A University Press magazine April 2014

See page 12.

Inside:

• Adopting Twins

• Skaters’ Park

• Polished Appearance

Forged from Iron

UPbeatA University Press

MagazineApril 2014

EDITOR

Chelsea Henderson

STAFF

Molly Porter

Jessica Lane

William Jones

Tara Wigley

Kara Timberlake

Kyra Ellis

Nhu Pham

Mallory Matt

Josh Aych

Chris Moore

ADVERTISING

Melissa Conley

Cover photo byMolly Porter

This issue of UPbeat is a production of the

University Press staff.

UNIVERSITYPRESS

A THIRTEEN-TIME ASSOCIATED PRESS MANAGING EDITORS AWARD WINNER

©University Press 2014

PEOPLE— page 4

ADOPTED TWINS— page 8

BLACKSMITH— page 11

SKATE PARK— page 16

POLISHED— page 20

www.lamaruniversitypress.com

A p r i l 2 0 1 44UPbeat PEOPLE

For Jake Hollier, drummer oflocal bands Hello Chief,Octopoodle and Yella Bellies,music is an outlet for bothimagination and communica-tion. “It should be creative andexpressive above all else,” hesays. “I feel that it’s about reallytrying to use your instrumentsor your voice not just to play,but to speak.” Now a 21-year-old music major, Jake isinvolved with percussionensemble, wind ensemble, jazzband and industrial carillon. Healso teaches drum lessons.However, outside of school, hismusical focus is Hello Chief,who are described variously asindie-rock or pop-rock. “We’reputting together a new album,”he says. “It’s a little bit of a dif-ferent direction. It’s moremelodic, and I think some of theparts, having put more thoughtinto them, are more substantial.If the album were to be food, ifit were to be a meal, I wouldwant you to be comfortably fullafter you listen to it.” Jake sayshis favorite Hello Chief perform-ance was at the Free PressSummer Fest in 2013. “Playingat Free Press was crazy,” hesays. “They asked us to do anencore, which I thought wasstrange. When all those peopleyelled, it seriously scared me. Itwas so loud, I felt it. That feel-ing, I mean, there’s nothing likethat.”

Beatof aDrumJAKEHOLLIER

Text and photo

by Molly Porter

A p r i l 2 0 1 4 5 UPbeatPEOPLE

Signature HatWILLIAM B. JACOBS

William B. Jacobs may be known for his signature hat, butthere’s more than just an Instructor under that hat. He’s also an

accomplished retired actor. Among his many jobs are variouscommercials, a few TV shows, and he has even been on Broadway

playing the playwright Arthur Miller, one of Marilyn Monroe’shusbands, in “Marilyn,” which he says is his most memorablemoment as an actor. The LU broadcast announcing instructor

received a degree in speech from Lamar before earning an MFA atthe University of California, Los Angeles, winning awards at bothplaces. From there, he went to the Big Apple. “I went to New Yorkand auditioned for plays and started acting in a national tour of

an early rock musical called ‘Your Own Thing,’” he says. Thatshow led to other acting jobs including voiceover work for com-mercials and even song writing. “I wrote ‘By Love I Mean,’ for

Sunny and Cher, but it’s no big deal,” he says. When he retiredfrom show business in 2002, he was offered a position as anadjunct instructor at his alma mater. It was then that his hatbecame his trademark. “For 12 years, I went from building to

building and forgot to remove it when I got to class, so it stuck,”he says. “So now, when I’m not wearing it, students wonderwhere it is.” After a lifetime on stage and screen, he is happy

spreading his knowledge and experience with others.

Text and photo by Kyra Ellis

Holly Gallier is your typical college student. She enjoyslounging around her dorm room watching reality televi-sion, consuming dangerously-large amounts of caffeine atthe local coffee shop, and playing endless hours on heriPhone. All in all, she is an easy-going kind of girl —except when she has to take on her role as communityassistant for Cardinal Village. When she is on the clock,she cannot be her usual introverted self. She has learnedto push past her shyness to take on the friendly and out-going alter ego that her position demands. “I really want-ed to get more involved and meet new people,” Holly says.“It’s been such a positive experience for me, because ithas forced me to come out of my shell.” She has alsolearned more about Lamar and what it has to offer.“Students will come up to me and ask me questions allthe time,” Holly says. “So I try to be informed.” Her dutiesinclude anything from unlocking doors to hunting downher biggest nemesis — lit candles in unoccupied rooms.“We also have social programs, like movie nights, as well,”she says. Holly is a familiar face to students. “It’s impor-tant to me to be seen as reliable,” she says. “This job hasreally strengthened my leadership abilities and my desireto be helpful to others.”

HOLLY GALLIER

Text and photo by Tara Wigley

Not So Shy After All

A p r i l 2 0 1 46UPbeat PEOPLE

Maurice Abelman’s woodcuts are a complexnetwork of carved lines. But through his

detailed images, he hopes to translate complexideas visually. “I am more of a visual person,

so I translate information from a source into avisual language where people can understandit, and understand my ideas,” the printmakinggraduate student, who will present his thesis

May 2 in the Dishman Art Museum, says.Maurice’s inspiration comes from the enter-

tainment and news media, literature and cur-rent events, all combined with traditional

imagery. His ideas are eccentric and out of thebox, and he wants people to see the world

from a different perspective. “With my work, Iam trying to give you more information,” hesays. Maurice transfers images to a wood

block and carves them out in his unique style.“Wood blocks are very expressive,” he says,

“and carving away materials in order toexpress a mark gives a certain type of feel toit, depending on what I’m trying to express.”

