Family finds fun, civic pride in Houston’s super weekend
Ed Wolff, president of Beth Wolff, Real Living, and his twins, Tenley and Jake were the first ones through the door when the “NFL Experience” multimedia spectacular opened a week before the big game, giving high praise to the variety of family-friendly games and activities offered.
Wolff is a big sports fan, but said that sharing the experience with his children was about more than a football game. “The city’s presentation is so important in introducing Super Bowl supporters to Houston,” said Wolff. “I am so proud of what our city offers. This was an amazing opportunity for Houston to show the world how special we are.”
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Perhaps the biggest come-from-behind win on game day was for Hous- ton’s hungry, thanks in part to the efforts of the 23 offices and more than 1,000 agents on the Better Homes and Gardens RE Gary Greene team in support of the Houston Food Bank, as well as other food banks in the region. Sharon Teusink, manager of the Champions office, said the company joined forces with Graebel Van Lines, which dropped off food collection boxes at all the office and gathered them up to stock empty pantries at the end of the week.
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John Daugherty, Realtors agent Bryan Beene was on hand for the ribbon cutting launching the new Dave Ward Building to house the nonprofit Crime Stoppers. Named after retired KTRK-TV (Ch. 13) anchor Dave Ward, the 28,000-squarefoot building covers an entire Midtown block and features community space
on the first floor as well as a secure space for law enforcement to work with the citizen crime tips that form the core of operations. Since its inception in 1980, Crime Stoppers of Houston has solved more than 33,600 cases, and captured over 26,000 fugitives. More than 150 people from throughout law enforcement and civic organizations attended the event.
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A group of Martha Turner Sotheby’s International Real Estate agents —all long-term supporters of the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston — recently attended that group’s Collage 2017 luncheon at the Royal Sonesta Hotel. Agents Vikki Evans and Karen Harberg each hosted a table and Evans also helped sponsor a table with the company to showcase the company. The afternoon speaker Nancy Spielberg, younger sister of Hollywood producer Steven Spielberg, is herself the producer of “Above and Beyond” — a documentary about the history of the Israeli Air Force.
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More than 20 agents and prospective buyers from John Daugherty, Realtors returned this week from their own “super” extended weekend in Cabo last week — where the red carpet was rolled out for all.
The group, hosted by agents Colleen Phalen and Conn Trussell, were guests at Quivira Los Cabos, a gated residential community with three miles of white sand beaches, resort, spa and Jack Nicklaus golf course. The group mixed home tours with sailing, golfing and long, late nights of fine dining and celebration. Phalen and Trussell have a number of exclusive listings there.
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Things just keep on growing at Champions School of Real Estate. Rita Santamaria, founder and chief executive officer, is overseeing the 3,000-square-foot expansion of the Champions Live! online broadcast facility as the hometown company has transitioned from statewide education powerhouse to a national leader in cyber learning, meeting state requirements for continuing education in Texas, Pennsylvania and Florida at the moment — as well as doing product-specific training for national real estate products.
Judi Griggs is a writer who lives in Houston in the winter and Buffalo in the summer — because the reverse would be ridiculous. Contact her at realnewshouston@gmail.com or through judigriggs.com.