Buzz About Town – January 2011

Serious Friday night lights
The Fighting Irish of the Southwest Football League captured the junior division championship, defeating the Aggies by a score of 34-8 and securing the best record in the history of the SFL with a perfect season- and post-season record of 14-0. Head coach Greg Geib is proud of the team’s record-setting 266 points – the most scored in regular-season play by any team in the league’s four age divisions this year. Several grandparents from out of state came to Houston to catch their grandsons on the gridiron. Pictured are (front row, from left) Andrew Thoss, Hunter Megarity, Thomas Carpenter, William King, Hayden Correa, Johnny Butler, (second row, from left) Brennan Hoffman, Matthew Smith, Ian Ragiel, Greyson Crosswell, John Kennedy, (third row, from left) Austin Vincent, Wolfi Timm, Collins Howell, Gavin Geib, Peter Geib, Thomas Shuenemann, (back row, from left) Todd Carpenter, Steve Ragiel, Collins Howell, Keely Megarity, head coach Greg Geib and Larry Hoffman.

She’s got spirit
University of Michigan freshman Hayley Glauben enjoys being on her school’s cheerleading squad, raising the spirit level at home games in Ann Arbor for football and basketball games. The former Episcopal High School cheerleader, who has cheered competitively since she was 5 and for her schools since eighth grade, was selected to cheer for the Wolverines at the 2011 Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida. Her parents, Michelle and Barry Glauben, and brother Blake Glauben watched her in action during the Wolverines’ match up against Bowling Green and have seen glimpses of her on ESPN on other game days. Pictured visiting the Michigan campus during Parents’ Weekend are (from left) Blake, Hayley, Barry and Michelle Glauben.

They shoot, they score
Strake Jesuit College Preparatory and St. Thomas High School are putting aside their age-old rivalry to co-host the inaugural Challenger basketball game on Jan. 8 at 11 a.m. Modeled after the successful Challenger baseball and football programs offering sports opportunities for area children with physical and other disabilities, the game will be played in Strake Jesuit’s Competition Gym located at l8900 Bellaire Blvd. The two schools will alternate hosting the Challenger Basketball game each year, and varsity players from both high school basketball teams will assist as buddies for Challenger players. The teams will include boys and girls ages 5-21 currently enrolled in a school program. The game offers Challenger players a safe, fun, and non-competitive environment where everyone plays and everyone scores. Cheerleaders will be on hand to raise the spirit level. Contact Joni Fichter at cptemps (at) aol (dot) com for info. Pictured getting ready for the big game are (from left) Zachary Smith and Brian Hale.

Ten in a row
The Pin Oak Academic Squad earned first place in the team-sweepstakes competition at the UIL Academic and Speech Tournament held at Reagan High School, marking the 10th consecutive time that Pin Oak has been awarded this honor. Under the direction of language-arts teacher Bryan Bancroft, the 32-member team also collected individual awards for mathematics, number sense, social studies, calculator, maps/graphs/charts, science, listening and dictionary skills. Pin Oak’s academic squad has been on its current winning streak since 2006. Pictured are squad members (from left) Morgan Niezgoda, Sadie Dill and Miles Quincy.

Stirred or shaken?
Gail and Gary Swartz promise a memorable evening in Monaco as co-chairs of the “Martinis in Monaco” Winter Gala benefiting Seven Acres Jewish Senior Care Services on Jan. 29 at the Hilton Post Oak Hotel. The evening will include exotic martinis, dinner, dancing, casino games and a silent auction. Racing aficionados can play a Monaco Grand Prix Formula One Nintendo Wii game. The gala will honor (pictured, from left) Denis and Sarah Braham and Beth and Stuart Yudofsky, who will receive the Spirit of Life Award for their leadership and support of efforts to improve the lives of the elderly in the Jewish community. The gala will offer a French Riviera-inspired evening of food and entertainment. Gala committee members include Lorraine Horwitz, Brenda Yosowitz and Adele Croft. Contact Linda Avedon at Lavedon (at) sevenacres (dot) org for tickets or register online at www.sevenacres.org.