Events with wide-ranging implications happenevery day, and art is Maurice’s way to make

sense of it all — and maybe change a fewminds along the way.

Carving Different Perspectives

Man’s Best Mirror?Text and photo by Nhu Pham

Text and photo by Mallory Matt

MAURICE ABELMAN

Father Shane Baxter strolls around Lamar University’s Catholic Student Centerwith a shadow close at his heels — his trusty look-alike — Monsignor, theBoston terrier. “I found him on Southeasttexas.com,” Father Shane says.Monsignor, now eight years old, was only eight weeks old and had just beenweaned when Father Shane got him. “He was $300, so I wrote a check for him— because we all wrote checks back then,” he says. “I was driving back home,and I had him in his box in the car when they called me and said, ‘We’re notgoing to cash the check,’ and I was like, ‘I haven’t even gotten home and Ialready have to bring him back.’ They said, ‘Just give him a good home.’” Sincethat day, Monsignor has acquired thousands of fans through dog tricks,although he has now retired. With matching black coats and white collarsalong their necks, Monsignor and his master are two peas in a pod. “It’s notthe first time I’ve heard that we look alike,” Father Shane says. “When I was atSt. Charles, parishioners used to tell me that, too.” Monsignor is getting alongin years, 56 in dog years, something Father Shane has thought about. “You getso attached to them,” he says. “I don’t think I’ll be able get another dog afterhim.”

FATHER SHANE BAXTER AND MONSIGNOR

A p r i l 2 0 1 4 7 UPbeatPEOPLE

PEOPLE

Brewing Up InterestWhen Christopher Martin got a home-brewing kit for Father’s Day, little did he know itwould inspire a new class at Lamar University. “When I got my first brewing kit, I tried tofigure out how and why this thing will work on a molecular level,” he says. “As a chemist, Ithink about chemistry in everything I do.” The 10-year associate professor createdChemistry of Brewing, which became available this spring. Martin says it was a naturaltransition from the brewery to the classroom. “A lot of the things I’m trying to teach stu-dents in the lab are skills that have been easily transferrable, because now my kitchen isthe lab,” he says. Martin hopes to expand the course to a lecture plus lab, where studentsuse the brewing as a vehicle to apply the chemistry. “Beer is a measuring stick of culture,”he says. “I try to make sure that students understand the history, the cultural significanceand the overall chemical process of what it takes to brew a batch of beer.” Martin hopesthat students see the connection between the real world and the classroom. “Rather thanbeing driven by chemistry in an academic sense, I’m trying to find an application in the realworld — it makes the relevance and interest a lot fresher,” he says.

CHRISTOPHER MARTIN

Text and photo by Kara Timberlake

More

page 24

A p r i l 2 0 1 48UPbeat

“It was exciting, exhausting, stressful and exhila-rating,” says mother of three Julie Steiner, about theday her family became complete.

The Steiners are a typical American family, con-sisting of sisters Savannah and Tierney, their olderbrother and two loving parents. The girls didn’t arriveswaddled in pink blankets; instead, they joined thefamily as walking, talking seven-year-olds. Thoughthe fraternal twins are adopted, they’re both certainthat they ended up right where God intended themto.

Approximately 280,000 children are adopted inthe United States each year, according towww.creatingfamily.org.

THE ADOPTION PROCESSJulie says that she and her husband decided on

adoption after struggling with infertility issues.“My husband and I wanted a large family,” she

says. “We tried for four years before our son wasborn. After he was born, we discovered that I hadsome problems with my ovaries and fallopian tubes.I was given a 1-in-50,000 chance of becoming preg-nant again.

“We decided Matt was our miracle baby and gaveup on ever having another biological child. We talkedabout adoption on and off over the next few years,but the timing just never seemed right. When Mattwas 10 years old I did get pregnant, but sadly itended in a miscarriage in the first trimester. That iswhen we really got serious about adoption. It remind-ed us of how we wanted our family to grow.

“At the time, I had prayed for God to provide uswith another baby, but that never happened. So Ididn’t feel like God was listening to me. But lookingback, I know he had a bigger plan for us. I have toldthe girls that God had them destined for us beforethey were even born. He brought us to New Mexicowhen my husband was enlisted in the Coast Guard;there isn’t any coast in New Mexico. So in retrospect,I believe God did answer our prayers; just not how weexpected him to.”

They decided that a private adoption would workbest for them, but the process wasn’t always easy.

“Just as you adjust to a new baby in the house,bringing two seven-year-olds into the house waschallenging, with an 11-year-old boy in the mix thathad been an only child his whole life,” Julie says.“The entire process took approximately nine months,

ADOPTION BRINGS TWINSINTO LOVING HOME

Lamar student Savannah Steiner holds a picture of her twin, Tierney. The pair wereadopted at age seven.

COMPLETING FAMILYSTORY BY JESSICA LANE • LAYOUT BY CHRIS MOORE

which is kind of funny when you think abouthow long it takes to have a baby.

“It seemed like certain things took forever.The biological mother missed three appoint-ments to sign off her rights (because she wasstruggling with substance abuse issues), sothey had to do a process of public announce-ment of our intent to the mother. That tookaround a month, then they did it to anunknown father, but the publications couldrun concurrently. The paper work was a night-mare, but well worth it.”

Julie says that raising twins comes with itsown challenges.

“The biggest challenge would probably betrying to treat them equally — even thoughthey may view things differently,” she says.“For instance, one may view things morematurely than the other, so it is easier to let

them have bigger privileges, but it doesn’t seemfair on the outside looking in. Also, twins arevery expensive — everything is in twos.”

