Saturday, April 9th was the date of our Spring Garage Sale and many members came to work on Thursday following our meeting and returned on both Friday and Saturday. And, as usual, we were aided by our wonderfully caring and energetic husbands who are always there with the necessary transportation and able hands to load and unload furniture and sporting goods and box after box. But, somehow, Club members and their husbands were also helped by several people; many of whom have no affiliation with the Port O’Connor Service Club and were just being of assistance. The husband of a new member devoted his energies toward 3 fun-filled days as “Johnny on the Spot”. A huge thank you to Andy Westling. Additionally, one very energetic man was also there lending his assistance each day; Jerry Tucker is no stranger to our community but an always welcome visitor. He said that he was glad to help as he had nothing else to do those days. And we all know that when an activity of the Service Club is taking place, we find both Pat and Bob Irwin ready to help as well as Eric Escobar of Port Lavaca. Eric will be entering college in the fall, but just wanted to work one more Sale. Anna Gilley, our newest member, received her baptism by fire working each day. And my personal gratitude to Joyce Rhyne who somehow translated my strange prose to our ad that made sense and attracted the eye of the reader.
At 8:00 a.m. the exterior ribbon was removed around the Pavilion and many eager shoppers entered to find their special item as they moved around fully loaded table after table to look, and shop they did. Then, completing their list of wanted items, they returned to the Cash Out table as manned by both Janet Johnson, President and member Debbie LeBoeuf. Other members were on the floor to provide necessary information to all the shoppers concerning price and size.
At the end of the Pavilion shoppers with a sweet tooth found the Bake Sale in process, but they had to hurry to make certain their special dessert was still available. Under the repeated chairmanship of Sally Ragusin, many cakes and cookies were available for purchase. But those items literally flew off the shelves to the delight of their purchasers who caught them!
Returning once again were representatives of The Harbor of Port Lavaca who created an oasis for the young set midst the chaos of the Sale. These talented women offered to the children a choice of different styles of face painting and several games to occupy their time.
Three hard days of work ended late Saturday afternoon, but those days were made much easier due to the capable chairmanship of the Sale by Biddie Hileman. Not only was she there early in the mornings providing soft drinks and sweet nibbles (energy raisers) for the workers, but she made certain that the very smallest detail was attended to.
A round of applause to both Biddie Hileman and Sally Ragusin for their efforts; “We couldn’t have done it without you”!
The next meeting of the Service Club will be Thursday, May 5th at 10:00 a.m. and will be held in the back room of the Community Center. If any female member of this Community desires to be involved with working towards the betterment of our area, please consider joining the Service Club. We welcome all interested women at any time at our meetings; contact Shirley Gordon, Membership Chairman, 983-4365 or Janet Johnson, President, 983-4733 for further information. After all, you just may meet your neighbor here!
