Category: Community

Spotlight on Dana Smith and Ticket, Therapy Dog Extraordinaire

3/9/2020

Dana Smith, RLM Superintendent Wife and Tyler ISD Counselor, walks the halls of T.J. Austin Elementary in Tyler with Ticket leading the way.

Have. To. Brag.

Dana Smith is the wife of RLM Project Superintendent Dennis Smith. Ticket is their 4-year old Labrador. Dana and Ticket were recently featured in the Tyler Morning Telegraph. Seems they've been making a habit of spreading smiles and love to T.J. Austin Elementary students and staff alike.

Dana reports that Ticket started out as a duck dog, but had a real fondness for people. After working hard to gain her certification as a therapy dog, Ticket was ready to join Dana, Tyler ISD counselor, in her office at the elementary.

From consoling an emotional student, to making that difficult reading assignment suddenly seem doable because Ticket is by your side, we couldn't be more proud of the good vibes Dana and Ticket are bringing to their campus.

To read the full story, go here.

Spring storm hits home, and hits hard.

7/9/2019

On the afternoon of Wednesday, May 8th, 2019, the city of Longview and surrounding East Texas was hit by a sudden storm causing uprooted trees, downed power lines, and property damage to parks, homes and businesses. Initial reports indicated a tornado, but when the storm settled and the National Weather Service made its official declaration, the massive damage was caused by none other than straight line winds. Within twenty minutes the entire storm had come and gone, powered through by its 90 mph winds covering a 17 mile long path, and leaving a damage zone that measured 2500 yards wide. To put that in perspective, 2500 yards is equal to about 25 football fields placed back to back.

Miraculously, there were no reported injuries. Utility crews, city workers, neighbors and volunteers from all around worked hard over the next days and even weeks to pull trees from homes, clean up debris, and restore power to the more than 30,000 people experiencing outages.

Perhaps the most shared pictures and videos of the storm were of the fallen steeple at Oakland Heights Baptist Church on Judson Road. The church was founded in 1957 and has long been a mainstay of the community. The tall white steeple spiraling toward the sky was an iconic landmark to locals. It took 2 cranes and 4 hours to get the toppled 25,000 pound spire to the ground.

RLM General Contractors is happy to be helping this loving church community with repairs and replacement of the steeple for their sanctuary.

Miracle on HG Mosley Parkway

4/20/2018

It finally happened. The Longview community pulled together, and after 6 long years of blood, sweat and cheers, the Gene Allen Miracle League Field opened for play. Located in the Lear Park Sports Complex at 100 HG Mosley Parkway, this field is home to the first, true special needs baseball field in the greater East Texas area.

When the first pitch was thrown on Saturday, April 14th, there weren't too many dry eyes to be seen. Thank you Miracle League of East Texas for allowing RLM to be a part of this incredible project.

Citizens National Bank breaks ground on new Corsicana branch office.

6/6/2017

By Michael Kormos, Corsicana Daily Sun
5/26/2017

Citizens National Bank of Corsicana held a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday to begin construction of its new branch office at 400 W. Collin St., the site of bank’s main office before it acquired the local Bank of America branch in January 2015.
“We plan to be in the new building by March 31 of next year,” said Christina Janecka, senior vice president and regional manager. “It will be a two-story, almost 10,000-square-foot facility. We will have six drive-through lanes large enough to accommodate dually trucks hauling cattle trailers. That was something for which the community expressed a need.”

Janecka said the bank will be on the first floor and the trust department will be on the second.

The new facility will allow Citizens National Bank to combine its main office at 100 N. Main St. and drive-through at 209 N. 12th St. The College Park Mall location will not be affected.

“It’s very exciting, not just for our Corsicana bank, but for our whole company,” said Brad Tidwell, president and CEO. “Corsicana and Navarro County are really a great market for us and being able to invest in the area is a dream come true. We wanted to make a statement and create an even bigger presence and that’s what we are doing.”

