Welcome to HECHO—the show about what's now and what's next in the Coastal Bend! I'm your host, Rob George, and today we're diving into the heart of Port Aransas with the co-owners of the South Jetty newspaper, Kelli Hartig and Dan Parker. Kelli and Dan are not only neighbors and longtime residents, they're dedicated storytellers and champions of local news. From Kelli's journey starting in Flour Bluff and discovering her love for community through the South Jetty, to Dan's decades in journalism and his return home to Port A, this episode explores the vital role of a locally owned newspaper in a town that's always changing. We'll talk hurricanes, city meetings, big events like Sand Fest, and the importance of covering the stories—big or small—that shape life here. Ready to hear some real behind-the-scenes insights into Port Aransas journalism?

Kelli, Dan, thank you for sharing your stories and giving us a look inside the South Jetty's past, present, and bright future. Your dedication to local reporting and community connection keeps Port Aransas informed, inspired, and united. For listeners who want to follow the pulse of what's happening in Port A—from city policies to festivals, to surf reports—subscribe to the South Jetty or check out their digital edition. If you want more of what's now and what's next, in business and entertainment across the Coastal Bend, subscribe to the HECHO newsletter at hecho.cc and follow us at hechocorpus on Instagram. Special thanks to Clint Tucker Homes and Sawyer Audiology for their support. And thank you, listener, for taking the time to tune in—your engagement is what keeps these local stories alive!

Outro

Welcome to HECHO! The show about what’s now and what’s next in the Coastal Bend! I’m your host Rob George, and our guest is Michaelah Maddelone. Michaelah is a locally trained chef who decided to share her culinary skills with the community through the Corpus Christi Cooking Club. Sheand her family built out a space in London Town Square, and she teaches cooking classes for all ages. She’s taught kids themes, like meals inspired by Bluey. She hosts date nights. And she inspires with classes featuring styles andflavors from around the world. But what you may find particularly inspiring is that Michaelah is her passion for helping others building confidence in their own cooking.

Michaelah’s energy is inspiring and her passion for helpingothers find joy through cooking is contagious! Please follow the Corpus Christi Cooking Club on Instagram @corpuschristicookingclub and sign up for your ownclasses soon!  

If you want more of what’s now, and what’s next, in businessand entertainment in Corpus Christi and the Coastal Bend, subscribe to the HECHO newsletter at hecho.cc and follow us @hechocorpus on Instagram. 

Welcome to HECHO! The show about what’s now and what’s next in the Coastal Bend! I’m your host Rob George, and our guest is Lydia Garza.Did you know that Corpus Christi has a Film & Music Commission whose goal is to bring film production and more music to Corpus Christi and the CoastalBend?

Visit Corpus Christi recently started the commission, and wisely hired Lydia to be its Commissioner. Lydia is an actress, agent, and casting director, with decades of experience in front of and around the camera, here in Texas and in California. After she decided to move home to Corpus from California, sheran her own casting company until the opportunity to lead the Commission presented itself. She has been sprinting a marathon ever since, including meetings with local film and music experts, helping to host local events, and traveling to South x Southwest in Austin to promote Corpus Christi and theCoastal Bend. The work Lydia is doing will help expand our local music scene and also create opportunities for local actors and actresses, producers, directors and others involved in, or aspiring to be involved in, the film industry to be able to grow and thrive here at home.

Lydia’s energy is inspiring and her passion for building athriving film community here is contagious! Please follow the Film & Music Commission on Instagram @filmandmusiccorpuschristi and keep an eye out forlocal productions!  

If you want more of what’s now, and what’s next, in businessand entertainment in Corpus Christi and the Coastal Bend, subscribe to theHECHO newsletter at hecho.cc and follow us @hechocorpus on Instagram. 

Thank you Lydia for coming on the show. Thank you to ourinfrastructure partners, Clint Tucker Homes and Sawyer Audiology. And thank youfor taking time to listen!

