Republican Club Officers Tommie Corbell, Assistant Treasurer; Rita Poimbeauf, President; Connie Hunt, Secretary/Treasurer. Not pictured: Patti Fitzpatrick, Food Chairwoman.

The Calhoun County Republican Club met on August 5 with 45 members attending, including three current and two past members of CHS Young Republican Club. The current Young Republican Club President, Kingsley Scott, attended the Texas YRC meeting in San Antonio in June, and the CHS Club will be joining the Texas Federation of Young Republicans during the 2013-2014 school year. Colton Willoughby, a past member, will be leaving for the Marines in a few days. Everyone wishes him well.

Anna Goodman, GOP candidate for Calhoun County Clerk and Lesa Jurek, GOP candidate for Precinct #2 Justice of the Peace were present at the meeting. Two other Republican Club members are contemplating running on the ticket, one for Precinct #4 JP and one for County Judge.

Officers were elected at the meeting: Rita Poimbeauf, President; Connie Hunt, Secretary/Treasurer; Tommie Corbell, Assistant Treasurer; and Patti Fitzpatrick, Food Chairwoman.

The Republican Club will meet on Tuesday, September 3 at Alamo Heights Baptist Church Community Room, 1604 W. Austin in Port Lavaca. Guest speaker will be State Representative Geanie Morrison. All interested persons are invited. The meeting will take place from 6:00 until 7:00 p.m.

Dinner will be served from 5:00 until 6:00 p.m. Dinner cost is $5 per person. Please call 552-0917 by August 26 for dinner reservations.

Sometimes in life, we are dealt some pretty bad cards. No matter how much we try to make a pair, its seems we will have to give up and fold.

In my life, I’ve had my fair share of bad hands, but unlike the unlucky poker player, I’ve yet to fold and have unlimited form of currency to bet with in the forms of hope and positivity.

One of the hardest hands ever dealt to me was losing the little boy that called me Daddy.

I will always think of him as my son and if he ever in life decided to seek me out in the future, I would never deny him.

That brings us to the most important aspect of playing with a bad hand, making good use of the time we have because in the harsh world of reality, we just never know.

Time is a human invention that we live our life by. We go to work, sleep, eat and live all with restrictions pushed on us by that constantly ticking clock.

Nietzsche said that: “whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” Very true, in fact a life lesson that can change your life.

We all should relish our pain and losses because it is that very same pain that contains the lessons for personal growth.

On the same tack, we also must not waste any time that we do have, be it with family, a lover or indeed, a small child.

I will never regret raising that little boy for the first few years of his life. I know I made a positive impact on him and did my best to stand by him, even though I cannot still do so today.

As time constantly moves forward and we grow older, we start to realize that change, and indeed circumstance, can mold our lives like a potter shapes clay on his wheel. What shape this pot becomes is up to us.

Myself, like every other man that walked this Earth has been guilty of mistakes and regrets, violent outburst from when you let the bad hand get the best of you. When you allow this to influence the shape of the pot on the wheel, all bets are off.
Time and again God will tempt us and test us, making sure we really are all we claim to be. It is his right to do so and your right to face these tests with poise and dignity. He tests us in ways that are both as small as the crystals in a snowflake and as large as the largest of the oceans.

From the irritable young lady behind the counter of your local business who seems to delight in being the worst customer service representative that ever lived to the innumerable, but repairable, damage done by such life changing events as divorce, destruction of a well laid foundation and loss of life through death, we must be prepared to remain true to who we are.

Even the best men and women must be prepared also for another of Nietzsche’s greatest pearls of wisdom: “Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster.”

Throughout our lives we will experience all of these things, but it is in how we deal with them that makes us who we are.

Your ‘Daddy’ still loves you and will forever. I will never forget how smart you were, how big of a heart you had and how much I love you.

This column is dedicated to both Nathan Richards and Jessica Polidoro, two of the biggest influences against the monsters I have ever known.

Those Bunco ladies just keep going and going; at the recent meeting on Tuesday, August 6th as hosted by Pat Ekstrom and MaryAnn Claiborne, a full house was anticipated, without Elvira of course, and that was almost what resulted. Just about everyone went home with a prize; except for Shirley Gordon and MaryAnn, but they’re hoping for better luck next time. Hostesses for the Tuesday, September 3rd gathering will be Annette Leach and Diane Cooley. Information for any of these events can be obtained from Shirley Gordon at the Library; do contact her if you’d like to become a member of this fun-loving group.

