James Surls, the American Modern artist and SHSU alum, opened a show at the Wynne Home Arts Center on Saturday, November 5, 2016. The event attracted more than 100 visitors, with the opening reception sponsored by the Friends of the Wynne and staffed by the LEAP Ambassadors.
“Wynne Home exhibit openings are always fun,” noted LEAP President Alejandra Galvan, “but this one, involving James Surls, was a special honor.”
It was a sentiment shared by many of those who attended the opening reception.
James Surls graduated from SHSU in 1965 with his Bachelors in Arts, and from Cranbrook Academy of Art with his MFA in 1968. His distinctive style, often marked by wooden or bronze flower petals, is often described as “organic.”
Included in the Wynne Home exhibit was a combination of Surls’ sculptures and sketches, both of which elicited praise from the opening night’s visitors.
“We have seen Surls’ work at many museums,” noted LEAP Ambassador Megan Chapa, “but we haven’t seen his smaller pieces, and we have never had the chance to meet him, so this was nice!”
Surls was personable, speaking for about 15 minutes and explaining some of the pieces in the show. He divided them into feminine and masculine pieces, with the feminine pieces being more curved; the masculine pieces being more angular. He also spoke of his love for his wife, and how it has impacted his art.
Following his discussion, Mr. Surls was nice enough to sign some photos of his work that we brought to the show. He graciously did so, while chatting comfortably with us.
The exhibit will stay up for six months, twice the usual length of a show. In the past, the Wynne Home has had exhibits featuring David Adickes, Jesus Moroles, Ken Zonker, and Stanley Lea.
The Wynne Home also offers art classes to the public in the Fall, Spring, and Summer. The classes include topics as diverse as classic film, salsa dancing, oil painting, and cooking. The Wynne Home is open Tuesday through Saturday, and admission is free.
The LEAP Ambassadors would like to thank Wynne Home Director Linda Pease, Friends of the Wynne President Nancy Gaertner, Friends of the Wynne Vice President Genevive Brown, and the entire Friends of the Wynne board for the opportunity to assist. And, of course, we’d like to thank Mr. James Surls for his art and for his appearance in Huntsville, Texas.
Our second day in OKC was a busy one, but that didn’t prevent us from enjoying some food and fun in this Southern/Midwestern city. In fact, we had a chance to explore Bricktown, Guatemalan food, and even ice skate!
Café Kacao (Ashley Allen)
For lunch we decided to try out some authentic Guatemalan food at Café Kacao. Before being seated, however, we waited outside the restaurant chatting, a result of the eatery’s popularity. This wait, a bit lengthy, was worth it. The music was upbeat and the interior was very colorful.
Looking at the menu, we were mystified by the many options we had before us. Drinks alone were provided by lot of different choices, from juices, to Mexican sodas, and specialty drinks like the Horchata latte ( a sweet mixture of rice milk, vanilla, cinnamon and coffee). In the end, we ordered Migallas, cochinito pibil, adobada, and even crab pupusas.
Ashely’s favorite dish, the Migallas, was a breakfast dish composed of scrambled eggs, various vegetables, Pico Del Gallo and crushed tortilla chips mixed together, accompanied by a small fruit cup and black beans. The plate was so delicious that she practically wiped it clean, a feat that has eluded many of us during this feast-filled-trip.
Bricktown Brewery (Ashley)
For dinner, we ventured into the city’s river walk. Following the foot steps of the Sooners, or at least the direction of Paul Moor’s sculptures, we began our trek to the Land Run Monument. With friendly chatter and a shining skyline, we followed the soft, rippling river, and before we knew it, we had reached the city’s Bricktown District.
The historically industrial district turned social district, with it’s bright lights, quirky sights, and lively music, was eye candy so as to make us hungry. After walking a lap around the square, where we saw a Mickey Mantle statue…
…and even a statue of Sisyphus…
…we stopped by a restaurant called the Bricktown Brewery. It was different from the other places that we had eaten during the trip, strictly because it wasn’t an authentic, ethnic-based restaurant. The majority of the group ordered different pizza pies to share amongst ourselves. Ryan’s favorite was the combination pizza which had morning sausage, pepperoni, and ham, topped with additional mushrooms, onions, and bell peppers. The experience here was excellent and if ever in Bricktown again we would definitely go straight to this great establishment. As Ashley commented “every place we’ve eaten in Oklahoma has been such a great experience, and I really appreciate the exposure to the different cultures and the food that goes with them!”
