Sara Ruiz got to fly in a helicopter with Dianna Taylor Stanger on her birthday!

Calhoun Air Center (CAC) flew over two hundred ladies in honor of Women of Aviation Worldwide (WOAW) Week. The week started off strong at the CAC location in Victoria with several Girl Scout troops taking their first flight!

A highlight of the week was Thursday, March 7th, the cadets of Air Force JROTC VCAL, TX-956 flew with flight instructors; Erin Hayes Michael and Tom Keane Victoria Regional Airport (VCT). This was their first time to fly in a single-engine airplane.

Words from the cadets, “What an awesome experience! We had an amazing flight and the pilots were very nice.”

“What a great opportunity to have our female cadets have a great experience sponsored by the Calhoun Air Center and its staff,” said Lt Col Roy D. Gonzales.

“Flying with AFJROTC cadets was an amazing experience,” said Chief Flight Instructor Erin. “I was privileged to be able to touch the lives of young ladies with aspirations similar to my own especially honoring Women of Aviation Worldwide Week.”

While the weather prohibited flights on Saturday at Calhoun County Airport the pilots were able to fly over one hundred girls at Victoria Regional Airport. The girls walked away smiling and with an unforgettable experience. Both Sara Ruiz and Maria DeSoto celebrated their birthday with a helicopter ride!

Sunday afternoon turned into a gorgeous day to fly. Airport manager, Dianna Stanger flew nearly fifty ladies in a Eurocopter 120.

Calhoun Air Center continues with their mission to introduce our youth to aviation. Many of the WOAW participants were surprised to see three female pilots flying: Stanger, Michael and Joyce Wilson. Stanger and Wilson will compete in the all women air race, The Air Race Classic, in June.

The crew will now await the results of the Fly It Forward Challenge which is hosted by WOAW; results will be announced in April. In 2011, Stanger walked away with the title of ‘Most Dedicated Female Pilot in the World.’ CAC is competing for: Most Female-Pilot-Friendly Training Center Worldwide,’ ‘Most Dedicated Female Pilot Worldwide’ and ‘Most Supportive Male Pilot Worldwide.’

Make sure to check out www.calhounaircenter.com for updates and if you flew during WOAW look for your photo online at https://www.facebook.com/calhounaircenter. Till next time!

The cadets of Air Force JROTC VCAL, TX-956 flew for the first time at the Calhoun Air Center location in Victoria, Texas during Women of Aviation Worldwide Week with flight instructors; Tom Keane and Erin Hayes-Michael!

Incumbents Jack LaBarge, Wesley Hunt, and Johnny Mikolas have officially stated their desire to continue their service on Seadrift City Council. Also filing for the three open Council positions are TJ Christensen, a local fishing guide, Methodist minister June Cantrell, and homemaker, Mary Anthony. These Council positions are for two-year terms.

Election day will be May 11. Early voting at City Hall will be from April 29 through May 7 during regular business hours, with extended hours (7:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m.) on April 30 and May 7.

Port O’Connor Intercoastal 4-H

We had our monthly meeting on March 4.  Eighteen members were present with two new members, Sarah and Kyle Doggett.

We discussed previous and  upcoming events.  February 23, our club sold hotdogs in Port Lavaca at Tractor Supply, with the money going to the Humane Society. March 9,  is the POCSA car wash, that we will volunteer and help raise money for their club. We will make cookies and donate them to the Easter Egg Hunt at the Baptist church, March 30.  Also, our club discussed having a booth at the POC Chamber Crawfish Festival in May.

Our meetings are on the  first Monday of every month, at 7:00 p.m. in the school library.  Everyone is welcome. And that is the 4-H News!

Thinking of burning that pile of brush in the back yard? Or burning off the grass and/or brush in that field in the country you own? There are several laws and regulations you need to abide by. In this article I’ll go over some important State regulations, including some rules specific to areas in Calhoun County.

Before we go into the State regulations, let’s cover local rules first. If you live inside of the Port Lavaca or Point Comfort City Limits, you cannot do any kind of outdoor burning. Before you ask, BBQ pits or fires used in the noncommercial preparation of food are allowed. If you live inside of the Seadrift City Limits, you can go to the Seadrift City Hall and apply for a permit to burn. After your proposed burn area undergoes an inspection you may be issued a burn permit. However, you still need to abide by the State regulations which we will go over.

