Shelby County Today

January 28, 2020 - Soprano Cristina Castaldi will perform works by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Claude Debussy and Richard Strauss in a guest recital at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 2, in Cole Concert Hall on the campus of Stephen F. Austin State University.

Castaldi is an assistant professor of voice at Wichita State University. Her husband, Gene Philley, who is a former member of the music faculty at Angelina College in Lufkin, is her collaborative pianist. Her SFA program includes Vier Lieder des Abschieds, Op. 14 by Korngold; Proses lyriques, L. 84 by Debussy; and Strauss’ Vier letzte Lieder, Op. 31.

“This is a tour de force recital program,” she said. “The Strauss, in particular, is usually performed with orchestra. The recital is centered around three composers, four songs per cycle.  There is a common thread throughout the recital of the journey of life and the realities of death.”

She described the program as “unique,” in that the Korngold and Debussy works are “special and not regularly performed.”

“Those who know the Strauss (songs) will enjoy hearing them again,” she said.

Castaldi’s recent vocal performances include soprano soloist in“ Carmina Burana” in Prague, Czech Republic; soprano soloist in Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 for Wichita Symphony Orchestra and the East Texas Symphony Orchestra; as well as the soprano soloist for Wichita Symphony Orchestra in Joseph Haydn’s “The Creation.”

Among her operatic roles are Alice Ford in “Falstaff” and Le Prince Charmant in “Cendrillon” (both award-winning productions) as well as Mimí in a concert performance of “La Bohème” with the Rutgers Symphony Orchestra. Another role of note is the title role of Giovanna d’Arco with Sarasota Opera. The Longboat Observer wrote: “Cristina Castaldi, as Giovanna, has a lovely bearing on stage … got our attention … in the final scene … she became radiant as an actress and singer.”

Recital tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $3 for students and youth. For tickets or more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu.

January 22, 2020 Nacogdoches — Fashion designer, CEO and philanthropist Kendra Scott will headline the 2020 installment of the Archie McDonald Speaker Series in April at Stephen F. Austin State University.

Scott, who started her Austin-based jewelry company in 2002 with only $500, leads her business on the foundation of three core values — family, fashion and philanthropy. Her company now employs more than 2,000 and boasts a thriving web business and more than 100 Kendra Scott standalone stores. Scott’s merchandise also is sold at retailers that include Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus and Bloomingdales. In addition to fashion and fine jewelry, her brand also encompasses home accessories and nail lacquer.

A loving mother, driven entrepreneur and passionate designer, Scott’s vibrant personality and commitment to innovation, quality and detail brought her from a small startup to a billion-dollar business and brand with millions of loyal fans, including celebrities. Known for her use of dynamic color and genuine materials, Scott believes the truest form of success is giving back in a meaningful way.

She has created a brand and culture that authentically values giving back and making a positive difference in the community. The Kendra Scott company maintains a focus on its customers and the causes close to their hearts.

In 2015, Scott launched the Kendra Cares Program, which allows community members to host in-store events for causes and organizations that work to improve health and wellness, education, entrepreneurship and empowerment. In 2018 alone, the company gave more than $5 million in monetary donations, almost $10 million in in-kind donations and more than 2,000 volunteer hours to philanthropic organizations, and partnered with more than 8,000 philanthropic organizations nationwide.

The speaker series event is free and scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 20, in the Baker Pattillo Student Center Grand Ballroom on the SFA campus. A private reception for 100 guests will be held prior to the main event. Private reception tickets can be purchased by contacting Sarah Sargent, SFA development assistant, at (936) 468-5406.

“Kendra Scott sets an example for our students on how someone can be super successful in business and also super passionate about making a difference in the world,” said Dr. Steve Westbrook, SFA vice president for university affairs. “The recently announced Kendra Scott Women's Entrepreneurial Leadership Institute is a prime example of how she is sharing her passion for business leadership with others, especially aspiring female leaders. We are thrilled she will be on our campus soon so our students can hear about her work firsthand.”​

In 2017, Scott was presented with the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. She also has received the Breakthrough Award from the Accessories Council Excellence Awards, was named Outstanding Mother of the Year by the Mother’s Day Council, awarded Businesswoman of the Year by the Women’s Chamber of Commerce, listed by Forbes as one of America’s richest self-made women, named among the Top 100 Entrepreneurs of the Year by Upstart Business Journal and recognized as Best CEO by Austin Business Journal. She is a member of the Council of Fashion Designers of America and maintains her position as chairman of the board of Kendra Scott.

The Archie McDonald Speaker Series was created in 2010 by SFA's College of Liberal and Applied Arts. Dr. Brian Murphy, dean of the college, designed the event to honor and preserve the legacy of Dr. Archie McDonald as a distinguished scholar, educator and community commentator. In the tradition of McDonald's writings and oral presentations, a prominent national figure is hosted annually at SFA to discuss contemporary cultural issues.

McDonald taught history at SFA for 48 years and served as director of the East Texas Historical Association and editor of the association's journal for 37 years. He was a past president of the Texas State Historical Association, past vice chair of the Texas Historical Commission and author/editor of more than 20 books on historical topics. Along with teaching, he was a commentator on Red River Radio in Shreveport and wrote a weekly column for area newspapers. He passed away Aug. 16, 2012.

McDonald participated in the first three events in the speaker series, interviewing former heavyweight champion boxer and iconic businessman George Foreman, Apollo 12 astronaut and professional artist Alan Bean, and the 61st U.S. Secretary of State James A. Baker III. Additional guests have included former U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Grammy award-winning singer, composer and actor Lyle Lovett, Olympic All-Around Gold Medal winner in gymnastics Mary Lou Retton, legendary head football coach Gene Stallings, noted presidential historian Douglas Brinkley and physician and TV personality Dr. Jennifer Arnold. 

