Leland Carriles makes pumpkins for the Fair at Port O'Connor School.

Seadrift PreK students planted pumpkin seeds to see if they could grow pumpkins and observe the life cycle:

Students in Mrs. Anderson’s first grade class and Mrs. Ochoa’s fifth grade writing class worked together to create acrostic poems about swimming at the beach or at the pool.  The older students offered suggestions and the younger students wrote the poems.

Showing off their creative and artistic work are: Front Row: McKenna Guevara, Antonio Gloria, Aiden McClelland, Maddix Delgado Back Row: Principal Mrs O'Donnell, Dylon Schumann, Esmeralda Garcia, Brenley Walters and McKaelyn Carriles

Examples of Acrostic Poems

Purple swim suit

Oval pool

Oily sunscreen

Laughter

by Robbie Lynn Mayo

Beautiful water

Eating watermelon

Amazing creatures

Catching crabs

Hooks for fishing

by McKenna Guevara

New Pier in Seadrift

Discovering Seadrift by Jasmine Gordon

The sun was in full force and the mosquitoes on duty as I headed south on 238. I arrived in Seadrift, turned right on 9th Street and headed towards Bay Avenue. I was excited to see the new pier which recently opened. The pier stands at 300 feet plus a 12 foot wide T-Head making the length 312 feet; the T-head is 50 feet long. It was “temporarily” opened the Saturday before Labor Day.

“A gate was placed to keep people off before it was temporarily opened and currently has remained open 24 x 7. There are no plans to restrict hours once it is formally completed and accepted by the County and then the City,” Mayor Elmer Deforest commented. “It is possible that the pier may be closed for follow-up work by the contractor resulting from inspections and deficiencies found regarding loose screws and bolts which have been reported.”

The Seadrift pier and adjoining walkways is being funded under the Coastal Impact Assistance Program (CIAP), Grant Award No. F12AF01246, issued to Calhoun County by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “There was no match required with this grant – that is very rare,” said Precinct 4 County Commissioner Kenny Finster. The total amount which was awarded via the grant to the county was $434,385. The commissioner has been involved from the beginning. “I’m very passionate about this project. It has been a great collaboration between all involved; the judge, county, city council, engineers, contractors, subcontractors.”

The project has been in the works since 2008; the project was approved in 2010, however the county did not receive the grant until October 2012. At that point, Urban Engineering was hired to handle the construction documents.

Shirley & Sons Construction Company was awarded the winning bid for the construction. The company also built the Sanctuary in Port O’Connor. There were only two bids on this project; Shirley & Sons was substantially less than anticipated allowing for additional amenities such as lighting, parking, benches and sidewalks to be added. Hayes Electric installed the lighting on the pier. In addition, all is ADA compliant. Construction began shortly after Memorial Day and this year’s annual Texas Water Safari and Shrimpfest.

“I’m very pleased to see projects like this,” said Grant Consultant Kathy Smartt, “that have such a positive impact on the community.” Smartt was in charge of the state CIAP program for numerous years. She is very knowledgeable and familiar with the intricacies of the grant and has worked with multiple counties.

The City does not control nor own the pier at this time – until formally accepted by the County from the contractor and then transferred to the City. “We hope to have a ceremony at that point,” Finster said. Until then, if the Contractor wishes to close the pier they have control of it since it has not been formally accepted by the County.

“We also plan to put up educational signage, about Seadrift’s history, birds, fish and the area,” said Smartt.

The commissioner took his family out to the pier on Labor Day weekend, “There must of been at least fifty people out there, I only knew two of them,” he said laughing. “Many of the older fishermen who don’t fish on their boats anymore are heading out there in the evenings. This is definitely a feel-good project.”

The pier is stout built with stainless steel bolts; the city hopes to have possible future improvements to it. If you haven’t made it down to the bayfront – put it on your agenda. To view the progress of the pier search on Facebook: Calhoun County Pct. 4 – Seadrift Pier Project.

Till next time.

Labor Day at Port O’Connor Beach

What an awesome Summer, 2013! Your Chamber directors, members and even ones that are not in our local chamber deserve a huge pat on the back. This group went above and beyond to represent our great little town and help us achieve a dream that we had when we came aboard in the beginning of 2013.Our goal was to work towards making some changes at King Fisher Beach—with one of the goals being a new pavilion that could be used by everyone. We also wanted to host some events in a “beachy” setting.

The Chamber of Commerce was approached by Russell Cain Real Estate and POC Rentals with a Labor Day weekend idea: Russell and Brenda wanted to give something back to POC. Russell told us that he wanted to have Larry Joe Taylor on the beach in Port O’Connor. He said we could make a festival (in which the Chamber could make some money) or just have a music on the beach type event. The Chamber directors met and voted to make it a festival. It grew from there—however without everyone’s help, suggestions and ideas, it would not have been the huge successful event that it was!

Without the folks that sent in sponsorship money and the ones who donated equipment and their time, we would not have been able to do this event successfully.