Though the girls are twins, don’t expectthem to behave alike. Julie says that Savannahand Tierney have always been individuals.

“Chocolate and vanilla is how we havereferred to them — or night and day,” she says.“Savannah is very even keeled and Tierney’semotions run high and low. One trait that theyshare is the fact that they both have a verysweet demeanor and care deeply about otherpeople.”

Julie says that, barring a few minor adjust-ments, she’d do the entire process over againin a heartbeat.

“It has not always been easy, but it hasalways been worth it,” she says. “The Bible tellsus that we are all adopted children of God

(because we are not Jewish), that it is a morebinding relationship than to your natural child.We made a conscious decision to bring thesechildren into our lives. A decision that wassealed and approved by the law. That decisionshould never be regretted or taken for granted.”

Julie says that her relationship with thetwins’ biological mother, Tracy, is a difficultone.

“I am very happy that she has cleaned upher life,” she says. “She is off drugs, marriedand has a young daughter. There is a strangelevel of resentment there now. She has comeinto the girls’ lives after they turned 18, andsays that she respects our family and onlywants to get to know them. But there is anunderlying current of wanting a deep andmeaningful relationship with them, and shetells them how much she loves them every timethey talk.

“I feel like she and her mother want to pro-vide them with a family that is separate fromus, and it hurts. The girls want so much toplease everyone and don’t realize what the bio-logical mother and grandmother are doingsometimes. Our family was never a temporaryfix for them; it is a lifetime commitment. Ibelieve the grandmother never has realizedthat.”

THE BIOLOGICAL MOTHERTracy Laws, the twins’ biological mother,

says that she is grateful for the family God’sgiven her daughters.

“I am grateful that God chose Julie andRandy to adopt the girls,” she says. “Julie hasdone an outstanding job of loving, teachingand raising them. When I think about how theycould have turned out compared to how theyare, it brings tears to my eyes and joy to myheart, and I am so thankful to her and for thequalities that she has instilled in them.”

Tracy says that her experience with theadoption process was difficult.

“It all happened so fast,” she says. “Mymom picked me up to take me to visit the girls(who were living with their grandmother at thetime). On the way, she told me that I had to putthe girls first and she was taking me to anadoption agency to meet the woman that wasgoing to adopt them. I had not slept in daysand looked extremely rough. Julie and theadoption agent were there, and I don’t remem-ber much more than that.”

Tracy says she takes responsibility for los-ing custody of the girls.

“I started using methamphetamines at 15years old and continued for the next 17 years,”she says. “By the time Savannah and Tierneywere in kindergarten, I was heavily addicted tometh and the lifestyle that went along with it. Ihad just lost our apartment and we moved inwith my mother. The school called CYFD(Children, Youth and Family Dept.) because I

A p r i l 2 0 1 4 9 UPbeat

See TWINS, page 10

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was late picking them up fromschool 14 times in their firstsemester of kindergarten.

“CYFD gave my mother tempo-rary custody of the twins, and Iwas supposed to be getting my lifesituated for their return. Timeseemed to be at a stand still forme. I was devastated and I knewthe twins were, too, and I didn’tknow how to fix it. I focused onstaying high because that numbedthe pain. Whenever the drugswore off, I felt this deep agonizingpain, so I would do whatever I hadto do to stay high. I was so afraidof doing the wrong thing to getthem back that I did nothing at all.I was so deep into the drugs that Ididn’t realize that I was supposedto be utilizing that time to getclean. The time that stood still forme was going by for everyoneelse.”

About one-and-a-half yearslater, Tracy’s mother took her tosign over her rights.

“My mother thought she hadbreast cancer and felt like shecouldn’t care for the girls anymorelike they needed to be cared for, soshe called an adoption agency andthey found Randy and Julie,”Tracy says.

She is confident that the adop-tion has been positive for every-one.

“The lifestyle that I was livingwas no place for two innocent, lov-ing, trusting, sweet girls,” shesays. “The path I was on wouldhave only brought them harm.

“I no longer search for ways toserve my addiction. Instead, Isearch for ways to serve the Lord.I have been serving the Lord anddrug free since July 2002, almost12 years. I have been blessed witha husband that came out of thesame lifestyle I did and a daughterwho’s 11.”

Tracy is now involved in sever-al ministries and shares her expe-riences with addicts. She says shefeels a connection to Savannahand Tierney.

“Most of the time when wetalk, I feel like we were neverapart,” she says. “I think, forthem, they are still getting to know

me.“My greatest hope has always

been that they would know that Ialways have, and always will, lovethem. I’m hoping that our relation-ship will grow, and we can be apart of each other’s lives. I am alsohopeful that they will be in a rela-tionship with their sister, Zip-porah.”

THE TWINS’ PERSPECTIVESavannah and Tierney both

say that they feel blessed to havehad each other.

“Having a twin throughout theprocess of the adoption meantthat I had someone to lean onwhen I needed a sense of comfort,”Tierney says. “No matter where wewent, I always had that familiarity.It is unfortunate for other adoptedchildren who don’t have theadvantage of having someone byyour side, but it definitely helpedme to feel OK with where I was.”

She said that being a twin isinteresting, and she enjoys therewards and consequences thatcome with it.

“Since we are so close, rela-tionship-wise, it is easy to under-stand each other and come toeach other for girl advice or just to

vent,” Tierney says. “On the otherhand, we tend to argue a lot due tothe fact that we grew up beingtogether 24/7. But it’s worth it,knowing that my sister is also mybest friend.”

Savannah says that havingher sister made things 100 per-cent easier.

