by Paul Swen Mighty roars will echo across the hills. The skies will be adorned in radiant colors. Magnificent animals swim and romp and stalk along a winding river. Some of the most rare and priceless wonders of the world are coming to our town. The wonderful and diverse beauty of nature will be on full display. If you’ve visited the Caldwell Zoo over the past two years, you’ve realized that big things are happening. You may have wondered, “What’s going on?” or “When will we get to see what they’re building?” Great things take time. You know the saying, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” The pyram ..read more

by Melissa Fox Over 43 years ago Jerry John Spencer started purchasing parcels of pristine East Texas ranch land as a place dedicated to family fun and relaxation. Over the years, the ranch has expanded to 1,200 acres, and Jerry’s legacy of providing a place to unplug and unwind lives on at Dead Cat Ranch.  Jerry and his wife, Becky, spent many years enjoying their piece of paradise with their daughter Stacy who grew up riding four-wheelers all over the sprawling property. As her father’s health declined several years ago, he wanted to ensure that the ranch would be taken care of, so Stac ..read more

by Melissa Fox Over the years when posed the question, ”What do you want to be when you grow up?” Grace Community School senior Kate Glenney never really had a definitive answer. That is until through her involvement with the Women’s Fund of Smith County’s G.I.V.E. (Girls Invested in Volunteer Efforts) program, which educates and engages local high school girls in philanthropy and community issues, did things begin to change for Kate and she finally had an answer to that question.  Through G.I.V.E. she learned about a local organization helping to fight human trafficking called For The Si ..read more

by Beverley Golden On February 13, Dr. Kirk A. Calhoun announced that he will retire as president of The University of Texas at Tyler, effective May 31, after serving a combined 22 years as the leader of The University of Texas at Tyler and The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler.  “My wife Jeanette and I arrived in Tyler when I was appointed as the new president of the UT Health Science Center at Tyler at age 49, some 22 years ago,” Calhoun said. “I was especially honored to be the inaugural president of the combined UT Tyler/UTHSCT. This has been a most unusual, incredibl ..read more

by Kristina Wrenn With an acoustic guitar on a stage set with a single barstool at Loser’s Bar & Grill, Solon Holt spends many an afternoon on Nashville’s Music Row connecting with the audience by playing covers and requests of country’s greatest hits. It is a skill all its own to perform others’ songs while keeping the audience entertained. According to Solon, it is something you cannot fake, he has to “be on” and engaged for every song. There is a dichotomy to this life with many treating these regular gigs as their career and others to learn the ropes, all while many hopefuls wait in th ..read more

Lisha Henkhaus Mack & Alex Mack One thing I’ve learned over the years is life doesn’t always turn out the way you planned but instead can be so much better! I was born and raised in Tyler and had an idyllic upbringing including marrying my high school sweetheart but as it turned out that life was not meant to be. Eventually I married a wonderful man, Chris Mack, from Longview and we had a daughter, Alex, born with Down syndrome. Was this the life meant to be for me? Oh, YES!!! If I had known then what I know now not a single tear would have been shed. The blessings that have come from rais ..read more

by Nancy Lamar The slogan for Dory’s Gardens is “Inspiration Awaits Beyond the Lavender Gate.”  Yes, inspiration awaits in abundance, as does a garden center filled with plants, garden art and more, an outdoor party room, a gift shop, a children’s play area, a sanctuary of peace, a place of community…oh, and chickens. Therapy chickens to be exact. Dory’s Gardens is unique, creative, and welcoming, an extension of its owner, Dory Hersey. Behind her home in the Historic Brick Street District of Tyler, Dory has created a business that is reflective of her own bountiful creativity, her knowle ..read more

Arriving early in the role of a local journalist, I was intrigued for what might be in store at the 11th Annual Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award at the W.T. Brookshire Conference Center. I first wrote about Campbell in 1976 and had an array of thoughts and feelings about what might be coming in the way of entertainment and enlightenment. It was with great anticipation that I was to witness an event entering its second decade where my hometown honors its favorite son and this year at a site so close to where his fame began. I could vividly recall that night at Rose Stadium when Campbell displayed ..read more

by Zoe Lawhorn When I first met Maria Kariampuzha, it was at one of my first GIVE (Girls Invested in Volunteer Efforts) meetings, and in the aftermath of the COVID-19) pandemic, our meetings bore all the fingerprints of an era that sent us home in isolation. We chose a large meeting space – indoors, so we moved tables away from each other, we socially distanced, and we wore masks.  But Maria’s striking beauty and confident joy was obvious. She was excited to be at the meeting with other girls her age, on a Sunday afternoon – focused and genuinely interested.  As the President of the ..read more

by Melissa Fox When Army veteran Gerald Roberts returned from service in WWII to his hometown of Gilmer, Texas he had no idea what the future would hold for him. Turns out, that future was to marry Mavinee Petty in June of 1948 at the Justice of the Peace in Gilmer and embark on a 75-year legacy of love that continues today.  Gerald and Mavinee had two sons. One of them was Rick and when he was a senior in high school he met his friend, Karen Williams, at her bus stop, intent on asking her about a friend of hers that he was keen on. As fate would have it though, Rick ended up liking Karen ..read more