On Christmas Eve in 1874, the first Catholic Mass was celebrated in Texarkana by missionary priest Father Theodore Buffard, who traveled to Northeast Texas on horseback from Galveston. He arrived with a mission which continues today, a century and a half later. Parishioners of Sacred Heart Catholic Church have been excitedly preparing for their 150th anniversary, with plans spread out over the weekend of July 4th.

Holland “Holly” Gerrald was two-thirds up Argentina’s Aconcagua—the highest mountain in the Americas—when her fingers went numb. The wind blasted her face with frozen air as she moved higher into thinner oxygen and deeper into self-doubt. Around her, climbers pressed on through the ice-crusted void, heads down, one step at a time. She had trained for this; she had visualized it. But the mountain wasn’t interested in her plans, and neither was her body. 

When it comes to sports, Lucas Wacha has earned his stripes. Raised in Texarkana in a sports-loving family, he played baseball, basketball, and football in youth programs offered by American Legion, Boys and Girls Club, Dixie Baseball, and PGYA. Lucas honed his athletic skills playing football and baseball at Pleasant Grove High School. As a member of PG’s state-winning baseball teams, he was awarded district and all-state Most Valuable Player twice.

When Amy married James “Hooch” McDonald, she never imagined the storm they’d face trying to grow their family—nor how sharing their story would lead them to their greatest blessing.

“We tried multiple months of [fertility medication], plus bloodwork,” Amy said. “We still weren’t getting pregnant.” Further testing revealed IVF was their best option, so Amy began treatment with a reproductive endocrinologist. After weeks of medicine and monitoring, in December 2018, her doctor was able to retrieve 13 mature eggs; eight were fertilized, and three developed into high-quality embryos. The couple’s first fresh embryo transfer was unsuccessful. A frozen transfer in March 2019 also ended in heartbreak. Only one embryo remained.

As the proverb says, it takes a village to raise a child. Sean Foreback, a recent graduate of Texas A&M–Texarkana, is especially aware of this. His village includes blood relations, chosen family, nonprofit workers, corporate executives, and teachers, all of whom played important roles in his development.

The sense of smell is intricately connected to our memories, perhaps more than any other sense. For Rev. Jaimie Alexander, the senior pastor at First United Methodist Church in downtown Texarkana, the smell of a pie baking whisks him back to his childhood, a time he fondly remembers watching his grandmother create the most delicious pies imaginable. 

Community coaches profoundly influence the lives of young people. Tia Barry, a girls’ basketball coach at We Are Washington, knows this well. She has spent the majority of her adult life serving as a community coach, working with kids to develop teamwork, communication, life skills, and athleticism. 

Maike is from the small town of Okel, a rural area with no grocery stores, where she would have experienced a “less interesting” school year. She said that, aside from a standard physical education course, theater, and a small robotics class, there isn’t much variety in the German school curriculum. But at Arkansas High, she’s been given the opportunity to pursue news broadcasting, track, robotics, and tennis. 

As a young person, Phyllis Boyce-Cummings loved stories. “I loved reading and writing and sharing with others what I had read,” she said. “I focused on literature in college and discovered that I could share my love of books and words with young people—and hopefully instill in them the same passion for a good story.”

For 14 years, Phyllis taught English, first at Liberty Eylau Middle School and then at De Kalb Middle School. “It was fulfilling and rewarding,” she said. “I never envisioned that I would do anything other than teach.”

In her position as allied health coordinator at Texarkana College, Holli Easley loves supporting all types of students, but she is most fulfilled by her work with the young women who walk into her office.

“The allied health programs are often a place where single moms come to advance their careers and get started in the medical field,” she said. “Changing the lives of young, single mothers has been a pivotal part of fulfilling my heart as the allied health coordinator.”

Nicole Ford has been the camp ranger at Camp Preston Hunt since December 2023. “This job provides everything our family could ever dream of,” she said. “We have a home out here on 200 acres with all kinds of hiking trails, campsites, a huge pond to fish in. I never thought in a million years my life would look like this.”

Nicole and her husband, B.J., have six children collectively, ranging in age from 4 to 30 years old. Nicole and B.J. are active in First Baptist Church, where they are leaders in the Celebrate Recovery program. This ministry is of the utmost importance to Nicole, who spent nine years in active drug addiction.

