Pictured are the Board of Directors and some officers of First National Bank in Port Lavaca: (left to right): Jack Wu Board Member, J. C. Melcher Jr. Board Member, Rayburn Haynie Board Member, Kenneth E Clark Board Member, W.H. Bauer Jr. Chairman of the Board, Blan Willoughby Board Member, Terry Cullen President, Waymon Boyd Board Member, Fred Knipling Board Member and John Stevenson Victoria Branch Manager.

First National Bank of Port Lavaca opened its Victoria branch in February in a temporary location. The ground breaking ceremony for the new building was held Wednesday, April 9, and construction is expected to be completed at the end of October this year. The contractor is Weaver and Jacobs of Cuero.

The bank will have 4,907 square feet with four drive-in lanes and a drive-up ATM.

Both locations are at the intersection of Main and Mockingbird. The Victoria Branch phone number is 361-579-7911.

Kaitlyn Dippel and Randall Nelson were selected as representatives from Victoria Electric Cooperative’s youth to participate in the 2014 Government-in-Action Youth Tour in Washington, D.C. on June 12-20. Congratulations to Kaitlyn and Randall on this exciting opportunity.

Kaitlyn and Randall of Victoria were selected to participate in the Electric Cooperative Youth Tour program in Washington, D.C. sponsored by Victoria Electric Cooperative. They will spend a week in Washington, D.C., with a number of their peers from all over the state of Texas.

Each year in June, an action-filled week provides high school students opportunities to learn first-hand what it is like to be involved in politics, community service and today’s pressing issues in the energy industry. Students will meet their elected representatives in the U.S. House and Senate, see historic sites, and meet nearly 1,500 students from across the country who participated in their state’s Youth Tour program.

The Electric Cooperative Youth Tour has been a joint effort of local electric co-ops, such as Victoria Electric Cooperative, their statewide Texas Electric Cooperative (TEC) association, and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), based in Arlington, Va., for more than 45 years.

In addition to taking in the sights of the nation’s capital, all the state groups will convene for National inspirational speakers. Students will also visit the Supreme Court and Library of Congress, Washington National Cathedral, Arlington National Cemetery, George Washington’s home at Mount Vernon, Smithsonian Institution and Holocaust Memorial Museum, Jefferson, Lincoln and Franklin Delano Roosevelt memorials, Vietnam, World War II and Korean memorials, Washington Monument, Performance of the “Lion King” at Kennedy Center, Potomac River Dinner Boat Cruise and much more.

Since 1964, the nation’s cooperative electric utilities have sponsored more than 40,000 high school juniors and seniors for visits to their U.S. congressional delegations, energy and grassroots government education sessions, and sightseeing in Washington. NRECA is the national service organization representing the nation’s more than 900 consumer-owned, not-for-profit electric cooperatives, which provide electric service to 42 million people in 47 states.

For more information about the Electric Cooperative Youth Tour Program, please visit http://www.youthtour.coop.

Given the way the news always talks about the bad things happening in our world, we really are getting better in some areas.. It might take a little historical joggling of our memories but we do have evidence of progress in certain knowledge. Most of us remember the stories about Galileo. He was a famous scientist way back in the 1600s.

We might even remember that he got in trouble with the authorities of those days because he promoted the Copernican idea of earth orbiting the Sun rather than the Sun rotating around the earth. There were no public polls to learn what people believed the authorities had the final say about such things, However, I would venture that most thought about sunrise and sunset they meant the sun rose, moved across the sky, and then set. It was the suns movement not the earth’s rotation. It still looks that way.

Interestingly enough a recent poll by the National Science Foundation here in the USA found that something like one out of four of the people still thinks the Sun rotates the Earth. So in the last 400 years the scientists have converted about 75 % of the people to their view. Galileo was certainly ahead of his time.

However, the arguments about the heavens and the planets are still going strong. There is a lot for science to settle about the Solar systems mysteries.. They discovered the planet Pluto back in 1930. Then in 2006 it was decided it was not a planet but a dwarf planet. Here I thought Pluto was one of the Disney dogs, oh well. Picking on something just because of its size doesn’t seem politically correct but is neither a dog nor a planet so I guess it’s OK.

The original meaning of planets was wandering star. That is because if you can figure out which ones of the lights in the night sky are planets you can see them actually move, over time, as they wander across the sky. Sometimes they actually appear to move backwards but it is not reverse it is just us moving faster like when you pass a pedestrian in your car. Because they are so far away we aren’t aware of our movement.

Sedna was discovered in 2003 and it also orbits the sun. Then just recently they discovered a new orbiting thing whose scientific name if VP-113 but because of the VP they call it Biden. Who knew those astronomers had a sense of humor, but then he is kinda far out just like those new things..

One interesting thing about their orbits is how vastly different than ours they are. Their orbits take several thousand of our years to go around the sun. Some astronomers have put the pencil to it and they have calculated an implication from those orbits of an earth size but denser planet out there somewhere. It could explain why the new orbits are so different. In this age who says we haven’t much left to discover?

PORT O’CONNOR – Cecilia Ann Gonzales, 71, of Port O’Connor, passed away on Friday, March 28, 2014. She was born September 4, 1942 in Port O’Connor to the late Manuel Saenz Sr. and Aurelia “Rita” Ramos Breedan. She married Edward Gonzales Jr. on November 26, 1960 in Port O’Connor.

She is survived by her sons, Timothy (Kimberley) and Paul (Glenda) Gonzales; 6 grandchildren, Timothy Jr., Brian, Chris, Tabitha, Alisha, and Abygail Gonzales; and five great-grandchildren, Joe, Gordy, Ethan, Dante, and Mia.

She is preceded in death by her parents; husband; brother; and two sisters.

A Celebration of Life was held April 3, 2014 at Port O’Connor Cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made to Port O’Connor Fire & E.M.S.

Port O’Connor – Paul William Apostalo Sr., 82, left peacefully on March 21, 2014 after his long, courageous battle with cancer since 2002. His devoted, loving wife of 47 years was at his side. He was born in Ingleside, TX on May 17, 1931 to the late Alex Apostalo, Sr. and Matilda (Ragusin) Apostalo. He was a Catholic and a member of St. Joseph’s Church in Port O’Connor, TX. He served in the U.S. Coast Guard and was a retired Maintenance Manager with Continental Grain Co. after 30 years. He had been a hard worker all his life. After retirement he built and managed The cottages in Port O’Connor.

He is survived by his wife, Sara Apostalo; daughters, Carmine and Celeste; step-son, Kenneth Alan; brother, Roy Apostalo and Frank Apostalo; and numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews and dear friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents; son, Paul Apostalo Jr.; step-daughter, Pamela; sisters, Stella and Ruby and brothers, Tony, Alex Jr., Jimmy, E.J. and Henry.

A Graveside Service with Military Honors under the auspices of the Calhoun County Veterans Joint Honor Guard was held at Port O’Connor Cemetery on March 24, 2014.