or even as a police officer. She was killing herself working two jobs while attending college in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex to get into nursing school when she happened into a dispatch position in Arlington. The appeal of a single job and more money lured her away from her medical aspirations.

“I ended up falling in love with it,” Reagan said. “I was in dispatch and had no intentions of leaving dispatch but then I got a call. The hardest part about that call was staying in my chair. After that, I thought, ‘I don’t want to be on this side of it anymore.’”

Realizing her dream to serve on the front line, Reagan crafted a plan to become an officer. That plan started with a move to

Lufkin, where she accepted a job as a Lufkin Police & Fire dispatcher. She knew spending time in dispatch would help her learn her way around the city.

“I knew Timberland to downtown, and that was the extent of my Lufkin knowledge,” she said. “When I would get lunch, I would go to Sonic to get a sweet tea and then get lost in a neighborhood. I’d make myself find my way out without GPS.”

When LPD offered a civil service test in December 2018, Reagan said she knew it was her time.

“I told myself if I don’t do it now, I’m going to get too scared and chicken out,” she said.

Telling her family that she had been selected to attend the police academy was another matter. With a dad who spent three decades working in surgery and a mom who still works in the clerical field, Reagan is the first officer in her family. They always saw her as a fast-paced emergency room nurse.

“When my police recruiter called my dad he said, ‘No, I don’t want her to do this. She’s going to be great at it but no,’” Reagan said with a laugh, remembering her late father’s words. “My mom — she worries, but I straight up told her, ‘When God wants me to go, I’m gonna go — whether I’m at home sleeping in my bed or working.’ My mom said, ‘Yeah, Reagan, but you can’t keep God working overtime to keep you here with us.’”

After graduating from the police academy, Reagan completed the field training program and then began patrolling on her own. This fall she will celebrate her third anniversary as a Lufkin police officer.

During that time, one of the craziest experiences she said she’s had is being cut out of a partially submerged vehicle while helping a trapped wreck victim.

“The car was nose down in a creek and the firefighter was having a hard time maneuvering around inside this wrecked-out car, so I asked if he needed help. He said, ‘If you can get down here, I’ll take the help,’” she said. “I was able to balance myself in the back, lean forward, and then stick my arms through the opening in the two seats to help keep her head above the water. The firefighters covered us with a sheet and then cut the car open to get her out. It was an experience I’ll never forget.

“Even with all the craziness, this is the best job in the world.”

text and photos by JESSICA PEBSWORTH

CHARMing Babies

Georgia Jane Hay

PARENTS: Kyle & Kristen Hay

SIBLINGS: Caleb, Morgan, Scarlett, Anna Claire, Francesca, Adam, Joel, William & Raleigh Hay

GRANDPARENTS: Scott & LaNell Hay; Thomas & Ann Flournoy

Kamari Ashaun Tanner

PARENTS: Anthony Tanner & Ashauntia Hatton

GRANDPARENTS: Karlissia Malone; Christina Pleasant

Briella Avery Montalvo

PARENTS: Ricardo & Monique Montalvo

GRANDPARENTS: Angel & Martha Lopez; Ricardo & Aidee Montalvo

Ask about same-day OB/GYN appointments.

1/18/2022

Gracelynn Sheree Renfro

PARENTS: Dallas & Hannah Renfro

GRANDPARENTS: John David & Anna Renfro; Karen Haney Renfro; Ronnie & Tina Salley

When you need to see an OB/GYN, you want to be able to see the doctor without a long wait. So at Woodland Heights Obstetrics & Gynecology, we’re committed to seeing you faster. And if you have an urgent need, we can often see you the same day. From delivering babies to minimally invasive treatment for gynecological conditions, we’re here for you. Give us a call today for women’s healthcare that’s personalized and prompt.

To schedule an appointment, call 936-633-1220.

