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Embassy Skateboards of Houston has a tribute skateboard out to honor my time in combat and military service. The proceeds of this deck will be going to The Wounded Warrior Project, of which I am also an Alumni. I was injured in 2 separate IED blasts during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Please take a look, and I’ll be happy to personalize/autograph any deck.

V/R, Don “Lash” LaRue, SHSU ZM, 101st Airborne Division, Iraq

Order: Lash Larue Street Fighter Skateboard

Highlight video from the undefeated season of SHSU football 2011. Note the ATO letters around the 49s mark!

Congratulations to ATO brother Richard Hainkel on becoming a first-time grandfather to close out 2011! Richard’s daughter Aubrey gave birth to Isla Blue Anders (7.5 lbs) on Saturday, December 31, 2011! Aubrey and her husband Grant welcomed their daughter into this world at 5:19 p.m. Richard and his wife Lori can be reached at (512) 423-0026.

For those of you who don’t know what the thymus is (I didn’t!), it’s where T-cells “go to school” to learn how to fend off diseases in your pre-adolescent years. As you mature and reach puberty, the thymus breaks down and absorbs itself into your body. It disappears. Except in a very small handful of people. Some bodies don’t break down the thymus while others - for reasons not yet known - develop a thymus again! Yours truly is in the “grew one again” category. (“Damn Vulcan physiology!” - Dr. McCoy, “Star Trek”) Interestingly, there are only about 400 known cases of thymoma in the U.S.

Congratulations are in order for brother Thomas Greg Mayo (SHSU 1987) who was recently named the 2011 Distinguished Educator of the Year - Secondary Teacher by Sam Houston State University’s School of Education. Greg was recognized for “expertise and outstanding service in the classroom, school, district and community, as well as their contributions to the field and society.”

RuhRah!

Photo by Gene ChauvinIn support of the Sam Houston State University Bearkat football program, the City of Huntsville will light the Sam Houston statue in orange for tomorrow night’s playoff game. According to City of Huntsville Community Services Director Matt Lumpkins, the statue will remain orange as long as the Bearkats are in the playoffs. “Using orange lenses over the spotlights we have on the Sam Houston statue, the City will turn Sam orange for the playoff game,” Lumpkins said.

Bro’ing out with the newly installed Mayor of Huntsville, Texas. He’s also a Brotau! Congrats Mac �” Left to Right are brothers Michael Mann, Matthew Mann, Milthon Servin, Mayor Mac Woodward, Juan Luis Macias, Shane Rankin and David Kelley.

David Kelley, center, encourages motorists on 11th Street to stop and make donations during the first day of the 5th annual Make a Smile Happen or “M.A.S.H.” toy and food drive. Kelley is a member of Alpha Tau Omega, the fraternity has volunteered for the drive every year since M.A.S.H. originated.

The Sam Houston State University Bearkats football team has now won a total of 12 games in the 2011 season and continues to hold its #1-ranking in NCAA Division 1 FCS (Football Championship Subdivision). The Bearkats defeated the Stony Brook University Seawolves 34-27 in round 2 of the subdivision playoffs on Saturday, December 3 before a crowd of 8,100 fans at Bowers Stadium in Huntsville, TX.