A fish fry and auction is being planned for Saturday, Sept. 6, 2014 to help Freda (Ragusin) Howard as she continues the ongoing battle for her health. Anyone who would like to assist in staging this benefit is asked to contact either Veronica Ragusin at 361-648-6583; Beverly Clifton at 361-220-1583; Dawn Ragusin at 361-550-2371; or Sylvia Martinez at 361-648-1954.

Fishermen are also urged to please donate your fresh fish filets for the fish fry. Please contact Billy Ragusin at Clark’s Dock.

A bank account has been opened in Freda’s name at First National Bank in Port O’Connor to help defray medical expenses in her fight against lung cancer. Checks should be made out to: FREDA HOWARD and can be dropped off at one of four branches in POC, Port Lavaca, Seadrift, or Victoria or mailed to: First National Bank, P.O. Box 399, Port O’Connor, TX 77982.

Get your Fight Freda Fight bracelet at First National Bank, Port O’Connor or at Captain G’s (8th & Adams, POC) for a $20 donation.

Thank You and God Bless!

July 28, 2014 will be the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I, also called the “Great War”, which lasted from July 28, 1914 to November 11, 1918. World War I was one of the deadliest wars in history, an estimated nine million soldiers were killed; the total killed including civilians exceeded fifteen million, which was the minimum estimate. The aftermath of World War I saw Europe forever changed and the seeds for World War II planted.

World War I initially started when Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were killed in the city of Sarajevo by a group of assassins from Serbia. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, and a chain reaction followed, with many countries, either by treaty obligations or by choice declared war on one another. The war drew in all the world’s great economic powers, which were assembled in two opposing alliances; the Allies and the Central Powers.

 

The countries involved on the “Allied” side included France, Russia, Italy, Serbia, Montenegro, Romania, Belgium, Greece, Portugal, Japan, the United States, and the British Empire. The British Empire at the time included the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, India, Newfoundland, New Zealand, and South Africa. The United States entered World War I on the Allied side in 1917, while Russia withdrew from the war by signing a peace treaty with Germany in 1917 after the Russian Revolution.

The “Central Powers” consisted of the countries of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire. Austria-Hungary consisted of modern day Austria, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, and the Ukraine. The Ottoman Empire consisted of modern day Turkey, Israel, Syria, Jordan, and other parts of the Middle East and Africa.

Ultimately, more than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilized in one of the largest wars in history. By the end of the war, which the Central Powers lost, four major imperial powers; Germany, Russia, Austro-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire, had major government changes or ceased to exist. The maps of Europe and Southwest Asia were redrawn, with several new nations created. The League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing a repeat of such a deadly conflict, but ultimately failed, contributing to the conditions for World War II some 20 years later.

World War I ushered in a great number of technical advances in warfare, including airplanes, poison gas, tanks, and the widespread use of machine guns. While a submarine had been used previously to sink a ship during the American Civil War, World War I saw the submarine make its mark on history as German submarines sank almost 5,000 Allied ships.
In upcoming issues of the Dolphin Talk I’ll be writing about the different weapons used, some of the large battles fought, United States involvement in World War I, and some of the soldiers who fought in World War I.

An extremely short meeting of the POC Service Club was held on Thursday, July 3, 2014 at the Community Center. Short, as this was the day before our Independence Day, and many of our members were either on vacation or preparing for house guests. Additionally, short because of the absence of our President, Janet Johnson.

In Janet’s absence, Vice President Carol Haverfield ably conducted the meeting which consisted of a discussion involving the space available in the County Barn for additional donations for our next Garage Sale in October. However, rumors to the contrary, after speaking with that hardworking member who sorts and boxes all donations, there is still SPACE available at this time. So, any individual who wishes to make a donation of no longer desired items but those in good condition, please contact either Chairman, Peggy Elliott 983-2165 or her helpers Kay Middleton, 983-2257 , Debbie Busby 512 914-9521 or Marie Hawes 983-2241. Either one of them will be available to meet you at the County Barn, the building adjacent to the Library, and arrange for disposition of your donations. And thank you for your assistance in the future; these donations of items are what make our Garage Sale so successful and create the monies needed for our various activities.

The membership was informed that our President, Janet Johnson had undergone emergency abdominal surgery on the previous week which removed her gall bladder and stopped a prevailing life-threatening intestinal infection. Sadly, Janet is spending her birthday in the hospital, but she is now been moved to a private room after spending several days in the ICU. She will remain in the hospital for another week; and hopefully, will be returning home for convalescence on or about the end of this month. As a stay in the hospital over your birthday or at any other time is not the best place to be for several weeks despite excellent care, and somewhat lonesome too, Janet will happily receive any cards or news that her friends would like to forward to her. Her home address is POB 193, POC 77982, and her daughter will be extremely pleased to forward your good wishes to her prior to her return home.

Sue Kubecka, Chairman of the Historical Book committee, had announced that she’d received an extraordinary photograph of the old red barn as located on Washington Street from a former resident. However, as this is just one of several photographs received, and many more are needed for our Book from our earlier residents and their friends, please search your old albums, boxes, and other places where a photo prior to Carla could be lurking. She will have the photos professionally copied and returned to your home, and if you’d like another copy of that photo, that can be arranged too. Please contact Sue at 361 798-0560 or pob 255 POC 77982 with any information you might have. And thanks so much in advance for your help in making this project a success.

The next meeting of the POC Service Club is scheduled for Thursday, August 7, 2014, at 10:00 a.m. in the Community Center. We welcome all interested women in this area who desire to be a part of the continuing changes throughout our community as propounded by our Club as well as other organizations. Contact Membership Chairman, Shirley Gordon at the Library, 983-4365, for more information. Hope to see all your smiling faces on the 7th!