“The first time we met our bio-logical mom, she said things like,‘I’m sorry I couldn’t be there foryou,’ and, ‘You must’ve been soscared,’ but honestly, I wasn’tscared,” Savannah says. “I think alot of the reason is because I had asister going through everythingwith me. I never felt alone. I couldalways talk to her about anything— and still can.”

Tierney says that during theentire process of the adoption,“Savannah became my rock.”

“I was always looking to her forconfirmation and security,”Tierney says. “I think that ‘big sislittle sis’ quality stuck with us.”

Though they’re not identical,the twins say that they have a lotof similarities; however, they arealso very different.

“Savannah and I are alike inmany ways,” Tierney says. “Weboth have the exact same sense of

humor. We also both love food,and like and dislike the exactsame types of foods.”

“We have a lot of similar inter-ests,” Savannah says. “We bothlove music and art. We also bothenjoy making friends.”

Savannah says that the maindifference between her andTierney is how trusting Tierney iswith people.

“It’s not always a bad thing,”Savannah says. “She’s just veryoutgoing. She takes people at facevalue, and trusts that they’re whothey say they are. I wish she’d bemore careful sometimes.”

The girls say they don’tremember everything about theirrough start in life since they wereso young when everything washappening.

“Since we were adopted at theage of seven, my parents prettymuch knew that they couldn’tkeep it a secret,” Tierney says.“Savannah and I had an idea ofwhat was going on, because wehad been passed around fromcaretaker to caretaker for aboutseven years.”

Savannah says that she and

TWINSContinued from page 9

See TWINS, page 22

Savannah and Tierney Steiner on the day of their adoption at age 7. Their adoptive parents, Randy and Julie,and brother, Matt, stand behind them with the judge who signed the papers.

Courtesy Photo

t’s dark in the Spindletop-Gladys CityBoomtown Museum Carriage Works.Sunlight filters in from the doorway in thefront of the wooden structure. The only otherlight sources are a few ineffective halogen

bulbs and, occasionally, the dim glow of the forge. Theshop is littered with rusted scrap metal and tools. Theground is coated in ash.

Enter Rob Flurry, in faded jeans and a tan work-ing shirt that’s seen better days. His calloused handsbegin sifting through pieces of rusted iron. He pilesthe forge with kindling and cranks the blower.

The air fills with acrid smoke as Flurry scoopscoal onto the forge. He examines the metal rod insert-ed in the flames, moves it to the anvil, and hammersit flat before placing it back in the fire.

“You have a burning fuel,” Flurry said. “We usecoal, and then you force oxygen into it to superheat it.Our forge gets up to 1,400 or 1,500 degrees.”

Flurry, a traditional blacksmith, volunteers at themuseum on Saturdays and offers public demonstra-tions of blacksmithing, a process that has changedconsiderably over time — in some ways.

“It’s hugely different and hugely the same,” hesaid. “Of course, all the tools (at the museum) aretools from the turn of the century — from the lateeighteen and early nineteen-hundreds. The blowers onthe forge would now be an electric squirrel cage or ahand crank. We burn coal — modern forges use gas,natural gas. Our most sophisticated tool is this trea-dle hammer and hand and foot power, whereas in theearly 1900s, they were doing that with compressed airand mechanical means. So, yeah, everything here isbased on the same things they used in blacksmithing1,000 to 1,500 years ago.

“The main items that we use are of course theanvil, the blower, the forge, various tongs which arebasically long-handle pliers, a leg vice, various ham-mers and the treadle hammer.”

Despite these iconic images of the trade, peopledon’t know much about blacksmithing, Flurry said.

“Most people think that blacksmithing is horse-shoeing, and a horseshoer is a very specific type ofblacksmith,” he said. “They do a job that has beendone by blacksmiths for centuries, but that’s not the

BLACKSMITH DISCUSSESPROCESS, MOTIVATIONS

FOR METALWORKING

Rob Flurry removes an iron rod from the forge and checks it before moving it to the anvil.

orging anunusual path

STORIES AND PHOTOS BY

MOLLY PORTER

LAYOUT BY

CHELSEA HENDERSON

I

See BLACKSMITH, page 12

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extent of blacksmithing. “Blacksmithing is everything made out of

iron. In this shop, they made carriages, sothey were involved in the transportationindustry. Blacksmiths make the nails. That’sone of the things that I tell the kids. Theymade the nails for every house that was builtduring the frontier. You know it’s just any-thing metal, and people don’t see that. Theysee horseshoers. That’s it.”

With such a wide variety of objects, theblacksmithing process can vary considerably.The first step, though, is to get an idea of whatto make.

“I make knives, swords, axes, and I dosome small decorative work,” Flurry said. “I’vedone architectural work in years past.Primarily, my business is all knives. Edgedweapons have always fascinated me. Mostguys are knife guys. I think mostly what I dois I make some presentation pieces, but most-ly camp knives and hunting knives. That’s pri-marily what I do: tools to be used.”

Flurry said he finds his inspiration mostlyin historical texts.

Learning the basics of blacksmithing isas simple as reading. Getting a chance toapply that knowledge, however, is not some-thing that happens every day. Naturally,when I was offered a chance to do just that,I jumped at the opportunity.

“Today, you’re going to make a nail,”blacksmith Rob Flurry says.

He explains the basic process of makinga square nail, noting the importance of thetechniques employed.

“Usually a blacksmith’s apprenticestarted at nine years old, and the first thingthat they learned to make was a nail,”Flurry says. “There are four processes thatyou use in blacksmithing all the waythrough involved in making a single nail.”