We have tried very hard to compile a list of folks we want to THANK and hope we do not forget one person in any way.

Thanks for a Successful Labor Day Beach Bash!

Sponsors:
Russell Cain Real Estate
Port O’Connor Rentals
JMI
OWI
Mechanical Man
Island Liquor
Hartman Distributing Co.
Warrior Supply,Inc.
Killebrew Inc.
Port Lavaca Auto Group
Funk it ! Fish
Palm Tree Custom Builders
Port O’Connor Equipment Rental
Coastline Trailer Manufacturing
Lone Star Boat Storage
Coastal Bend Marine
Rain King,Inc.
Barbara Briggs
1st National Bank of Port Lavaca
KMKS Hot Country 102.5
Vinson RV Park
Sonny’s Marine
Bill Pekar & The Rainey Brothers
Nick Vezosa & the Noble Union
Treasure Chest
POC Rods
Republic Waste Management
Ozarka Spring Water
Feel’n Lucky Charter Service
Josie’s Mexican Restraunt
Kings Rental

Shrimp for boil donors:
Boathouse Bait
Fishing Center
Froggie’s Bait
Jesse Stringo
Linda T’s
Cathy’s Restaurant
Beacon 44 Sfd. Mkt.
Clark’s Seafood

T-Shirt Designer
Hunter Junek

Helpers & Workers
Norman Teel
Brian Webb
Lori Thomas
Lorri Turner
Helpers & Workers, continued…
Kim Jones
Connie Barrinettes
Freda Howard
Jerry Lichac
Sledge Parker
Darla Parker
Michelle Davis
Doug Walker Sr.
Bernice Shell
Jack Shell
Johnny Williams
Linda Tippit
Andy Wall
Danielle Wall
Kimberly Bennet
Jim Vuichard
Riley Hernandez
Lauren Zwereschke
Pat Hatcher
Trish Fielder
Jeremy Thumann
Skip Ellis
Sherilyn Carroll
Carolyn Garrison
Sheryl Haynes
Mickie Vossler
Wade Vielock
Lauren Vielock
Cliff Blank
Karen Ellis
Casey Sandidge
Debbie Ulrich
Bill Moore
Lynn Smith
Laurie Junek
Mitch Brownlee
Ron Elkins
Larry Robertson
Ginny Robertson
Barbara Crouch
Billie Jo Pitonyak
Jimmy Crouch
Sam Smolik
Stephanie Smolik
Jeremy Riddle
Julian Garcia
Junior Barrinettes
Cameron Klein

Bill Pekar & the Rainey Brothers performing at the Beach Bash.

Trish Fielder and Pat Hatcher served up the delicious shrimp boil at the Labor Day Beach Bash.

Sometime between the years 1909 and 1919, five acres on Monroe Street in Port O’Connor were set aside for the community’s use as a cemetery. It wasn’t until March of 2005 after the Port O’Connor Service Club built a pavilion to host services at the cemetery, that much thought was given to just how many might be buried there, and just where the graves were all located.

Then Bob Allen took it upon himself to locate and mark those graves. There are now 200 known graves. In February of 2012, through the efforts of Bob and the Cemetery Committee of the Calhoun County Historical Commission, the Port O’Connor Cemetery was designated an Historic Cemetery. It was suggested, that it would be in the best interest of the cemetery and the community to create a Community Cemetery Association.

The Association was formed in October of 2012. Board Members were elected and began to consider how the remaining land could be best utilized. Trying to make the best use of the available land, this past August they began the process of making a grid on all the plots, and determining how to lay out them uniformly.

When the process is completed, a large copy of the grid will be posted at the pavilion, with named graves marked by number, and spaces reserved by families for future use also marked. Those who have already reserved their places are asked to contact one of the Board Members to go out with you so your plots can be uniform and marked on the grid. Each plot will be 5’ by 10’ and marked with uniform flat pavers. You may reserve as many plots as you wish, but they need to be of this uniform size in order to maximize the amount of land at the cemetery. And to make caring for the grounds easier, pvc pipes need to be replaced with the flat pavers.

Board Members and their contact numbers are: President, Debbie Gayle, 649-3261; Vice President, Shirley Harper, 746-3108; Secretary/Treasurer, Marie Hawes, 920-2322 and Directors Bob Allen, 550-7170; Calvin Ragusin, 655-0498; Bobbie Carrera, 489-9671; Wayne Gonzales, 564-7185, and Duane Gonzales, 564-7324.

All Directors have family and friends in this cemetery and they would all like to see it made as nice as possible. Some of the directors will have Port O’Connor Cemetery as their final resting place, as they can’t think of a place they would rather be. Some will not, as they have moved away, but they still have loved ones interred here. That is why they all have taken so much interest in our cemetery.

Any person or group who would like to help keep our cemetery mowed, please contact Bob Allen, as help is needed. If you can not help, perhaps you can contribute a bit of lawn mower gas money, or even some lawn equipment if you have any you don’t need. Thank you.