Brian Drake, M.D. Board-Certified OB/GYN

Jimena Lewis

PARENTS: Matthew & Amber Lewis

GRANDPARENTS: Abel & Norma Olvera; Mark & Katherine Smith; Kelly & Joyce Lewis

Landry Cooper Noel

PARENTS: AJ & Linzey Noel

GRANDPARENTS: Tim & Kim Davis; Donald & Stefanie Vaughn; Gary & Susan Noel

Want to show off your charming newborn (less than 12 months old)? Email newborn information and a high-resolution photo to charmingbabies@lufkindailynews.com. By doing so, you are granting The Lufkin Daily News ownership and the rights to license and republish the photograph in any of the company’s publications. Photos will be published on a first-come, first-served basis.

DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES IS THE 10TH OF EACH MONTH.

Woodland Heights Medical

Appointment

Living your best life starts with living a healthy life. At Woodland Heights Medical Group, our healthcare providers take the time to identify your health risks and can help you prioritize good health. Regular checkups and age-appropriate screenings are important to be healthy now – and to stay well in the future.

With same-day appointments and online scheduling, we make it easy to make an appointment right now. You can even see us from the comfort of home via telehealth.

Your best life is what you make it. We can help you make it healthy. Make an appointment at WoodlandHeightsPCP.com.

Woodland Heights Primary Care at Diboll • 936-237-7900 Woodland Heights Adult Medicine • 936-758-7991

to live your best life.

Make an

Blossoms of Blue

by CARY SIMS

If you are looking for a beautiful blue flower that has been proven by top gardeners in Angelina County, consider the Imperial blue plumbago.

Native to South Africa, this plumbago is a good-sized, evergreen shrub known for its mounds of pale blue flowers, a shade of blue not produced by many other local flowers.

Imperial blue plumbago is a sprawling, fast-growing shrub that produce flowers from spring through fall. Briefly, the clusters of blue flowers will remind you of phlox flowers. Great in foundation plantings or in containers, plumbago make the biggest splash where their branches can cascade over a large flowerpot or a retaining wall. Plant new plants 4 to 6 feet apart in mass plantings or as a colorful groundcover.

If you plant plumbago in full sun and well-drained soil, they are not overly fussy about soil conditions. Once established, they are very drought-tolerant. They even take our acidic soils in stride, preferring them to other high-pH, alkaline soils.

If you give them a great location in your landscape, plumbago shrubs can grow up past 6 feet tall and wide. In that event, simple occasional pruning will keep them in bounds. Do not over-prune during the growing season, as this will often reduce flower production.

The best time for heavy pruning to promote new growth is in late winter around March. Although hardy in our area, frosts or freezes can nip plumbago back a bit, as well. Even if it were frozen back to the ground, the plumbago will often grow back without a problem. Yes, it did make it through our “big freeze” in February 2021.

While the named variety called “imperial blue” is abundantly available and is the one that gardeners have told me has done well here, you could experiment with a couple of other varieties.

If you are feeling adventurous, consider “royal cape” with cobalt blue flowers. For something completely different, the white-flowering cultivar ‘‘alba’’ might be worth a try.

While plumbago have very few pests, the insect known as chilli thrips has been a problem in other areas of the south. Chilli thrips-infested plumbago almost looks like it has a fungal disease due to the numerous blackened leaves.

One additional item to note is that plumbago have what are called chalk glands on the underside of their leaves. This white deposit is natural and should not be confused with a fungus or other pest. It is just a normal abnormality.

Consider plumbago, a true locally tested, blue-flowering plant, in your landscape.

BLUE MARTINI

by CASEY GERARD

Dreaming of the blue hues of the ocean and sound of the waves crashing onto the shore? This martini gives just the right amount of blue to transport you to your own personal happy place.

1 ounce Blue Curacao

1 ounce citron vodka

2 ounces cranberry juice cocktail

½ ounce fresh squeezed lime juice

Sugar for rim Ice cubes

Lemon or lime wedge for garnish

Sugar a chilled martini glass. Add cranberry juice cocktail, vodka, Curacao and lime juice to an ice filled shaker. Cover and shake. Strain into your martini glass.

photo by LESLIE NEMEC glass W a R e co UR tesy o F a -1 pa R ty s U pply

Blueberry Cheesecake Eggrolls

by CASEY GERARD

photo by LESLIE NEMEC

East Texas has many options for a family to enjoy an adventurous day spent picking your own blueberries. If you survive the heat, thorns and bugs, you then face a new struggle at home: What yummy recipe to dive into? Blueberry muffins, blueberry pie or blueberry cheesecake egg rolls — why not? Take the crispy layers of dough filled with a savory cabbage mixture and replace it with a delicious blueberry cheesecake filling. This new culinary innovation will not disappoint.