She said yes
Labor Day weekend 2011 will be busy for Esther Steinfeld and her fiancé, Doug Freedman. The couple will marry on Sept. 4 at the Omni Houston Hotel. Doug surprised his bride-to-be with a proposal in Ciao Bello’s private dining room, filled with candles and flowers, for what Esther thought was an anniversary celebration for Doug’s parents, Karen and Buster Freedman. For her entertainment, Doug made a movie, shown on the big-screen TV, that included photos of the two of them, sweet messages and clips from the movie When Harry Met Sally. The screen credits rolled, and Doug popped the question. Waiting patiently downstairs to join in the celebration was father-of-the-bride Jay Steinfeld, as well as Barbara Winthrup Rose and Delores Krakower. After dinner, the congratulatory mazel tovs continued at the Freedmans’ home. Seen in the crowd of 150 well wishers were Kathy and Garey Marks, Justin and Becky Blumberg, and Brian and Lori Abramson.

Do-si-do for a cause
The campus of St. Vincent de Paul School was transformed into an authentic Texas dance hall for the annual auction and gala. The theme of “Deep in the Heart of SVDP” brought hundreds of supporters wearing all things western to the event, which was chaired by (pictured, from left) Karen Haysley and Shannon Ramirez. More than 400 supporters helped raise funds for scholarships and campus improvements at the school’s largest annual fundraiser. Country western singer Hudson Moore added to the boot-scootin’ fun, and guests, including Kelly and Dirk Burghartz, Rachel Steeley, Maribel Nolla, Joe Louis, Matt Smith, Darryl Rosenfeld, Jennifer Raymond, Ian Still and Kim Burrow, enjoyed the action on the mechanical bull. Highlights of the live auction included trips to Serravalle in Italy, donated by Ken and Kim Alo, and the 2011 Masters Golf tournament and dinner with Cardinal Daniel DiNardo.

Bellaire Exchange Club
In its heyday, The Bellaire Exchange Club was involved with community-service projects throughout the city. Efforts are underway to dust off the club’s charter and recruit new members. Exchange Club president Gerald Franklin invites Bellaire residents interested in learning more to attend an upcoming dinner meeting and be a part of the club’s planning process. Projects will be developed to address four areas of service: Americanism, community service, youth and the prevention of child abuse. Pictured are club members (from left) Keith Coleman, Marc Schwartz, Gerald Franklin, Debra Hebert, Peggy Wilson, Leslie Yates, Yvette Webb, Susan Schwartz, Dorothy Nall and Steve Friedman. The club meets on the second and fourth Monday of each month at 6 p.m. at the Chinese Buffet, 5800 Bellaire Blvd. Contact Gerald at 713-868-0068 for info.

A gingerbread school
Each December, the seventh and eighth grade students in Susie Johnson’s honors art class at St. Mark’s Episcopal School design individual gingerbread houses, which entails rolling, cutting and preparing the dough, constructing the house’s frame and applying decorations. This year, Susie’s students chose to forgo building individual ones and opted to construct a larger gingerbread replica of St. Mark’s Episcopal School and Church. The project was no small feat, as students quickly realized when designing a cardboard mock-up of the property, including the bell tower, chapel, classroom hallways, common areas, playgrounds and breezeways. Pictured enjoying the fruits of their artful labor are (back row, from left) Erik Garza, Jacob Cherek, Lizzet Clifton, Valentina Diaz, Monica Dayao, Erik Sager, Brian Bourgeois, Kenan Sabbagh, Trey Bourne, Caitlin Clarke, Lizzie Polikoff, (front row, from left) Jake Irr, Alessandra Gest and James Carter.

Bee Seen in Buzz About Town
Send your local notices and announcements (approximately 100 words) along with a high-resolution photo. All submissions are due on the first of the month prior to publication. Items are published on a space-available basis. Items may be e-mailed to info (at) thebuzzmagazines (dot) com or mailed to The Buzz Magazines, 5001 Bissonnet, Suite 100, Bellaire, TX 77401. The Bellaire Buzz reserves the right to edit all submissions.