Mailbag - February 2025

Lina

It was doggone fun 

Neighborhood Tails is my favorite column in The Buzz. It is the first thing I flip to when my copy of the magazine arrives. You can only imagine how excited I was when notified that my lab mix Lina was eligible for the 2024 Pet of the Year contest. 

My friends and neighbors had a lot of fun with the contest. One friend said she voted every morning over coffee and every evening over cocktails. Another got her grandsons to vote. They voted for all the pets "so none of them would feel left out.” Leading Lina’s campaign was my friend who voted 1,000 times, locking Lina in first place for several days. Even so, the competition was tough and Lina came in third.

For Christmas, a friend gave Lina a bronze medal commemorating her accomplishment. I attached it to a red, white, and blue collar for her to wear in my Christmas card. Pet owners can be pretty corny, but we sure shared a lot of laughs over the contest. 

Mary Maxey

Editor’s note: Congratulations, Mary and Lina, on your third-place win and we’re so glad you had a paw-sitive experience with our Pet of the Year Contest! Pet owners: If you would like your furry BFF to have their 15 minutes of fame too, submit your pet for Neighborhood Tails. Send a high-res photo and 150 words from your pet’s perspective to [email protected]. Then, your pet will be automatically entered into our popular Pet of the Year Contest. 

Hit the right note 

On behalf of Space City Sound, I want to extend our sincere thanks for the wonderful article Cathy Gordon wrote about us in your December issue [Nothing Tops Barbershop: The happenin’ harmony of Space City Sound]. After conducting engaging interviews with members, her piece really captured the lively nature of our chorus. 

We are passionate about sharing the joy of a cappella music with the community. We’re proud to share that we recently celebrated another sold-out show, a testament to the growing support and enthusiasm for our music. Thank you for helping us amplify our mission. Your time and effort in highlighting our work are deeply appreciated.

Carrie Kurtz, on behalf of Space City Sound

The best one yet 

Loved your article, Cindy [70 is Not the New 50: Thank goodness by Cindy Gabriel, Jan. 2025]. It dawned on me that every article that I’ve read, I always think, “It’s her best yet.”

Though the Ezell article with my pic [A Little Magic: Would be nice by Cindy Gabriel, Sept. 2020] will always be my favorite.

Patrick Mikulin

Life-saving story

I wanted to thank you for including me in the recent CPR survival story [Stayin’ Alive: CPR saves lives by Cheryl Ursin, Jan. 2025]! And I am so happy that I was able to provide you with successful cardiac arrest survivors. Not that many of them are around to tell their story.

Cheryl did a great job telling the story and I have received a few emails asking about CPR classes! The Buzz Magazines has a very large readership so I hope this will inspire more people to learn how to save a life!

Gail Gould 

Teen making a difference 

Thank you so much for the publication [A brother’s mission to combat asthma, Buzz Kidz, Dec. 2024]. I also wanted to tell you the good news that our legislature to mandate inhalers in all Texas schools is now set to be discussed officially at the upcoming Texas Legislative Session.

The legislature can be seen online [by searching “Bill HB 856”].   

Veer Garg, age 16

Editor’s note: Veer, that is fantastic news. Thank you for sharing your initiative with Buzz readers and kudos on the great work. And for any other young readers interested in writing about a passion or unique experience for our Buzz Kidz column, email [email protected]. We love highlighting all the incredible things Buzz teens and kids are doing.  

Email us at [email protected]. Or send to Mailbag, The Buzz Magazines, 5001 Bissonnet St., Suite 100, Bellaire, Texas 77401. Please include your name, address, phone number and email address for verification purposes. Letters or emails addressed to The Buzz Magazines become the property of the magazine, and it owns all rights to their use for publication. Addresses, phone numbers and email addresses will not be published. Letters are subject to editing for clarity and length. Views expressed in letters do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Buzz Magazines, and The Buzz takes no responsibility for the content and opinions expressed in them.