Tyler Area Business Owners Mingle At After Hours Event

Business owners took a break from the scorching 95-degree East Texas heat on Thursday evening to mingle with their peers at this month’s After Hours event, courtesy of the Tyler Area Chamber of Commerce and Stonewater Roofing.

The happy hour gathering was held at the Marriott Fairfield Inn & Suites in south Tyler.

After Hours

These monthly After Hours events give the Tyler area’s elite a chance to unwind and get to know other local business owners, potentially sparking some mutually beneficial relationships and strengthening the Rose City’s economy. Jenni Wilson with the Tyler Area Chamber of Commerce said that such events are “really important.”

“We have over 2,000 members in the Tyler Chamber,” Wilson explained. “This gives them an opportunity to network with each other, trade secrets and just get to know each other.”

After Hours

Along with free drinks provided by R&K Distributors, patrons were treated to finger food from Montez Brothers Catering and live acoustic music from former “American Idol” contestant and Tyler native Vivian Villapudua.

Stonewater Roofing was thrilled to be the sponsor for the August iteration of this event.

Trent Spradlin is the Chief Marketing Officer for Stonewater Roofing. “The greatest thing about these types of events is being able to see a healthy Chamber, which means there is a healthy community of businesses that are not only helping grow the community as a whole, but partnering together on different events and projects,” he said. “It’s great to see our advertising partners out here. It’s great to see other businesses that we have partnered with in different capacities over the last few years, and we look forward to continuing that growth in the future.”

East Texas Teachers Receive Massive #ClearTheList Deliveries

With the new school year fast approaching, teachers across the nation participated in the #ClearTheList campaign, a social media phenomenon that helped educators stock up on necessary school supplies for the latest crop of students. A group of four East Texas teachers saw everything on their wishlists hand-delievered to their classrooms, courtesy of Stonewater Roofing.

It’s no secret that teachers are underpaid, and school district budgets can only provide limited help for each of their employees. So, many of the nation’s educators have turned to strangers online for assistance, creating wishlists on Amazon and sharing these registries on social media with the #ClearTheList hashtag. This campaign quickly turned into a viral sensation.

The hope is that a kind soul will buy an item and ship it directly to the teacher, until the entire list of school supplies has been purchased. The campaign has been a success for many teachers nationwide, but Asquith, Butler, Lampkin and Mansinger never expected to hear that all of their classroom needs were being fulfilled in one swoop.

“Oh, my gosh. That’s amazing,” said Lampkin upon hearing the news. “That is awesome.”

Stonewater Roofing created the biggest #ClearTheList social media thread in East Texas, earning more than 20,000 responses from area educators and supporters. The company randomly selected four lucky teachers and purchased every item on their wishlists.

“Thank you,” said Butler when she was told about her upcoming delivery. “That just made my day.”

The wishlists included standard back-to-school fare such as pencils, crayons, markers, watercolors, rulers, scissors, sticky notes, glue sticks, and tape. There were also more specialized learning tools including math games, geometry sets, magnets, modeling clay, geography puzzles, and games about socialization. Asquith even requested a canvas play teepee for her students.

But the wishlists contained organizational tools for the teachers as well. There were filing cabinets, paper organizers, storage carts, and bulletin boards on the lists, along with basic equipment like a floor lamp and headphones. These are all tools that will help the teachers as they aim to enrich the educational experience for East Texas students this coming year.

“The majority of our staff are products of area school districts and now have our own children within those schools,” explained Trent Spradlin, Chief Marketing Officer for Stonewater Roofing. “That being said, we do what we can to support our teachers in areas they need help the most.”

“Thank you so, so much,” added a delighted Mansinger. “That is just the best surprise.”

Employees from Stonewater Roofing began hand-delivering the cases of school supplies to the four lucky teachers on Friday.