The Woodlands Lifestyles & Homes magazine Jan 2010: News in The Woodlands.

santa for seniors makes the holidays brighter. In an effort to make sure that seniors receive at least one gift from Santa, The Friendship Center asked its friends and neighbors in the community to help out during the holidays by donating a gift.

“The gift that our clients received from us may have been the only gift that they received, ” said Carmen Pellettieri, coordinator of the Santa for Seniors project for The Friendship Center. “They appreciated anything that they could unwrap.”

The Friendship Center started its Santa for Seniors program eight years ago in conjunction with First National Bank Texas.

Children’s Safe Harbor receives helping hand from Woodforest Charitable Foundation. Children’s Safe Harbor, a nonprofit aimed at reducing trauma for child victims of sexual or physical abuse, received a $5,000 contribution from Woodforest Charitable Foundation.

“This very exciting and generous donation to Children’s Safe Harbor is the beginning of funding for a new family advocacy program for our children and families in need, ” said Victoria Constance, Ph.D., CEO and executive director of Children’s Safe Harbor.

MCYS CELEBRITY GOLF CLASSIC & GALA CELEBRATE YOUTH ACCOMPLISHMENTS. The 21st annual Montgomery County Youth Services Woodlands Celebrity Classic hosted by Doug Drabek and Jeff Maggert benefited Montgomery County Youth Services. Celebrities, sponsors, guests and volunteers contributed time, talent and dollars to the successful weekend of golf and the Celebrity Night Live Gala, highlighted by master of ceremonies Giff Nielsen.

The gala offered guests an evening of dinner, dancing and fun with bidding on live and silent auction items. Some tried their luck at winning a 1.5 carat diamond, valued at $10,000 in the Diamond Dip raffle.

Celebrities in attendance this year included Craig Biggio, Brett Cullen, Roger Clemens, Art Howe, James Mouton, John Hudak and Louis Lipps to name a few.

Wiesner Auto Doggedly Drives Campaign For MCUW. Wiesner Auto in Conroe raised $14, 070 for Montgomery County United Way. The employees of Wiesner challenged each other in a contest between the front and back of the dealership. The front group consisted of sales, accounting, housekeeping and the I.T. departments led by team captain and Used Vehicle Manager Chris Stamm. The back group included the service and parts departments led by team captain and Parts and Service Manager Richard Crabtrey.

The front departments won the challenge and the back department team captain Crabtrey had to wear the Wiesner Hot Dog costume. The two teams raised $7,035 and John Wiesner matched the donation to Montgomery County United Way.

Tina Daugherty, account executive with MCUW (third from left), accepts a check from John Wiesner (sixth from right) at the Wiesner Auto dealership. They are surrounded by staff members Chris Stamm, Richard Crabtrey and employee campaign coordinator Regina Firnkoess.

CENTERPOINT ENERGY SPONSORS INTERNATIONAL WINTER ON THE WATERWAY’S WORLD OF HOLIDAY TREES. CenterPoint Energy was the proud sponsor of the World of Holiday Trees at the annual International Winter On The Waterway festival along The Woodlands Waterway.

In conjunction with the 27th Annual Lighting of the Doves Festival, iWOW celebrated the cultural diversity represented in The Woodlands and surrounding areas. The students at Creekside Forest Elementary decorated more than 15 trees highlighting countries from all over the world including France, the United States, Canada, Germany and Mexico.

“Creekside Forest Elementary students enjoyed using the Internet and library to research the holiday customs of countries around the world. Upper grade students used this information to practice their writing skills by preparing reports to share with iWOW visitors. Lower grade students enjoyed learning holiday songs or poems to share, ” said Jeanine Deyoe, principal of Creekside Forest Elementary School.

(L-R) Kelly Overbeck, business development manager for The Woodlands Convention & Visitors Bureau; Bob Roy, CenterPoint Energy’s service area director for Greenspoint/Cypress; Peggy Condon, Creekside Forest Elementary School art teacher; and Jeanine Deyoe, principal of Creekside Forest Elementary School.

HERITAGE TRAILS DAR MEMBERS HELP DECORATE THE FISHER HOUSE. Members of the Heritage Trails chapter National Society Daughters of the American Revolution show that “This Place Matters” as they completed Christmas decorating of The Fisher House in Houston.

The Fisher House, adjacent to the Michael E. DeBakey Veteran Hospital, is a “home away from home” for the families of seriously ill or injured military patients receiving treatment at the hospital.

Each year, members of the Houston Area DAR chapters decorate the Fisher House and volunteer at the Michael E. DeBakey Hospital by serving as hostesses for the Veterans Patients party and the Homeless Veterans Christmas parties. The DAR members also volunteer year-around at the hospital and some chapters have adopted full wards of Veteran patients where they minister to the patients all year.

The “This Place Matters” sign placed in the foyer of the Fisher House represents DAR’s theme of the current Texas administration under state Regent Joy Dabney Hagg. The theme, “Preserving the Past - Our gift to the Future” ties in with DAR’s participation in the “This Place Matters” campaign sponsored by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

City of Conroe Campaigns for MCUW. The city of Conroe presented a check to Montgomery County United Way at the City Council workshop. The city raised $17,000 to help support 60 programs designed to improve the lives of citizens in Montgomery County.

The city, under the direction of employee campaign coordinator Dana Shaw and her department volunteers, designed several unique activities to raise funds including a contest between the Fire and Police Departments.

Villa Sport Donates to Interfaith’s Food Pantry. With the Interfaith of The Woodlands food pantry shelves in need of nonperishable food, The Villa Sport Athletic Club and Spa collected more than $1,200 and 1,300 pounds of food for Interfaith of The Woodlands during its Holiday Food Drive.

Dr. Ann Snyder, president and CEO of Interfaith of The Woodlands, said, “We were so very excited when Villa Sport approached Interfaith about wanting to help our community neighbors. Thanks to their donation, many, many families were assisted with food during the holiday season. ”

Teacher’s Beard Goes Pink to Support Breast Cancer Charities of America. Channelview ISD teacher David Cook dyed his beard pink when his students raised $202 in loose change to donate to the Breast Cancer Charities of America.

The students’ goal was to fill a container with loose change so Cook would dye his beard pink. The container weighed 48 pounds by the time Cook dyed his beard. The school supported the BCCA because of the two breast cancer survivors at Endeavor High School as well as a teacher currently going through treatment.