He sticks two long, thin, cylindrical ironrods into the forge.

BLACKSMITHContinued from page 11

Molly Porter displays her square nail, whichshe made under Rob Flurry’s instruction.

See NAIL, page 23

NAILED IT!BLACKSMITH 101:

HOW TO MAKE A NAIL

A p r i l 2 0 1 4 13 UPbeat

“Truthfully, mine are very looselyhistorically based,” he said. “I usuallyput steel in the fire and see how itwants to come out. I don’t necessarilyhave a preset idea of what I’m going tobuild until I’m building it.”

The blacksmith starts the fire in theforge with kindling and coal or an alter-native fuel source, using the blower tooxygenate the flames and make themhotter. Next, the piece of metal is placedin the fire to heat.

“I forge from pieces of scrap metal,really,” Flurry said. “I primarily workwith iron. I’ve done some silver castingfor some of the knives that I’ve made,but iron and steel. Silversmithing, gold-smithing and tinsmithing were all artsunto themselves, and blacksmithing isliterally the black metal, which wasiron.”

Periodically, the metal is removedand reshaped by one of several black-smithing techniques before being placedback into the fire.

Flurry removes the iron rod andbegins to draw it out by hammering itinto a longer, narrower piece of metal.He repeats the process several timesuntil the rod reaches the desired lengthand flatness.

He then reheats the iron and beginsbending it, slowly twisting it upon itself.

“I’m making you a Thor’s hammer,a mini Mjölnir,” he said.

He hammers down a loop at thetop. This upsets the metal slightly so aportion of the loop is wider than it origi-nally was. He corrects this by filingdown the edges of the now flattenedloop to finish and smooth it and, thus,finishes the small Mjölnir reproduction.

At two-and-a-quarter-inches longand one-quarter-inch deep, it takesFlurry fewer than 10 minutes to com-plete.

The process comes naturally, Flurrysaid, as blacksmithing has been one ofhis lifelong pursuits.

“My grandmother taught me to readwhen I was four,” he said. “She got tiredof me asking questions. I got a librarycard when I was six. That’s how Ilearned blacksmithing — from the pub-lic library. When I was first readingaround the age of four, the first realbook I read was ‘King Arthur and theKnights of the Round Table.’ I wanted asword. They wouldn’t buy me one.”

So Flurry took matters into his ownhands.

“I built my first forge at home withscrap parts, stuff I had around,” hesaid. “I used my grandmother’s hairdryer. She was not happy. She foundout the first day, and it was too late. Itwasn’t a new hair dryer; it was her oldhair dryer that she really liked. But itwas one of the really old, like, ’60s hairdryers that had a tube and a thing that

went over your head. So Icut the thing over yourhead off from the tube,and put the tube into thebottom of a pipe that I hadup into the brake drumand wired it on there reallytight — it was unusable forwhat she wanted it to do everagain.

“I used a little brake drumfor the forge itself. I had a piece ofa railroad car that I found on theside of the tracks that I used foran anvil, and a claw hammer thatwe had lying around. That was myfirst blacksmith’s hammer. I put itall together from pictures in books.”

Flurry continued metalworkingand woodworking as he got older,and he said that other than the lackof air-conditioning, he has no regrets.

“I won a scholarship for poetrywhen I was 17 to the University ofHouston fine arts program,” he said. “Ihad a full-ride scholarship. I didn’t doit. I didn’t want to be a professor. I hadopportunities to be in the businessworld to have a suit and tie job. Thatfreaks me the hell out. There’s justnothing attractive in any of that to me.I’ve always worked with my hands. Inthe last job I had before starting in with

Rob Flurry, left, pours water on the forge to force the heat of the fire from the surface to the center. Flurry, above left, flattens the heated ironwith a treadle hammer. Flurry, above right, adjusts an iron rod in the forge to heat it more evenly.

Flurry’shand-made

miniatureMjölnir,

or Thor’shammer,is two-

and-one-quarter-inches

tall.

See BLACKSMITH, page 23

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BEAUMONT’S SKATE PLAZANEW HOME FOR SICK ‘OLLIES’

The Beaumont Event Center’s newneighbor, Beautiful Mountain SkatePlaza, has gained a lot of attentionsince it opened Aug. 17. The plaza ishome to skaters of all ages and lev-els, like nine-year-old “LittleShredder,” who says he started skat-ing seven months ago when a friend“just pushed me down the drivewayand I started skateboarding.” Theskaters perform moves such as“ollies,” “kickflips,” “smith grinds”and “board slides.” It’s a world where“sick” is sublime and “sketchy”

tricks are badly done. AlanBroussard, who has been skating formore than 12 years, sums up thepark simply — “Awesome, it’sbadass,” he says. Alan says beforethe plaza was built, the site was justan abandoned building. “And then itgot torn down, and then it was justa concrete slab,” he says. TheBeautiful Mountain Skate Plaza islocated at the southeast corner ofMagnolia and Laurel streets indowntown Beaumont, and is openfrom dawn to 11 p.m.

PICTURE STORY PACKAGE BY WILLIAM JONES AND JOSH AYCH

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ude. I like them nude.Kyra Ellis extends her foot to show offher toenails. Her nude polish isadorned with tiny pink roses andhearts from her latest pedicure.

Sprawled behind her on her bed is her prizedcollection — dozens of nail polish bottles in avariety of shades.

“I have over a hundred,” Kyra says. “I’vealways been a girly girl. When I was younger,like five-years-old, my mom started buying menail polish. I have been collecting polish eversince. If I had kept every polish I’d owned sincethen, I would have a lot more, but it gets old soI’ve had to throw some out over the years.”

