By ADAM SCHRADER
Published in Community Impact Newspaper on May 15, 2017

Tim Cobb began serving as vice president for integrated communications at Southwestern University in July. He is an award-winning marketing strategist who most recently served as a senior marketing strategist and creative director at DHX Advertising in Portland, Oregon.

Cobb has held a variety of leadership positions at marketing agencies from Manhattan to Portland. He also previously served as president of the Portland Advertising Federation and the Oregon Marketing Association.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Oregon State University and a master’s degree in management from Purdue University.

Why did you take this job?

I’m specialized in branding in the marketing agency world. Some of my past clients included Florida State and Willamette universities. I loved the energy and people I worked with for those schools. But there’s also just these layers of bureaucracy and roadblocks that keep them from doing any sort of meaningful change. You don’t have those here. Everyone supports our vision, and there’s consensus and enthusiasm for change at Southwestern.

So what are you looking to change?

Quite a lot. Southwestern has always been well-respected in the academic community. But there’s been virtually no outreach. We’re finding we have low awareness for this wonderful institution throughout the state. It would be a shame if there’s a student who would have been perfect for Southwestern sitting in Abilene just because we didn’t introduce ourselves to them. So this year we reached out to kids on their terms, moving to a completely digital strategy. It paid dividends for us.

Have there been any major reorganizations in the communications department?

We’ve reorganized to function like an agency that serves different clients instead of dedicating staff to different marketing aspects. Staff members now act more like account supervisors assigned to each one of these ‘clients,’ like prospective students, current students, alumni and the local community.

How are you trying to enhance communication with the community at large?

There’s room for a tighter relationship with Georgetown. The city is part of the college experience and a
consideration for students before coming to Southwestern. I want the people of Georgetown to take pride in the university. But you can’t be proud of something unless you understand what makes it unique.

Are there any new initiatives with social media?

Our Facebook shares now average 1,500 engagements per post. Our retweets are up 138 percent over last year. This office will soon be doing much more video content. We just finished a drone video overlooking the campus. The other big initiative is [revamping]our website, which was originally produced in its current version in 2008.

How do you plan on changing internal communications?

Some students working on their capstone projects came to us because they wanted to improve internal communication at Southwestern. The research returned professionally done and thoroughly analyzed. They created six dynamite conclusions for new directions the marketing department should take—which included a new app for getting university alerts. These initiatives will be in the works soon after completing the website.

How has your expertise in branding for agencies played a role in your new position?

It’s what is required right now because the university has never been positioned correctly. Part of the appeal for deciding to take the job was that they’d even consider hiring me. In academia, you don’t hire outside of academia—which is really to their detriment. I don’t think someone that came from a background in academic marketing could do what was necessary here.

Spotlight on Southwestern

• The Princeton Review ranked Southwestern University No. 11 in the nation on its “Best Schools for Making an Impact” list in 2017.
• Forbes named Southwestern as the No. 1 undergraduate liberal arts college in Texas in its 2016 “Grateful Grad Colleges” list.
• Kiplinger ranked Southwestern University No. 72 in its 2016 ratings for “Best College Value.”
• Washington Monthly ranked Southwestern No. 67 among Texas liberal arts colleges based on their contribution to the public good.

By ADAM SCHRADER
Published in Community Impact Newspaper on May 15, 2017

All Things Kids celebrated its sixth anniversary by licensing Beth Marie’s ice cream to open a 140-sq. ft. shop called ScoopZ, completing the store’s available retail space. Beth Marie’s, based on Denton’s Square, will make the ice cream and deliver it weekly.

“It’s a well-loved brand, and we’re proud to serve Beth Marie’s,” said Karen Soeffker, owner of All Things Kids.

Soeffker said parallels should be drawn between her toy-and-scoop shop and Mesquite Creek Outfitters, which drew attention in Georgetown as a clothing retail-bar establishment.

“The play is the same. This is the future of retail,” Soeffker said. “It’s a new generation of downtown businesses.”

Soeffker, 52, said her $60,000 investment in ScoopZ included equipment, inventory and remodeling the shop. Each worker received their food handler’s license. Long-time employee Lana Massey received her food handling manager’s certification.

