The other day my work’s A/C conked out, meaning I spent about thirteen hours in ninety degree heat with stale air, on no sleep no less.

From this day in the literal sweat box I got a warm weather cold, which are seemingly odder then the ones you get in the Winter because they seem so incongruous and out of place.

However, as I go through today, trying to tie up a couple of writing loose ends before I hit the grindstone again tomorrow, I have learned that besides the sniffling and sneezing, colds can actually be a blessing in disguise, especially if you do not have to work.

Before you start throwing those tomatoes and cabbages let me explain.

Before I wrote about the modern world and how it seems to whiz by in a rush of self importance, giving many of us no time to see the small things in life. TV shows go unwatched, books unread and the simple act of quiet self reflection disappears into the ether.

However, in between the coughs and bouts of sleepiness this cold has allowed me to sit back and take stock, slowing down the rush is a common feature of having a viral illness because in reality despite mom’s chicken soup and orange juice, the most common treatment for a cold is rest.

Now, unlike many I cannot sleep all day and night, it would drive me mad to see a day pass in such a way unless really necessary so I found that the cold gave me some much needed down time to finish a book I kept putting off and give some real thought to some ideas for future projects.

Of course, these ideas were punctuated from the coughs that tried to expel this unwanted visitor in my body but uncomfortably aside, when you are laying prone and your body is inactive you mind picks up the slack.

Many of us may have memories of curling up on the couch with our colds, something we might say we never have time to do in the busy work week. Other may find themselves watching a marathon of that show they have always been meaning to catch up on for the past six months, an enjoyable task put off by a busy home and work life.

This is not meant to demean the mild body aches, sniffles and general discomfort brought on by a cold or similar ailment, but rather a testament to the fact that even bad things have their good points.

Do not get me wrong I will be happier when the cold goes away and allows me to continue n with my daily life without it’s intrusions, but like long gone memories of rainy days activity’s as a kid, it may have a few little benefits as well.

If you can see them through sneezing.

W A and Veronica Dworaczyk Henderson of Seadrift, Texas Celebrated their 60th Anniversary with a Dinner at Barketts. The event was hosted by their Children.

W A and Veronica graduated from Port Lavaca High School in 1953 and were Married May 2, 1954 at Our Lady of the Gulf Catholic Church, with Father Decker officiating the ceremony.

The children of the couple, along with their spouses are: Cyndi and husband Bob Kuhn, Melinda and husband Tom Kerzee, Michelle and husband Gary Adams, and Alan Henderson and wife Sheree Key Henderson.

Their grandchildren are Joshua Penland, Adrian Adams, Quentin Henderson, Tristan Henderson, and Jerry Kerzee. Also two great grandchildren, Kennedy Penland and Carson Penland.

W A is retired from Union Carbide and Veronica is retired from Seaport Bank and Seadrift Pipeline.

Lots of volunteers helped to clean our area shores on Adopt-A-Beach day, April 26. At Magnolia Beach, 231 volunteers gathered up about 2,500 pounds of trash. Rhonda Cummins reports the most unusual items found were windshield wiper blades, shotgun shells and refrigerator parts.

The Lakeside 4-H Club cleaned the park at Swan Point. Connie Wooldridge reported that nine kids picked up about 75 pounds of trash and helped a tourist bring in a 42” drum.

A lot of volunteers were seen cleaning up King Fisher Beach, but totals were not available to us at press time.

At Point Comfort, the Hope High School Environmental Club cleaned up the beach and the Causeway.

At Boggy Nature Park in Port O’Connor, locals were greatly assisted by employees of Victoria Electric Cooperative.

VEC Employees

VEC Employees Become Beach Guardian of Boggy Nature Park

Victoria Electric Cooperative employees and their families participated in their first Adopt-a-Beach clean-up at the end of April as they recently applied to become the Beach Guardian of Boggy Nature Park. Beach guardianship of a location requires the group to adopt at least one mile of beach and participate in two statewide clean-ups and one group organized clean-up per year.

At the statewide spring clean-up Joe Wiatt, POC Chamber of Commerce Parks Management Representative, and other volunteers from the POC Chamber of Commerce kicked off the event and got things going for VEC’s Community Service Project leaders, Brittany Marsh and Alexa Cordova.

There were over 90 volunteers from VEC, POC Chamber of Commerce, local 4-H clubs, as well as many Calhoun County youth earning community service hours and it is estimated that over 700 pounds of trash was picked up.

VEC is very excited about their future in helping keep the beaches beautiful in a community they service. The next beach clean-ups will be held on June 21st and September 27th at Boggy Nature Park, if you are interested in volunteering at an event please contact Brittany or Alexa at 361-573-2428.

Cleaning up Boggy: Virgil Price, Joe Wiatt, Dain Whitworth, L’Roy Bell, Kenny Finster, Amanda Raby

Hope H.S. Environmental Club took part in the Adopt-A-Beach cleanup at Point Comfort beach at the Causeway. They have adopted this area and clean it up at least twice a year. They collected 18 bags of trash this last cleanup. -Laurie Weaver

Tuesday, May 27 is the day to vote in the Runoff Elections. Early voting is being held from May 19 through the 23 at the Calhoun County Courthouse.

Three positions are on the Democrat Ballot:

Susan Riley and Shelby Sebastian are running for County Clerk. On the ballot for U.S. Senator are Kesha Rogers and David Alamell. The office of Commissioner of Agriculture race is between Jim Hogan and Richard “Kinky” Friedman.

The Republican ballot is as follows:

Lieutenant Governor – David Dewhurst vs Dan Patrick; Attorney General – Dan Branch vs Ken Paxton; Commissioner of Agriculture – Tommy Merritt vs Sid Miller; Railroad Commissioner – Wayne Christian vs Ryan Sitton. Only those persons who did not vote in the Democratic Primary are eligible to vote in the Republican Runoff.

Because of low voter turnout in previous runoffs, the local Republican Party will hold elections at combined polling places listed below:

Commissioner Galvan’s Precinct #1 (voting precincts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6)  will all vote at the Heritage Center, corner of Austin St (Hwy 238) and Alcoa Drive, Port Lavaca.

Commissioner Lysey’s Precinct #2 (voting precincts 7, 8, 9, 10, 11,12, and 13) will all vote at Salem Lutheran Church, 2101 N. Virginia Street, Port Lavaca.

Commissioner Fritsch’s Precinct 3 (voting precincts 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19) will all vote at Bauer Community Center, 2300 N. Hwy 35, Port Lavaca.

Commissioner Finster’s Precinct #4 will have 3 polling places:

Voting Precincts 20, 21, 22, and 23 will all vote at Hatch Bend Country Club, 579 Meadowview Lane, Port Lavaca.

Precincts 24 (Seadrift) and 25 (Port O’Connor) will vote at their regular polling places.