The Houston junior’s friends and familyappreciate the benefits of her vast collection,she says.

“My friends ask me to do their nails all thetime,” she says. “It’s not, ‘Can I borrow nailpolish?’ It’s, ‘Can you do my nails for me?’ Idon’t mind, because I really like doing people’snails, and it’s a whole lot easier to do otherpeople’s nails than my own.

“I do my mom’s, my granny’s, my aunt’s,and my little cousins.’ When I come home, theysay, ‘Hey Kyra, we miss you — did you bringthe nail polish?’”

Her inspiration for nail art ideas comesfrom Tumblr, Instagram, or celebrities in maga-zines, Kyra says.

“I am very much into fashion,” she says. “Iread fashion magazines, such as People Style,and I go on the Internet to look for differentnail polish ideas. I like to do line designs, likemaking little leafs, and stuff like that. I learnhow to do them from YouTube tutorials.’

Deciding on a color can be difficult with somany options to choose from, the broadcastjournalism major says.

“Last night it took me about 30 minutes topaint my nails because I kept trying differentcolors,” she says. “I couldn’t decide what Iwanted. I rarely leave my nails bare though, Ipaint them about once a week.”

Kyra does not have a preference for thebrand of polish, but focuses on quality instead,she says.

“I’ve noticed that the Revlon brand driesreally fast,” she says. “As far as time wise, Ican do my nails with Revlon polish, and in fiveminutes they will be dry.”

Cheaper polish, though convenient, is notalways the best option, Kyra says.

“My least favorite brand is Clean Color,” sheKyra Ellis, Houston junior, models her freshly-polished nails.

KeepN

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says, “Because although it is only99 cents, if I do my nails onMonday they will start to chip byTuesday afternoon.”

Kyra says much of her collec-tion was acquired throughouthigh school.

“In high school, I was reallyinto getting the acrylic nails, butI didn’t want to use the polishthey had at the salon,” she says.“So every time I went, I wouldtake my own polish.

“I just like to see my collec-tion grow. One day I actuallywant to have one of those walldisplays that they have in salonsso that I can put it up in myroom. That way people can justsay, ‘Oh, I want that color,’ ver-sus digging in this bucket.”

Her old display container hadto be thrown out, Kyra says.

“It was one that stacked, andyou had to latch the tops,” shesays. “But because I had somany, it fell apart. So I had toget a bigger bucket, the one I usenow.”

Kyra purchases polish fre-quently, and is not picky aboutwhich store it comes from.

“I purchase polish all thetime — all the time,” she says.“Wherever I see cute polish, I willbuy it. I have polishes from Wal-Mart, Beauty Supply, Target, andH.E.B. I just bought some at theend of last month.”

Kyra tends to choose thecolor of her polish based on hermood.

“Sometimes I want to godark, sometimes I want to golight,” she says, “Sometimes itwill match what I’m wearing. Liketoday, my blue polish matchesmy clothes. But I don’t intention-ally try to match my outfitsbecause I can’t wear the samecolor blue every day of the week.”

Ellis said she prefers to wearbright, lively colors.

“Other than my nude, I reallylike ‘Mint Sorbet.’ It’s a pastel

green,” she says. “It’s really cute.But the one I wear most often ismy baby blue one. I’ve learnedthat it’s a thin color, though, so Iwill put on a white base coat to

make the polish more vibrant. Idon’t really like dark colors,because I feel like with my skintone, I should have lighter colors.So most of the dark colors I have

are colors that my mom pickedout that I use on other people.”

There is only one color thatKyra refuses to add to her collec-tion.

“I hate red nail polish,” shesays. “I don’t like it, and I won’town it. I have never been a fan ofred nail polish or red lipstick.”

Having a nail polish collectionhas helped her to save a signifi-cant amount of money, Kyrasays.

“My sister spends about threeor four hundred dollars a yeargetting her nails done,” she says.“I used to be like that, too. I usedto never wear the same nail pol-ish twice, and I would get mynails done every other week. Ireally liked this color, called ‘SeaIce.’ But after I wore it once Inever wore it again. Now, I re-wear my polish, but back then Iwould refuse to re-wear the samepolish because I felt like it wasold.”

These days, Kyra treats her-self to a pedicure only once ayear.

“Because I spend $27 on it, Iwon’t be getting one anytimesoon,” she says. “I might get mytoes polished, because that’s only$7. But I don’t get pedicures veryoften because I have a PedEgg,so I can do my own pedicures.

“I enjoyed getting my nailsdone in the salon, but I’m in col-lege now and I can’t afford that.So I do my own, and the kits Ihave are just the same as gettinga full set in a salon. Everythingin the kit is what I need. I use abrush-on gel nail kit.”

Gel nails are less harsh andbetter for the health of your nat-ural nails than acrylic nails, Kyrasays.

“Gel nails take three steps —You put on the tip, apply theglue, and then you put on thegel,” she says. “Then you stick a

HOUSTON JUNIOR

PRIDES HERSELF

ON FIERCE NAIL

POLISH COLLECTION

Kyra Ellis chooses a color from her large nail polish collection.

it polished

See POLISH, page 24

STORY AND PHOTOS BY TARA WIGLEY • LAYOUT BY CHELSEA HENDERSON

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her sister lived with their maternalgrandmother for most of their livesbefore they were adopted. Whenher health began declining, theirgrandmother made contact withthe adoption agent the familyused.

