Maddi is a 1 year old boxer mix. She loves being with people and other dogs. A happy girl, that short bit of a tail wags her whole body!

 

Trypp is 9-10 month old Lab/Collie mix. A very gentle and happy guy, he loves everybody and will be a great family companion.

Mallory, a 6 month old Catalhoula/Basset mix, is doing well with leash training and is very good at fetching. She loves people and having her belly rubbed.

Margie is a unique and beautifully makred 6 month old Basset/Catahoula mix. A sweetheart with a great personality, she loves walking on a leash and playing fetch though she's still working on the "return it".

Come see Trypp, Maddi, Mallory, Margie, and all the other animals at the Port Lavaca Animal Shelter, 201 Stringham Drive (across from the rodeo arena), Monday through Saturday, 10 to 2, or call the Calhoun County Humane Society, 553-8916.
You can also view her and other animals ready for adoption on line at: www.calhouncountyhumanesociety.org
Thanks and we’ll be waiting for you!

Joel Zarate, Eric Jaramillo, Nick Mapes, EJ Olivarez

Seadrift Schools Walking Program Reaches 1,000 Marker and Beyond!
Seadrift students and Dow volunteers walk mile after mile “across America” to fitness and learning with the Seadrift Schools Walking Program hosted by Dow Seadrift Operations.  Every Thursday, DOW volunteers visit Seadrift School during lunch and help students get fit by monitoring students as they walk laps around the campus.  School personnel keep track of the laps and miles; in February they reached 1,000 miles!
This year the theme is “Walk Across America.”  As the laps and miles go by, they are correlated with actual miles to U.S. capitols.  Students started walking this year in Austin, TX and have walked from there to Baton Rouge, LA, Jackson, MS, Little Rock, AK, and Montgomery, AL.  Only 206 miles to make it to Tallahassee, FL!
The weather has prevented walking a few times this year – but the students love walking so much they start asking on Mondays to please let them walk on Thursday rain or shine!
Thank you to all the Dow volunteers, including Nick Mapes who is managing the program this year.  Volunteers at Dow look forward to walking many more miles this school year with Seadrift Schools.

Third grade students at Seadrift School have watched the complete life cycle of a butterfly.  After feeding some caterpillars, students were able to observe them forming their chrysalis.  After approximately a week, the butterflies emerged to the delight of the students. The students have been allowed to put fresh flowers in the habitat and feed the butterflies “nectar” (sugar water).

Seadrift School Kindergarten students enjoyed learning about the African grasslands in Science.

Kids 3rd through 5th grade participated in different sports and activities and helped raise funds for Seadrift Athletic program.

Pirates Athletics
On Thursday March 20th the Pirates and Lady Pirates of Seadrift competed in the Gobbler Relays in Cuero. We had some fantastic performances. Krislyn Key got 2nd in the 100 dash in 13.61. Jacob Gurrera got 5th place in the 100 dash and 4th in the 200 dash in a time of 27.66. Angel Chavez also placed in 2 events with a 2nd in the 400 and the 800. His 400 time was 1:03 and his 800 time was 2:28.44. Enrique Torres placed 3rd in the shot with a throw of 32’3  and 6th in the discus with a throw of 79’8”. Hector Morales placed 3rd in the 400 with a personal best of 1:01.46.
The Seadrift Pirates and Lady Pirates competed in the district meet in Victoria on Tuesday March 25th and Thursday March 27th.
We had some great finishes. We were proud of all their performances. For the boys 7th grade we have a district champ in the 800, Angel Chavez finished 1st in a time of 2:28 he also had a silver medal for the 400 dash. The 4×200 relay team which Chavez is a part of finished 5th. Others running the race were Daniel Martinez, Jairo Castillo, and Jacob Gurrera. Jacob also placed 5th in the 200 dash. Enrique Torres placed 3rd in both the shot put and discus. He also placed 6th in the 100 dash. Karley Gregory placed 3rd in high jump and Andrew Chavez placed 6th in discus. One more finisher for Seadrift was Alex Morales with a 6th place in the 1600. Great season Pirates!

     -Coach Kelly Lillge

Second grade students work hard practicing on Istation.

Second graders work together to build the different layers of the Rain Forest with their art work.

The Cat in the Hat at Seadrift School:

DATE: April 4, 2014 3:24:30 PM CDT

PORT O’CONNOR, Texas —  On Thursday evening members of the Unified Command met with residents of Calhoun County to update the community on progress of the spill response and to address any issues of concern.

Incident Commander Randal S. Ogryzdiak, Jimmy Martinez of the Texas General Land Office, and Jim Guidry, Vice-President of Kirby Inland Marine, Dr. Jonathan Huss of the Texas Department of Health Services, and Bob Haueter, representing U.S. Representative Blake Farenthold,  gave opening remarks which were followed by a question and answer session. Topics addressed include environmental impacts, the status oyster harvesting in area bays, wildlife impacts, employment opportunities and the possible duration of clean-up activities.

The meeting was arranged by the Port O’Connor Chamber of Commerce and Calhoun County Commissioners.

