Picecles and his entourage at the final P.O.C.I.F.T., August, 2011.
As an avid reader of the Dolphin Talk I noticed that in the last issue, the upcoming fishing tournaments box did not list P.O.C.I.F.T., the ever popular Port O’Connor Invitational Fishing Tournament, which normally takes place the second weekend of August. That statement is actually a little ingenious on my part, in that I am an official of the tournament and member of the exclusive” executive committee“. I have been aware for a while that we weren’t going to be able to pull it off this year. I have participated in the tournament every year since 1994, and I truly regret that it won’t happen this year. It has always been a little unusual and not like any other fishing tournament that I know of. Actually it has been a little like the Marx brothers put on a fishing tournament and the script was written by Monty Python with Hunter Thompson as an advisor. So by way of explaining those T-shirts with “Piseceles is Coming” on the back I would like to share the history and philosophy behind the event.
The tournament was originally the brain child of my friend Leroy Taylor, and all that happened after can be blamed on him. In some seriousness nothing would have happened without his and his wife Joanne’s incredible dedication to the tournament. I cannot tell the number of hours that Leroy has devoted to planning, and phoning and e-mailing all the people involved in pulling off a two day fishing tournament with a parade. Everyone who has ever participated in the tournament, or enjoyed the parade, should thank Leroy and Joanne for their work.
The original tournament was first held in 1994 and consisted of some four boats fishing two days in August. It was held at Leroy’s house and to the best of my memory everyone put some money in a pot and the winner got the pot and was treated to dinner at Josie’s. Who the winner was no one knows any more, so the posting on the POCIFT shrine in Leroy’s yard has always listed it as “disputed“. A generally good time was had by all, and there was talk of doing it again. One lesson learned was that a tournament takes a lot of planning and it was agreed in a meeting of the “executive committee” (Leroy and myself) that we would not have any more cash prizes. We agreed that money tends to corrupt such occasions and we decided that only trophies would be given. That tended to dull down the testosterone level considerably and it also lead to participants that wanted to have fun more that getting compensated.
The second or official year was 1995. By this time I believe that there were actual invitations with a date and some sort of structure as to rules and prizes. The prizes were old bowling trophies, little league trophies, softball trophies or any other type of donated trophy that someone was keeping in their attic, decorated with plastic fish and other bric a brac from souvenir shops in Galveston. This started the long line of official POCIFT trophies which, much to their wives consternation, still grace mantles of tournament winners all over this end of Texas. The trophies were generally for the biggest red and trout and the biggest stringer as well as the famous “Hard Luck award” and the Ugliest Fish award. Over the years various awards have come and gone but the big three have always been the top prize. It was also at this time that the first hints of the Pisiceles character were formulated. (please note that the constant changes in spelling are part of the legend) Sometime during a long road trip to fish in the valley in late May, the idea of having a theme for the tournament was born. We decided on a mythical character named Pisicles who was a monk from an abbey deep in the Yucatan who would come to the tournament each year to bring “fishermans luck” to all who participated. That concept resulted in a processional in Leroy’ s yard at the end of the tournament, complete with Tiki torches and a robed figure of the good brother. That was all done before we adjourned to Josie’s for dinner and the presentation of the awards. As you can tell the drama of the Piscelces character was an integral part of the tournament from the beginning. The following year the “second official year” two more elements were added to the mix. The first was that it was determined that Pisecelees would bring with him a “sacred fish” which would be the bearer of the luck. The fish was a rather shopworn stuffed dolphin that was found in a garage in the Houston Heights. It was a little the worse for wear but it was on a plaque and it seemed totally appropriate to the character. The other factor was that a POCIFT shrine materialized in Leroy’s yard. The shrine was actually an eight foot high triptych which when opened up had a place for the mounted “sacred fish” as well as side boards to list the yearly winners. The shrine survives to this day, and may someday be listed as one of the great cultural features of Port O’Connor, a little like the Orange Show or the Beer Can House in Houston, or even the Rothko Chapel. With these elements in place the opportunity for real ceremony expanded. This was further elaborated upon by the first Pisceles, our friend Dean Eichelberger, who appeared in a large cape made of duck blind materials, holding a staff with a rubber red fish on it and a large hat. Dean made a speech at the shrine and presented the fish. It was all great fun and then we sat down to dinner. The award presentation was moved to Sunday at noon and everyone took their trophies and went home happy.
