Service Club members Annette Leach (left) and Peggy Elliott setting up the garage sale.

Have you seen the buds and blooms? Spring has sprung in this great community I feel so blessed to call home. Things are growing at The Port O Connor Service Club as well. POC Service Club held their regular meetings on Thursday, March 21st and April 2, 2013.There are lots of plans and projects in the works right now. First of all we are sweeping up the dust and throwing out the boxes after our very successful POC Service Club Spring Garage Sale held Saturday, April 13th. It was an amazing success. Thank You and Bless you to all the members who worked so hard to make our garage sale happen; the many husbands who helped with toting and carrying, clean up and cold sandwich dinners this week; the notable US Coast Guard members who volunteered time and free muscle to move and manipulate furniture and heavy stuff; and our notable community friends and family who always show up to stake their claim to their shiny new finds that just yesterday were someone else’s tarnished treasures. We sold bushels of baked goods, tons of treasures, loads of lovelies, and made great money for our 2013 Scholarship Fund. The profit totals are not yet calculated, but our success depends on all of these contributors doing their part. Our sincere gratitude to all who added to this event yet again.

The POC Service Club Scholarship Committee is evaluating the applications of deserving seniors, and we will soon be awarding our annual scholarships to the chosen recipients. Look for their winning stories here soon. Cookbook Collections of famous and favorite POC Service Club recipes are still available. These make great gifts and will fuel new ideas for family occasions. Pick yours up today at local stores or call a member you know to order yours. Meetings continue for planning and preparation for Wounded Warriors Weekend coming May 17-19. Other community events are upcoming and quite exciting. Check the paper and ask your friends so you don’t miss the unique and fun events that make our community so special.

Since summer sun is simmering now and will be ready by the next paper edition, let us remind you that our POC Women’s Service Club Meeting Schedule changes for the summer months, We meet only once a month, the first Thursday of May, June, July and August. This gives members more time for family vacations and summer activities.

The POC Women’s Service Club has been actively adding to the life of our community since 1980. Many of the original 24 founding members remain a part of the club today. There are no special requirements to be involved, just a desire to make positive additions to our community. You do not have to be a full-time resident or commit to every meeting. Come, participate and serve when you want to. We welcome all who want to volunteer. If you have never visited one of our meetings to see if you want to be a part, come and visit today. We love new members and invite interested ladies to join us for the next meeting of the Port O Connor Service Club held on each 1st and 3rd Thursday, 10:00 AM or contact our president Janet Johnson at 983-4737 for more information. You will make meet wonderful women, have fun and feel good about giving a little of yourself to others to make a difference in your community.

So, until next time, be safe, live simply, love openly, forgive generously and remember the words of the amazing Billy Graham when encouraging his staff. He said “Give to the world the best you have and it will come back to you tenfold!”

As Spring ramps up into full gear, it is also time to remember that along with the warmer weather and all the outdoor activity comes the possibility for severe weather. Of course, on the Texas coast, hurricane season is the possible weather event that really gets all the attention but in fact, a severe thunderstorm can be extremely dangerous.

Besides being the conditions under which a tornado brew, a strong enough severe thunderstorm can also bring such extreme weather conditions as high winds, hail and lightning.

Although we often see news footage of the wreckage from strong and violent tornadoes, in fact, it is not tornadoes but lightning that is the  most common culprit when a severe thunderstorm results in injury’s. On average, about fifty-four people a year die from lightning fatalities while hundreds receive permanent injury.

Meanwhile the most well known hazard from thunderstorms, the possibility of a tornado being formed, is possible during ANY thunderstorm. Although they are quite rare in terms of a tornado being one of the stronger tornadoes, such as the F-4 variety that were made infamous through tragic events like the path of destruction left in Joplin, Missouri in 2011. However, even the weakest tornado can cause hazardous debris to fly through the air, or even topple trees if the ground is saturated with enough rain water.
High winds can be just as dangerous in the right conditions, which is why it is important to remember a few easy and simple safety tips that can help prevent possible injury in the severe weather conditions common in the Spring:

•  The National Weather Service slogan is “When thunder roars, go indoors”, and it is the best protection against a lightning strike. Get to a substantial building or a hard topped metal vehicle as quickly as you can. •  Tornado warnings are your sign to get to an interior room of your home. If your outdoors or in a mobile home, go to the lowest ground you can find and cover your head with your hands. But the most important thing is to not ignore the tornado warning. A tornado watch means conditions are right for a tornado to form, while a warning is just that, a warning to get to shelter immediately.

As long as you follow these basic safety rules, there should be no reason not to go out and enjoy the wonderful Spring weather!
I’d also like to take a little space today to acknowledge and celebrate the upcoming wedding of two of my dearest friends, Mark Fagan and Angela Tucker. Mark and Angela have been two of the kindest people I have ever met and I can only imagine that kindness will be effectively doubled with their upcoming union.

Love can sometimes grow to the point that you no longer keep your vows of eternal companionship and undying devotion to yourself but rather congregation your friends and family to bask in the glow of the union and bond the couple have created.

I wish both of them the best in the future with their new life and hope they look forward to those many days when their story of love and faith will continue to grow…cheers, guys!

Peggy Jean Wyatt Davis, 73, of Seadrift passed away at her home April 13, 2013. She was born May 15, 1939 in Waelder to the late Desmond R. and Edith Wyatt. Peggy worked in the Banking Industry as a Commercial Loan Specialist until her retirement.

She is survived by her daughter, Donna Haveriah Kauf and husband, Steven of Natchitoches, LA; sons, Gregory David Haverlah of CA, Mark Allen Haverlah and wife, Diana of Tallahasee, FL; sister, Claudia Wyatt Kolar and husband Irving of Seadrift; three grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

She was preceded in death by her parents and brothers, Homer and Jerry Wyatt.

A memorial service was held April 19, 2013 at Richardson-Colonial Funeral Home in Port Lavaca with Nick Stewart officiating.

Gifts in Peggy’s memory may be directed to Accolade Hospice or the American Diabetes Association.

Words of comfort may be shared with the family at www.richardsoncolonial.com.

March 3: Seadrift Volunteer Fire Department responded to a one-vehicle accident on Hwy 185 near Hwy 238.

March 3: Port O’Connor VFD and Seadrift VFD responded to a structure fire in Port O’Connor; Port Lavaca FD also responded.

March 8: Seadrift VFD responded to a two-vehicle accident at Washington and 6th Street in Seadrift.

March 18: Seadrift VFD and Port Lavaca FD responded to a two-vehicle accident and resulting grass fire on Hwy 185 near Ineos Nitriles.

March 18: Seadrift VFD and Port Lavaca FD responded to a two-vehicle accident on Hwy 185 at the Hwy 2235 intersection.

Goldie Belle Mullins Sanders celebrated her 97th birthday on April 9, 2013.
This special occasion was marked with a party given in her honor at her home in Seadrift, Texas. Goldie has seven children: Robert and Sharon Sanders, Nina and Jerry Weaver, Brenda and Buddy Motley, Diane Wilson, Janie and Steve Waghorne, John and Jody Sanders, and Leslie Sanders (deceased).  She also has 21 grandchildren and 37 great-grandchildren.  Goldie received many beautiful flowers, gifts and cards.  She appreciated the kindness of everyone who stopped by to wish her well on her birthday.