Welcome to HECHO! The show about what’s now and what’s nextin the Coastal Bend! I’m your host Rob George, and our guest is Dr. DhavalPatel. For this episode, we ventured to Beeville the homebase Uncommon Marketand its Uncommon Junior Chefs program. Uncommon Market grew out of Dr. Patel’spurchase of Coffee Barrel, a well-loved gathering hub for coffee lovers andepicureans who stopped by for camaraderie and locally-sourced gourmet food,some of which was grown at Coffee Barrel. Dr. Patel brought his background ininternational community building to the meals and gatherings at Coffee Barreland now into Uncommon Market and the Uncommon Junior Chefs program. Formultiple decades, Dr. Patel served all around the world in areas in desperateneed of basic resources, and his job was to coordinate international groupslike NGOs with local community members so that the locals could learn how tobuild or create the resources they needed. His passion for community buildingmanifested in Coffee Barrel after he and his family moved to the Beeville areaa handful of years ago. Sensing a need for students and families to have accessto higher quality food sources and preparation skills, he started a communitygarden and began hosting dinners at Coffee Barrel. Those events fueled hispassion to expand the program into schools and other communities which he doesthrough the Uncommon Junior Chefs program. He has lofty goals for the UncommonJunior Chefs and for Uncommon Market in general.

Dhaval and the Uncommon Junior Chefs program have some veryexciting events coming up and some other news that is super secret right now.To stay up to date, to see if there’s a program near you, or to reach out tosponsor a program or to request one, following Uncommon Market on Instagram@uncommonmkt  

If you want more of what’s now, and what’s next, in businessand entertainment in Corpus Christi and the Coastal Bend, subscribe to theHECHO newsletter at hecho.cc and follow us @hechocorpus on Instagram. 

Thank you Dhaval for coming on the show. Thank you to ourinfrastructure partners, Clint Tucker Homes and Sawyer Audiology. And thank youfor taking time to listen!

Welcome to Episode 27 of the HECHO Podcast, the podcast about what’s now, and what’s next in Corpus Christi and the Costal Bend. I’m your host Rob George, and our guest is Jeannette Del Angel, and if you ordered from Sucre during Covid (or since), or eaten at Central Kitchen, you’ve likely experienced her magic in the oven. Jeannette is a Corpus raised, Le Cordon Bleu trained, deeply experienced chef. Her primary expertise is pastry, and she created the menu for Central Kitchen. She is now starting her own adventure, Fika, an experience where one can relax with a pastry and espresso. “Fika” is a Swedish term that describes taking a break with friends, old and new. On this episode, we discuss Jeannette’s journey away from and back to Corpus Christi with anecdotes from impressive stops along the way. We learn about how she impressed her French professor at UT with macaroons crafted in her dorm’s basement kitchen, her delight in being called “chef” by her mentor at Southerleigh, and her passion for building a business around her family.

Jeannette and Fika offer a unique vibe to the Coastal Bend—a Swedish twist on relaxing with friends. Please follow Fika on Instagram at @fika_microbakery and be sure to seize a moment for your own Fika at Jeannette’s bakery on Alameda between the Quad Fitness Studio and Lavender & Lee. 

If you want more of what’s now, and what’s next, in business and entertainment in Corpus Christi and the Coastal Bend, subscribe to the HECHO newsletter at hecho.cc and follow us @hechocorpus on Instagram. 

Thank you Jeannette for coming on the show. Thank you to our infrastructure partners, Clint Tucker Homes and Sawyer Audiology. Thank you to Lucy George for her editing assistance. And thank you for taking time to listen!

Welcome to Episode 26 of the HECHO Podcast, the podcast featuring the Coastal Bend’s creators, makers, doers, and builders. The Coastal Bend has grown its share of very talented actors and actresses, including Eva Longoria, Farah Fawcett, Pepe Serna, Victoria Moroles, and Lou Diamond Phillips. In this episode, we get to hear from Nathan Ray Clark, another local actor finding success on the screen and stream. Nathan grew up in Portland where his acting bug was nurtured in the theater department at Gregory Portland High School. That experience eventually led him to Del Mar’s theatre and then to Los Angeles, where, among other accolades, he graduated from and ultimately travelled with, famed improv school Second City (which I inadvertently called “Second Story” in the podcast). As you’ll hear, improv is an important part of Nathan’s success, and he generously makes time to return to Corpus to work with Del Mar’s theater classes, particularly on improv acting. Nathan is a busy writer and actor, and he’s also produced, directed, and starred in a web series with his writing partner.