The next year the final element of the POCIFT tournament weekend was added when we decided to do a parade. The first parade was based on a memory of small town churches having a vacation bible school parade to announce the upcoming summer bible school. Generally it consisted of a dozen cars driving around town honking their horns with kids hanging out the windows yelling. Our first version fit this model fairly well. We had five trailered boats with a number of fisherman in the back throwing out touts. The touts were purchased in bulk at Academy and unfortunately the revelers threw nearly all of them in the first five minutes of the parade, my apologies to Alvins parking lot. Anyway the parade resulted in a lot of horn honking and bewildered looks from people on the route. The original parade had no set route and eventually ended at the fishing center where we met Pisicelees and then proceeded to the shrine with the fish.
This then became the pattern for all the official whoop de-do that was to follow. The next year we once again did a parade in the late evening. The parade was bigger by now and the route was pre-determined. However we had a mix up and wound up in a huge traffic snarl in Clarks parking lot. We got it straightened out just in time to meet Piceceles at the fishing center at dark. Pisceleces was ferried across the ICW in a small boat which nearly swamped several times before reaching the dock. But when the boat hove into view the crowd was treated to the site of Dean in the bow dressed like the Las Vegas Elvis. To this day Leroy and I both agree that the site of Dean in the bow of the boat is the closest either of us has ever come to hyperventilating from laughter. Once the boat made the dock in was loaded on the trailer and taken to the shrine. At the shrine Piceclees made a speech and presented the fish, and then the sounds of Desi Arnez singing “Babalu” resulted in a conga line around the shrine. It was glorious and the Babalu conga line became a tradition.
The basic idea of Pisceceles returning to Port O’Connor and arriving at the fishing center was the theme for the next few years. This involved getting him across the ICW while the parade wound its way around the town and then arriving at the fishing center around dark. This degree of precision and timing was somewhat taxing given the slap dash nature of the proceeding but it usually worked. There were long waits in the dark at the pier while the boat crew frantically tried to get the lights to work and other hazards to be dealt with, but overall it usually fell into place and we proceeded to the shrine in a slow procession. It should also be noted that about this time Pisececles morphed into Leroy, which meant it . was always Leroy in and elaborate costume of some sort. Also due to Leroys gift for planning surprises the boat was usually met by some sort of entertainment. One year it was Piscelces dressing in full Scottish regalia, kilt, sash, dirk and all accompanied by a band of bagpipers. Another year it was Mariachis with Piscelees in a large Sombrero ala Vincente Fernadez, and we should not forget the year that we marched in procession with the Fighting Sand Crab Band.
It was during this period that we realized that we needed a police escort to get us across Adams. For two years we just stopped traffic and hoped for the best. But it soon became apparent that we needed to be safe with all this merry making. So Leroy contacted the local sheriffs department and they graciously provided an escort to get us to the shrine. We cannot thank Sheriff Browning and his deputies enough for their help with the parades. We also should say that it would never have happened without the help of the Justice of the Peace Nancy Pomykal She has been a great supporter all these years, arranging and coordinating the support of the local government and the community organizations. She has been a member of the Pisceceles entourage, gracing the main float in full costume as well as being a leader in the conga line.
At this point it would be wise to chronicle the workings of the event. The first day of the tournament was Friday with a weigh in on Friday evening and dinner under the big tent in Leroy’s yard. The Friday night events were generally a windy speech by the Parliamentarian, and the announcing of last years winner with the installation of their boat name and year on the shrine. This was followed by a program by the KISS society, the official womens auxiliary of POCIFT. The KISS society was invented by Joanne Taylor and she and the other dignitaries wives supplied a program every year acknowledging Pisceceles and promoting the mission of the KISS Societies Saluria Bayou Chapter. Once the official rules of KISS were read, one of which was “fishing eight hours in rough water is crazy”, the participants danced “Chicken Dance” and the Queen of Kiss was crowned. Afterward we all adjourned for dinner under the tent. It should be noted that dinner was always good. Through the years Leroy always made certain that the food was well prepared and substantial. The Saturday night meal always consisted of fish contributed by the participants on Friday. A special thanks should go to Eloisa Newsom at Josie’s and to the late Jerry Nutt for the contribution of their time and talents.