Slipping Through the Ice Rink (Ryan)
After our meal, we walked the few blocks to the Myriad Botanical Gardens, where we took advantage of their skating rink. With Professor Yawn’s instructions all of the LEAPsters and Ryan laced up and took to the ice.
Although it was a small rink, it seemed to take some of us forever to make a full lap, whether it be because we were holding onto the rails or we couldn’t seem to get any momentum.
Some us, however, performed our very best skating abilities. For example, Brian accidentally did his best impression of Charlie Chaplin while sliding and slipping through the ice.
He would seem to fall for about ten seconds and then catch himself on the railing in a cool and relaxed position as if nothing had happened. We only stayed for a little while, as the air grew colder and our feet began to ache. It was unclear as to the professor’s motivation to bring us to the rink, whether it was to expose us to a sport we seldom have a chance to practice or for his own amusement to look at us fall and tumble.
Perhaps his absence at the rink was indication to the latter hypothesis.
Ashley, Ryan, and Kaitlyn proved the best skaters…
…and Ashley and Ryan even raced, with Ryan’s longer legs providing the edge.
No matter the falls on the ice, we all had ice-loads of fun. With iced backs (from those that had fallen on the ring), we walked back to the car and headed back to the hotel. As a day well spent in learning, exploration, and vigorous sport, we welcomed our bed with a tired, melancholy sigh, for tomorrow would be our last day of our Texoma Adventure.
Ring after ring flew from their hands, aimed at the point of a witch’s hat. Three at the floor, one hitting the mark, and one hitting a human hotdog. But alas, at least one hat had been hooped around by the ring and was merit for a prize of chalk or bubbles. Why so much scary, carnival fun at the square? Why, it was the annual Huntsville Scare on the Square.
Last Saturday the LEAP Center hosted a booth at Scare on the Square. Scare on the Square is an annual Halloween event sponsored by The Huntsville Main Street Program. About 40 different businesses, schools, and local organizations host games and activities for community children. Scare on the Square is sponsored by local businesses and it is a safe atmosphere for families to enjoy themselves.
If you are creative and wear a costume it will spare you from having to pay the entrance fee of one dollar. Embracing this costume-wearing practice, the LEAP students arrived in a variety of costumes themselves from Minnie Mouse to Charlie Chaplin.
With weeks of anticipation prior to Scare on the Square, the LEAP center engineering team (aka a few of the LEAPsters) designed a game built to increase levels of happiness to the maximum. In the end, we created the “Witch’s Hat Ring Toss.” Similar to a bean bag toss, it required the competitor to loop hat dressed cones with a pool ring. Let’s just say that hand-eye coordination was important in order to successfully master this enchanted game.
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With smiling faces, all the children (and even some LEAPsters) patiently waited in line to play, ready to ring one or two witch hats.
We had a few future athletes who knew at exactly what angle to throw the rings. Yet even more children measured wind speed, warmed up their best throwing arm, made their marks, and walked right up to the cones to place the ring into the hat.
In between handing out rings and giving out candy, we amused ourselves by noticing the creative Spidermen, Pikachus, Elsas, Super Girls (we even had our own superwoman!), as well as some actually frightening costumes.
But even more rewarding was the look on their faces when they looped a hat (without cheating).
With the LEAP center’s 1800 pieces of candy gone, we packed our tent and witchy game satisfied with the 400 plus jolly children that had visited us. We are grateful for the sponsors and coordinators of these events that allow us to interact with the community!
As a public service to the community, the Walker County Republican Women hosted a “candidates’ forum” on Monday night, inviting candidates at all levels and of all stripes to meet the public. With five minutes to discuss their intentions and platform and an almost unlimited time to mingle, the forum provided a key service to the voting public.