Nathan joins a long line of successful actors and actresses who have roots in Corpus Christi and the Coastal Bend. Be sure to keep an eye out for him in NCIS and Rescue: HI Surf and Stan the Man Movie coming out in 2025. Please follow him @nathanrayclark on Instagram and watch out for him during the upcoming filming of Evil Inheritance here in Corpus!

If you want more of what’s now, and what’s next, in business and entertainment in the Coastal Bend, subscribe to the HECHO newsletter at hecho.cc and follow us @hechocorpus on Instagram. 

Thank you Nathan for coming on the show. Thank you to our infrastructure partners, Clint Tucker Homes and Sawyer Audiology. And thank you for taking time to listen!

Welcome to Episode 25 of the HECHO Podcast, the podcast featuring the Coastal Bend’s creators, makers, doers, and builders. If you’ve attended school in the Coastal Bend at any time over the past 40 years, it’s entirely possible that our guest on this episode, or his father, designed your school. On this episode, we visit with Nick Gignac from Gignac Architects in Downtown Corpus Christi. Nick is a second-generation architect, born and raised here in Corpus but with experience from around the state and the world. His dad Raymond, started the firm about 40 years ago, and after growing up in and around the office, Nick joined Raymond and the team of architects, designers, and other professionals and has been designing public and private buildings and homes around the Coastal Bend and across the state. Some of their notable projects here in South Texas include the American Bank Center, Veterans Memorial High School, Carroll High School, and the to-be-built convention center on South Padre Island, and some 600 other schools here and around the state.

I always envy those who get to leave their stamp on a community for 50 years like Nick discussed. What an honor! If you’re curious about some of Gignac Architects’ current projects here in the Coastal Bend, you can check out the new Fire and EMS station in Port Aransas, currently being built with Victory Building Team, the Education Service Center in downtown, being built with South Texas Building Partners, and Hamlin Middle School on Staples with PBK and Fulton Construction. Thank you, Nick, for coming on the show. Thank you to our infrastructure partners, Clint Tucker Homes and Sawyer Audiology. And thank you for taking time to listen!

Welcome to Episode 24 of the HECHO Podcast, the podcast featuring the Coastal Bend’s creators, makers, doers, and builders. On this episode, we visit with Martin Flores and Jefte Flores from Marty McPies in Downtown Corpus Christi. Martin began serving pizzas out of a food truck and built up such a following, including your host, that he decided it was time to move into a full restaurant space. This episode was recorded before Marty McPies officially opened, and since it opened the restaurant in the summer of 2024, Marty McPies has been serving incredible pizzas and other creative items in downtown Corpus Christi in the building with the giant scuba mural along Shoreline Drive. If you haven’t had the joy of a Marty McPies pizza, you owe it to yourself to get one!  

With all of its success, Marty McPies has had the opportunity to be featured in The Bend magazine a couple times since it opened the restaurant. Head over to thebendmag.com to check out those articles and to see Marty McPies pies on the front cover of the November 2024 issue. Also, be sure to check out Marty McPies on The Taco Chair on youtube hosted by Gerald Flores. Thank you, Martin and Jefte, for coming on the show. Thank you to our infrastructure partners, Clint Tucker Homes and Sawyer Audiology. And thank you for taking time to listen!

Welcome to Episode 23 of the HECHO Corpus Christi Podcast, the podcast featuring Corpus Christi’s creators, makers, doers, and builders. On this episode, we visit with Robert Cooper, who recently returned from the Ukraine where he saw and recorded the Russian invasion up close and person with a group of freedom fighters. Robert is a Corpus guy, a member of the Cooper Outdoor family, responsible for many of our billboards and other signs in the area. I’ve debated whether call Robert a modern-day Hemingway, but I think the description is apt. When you visit with him, you get a sense of his wanderlust, but the most interesting part to me is his motivation for adventure. You’ll hear about that in this episode. He’s built houses here and businesses in Eastern Europe, played soccer for a semester at West Texas A&M in Canyon, Texas, and created and sold the Gold Fish, where we recorded. You may recall an earlier episode, with Jessica Gignac, also recorded at the Gold Fish. She and Robert are life and business partners, and the parents of a young son.

