The garden has finally hit its stride and is producing fruit and vegetables at full speed. July’s sunshine and showers gave most gardens the boost they needed to finish what they started in the spring months. Hopefully, you watched in anticipation as small, tender plants or fragile seedlings emerged timidly from the dirt—eventually, bursting into an overachieving harvest of tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, okra, basil, and more.

Mayor Bob Bruggeman of Texarkana, Texas, received several phone calls from sports writers across the country in 2013. They wanted to know how he felt as mayor about Texarkanans Michael Wacha and Will Middlebrooks opposing each other in the World Series. Bob was quick to note that he had umpired many of the now-pro players’ high school games. That information changed the angle of their stories.

Jamie Simmons, who has been a public historian and museum director for more than three decades, entered into her career by accident.

The Texarkana Museum of Regional History was, in fact, looking for a paid intern. Jamie, who double majored in history and art, jumped at the chance. “That was my entry to the Texarkana Museums System,” she said, “and I didn’t leave for 30 years.”

Mary Adele Philips is part of a lineage of nurses: “five generations past and yet growing,” she said, explaining that her great-great-grandmother, great-grandmother, grandmother, mother, and aunt all worked in nursing. “There is no doubt in my mind that our family has been anointed and appointed to be God’s caretakers,” she said. “This call runs as deep as my family heritage and is woven into the very essence of who I am.”

Through journalism, reporters can tell local stories that may not be told otherwise. Whether the story is a sports team going the extra mile or a local criminal case finding closure years later, it can bring insight that may not have been known before. For the past two years, Beth Spicer has been publishing stories like this through sports photography with TXK Sports and news stories with RazorbackTV.

At an age when most athletes have long since hung up their shoes, Ken Endris of Hooks, Texas, is still lacing his up tight. At 75, he’s not just running: he’s competing. Ken sets the example for anyone who has ever been told that they’re too old to chase their passions. 

Maureen Noe, along with her dog Dani, have redefined the expression “work like a dog.” The two have qualified to compete at the prestigious WUSV World Championship Universal dog trial and show, which showcases the best German Shepherds from around the world. It is set to occur in Hanau, Germany, from July 4th to 6th.

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.”