Amarillo community news: BSA Hospice hosting coffee, dessert gathering on Thanksgiving

BSA Hospice of the Southwest hosting Thanksgiving coffee and dessert gathering

BSA Hospice is organizing a 'Coffee and Dessert' gathering on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 23, from 2 to 4 p.m. at 5211 SW 9th. This is the second year for this special gathering.

“Our goal is to ensure that no one feels isolated during this holiday season,” said Alyssa Jenkins, LMSW, Bereavement Coordinator at BSA Hospice of the Southwest (BSA Hospice) in a news release. “That’s why we’re providing numerous opportunities for people to connect with others and enjoy a warm, welcoming environment surrounded by their friends and neighbors walking the same journey.”

The holiday season, often a time of joy and celebration, can present a stark contrast for those mourning the loss of a loved one, particularly for individuals facing their first holiday season without someone special. “Our holiday traditions hold a dear place in our hearts, and we look forward to these moments every year,” Jenkins said. “Yet, the absence of a loved one can cast a shadow over these celebrations, making the season particularly challenging.”

In addition, BSA Hospice's 'Grief and the Holidays' support group is scheduled to meet Dec. 7. It's free to attend, but registration is required.

Anyone interested in attending any of the events is asked to reach out to Alyssa Jenkins at 806-356-0026 for more information and to register.

Texas A&M Department of Soil and Crop Sciences shines at international conference

A number of faculty and students from the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, including an Amarillo professor, recently received recognition at the Tri-Societies international annual meeting in St. Louis.

Members of ASA nominate worthy colleagues based on their professional achievements. Fellow recipients from Texas A&M AgriLife Research and the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences were Terry Gentry and Qingwu Xue. Xue, Ph.D., is a Regents Fellow, professor and crop stress physiologist at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Amarillo. His research focuses on crop physiology, abiotic stress, drought tolerance and water management strategies for corn, wheat, sorghum, cotton, potato and, more recently, vegetables. His primary objective is to improve yield, water use, water-use efficiency and stress resistance or tolerance in major crops in the Texas High Plains. Other award winners recognized were Monte Rouquette Jr. and Amir Ibrahim.

The Tri-Societies conference includes oral and poster presentations as well as award presentations to members of the Crop Science Society of America, CSSA; the American Society of Agronomy, ASA; and the Soil Sciences Society of America, SSSA, as well as the undergraduate organization, Students in Agronomy, Soil and Environmental Sciences, SASES.

“We are very proud of our representation this year at the international meeting,” said David Baltensperger, Ph.D., head of the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences. “Our faculty and students are a tribute to this department and Texas A&M. It was particularly exciting to have Dr. Seth Murray, professor and Eugene Butler Endowed Chair in our department, serve as the president of CSSA this year and for Chris Barron to serve as president of SASES.”

Joe Dixon, Ph.D., a longtime faculty member and Professor Emeritus in soil mineralogy in the Texas A&M Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, was honored for his contributions to the discipline of soil mineralogy and his distinguished career. Dixon, who joined the Texas A&M faculty in 1968 and retired in 2001, influenced generations of soil and clay scientists in advancing the disciplines of soil and clay mineralogy.

In student recognitions, Christopher Cobos earned a $5,000 CSSA Gary “Pete” Peterson Dryland Soil Management Scholarship. Cobos is a doctoral student and is located at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Lubbock.

For the full list of honors, visit the AgriLife Today website.

Adriana Rich crowned Miss Wayland 2024

PLAINVIEW — Adrianna Rich, a 20-year-old junior Biological Sciences major with a Health Administration minor from Groesbeck, was crowned Miss Wayland 2024 Saturday night. Rich, who was one of seven contestants competing at Harral Memorial Auditorium, receives a $750 scholarship and will represent Wayland Baptist University throughout her year-long reign.

Sarah Manchee, a 22-year-old senior Elementary and Christian Ministry major from Amarillo, was the first runner-up and recipient of a $450 scholarship. Celeste Lozano, a 20-year-old senior Biology major with a Psychology minor from Christoval, was the second runner-up and recipient of a $350 scholarship. Aubrey Jaramillo, a 20-year old senior Sociology major with a minor in Psychology, from Clarendon was the third runner-up.

Manchee was sponsored by the Wayland Honors Program. She is a senior Elementary and Christian Ministrymajor. She sang and played the piano for her talent. She enjoys making and listening to music, playing games,spending time with her dogs, and being involved in missions activities.

Rich was sponsored by Wayland Softball, and her talent presentation was an entertaining public speakingdemonstration of how to hit a softball sprinkled with life applications for the audience. The new Miss Waylandplans to “make her mark” in sport rehabilitation with a vision to optimize athletic recovery.

Randall County Sheriff’s Office warns of porch pirates, offers safe shipping location

Christmas is approaching, and with it comes an influx in package deliveries. Porch pirates are likely to target homes with visible packages on the porch. The Randall County Sheriff's Office wants to help you during this holiday season by providing an option to have your packages sent to the Sheriff's Office.

Maintain your name on the package, but substitute the address with that of the Sheriff's Office: 9100 S. Georgia, Amarillo, TX, 79118. Your packages will be securely stored at the Sheriff's Office, which is open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. If you require package pickup after regular hours, please contact dispatch at 806-468-5800 to schedule a time to retrieve your package. Please bring a photo ID to retrieve your package.

Randall County is among area law enforcement agencies taking part in similar initiatives during the holiday season to deter these types of thefts.

