Rumor Has It - March 2025

BYOTP Bring your own toilet paper or lots of $1 bills to pay for it. Delaina Foster and Bill Duttweiler shared many $1 tips on their 15-day bucket-list trip to see the antiquities in Egypt. The visual contrast from the airplane of desert one way and green farmland the other direction was shocking. Their hotel on an island in the middle of the Nile in Aswan required a shuttle boat. The local interaction was as amusing as all the wonderful sights and hotels. A big tip: negotiate and don’t drink the water.

FESTIVE The annual Nottingham Women’s Club Progressive Dinner was a success. Pictured are 2024-25 club offers (from left) Allison Needham (VP Publicity), Lindsay Kagan (Parliamentarian), Amy Johnson (Secretary), Paige Taylor (VP Social), Christine Tower (Treasurer), and Alex Kelly (President); not pictured are Erin Cowling (VP Social) and Courtney Peterka (VP Membership).

A social neighborhood. It was festively chilly for the annual Nottingham Women’s Club Progressive Dinner. The hostesses, Jenna Marcoux and Jenna Patel, made it seem so easy. The 70 partiers started at Jenna Marcoux’s home for wine and appetizers and then progressed onto Jenna Patel’s home for wine and desserts. The NWC also sponsored service projects. They provided assigned children with holiday gifts on their wish lists through BEAR (Be A Resource for CPS Kids). Members and their families attended a Holiday Cheer event at a local park, which gifted local seniors with toiletry items through the holiday project. Other upcoming spring events include a Bubbles and Bingo event and home tour in April and spring luncheon in May. The final event of the year in June is a couples “Summer Sizzler” evening pool party. 

HOUSE OF MOUSE Pictured (from left) Lannie Cole, Heather Nelson, JB Nelson, and Katherine Sabom visited with Mickey Mouse in Disney World.

Trip to space. Four parks in five days kept J.B. Nelson busy for his seventh birthday. The trip to Walt Disney World included his mom Heather Nelson and “aunts” by friendship Katherine Sabom and Lannie Cole. The gal friends relived their 47-year friendship. An elevated surprise was the Space 220 Dinner at Epcot where you experienced being on the International Space Station through simulation. Chef Mickey’s Dinner in the Disney’s Contemporary Resort, piloting the Astro Orbiter, and “being an astronaut” in the Mission: Space attraction were other out-of-this-world experiences. 

HELLO, BABY THEODORE Angela Atlas Mutisya with baby Theodore and Kevin and Naomi Mutisya.

Stork arrival. It’s a boy for Kevin and Angela (Atlas) Mutisya and toddler sister Naomi. Theodore Atlas Mutia Mutisya was born Dec 10, 2024. No doubt he is dreaming of being big enough to play with his sister and his six older cousins. While most of his family is spread around in Houston, he will visit the rest in Kenya one day.

101 YEARS Frances Zlotnik celebrated an incredible 101 years with her extended family. Pictured (top row, from left) Jeff Levey holding Kaki Levey, Kirby Levey holding Liv Levey, Zeke Sachs holding Stella Sachs, CeCe Sachs, Grant Cohen, Rachel Cohen, Mason Cohen, Matt Zlotnik, Molly Zlotnik holding Miles, Mitch Zlotnik holding Davis, Kevin Zlotnik holding Harrison; (seated, from left) Sandy Cohen, Terry Cohen, birthday girl Frances Zlotnik, Bob Zlotnik, Marcie Zlotnik; (seated, on the floor, from left) Wyatt Sachs, Blake Cohen, Ramsey Sachs, Philip Zlotnik. Not pictured: Morgan Zlotnik and Lauren Zlotnik. (Photo:S hauna Kiely)

Aging 101. It was a great grand celebration for Frances Zlotnik born in 1924. She turned 101 on Jan. 9 and had been married to Phil Zlotnik for 62 years. Frances shared that the hardest part of being 101 has been outliving her close friends; however, her motto for a good life is Que Sera, Sera, whatever will be will be. She is the mother of Bob Zlotnik (Marcie) and Terry (Zlotnik) Cohen (Sandy) and six grandchildren, Grant and Rachel Cohen, Zeke and CeCe (Cohen) Sachs, Jeff and Kirby (Cohen) Levey, and Kevin and Lauren Zlotnik, Mitch and Molly Zlotnik, Matt and Morgan Zlotnik, and 11 great-grandchildren.

