Posted 6:04 pm Sunday, February 08, 2009
Business Briefcase: 3 East Texas Businesses Show Caring
By BRIAN PEARSON
Business Editor
The motto for Welcome Home Soldiers! is "Have Flags, Will Travel," and that's exactly what this growing organization of volunteers has been doing for more than a year.
Business Editor
The motto for Welcome Home Soldiers! is "Have Flags, Will Travel," and that's exactly what this growing organization of volunteers has been doing for more than a year.
Anne Delaet of Tyler got the idea from a friend and started the group in November 2007.
"A friend of mine in Midland joined a group like this and told me to start one," said Delate, 69, a retired college professor who taught English, public speaking and English as a second language classes at Lon Morris College in Jacksonville.
Since then, her group has grown to 500 volunteers who travel to airports, churches and elsewhere on a mission to give returning soldiers a "hero's welcome," Delaet said.
"These volunteers are the greatest people I've ever worked with in Tyler," she said.
She estimated that Welcome Home Soldiers! has rolled out the welcome mat for about 60 soldiers.
"It's a great honor to be able to welcome home these men and women who are fighting for us," Delaet said.
She said she will continue with the group "as long as my health holds up and as long as the soldiers keep coming home."
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Taking care of an ailing mother became a life- and career-changing experience for Tyler resident Kaye Ferrier.
Taking care of an ailing mother became a life- and career-changing experience for Tyler resident Kaye Ferrier.
For 10 years, Ferrier, a former employee of the Stewart Blood Center in Tyler, helped provide in-home care for her mother.
Now, Ferrier is marketing director for Meadow Lake senior living community, the kind of place she wishes was around during the final years of her mother's life.
Groundbreaking for Meadow Lake began last year on County Road 165 at Old Jacksonville Highway, with part of the community set to open in the first half of 2010.
The community will have homes up to 3,200 square feet and apartments for independent living as well as facilities for assisted living and skilled nursing care.
Ferrier said the community will be able to meet retirees' changing needs as they age.
She said the most rewarding part of her job has been helping future residents with their decision to move there.
"It's really a warm feeling," said Ferrier, 45, a lifelong Tyler resident. "You know their lives are going to be blessed, and they will be enriched by living in our community."
She said the final years for her mother, who passed away six years ago, would have been more rewarding had she lived in a place like Meadow Lake.
"You can't be everything to your parent," Ferrier said.
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As the Tyler-based Northeast Texas external affairs director for AT&T, Candice Gast, for more than two years, has met more people than she can count.
As the Tyler-based Northeast Texas external affairs director for AT&T, Candice Gast, for more than two years, has met more people than she can count.
Gast, who formerly handled community and developmental affairs for The University of Texas Health Center in Tyler, said she has met everyone from frustrated AT&T customers to state-level politicians.
"I've made a lot of friends through my job," Gast said. "People here are so nice."
She said the most rewarding aspects of her job are helping frustrated customers and lining up sponsorships for community events such as a recent fundraising dinner for the East Texas Crisis Center.
Vignettes for this column come off business cards randomly pulled from a briefcase. Send cards to Business Editor Brian Pearson at P.O. Box 2030, Tyler, Texas 75710.
