Thank You

The family of Elvira Carabajal would like to thank you for your sympathy during our time of sorrow. Words cannot express how grateful we are for all of your kind words, food, money and beautiful flowers. We especially appreciate the time each of you took out of your schedules to simply be there for us. We are so blessed, that following her passing, we had the loving embraces of our family and friends to comfort us.

God called her home and she is now in her place in heaven. Although she is gone, we are left with our loving memories and these will live forever in our hearts.

The Family of Elvira “Tuffy” Carabajal

To All the Citizens of Port O’Connor

On Saturday, May 7th, there will be an important election for Municipal Bonds to fund important upgrades and expansion for the Port O’Connor Improvement District. This will spread out the funding to all approximately 3,300 taxpayer accounts instead of the home owners with water and sewer, which is only approximately 1,700. All property owners will eventually benefit from the improvements, So, why shouldn’t they help fund them?

The current and future needs of the district are available on the district’s Facebook page . This will cover the current needs and projected cost to the community.

All property owners with a homestead exemption and the ones with an additional over 65 exemption should see a reduction in their overall costs. Which is taxes and water rates combined. The new rate study shows a substantial difference in Municipal (Tax) Bonds and Municipal (Revenue) Bonds.

A copy of the rate study is available at Josies. Any questions can be asked on the Facebook page and will be answered by Chris Hill of Imagination Monkey.

Please vote on May 7th. We recommend a vote for the Municipal Tax Bonds.

Red and Nancy Childers

>Wow!
What a special birthday!

THANKS to all of you. In my 100 years, it was the best birthday I ever had. Your efforts with cakes, candies, dinners, gifts, plants, visits, flowers, hugs, smiles, best wishes and cards (over 150) let me know how fortunate I am to know all of you – so THANKS AGAIN from a very happy lady.

Grace Stone

Dear Editor,

I try not to make my articles personal in nature, so I am writing this letter to share a very personal thank you to an amazing group of people. This group, and some who were not present for the picture worked, behind the scenes this weekend to haul, sort, set up and price all of the community garage sale items. They logged more than 400 man hours, hauled untold tons of donations from houses, cars, trailers, barns and storage units to the community center pavilion where they then unpacked, cleaned, sorted, priced and displayed them for the sale.

Not one person who volunteered this year has a child or grandchild receiving a scholarship. None of them are benefitting directly from the many projects the garage sale proceeds fund. They work because they care, because they love our community, because they want to help and because they have a heart for others.

They were dirty, (okay, really dirty!) tired, sore, some were cut and bruised, they missed meals, missed family time and missed other events to be a part of what the Service Club was doing. They laughed, and talked and joked and cried. They shared their hearts and their personal stories with each other as they worked. And after two days of unpaid hard labor they arrived before 7AM Saturday morning with homebaked goodies they made after their working Thursday and Friday; they put on a huge smile and greeted shoppers, added prices, made change and carried purchases to the cars of those who needed help.

After the sale, at 2 PM, when everyone else left the sale and went home to rest, these same volunteers sorted and repacked all the leftover items to donate to charity, broke down tables and clothes racks, displays and shoe shelves, loaded these on trailers and stored them for use at the next garage sale. They bagged trash, swept, stacked and cleaned so the pavilion was ready for the next event.

Finally, after the labor of unselfish love was finished, guess what many of them did. They sat on the bench or folding chair near the edges of the now cleaned pavilion, rubbed their sore tired feet, shared a cool drink and laughed together. Tired as they were they took time to hug each other, thank each other, recognize the great work of this year’s garage sale chairs, Linda and Larry Orrick, and close the day together.

My sweet Daddy used to say “Who you are is who you are when no one is lookin’!” Well, I was looking. I saw these great people and their generous gift of themselves. I am grateful beyond expression for each of them and the chance I have to be part of their company. When no one is looking they are as kind and generous and giving as anyone you will ever meet. And they are working hard to make this place a home to be proud of.

As I try to be grateful out loud this year, I am saying Thank You Service Club members and Volunteers, 4H members, husbands, brothers, and others. I appreciate you and you renew my belief that people will give of themselves for nothing but the chance to help another. I hope you all have a good nap, a great meal and a full heart as you rest up from your hard work. And I for one am counting on you for the next big project because now I know, you do good work!

With Blessings and Sincere Thankfulness;
Kelly Gee

Port O’Connor Community Service Club
Some of the members who worked setting up the garage sale.

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
P.O. Box 777
Port O’Connor, TX 77982
dolphin1@tisd.net