Before conducting any kind of outdoor burning in Calhoun County you need to call the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office at 361-553-4646 to let them know you are burning. They will inform you of any County burn bans and ask your name, location of the fire, and your phone number. Several times a year local emergency responders and law enforcement personnel are dispatched to fires that turn out to be controlled burns which were not called in to the Sheriff’s Office.

Outdoor burning in Texas is governed by Title 30, Texas Administrative Code, sections 111.201 to 221. While listing all of the regulations here would be prohibitive, here are the important ones:

You cannot burn electrical insulation, treated lumber, plastics, tires, oil filters, non-wood construction materials, heavy oils, asphaltic materials, roof shingles, potentially explosive materials, chemical wastes, and items containing natural or synthetic rubber.

Burning shall not be started when surface wind speed is predicted to be greater than 23 miles per hour (mph) or less than six miles per hour (mph) during the burn period.

Burning must be conducted downwind of, or at least 300 feet from any structure containing people located on adjacent properties unless prior written approval is obtained from the adjacent occupant with possessory control.

The initiation of burning shall commence no earlier than one hour after sunrise. Burning shall be completed on the same day not later than one hour before sunset, and shall be attended by a responsible party at all times during the active burn phase when the fire is progressing. In cases where residual fires and/or smoldering objects continue to emit smoke after this time, such areas shall be extinguished if the smoke from these areas has the potential to create a nuisance or traffic hazard condition. In no case shall the extent of the burn area be allowed to increase after this time.

Burning shall be commenced and conducted only when wind direction and other meteorological conditions are such that smoke and other pollutants will not cause adverse effects to any public road, landing strip, navigable waters, or any off-site structure containing people.

If at any time the burning causes smoke to blow onto or across a road or highway, it is the responsibility of the person initiating the burn to post flag-persons on affected roads.

The authority to conduct outdoor burning under these regulation does not exempt or excuse any person responsible from the consequences, damages, or injuries resulting from the controlled burn, and does not exempt or excuse anyone from complying with all other applicable laws or ordinances, regulations, and orders of governmental entities having jurisdiction.

These are just a few of the Regulations the State of Texas has regarding outdoor burning; the full set of regulations can be found at: www.tceq.texas.gov/publications/rg/rg-049.html/at_download/file

I prefer analogue. We live in a digital world nowadays. Everything seems to be computerized. Most of us understand that computers and all those gadgets are run by the digital stuff that is really just a big series of zeros (0) or ones (1). They turn little gates in the silicon chips on or off and that makes things, after elaborate coding, into words, pictures or sounds.

Take sounds for instance. I prefer analogue sound. That is what you hear when Joshua Bell, live, plays his Stradivarius. My ears aren’t good enough to tell a Strad from a common violin, however the music masters tell us there is a significant difference. I can hear the difference between “digitally mastered” music and the real live stuff. Well, except for some of the modern rock, or whatever, all I hear is loud noise along with the fireworks and flashing lights.

If one pays attention to the prattling in Washington and other seats of modern chaos you perceive the digital effect also. Side A says they are right and that Side B is woefully wrong. Side B claims that they are right and that side A is woefully wrong. The net result is much like a modern rock concert a lot of noise, there just are no flashing lights.

They are both digital things O and 1. There is no consideration of the infinite possibilities between O and 1. My math friends tell me there are an infinite number of smaller and smaller between 1 and 0. My music friends tell me there are an infinite number of harmonics along with the notes in a musical sound. That is why a Stradivarius makes a better sound. This on, off stuff says the world is a light switch, the light is on or off. Thank Goodness for sunrises and sunsets where there is that infinite variety of light and on really good ones a great variety of color.

Those are the types of things that makes life OK.

Right now I am reading medieval history. There were kings and barons fighting for supremacy just like Side A and Side B do today. If you read between the lines you can see that it today is not different one side wants the bigger slice of the pie. Both Now and then one can often discern that there is something between where all could benefit.

This brings to my mind the wonderful story of the King and I. That story was set in the days when there was a Siam and they had a King. Anna was the lady who helped set the King straight. One of my favorite songs in the show was “It’s a Puzzlement”. King’s song had wisdom. In this digital age you can look up the lyrics to the song on your computer. You might even find them in the library. They are worth a read for those of us who have a preference for an analogue world.