“Toy season is ice cream season downtime,” Soeffker said. “But the state that sells the most ice cream is Washington, so we may see winter success.”

ScoopZ will offer a party room for ice cream socials and set up tables outside for people to relish their treats.

“Sweet Serendipity sells six Blue Bell flavors. Cianfrani’s has six Amy’s flavors. We have 42 of Beth Marie’s,” Soeffker said. “They’re all unique Texas brands that offer something for everyone.”

ScoopZ created localized flavors, including: a Red Poppy ice cream made with red velvet cake, a cream cheese swirl and poppy seeds; a Sweet Lemon Drop ice cream, made with Sweet Lemon Inn and Kitchen’s cookies; and a spicy flavor made with Mikey V’s hot sauce. Soeffker said some flavors will contain alcohol, including one made with beer from Georgetown’s Rentsch Brewery.

“It’s all about the parents really,” she said. “Parents have the spending power so we want to reward them.”

Ken Willis, owner of Beth Marie’s, said he was inspired to create alcoholic ice cream by attending an ice cream convention nine years ago.

“I picked this man’s brain about how he successfully ran three east coast shops,” Willis said. “He closed two months each winter to drink in Mexico, writing it off on his taxes. He found that good drinks make great ice cream.”

The encounter primed Willis to sell treats made with margaritas, rum, bourbon and beer.

“We can make 10-gallon batches of special flavors on our 1929 Emory Thompson ice cream makers,” Willis said. “They’re simple machines, like an old Ford pickup.”

Before opening, Soeffker, who wanted to sell premium ice cream with unusual flavors, first looked to out-of-state makers. But none seemed to fit the shop’s Texan identity, she said.

Local economic development groups told Soeffker they tried convincing Beth Marie’s to open years back but the brand didn’t feel ready to grow at the time, she said. But Willis said the company recently sought to expand.

“I realized we had a large following from alumni [of Denton’s universities]in all these towns,” Willis said. “And nothing beats eating ice cream on a downtown curb.”

All Things Kids

703 S. Main St., Georgetown
512-868-2659
www.allthingskids.us
Hours: Mon.-Fri. 10 a.m.-7 p.m.,
Sat. 10 a.m.-10 p.m., Sun. noon-5 p.m

By ADAM SCHRADER
Published in Community Impact Newspaper on April 19, 2017

This story was updated at 2:29 p.m April 19, 2017 to include comments from Susan Wukasch.

Ret. Col. Shelby K. Little stood adorned with the full attire of a Texas Confederate Cavalryman as “The Yellow Rose of Texas” played Tuesday afternoon on a boom box hidden behind the Confederate Civil War statue in front of the Williamson County Courthouse.

“This is not a monument to the Confederacy. This is a monument to the soldiers in our families who died,” Little said. “It’s worth remembering the tragedies of losing family just as it is worth remembering that slavery happened so it doesn’t happen again.”

Little, of Georgetown, is a representative of the Williamson County Grays—a chapter of the national organization Sons of Confederate Veterans. The group’s website states its members are direct descendants of the United Confederate Veterans and the organization seeks to honor those who “served in the War for Southern Independence.”

Each day through the end of April, the Williamson County Grays will post outside of the county courthouse to meet with area residents interested in learning more about Confederate history. April marks Confederate History and Heritage Month by state resolution.

“We’re not out to fly a confederate flag in anyone’s face. But we fly it to honor the memories of those we lost,” Little said. “More than 800 confederate vets are buried in Williamson County even though Williamson County was one of a handful of Texas counties that voted against succession.”

History of controversy

The Confederate statue on the Square amassed significant media attention in 2015 when the San Gabriel Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Georgetown started circulating a petition asking the county commissioners to move the monument to another place in Georgetown, such as the International Order of Odd Fellows Cemetery or the Williamson Museum.

“The quasi-Christian yanks determined they’d take this monument down, and all the media was saying how terrible and evil it was,” Little said. “I met with the opposition. It was clear they were from other demographics. They just did their protest on a whim and jumped on the bandwagon.”

The petition was started in response to the Charleston Church Shooting in which gunman Dylann Roof, a 21-year-old white supremacist, killed nine churchgoers at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. The shooting led to movements across the country calling for barring the Confederate Flag and monuments from public property.

