10-year-old Jeremiah Thomas, of POC, was fishing with John Reneau and Phillip Miller on the evening of July 29, when he wrangled in this 29.5” redfish. Jeremiah is especially proud as he caught this one by himself and did not get any help aside from a landing net. Even more impressive is that Jeremiah caught this redfish using ultralight tackle with 10lb test.

In January, Helios Ochoa started his GT project in 2nd-grade. He planted watermelon seeds with high hopes of growing a HUGE watermelon. This particular species of watermelon grows oblong fruit that has reached over 200 lbs! We knew we would not grow a watermelon that big here on the coast, but Helios wanted to see how big one would get.

Due to a crazy year of COVID and quarantining, his GT project turned into a CLASS project. The whole class got behind his project and helped with watering, feeding, and pulling weeds until he could return to school.

We recently were able to harvest, weigh, and taste the massive watermelon! It weighed a hefty 61lbs and tasted sweet as honey! I am proud of the energy, time, and care the 2nd-graders put into this adventure. Way to go Helios, and way to go, 2nd-grade!!

-Roxanne Ochoa

Port O’Connor Chamber of Commerce

Summer is coming to an end and the kids are headed back to school. The Chamber had a busy summer with the Kids Fishing Tournament, Kite Flying Contest, Fourth of July fireworks, and then our annual Golf Cart Scavenger Hunt. The Scavenger Hunt, rescheduled from November 2020, was held on Saturday, July 24th. This event turned out to be the best yet! We want to thank everyone that joined us for this fun event!! We had 19 carts with 65 participants and raised $2900 to be used for annual scholarships and golf cart safety awareness! If you haven’t done the scavenger hunt, you should! Its purpose is to promote golf cart safety within our community, while still having a good time, abiding by the community rules and laws. Thank you, Judge Nancy Pomykal, for your review of our golf cart rules!

We provide the participants a list of clues, and places to go and then they bring back items, answers, and pictures for the prizes. There is a prize awarded for the winner of the scavenger hunt itself, of which Team POC won this year! Also, there is a prize awarded for the Golden Ticket, which brings in money for our participating businesses! This year, $4270 was spent at our participating businesses and the Killen Time Team (Jimmy, Amy, Hunter & Colton) won the Golden Ticket prize.

A huge thank you to those businesses that participated and donated raffle baskets: 5D Steakhouse, POC Rod & Gun, Loco Gringo BBQ, Sharkies, POC Liquor, POC Washateria, Clarks Inn, Smart Engine Repairs, Cathy’s, Sisters Gift Shop, J&H Shrimp, Jo Beth Creations, The Office Bar, Jeco’s and R&R Resort. Also, a huge thank you to those Chamber volunteers that help put this event on: Kacie Skalak, Michelle Davis, Troy Wygrys, Debbie Michalak, LaJune Pitonyak, Mary Wygrys and Amanda Wygrys.

This event is one of many ways we encourage you to shop local. This past year has been difficult for everyone, and our businesses have faced obstacles that we are totally unaware of which often leads to criticism. Donnie Klesel, owner of POC Rod and Gun recently pointed out in an open letter to friends and customers about the difficulties they are facing with product supply. He mentioned the frustrations customers feel when they are looking for an item and it is not in stock. This problem is not isolated to Donnie and his business but many others in town. Remember everyone is trying their best to accommodate customer needs while dealing with numerous obstacles. Be patient and support our local businesses!!!

Remember to refer to our webpage to keep up with local events www.portoconnorchamber.com.