Approximately 200 local residents attended the 90 minute meeting. “Last night’s meeting was a good opportunity to hear the concerns of the community and to address those concerns face to face,” said Kirby’s Jim Guidry.  “We realize this incident has been a disruption and that people have genuine concerns about how it has, or may impact them.  We needed this time to hear their voices and to give them the facts about what we’re doing to protect the environment and their way of life.”

Unified Command officials have pledged to accelerate and improve communication with local residents, including providing additional outreach in Spanish.  The Texas Department of Health Services is re-releasing its English language fact sheet on algae-related bay closings and distributing it to area residents in Spanish.

Also on Thursday, response crews consisting of 465 clean-up contractors continued their work along impacted sections of Mustang and South Matagorda Islands and Padre Island National Seashore. A total of 188,850 pounds of oiled materials has now be collected from impacted shoreline, including 93,550 pounds from Matagorda Island, 90,775 pounds from Mustang Island and 4525 pounds from the Bob Hall pier area.

This morning, response teams began to stage light mechanical equipment onto South Matagorda to help expedite clean-up operations ahead of the expected migration of Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles which use the island for nesting grounds from April through July.  All response activities on these islands are being conducted with the highest sensitivity to the fragile environment while maximizing efforts to remove oiled sand and oiled debris.

Matagorda Island and the southeast Texas coastline are especially important to migrating birds.  This time of year is peak migration with a diversity of birds feeding on the shorelines and roosting in the dunes.  Unified Command has made the restoration of these beaches for the benefit of wildlife a top priority and are working closely with federal and state wildlife agencies.

Wildlife officials updated information on deceased birds and other wildlife on Friday morning.  In the Matagorda, Mustang and North Padre areas 77 deceased birds have been recovered.  Two birds were being stabilized at the rehabilitation facility in Port O’Connor, for ultimate transport to a similar facility in Baytown for additional treatment.  Locally, officials also report that 9 deceased dolphins and 8 sea turtles have also been recovered.

It is unclear whether these deaths are directly related to the oil.  Tests to make that determination will take several weeks. Throughout the day wildlife experts from Texas Parks and Wildlife and U.S. Fish and Wildlife were also engaged in monitoring Whooping Crane and other endangered species habitats.  There are no reports of impacts on these species.

Persons who observe any impacted wildlife should not attempt to capture or handle them but are urged to call 888-384-2000.

Residents, tourists and others who may observe tar balls are urged to refrain from attempting their own clean-up activities and are asked to call the National Response Center at 1-800-424-8802 to report the exact locations of any sightings.  Persons who may be physically impacted by the oil should take quick action to wash the affected area with soap and warm water. The public is discouraged from accessing Matagorda Island until the Unified Command announces that response operations are complete.

County and city officials, their Emergency Management Coordinators, and port officials and state agencies will continue to exchange information through daily stakeholder telephone briefings.

The Kirby Inland Marine claims line is available to persons who may have questions regarding personal impacts from the incident. The number is 855-276-1275. Please note that a previously published number is no longer operational.

For more information, contact the Matagorda Bay joint information center at 214-225-8007, or visit www.texascityYresponse.com.

Warrior’s Weekend VIII is upon us and again, true American heroes from all over the United States will be descending on Port O’Connor May 16-18th. Last year, Warrior’s Weekend brought in over 700 of these heroes for another great time provided by our volunteers and donors. The POC/Seadrift/Port Lavaca volunteers are a big part of what takes place during the event and we will be having a volunteer meeting on April 8th at 6:00 p.m. in POC at the First Baptist Church for all interested parties in the Calhoun County area. Those of you from anywhere in the area are invited to attend.

If you are new to the area and not familiar with Warrior’s Weekend, please go to our webpage, www.warriorsweekend.org. There are several ways to contribute including helping with the night fishing that will take place, helping at the docks, serving the heroes and, very importantly, taking heroes out fishing on Saturday, May 17th. We are very much in need of larger boats as many family members accompany our heroes—they are heroes, too—and we always need additional larger boats. But, we need all sizes. So, if you don’t have one, maybe you have a friend that does. Ask anyone who has taken these heroes out; they’ll tell you what an experience it is. You will then be given a boat captain’s bag with tickets to the barbecue supper/awards ceremony Saturday night as well as other items. It is an experience you won’t soon forget. This year we are asking boat owners to go to our website and sign up online. We are also in need of lodging for our heroes and families so please contact Bill Tigrett and let him know what accommodations you might have to offer. He can be reached at 361-983-2671.

Our main fundraiser of the year, the Muster, will be held in Victoria on April 5th and is quite a night. If you are interested in attending, sponsor tables are $500 each and include a rib eye steak dinner along including an open bar with seating for 8. You may contact me at 361-572-0001 for more information but hurry as we always sell out.

We hope to see you on April 8th at the meeting if not on the 5th at the Muster. But most certainly, please come and meet the heroes at Froggie’s on the morning of May 17th. Thanks to all who donate their time, bait, boats, lodging and dollars to our heroes. Always remember, that without these heroes and those who went before them, we would not be enjoying the lives we do. This is your opportunity to thank these true American heroes in person.

Ron Kocian, President
Warrior’s Weekend