Daily Archives: 05/02/2010

(Community Matters) Today is Lemonade Day – in Austin, over 10,000 kids have registered to host lemonade stands all around the city, launching their entrepreneurial careers.

While these kids are having fun, they’ve also been learning about entrepreneurship without even knowing it – their cartoon-style lemonade stand guide is actually a well-researched, produced curriculum developed with assistance from the Search Institute. As parents or mentors guide the kids in establishing and running their stands, they are learning about planning, budgeting, marketing, accounting (counting revenues, costs & profits) and philanthropy.  The latter is completely voluntary – some parents and partner organizations are encouraging children to share portions of their profits with charitable organizations.

Leigh Christie has done an extraordinary job leading this program in Austin for the Entrepreneurs Foundation.  Andra & Joe Liemandt, their Liemandt Family Foundation and Trilogy are the primary underwriters in Austin joined by Imperial Sugar, HEB, RunTex, Charles Schwab, the Acton Foundation, the Buena Vista Foundation and others.  Peter Frey has been Leigh’s right hand man while simultaneously holding down plenty of EF responsibilities.

Prepare4Life & Michael Holthouse created and launched this program in Houston 3 years ago.  We’re pretty dang proud that our first and second years we’ve met the enrollment and participation figures of the nation’s 3rd largest city.  Additionally, in Austin, we’ve engaged Prof Raphael Travis to help us evaluate outcomes (stands, revenues, profits and philanthropy) as well as help us design and test a possible long term longitudinal study to confirm whether this program impacts future entrepreneurial activity and whether it contributes to participants’ developmental assets.

(Community Matters) I wasn’t familiar with John Kelly or his Joni Mitchell show.  But, of course we attended the artist & volunteer reception at Amy & Kirk Rudy’s home and meet John, Zecca Esquibel, Paul Ossola and Kevin Malony, in town for FuseBox and presenting Paved Paradise Redux: The Art of Joni Mitchell.  There’s a 2pm show today (Sunday), I HIGHLY recommend it.

John Kelly & Ron Berry

Kirk Rudy, Bijoy Goswami, Ron Berry, Natalie George & Amy Rudy

Luke Hayes, ST & Roger Hayes

My favorite 26-yo godson and his dad (in from NY) joined us at the reception and for a quick bite at Maudie’s prior to John’s show.

The show was amazing – seriously.  Not a drag show, an impersonation which went deep deep deep into roots.

(Community Matters) Austin turned out to honor Bertha Means’ 90th birthday celebration.

Congr Lloyd & Libby Doggett with Bertha Means

Congressman Doggett and Bertha go way back.  She loves to tell the stories of him, David Butts and others organizing minority voter registration out of her living room while the guys were in college.

Bertha has a lot of stories to tell – important stories.  She led the integration of Barton Springs, of the local skating ring, of UT athletics, at St. Stephen’s Episcopal School (with her dear friend Dr. Alan Becker who was there yesterday).  She’s told me stories about driving her family to north Texas, having to pack food and water because black families couldn’t sit down in restaurants along the way and she wasn’t going to patronize businesses that didn’t welcome her and her family.  Dr. James Means was also a pioneering man.  He moved Bertha and the family to Austin to teach at Tillotson College.  Since St. David’s Episcopal Church wouldn’t admit Negros, Bertha and six other women founded what’s today St. James Episcopal.  We proudly retain our deep African American roots.

Judge Lora Livingston, HT Pres Larry Ervin, State Rep Dawnna Dukes

Friends and politicos turned out in mass, in addition to those pictured, also State Senator Kirk Watson (& Liz), Judge Flowers (& Simone) and Council member Sheryl Cole (& Kevin).  Sheryl told a story about meeting with Bertha while considering running for City Council and how Bertha told her she wouldn’t be the first African American woman to run for city council – Bertha was (which I didn’t know) – but that she’d be the first elected.

“GG’s” great grand kids

Dr. & Mrs. Means’ family out in force – what an extraordinary family of achievers and generous souls they’ve raised.

I’m not so sure Bertha was my fan early on.  When I started attending St. James with Steven 11 years ago (he’d already been attending for 9 years and was one of a handful of non-black members) I insisted we move to the front row.  I wasn’t going to hide or shrink in the back; it was my observation that the few gay members of the congregation, while loved, practiced that Southern tradition of keeping it to themselves.  That was not how I planned to meet potential members of my spiritual family.  There were tensions in the early months as Steven and I became more visible as gay family.  Father Wm Adams called for twelve weeks of prayer & Bible meetings on the topic and those with feelings about this all read & contemplated on it, and got to know each other better.  I’m not sure if it was the praying and Bible reading, the discussions and getting to know each other, or the crab cake eggs benedict and veuve clicquot mimosas I served her that eventually won Bertha Means over 🙂

Anyhow, I love Bertha Means and everything she’s done for our communities.  I was a strong proponent and campaigner for her election as a national delegate to the 2008 National Democratic Convention and loved being with Grandma for Obama in Denver.

I’m reminded of Gene Hackerman when I spend time with Bertha – both world changing women

thanks for the pic, Bette Reichman