​From 8 a.m. until the afternoon of March 8, women gathered at Bold Republic Brewery to make a special craft beer.
 
“It’s pretty awesome that we get to make the Pink Boots Society® brew on International Women’s Day,” said Bold Republic Brewery owner Adriane Hodges.
 
Adriane is one of the few women brewers in the industry. She opened Bold Republic Brewery with her husband, Patrick Hodges, in 2018. Since then, they’ve relocated a small brewery from Belton to the blossoming west side of Temple, where they continue to expand.
 
“We’re putting in a cool storage, which will really help us increase production,” Adriane said.
 
Adriane is a self-described beer nerd. She can speak endlessly about everything beer, from brewing it to its history. She is passionate about being a woman in the industry and is building a network of women brewers in the area.
 
The Pink Boots Society® brewing event is evidence of that. The educational event was attended by women from breweries throughout the area, including Nolan Creek Brewery (Belton), Phantom Warrior Brewing Co. (Killeen), and Barrow Brewing Company (Salado) – all there to make their contribution to the 2023 brew aptly named “Women’s Work.”

​Adriane explains, “The beer brewing industry was completely dominated by women until the 1500s.”
 
And she is correct. A Smithsonian Magazine article from 2021, “Why Did Women Stop Dominating the Beer Industry?,” asserts that strict gender norms brought about by the start of the Reformation and greed pushed women out of the industry.
 
Ale, and later, beer, was a mainstay in European homes as a source of nutrients from as early as the Stone Age. As such, brewing beer was as regular a household task for women as rearing children. Seeing an opportunity to earn an income, widows and unmarried women began selling the beverage, becoming alewives and the originators of the brewing industry.
 
“That’s kind of where the origin of witches with pointy hats and brooms came from,” she continued. “Men saw how lucrative the business was and began pushing the women out by accusing them of witchcraft —which was dangerous for women at the time.”
 
Now the industry is experiencing a resurgence of women. Although the movement is slow. Few, if any, major beer companies have a female brewmaster. And beer is often branded as a drink for men.
 
In fact, a research study by Stanford University found that of 1,993 breweries they could find information about, only 40 were exclusively founded by women. And of 1,717 breweries they researched, only 76 (four percent) had a female brewmaster or headbrewer.
 
Despite the statistics, women like Adriane continue to serve as passionate advocates for beer and beer brewing. According to Craft Beer & Brewing, women bring unique skills to brewing beer, such as having superior senses of taste and smell along with a stronger ability to remember and recount sensory experiences.
 
It is with these skills that this group of women created the Women’s Work brew —from hops to keg.
 
“We made an India Pale Lager or IPL,” Adriane said as she described the beer.
 
“India Pale Lager is a type of beer fermented with lager yeast instead of ale yeast. This crisp classic style serves as a showcase for the hops, with the malt letting them shine,” She explained. “We used the 6th annual Pink Boots Society® Hop Blend from Yakima Chief Hops.  It was a blend of Loral, Ekuanot, and HBC 586 experimental hops.”
 
The Pink Boots Society® is a group of women and non-binary individuals in the craft drink industry. They advocate camaraderie amongst one another and share knowledge through their own seminar programs. The group is committed to helping one another advance in the industry and does so by raising money for educational scholarships.

Adriane is an ideal ambassador for the organization. She openly shared details of her operation and future plans for the business with the women who gathered for the event. She encouraged everyone to participate in the brewing process and, during downtimes (beer making requires patience and waiting), they swapped stories about their first craft beer experience, entertained themselves with axe throwing (courtesy of Black Axe Co), and of course, enjoyed what Bold Republic has on tap and in the kitchen.
 
Starting March 31, guests can enjoy a free sample flight of beers from the brewery by purchasing a ticket for the Spirit of Santa Fe Trail.  Bold Republic Brewery is one of 15 venues featured on the self-guided tour of the growing Central Texas craft beverage industry, where ticketholders can enjoy exclusive offers from the participating locations through April 9.
 
