Newly Elected POC Chamber Board of Directors

Left to right: Donnie Klesel, Mary Jo Walker, Patti Elkins, Ann Brownlee, Sylvia Rodriguez, Joyce Jordan, Donna Pyle. In front: Agnes Valigura. In back: Linda Bonar & Beverly Clifton.

-Photo by LaJune Pitonyak

Chris Christy’s granddaughter Tina who earned 2nd Place in points in the contuse in the Kwon English Open Championship on Dec. 2, 2012.
Christmas Greetings from Great Britain to Port O’Connor!

These are the days to live in Port O’Connor or have a home or friends that you can visit during this time of the year! The Port O’Connor Annual “Thanksgiving Service” at Fisherman’s Chapel was one of the best we ever had! The service was outstanding, the music was great, and the Fisherman’s Chapel was decorated very professionally. The array of food and desserts was fit for a KING! God bless Fisherman’s Chapel for being an outstanding host for this favorite event.

Shortly after the Thanksgiving Service came the beautiful Annual Lighted Boat Parade. The boats, crews and lights were “out of this world!” Thanks to all who participated and especially to Chairman Bill Tigrett for putting it all together.

The Toy Run from Freeport, Texas to Port O’Connor arrived on time on Saturday, December 1, and thousands of toys were received for children in our area. What a sight to see, as the boats arrived and the toys were loaded into trucks. The boat owners then quickly decorated their boats with lights for the evening Lighted Boat Parade.

If all this was exciting, it continued with the Annual Christmas Luncheon on Friday, December 7. This annual event for Port O’Connor senior citizens was outstanding again this year. The Port O’Connor Service Club put on a luncheon in the professionally decorated Community Center. When you walked into the center, you were met by a gigantic snow man and the center was decorated beautifully in every area.

Promptly at 11:00 a.m., the Center was filled with seated senior citizens and all of the children from Port O’Connor Elementary School. The children presented an outstanding Christmas program of Christmas songs under the direction of School Principal Lydia Strakos. To say that the food was good would be putting it mildly! The food was fantastic and expertly prepared. Thanks to the Service Club for a super Senior Citizens Christmas Luncheon!

First Baptist Church Choir will be presenting their Annual Christmas Story in Music on Sunday, December 23, in the morning service at 11:00 a.m. The annual Church Christmas Party will be held Sunday evening, December 16, at 6:00 p.m. in Fellowship Hall. The Christmas Party will be in conjunction with the “Birthday Bash” for all those who had birthdays in October, November and December. Everyone is invited to enjoy a feast of “finger foods”. After the food feast, there will be a Christmas Party centered around a “White Elephant Gift Exchange”. Everyone is asked to bring a gift (gag or otherwise) for the gift exchange. This is always fun and exciting. Leah Griffin will be the director of the White Elephant Gift Exchange.

I wish everyone a very “MERRY CHRISTMAS” and a “HAPPY, HEALTHY and PROSPEROUS 2013!

See you in church Sunday.

Ah, Christmas! What an exciting and special time of the year. Though adulthood, with its grownup logic and realities have depleted much of the childhood magic and luster I once associated with the Christmas holiday, I still have rather fond memories of Christmas past.

I grew up in south Mississippi, in a little place called the Sunrise Community, a suburb of Hattiesburg and Petal. We lived right down the gravel road from my grandparents, the late Frank and Mary Napier. It was the custom of the Napier clan to meet at grandma and grandpa’s house on Christmas Eve for a Christmas celebration. In my young mind, our Christmas Eve family gathering was the most enchanting and exciting day of the year. I got to see family members then that I rarely saw any other time; and some I’d not met before. It was wonderfully fascinating to discover I had kinfolk who lived in far-away places like Washington State, California, or Georgia; places I’d never been before. Christmas Eve was all about surprises, and the family get-together never disappointed me.

There were a number of constants about Christmas Eve at my grandparents’ house that, to this day, I find enjoyable, albeit in memory form. Upon stepping into my grandparents’ living room, the aroma of an oak or hickory fire, crackling in the fireplace, seemed to say, “Merry Christmas.” The warmth of the fire was welcomed, since it was often cold outside during December.

To my right, after entering the front door, was a six-foot Christmas tree, with what looked to my youthful eyes to be mountains of brightly wrapped presents. My grandparents were sticklers about trying not to leave anybody out at Christmas time. My cousin, Johnny, and I, would feverishly search through the mounds of gifts until we found boxes with our names on them, and then try to guess what was in the package.

Hanging on the warm air currents in the house were the wonderful smells of scented candles, fresh-cooked hams and turkeys, my favorite varieties of pies, and assorted homemade candies. In those days, I was a scrawny little kid, who could eat all the sweets I wanted without gaining an ounce. Oh, for a return to those days.

After I’d investigated all the sights, sounds, and smells inside the house, I’d go outside to pop firecrackers with the rest of the kids. Since some of my uncles and older cousins brought a little bit of everything, when it came to fireworks, it often sounded like the Napier clan was trying to re-enact the battle of Bull Run. The explosions could be heard reverberating off the nearby hillsides. It was glorious and marvelous to my childish way of thinking.

Eventually, one of the adults would come to the front porch and yell, “Y’all come on in now. It’s time for our devotion.” Within a few minutes, everyone could be found in the living room of the old house. Someone would read the story of the birth of Christ from the Bible, and make a few comments concerning the real meaning of Christmas. It was always stressed to the family and children, that Christmas was about celebrating the birth of Christ, our Savior, and that though we gave presents to one another, we did so to honor the fact that God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son to die, paying the penalty for man’s sins, so we could be forgiven, and receive eternal life, by inviting Jesus into our heart (John 3:16).

The person leading the devotion would then lead the family in prayer, thanking God for His provision and protection during the year. When the “Amen” was said, I would look over at my grandparents to observe their reaction to the proceedings. My granddaddy, who was 6’4”, weighing about 295 lbs, and all muscle, would be softly weeping and wiping tears from his rugged face, along with my short, stooped grandmother by his side, who was doing much the same. That scene always had a profound impact upon my heart and mind; and it still does to this day.

Yes, Christmas is the celebration of Christ. We must never forget however, that Christ did not come to merely occupy a cradle, but He came to die on a cross, for the sins of mankind. Jesus did not come into our world to institute a holiday, but to give Himself a ransom for many (Matt. 20:28; Mark 10:45).

Permit me to leave you with the following significant thoughts concerning Christ:

Mary had the Little Lamb

Mary had the little Lamb, who lived before His birth;
Self-existent Son of God, from Heaven He came to Earth (Micah 5:2).

Mary had the little Lamb; see Him in yonder stall—
Virgin-born Son of God, to save man from the Fall (Isaiah 7:14).

Mary had the little Lamb, obedient Son of God;
Everywhere the Father led, His feet were sure to trod (John 6:38).

Mary had the little Lamb, crucified on the tree,
The rejected Son of God, He died to set men free (1 Pet. 1:18).

Mary had the little Lamb—men placed Him in the grave,
Thinking they were done with Him; to death He was no slave (Matthew 28:6)!

Mary had the little Lamb, ascended now is He;
All work on Earth is ended, our Advocate to be (Hebrews 4:14-16).

Mary had the little Lamb—mystery to behold!
From the Lamb of Calvary, a Lion will unfold (Revelation 5:5, 6).

When the Day Star comes again, of this be very sure:
It won’t be Lamb-like silence, but with the Lion’s roar (Psalm 2:12; Revelation 19:11-16).

Marv and Marbeth Rosenthal. Used with permission of the authors.