• 1 pint blueberries

• ½ cup sugar

• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

• 1 tablespoon water

• The juice of 1 lemon

• 2 tablespoons butter

• ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

• 8 ounces of cream cheese at room temperature

• ⅔ cup powdered sugar

• The juice of ½ lemon

• 1½ tablespoons heavy whipping cream

• 1 package of egg roll wrappers

• 1 egg, whisked

• Vegetable oil for frying

• Powdered sugar for garnish

In a saucepan over medium-low heat, add the blueberries, sugar, cornstarch and water. Stir well. Remove from heat and mix in the lemon juice, butter and vanilla extract.

Take a potato masher and mash about onethird of the berries. You want some juice but you want more of the whole berries. Transfer this to a shallow bowl to cool.

While that is cooling, take cream cheese out of the package and place it into a bowl. Using a hand mixer, blend the cream cheese well. Add the powdered sugar a little bit at a time and blend slightly each time. When all the powdered sugar is added, blend in the lemon juice and heavy whipping cream. You may need to add more cream to reach the desired consistency. You want a spreadable consistency similar to icing.

Heat 2 inches of canola oil in a pot to 350 degrees.

Lay out one egg roll wrapper in front of you in the shape of a diamond. Using a spoon (or you can use a piping bag with a medium hole cut in the bottom), spread not quite a tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture across the bottom of the diamond about an inch above the bottom tip and not going all the way to the sides of the wrapper. Top that with a heaping tablespoon of the blueberry mixture trying to get plenty of the whole berries. Fold bottom over the two mixtures and slightly tuck, then fold in each side. Use a small pastry brush and brush a small amount of egg between each so they stick together well. Carefully roll until you get to the top corner then brush with egg mixture to secure that to the roll. Using a slotted spatula, lower egg roll gently into oil and fry until golden brown. Remove from oil and place onto a napkin. Let cool for 5 minutes. Cut egg rolls in a diagonal and dust with powdered sugar.

Calling the Emergency Department at St. Luke’s HealthMemorial an emergency “room” simply does not cover the depth of experience and resources the team delivers for all of life’s unexpected events.

St. Luke’s Health-Memorial carries the distinct honor of being Lufkin’s first Joint Commissioned Certified Primary Stroke Care Center.

Since receiving that designation, the hospital has strategically worked to continually improve the quality and safety of patient care.

“When seeking care at one of the St. Luke’s Health-Memorial emergency facilities, a patient can expect the entire department to come together to provide the care that patient needs,” said Matt Clark, market director of Emergency Services. “We specialize in providing care for the whole person — mind, body and spirit. This involves a wide range of health care professionals including board certified doctors, specially trained trauma nurses, respiratory therapists, radiology technicians, emergency

department techs, phlebotomists and unit secretaries, as well as rehab and spiritual care services when needed.”

The Emergency Department teams at St. Luke’s HealthMemorial passionately believe what they do is more than a career — it is a calling — using leading-edge technology and support to deliver exceptional care and improve the lives of others.

Both the Nightingale Pledge and the Blessing of the Hands Ceremony are two traditions hospital employees, including those in the Emergency Department, annually participate in during National Hospital Week. The Nightingale Pledge is recited by a nurse. As it is read, a pen light is passed from the most senior attendee to the most junior attendee of the ER team. During this year’s ceremony, the torch began with Francisco Torres and was passed from hand to hand until it reached the youngest — “Baby” — as some of her colleagues affectionately call Destyni Achan.

While experienced employees are respected and appreciated,

‘FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE PLEDGE’

I solemnly pledge myself before God and in the presence of this assembly to pass my life in purity and to practice my profession faithfully.

I shall abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous and shall not take or knowingly administer any harmful drug.