SRM Concrete acquires Vulcan Materials Company's assets in Texas

MURFREESBORO, TN – SRM Concrete, one of the country’s leading readymix concrete producers, has announced the strategic acquisition of Vulcan Materials Company’s ready-mix assets in Texas. The company said this expansion includes 82 ready-mix plants and 11 volumetric locations across the state.

CEO Jeff Hollingshead stated, “We’re excited about welcoming more than 1,100 new team members to our SRM family. We will be gaining nearly 100 new locations and a significant amount of equipment, but what really matters to us is the people. It’s their skills and experience that are our true assets. We can’t wait to start working and growing together in Texas, side-by-side with our new team.”

This acquisition marks SRM’s entry into new markets of San Antonio, Austin, Abilene, and Amarillo and strengthens its presence in Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth. SRM said these additions make it the largest ready mix supplier in Texas. For more information, visit smyrnareadymix.com.

'Cricitcal Mass' reception and artist talk at AMoA on Nov. 30

The Amarillo Museum of Art (AMoA) will host a reception and artist talk for the ongoing exhibit, "Critical Mass: Photoworks by Meridel Rubenstein," on Thursday, Nov. 30. The reception is set to begin at 6:30 p.m., with a reception at 7 p.m. at the museum, located at 2200 South Van Buren on the Washington Street campus ofAmarillo College.

Rubenstein, who maintains her art studio in Santa Fe, New Mexico, has been an active arts educator for more than 30 years. From 2007-2018, she was a Visiting Associate Professor at the School of Art, Design, and Media at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. From 1990-95, Rubenstein was the Harnish Visiting Artist at Smith College, in Northampton, Massachusetts. She has created photography programs at the College of Santa Fe (1976 80) and the Institute of American Indian Arts in New Mexico (1990-96) and directed the Photography Program at San Francisco State University in California, the oldest Master of Fine Arts program in the USA (1985-90).

Rubenstein has exhibited internationally including the Louvre in Paris and the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin as well as in numerous gallery and museum exhibitions, and her works are included in various prominent collections across the country and world. She has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the Bunting Institute at Harvard University, awards from the National Endowment of the Arts as well as the PollockKrasner and the Rockefeller Foundations.

"Critical Mass" was a collaborative photo/text/video installation that takes as its subject the worlds of scientists and Native Americans as they intersected at the home of Edith Warner during the making of the first atomic bomb in 1944 in Los Alamos, New Mexico. In 1989, photographer Rubenstein and performance artist/poet-(now video artist), Ellen Zweig, received an NEA Inter-Arts grant to create the installation Critical Mass, with technical assistance by Steina and Woody Vasulka. The New Mexico Museum of Fine Arts gave institutional support for the exhibition that premiered in November 1993 in Santa Fe and then traveled for three years with stops including MIT's List Center, Cambridge; and the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago.

Presented at AMoA are Rubenstein’s photoworks and the artists’ book, "They Spoke to the Angels," with Zweig’s poetic text. For additional information, visit www.amoa.org, email amoa@actx.edu, or call (806) 371-5050 or (806) 371-5392 (weekends).

Heal the City Free Clinic announces new executive director

Heal the City Free Clinic (HTC) is excited to announce the addition of Liz M. Rascón-Alaniz, Ed.D., as the new Executive Director.

“I am excited about Liz joining Heal the City Free Clinic. Through her life and professional experiences, she is uniquely gifted to help HTC live out our mission through servant leadership,” Dr. Alan Keister said in a news release.

Rascón-Alaniz earned her B.S. and M.Ed. at Angelo State University and received her Doctor of Education in 2021 at West Texas A&M University. She has served as the Chief Executive Officer of Amarillo Wesley Community Center for the past 10 years. She will begin her new role as Executive Director at Heal the City Free Clinic in January 2024.

“I am very excited and truly honored to join the exceptional team at Heal the City Free Clinic! Heal the City has been a pillar in our community in the San Jacinto neighborhood for many years providing quality medical care and hope to an uninsured population. This organization's mission resonates with me because of its commitment to serving our community and providing broad services to individuals, healing mind, body, and soul.” Rascón-Alaniz said.

According to the release, the HTC Board of Directors and HTC staff are excited about the future and look forward to working alongside Rascón-Alaniz to fulfill the mission of providing free quality medical care to the uninsured.

WT Students Earn Surprise Scholarships from Education Credit Union Foundation

CANYON — Dozens of West Texas A&M University students earned scholarships Nov. 14 in a surprise presentation from Education Credit Union Foundation. In a ceremony honoring 110 graduates of WT’s Money Management Bootcamp, 44 students were presented $250 scholarships. Ten of those were awarded by WT, and 34 were awarded by the ECU Foundation.

The bootcamp is a six-week, noncredit course hosted by the Education Credit Union Buff $mart program. The 44 scholarship-eligible participants were recognized at a Nov. 14 graduation reception in the Fairly Group Club at Bain-Schaeffer Buffalo Stadium. At the conclusion of the ceremony, Marcus Smith, the credit union’s CEO and chairman of the board for its foundation, announced that ECU Foundation would fund the scholarships.

ECU became a naming sponsor of WT’s Buff $mart Program in September 2020. The program helps students improve their understanding of financial literacy and empowers them to make informed choices to improve their financial well-being.

“Financial literacy is so important for college students, and we are proud to support this bootcamp for area students,” said Matt Morgan, executive director of the ECU Foundation. “It is a great feeling to provide scholarships for these students who went above and beyond the basic requirements of the course. They are all deserving of the little bit of extra help in their college journeys.”

In all, ECU and WT jointly provided almost $11,000 in scholarship funds for the students, who represent each of WT’s six Colleges.

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Amarillo area community and business news for Nov. 22 week