“Our grandmother says thather health was bad at the time,”Savannah says. “I’m not complete-ly sure since we were little, andshe always kept things from usbecause of that. Her life wasstressful at the time. She was ourmain guardian, but we also livedwith our mother and other rela-tives off and on.”

Savannah says that the rela-tionship that she has with herbirth mother is good.

“We’ve kept in contact sincefirst meeting each other,” she says.“We talk once a month. I tell hersome things that are going on inmy life, but I don’t really tell herprivate things just because they’repersonal and I just met her. I’m

still getting to know her.“One thing that I love is that

she’s really open to answer anyquestions that my sister and Ihave, so that’s really good. I don’texpect to be super close with her.”

Tierney has similar feelingstoward Tracy.

“I get along with my birthmother,” she says. “She is strivingto be at the best place she can getto in her life right now, and I don’thold anything against her.

“I feel like I should know aboutmy background and where I phys-ically came from. Having a rela-tionship is completely differentthan knowing about her, but like Isaid, I don’t hold anything againsther, so I wouldn’t want to com-pletely leave her out of my life.”

Savannah and Tierney mettheir biological mother for the firsttime as adults when they were 18.

“It was actually really cool,”Savannah says. “We met eachother over a two-day period. Thefirst day, my mom, dad, me andTierney met with her. We prettymuch just caught her up on ourlives and talked about how amaz-ing God is. The second day, me

and Tierney met with her alone,and that’s when she told us aboutwhat our lives were like as chil-dren. We obviously had questions,and she was a complete openbook.

“I feel very whole as far as thatpart of my life is concerned. Ofcourse, I had questions and I won-dered about Tracy and how shewas doing, and now I know, so I’msatisfied. I never want to stop com-munication with her, but I don’treally want to have a whole newlife with my biological family, ifthat makes sense.”

Savannah says that her adop-tive family is very protective of thetwins.

“They adopted us, so they did-n’t expect to have to deal withsharing us,” she says. “If you put achild up for adoption, you’re basi-cally putting that child in the careof another family to raise, but then(Tracy’s family) wanted to see usall the time, and that makes myfamily uneasy.

“I do hope that one day we canall coexist. I don’t know if it willhappen, because my mom is theonly one who’s open toward my

biological family. I think about thefuture, weddings and college grad-uations, and I would really like fortheir relationship to get better sothat everyone could be there.”

Savannah and Tierney havebeen through a lot, but both feelthat they are better people for theexperience.

“I sometimes think aboutwhere I would be in life if I wasn’tadopted,” Savannah says. “I’mkind of happy that I was, becausebefore we were adopted, my sisterand I didn’t know Jesus. After wewere adopted, I had this new lifewith this great family and thisgreat God that no one had evertold me about. I know that Iwouldn’t have had the relationshipwith God that I do if I wasn’tadopted. The adoption saved mylife.”

Tierney says that if someonestruggles with the fact that they’readopted, she would tell them thatthey should feel extremely grate-ful.

“A family who went out of theirway to take care of you aroundeverything else in their livesshowed you what true love andcommitment is,” she says. “Andthat means that nothing was morespecial or important to them thantaking the opportunity to give youtheir full attention because that’show much they care. Althoughyou weren’t born into the family,the genuine affection was therethe entire time.”

Savannah says she would liketo do some volunteer work inorphanages.

“I have before, and I loved it,”she says. “A lot of the kids wereslow to open up to me, but oncethey did, it was great. I feel like Ican relate because, even thoughI’ve never been in an orphanage, Iknow how they feel. I feel likethat’s where my mission is. I wantto be a nurse, so maybe I could bea nurse in an orphanage one day.”

Savannah and Tierney areboth well-rounded young women.

Julie Steiner is very proud ofher daughters.

“As with any child you raise, itis rewarding seeing them grow intostrong individuals with the moralsand integrity you hoped for them,”she says.

To learn more aboutadoption, visit www.creatingfamily.org.

Tierney and Savannah Steiner at age 15. Courtesy Photo

TWINSContinued from page 10

“I’m going to show you how to do it, andthen you’re going to do it,” he says.

As I’m not a very hands-on person, I wasnervous, and I told him so. This didn’t faze him.

“I’ve seen a 10-year-old make a nail,” hesays. “You can do it.”

Flurry walks me through the process bydemonstrating with his own iron rod. After hemakes his square nail, it is my turn.

I pull the metal rod from the forge andattempt to break off a small portion. He ends upbreaking it off for me because he thinks it maybe too difficult for a beginner.

Not long after, museum visitors begin filinginto the room. As I am already worried aboutmaking a fool of myself, I am not thrilled aboutthis development.

First, a man and his son come in. They arecontent with simply talking to Rob aboutswords, and I can focus. Eventually, they leave.

Next, however, two older women come inand proceed to silently stare at me through therest of the process.

I try to maintain my focus and continueclumsily making my nail.

After reheating the smaller piece of metal, Iremove it from the forge, place it on the anviland hammer straight down to try and flatten itinto a wide rectangular prism. I repeat thisprocess a few times and then have to start onthe sides of the nail.

“It’s called drawing out,” Flurry says. “Youneed to hit it with the hammer at an angle.”

This process takes several attempts, buteventually, it begins to form a point. It isn’t well-defined, but the nail is ready for the next step.

I move the metal piece over to the rusty vicegrip on the table covered in similarly rusty toolsand tighten it. Finally, I begin hammering thetop down until it looks flat enough.

At first I hit the vice more than the top of thepiece of iron.