Georgetown’s 21-foot monument includes a Confederate soldier statue and engravings of Confederate States of America flags and logos.

Little said the Williamson County Grays have already seen protesters gather to oppose their presence on the Square.

“But history is history, good and bad things happened. Their opposition just rips off the Band-Aid for old wounds that will probably never heal,” he said. “You can’t disparage people’s families that fought in the conflict because it’s personal. Our family members died in this war.”

On April 30, the Williamson County Grays will hold an event commemorating the 113 Confederate veterans buried at Odd Fellows Cemetery in Georgetown.

Launching a counter-demonstration

Susan Wukasch, chair of Courageous Conversations’ Cultural and Historical Advocacy Committee, said she’s learned a significant amount about confederate history over the last couple years.

“There’s an ideology known as the Lost Cause Mythology that helped people recover from the horrors of the Civil War,” she said. “We have no desire to cause problems with the Sons of Confederate Veterans. They can do whatever they want but when they try to- teach a false narrative we do take exception to that.”

The ideology concludes that the Civil War was not fought over slavery but to preserve state’s rights.

“I had ancestors that fought for the confederacy,” Wukasch said. “But I don’t see my opposition to implied racism, which is what that statue is about, I don’t see that as insulting to my ancestors.”

Wukasch said the funds raised for erecting the statue were collected during a movement for Civil War nostalgia about 50 years after the war ended. Local governments across the south, fueled by backlash to the progress black Americans made since the war, raised statues “subtly returning white supremacy,” she said.

“These statues were the opening battle hymn for the era of Jim Crow laws. It’s an affront to people of color,” she said. “These statues say ‘You might not be a slave anymore, but we’re still in charge.’ These domineering figures of white men keep guard of county courthouses make sure black folks don’t get in.”

Last year, Courageous Conversations sought permission from the Williamson County Commissioners Court to apply to the Texas Historical Commission for a new plaque providing contextual history about the monument. The request to apply was denied. The group will return to face the commissioners in November to ask for another chance to apply for the new signage.

“At first, we wanted to move the statue. We don’t want that anymore,” she said. “We want that left as a true historical marker of a time and place: 1917, when it was put up to reestablish the white power structure.”

Courageous Conversations has also been developing educational opportunities, including an inaugural annual symposium about the destruction of slavery to tentatively be held at Southwestern University later this year.

Until then, Wukasch said Courageous Conversations will continue to increase its presence on the Square “to point out to residents that flagrantly honoring confederate soldiers hurts the descendants of the black people they enslaved, raped and murdered.”

“Until the end of Red Poppy Festival, we too will hand out copies pamphlets on the Square,” she said. “We will hand out copies of statements from Civil War-era historical documents that clearly show we went to war to maintain slavery in Texas. We just want to put the truth out there.”

By ADAM SCHRADER
Published in Community Impact Newspaper on May 16, 2017

City officials said the recent economic impact study conducted by TXP confirmed that arts and culture are strong in Georgetown, enhancing quality of life and bringing in tourist dollars.