Chocolate and champagne. The men were told to wear a collared shirt. As they entered the New Year’s Eve party, they were presented with a blue bow tie to add flair as they tied one on. The festivities, which were also a fun-raiser for Anne Frank Hadassah, started with appetizers at Betty Babendure’s with Betty and Howard Pollock as hosts. The other hosts were Rosemarie and Ron Wagman, who held dinner, and Cathy and Hartley Chelin. The party for 22 included a wrapped gift chocolate or champagne-wine gift exchange. Paulette and Mel Levine, Dr. Fred and Irene (Pearlman) Buckwold, and Dr. Les and Lorna Klebe relished the salmon and beef tenderloin “chef” Ron prepared.

ANNIVERSARY AT THE ALAMO Rohail Kahn and Hayley Friedman celebrated their first wedding anny with a private tour of the Alamo.

What’s a bongo? You probably said a drum but it’s also an African antelope. Hayley and Rohail Khan saw one during their first wedding anny. The trip started at Canyon Lake where they stayed at an Airbnb with a view of the lake while soaking in a hot tub. Their romantic celebration dinner was in the historic district in San Antonio after a private tour of the Alamo. The trip ended with a drive through at Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch, a 500-acre six-mile safari-like park that features over 40 specimens. And I thought the Watusi, African cattle, was just a dance! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ROBERTA Roberta Grossman celebrated 80 with family on a cruise (pictured) and at home in Houston.

Lots of basil. Roberta Grossman sailed into her 80th year with two celebrations. With her daughter, Irene Heifetz, and grandchildren, Daniele (Dani), Benjamin (Benny), and David Heifetz, they immersed themselves in a seven-day Mediterranean cruise hugging the coast of Spain, France, and Italy on the Sun Princess. The cruise line celebrated her as well with a lit-up “Roberta” sign. She loved the cooking class where they made pesto sauce from scratch with the freshest basil. Their little group had their own agenda at the various ports that included Barcelona, Gibraltar, Corsica, Genoa, Livorno, and Civitavecchia. Roberta said climbing the Rock of Gibraltar was a piece of cake compared to the irregular round steps of the Sagrada Familia. On her actual 80th birthday, they had dinner at Rumi’s back in Houston where they arrived by car.

CITY OF LIGHT Irene Weingarten and Richard Wolf sparkled in the City of Light.

New Year’s in Paris. It was on a high recommendation that Richard Wolf and Irene Weingarten took a Bustronome ride throughout the City of Lights with a three-hour, five-course dinner with champagne. The next day, a unique New Year’s Eve celebration was on a cruise on the Seine for a seven-course dinner. No one expected the lights to go out for 30 minutes and a little bump with the bridge. More delightful surprises were the famous mechanical (Olympic) horse in the courtyard of Versailles. The House of Dior and Galerie Lafayette with all the animated holiday décor made a lasting impression. The Context World War II History Resistance tour with an expert historian that explained all the resistance efforts was awe-inspiring.

COACH MIKE Coach Mike Soulos and soccer student Jude Alkhawam kicking it up.

Goals. Mike Soulos, 81 years old, legally blind and still kicking, is celebrating 39 years of teaching soccer at the YMCA on April 20. This former University of Houston soccer player (1966-69) also played in a local team in his native country of Greece. He has coached more than 12,000 individuals, aged eight to adult, many who went on soccer scholarships at college. He is still teaching clinics and at academies, but most of all he is still passing. Congrats Mike!

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