SFA's Student Government Association sponsors the speaker series, which is open to the public. Starting March 2020, passes may be obtained at the Involvement Center on the first floor of the Baker Pattillo Student Center on the SFA campus or at the Nacogdoches Convention and Visitors Bureau, located at 200 East Main St. For more information, call (936) 468-5406.

January 21, 2020 Nacogdoches – The Wind Symphony and the Symphonic Band at Stephen F. Austin State University will present a program of music with themes of celebration and praise when the student ensembles perform at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, January 30, in W.M. Turner Auditorium on the SFA campus.

Directed by Dr. Tamey Anglley, associate director of bands at SFA, the Wind Symphony will perform “Give Us This Day,” which is a short symphony for wind ensemble by American composer David Maslanka.

“Though the title is from the Lord’s Prayer, it features the choral melody ‘Vater Unser im Himmelreich’ (Our Feather in Heaven) No. 110 from J.S. Bach,” Anglley said.

The Symphonic Band, directed by Christopher Kaatz, assistant director of bands, will perform works by different generations of American composers, including the march “Americans We” by Henry Fillmore; Chorale and Alleluia by Howard Hanson; and “Masque” by Francis McBeth.

“‘Americans We’ and ‘Masque’ are both about celebrations, while Chorale and Alleluia and ‘Give Us This Day’ (which the Wind Symphony will perform) both have connections to religious praise,” Kaatz explains.

“Each composer on the concert represents a different generation of American composers,” he adds, “Fillmore being the earliest and Maslanka the most recent. The concept of the concert is that it is sort of a journey of American composition from the early 1900s to the early 2000s, with each piece written more recently than the one that precedes it.”

Concert tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $3 for students and youth. For tickets or more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu.

The Bobbie Hargis Todd Scholarship supports Stephen F. Austin State University students who are children or spouses of officers killed in the line of duty. Bobbie’s father, Nacogdoches Deputy Sheriff John Arlington Hargis, was killed while serving an arrest warrant in 1928, when Bobbie was only 18 months old. Bobbie’s children, Bobbie Ann Todd Anderson and Richard Todd, established the scholarship to honor their mother’s memory. Pictured are, from left, Texas Ranger Jim Hicks, Anderson, Todd and Sabine County Sheriff Thomas Maddox, president of the Sheriffs’ Association of Texas. Photo by Hardy Meredith

January 3, 2020 Nacogdoches — Beginning in fall 2020, Stephen F. Austin State University students who have suffered the loss of a law enforcement officer parent or spouse killed in the line of duty can apply for a scholarship designed to help them move forward.

The scholarship was prompted by the death of Bobbie Hargis Todd’s father, Nacogdoches Deputy Sheriff John Arlington Hargis, who was killed in 1928 while serving an arrest warrant when Bobbie was only 18 months old.

The Bobbie Hargis Todd Scholarship was established by her children, Bobbie Ann Todd Anderson and Richard Todd, in memory of their mother, whose life dramatically changed after her father’s death.

“My grandmother and her five children had to do whatever they could to survive and move forward,” Anderson said. “My mom and her siblings certainly would have benefited from financial assistance like this for college.”

Fortunately, Bobbie was able to live at home with her mother a few blocks from SFA. Her older siblings managed to chip in and help pay her tuition. While attending SFA, she was a cheerleader and member of the Fideles Social Club. During her freshman year, she began dating World War II veteran Joe “Orville” Todd, and they married Feb. 22, 1948.

“Upon their marriage, Mom moved from Nacogdoches to live with her husband and widowed father-in-law on a farm in Henderson. It was quite an adjustment,” Anderson said.

Employed first at the Rusk County Courthouse, it was after the birth of her first two children that Bobbie made the decision, encouraged by her husband, to return to college. She commuted daily to SFA and earned her degree in elementary education in 1957. She then taught third and fourth grade in the Henderson Independent School District for 23 years.

“Many times in her career, Mom was asked to advance to a principal position, but she wanted to teach,” Todd said. “She loved the kids.”

Bobbie’s students loved her back. For years after leaving the classroom, she received letters of admiration from former students for the way she successfully faced adversity following the death of her father, and the inspiration and encouragement she gave to her students.

“Because of her upbringing in a family with no father, mom had a special skill of working with children from low-income families,” Anderson said.

Both Anderson and Todd recall many students referencing the strong math and reading skills they learned in her classroom.

To continue their mother’s spirit of survival and support, Anderson and Todd established this scholarship for students whose parent or spouse has died in the line of duty, with preference given to students pursuing a degree in elementary education.

Texas Ranger Jim Hicks said the child or spouse of an officer killed in the line of duty can make one of two choices. “They can give up, or they can press forward. This scholarship is a tool that can help them move forward,” Hicks said.

Sabine County Sherriff Thomas Maddox, president of the Sheriffs’ Association of Texas, knew Bobbie and understood how hard she worked to be successful. “She also had a special way of making you feel like the most important person in the world,” he said. “She would have been very proud of this scholarship.”

Anderson said her mother’s unusual circumstances made her very strong, and she hopes the scholarship can pass that strength to others facing the same challenges.

“The children and spouses of officers killed in the line of duty form a very tight-knit community,” Anderson said. “We want them to know we’re here to support them.”

For information on how you can aid students who have lost a parent or spouse in the line of duty through this scholarship, contact the Office of Development at (936) 468-2278.

By Jo Gilmore, marketing communications specialist at Stephen F. Austin State University.