1. Georgetown Public Library
402 W. Eighth Street
512-930-3551 | http://www.library.georgetown.org

2. Georgetown Palace Theatre
810 S. Austin Ave.
512-869-7469 | www.georgetownpalace.com

3. Georgetown Art Center
816 S. Main Street
512-930-2583 | www.georgetownartcentertx.org

4. The Williamson Museum
716 S. Austin Ave.
512-943-1670 | www.williamsonmuseum.org

5. Antiques & Artisans
719 S. Main St.
512-369-9493

6. Artisans Connect Gallery
800 S. Austin Ave., Ste. 105
512-864-0066  | artisansconnect.net

7. The Escape
713 S. Main St.
512-930-0052 | theescapegeorgetown.com

8. Framer’s Gallery
610 S. Main St.
512-863-2214 | kimisframersgallery.com

9. Grace Heritage Center
811 S. Main St.
512-869-8597 | georgetownheritagesociety.org

10. Handcrafts Unlimited
104 W. Eighth St.
512-869-1812 | handcraftsunlimited.com

11. Inspiration Glass Studio
211 W. Eighth St.
512-869-6630 | inspirationglassstudio.com

12. Ken’z Guitars & Music
705 S. Main St.
512-869-8064 | kenzguitars.net

13. Painting with a Twist
1008 Rock St.
512-591-0797 | paintingwithatwist.com/georgetown

14. Pinot’s Palette
212 W. Seventh St.
512-868-5022 | pinotspalette.com

15. Texas Design Co.
405 W. Seventh St.
512-496-8483

16. Kathleen McElwaine Art Studio
116 W. Eighth St., Ste. 104
512-653-2540 | www.kmcelwaine.com

17. A Premium Blend School of Performing Arts
708 S. Austin Ave., Ste. 201
512-630-2540

18. Red Silo Studios
114 E. Seventh St., Ste. 112
512-635-2228 | www.redsilostudios.com

This is not a comprehensive list.

Source: City of Georgetown/Community Impact Newspaper

By ADAM SCHRADER
Published in Community Impact Newspaper on May 16, 2017

City officials said the recent economic impact study conducted by TXP confirmed that arts and culture are strong in Georgetown, enhancing quality of life and bringing in tourist dollars.

SCULPTURES

A. 7th Street

• “Blue Healer” by Faith Schexnayder
• “Last Man, First Man” by Michael Epps
• “Lost Soul” by Terry Jones
• “Source” by Jonathan Sanders
• “Springtime Blooms” by Terry Jones

B. Georgetown Library

• “Danielle’s Dream” by Dan Pogue
• “Guardian II” by Herb Long
• “Lemon Squeezer” by Bob Ragan
• “The Painted Gourd” by Dar Richardson
• “Sympatico” by Pokey Park

MURALS

C.”Discover Georgetown All Over Again” by various artists

D. “The Square” by Anna Sebesta

E. “Jumping Around” by Joe Magnano

HISTORICAL FIGURES

F. Around The Square

• “Robert Williamson, aka Three-Legged Willie” by Lucas Adams
• “Dan Moody” by Lucas Adams
• “Henry C. Matysek” by H. Clay Dahlberg
• “Harry L. Gold” by Lucas Adams

This is not a comprehensive list.

Source: City of Georgetown/Community Impact Newspaper

By ADAM SCHRADER, ELLEN MOYNIHAN and LARRY MCSHANE
Published in the New York Daily News on Nov. 9, 2017

Shocked parents joined disconsolate neighbors Thursday in wondering what went wrong inside a Harlem day care where a cheese sandwich killed an allergic 3-year-old boy.

“It’s just really sad,” said mom Emelyn Geronimo, whose 2-year-old son attends the Seventh Avenue Center for Family Services. “We’re going to have to be more careful and alert. We as moms bring our kids here trusting.”

Geronimo was one of several parents arriving at the shuttered building Thursday morning, only to learn that Elijah Silvera, age 3, died there last Friday.

None had any idea where to take their children after learning the program was closed.

The Silvera family said on a GoFundMe page that the boy, who suffered from a dairy allergy, was served the lethal grilled cheese sandwich despite the facility’s awareness of his potentially fatal food issue.

City officials closed the operation on Wednesday, five days after the heart-breaking death. The city Health Department was leading the investigation into the deadly mistake, officials said.

“The city is very committed to a very thorough investigation,” said Administration for Children’s Services Deputy Commissioner Lorelei Vargas.

Vargas avoided questions specifically related to Elijah’s death, declining to even indicate if there was an epipen inside the building. The center, in addition to the daycare, was home to a Pre-K program as well.

Neighbor Ruth Harris, who lives near the center, wanted better answers about the little boy’s tragic end.

“They should be shut down and and whoever is in charge of this program should face criminal charges,” said Harris. “I can’t even imagine what this family is going through.

“That poor baby. That poor family.”

A family friend and neighbor said the dead child’s parents were very careful about their son’s allergy, marking Elijah’s name on his lunchbox to prevent any mix-ups.

The boy’s mother “would take care of (him),” said the friend. “It’s such a terrible thing to happen to him, to happen to them.”

The Harlem facility was examined on Monday for health code violations, with city officials finding no problems. The facility is licensed for operation through Oct. 18, 2019.

Prior inspections in September 2016 and in August and September of this year produced no violations.