I shall do all in my power to maintain and elevate the standard of my profession

And will hold in confidence all personal matters committed to my keeping and all

Family affairs coming to my knowledge in the practice of my calling.

I shall be loyal to my work and devoted towards the welfare of those committed to my care.

the Emergency Department team also sees the value in mentoring young nurses to help keep the candle burning.

Part of those efforts include sharing traditions including The Blessing of the Hands, which is a health care tradition practiced worldwide and said to have been initiated by Florence Nightingale. It is recognized as a symbolic representation of how the hands are used to deliver kind and compassionate care to every patient every time.

“Human touch is a significant part of health care. Patients who come to the emergency department are not there because they were bored and wanted to visit — they are there because they need care. Many who come into the department are experiencing the worst day of their life or it triggers visits from the past that were horrific; now more than ever post-COVID,” Clark said.

Working long hours, often stressful, they face everything from ear infections to heart attacks and strokes. Clark said working in the Emergency Department is the job he loves best, and the rigors present an opportunity to constantly learn and grow.

Decreasing Emergency Department wait times also are a focus area at St. Luke’s Health-Memorial. The hospital uses a split-flow model of operation to improve wait times. “Our Emergency Department consists of 23 beds, and on an average day we see approximately 80 patients. As you can imagine this takes careful coordination amongst chaos.”

Upon entry to the Emergency Department, the patient will either be taken directly to a bed (pull to full method) or to one of the triage nurses. Specially trained nurses will assign an ESI level based on the acuity of the patient’s emergency, and then the patient will be moved to one of two areas: FastTrack or the main Emergency Department.

At first glance, it might appear to patients who are waiting in the lobby that other patients are getting faster treatment than them when in fact the system allows the Emergency Department team to provide care for patients quickly in the fast-track areas and treat higher acuity patients in a separate area. That system of care helps to decrease wait times for all patients.

“Please know that everyone’s emergency is important to us, and our goal is not to have anyone wait. Behind those Emergency Department doors, there is a team working diligently to acquire a bed for you so that a provider may see you as soon as possible.” Providing timely updates to the patient and the patient’s family also is a priority.

Clark’s most memorable Emergency Department experience involves his young daughter. “My daughter woke up one night screaming in pain and holding her ear. Just as any other parent, I knew she had an ear infection. Also, as Murphy’s Law implied, it was a Friday night and there were no pediatricians available for the weekend.”

It was not life or death, but his child was in pain. As a registered nurse, he knew she needed pain medication and she needed antibiotics, and to Clark that was an emergency.

On arrival to the Emergency Department, the child was treated for her ear infection and sent home. To this day, his daughter remembers the experience of the physician exam and the care that was given to her.

“All of us have emergencies that strike, and the ability of the team to shift from critical care nurses to pediatric caregivers, as they walk from one patient room to the other, is unlike any other specialty.”

For more information about Emergency Services at St. Luke’s Health-Memorial, visit StLukesHealth.org.

Animal Rescue

that has a pet to feature, please contact us at editor@charmeasttexas.com. View other adoptable pets at Petfinder.com.

Pearl is a 1-year-old female Catahoula leopard mix. She is spunky and energetic. Pearl does well with most other dogs and with older children, but we are unsure of how she interacts with cats. She is high-spirited. Due to her energy level, she will need plenty of exercise and room to run.

Rooster is a 7-year-old neutered male German shepherd mix. He does well with other dogs and enjoys playing with children. If there is a pool around, Rooster will be taking a dip.

Moon is a 2-year-old female Labrador retriever mix. She enjoys socializing with most dogs and is happiest when she is around people. Moon is fond of belly rubs and she gives great hugs.

PearlRoosterMoon

All animals available for adoption are up-to-date on vaccines and preventatives and have been neutered and micro-chipped. All cats have tested negative for feline leukemia and AIDS. All dogs have tested negative for heartworms.

For more information, contact the Winnie Berry Humane Society of Angelina County at (936) 639-1880.

Editor’s note: In order to help homeless pets in the Lufkin and Nacogdoches area, Charm East Texas’ animal rescue page features pets that are in desperate need of loving homes. If you are a rescue

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