Visit templechamber.com/spiritofsantafe for details and to purchase tickets.

​Claire Hartman, Brigette Allen, David Wolff, and Will Lowery purchased First Community Title in April 2017. And since then, they have provided top-notch real estate settlement and title insurance services for companies, individuals, and government entities in Temple and throughout Bell County.
 
Hartman has been in the industry for 37 years and still operates with the notion that every transaction can be closed –it’s just a matter of time.
 
“FCT shines in our knowledge and ability to get things done,” Hartman said. “With eight underwriters, we can be creative in our approach to solutions where other title companies may turn away a client.”
 
Since taking over the business, the FCT team has closed on various property types, from condos to airports to the I-35 Right of Way Project.
 
“Title insurance is a unique product as it provides coverage for ‘back in time’ whereas all other insurances protect you for future events,” said Allen.
 
One of the main functions of title insurance is to verify that soon-to-be purchased property is clear of liens and all other owners. The title company is a neutral party in the actual real estate transactions as it operates within the contract of the real estate rather than in the interest of the buyer, seller, or lender.
 
Much of First Community Title’s success comes from its strong ties to the community and its history in Bell County. Its core team has more than 350 years of combined experience that spans the field of title transactions.
 
First Community Title first opened in the 1880s and changed ownership and hands several times since. However, it grew noticeably after Hartman was placed at its helm as president in 2002. Soon the company expanded beyond Exchange Place in Temple to Killeen with a small office and a research facility on the town square in Belton.
 
In 2004 FCT moved its Temple office to its current location at 4613 South 31st Street. Shortly after that came offices in Salado, Harker Heights, and Gatesville —and more than 30 employees.
 
“When we say real people, real service, we mean it,” Wolff explained. “We value our employees, our clients, and this community.”
 
Lowery added, “We pour into our team, and, in turn, they pour into our clients.”
 
The company demonstrates a solid belief in development with its internal training program that pays special attention to growing leaders. Allen wore several hats, including bookkeeper, escrow assistant, and operations/training manager, before becoming one of the company’s owners.
 
“Terri Holwerda, Cindy Sladecek, and I have been around since we were the Old Republic Title of Bell County (1989),” she said.
 
Take one glance at First Community’s Facebook page, and the impact of their long relationships becomes evident. The company culture resembles one of a start-up tech company rather than a title company. Birthday announcements tagged #fctfamily, TikTok dances, and invitations to their monthly First Friday meetings flood its profile.
 
“We can say that the success of our company is built on teamwork, communication, mutual respect between our employees, real estate agents, and lenders,” Hartman said. “It takes a team, and that takes agreement, alignment, accountability, and adjustment. Thru that, you build trust amongst all parties in the transaction.”
 
The Temple Chamber of Commerce thanks First Community Title for its contributions to the business community and its membership with the Chamber.

​A New Day Fellowship Church was named 2022 Nonprofit of the Year by the Innovation Black Chamber of Commerce at their inaugural banquet at the Cultural Activities Center this past August.
 
The banquet celebrated and honored those in the community for their great deeds and service in ten categories - Social Responsibility, Nonprofit, and Economic Impact, among others.
 
Dr. Robert H. Beamon and Dr. Teresa Beamon, pastors of A New Day Fellowship Church, were recognized for their innovative approach to ministry, which they started in East Temple 22 years ago. A New Day Fellowship Church is a multi-cultural congregation located at 510 E. Avenue J in Temple.

Driven by their strong faith and a purpose to help those who have limited resources during these unprecedented times, Dr. Teresa Beamon stated that this award “shows our passion of giving back to the community faithfully and why it is so important to them, now that they have been recognized.”
 
Their ministry, which started with door-to-door outreach, is now a campus that houses A New Day Learning Academy, a childcare and preschool facility that has helped children learn Christian values that embraces education through various concepts and appropriate age-base curriculum over the past five years, and a new Affordable Healthcare Clinic that saw its first patient on September 29, 2022. The Healthcare clinic will be run by Nurse Practitioners and Healthcare providers.
 
