Association honors Simmons with gala

This is a love story. It is story not only about two people, but also one of affection for a university and a community.

It is a relationship of the heart, one that began on a summer night almost 40 years ago when a pretty brunette coed named Susan went on a blind data with a musician named Jimmy.

"I was storming around the house with my shoes in my hands. The doorbell rang, and my date was a little early," Susan recalls. "I yanked the door open, and he literally took my breath away. He'd been playing at the Flagship in Galveston all summer, and he was so tan. He was wearing contacts, and his eyes were so blue. He was the most gorgeous thing I'd ever seen in my life. My mother said there was static electricity the minute the door opened."

Jimmy Simmons, then the Beaumont High School Band director, proposed five months later, and the couple married on June 2, 1968.

On Feb. 13 - the day before Valentine's Day, appropriately - the American Heart Association will honor Lamar University President Jimmy Simmons and First Lady Susan Simmons with the Jay C. Crager Award, bestowed annually on an individual or individuals in the community whose endeavors have exemplified making Beaumont a better place to live.

Proceeds will benefit the American Heart Association, whose Beaumont chapter serves the Golden Triangle area, including Beaumont, Port Arthur, Nederland, Groves, Port Neches, Orange and Lumberton. In 2003, more than 1,000 residents of Jefferson County died of heart disease, said Charla Davidson, development coordinator for the Heart Association in Beaumont. This statistic becomes even more meaningful, she said, when translated into the percentage of deaths in the county from cardiovascular disease and strokes - 39.9 percent.

Cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 killer of men and women of all ethnic backgrounds in the United States: One American dies of heart disease every 33 seconds. Each year, about 1.2 million Americans will have a first or second coronary attack, and about 479,000 will die. The American Heart Association is a national volunteer health agency whose mission is to reduce death and disability from cardiovascular diseases and stroke.

The award is named in honor of Dr. Jay C. Crager, who founded the Beaumont Chapter of the American Heart Association. He was president of the chapter's board of directors and went to serve on the national board of directors and as its president.

"Heart disease has touched the lives of untold thousands, many of them our neighbors - people we know and love," Jimmy said. "It is truly an honor to be part of an event that supports the fight against this disease."

Lamar's University Reception Center will be the setting for the gala, on the eighth floor of the Mary and John Gray Library. Festivities begin at 6 p.m. with cocktails and heavy hors d'oeuvres. A silent auction will feature exciting travel, recreational, entertainment and luxury packages. The Beaumont Jazz Quintet will provide music for the occasion. A program begins at 7:30 p.m., with dessert and spirits capping off the evening. Dress is "chic casual."

Although it's billed a gala, Susan said, "It will be a festive but not a formal occasion. We want it to be like a party at your house. It will be a comfortable bistro atmosphere."

The menu will be spectacular, with gourmet and often exotic fare like coconut shrimp, crab cakes, quail empanadas, beef kabobs, chicken spring roll, thai chicken-wrap roulades and vegetable won ton - each with just the right sauce - plus a beautiful antipasto tray with such fare as asparagus, artichokes, hearts of palm, olives and cheeses. The menu is designed to be heart-healthy - and so even vegetarian guests can make a meal of the delectable offerings. For dessert, there's mango mousse eclair, chocolate truffles, chocolate-covered strawberries and more.

The award pays tribute to almost four decades of community service as well as two distinguished careers - for Jimmy as a band director, educator, administrator and, now, Lamar president, and to Susan as a teacher, businesswoman and, for the past 18 years, a Realtor.

"We're thrilled," Susan said. "It's a magnificent honor. It's for a great cause - the American Heart Association - and it helps involve the university with the community and the community with the university."