Lesley Jones

OPENING

Shazia Rafi and Geeta Sandhu will officially open Taj Mahal Indian Restaurant at 5221 S. Broadway Ave., Suite 8, on Wednesday after having several soft openings last week. Mrs. Rafi is the head chef and specializes in North Indian and Pakistani cuisine. Mrs. Rafi and her husband moved from Pakistan to Tyler 19 years ago, and opened their first restaurant here about 10 years ago. After closing it a year later, they have decided to reopen the business in a higher-traffic location. Taj Mahal will open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. For more, contact: 903-363-9202, www.tajmahaltyler.com; or Facebook. (For more about Taj Mahal, check out next week’s Business Section).

 

PRESENTATION

Bobby Lynn, owner of Aire Serv of Smith County, was presented with a Personal Achievement Award by the Aire Serv corporate office at an International Conference held in Orlando, Florida Sept. 7 to 10. The Aire Serv corporate office presents personal achievement awards to individuals who attain outstanding achievement in sales, manpower growth, franchise development or personal growth during the year.

 

SEMINAR

Workforce Solutions, Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services, and East Texas Center for Independent Living have partnered this year for “Breaking the Mold” on Oct. 14, from 8 a.m. to noon at the First Methodist Church in Longview. “Breaking the Mold” is a seminar for employers to gain knowledge of the benefits of hiring people with disabilities. The event is free but registration is encouraged. A continental breakfast will be provided. Jimmy Isaac with CBS19 will be the emcee and Ryan Loken, of Wal-Mart Inc. will be the keynote speaker. Presentations will include Hearing Loss: Everyone has it; Adaption, the key to empowerment; and Removing Myths and Challenges.

 

LIST

Texas Spine and Joint Hospital in Tyler is listed in Becker’s Hospital Review of 125 Hospitals and Health Systems with Great Orthopedic Programs. The hospitals and health systems featured on the list have orthopedic surgery departments, programs or dedicated centers that have earned recognition from several reputable sources. Exceptional departments include physicians who provide outstanding care to patients, front-line orthopedic research and treat professional athletes.

 

DONATIONS

Bealls is launching its fall “30 Days of Giving” campaign. All Bealls customers who visit the Tyler store through Oct. 12 will be invited to donate to PATH (People Attempting to Help). “We are excited that 853 of our stores have partnered with local organizations to make a difference in their communities. People are the heart and soul of any community and Bealls is proud to be a member of Tyler,” Bill Gentner, chief marketing officer of Stage Stores, Inc., said. More than 650 organizations will benefit from the partnership with Stage Stores in their local community. Customers can donate $1, $3 or $5 during checkout. As a special thank you, Bealls is giving every shopper that donates a coupon for 40 percent off a regular, sale or clearance item.

 

BLOOD DRIVE

Brookshire’s Chandler is hosting a blood drive from noon to 4 p.m. today at 703 Texas Highway 31 in the parking lot on the Carter BloodCare platelet bus. For more information or to schedule an appointment time, contact Belinda Murphy at 903-574-4513. Donating one pint of whole blood can save up to three lives with each donation.

September is Veteran’s Appreciation Month at Carter BloodCare. That’s why across the Central, North and East Texas service areas of Carter BloodCare, volunteer blood donors may show support by donating 50 points to Star Group — Veterans Helping Veterans. At the end of the month Carter BloodCare will make a contribution to the organization as well, in honor of all veterans.

 

AWARDED

Mentoring Minds, MindSHARE committee has awarded a total of $5,000 to four nonprofit organizations. MindSHARE encourages the team at Mentoring Minds to be active members and volunteers in the community. Awards were given to: Casa Esperanza, www.casanm.org; The Salvation Army, www.salvationarmy.org; Gospel for Asia, www.gfa.org; and For the Silent, forthesilent.org.