It’s hard to put yourself in the shoes of the frontline fighters in any war zone, but Robert has done that. You can find one of his and Will’s articles on the Daily Beast: https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-russia-ukraine-battle-in-kherson-that-had-us-filming-our-dying-words?ref=authorRobert has also started a fundraiser for the strike force he embedded with. Please donate, in the event you would like to help. https://www.spotfund.com/story/a8ad977c-5c53-4a54-837c-6b84e3be696e?SFID=L6H03b

Thank you, Robert, for coming on the show. Thank you to the Gold Fish for hosting another episode of HECHO Corpus Christi. Thank you to our infrastructure partners, Clint Tucker Homes and Sawyer Audiology. And thank you for taking time to listen!

Welcome to Episode 22 of the Hecho Corpus Christi Podcast, the podcast featuring Corpus Christi's creators, makers, doers, and builders. On this episode, we visit with Kimberly, Oscar, and Clint from Aadi Home Health & Hospice. Clint and I met a couple years ago at Brewster Street after church one Sunday. We met as parents of special needs kiddos are wont to do. The things that make us unique among the population at large, bring us together. Clint and his family moved down here after investing in Aadi, and have become part of the Aadi family, as evidenced by Kimberly's and Oscar's willingness to stay on under the new management to help Aadi grow into the future. As you'll hear in this episode, one of the special things Aadi was able to do during the lockdown and early stages of the pandemic was to help other agencies with supplies and other needs. Aadi's efforts are truly a reflection of the people who live here in Corpus and in the Coastal Bend. Aadi recently moved into a beautifully-restored office on Second Street on the edge of downtown behind First Methodist Church's community garden. You can find Aadi online at www.aadihomehalth.com, and should you or a loved one ever have a need, I'm sure that after this conversation, you'll call Aadi! Thank you for taking time to listen!

Welcome to Episode 20 of the HECHO Corpus Christi Podcast, the podcast featuring Corpus Christi’s creators, makers, doers, and builders. On this episode, we visit with Richard Lomax, the proprietor of the Water Street Market, which includes the Oyster Bar, the Executive Surf Club, the Sushi Room, the Texas Surf Museum, and now Elizabeth’s at the Art Museum. The Water Street Market is downtown’s gathering place, a city block of coffee shops (Lucy’s), casual food, sushi, oysters and fine seafood, and both The Bend magazine and Visit Corpus Christi. Richard and I were introduced by our mutual friend, Todd Hunter Jr. (thank you, Todd) and we sat down for a conversation before Elizabeth’s officially opened. Richard is the second generation of Lomaxes to run Water Street, and he walks us through his family’s Corpus story, including the growth of Water Street into the hub of downtown that it has become.

Second generation family business dynamics can be really tricky, but from all appearances, the Lomaxes have it figured out. The second generation has taken up the mantle and even expanded the original business. In fact, Richard’s brother Ben and Ben’s wife Lesley are the duo behind BUS, the Bar Under the Sun, in the old bus station downtown. Successful downtowns almost always have multi-generational businesses, and it’s exciting to see one here in Corpus.  You can follow the Water Street Market and its various business on Instagram @waterstreetmarketcc @waterstreetoysterbar @waterstreetsushiroom @executivesurfclub and @texassurfmuseum. You can find Elizabeth’s, which is now open for lunch in the Art Museum, @elizabeths_amst, and you can follow BUS @bus.corpuschristi. Thank you, Richard, for coming on the show, and Todd for the introduction. Thank you to our infrastructure partners, Clint Tucker Homes, Sawyer Audiology, and the Sound Guys. And thank you for taking time to listen!