A Few Fish Despite the Cold in Army Hole
by Mrs. Penny Young
Port Lavaca Wave, January 1959
from the collection of Mrs. R.H. Harrison
PORT O’CONNOR- A cold norther that hit Port O’Connor Saturday afternoon resulted in frozen pipes and water pumps throughout the town and temperatures were recorded as low as 21 degrees early Sunday morning. The anti-freeze in town was soon sold out, and Sgt. Elliott who runs the local Gulf Service Station reported that he had to go in town to replenish his stock before noon on Sunday.
A few brave souls dared the winds and cold and tried their luck at fishing in the Army Hole, with good results, if the fish brought in can be compared to the cold toes and fingers and the resultant runny noses. Prior to the cold spell, there was quite a run of intestinal flu cases around town, mainly effecting younger children.
Of these, probably the most serious was Steven Rankin, 4 year old son of Mr. and Mrs. Jim Rankin, who was in the Port Lavaca hospital for four days under 24 hour nursing surveillance. Stevie was brought home on New Year’s Eve and is now up around and doing fine. Also sick were four of the Mayhew children, three of the Earl Jones children, the Wilkinson children and numerous others.
New Year’s Eve was celebrated by the townspeople in various ways, although the traditional fire crackers, gun shooting and horn blowing was pretty much the same in all parts of town. A party for the younger children was held at Claude Cede’s Snack Shack and a bar-b-que was held at the Daniel and Dumas Seafoods.
Attending the bar-b-que were Mr. and Mrs. Pat Zefero and daughters of Victoria, Sgt. and Mrs. Bill Young and son, Mr. and Mrs. Tony Apostalo and daughters, Mr. and Mrs. Jim Rankin, Mr. and Mrs. Bill Atkins and son of Port Lavaca, Mr. and Mrs. Alex Apostalo, Mr. and Mrs. Bill Strain, Mr. and Mrs. Tony Apostalo, Airman and Mrs. O’Neal and daughter, and Jimmy Apostalo.
An open house and dancing was also held at Stryker’s Cafe and a large number of people attended this gathering at the only place in town which was open for the coming of 1959. Mrs. R.B. Madden, Mrs. C.W. Goode, Mesdames Phenie and Gussie Hawes watched the old year out while playing canasta at the home of Mrs. Gussie Hawes. At midnight, the ladies stopped the game long enough to welcome in the New Year by shooting a few fire works and then continued playing until well into 1959. Mrs. Terry Carroll served hot doughnuts and tea to the partiers.
A large number of local people and their friends attended a New year’s dance at the Westerner in Victoria. Among these were Mrs. Rita Breedan, Billy Ragusin, Ronnie Brown, Mr. Tom Gould, Mr. Eddie Gonzales Jr., Misses Cecelia, Rosalie and Mary Evea Saenz, all of Port O’Connor. Mr. and Mrs. J.D. Ramos and family of Houston, who were visiting Mrs. Lola Ramos over the New Year’s holidays, also attended the dance, and visitors from Port Isabelle who attended were Miss Mary Helen Ragusin, Miss Catherine Ann Ragusin, the Misses Jesse, Virginia Lee and Leslie Stringo and Jeff Lang.
The St. Joseph Altar Society held their annual banquet on Sunday night at the Parish Hall. The banquet menu consisted of baked ham, salads, green beans, sweet potatoes, relishes, pie and coffee. Those attending the outing were Mr. and Mrs. Sam Day, Mr. and Mrs. Pat Hawes, Mr. and Mrs. Boots Striedel, Mr. and Mrs. Allan Berger, Mr. and Mrs. Buck Hawes, Willard Day, Mr. and Mrs. P.B. Munsch, Mesdames Phenie and Gussie Hawes, Miss Barbara Munsch, Mr. and Mrs. Leslie McDonald, Mrs. C.W. Goode, C.W. O. and Mrs. Terry Carroll of Panama City, Florida, Father Jerome Burnet of Port Lavaca and Father Cyril Kuelme of San Antonio. After dinner, the men as well as the ladies enjoyed several games of dominoes and “42”.