RETIREMENT

Regent Beverly Landgraf, right, Nathaniel Davis Chapter, NSDAR, presented the DAR Good Citizen Award Certificate to Alan Castillejos, left, May 21 at the Permian High School Academic Awards Banquet.

Regent Beverly Landgraf, center, Nathaniel Davis Chapter, NSDAR, presented a DAR Award Certificate to Melissa Juarez, left, as the National Honor Society Outstanding Member and a the DAR Good Citizen Award to Tricia Inting, right, May 22 at the Odessa High School Senior Academic Awards Assembly.

HONORS
>> Odessan Norma Arnold shared a special piece of memorabilia with the Odessa American. Norma's late husband, Marvin Arnold, was honored by Cyclacel Pharma-ceuticals recently by being placed on the cover of the company's 2008 Annual Report.
The cover shows a smiling Marvin just days before his November 2008 death.
Norma said her husband was part of a clinical trial that greatly extended his life. He was diagnosed in November 2005 with acute myeloid leukemia or AML. AML is a blood cancer that often quickly takes the life of patients.
Norma said her husband was a World War II veteran. She said she was very honored that Marvin was featured on the cover of the report. Inside, a short story tells of Marvin's diagnosis and the various treatments he endured.
The story also details:
"Cyclacel is honored to dedicate this year's annual report to Marvin Arnold, his family and caregivers, and to the many other cancer patients agreeing to take part in clinical trials of novel cancer drugs. Their bravery and altruism are essential to advance our understanding of new approaches for difficult to treat diseases like AML. All of us at Cyclacel are fortunate to have encountered Marvin Arnold and his wonderful wife Norma and admire his courage in the fight against AML. Their story inspires us to continue pursuing our mission: to develop novel drugs to prolong and improve the lives of cancer patients."

>> Chanci Saenz of Alpine was recently honored by the GFWC Juniorettes of Alpine. Chanci is  the valedictorian for the Alpine High School Class of 2009, club president of Alpine Juniorettes 200809 and AHS Homecoming Queen 2008. GFWC Juniorettes of Alpine are young women from Alpine High School. The Juniorettes meet on the first Monday of the month during A & B lunch times at the AHS meeting room.
For more information, visit http://gfwc.110mb.com.

>> SHREVEPORT, LA. Hillary Phillips of Odessa was named to the Dean's List at Centenary College of Louisiana for the spring semester.

>> GEORGETOWN Sean Watson of Odessa has been named to the Dean's List at Southwestern University for the spring semester.

>> Tammy Lynn Scheide, leader of the JCPenney Salon inside the JCPenney department store at Music City Mall in Odessa, received the Company's Champion Award in honor of the salon's outstanding performance in 2008.
Champion Awards were presented to the leaders of 92 top-performing JCPenney Salons at an awards ceremony April 4 in San Antonio. Less than 10 percent of all JCPenney Salons qualified for Champion Awards, based on their sales and profit performance for the year.
"Our Champion Award winners are focused on providing outstanding personal service that puts customers first and keeps them coming back," said Bob Baublits, senior vice president and director of JCPenney Salons.

MAKE-A-WISH
>> Krystle Hawkes, 17, of Crane was recently presented with a classic muscle car of her dreams, a restored 1968 Chevelle Malibu, by the Make-A-Wish Foundation of North Texas, West Texas Region and Midland College's Automotive Technology Program.
Krystle, diagnosed with a life-threatening medical condition, qualified to receive a wish from the Make-A-Wish Foundation, she considered taking a trip to the Bahamas or Disney World. However, when a family friend gave Krystle a 1968 Malibu when she was 15-years-old, it sealed the deal as to what she would choose for her one true wish. Even though the car was in running condition, there was a significant amount of work that would need to be performed to elevate the automobile to what Krystle envisioned as the "muscle car of her dreams."
Ted Summers, MC professor and faculty director of automotive technology, took the car as the 2008-09 class project. Since that time the project has been a labor of love by all the MC students as they have contributed hundreds of hours on the restoration project. As an added surprise, Krystle's mother Lisa, added the finishing touch to the car, personalized license plates that say, "myonewish."
The Make-A-Wish Foundation of North Texas, West Texas Region, expects to grant more than 90 wishes this fiscal year. Currently there are 14 wishes in progress in Midland county and 16 wishes in progress in Ector County.
The approximate cost of one wish is $6,000. Total cost for Krystle's car redo is $6,000, plus numerous in-kind donations. For more information, call 683-9474 or visit www.northtexaswish.org.

 RETIREMENT
>> ALPINE Professor of Physics David Corbin retires after 28 years of service from Sul Ross State University.
Corbin's Sul Ross tenure includes three stints as chair of the computer science and mathematics department and teaching classes from astronomy to physics to mathematics to computer science to digital electronics.
A native of Denton, Corbin received a bachelor of science (1969) from Baylor University in physics and mathematics; a master of sciences (1974) in Physics from Texas Christian University and his Ph.D (1981) in physics from Baylor. Prior to joining to Sul Ross in 1981, he taught in the Waco Independent School District for one year and was also a lecturer at Baylor and TCU during his graduate studies. He "discovered" Sul Ross while on a backpacking trip in the Big Bend prior to completing his Ph.D.
Corbin and his wife, Gaylan, who recently retired as an archivist at the archives of the Big Bend, may do some traveling in the future, but plan to remain living in the area. He also enjoys gardening, reading and managing his investments.

PUBLICATION
>> Monica Gomez of Midland, formerly of Pecos, recently published her poetry book, "Live, Love, Laugh, and Dream.
Gomez was born Nov 3, 1970, in Pecos. She was raised by her grandparents, Al and Sarah Pena. She moved to Midland in 1988 to live with her mother, Mary Ellen Pena. There she married and had four children: Jonathan (19), Jacob (17), Joshua (16) Seth, (12) and a granddaughter Amorette Illiana born on Feb. 18, 2009.
Gomez had a turbulent childhood and throughout her life, she was faced with many trials and tribulations that inspired her to write for therapeutic reasons.

After many years of writing, she realized that the Lord was prompting to her to write for something much more than just therapy and chose to retell her experiences through poetry in her book "Live, Love, Laugh, and Dream."

Her book may be purchased at Mardel, Barnes & Nobles, Amazon.com and Borders. For more information, visit livelovelaughdream.net