“You’re torturing my vice,” Flurry says.Eventually, though, it begins to resemble the

flat top of a nail.I can feel the eyes of the older women on my

back, silently critiquing me as I continue ham-mering. Although it bothered me at first, I quick-ly realized how little it mattered that they werestanding in the background.

Looking at my finished nail fills me with asense of pride that I had not expected.

“You finished your nail, and it looks notunlike mine, so I call that a success,” Flurrysays.

It may not be the most aesthetically pleasingsquare nail. It may not even hold anythingtogether.

But it’s my nail. I created something, and itis more valuable to me because of its imperfec-tions.

the woodworking thing, I was building thebig oil field tanks. I’m just not suited for thebusiness life.”

Flurry stopped blacksmithing for aboutfive years at one point, he said.

“I had just decided, you know, this isn’tpaying the bills, this isn’t going to — I’mnever going to get into the knifemaker’s hallof fame or blah blah blah,” he said. “Istopped doing it, and I was miserable. It’sone of those things, you know? People thatare into music will tell you they don’t do itbecause of the money, because most of themdon’t make money. They don’t do it becausethey’re going to be famous, because most ofthem are just little local people that just singbecause, or play because they have to. Andthat’s what this is. I have to. I can’t not do it.”

Now, as a volunteer at Spindletop, Flurrysaid he enjoys giving kids historical perspec-tive on everything that they see in life.

“Everything that was made of metal untilthe industrial revolution was made by handby a blacksmith,” he said. “Everything. Sousually, when the kids come in here, I tellthem about a blacksmith’s apprentice.Usually a blacksmith’s apprentice started atnine years old, and the first thing that theylearned to make was a nail. So I typically willmake a nail while I’m explaining the process,and then I give it to the kids, and they’realways just super psyched. It’s a lot of fun.

“There’s a lot of feedback for me becausethey’re happy and they get to take somethingthat somebody made by hand for them,which doesn’t happen a lot anymore.

Probably the biggest thing for me is lettingthese kids see how things were once doneand can still be done. That’s the big deal:that they can still be done this way — that ifeverything falls apart and the computerscrash and the trucks stop running, some-body can still make something.”

Flurry’s apprentice, A.J. Webb, entersthe shop and starts preparing his forge.

Webb, a senior at Lamar majoring inAmerican Sign Language, has apprenticedwith Flurry for the last six months.

“It’s just a hobby,” Webb said.Webb is the most recent in a long line of

Flurry’s apprentices.“I try to have only one at a time, but,

probably, over the last two years, I’ve had sixguys come through here, and over the years,probably 100 or so,” Flurry said. “I actuallytaught classes up here in the ’90s. We had, Idon’t know, I guess we had 30 or 40 guyscome through in the years when I taughtclasses.

“I think everybody should try it. That’sjust me. Most people don’t pursue it pastlearning. But, you know, it’s learning, and Ithink everyone should learn everything theycan going forward in life. When you stoplearning, you start getting old. When youstart getting old, you stop having fun. It’sridiculous to me.”

Flurry adds coals to his own forge andbegins to scrounge around the shop againfor scrap metal amongst the rusty tools andash. Webb lights his forge, and more smokepermeates the room.

As Flurry grabs a new piece of scrapiron, one gets the sense that it will be along day.

Once again, it is time to makesomething.

BLACKSMITHContinued from page 13

NAILContinued from page 12 Rob Flurry

hammersand flattens aniron rodfor acrowd ofonlookersat theSpindletopGladys-CityBoomtownMuseum.Flurryworks intheCarriageWorkseverySaturdaymorning.

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We all have different ways ofworking through those oftenuncomfortable, yet complete-ly necessary, things calledfeelings. Malorie Rich writespoetry. It started when shewas a child. “I just wroteinstead of talking to people,”she says. “All I can remem-ber about being 12 or 13 ishow sad I always felt.”Malorie had one of herpoems published when shewas 13, and says that’swhen she started to see thatwriting could be more thanjust a way to cope. “It wascalled ‘Ropes,’ and I wrote itabout me being pulled backand forth between churchand home,” she says. Herparents didn’t go to church,and for a long time, they stopped her fromgoing as well. “When I got older, my parentsdecided to let me go back, and I ended upbecoming best friends with my youth pastorand her husband,” Malorie says. “Theybecame a second set of parents for me. Ifelt torn between what my biological par-ents wanted and what my spiritual parents

wanted, so I did what I always do; I wrote itdown.” Malories‘s dream is to become abestselling author. “I write when I’m con-fused,” she says. “Talking through a prob-lem is great, but when I write down how I’mfeeling, I feel like I can then truly under-stand myself.”

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brush in the activator and put that on topof the gel, and it will dry just like an acrylicnail. They usually last about a week and ahalf. My kit was only $10, and you get twouses out of it, versus the $25 I spent on afull set at the nail salon.”

Kyra hopes to do nails professionally inthe future.

“After I graduate, I plan to go to cosme-tology school and get my nail techniciancertification,” she says. “I want to have myown mobile nail salon after I graduate —like some type of party bus that can cometo you, or I’ll park in different spots andpost on Instagram where I’ll be, and thenhave people come. I would charge around$20, because spas charge around $50.”

She will always collect polishes, shesays.

“It makes me happy,” she says. “I like tolook at my collection and think, ‘Why wouldI need to go all the way to the nail salonand spend $30 when I have everything Ineed right here for free.’ I have acrylic nails,I have gel nail sets, I have nail design stick-ers, and I have rhinestones; pink, blue,purple, green, silver. Whatever I need — I have it right here.”

POLISHContinued from page 21

MALORIE RICHPoetic Feelings

Text and photo by Jessica Lane

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