 

NOMINATIONS

The deadline for nominations for the Nonprofit Leadership Award is Wednesday. It will be presented during this year’s Bright Ideas Luncheon. The East Texas Center for Nonprofits announced that this award will be presented to nonprofit leaders who have made a significant impact in our community through nonprofit board service. Nominees should have a long term service history in the East Texas community.

 

ANNOUNCEMENT

Citizens National Bank of Henderson announced it will purchase five branch locations from Bank of America. The locations are in Corsicana, Huntsville, Mount Pleasant and two locations in Lufkin. Citizens National anticipates receiving over $400 million in deposits and less than $1 million in loans from this transaction. Subject to regulatory approval, this transaction is scheduled to occur during the first quarter of 2015.

 

ANNUAL MEETING 

The Tyler Area Chamber of Commerce will hold its Annual Meeting on Oct. 7, beginning at 6 p.m. with a reception, with dinner at 7 p.m. The meeting is being held at Harvey Convention Center. Dinner is provided by Villa Montez. Tickets are $50 per person. For more, visit www.tylertexas.com, or to purchase tickets go to http://tacc2014 .eventbrite.com.

 

VP’S

Pam Cunningham was named executive vice president of Southside Bank. She has more than 25 years of banking experience and has served as a commercial lender for Southside Bank’s regional lending activities for the nine years. She has a BBA in Finance from Angelo State University and an MBA from The University of Texas at Tyler. Her community involvement includes serving as a board member for Country for our Country and a past underwriting chair for the American Heart Association. She also is a graduate of Leadership Tyler Class 11 and has served as a United Way Loaned Executive.

Shannon Dawson-Graham was named vice president of Southside Bank. Prior to joining Southside in June 2012, Ms. Dawson received a BBA in management in 1995 and brings 15 years of experience in marketing, communications and business.  She has held numerous volunteer positions in community organizations and is a sustaining member of the Junior League of Tyler. Ms. Dawson serves as the associate director of human resources.

Lesley Jones was named vice president of Southside Bank. She began her career there as a retail banker in 1996 and moved into retail management and human resources. She now serves as training and development manager.

 

LUNCH

The Tyler Young Professionals will hold their monthly “Lunch and Learn” on Oct. 10 from 11:30 to 1 p.m. at 315 N. Broadway Ave., in the Genecov Room. The guest speaker will be Nelson Clyde, publisher of the Tyler Morning Telegraph. Register through Eventbrite to attend.

 

SENIOR ROUND UP

The 13th Annual Senior Health & Living Expo will be held on Oct. 22, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Harvey Convention Center. There will be gift card giveaways as well as free health screenings and senior health information from over 75 exhibitors.

 

ELECTED

Pine Tree High School Family Consumer Science/Education Training teacher Elisabeth McGuire was elected to serve as alternate director for Region 3, District 7 of the Family and Consumer Sciences Teachers Association of Texas (FCSTAT) at the summer conference in 2015. FCSTAT is dedicated to representing family and consumer sciences teachers in Texas. FCSTAT represents more than 3,000 professional family and consumer sciences educators, secondary, post secondary educators and administrators; cooperative extension educators, retired educators and university students enrolled in family and consumer sciences education programs.

 

HIRING

Wal-Mart will hire 30 associates to work at the new Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market that will open this fall in Lone Star. A hiring kiosk is in the Gilmer Wal-Mart Supercenter at 1102 U.S. Highway 271 North. Applications will be accepted 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Interested applicants may also apply online at careers.walmart.com. Through Wal-Mart’s Veterans Welcome Home Commitment, the company will offer a job to any qualified veteran who has been honorably discharged within the past 12 months.

 

SMILE

In celebration of World Smile Day on Friday, Corner Bakery Cafe will give the first 50 guests in line two free smiley face mugs, one for the guest and one for a friend, with 25 cent discounted coffee refills for a year. Guests are encouraged to join the World Smile Day conversation on social media by posting a picture with their mugs and #SmileAtTheCorner. For more, visit www.cornerbakerycafe.com.