The last time problems emerged came after an October 2015 check, with the facility cited for two minor issues and one “critical” violation — a sink with hot water exceeding 115 degrees.

All three violations were listed as “corrected,” records show.

“I don’t know if this could be avoided, because we don’t know what happened,” said Vargas. “Once we find out what happened at this site, we’ll have a better sense.”

With GREG B. SMITH, BEN CHAPMAN

By ADAM SCHRADER and LARRY MCSHANE
Published in the New York Daily News on Nov. 11, 2017

Little Kinsey Saleh’s life-and-death battle with kidney failure came with a storybook ending — and now, with a storybook all her own.

The Queens kid, still thriving more than three years after her organ transplant, takes the starring role in “Kinsey’s Kidney Adventure,” a kids’ book written by her mom, Nadine Morsi.

“I was more than happy — I was thrilled,” raved Kinsey, now 9, after assisting in the finished product. “The illustrations look just like me!”

Morsi teamed up with artist Brandy Rumiez on the book that recounts her daughter’s roller-coaster ride of illness, transplant and recovery.

“I never thought we’d get to this point,” Morsi told the Daily News at her Queens home. “I remember being so overwhelmed at the amount of medicine she had to take.

“All I could think was, ‘Is she going to be OK and live through this?’”

Mother and child emerged with flying colors from the May 2014 surgery. Kinsey, now a fourth-grader, bounced around the house and climbed all over Morsi as they discussed the new book.

Kinsey’s medicine intake is down to three pills in the morning, and three more at night. She keeps busy shooting hoops, cheerleading and with gymnastics.

“Her doctor likes to keep her active, to keep her heart healthy,” Morsi said.

The single mom wrote through the eyes of her child, from the little girl’s disdain for IVs to her time in dialysis to The News’ coverage of her lifesaving surgery.

“When I woke up I had a new kidney — one that was mine, one I could keep!” says the Kinsey character in the book, wearing a crown and a wide smile as she rides atop a unicorn.

The first spark of the book idea came from Kinsey, when she was assigned to do a post transplant school project: a time line of an event from her life.

“Can we choose when I was sick?” she asked her mother. And so a book was born.

Morsi first knew there was something wrong with her typically spunky daughter in December 2013, when Kinsey suddenly became easily fatigued.

She complained of joint pain, and bruises began appearing after the slightest of bumps.

A blood test delivered the unthinkable news: End-stage kidney failure, a death sentence without a transplant. Doctors warned the girl was in danger of suffering a stroke or cardiac arrest because of her potassium levels.

Little Kinsey was rushed to Cohen Children’s Medical Center on Long Island, where the pint-size patient endured four surgeries and several transfusions.

By March, she was on a waitlist for a transplant.

The News ran a story about Kinsey’s plight that same month, with more than 100 readers contacting the Mount Sinai transplant center to ask about donating a kidney to the suffering child.

A family friend agreed to give Kinsey one of his kidneys. One of The News’ readers wound up donating her kidney to a complete stranger in California.

In the book, Kinsey’s donor — who chose to remain anonymous — flies in like a superhero.

“How do you thank somebody for that?” Morsi asked. “I gave birth to her, and then you saved her life.”

The book went on sale last week, and is available on the Amazon, Books-A-Million and Barnes & Noble websites.

Morsi received funding for the book from the philanthropic arm of LiveOnNY, the federally designated organization that oversees organ and tissue transplantation in New York.

The nonprofit group supported Morsi’s project from the start, and Kinsey will receive 80% of the proceeds for a college and medical fund.

The mom recalled how isolated she felt as Kinsey’s potentially lethal health problems appeared from nowhere and rapidly multiplied.

“That’s why I wrote the book,” she told The News. “I didn’t have anything positive to explain to myself or Kinsey the situation she was in. I wanted other people to have that resource.”

Kinsey found an unexpected kindred spirit in September when actress/singer Selena Gomez received a kidney transplant. The excited little girl sent off a handwritten letter to the 25-year-old star.

“I thought I was the only one that had a kidney transplant and it didn’t make me feel normal,” she wrote. “Someone very special gave me a kidney just like your friend did for you.

“We are both very lucky.”