Commission seeking applications

for new Gregg historical markers

   Several area sites will dedicate Texas historical markers in coming weeks and the Gregg County Historical Commission is seeking applications for additional markers.

   The markers can honor historic individuals, schools, churches, communities, cemeteries, businesses and events.  Marker sponsors can be residents or organizations and are responsible for the application’s research, narrative and marker funding.

   According to Gem Meacham, chair of the Gregg County Historical Commission’s research and marker committee, the deadline for the Texas Historical Commission’s 2014 marker cycle is Oct. 25.

   Completed narration and applications must be submitted to the marker committee by that date.  The GCHC will vote on recommended markers at the commission’s Nov. 12 meeting.

   Applications approved by the local commission will be submitted to the Austin-based Texas Historical Commission, which gives final approval and determines language on the markers.  For more information about submitting marker applications, contact Meacham at 903-983-2554 or email her at gemmeacham@gmail.com.

   Several historical markers have been approved for Gregg County locales.  On June 8 markers will be dedicated in Longview’s Greenwood Cemetery for David Sutton Meredith, an early sheriff and merchant, and his son David Sutton Meredith Jr., county judge in the 1920s.  On Oct. 5, Summerfield Methodist Church on Tryon Road will dedicate its historical marker.

   Other Gregg County sites that have had markers OK’d include Longview’s Womack High School, Jerusalem Baptist Church, Johnny Cace’s Seafood and Steak House, Longview’s Rembert-Harrison house on South Fredonia Street, and Gladewater’s New Hope Missionary Baptist Church.

   Gregg County Historical Commission members oversee the county’s historic preservation program and are appointed by the county judge and commissioners court.

   Gregg County is home to more than 100 Official Texas Historical Markers denoting people, places and events of historical significance. 

If you put an imaginary bubble around your head —a comic book type of balloon that showed a picture of what you were thinking about, what would it be?

Even while you are reading this you might be thinking about how you can’t wait to stretch your muscles and take a walk or start reading that best seller you just checked out from the library.

If that ‘thought bubble’ was permanent, what a rude awakening that would be for most of us.  The reason is that daydreaming goes on all the time in all of us.

Now here’s something to really make you glad you don’t have a ‘Velcro’ bubble of ideas swirling around your head. Researchers have found that one-third to one-half of our waking life is spent daydreaming!

So if you find your mind wandering during the day, rest assured, you are not alone.

There is also good news attached to all that daydreaming.  Wandering thoughts like what a warm beach would feel like now, or how nice it would be to sit in a classroom again studying astronomy or mulling over whether you should buy an electric bikecan help improve your life.

Many of us understand sleep is crucial to good health. But we are just beginning to understand that those brief mental naps we take in between emails, or looking out the window during a boring meeting, may actually be contributing to our overall restfulness. Taking a break is also thought to give the mind a break from stress, a brief release and is an important way for the body to cope with the caustic effects of stress.

Give Yourself a Daydreaming Break

Current research is discovering more benefits attached to daydreaming. Researchers have found that daydreaming in adults may help repair some damage from aging brain cells. This damage may contribute to memory problems, concentration and affect other important mental tasks.

The benefits of daydreaming are also related to sleep which is crucial to overall brain function.  Research from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has highlighted how quality sleep, which can include daydreaming and an occasional afternoon nap, may help cognition functions such as memory and concentration skills.

Daydreaming can jump start new ideas that you mull around in that thought bubble. Think of daydreaming this way: Pondering life may lead to improving the quality of your life.

Dreaming while you’re awake can inspire you to try something new, break up your routine and do something you haven’t done in a long time. When was the last time you went ice skating or used a recipe that wowed your family?

Daydreaming can help you work through your thought process and get inspired and get going.

Use Daydreaming to Improve Your Life

If your daydreams are filled with thoughts like, “Oh, I wish I could do that, but I don’t know” keep these daydreaming tips in mind.

Small nuggets of an idea can lead to big things that may change your life. And daydreaming is one place for new ideas to form.

Daydreaming about people, places and possibilities can motivate you to take the plunge in making positive changes.

But some people need even more of a motivator. If that’s you, here are some things you should know about lifestyle changes—maybe first thought about in daydream—to help you improve your health and even help you live longer.

• Jot down your dream ideas:  If you’ve been daydreaming about something that pops up often, take note –literally –of your thoughts. If you keep dreaming about breaking your routine, it may be time to act on those thoughts and take a few days off.

• Thinking about becoming more active? Do it. According to a British Medical Journal study people who are 75 or older and physically active lived 5 years or longer than those who were sedentary.

• Get unstuck from too much TV. If you’re daydreaming about sewing, golf or playing Scrabble, make it happen. A surprising new health study found the more you sit watching TV, the less healthy it may be.  The study found that for every hour an adult over 25 sits in front of a TV, it may decrease their life by 22 minutes.

Put Your Daydreams to Work

Just imagine how many of these types of daydreams you have every day. Think about how many you probably have in a week’s time.  Hundreds and hundreds, but what are you doing with these moments of leisure?

There’s no better time than now to use daydreaming to improve the quality of your life.

Cheers to a Successful and Record-breaking Tenth Anniversary

of the Sugar Land Wine & Food Affair

People near and far gathered in Sugar Land to enjoy the tenth birthday celebration

Houston, Texas, May 16, 2013 – Irresistible foods, wines, celebrity chefs, mixology and unabashed merriment marked the tenth year of the Sugar Land Wine & Food Affair (sugarlandwineandfoodaffair.com) celebrated recently from April 24 to 28. This milestone birthday broke multiple records in efforts to support a permanent scholarship endowment at the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management at the University of Houston.

One of the most anticipated culinary attractions in Texas, the Sugar Land Wine & Food Affair pulled out all the stops to make it an unforgettable five-day event. The 2013 festival set a record in number of attendees, escalating more than 20 percent over previous years.  The affair’s five-day line-up of events was propelled to new heights, featuring wine and spirits seminars hosted by big personalities, award-winning chefs from across Texas, Louisiana, California, Kentucky and Maine, bringing unseen creative flair, and a specially constructed Gallery Furniture Pavilion that hosted live cooking demonstrations from celebrity chefs.

 “What a spectacular five days!” exclaimed Keri Schmidt, founder of the Sugar Land Wine & Food Affair and president of the Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce. “The overwhelming response from our guests, chefs and sponsors was incredible. It is hard to believe we just celebrated our tenth year. The continued growth has been phenomenal, and more importantly, the efforts in supporting the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management at the University of Houston has been tremendous. We look forward to the next ten years as this celebrated event continues to share great wines and food.”

On the coattails of the tremendous success of this year’s festival, the Sugar Land Wine & Food Affair has announced that next year’s event will be held from April 23 to 27, 2014.

###

About The Sugar Land Wine & Food Affair

The Sugar Land Wine & Food Affair is produced by the Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce in cooperation with the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management at the University of Houston. All proceeds support a permanent scholarship endowment at the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management at the University of Houston. Information is available at 713.SIP.WINE (713.747.9463) and sugarlandwineandfoodaffair.com.