The next day was Saturday and everyone fished and then made the weigh in by five o’clock. Then we all adjoined to decorate our boats for the parade. In the last ten years the marshaling of the boats took place at the elementary school parking lot. This involving getting everyone in line and then starting the parade from there. Once the big float with Piceceles was welcomed we would go back to the shrine in Leroy’s yard where the “sacred fish” was presented at the shrine, a speech was made by Picecles and the conga line sprang forth. Once the ceremony ended everyone got in line to eat and days festivities were brought to an end.
On Sunday everyone gathered for the announcement of the winners and the presentation of the trophies. Pictures of each team were taken, and the winner of the “Steve Hogan Compleat Angler Award” was announced. Steve was a dear friend to all of us and his death some twelve years ago was a shock. We decided to honor his memory with an award each year which paid tribute to his memory and honored the person that we felt best exemplified the values that we remembered him for. Once honored you got to sign your name in the book, The Compleate Angler by Issac Newton. The awarding of the prizes was generally a fun ceremony complete with speeches and picture taking. The prizes were the typical biggest stringer, largest red and trout , and then a “ Biggest Stringer Other” which was generally open to interpretation. However we realized this category was somewhat out of hand when someone turned in a stringer of hardheads, small sharks, one stingray and a number of beer cans. The solution to the problem resulted in the decree from the “executive committee” that henceforth you had to eat what you submitted if you wanted to win. Once the ceremony was over everyone proceeded to the tent for a brunch of boiled shrimp, fresh salads and other goodies. Then we took the tent down, broke everything else down and put it all up for the next year.
This then was the basic pattern of the tournament and the parade. As the years went by more refinements were made to the parade. It was determined that meeting at the fishing center was getting more and more crowded and that for the sake of congestion and safety a better place for Piscecles to appear would be the front beach. The first version of this plan resulted in us using Leroy’s boat decorated appropriately to bring Piscecles and his court to the beach in full costume and then for the whole crew to get to the beach to board the float for the parade. This all worked well in theory except for the fact that the tide was fairly well out and the participants had to wade some two hundred yards into the beach, slipping and sliding on the muddy bottom. This resulted in a procession which was intended to look like McArthur striding ashore at Luzon, but actually looked a lot more like Omaha Beach. Needless to say the muddy and exhausted retinue finally made it to the beach and the parade commenced, but not without muttering about a new route being found. It should also be added that thank goodness someone remembered to throw out the anchor which allowed us to find Leroy’s boat the next morning.
The new route was that Pisceles would appear on the pier and then board the float. This worked considerably better for all the retinue and also gave for more opportunity for more elaborate ceremonies. Consequently in the last few years the parade has become more and more glamorous. The theme of the parade generally was based on Pisceles travels and adventures through the preceding year. Subsequently there was Peisceles in Vegas, the wonderful world of Disney, old time Hollywood, and wonders of the world. These themes came complete with stage lighting, a sound system and slide show. With the elaborate staging and costumes it was a little like Busby Berkley came to Port O’Connor. The brightly lit Pisceles float and decorated boats, with costumed participants throwing beads and trinkets to the crowds in the twilight of the summer night, has been a part of the local summer scene for some time now. The parade has other facets which must be mentioned. One is the Coast Guard Honor Guard which has lead the parade for some time, another is the fire truck, and finally the dignitaries float which thanks to Nancy Pomykal has always been manned by anyone seeking or holding office in Calhoun County. All these things have added up to an event that has a certain amount of magic on a sultry summer night.
Alas however we have come to the end of the tournament. Time has taken its toll on all of us. The amount of work and sweat that it takes to pull off the event are tremendous and we aren’t getting any younger. It has been a glorious run. We had a great deal of fun and if we had any money left over, Leroy made sure that it was donated to the EMF, the new sport facility, or some other worthy cause in the community. We contributed fish to the Fisherman’s Chapel, and hopefully we cleaned up most of the mess we made. We gave everyone, particularly the kids, a great parade on a summer night, and we had a great time. We owe a huge debt of thanks to the people of Port O’Connor for allowing us to have so much fun. I don’t know of any other community along the coast that would put up with a fishing tournament with bowling trophies for prizes and dedicated to a fictional character who brings “fisherman’s luck” to the proceedings. So, finally a sincere thank you for putting up with us, or as a dear departed friend used to say when leaving a party, “If I have offended anyone here tonight I hope you will please tell your friends.”
Thanks.
Jack Spivey, Parliamentarian and member of the Executive Committee
The Dolphin thanks the P.O.C.I.F.T. for the years of entertainment it gave us and for their contributions to the Port O’Connor community.
