To those of us on the Callaway-Jones team, it’s important to us to take time away from our office to be active in our community. It’s what we all believe we should be doing as neighbors and friends. Giving of ourselves to causes that make an impact is vital if we are going to maintain the quality of life we enjoy here today, and tomorrow.
Consider the past few weeks. Callaway-Jones had a team in the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra Golf Tournament, sponsored by Allen Honda on Oct. 9. Our team was pleased to win first place, even though I had to miss participating this year. I was at the office preparing for visitation services for our own family member, Nelda Green, Chelsea’s great-aunt. That our golf team won, even without me, makes me proud.
On Saturday, Oct. 14, our Ricky Alderete and Zach Johnson were at Boonville Days, supporting the Brazos Valley Museum in the morning, then came over to cheer on our Callaway-Jones Mudd Diggers volleyball team playing in Snook for “Hog Splash,” the Brazos Valley Hospice fundraiser.
Our Courtney Jasso organized the team, which included Courtney, her husband, Marissa Crouch and family, Natalie Lloyd, and Sarah Kruitbosch. I was there in spirit but Chelsea and I were with a few thousand Aggies at “The Swamp,” witnessing 80,000 fans singing Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down.” After the football victory, we joined in the singing, “The Spirit of Aggieland.”
Community is wherever you are, not only where you work and live. Lift your voice and commend everything you hold dear.
Our Callaway-Jones golf team of Bryson Vick, Brandon DeStefano, and Ryan Maliska did us proud on Oct. 9th at the 6th Annual Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra Annual Golf Tournament. Allen Honda again generously supported the tournament at Pebble Creek and the sponsorship levels ranged from tent, to cart to hole sponsorships as well as bronze, silver, gold, and platinum sponsorship. We got an amazing trophy for winning first place and I can’t claim a single hole of it. That’s the good thing about having a team you can count on.
About the cause that our team was playing for. I’d like to encourage everyone to get season tickets to the BVSO this year. They’re going to have an amazing 36th season. Starting Oct. 22, you can hear the Van Cliburn Gold Medalist in a program featuring Medelssohn and Rachmaninoff. In November, hear the music of Mozart and Beethoven, as Director Marcelo Bussiki conducts these works. Thousands of volunteer hours go in to making these concerts possible, including those donated by orchestra members in rehearsals, so it’s a great cause to support. For more information, visit bvso.org.
On Oct. 14th, my team reported that they had the BEST time supporting Hospice Brazos Valley in the Hog Splash tournament. Shane McAuliffe was the emcee for the day and they had great music playing the entire six hours that all the teams were competing in the blistering heat and sun.
So, it all started when Courtney Jasso told me we should do this; she volunteered to organize it and I e-mailed the team, who responded so fast that they were ‘in’. Well they were in all right…up to their waists in water. The great folks at Slovacek Sausage dug regulation-size mud volleyball pits. There was a service embankment of sorts or as they explained it, it was a part of the mud where you stood to serve the ball. Our brave team dove into the water time and time again to try to get the ball over that net. Have I mentioned it was muddy?
Fortunately, there were generous water hoses to spray off the mud and everyone enjoyed the food available that day from Willie’s featuring Slovacek sausage and there were Frios pops and many cold beverages consumed. The KBTX-ers were a great competitor vs. our team, as was Jones-Carter engineers. Sort of neat that it was C-J vs. J-C for a few games. Third place went to Danny Koerth CPA’s Mudd Ducks, Dexter Insurance’s “Dirty Aces” won 2nd place and it was the Jones-Carter Rump Roasters who prevailed on the day.
Everyone brought family and friends out to root for our team, and Marissa wins the most relatives cheering us on group, Ricky wins the knows the most people everywhere prize, and his clean t-shirt got dirty with mud hugs. Natalie wins the newest team member to dive into the muddy water for us prize. And on and on. Every one of our team members who were there, playing or cheering, are winners in my book. Visit www.hospicebrazosvalley.org to learn how you can contribute to this wonderful palliative and end-of-life care group.
Many of you know our Margaret “Marci” Ramirez who works with us and she also works at VIP Bridal. Margaret and VIP Bridal owner Valerie Markert, have committed to provide gowns and tuition for girls in El Salvador. Last week, The Eagle ran a story about the nonprofit they wori , Shelter the Homeless International Project (SHIP), where they were honored for their work.
As the story noted, about 100 dressed were going to be shipped to El Salvador, and they organization provides funds to “provide housing to families in need and providing as many students as they can with the tuition to attend private school, which they say are significantly safer than public schools.”
One more special note. Our community is filled with “good news stories” that abound here. That’s what makes Bryan-College Station so special. At the awards luncheon that honored Margaret and Valerie’s work for SHIP, the keynote speaker was Professor Henry Musoma. If you remember, he was the outstanding professor who invited a single mom to bring her son to class so she wouldn’t have to miss because she didn’t have daycare. He wound up holding her son most of the class and Texas A&M was in the national news.
Everywhere we turn in the Brazos Valley, so many wonderful opportunities to volunteer our spare time to make a difference in the lives of those we are happy to help. On behalf of Chelsea and Lorene, the Callaway-Jones family is grateful for and proud of our team, who represent us when they volunteer and for all they do to make our cities a better place to live.