“Being able to take care of home is a deeply personal mission for me, and it brings me great joy,” said Dr. Lori B. George, a family medicine specialist at CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System. “My medical training afforded me the opportunity to travel the world, but there was never anywhere quite like Texarkana. Texarkana is special; the people of this community are special. It is the honor of a lifetime to be able to pour back into the same community that reared me, prayed for me, and helped shape me into who I am today.”

Sue Johnson recently retired from CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System after an illustrious career of over 50 years. In 1974, she moved to Texarkana and began working as a registered nurse in the emergency department. Over the proceeding five decades, she served in various departments: home health and hospice, the “Spirit of St. Michael” mobile clinic, clinic development, the W. Temple Webber Cancer Center, and most recently the advocacy and community planning department, of which she was the director.

Stephanie McCorkle was born and raised in Texarkana, and she has planted her own blended family here, consisting of her husband, Charles, and the couple’s collective six adult daughters. “Raising my family in Texarkana has proven to be a nice, quiet life, full of opportunities professionally,” she said. “It has been a happy, simple, and fulfilling life.”

Stephanie is a family nurse practitioner. Her first job was as a nurse at the CHRISTUS St. Michael Hospital emergency room, “when it was still downtown,” she said. “My first boss was Sue Johnson. I have often said you cannot match her skills. She gave me an opportunity at St. Michael as a new graduate that others would have not done.”

Jo Murphy founded the Texarkana Regional Alliance of Christian Educators (TRACE) in 2021, when she realized that she was not equipped to educate all six of her children by herself.

“I still wanted the prime time with my kids, but it became clear that I couldn’t be the master of every K-12 subject,” she said. “I reached out to some friends to see if they would like to pitch in to hire a few professionals to tutor our kids weekly. After the first year, I realized that we could do the same thing with more classes.” Over the next four years, TRACE expanded to “nearly 100 students, 28 classes, and a teacher roll that I am extremely proud of,” she said.

“If you ask my friends,” Erica Smith admitted, “[they will tell you] I’m too busy. But I only accept engagements/volunteer opportunities after seeking God’s okay first.”

Erica is the incoming president of the Junior League of Texarkana (JLT). “I joined because I wanted to meet and support the needs of my community,” she said. “I wanted to do something. I was invited to come to their spring recruitment [event] and listen in on what they are about. I was amazed at how much JLT is in the background of things that go on in the community. I went home, gushed about it to [husband] Tyrone, and prayed about it, and here I am—the incoming president, just as JLT is about to have its Centennial Celebration next February.”

Since she was a young child, Robin Hall Thomas has played the piano.

“I began taking lessons at the age of 7,” she said. “I was fortunate to learn and study under wonderful piano teachers. My mother played piano, and she was a huge influence in my life.  She was a church pianist, and I followed in her footsteps.”

As a teen living in Shreveport, Louisiana, Robin played weekly at her home church. During her senior year of high school, she performed with the Shreveport Symphony. She went on to earn both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in piano performance.

As the school year winds down, seniors reflect on their past, say their goodbyes, finish classes, and prepare themselves for whatever the future may hold. For Liberty Eylau’s Brailey Stewart, there’s one additional task: finishing her last season with the track team.

Brailey has been a member of Liberty Eylau’s track team since middle school. “When I was younger, I played softball, but then when middle school came around, I was really into a bunch of other stuff,” she said. “So I started running summer track, but ninth grade was when I really started to take it seriously.”

Dr. James Morris brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to his work in Texarkana, and his financial expertise serves him and the community well. However, James said that his foundational ethic does not require an MBA to understand.

“I live by what I call ‘the anti-poverty program,’” he said. “‘I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was naked, and you gave me some clothes.’”

Texarkana USA is on the move, and it’s a sight to behold. A gleaming new airport terminal welcomes newcomers, a fiber optic network will soon pulse underground, and three megasites stand ready to redefine the future. In 2024, the Arkansas Manufacturing Center earned a rare Silver Grade from the Site Selectors Guild, the East Texas Logistics Center landed a $1.5 billion data center prospect, and the TexAmericas Center was ranked third nationally by Business Facilities Magazine. This isn’t just progress—it’s transformation, and Texarkana’s people are driving it.