“Proud to be a Port O’Connor Woman” ladies participating in The Parade That Never Was.

Dear Dolphin,

First I want to send a sincere “THANK YOU” for your last issue, honoring our Vietnam Veterans . Secondly, I want to share with your readers a heartwarming story about a group of “PROUD TO BE A PORT O’CONNOR WOMAN” ladies who had the good fortune and privilege to participate in the “ PARADE THAT NEVER WAS “ .

Our journey began in early September when Nickie Lowry, one of the Warrior’s Wives of Warrior’s Weekend invited our group to join the parade. We didn’t have to give it a lot of thought before we agreed to enter. Many in our group are “Baby Boomers” and extremely emotional and sentimental in regards to all veterans, especially our Vietnam Veterans. Many of us experienced first hand what happened to those men and women during those turbulent times in America. We totally agreed with the Warriors Weekend committee, the honor and welcome home was way over due.

Joy (a Port O’Connor Woman) and Charles ( Joy’s husband) Fryou offered their Shoalwater boat and SUV to pull it. Charles drove the SUV and did an awesome job as chauffeur and navigator. The boat is just perfect for decorating. I ordered 2 banners with a huge American flag background , with large letters that read “PORT O’CONNOR WOMEN HONOR & SALUTE OUR VIETNAM VETERANS!”. With an abundance of patriotic decorations left from the VIP float of the POCIFT parade, we managed to create a beautiful entry to show how we honor, salute and love our Vietnam Veterans.

Joy, Emma and I were excited about our entry. We wanted to show the world how much those veterans mean to us. Joy submitted our entry form and we were number 66 in the parade of more than 200 entries. The parade took place in downtown Victoria and started at 10:00 A.M. We had to be at the staging area by 8:30 A.M. , which meant we must leave Port O’Connor no later than 7:30 A.M. I posted invitations to all the P.O.C. women in our group to please join us for this most rewarding and honorable event.

As it turned out, October 13, 2012 was one of the busiest Saturdays of the year. In Port O’Connor, there was a 5-K run, in Port Lavaca, the Calhoun County Fair Parade and Russell Cain’s birthday golf bash and in Cuero, the annual Turkey fest. Many of our ladies were out of town, working , or had other commitments. We refused to drop out, even though our group was small, WE KNEW WE COULD MAKE IT HAPPEN. We sincerely felt that Port O’Connor needed to be represented. So…………………. Off we went!

Joy Fryou, Emma Raby Alice Reed, Claudine Covarrubias and I were a small group, but with great big hearts and spirits. We arrived in plenty of time to decorate and get prepared. What a team! We wore our “PROUD TO BE A PORT O’CONNOR WOMAN “ T-shirts and waved American flags with all our hearts.

There are no words to express the feelings we had as we progressed down Main street in Victoria. There must have been 10,000 people to watch and join the parade. Hundreds of Veterans from every branch of the service. There were some veterans from Korea and WWII as well. Hundreds of young soldiers , from every branch of the service came out to honor those brave men and women who had served in troubled times before them. We all started getting “goose-bumps” and teary-eyed before we actually started. Once we were in route, right there among the veterans, we were all crying. We had the opportunity to thank them and salute them. We told them we loved them. We got the warmest reception I have ever experienced! There were families who had lost loved ones in the war with pictures of their relative, knowing their loved ones were finally receiving the homecoming they so well deserved. When our entry arrived at the viewing stand where Ron and Sherry Kocian and several dignitaries were viewing and describing the entries, Ron thanked Us for being there. He also said he knew there were several other events scheduled on that day, and they appreciated us coming out. But, we all agreed we should THANK THE WARRIORS WEEKEND COMMITTEE for inviting us to take part in one of the most memorable events of a lifetime.

I could go on and on, but I realize you have limited space. I just want to Thank everyone who participated, and thank those who ALLOWED us to be there. We will never forget it. And……. Most important, THANK YOU AGAIN… VIETNAM VETERANS.

Nancy Pomykal

Proud to be a Port O'Connor Woman! Thank you, Veterans!