Lions Club meeting: The next meeting of the Lions Club will be Wednesday, August 21st at 4:00 p.m. in the community organizational room of the Bank. Do contact President, Joyce Jordan at 655-7999 if you’d like to attend this meeting and explore the purposes and upcoming schedule of this community dedicated service organization.

And speaking of organizations: The POC Service Club will be holding their next meeting on Thursday, September 5th at 10:00 a.m., when they return to their regular schedule of two meetings per month. At this meeting, they will be holding election of officers for the upcoming year and the regular yearly payment of $5.00 membership fee becomes due at that time.

The success of any organization is denoted by its membership, which is the backbone of this Club. Sadly, many of our original and early members are becoming somewhat gray-haired and not quite as jumpily active as they were in the past. However, there is one highly visible and totally charming member who boasts a chronological age of 90+, but NO WAY is she that age in activity or appearance. So, if interest in this group of active members who strive to make POC a better community for all its residents, appeals to any female resident, please contact our extremely active President, Janet Johnson 983-4737 or Membership Chairman, Shirley Gordon, 983-4365 for more information. We’d love to see more of our local residents at the meeting on Thursday, September 5th at 10:00 am.

A note from our Commissioner: At Poco Bueno on Saturday, July 20th, more than 100 trucks with boat trailers were counted parking in the new lot adjacent to Froggies. However, there was not a firm count made of the trucks & trailers parked at Froggie’s and close by, but I suspect there was not a space to squeeze in. As I understand, there were more than 100 boats entered in the offshore category, there must have been at least that number entered in the small boat category.

COMING IN OCTOBER: The 5th Annual Chili and Gumbo Cookoff at Hurricane Junction! See Hoop for more details and how to enter this delightfully original contest! Once again, our local Library and its Building Fund will benefit. And I expect a wandering photographer and journalist will be there to sample the wares and discuss recipes with the cooks/chefs!

AND COMING IN NOVEMBER: The semi-annual Fall Garage Sale as organized by the POC Service Club is scheduled for Saturday, November 9th. And as always there will be a Bake Sale of totally enticing desserts whether they’re cookies or cakes or even pies to whet the appetite of the consumer. More information will be available in the coming months!

And a plea to our long-time residents: we at the Service Club are putting together a book of photographs of Port O’Connor to show our history, and also the many families that have been involved in our Community. Many of you residents may have pictures of your children at our School, a picture of the churches, the stores, and hopefully your families, grandparents and all. IF, and that’s a big IF, I know, you could share with us these pictures and a little information about them, we would be extremely grateful. Your treasured photographs would be professionally copied and returned with much gratitude as each would then become a part of our Book! Please contact either Sue Kubecka, the Chairman of this endeavor at 361 798-0560 or see her at the Library, or Janet Johnson, the President of the Club at 983-4737 to become a part of this Book.

While rereading and editing this column; i.e., punctuation, spelling and rephrasing, I had the opportunity to watch the barge traffic on the Intercoastal. And then I decided to attempt to time the traffic of both incoming and outgoing ships; and found that they were traveling at about 15 to 20 minutes per vessel. That’s a lot of commercial traffic.

And speaking of the celebration of Poco, much as we and our local businesses enjoy the incoming arrival of weekend visitors, it’s certainly pleasant to walk around on Tuesday morning without dodging trucks, boat trailers, and rampant and loose dogs. But guess I’m getting a little conservative and isolationist in my attitude. However … !

Any comments, adverse or favorable, will be gratefully received.

Sue Kubecka
kubeckasue@yahoo.com; 361 798-0560

Seadrift Pastor Tim Smith with Temple Mount in the background.

Pastor Tim Smith of First Assembly of God in Seadrift recently completed a pilgrimage to Israel. Pastor Smith traveled to the Holy Land with Pastor CE Smith, Senior Pastor at Family Worship Center in Victoria. The pastors planned the trip over several months.