The Walker County Hospital District candidates were the first to speak. With three positions up for election and six candidates running for the position, the meet and greet was important to decide on who to elect this November. Two of the candidates currently serve on the board while the other four are seeking election for the first time. This was an informative meeting; we learned about the important distinction between the Walker County Hospital District Board and the Huntsville Memorial Hospital Board. The Hospital Board is a board of directors composed of community leaders who oversee the broad direction of the Hospital. The Hospital District Board, on the other hand, is made up of elected officials responsible for overseeing the District, its finances, its physical structures, and its health care. Although this latter district has the ability to tax, such revenues only make up a small portion of the hospital’s overall revenues.
The Huntsville City Council candidates also participated with their own five-minute overviews. They also engaged in a Q&A by the audience, and addressed the bond election. The voters of Huntsville will decide on three bond propositions:
Proposition One: Improve Public Safety Facilities (not to exceed 31,000,000)
Proposition Two: Improve City Service Facilities (not to exceed 24,000,000)
Proposition Three: Improve City Waterworks and Sewer Facilitiies (not to exceed 73,000,000)
With these weighty matters on our minds, we thanked the Republican Women for organizing the event, and we exited pondering upcoming decisions.
Nonstop chanting filled the backstreets of SHSU as the community gathered for the 2016 Homecoming tailgate. As the first college tailgating experience for most of the LEAP students, we took on the crowds of students, parents, fans, pets, and Huntsville community members. The College of Humanities and Social Sciences (also known on campus as CHSS) kindly allowed the LEAP Ambassadors to join their tailgate celebration.
As volunteers, our duties were simple; set up and help pass out food.
We passed out over 1,200 chicken wings and they went fast! Many lined up to win a prize from the CHSS booth and get a sample of the savory wings. Although hot and crowded, the tailgate was a fun experience. Dean Abbey Zink and Associate Deans Rhonda Callaway along with Jerry Bruce also joined our pre-game celebration. It was great to see the community and faculty come together for our homecoming game against Abilene Christian University.
After our shift with CHSS ended, many of the LEAP students explored the other booths to scout out their prizes and food. We ate pizza, turkey legs, sausage wraps, popcorn, and topped it off with some sweet tea. Various booths blared music and gave free SHSU merchandise. These school spirited trinkets and momentos where used to represent our school at the game which had begun right after the festivities. The chants continued all the way to victory against ACU (48-21). The LEAP Ambassadors are always happy to try new things, especially when it involves delicious food, fun football, and volunteerism!
Tis the season for pumpkin spiced everything, Bearkat Football, cooler days and–for the Huntsville community–the Fair on the Square! Huntsville’s annual Fair on the Square attracts an average of 15,000 people to support small businesses and community engagement. Everyone, from Walker County and farther, congregated in Huntsville’s downtown square to shop for antiques, carnival food, crafts, and other treats.
Glad to assist, the LEAP Ambassadors volunteered with the Walker County Republican Party and the Walker County Republican Women among this ocean of booths. Thus, we spent a morning selling jewelry, registering voters, and taking donations for campaign buttons, yard signs, bumperstickers, and t-shirts. With a variety of booths showcasing all sorts of curiosities, from engraved pens to apparel from the Andes, the Fair attracted so much people that the streets flooded with shoppers eager to visit every inch of the Square. So being, the excited Republicans among the crowd visited our booths with an overwhelming eagerness to demonstrate their pride in their political activism. The day was a success for the Party as they sold out of many items, registered more than thirty voters in Walker County, and raised a bountiful amount of funds for local campaign efforts.
For the LEAP Ambassadors, it was a nice way to spend a Saturday morning by learning about local businesses, shopping, and volunteering with the Republican Party and Women. We were also fortunate to catch up with the Battle of Piney Woods game afterward (Go Bearkats!!). With such an amazing Fair on the Square Saturday, the LEAP Ambassadors are already looking forward to volunteering next year!
Rejuvenated from sleep, we woke ready for our day, which would consist of touring the University of Arkansas Law School, hiking and catching a movie to wind down.
University of Arkansas School of Law
When we arrived at the University of Arkansas School of Law, we met with Ms. Kalesha McGraw, the Assistant Director of Admissions, and she welcomed us to the school before taking us to the student lounge for a quick overview of the law school. We learned about the admissions process, the class schedules and sizes, and the student life in Fayetteville. We also learned about notable (former) faculty such as Bill and Hillary Clinton. If Hillary Clinton becomes elected, University of Arkansas -Fayetteville will be the first law school to have more than one faculty member become President of the United States. The rest of the Q&A section with Ms. McGraw consisted of questions that ranged from the cost and the admissions process to the actual courses and the structure of the classes.