The new branch was announced during a December 2016 Business After Hours reception at the bank’s Downtown Corsicana branch.

RLM confirms that the Miracle League field is 70%+ complete

3/30/2017

The Miracle League of East Texas is excited to report that they are in the “7th inning stretch” for construction of the half-acre baseball facility designed to provide a fully accessible and safe playing field for children with mental and physical challenges. The $750,000 project has been five (5) years in the making, and is coming to fruition thanks to the support of a large number of local organizations, businesses and individuals, as well as some heavy hitters outside of East Texas. The Globe Life Texas Rangers Grant Program has donated $20,000 to the project, and Chris Davis, Major League baseball player and Longview native, recently donated $50,000.

Current activity construction includes the restroom facilities, surface installation, and the Wall of Fame. Per Casey Beddingfield of RLM General Contractors, the restrooms include two (2) family rooms complete with showers, and stalls which actually exceed the ADA requirements for such structures. An equipment storage room, and mechanical equipment room are attached to one end of the building. The specialized rubber surface for the playing field began today.

Check out Casey at the field in CBS19's latest update here.

Crews started installing the specialized field on March 30, 2017.

RLM joins with local builders to support Longview Paws

12/30/2016

The local construction outlook has gone to the dogs - literally! RLM General Contractors joined with area building professionals and Longview Paws to support Longview Animal Care and Adoption Center by participating in the first annual "Home for the Holidays" Custom Dog House Build. RLM and Thacker Davis Architects teamed up to design and construct one of the nine entries. RLM's own Golden Steele turned Thacker Davis' design into any dog's dream home come true. The successful event raised $13,000.

Take a look at this years' entries below. They are doggone fabulous!

RLM General Contractors and Thacker-Davis Architects entry in the 2016 "Home for the Holidays' event

Texas Rangers make second donation to The Miracle League of East Texas

2/2/2016

Josh Sanders of Longview talks baseball with members of the Texas Rangers. Photo courtesy of Longview News Journal.

How great is this?! RLM General Contractors is humbled to be a part of this incredible project. Thank you Texas Rangers for helping to make this possible for our community!

To read about the Texas Rangers' visit to Longview go here.

Brady Beddingfield, Project Manager for RLM General Contractors, graduates from Leadership Longview's Class of 2014 - 2015.

6/2/2015

Brady Beddingfield, RLM Project Manager

Brady Beddingfield, Project Manager for RLM General Contractors, recently graduated from Leadership Longview's Class of 2014 - 2015. Brady has spent the last year immersed in the program whose mission is to identify potential leaders in Longview and prepare them to direct important activities in the community.

With more than 100 applications to the program, and only 30 chosen, RLM is proud to say Brady belongs to us!

For a closer look at Brady's year, visit here.

2014-2015 Leadership Longview Graduating Class

One of RLM's own is included in 2015 Stars Over Longview!

1/14/2015

Twelve Stars Over Longview were recently honored to a sold out event. Find out who represented RLM here.

RLM General Contractors embraces the opportunity to put our experience and resources to work for The Miracle League of East Texas!

8/9/2013

The Miracle League (TML) is coming to town, and RLM couldn't be more excited. Casey Beddingfield and Vikki Jones have joined TML's Board of Directors, on behalf of RLM, making a strong commitment to seeing this project through.

The Miracle League will provide the area's first baseball field specifically constructed to meet the unique requirements of special needs children. Serving families in a 90-mile radius, this file will include lighting, digital scoreboard with instant playback feature, covered bleachers, shade structures and dugouts designed to accommodate wheelchairs and other assistive devices. Phase II of the project will include a playground which is 100% handicap accessible.

If you would like more information on how you can be a part of this incredible project, contact Vikki Jones at 903.759.7656, or vikki@rlmgc.net.

For a glimpse of what a Miracle League Field can mean to the children and parents of these children, check out this clip about a town in the Carolinas who made it happen in their community: