Category: Lake Conroe Area News

Conroe businesswoman Lyn Hawthorne-Howard will present a bronze bust she sculpted of Isaac Conroe, the town’s founder, to the city. 
Howard, 82, will present the bust at the Thursday City Council meeting.
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Key part of visitors center
The bust will eventually be on display in the city of Conroe’s visitors center that is being created on the first floor of Conroe Tower in downtown. 
“As Visit Conroe continues its efforts to establish itself as the local story keeper and story teller, there is no more important story than that of the man who founded Conroe — and what better story starter than Issac Conroe’s bronze bust so generously donated by the Hawthorne-Howard Family,” said Sherry Chaney Morgan, manager of Visit Conroe. “We are honored to showcase and share this exquisite piece of art and history and to have its installation as Visit Conroe’s inaugural exhibit and display.”
Isaac Conroe was born in Long Branch, New Jersey, in 1835. 
At the outbreak of the Civil War, he was in the postal service in Chicago and there he enlisted and became part of the 12th Illinois Cavalry. He served with distinction and was promoted to the rank of captain.
At the close of his service, he mustered out in Houston. He became engaged in the wood and freighting business between Lynchburg and Houston.
Conroe went on to establish a sawmill site that would become the town of Conroe. 
He would ride the railroad up from Houston where his family lived and his stop at his mill became known as Conroe’s Switch. The name later was shortened to Conroe. He died at his mill at age 62 on Aug. 2, 1897. 
Champion of Conroe’s legacy
Howard has been a flight attendant, former Kilgore College Rangerette, an educator, pageant title holder, an entrepreneur and an auctioneer. 
She has also long been a champion of keeping Conroe’s legacy alive in the city. 
She and husband, Carl, renovated the Isaac Conroe home on Avenue A in Conroe. She also launched an annual Founder’s Day celebration in honor of Conroe at his home. 
When she took up sculpting, a bust of Conroe was on her wish list to complete. 
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“I’m a Conroeite. I wasn’t born here but just like Isaac, this is where we chose to live our lives and this is where I’ll be when it’s all over,” Howard said. 
She has always had an appreciation for art and received a minor in art at Texas Women’s University. 
“It’s just so neat to me to be able to mold something to resemble someone. It’s kind of a lasting art. They did that in Rome and Italy,” she said. 
She had told her herself “When I get old I’m going to make time to sculpt.” Then she realized a few years ago that time is now. 
Howard gave local sculptor Craig Campobella space to create the Texas Lady Liberty statue. In turn, he gave her pointers to start sculpting. 
She first sculpted a bust of her husband, Carl. Then she did one of Donald Trump. It’s her hope to get Trump’s bust to him eventually. 
Then she began work on Conroe. The busts begin life as clay then the clay form is taken to a foundry in Houston which bronzes the bust. 
On Thursday night, she’ll donate the bust to Conroe. 
“We need to honor those who got us here and this is my way of contributing and giving back,” she said. 
Howard is also the host of the annual Isaac Conroe Founder’s Day celebration. The event was typically held on Aug. 2, Conroe’s death date. Extreme heat in 2023 caused Howard to move the event to a cooler month. 
The celebration will take place on Feb. 11, 2025 in the month of Conroe’s birth. It will be at the Issac Conroe home that is owned by the city at 202 Avenue A.

When Nathalie Annequin first visited downtown Conroe a few years ago, it was just like she envisioned America would be as a girl growing up in France. 
She and her husband, Jérôme, owned restaurants in the Lyon, France area but always dreamed of branching out they just never thought it would be to the U.S., let alone Texas until they discovered Montgomery County while visiting French friends in the Houston suburb of Cypress. 
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They suggested the couple visit Lake Conroe, downtown Conroe and The Woodlands. 
“When we arrived in downtown Conroe, it was a special atmosphere for us. It was the picture of an American city. I said ‘Wow, I’m feeling very well here,'” she said. “In France we had a restaurant by a lake so the lake (Lake Conroe) reminded me of the atmosphere in France.”
They sold their French restaurants and opened up Paulette Cafe, an authentic French restaurant, on the downtown Conroe square in December. It’s at 406 N. Thompson Street on the first floor of the Moreland Professional Building.
Taste of France
The pastries and dishes are authentic to her homeland and ones she grew up watching her mother cook and bake with her father helping. Her parents also owned restaurants and she grew up in an atmosphere where food was special. Paulette is her mother’s name. 
“Lyon is the best place for very good food. It’s very famous for that. I grew up keeping in mind that the food was very good and made with fresh ingredients,” she said. 
The cafe specializes in crêpes, pastries, soups, salads, quiches, coffees, French sandwiches like the Croque Monsieur and Croque Madame. They also serve pizzas baked in the traditional French way and offer catering. 
Annequin said the dough for the pizza is airy and is more bread like than American versions. Her husband Jérôme is the chef and their daughter-in-law Pauline also helps run the cafe. 
She has fallen in love with the atmosphere of downtown. 
‘This is still the American dream’
“The people are very kind, very polite and very respectful,” she said “For us this is still the American dream.” In France, they grew up with strong connections to food and she wanted to share that atmosphere here as well. 
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“I said let’s do it, let’s bring a piece of France to downtown Conroe,” Annequin said. 
While the work at the cafe keeps her from watching the Paris Olympics regularly, she said they have seen more customers during the past few weeks and many mention the Olympics in Paris and French swimmer Léon Marchand who captured four gold medals during the swimming portion. 
One customer in an online reviewed liken the experience to being in a French cafe during the Olympics. There are statues of the Eiffel Tower here and there, the colors of the French flag and pieces of the culture scattered throughout the cafe. 
Annequin is even teaching regular customer George Renneberg a few phrases in French. 
He’s an attorney and business often takes him to the Montgomery County Courthouse across the street. 
“I make a habit of dropping by after court anytime I come downtown,” he said. “Nathalie is a very charming lady and she tries to teach this old dude some French with little success.”
He likes the French-style pizza, the crepes and the French-style breakfast. He also likes the beignets but notes they are not the same as the doughy squares loaded with powdered sugar served in New Orleans. 
He said the bread here is heavier and not quite as drenched in powdered sugar. 
After enjoying a cup of French roast coffee Monday morning, Annequin called out “au revoir” — goodbye in French — from behind the counter bidding Renneberg farewell as he carried on with his day.