Get Ready Port O Connor, it seems like we might have a little bit of fall in the air. I know Fall Schedules are busy and bustling. Kids are back in school, and holidays are just around the corner. That means the POC Community Service Club returns to meeting twice monthly. The 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month at 10 AM in the small room of the Community Center you will find the club organizing and planning, and as always, welcoming interested new members. Come and check us out. At our first September meeting we had our annual election of officers, and they have gotten right to work. Congratulations to Marie Hawes, President, Carol Haverfield, Vice President, Diane Cooley, Secretary, Annette Leach, Treasurer, and Janet Johnson, Parliamentarian on their election to leadership of this dynamic group of women. This new slate of officers hit the floor running with all that is coming up for our club and community. After completing interest surveys and discussions of our calendar, committee chairwomen were designated and members volunteered for specific tasks and events. Happenings big and small were posted to the calendar and some very special plans were laid for service projects and community happenings coming up soon.
The first and very exciting undertaking is the biannual Service Club Community Garage Sale. If you have not cleaned out your closets and sheds yet, you better hurry because it is almost here. The club will still take your quality donations, and invites you to join in this fun and functional community event. Saturday, November 8th from 8am to 3 pm there will be the most amazing assortment of treasures, trinkets and undiscovered curiosities available for sale at the Community Center Pavilion. If you have never been to one of these epic sales, you are in for a treat. Clothing and housewares, décor and sports equipment, furniture and hardware will be priced to move. All proceeds from the garage sale will support the club’s scholarship and service projects. The array of home baked goodies included in the bake sale is always impressive and delicious. In an effort to support our own, this years’ bake sale has been expressly designated to help our past president Janet Johnson with recent overwhelming medical expenses. The famous $1 Bag Sale will begin at 1 PM. Club Cookbooks will be available at the sale, and some editions are getting close to becoming unavailable, so get yours while they last.
With hardly a meeting to spare, the Service Club will follow with their annual Senior Christmas Luncheon on Friday, December 5th at the POC Community Center. While some traditions such as angelic music by our school children and delicious homemade desserts prepared and served by club members will be joyfully celebrated, there are some special surprises and new treats in store for our hometown seniors. This Coastal Christmas Celebration is going to extra special; so you won’t want to miss it!
The Service Club continues to be active in all areas of our community. They have provided money to each POC Elementary teacher for back to school purchases, filled Halloween goodie bags for our local students, donated to the quickly coming Community Thanksgiving Baskets, made memorial gifts to a number of local agencies and causes, provided to-go lunch to local shut-ins and recovering neighbors, pitched in with other community groups and projects such as Fight Freda! Fundraiser, POC Night Out, Weekly Senior Lunch, Grand Slam, San Antonio Bay Day, Volunteer Fire Department Fundraiser, and other efforts to enrich our community.
The Service Club is excitedly looking forward to the Election/Voting Day, Chili and Gumbo Cook-off benefiting Friends of the Library, our annual Toy Run and Boat Parade, Thanksgiving and Christmas Basket Delivery, Angel Tree Outreach and other things that make our little end of the road a special place.
So, until next time, be safe, live simply, love openly, forgive generously and remember what the great philosopher Mother Theresa says, “We are all called to be a cup of water or a piece of bread, a hand of help or a voice of love to someone. We must open our eyes to see the needs around us.”