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Focus on Hispanic-owned business at chamber luncheon

Posted on May 15, 2012 by admin

The Nacogdoches County Chamber Fourth Friday Luncheon moves to the third Friday on May 18 and dodges Memorial Day weekend. The meeting is noon to 1 p.m. in the Hotel Fredonia Convention Center, and the program is “Targeting the Hispanic Market” presented Marcela Coe, professional liaison with Hospice of East Texas and chamber vice chair of Membership Services. Gold sponsor is Halls, Johnson, McLemore, Redfield & Rodrigues.

In addition to the luncheon presentation, exhibits by locally Hispanic-owned businesses will be open from 11:30 a.m. to noon and again from 1 to 1:30 p.m. Translators will be available to bridge any communication gaps so that valuable relationships can be established.

“All from the business community should take advantage of this opportunity to make new contacts, learn more about the growing Hispanic population in Nacogdoches and how to best serve these consumers,” Coe said.

Coe was born and raised in Mexico. She moved to Houston soon after collage and fell in love with Texas. She worked for Men’s Wearhouse for seven years as director of Marketing and Business Development. She volunteers as treasurer for TJR PTA, cub den leader for Pack 161, and she is an active member of FirstUnitedMethodistChurch.

The luncheon serves as the chamber’s monthly membership meeting. Attendee registration is required by May 17. Please call 936-560-5533, or find a secure pay online option available in the Hot News section at nacogdoches.org. Lunch is $16.

All attending may enter the $50 drawing, and all Chamber members are entered in a $250 drawing, but you must be present to win. Drawings sponsored by First Bank & Trust East Texas.

Hispanic-owned business exhibits include:

Casa Del Vaquero

Complete Fleet Auto Sales

Diamante Hair Salon

Eli Moving Service

Farmers Insurance

G & I Auto Detail Plus

Herbalife

Hope Class

Jabberjam Wireless (DBA Cellular One)

Joyeria Macias

La Michoacana

Martinez Tree Service

Novedades Morelos

Rodzilla Graphics

Silver Lion Photography

Tabernaculo De Vida

Tahitian Noni International

Taquitos La Pasadita

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SFA A Cappella Choir to embark on European tour

Posted on May 15, 2012 by admin

With reading assignments, papers and final exams behind them, most Stephen F. Austin State University students have gone home for the summer or are taking a brief break before summer school begins.

The A Cappella Choir at Stephen F. Austin State University will leave Thursday, May 17, for an 11-day European concert tour, which will also include visits to historical sites.

The 52 members of the A Cappella Choir, however, are busy packing their bags, double checking the location of their passports and mentally going over their vocal parts as they prepare to meet Thursday afternoon for their flight to Frankfurt, Germany, the first leg of their 11-day European concert tour to Austria and the Czech Republic.

Under the direction of Tim King, SFA director of choral activities, the choir will be providing music for three Masses and presenting at least six concerts of varied music, including American folksongs and spirituals.

“Every three years or so, the A Cappella Choir travels to Europe so that the students can visit the sites they’ve only read about in their classes,” said King. “For instance, we’ll visit the house in Salzburg where Mozart was born and see actual instruments he played, and we’ll perform in St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna, the very church where Joseph Haydn was a choir boy.”

The Mass and later concert in St. Stephen’s is particularly significant because non-Austrian choirs are seldom invited to sing there, King explained.

The director said another highlight of the tour will be the concert in Prague with the Hlahol Choral Society, one of the oldest and most prestigious choirs in the Czech Republic. “Each choir will present half of the program, and then we’ll sing a few pieces together.”

Throughout the school year the students have been preparing the tour music, some of which the choir sang during the opening of the annual conference of the Southwestern Division of the American Choral Directors Association in March.

Marie Sanford, Nacogdoches graduate student, said all of the hard work has been worth it. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to perform in the same cathedrals where so many great composers presented their works. I can’t wait!”