After our informative Q&A session, we walked upstairs to observe Professor Day’s Professional Responsibility class. This is a required course and helps students prepare for the Multi-State Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE). This exam is a prerequisite for taking the Bar Exam and tests law students’ knowledge on ethics. During the summer fewer students are on campus, but classes are still in session. The topic of discussion for class today was on conflicts an attorney may face during their practice. Throughout the class, the Professor explained conflicts using cases where ethical issues arose. To explain a complicated scenario, the Professor and students even role played a scene which presented the situation in an interesting and clear way. We enjoyed the class and our Professor’s informative teaching methods!
Following class, we took a quick tour around the building visiting places like the courtroom and the library. The law school was even nice enough to provide lunch for us! Satisfied, we stopped to admire the Jesus Moroles sculptures in the courtyard…
LEAP Ambassadors at University of Arkansas School of Law, Jesus Moroles’ Sculptures
…and the front of the school on our way out.
Front of U of A Law, With Additional Moroles Sculptures
Many thanks to Ms. McGraw and the University of Arkansas- Fayetteville Law School for their hospitality!
After a morning filled with learning and a long trip, some of us decided to take a mental and physical break. Others, however, soldiered on, readying ourselves for a brief bit of shopping and a hike in Devil’s Den State Park.
Before driving down highway 170 into Devil’s Den State Park, we stopped to peak into some shops in town. Once everyone was satisfied with what they had purchased, we began our journey to Devil’s Den. As our second hike of the trip, the first being the climb up Pinnacle Mt. near Little Rock, we felt prepared and pumped up for the rugged expedition that we were about to take part of. With the sun falling on the horizon, the weather was a prime condition to explore inside the woods.
Devil’s Den
This 2,500 acre state park offers myriad outdoor activities, from rafting to camping to hiking. We chose the latter, embarking on the Devil’s Den Self-Guided trail, which is 1.5 miles round-trip.
As we began on our trail we descended down masonry steps. Such modifications to the trails and other man made structures within the state park were once Civilian Conservation Corps projects from the Great Depression. The engineering talent of these laborers is clear when taking these steps and observing how strong they still are, even after almost a century of its construction! The traces of useful man made structures became fewer as we went deeper into the woods.
Ahead of us stood trails traced through the rocky cliffs with trees filtering the sun and casting a serene shadow over the whole scene. Then, the trail neared a river, waters sonorously rushing through and echoing through the woods. This sound at times kept us focused, as we knew that as long as we kept the river at our left shoulders we were going the right way. Along the trail, at times encountering uneven, slippery and rocky ground, we found caves in which the temperature inside would lower presumably by ten-twenty degrees.
LEAP Ambassadors in One of Devil’s Dens’ Caverns
The trail also goes by the more descriptive name of “Double Falls” Hike, so named because of two falls that appear about halfway through the trail. For us, though, the trail could have been named “Triple Falls,” because, hearing water of the main trail, we made tracks over a hill to find a small waterfall.
To get there, we had to cross a log bridge…
…but this only added to the excitement of our discovery.
Having safely traversed the fallen-tree bridge, we frolicked in the waterfalls…
…okay, frolicked may be too strong of a word. But we did have fun.
We found additional falls further along our hike.
Waterfalls in Devil’s Den State Park
Only a few feet beyond these falls was another waterfall, equally as delightful.
Waterfalls at Devil’s Den State Park
From our trek we had worked our selves into perspiration and slight exhaustion. The refreshing, cool water of these natural showers, however, were just the perfect manna we needed to continue on our journey through Devil’s Den.
From the falls, the hike wends it way downhill, which offers another striking view of the falls.
And this perspective provided additional photo ops.
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We even found another log bridge on which to climb.
LEAP Ambassadors Enjoy Devil’s Den State Park
As we completed the 1 1/2 mile hike, ducking our heads to evade pesky spider webs threaded from tree to tree…
…we contemplated our accomplishments. We had finished another hike on our trip! With tiring limbs and sweaty backs, we climbed the van with a sense of victory and ready to relax and catch a movie.