Both spiritual and physical health, education, and community are pillars of their purpose.
 
Dr. Robert Beamon and Dr. Teresa Beamon received their education locally. Pastor Robert Beamon received his Bachelors, Masters and Doctorate in Biblical Studies from the Institute for Teaching God’s Word Theological Seminary in Rockdale, TX. Teresa Beamon received her BSN, MSN-Ed, and DNP from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (UMHB). Pastor Beamon is in fulltime ministry while Teresa continues to work as an adjunct nursing faculty at UMHB and is in a nursing leadership role at the Central Texas Veterans Healthcare Administration in Quality, Safety and Value.
 
Both feel their personal experiences and education has impacted how they connect with their congregation and community in reaching lifetime dreams spiritually and holistically.
 
They host Embrace Health, which is offered through Texas A&M College of Medicine, Baylor Scott & White Health, and the UMHB Mayborn College of Health Sciences.  This program is designed to serve the community through health teaching and to provide an interprofessional education (IPE) experience for health professional students. It exposes students to the challenges individuals/families encounter with respect to their health, as well as difficulties accessing healthcare.  Students will work in interprofessional teams and gain a better understanding on how social determinants contribute to poor health outcomes.
 
Fifteen families go through these sessions during the school year and are provided a meal and fellowship prior to each class. The families are shown how to prepare nutritious meals and are provided a care plan from professional students to include: physician assistants, medical, nursing, physical therapy, and occupational health. The series also includes sessions on financial literacy to equip families with tools to live a holistic healthy lifestyle.
 
A New Day Fellowship also hosts flu vaccine clinics annually and was a hub for COVID-19 vaccinations in East Temple during the Pandemic.
 
“Pastor Beamon and I were the first in line to receive our COVID-19 vaccines,” said Teresa. “Someone has to take the first step, and we have been the ‘First-Steppers’ in many areas.”
 
“Some of the first steps led to opportunities of improvement within ourselves and others. From those opportunities there has always been a purpose and lesson learned to keep going. We want to be examples individuals and their families can look up to,” she continued.
 
Taking the first step may be difficult for various reasons but through mentoring and guidance, they both have helped families through difficult times. “Our strong faith has helped us through many trials; therefore, we impart these Christian principles to others for growth in their own lives. We have continued to believe that God has a purpose for us to be accomplished through this ministry.”
 
The same character and purpose to serve and give back to the community were also instilled in their two daughters Keverly Beamon and Kayla Beamon. Kayla has led a Back-to-School Extravaganza at their church each Summer for the past three years.
 
This event started as a backpack and school supply giveaway serving a few hundred children and grew to serve over 1,000 children in 2022.
 
Not only does this event provide backpacks and school supplies to children in need in the community, the Beamon’s lean on their guiding pillars and purpose for spiritual and physical health, and this event also provides no-cost healthcare services such as physicals for school athletics, vision screenings, and more through healthcare provider volunteers coordinated through Feed My Sheep and the Lion’s Club.
 
Plus, the 2022 event kicked off with a parade, steppers, games, music, food, petting zoo, inflatable bounce houses, and gift card giveaways for parents, and served as a positive way to the build community. This could not have been done without the assistance of local businesses contribution, individual donors and our church support.
 
In addition to a new Affordable Healthcare Clinic on their campus, the Beamon’s plans are to continue to “raise up the east side”. They will break ground in 2023 on the Noire Development – East Heights, a residential development that will provide 42 affordable homes in East Temple. 
 
“Pastor Beamon and I were raised here and are intentional about being part of a growing   community.  We are rooted in this community serving on various Boards and Committees, and we have built a network of connections that enable us to give back and fulfill our purpose,” said Teresa Beamon. “God has been good to us, and we have a community that believes in what we are doing - we are stronger together!”
 
A New Day Fellowship Church falls under the leadership of Covenant Connections International, Inc., the Late Bishop Nate Holcomb, and Pastor Valerie Holcomb in Killeen, TX. Visit them online at www.anewdayfellowship.org and follow them on social media.