Politicians who fight for issues that are important to realtors and homeowners are supported by the realtor family. The Texas Real Estate Political Action Committee collects the money through donations and one fun way to do this is through our Global Dinner series. Every few months, donors attend a dinner featuring a particular country, and last Wednesday that country was Germany! The party took place at a German restaurant called Rudi Lechner’s. There was German food, German beers, German music, and even a German fashion show! Everyone had a great time and it was a great way to raise money for a great cause.
In Annoura family news, all three boys have finally started school, with Joe being the last one starting University of Texas last week. Ty has finished his intense summer physical training and now that school has started, his freshmen group has incorporated into the rest of the brigade. He also has new roommates, can use his cell phone, and has officially started wrestling practice with the rest of the wrestling team. We were nervous the past couple of weeks because he said Coach Kolat was cutting some of the new freshmen, but the good news is he has survived the cuts and is still a part of the Navy Wrestling team! Joe has started year 3 of UT and has declared his major to be Finance inside the McCombs School of Business. This year he moved into the Kappa Sigma frat house and seems to really enjoy it so far. Meanwhile, Zach is enjoying 7th grade so far. His new endeavor is choir! His choir teacher is very active and has all kinds of events going on this semester so we are trying to keep up with it all. Zach added Spanish to his class lineup as well, so he will follow in Ty’s footsteps and try hablar espanol! Koh is working out everyday, preparing for his competition next month in France. The masters track world championships will be held the week of October 7 and Susan plans to fly over for a week to watch him compete in the mens sprint. As for Susan, she heads to Wyoming this week for a NARLA colleague’s inauguration as Wyoming state’s realtor association President. Following that will be 3 days in Galveston for her HAR 2025 strategic planning retreat. It’s been weird going from a family of 5 to a family of 4 and now to a family of 3. It’s normal for the kids to grow up and leave home but it’s still a little sad for us parents! Over Labor Day weekend, we jumped in the car and headed to Austin to find Joe. With our Bay Oaks membership, we were able to play golf at a course in Lakeway so that was a lot of fun. The four of us (no Ty!) ate some great Texas BBQ at County Line on the Lake and also did a strenuous 4 mile hike (almost 10,000 steps). We treasure any time we can spend with our boys!
Right now through September 15, there is a special exhibition called “Meiji Modern: Fifty Years of New Japan” being held at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. This exhibition offers an extraordinary look at Japan’s Meiji era (1868–1912), when the country emerged from near-total isolation to enter a modern, global period. Over these pivotal decades, Japan experienced major social and political shifts. The exhibition brings together nearly 200 remarkable works of Meiji art from more than 70 public and private collections. We went to check it out on Friday night and it was very impressive! Be sure to see the golf-leaf folding screens of the Tigers!
This year’s Japan Festival just finished and it was super special! Few people know that it was Glen Gondo who first came up with the idea of a Japanese Festival and he is the one who approached the City of Houston to ask for their support and was granted use of Hermann Park to hold it. It is thanks to Glen that the Japan Festival was born and that now today thousands of Houstonians can enjoy the rich cultural heritage of Japan that is preserved by the Japanese and Japan-American communities. This was the first time to have the Japan Festival without its founder and we are grateful for his efforts of getting the City of Houston on board (thank you Mayor Bob Lanier) and for getting the Japanese community involved.
Texas Realtors is the association of for all realtors in Texas. Each year, there is an annual conference and it is going on right now in Grapevine, Texas! Realtors from all over Texas come together to share information, take classes, have committee meetings, raise money for TREPAC, and to install our new chairman for the coming year. This year, we have 12 guests from Mexico visiting from the Mexican real estate association (AMPI), including their national president. Everyday has many activities, events, and meetings. This year, Susan is serving as a Regional Vice President on the state level, which means she is a part of the executive board of directors. The conference this year goes from Aug 25-28 and next year, the conference will be held in Houston. In exciting news, Susan has been appointed to be the Conference Committee Chair for 2025!