But, first, we made two more stops. We picked up food from Hammontree’s, an excellent grilled cheese specialty restaurant in Fayetteville. We also made our way to Mt. Sequoyah, the highest spot in Fayetteville, where we watched the sunset.
LEAP Ambassadors at Mt. Sequoya
It was, we thought, a fitting end to a wonderful trip.
Movies and Winding Down
Once we had freshened up at the hotel, we climbed back into the van and drove to a near by movie theater to watch the remake of Ivan Reitman’s hit movie, Ghostbusters. Even though the original film is about 30 years old, most of us had previously watched it and waited in anticipation through the previews to see how similar this remake would be to our beloved original.
We found many differences between the new film and the original Ghost Busters film, an obvious one being that women instead of men were playing the lead roles. Most of us focused more attention to the fact that Paul Feig’s film also includes multiple nods to Reitman’s original and Sigourney Weaver, Dan Akroyd, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts and even Bill Murray make appearances. After an hour and forty-seven minutes filled with laughs that echoed in the theater (mostly Megan’s), we were ready to turn in for the night to prepare for our long journey home tomorrow morning.
Our last day at the Convention was, in many ways, the longest. But for the Walker County Delegation, which overwhelmingly supported Ted Cruz for President, it was also a fun day.
The first thing on our agenda was kolaches with Congressman Kevin Brady. It was there that we saw Francine Stanfield, Brady’s Campaign Manager, who recognized us from previous events for which we had volunteered. Both Congressman Brady and his staff were very welcoming to the Walker County Delegation and to us as SHSU students, as always.
We congratulated Congressman Brady on his recent win and after meeting with him for a few minutes we proceeded to the breakfast table for kolaches and fruit to give us energy for the long congressional district caucus meeting ahead of us. Although we only had to vote on delegates and alternates to send to the national convention, it took roughly 6 hours. The meeting began shortly after 8am and ended around 2pm.
At this meeting we had to elect the delegates that would attend the National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio and also the party representatives who will represent us to the national delegation in Washington, DC. This process was interspersed with various speeches by elected officials or candidates. The first of these was the best, with Congressman Brady opening the proceedings.
The usual order of business, however, was a bit more tedious. The process for nominations proceeded in the following manner:
A nomination;
Speeches for each nominee, including those by the nominee him or herself (nominees got three minutes total);
Voting for each delegate (and alternate) position;
A run-off of two or three candidates, depending on the proportion of the original candidates receiving a threshold of votes;
Start over for the next position.
Because there were between 5-9 candidates running for each position, the process took a while.
It was an interesting process, but it’s unclear exactly how meaningful it was. Each delegate elected to attend the national convention would have to pledge to vote for the candidate according to the state’s primary’s result. In the end Montgomery County Delegate Ann Kate fulfilled the position for first delegate, which was bound to vote for Cruz.
Steve Toth of Montgomery County fulfilled the second delegate position, which also was bound to vote for Cruz. Finally Ann Mazone of Grimes County fulfilled the third delegate position, which was bound to vote for Donald Trump in the national convention.
This last one was a special victory for our county’s Cynthia Prehoda, who had nominated her.
Walker County Delegate, Cynthia Prehoda, Nominates Ann Mazone
Even though this process seemed lengthy to some…
Kaitlyn and Karla
it was full of energized nominees that proved to be great entertainment to the public. Some delegates were so passionate that they fought back tears while giving there speeches and others were persistent and ran for all three positions in hopes of getting elected to one–all of this interspersed with lottery drawings for speaking order…
…and dashes to the podium to get voting ballots for each position…
By about noon, we decided we better get a group photo, while there was still a group left to photograph!
Megan Chapa Photographs the Walker County Delegation
After a busy morning of delegate voting, we decided that it was time to indulge in a satisfying lunch break. Thus, Megan Chapa, Kaitlyn Tyra, Kay Deahl, and I (Brian Aldaco) went down to Cafe Herrera. The Mexican cuisine style restaurant is conveniently situated a street across the convention center. This allotted the sufficient time for the eager delegates to return in time for the remainder of the convention’s general session.
