Re: Port O’Connor’s Goat Man (featured in Dec. 14,2012 Issue)

It appears I finally can say, “mission accomplished”. My Grandpa Ray’s headstone was installed on Friday, November 16, 2012. Twenty three years, one month and twelve days since his death takes the adage of “better late than never” to a whole new level..

This has been an emotional journey for me that began a few months ago while I was doing a little genealogical research on the Internet. That is how I discovered a gravesite photo for my grandfather, Raymond Northcutt. Initially I felt shock, and sadness by what appeared to be an undignified grave, then incredible guilt that it had taken all these years to discover the conditions. I also felt a sense of betrayal that the grave marker my mother, Adelle Northcutt Boucher, purchased for her dad shortly after his death had not been delivered. I decided to complete the mission she started.

It was during this quest that I discovered the incredible kindness and generosity of the the people in my grandfather’s adopted hometown of Port O’Connor, Texas.

I owe a debt of gratitude to:

1.) Mr. Clifton Baccus for photographing the gravesite and submitting the photo to the Findagrave.com website.

2.) The staff and volunteers at Findagrave who indexed the photo that allowed me to find it.

3.) Jamie Kinswater and the current owners of Richardson Colonial Funeral Home in Port Lavaca for providing the new headstone, although they had no obligation to do so because they did not own the business in 1989 when my mother made the purchase from the previous owners.

4.) Joyce Rhyne of the Dolphin Talk for this heartwarming article about my grandfather and her research on the “Goat Man” story from the Victoria Advocate. Grandpa Ray was a character who enjoyed entertaining any and all with his “large than life” stories.

5.) Bob Allen has my deepest debt of gratitude. It is only because of his herculean effort to locate and identify Grandpa Ray’s gravesite that allowed this chain of events to culminate in finally having it properly marked. His commitment to the Port O’Connor Cemetery is sincerely appreciated by me and no doubt by all the residents of your community.

Warmly, Vicki Noland

Dear Dolphin,

I have some exciting news to share with our community! Ms. Gloria Fric a.k.a. “The Dragon Lady” has very special 2013 calendars for sale.

Gloria took several fantastic pictures of the Warrior’s Weekend sand sculpture from last May. She created a calendar from the photos.

The calendars feature twelve different photographs of the giant American eagle created at last year’s Warrior’s Weekend. On the back of the calendars are answers to questions about the sculpture and Warrior’s Weekend.

The sand sculpture was created in honor of our wounded soldiers. It took 130 tons of sand (that’s five 18 wheelers full of sand) and stood 15 feet tall. Sixteen people worked on it for 14 days. The sand sculptors were from Victoria, Corpus and Austin, Leander and Port O’Connor, TX.

Selling these calendars will help raise funds to pay expenses to bring another Master Sculptor to POC. The Master Sculptor this year is coming all the way to POC from Canada and is a “World Champion” sculptor.

Needless to say, all monies raised will help defray the expenses for the entire sand sculptor team while they are here.

The calendars are $20.00 a piece. They can be ordered from Gloria Fric by calling 361-573-4940 or you can email Ms. Fric at thedragonlady2000@gmail.com.

If everyone in our area bought a calendar, the money raised to help these fine folks would be tremendous! I bought two. Gloria gave me several to sell. I have three left if anyone wants to stop by the office and pick up one.

Thanks, Dolphin. Your readers can check out Gloria Fric on You-Tube. Just look for the title “Many Hearts, Many Hands” . You can see how the team created the sand sculpture and how they feel about wounded soldiers.

Also, check out warrior’sweekend.org to see what Warrior’s Weekend is all about.

This year’s Warrior’s Weekend will be on May 17th & 18th 2013.

Let’s show Gloria & the Sand Sculpting team our support.

Sincerely,

Nancy Pomykal

Letters To The Editor:

As the Co-Chairmen of the Decorating Committee for the Christmas Luncheon of the POC Service Club, we want to thank the members who participated in our Trim the Tree Party in early December. We certainly enjoyed the camaraderie of each member who hung decorations on the trees and enjoyed both the Christmas music with the accompanying food.

And, to the two stalwart husbands, who braved the inclement weather to help us remove the exterior decorations and lights, a HUGE THANK YOU. We couldn’t have done it without you!

But, to our President, Janet Johnson, who has so kindly worked with us in our unusual ideas and plans for decorating the trees and the Community Center for the past four years, thanks for your support.

Sincerely,

Joyce Jordan & Sue Kubecka

The Dolphin welcomes letters from our readers on any subject that is of general interest to our audience. Letters should be 300 words or less (with exceptions at the Dolphin’s discretion). Letters reflect the opinion of the writer, and not that of Dolphin Talk staff, and we retain the right to determine suitability for publication. It is the policy of this newspaper to promote area interests: therefore, complaints against local businesses should be directed elsewhere. Letters must be signed and include day and evening phone numbers, which will not be published. Your name will be withheld upon request, but anonymous material will not be considered for publication.

Letters to the Dolphin:
Dolphin Talk, PO Box 777,
Port O’Connor, TX 77982
dolphin1@tisd.net