In the late summer of 1963, the most popular show on television was “The Beverly Hillbillies,” a gallon of gas cost 29 cents, the University of Texas Longhorns were headed toward their first national football championship, “My Boyfriend’s Back” was the top hit on AM radio and Texas had a new state agency called the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
Earlier that year, Texas lawmakers had begun consideration of House Bill 21, introduced by Weatherford State Rep. James M. Cotton, an attorney descended from a Parker County pioneer. The measure, called for by Gov. John B. Connally as part of his campaign to modernize state government, would merge the Game and Fish Commission with the State Parks Board to create a new agency dedicated to conservation, parks and outdoor recreation. The final bill passed in the Senate in early April and Connally later signed it into law with an effective date of Aug. 23.
This year, TPWD will mark its 50th anniversary using technology not even imagined in 1963. The department has set up a 50th anniversary web page at www.lifesbetteroutside.org where people can share stories and photos about their memorable moments in the Texas outdoors, and thereby inspire others to enjoy nature.
While online, the agency hopes people will sign up to become a Texas Parks and Wildlife ambassador and pledge to do things like visit state parks, take a kid hunting or fishing, and watch and share a video showcasing what’s made life better outside in Texas.
“We are excited about our 50th birthday,” said TPWD Executive Director Carter Smith, “but we don’t want it to be all about us, and we want to look to the future as we celebrate our past. We’re a successful organization in large part because of those who support us,” Smith said, “and we can’t fulfill our mission without help. If you love wildlife and parks, step up to be a TPWD ambassador and join us in shaping the Texas outdoors we want to see in the next 50 years.”

Just a reminder to join Friends of the Port O’Connor Library at our booth, hosted by the Lions Club Arts and Crafts Festival on Saturday, March 16, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Community Center pavilion! We’ll have lots of books and other items for sale. In addition, applications handy for folks interested in joining our membership will be available. Our newsletter will also be at our booth, in case your copy does not arrive in the mail. We look forward to sharing our ideas of moving ahead to build a new library which visitors to POC and residents will enjoy in the years to come. We also welcome suggestions and ideas to make this dream come true! See you there!

Parade of Ancestors
Calhoun County Cultures and Cuisine will be presenting their annual Parade of Ancestors event Saturday, March 16, on Downtown Main Street, Port Lavaca, from 11:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.

In front of old Coast Guard Station in Freeport: Top Row – Henry Pessarra, George Peterson, Sam Gray, AZ Walker Bottom Row – William F Day, Alan Fox, Buck Hawes, Gilbert Wallington

The above photo, which includes men from Port O’Connor, was chosen to become part of a military memorial to be dedicated later this month at the Angleton courthouse. It was submitted to the memorial committee by Ricky Day and will represent the Coast Guard branch of the military.

Taken around 1930, the photo was given to Ricky by his aunt, Ruth Day Coufal. Pictured in the front row, at left, is William F. Day, Ricky Day’s grandfather and brother of Ruth Day Coufal.  Mrs. Coufal and Miss Lucille Whittaker identified the men in the photo. Ruth Day and Lucille Whittaker were childhood friends, both being born in Port O’Connor. Ruth Day Coufal and Lucille Whittaker both passed away in 2012.

William F. “Bill” Day served two tours in the Coast Guard.  He enlisted in the last year of WWI and served from Feb. 5, 1918 to April 30, 1921 and then a second tour from Aug. 1, 1926 to Sept. 1, 1939.  He was serving at Station Saluria until the it was destroyed in the 1929 storm;  he then moved to Freeport.

Bill Day was a commercial fisherman in Port O’Connor and found the reef that bears his name.  He had kept it a secret for a long time and was taking some exceptional oysters off of it at the time.  The other fishermen tried to catch him on that reef for a long time, but he would keep a good watch out for others and move off of it if he saw someone coming.  He owned a Texas Scow Sloop like in the  picture below.

The boat in the picture belonged to Raymond Whittaker. Lucille Whittaker gave Ricky a copy of this several years ago. This was the first time he had seen a picture of the type of boat his grandfather, Bill Day, owned.

Rockport Museum: The La Tortuga also rests outside. This Port Isabel butthead sloop the only Texas Scow Sloop still in existence. It was constructed in 1990 on the Museum grounds by volunteers using only hand tools, under the supervision of boatbuilder Miguel Garza, Sr. with nothing but plans inside his head. These boats once numbered in the hundreds along the south Texas coast. The boats fished the shallow bays in pairs with a 4-5,000 foot gill net strung between them (Gill nets for commercial fishing were outlawed in 1952.) The sloop has a draft of 12 inches and a tremendous sail area – the 28 foot scow carried 550 square feet of canvas, enabling it to tow the boat’s long string of nets. Catches would many times be in the thousands of pounds per netting. The sloops were fast sailers and could glide through just inches of water.

Joe Wiatt introduces Sheriff George Aleman at the town meeting

The Port O’Connor Community Center was filled to capacity on February 9 as folks hoped to learn more about the results of investigations into the recent rash of thefts in the area.

The concerned citizens were told that the Sheriff’s Department is currently working on leads and tracking down suspects in the burglaries. Sheriff Aleman said that ten burglaries have been reported since the first of the year. Most have occurred on weekends, and the victims have mostly been those homeowners and fishermen who do not reside permanently in Port O’Connor.

The Sheriff says that the department now has three investigators and “a lot of cases have been cleaned out in the past three weeks.”

Citizens were encouraged to lock their doors, take the keys from their ignitions, keep a record of serial numbers of their electronics, and get a game camera to record intruders at night. Also, it was stressed to not hesitate to call the department if you see anything suspicious. And any information, even if it seems insignificant, could “sew up the case”.

Many in attendance signed up for the Neighborhood Watch Program. If you are interested in participating, please contact Joe Wiatt at 361-983-4910 or 713-446-7061 or jvwiatt@gmail.com. We hope to provide more information on the Program in the next issue.