Upon entering through the rustic Spanish-style doorway of the restaurant, the savory aroma of the sizzling beef pleasantly overtook our senses. This was a proper indicator that we had chosen the right lunching venue. With our menu items ordered we distracted our appetite with the classic Mexican chips accompanied by a spicy green salsa and an even hotter red salsa. The wait for our piece d’resistance was minimal, however, thanks to the quick cooking skills of the chef (surely he must have known of Ted Cruz’s imminent arrival). With our Enchiladas Verdes, Enchiladas Rojas, and tacos al pastor served, we continued to enjoy the entertaining anecdotes of Mrs. Deahl. Sharing her history of Republican participation and college experiences made us consider our privilege to attend the State Convention with greater appreciation. After our plates were cleared we rushed across the road, entered through the convention doors, and climbed up the stairs. We were ready to continue fulfilling the duties of a State Convention delegate.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz was the speaker at the last main session. He won the Texas Republican Primary for the presidential candidacy so all the delegates were really excited to hear Senator Cruz speak! All the seats had “thank you, Ted” signs so that the delegates were able to show their appreciation for all of his efforts during his campaign race.
Megan Chapa
His wife, Heidi Cruz, introduced him on stage. She gave us insight of their campaign tour and expressed how good it felt to be back home in Texas! All were happy that the two and their two children, Catherine and Caroline, sacrificed so much to represent Republicans all across the United States.
Senator Cruz’s speech was very positive. He reaffirmed the beliefs that he will fight for in the Senate and how his unsuccessful presidential campaign will not hinder any future efforts during his office term. Although he did not endorse any candidate during his speech, he left many of us more hopeful about the future of our party and our nation.
The excitement of hearing Senator Cruz speak gave many delegates energy as we prepared for the rest of the fourth and final general session.
The Honorable Attorney General Ken Paxton–who, incidentally, is facing criminal charges as for Securities Fraud–gave remarks following Senator Cruz’s speech. He discussed his successes as Attorney General and some of the current issues Texas is facing. His speech informed delegates about his opinions on current events and how he plans to handle these situations. The Honorable Texas Commissioner of Agriculture Sid Miller (also under investigation) and the Honorable Texas Railroad Commissioner Ryan Sitton also spoke to delegates. Thanking the delegates for their continued support, their speeches were generally positive about the future of the Republican Party and the State of Texas.
Andy Ngyuen, President of Texas Asian Republican Assembly provided his perspective on being a Republican. His life story as a refugee escaping Vietnam for a better life in America helped exemplify the pursuit of the American Dream, one of freedom and liberty. Ngyuen believes that by upholding these principles, the party would become the moral example of the nation.
The final speaker was Senator Jeff Sessions, who served as a kind-of surrogate for Donald Trump. Sessions, who represents Alabama, has endorsed Trump, and is stumping for him on the trail.
Once the guest speakers were finished presenting, it was time to call the final General Session to order. Our main point of business was to elect a National Committeeman and Committeewoman. After hearing the candidates speak, each Congressional District voted by paper ballot to determine which nominee would be elected. Each Congressional District then reported the numbers to the Convention Secretary during a roll call. Voting by paper ballots was a tedious process, yet it provided more accuracy than a voice vote would have. For Committeeman, Robin Armstrong was reelected. For Committeewoman, Toni Ann Dashiell was also reelected in a surprisingly close election. Although the delegation cast only two votes, it took about an hour and a half to complete! Fortunately, electing the at-large delegates and alternate delegates to the National Convention were easier because they were submitted by a committee and we could approve them as a slate and by voice vote.
After we approved the two lists of delegates to attend the National Convention on Texas’ behalf, the Convention was adjourned. It was an accomplished feeling to know we completed our first State Convention as delegates!
The process was exciting, entertaining, and rewarding. We learned about Parliamentary Procedure, current events, and helped participate in an important democratic process. It was tempting to bask in the glow of the final exit from the convention…
…but we chose instead to think of how lucky we were to be in Walker County, where voters nominated students to attend the State Convention.
Our initial foray into this type of politics could only have been made more rewarding by the presence of Linda McKenzie and Terry Stivers, both of whom had much to do with our attendance at the convention.
Thanks to all the members of the Republican Party who helped make this possible, and we look forward to participating further in the years to come!