Tim Smith said, “Both of us discussed going to the land of the Bible. I started looking at arrangements in January and the trip came together. “For over 28 years I have preached and taught about The Lord, Israel and events in the Bible. It was refreshing and satisfying to actually visit the places I have studied and preached about,” Smith said.

The two pastors visited Capernaum, Mount Carmel, Qumran, Masada, The Sea of Galilee, The Jordan River, The Dead Sea, The Garden Tomb, Christ’s birthplace in Bethlehem, Calvary, Old City Jerusalem, and The Temple Mount just to name a few places.
Tim Smith said, “I was very blessed and honored to baptize CE in the Jordan River, and he baptized me. We both baptized several others in our group.” Tim Smith said, “I was also blessed to serve Holy Communion to our group at the site of the Garden Tomb. There were 32 persons in our group. We became friends and I still keep in contact with some of them.”

Both pastors are planning return trips to the Holy Land. Tim Smith said, “There is so much to see and another trip is definitely in my plans. I would like to spend several days in Jerusalem revisiting the Holocaust Museum and the Museum of Israel.”

Smith said, “Visiting the places where Jesus lived and walked is more than looking at real estate, it is an experience into the culture, history and lives of the people of Israel and the Bible. Israel is the land of promise. The Jewish people are the people of promise. The promises came from God. That makes Israel special to me.”

Pastor Tim and Pastor CE at the Sea of Galilee

Beautiful boats, fantastic fisherman, and wonderful winners sure make the tournament season something special in Port O Connor. Things have been busy around this community I am so blessed to call home. I was fortunate enough to cook fresh fish for the amazing volunteers who cleaned the fish donated to feed those in need during both the Poco and the Shootout. Those guys and gals really know how to fillet a fish. Their efforts benefited the food pantries and outreach programs in our county and in Houston.

Back to school is just around the corner, and hopefully cooler temperatures are in the fall forecast. Make your plans now for the Port O’Connor Labor Day Beach Bash with Larry Joe Taylor to be held on August 31 at King Fisher Beach from 11:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m, and keep an eye on the paper and an ear open to the community to hear of other opportunities and activities coming up soon.

The POC Service Club met Thursday, August 1st. The hot topic was the upcoming Garage and Bake Sale which is held every Spring and Fall in the Pavilion of the Community Center. This year’s Fall Sale has been scheduled for Saturday, November 9th. We still want to be your first call as you do your end of summer clean up! We want your donated household items, clothes, toys, sport and fishing equipment. Please contact either Debbie Busby 512 914-9521 or Peggy Elliott 983-2165 to make arrangements for receipt of those items at the County Barn behind our Library.

Proceeds from our Garage and Bake sales help to fund the scholarships we give. At our meeting, Debbie Busby read a letter from Eric Escobar, a prior recipient of funding from the Club. Eric is now in his second year at St. Andrews University in Austin, studying Biology with a minor in German. Club members were very interested in learning of Eric’s student life and scholastic achievements, and were quite pleased to be able to award to him further aid.

Pat Ekstrom announced that a representative from the Hospice of South Texas in Port Lavaca will be at the Tuesday Senior Luncheon on August 20th. Contact Pat, 983-2030, if you would like more information. It was also announced that Life Flight is still servicing Port O’Connor. This is a service that provides necessary and emergency helicopter flights to a major hospital in our area; the cost is $45.00/yr for a family. Please contact our President, Janet Johnson, 983-4737, for more information.

This is the last month for one meeting only. We will return to our usual 1st and 3rd Thursdays meeting schedule in September meeting on the 5th and 19th at 10:00 AM in the small room at the back of the POC Community Center.. Service club members and committees continue to prepare for a fun and busy fall including our annual fall rummage sale, back to school activities and volunteering opportunities at our local elementary campus, Friends of the Library building and fund raising, History Committee book project, our fall fresh nuts sale, and much more.

Need a group who challenges your mind and encourages your spirit? We have a spot for you and welcome all who want to join the POC Service Club. Join us for our next meeting or contact our president Janet Johnson at 983-4737 or Membership Chairman, Shirley Gordon at 983-4365 for more information. So, until next time, be safe, live simply, love openly, forgive generously and remember this quote from the gentle philosopher Saint Francis of Assisi “Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”