“Hooked on Books” Club

May’s Book Club Meeting was truly a “Texas Thing” in keeping with May’s book, Crowded In The Middle Of Nowhere, by Dr. Bo Brock, about veterinary life in the small West Texas town of Lamesa, a town in the middle of nowhere.

Hostesses Diane Cooley, Marie Hawes, Nan Burnett, and Alane Haardt carried out the “Texas Theme” with a picnic-style barbeque feast served on red and white checkered tablecloths; with Texas flags, cowboy décor, and “Howdy Y’all” signs throughout. Texas cuisine was the day’s menu with pulled pork sliders, baked beans, potato salad, Cole slaw, deviled eggs, stuffed jalapenos, Raspberry tarts, and Fluffy Lemon Delight; washed down with decanters full of ice water, tea, and a variety of flavored coffees. In true Texas Tradition, everyone was urged to have seconds and thirds, and were sent home with leftovers in the end!!

A fun and lively book discussion followed the feast, with everyone pitching in their two cents about Dr. Brock; his decades old, multi-species veterinary clinic, and his passion for treating horses. Crowded in the Middle of Nowhere is a collection of stories about Dr. Brock’s experiences, philosophies, love, passion, and feelings about the thousands of animals he has treated over the years, and the hundreds of humans he has encountered in the process, forming deep relationships with most of them! All agreed that it was an interesting and endearing book filled with side splitting humor, and was an exceptionally good read!

“Beacon of Light…Anchor of the Community”
Library News:
POC Library Hours:
Phone Number: 361-983-4365
Sunday – Monday: Closed
Tuesday – Friday: 10:30 – 5:00 p.m.
Saturday: 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. . Mark your calendar for these special dates for Summer Reading Program (SRP) on Tuesdays from 10:30 – 11:30 a.m.
• June 6 Crescendo Kids *July 6 Pasta Time (Thursday)
•June 13 Texas Floating Classroom *July 11 Creepy Crawlers
•June 20 John’s Got Magic *July 18 Rad Robots
•June 27 Cool Crochet *July 25 Summer Reading Program Awards
Other special events from 10:30 – 11:30 a.m.
• June 10 – Summer Movie Day with popcorn and snacks provided
o June 10th (following movie) – Parks & Wildlife Water Safety
• July 15 – Summer Movie Day with popcorn and snacks provided

Friends of the POC Library:
The Friends of the POC library is a support group and welcome ALL who would like to join, contribute, or attend an event. We support the POC Library Branch for the enrichment of our community. ALL events are free, open to all ages and do not require membership. Cultivate relationships and interests by attending sponsored events. (Hint: Check our Facebook page, Port O’Connor Library Branch, for upcoming events that will interest you!)

Many thanks to the Matagorda Bay Pilots for donating the tugboat replica Carl for display purposes in the Multipurpose Room.

(L-R: Assistant Librarian Margaret Claiborne, Pilot Frank Byrne, Pilot Mike Clifton and Librarian Michelle Marlin).

Wednesdays:
8:00 a.m -9:00 p.m.- Coffee & Conversation – You MAY not be a coffee drinker but are likely to “perk” up with a few minutes dedicated to neighbors and friends.

Many thanks to Mrs. Edna Payne for the quilt donation to the Coffee & Conversation group on April 12th. Our community appreciates your generosity and your craft. The winner for the drawing was Mary Ann Claiborne

9:30 – 10:30 a.m.- Bingo for local senior citizens but ALL ages are WELCOME! You MAY be a lucky winner! Special thanks to the generosity of the noted sponsors.
• May 10th: Bingo sponsored by Bethany Senior Living
• May 17th: Bingo sponsored by Port Lavaca Nursing & Rehabilitation
1:00-3:00 p.m.- Mah Jongg – Make our MAY by attending! Did you know that Mah Jongg is a tile-based game and has been played throughout the world since the early 20th century. ALL are welcome to play!

(L-R: Darla Miles, Ursula Price, Nancy Ladshaw and Kaleigh McCauley)

Thursdays: 1:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.- Bridge – MAY the strategy be with you as you join the fun. Beginners welcome!

According to www.worldbridge.org, “It is believed that Bridge can enhance team spirit, socialization, the development of mental abilities and helps the brain to stay young and healthy.”

Specific Dates for POC Library Branch Multipurpose Room

Mark your calendars for the annual meeting. This year The Friends are excited to honor three of our founding directors/members and the 2022-23 volunteers who assist with library services and programs. Please consider joining us to see evidence of our goals and visions that enrich our community. If you are interested in learning more about us, please research us at www.friendsofportoconnorlibrary.org or message us at libraryfriendspoc@gmail.com

Annual Meeting, Monday, June 19th
• 5:30 – 6:30 Social
• 6:30 – 7:30 Annual meeting

Submitted by Darla Miles
Friends of the Port O’ Connor Library, Publicity Committee

When it comes down to it, except in some extreme circumstances, everything in our lives is not only completely under our control, but down to nothing more than the effort we put in.

Problem is, today many people struggle with the needed effort to make their dreams become reality, they (or rather we) have trouble working towards what would make them happy or make their lives more enjoyable.

Nature outside of man has no problems with this sort of thing, mainly because if they don’t push daily for their own survival, then they might perish, at the very least they would not be eating on any day that they decided to be lazy.

The subject matter has come up in this space before, whether at that time I danced around it or tackled it head on and with good reason, maybe I’m not the only one who feels like they know what they should do, they have always known, they just have hidden it from themselves because it’s scary to realize you are not trying to reach your true potential.

I’m doing it too of course, I have skills I do not sharpen and hone and I have dreams I just sleep on, it is the path to a less than fulfilling life and that damn ticking clock is always in my head…and I’d wager many other heads around me too.

Even the best excuses are really no excuse, I have legs that are not the best, walking for short periods is painful as hell but there are videos I’ve seen where handicapped people still participate in sports or the heroes we aspire to and write stories about, both fiction and nonfiction, who push pass things like pain and loss and keep fighting.

So what is missing in us?

Sometimes I think we have become spoiled…we don’t have to hunt for food like the animals, we don’t have to be aware that in any instant we could be in a fight for our very existence, except we are.

We have only switched out the factors, not the sum.

Everyday we still fight for our food, but through traffic and time clocks and jobs we no longer like, just to get pieces of paper to buy our food.

I think it’s probably causing most of us grief to be honest once all is said and done. My first job was at of all things a cosmetics store where although I was just hired to do stock work on weekends convinced them to let me work as a cashier there on a few weekdays.

Trust me, I did not do that due to enjoying the job but more like I was a foolish eighteen year old trying to buy an engagement ring for the ‘love of his life.’

Thing is I’m sitting here trying to inspire all of you because I am having a hard time inspiring myself to do the same. Meanwhile I also know, much like the knowledge of what I should be doing with my time, that the best way to inspire anyone is by example.

April 28th was Administrative Day, and two “besties” (best friends) were treated with baskets of goodies for being an awesome due who work the front desk of the Seadrift School. On the left is Debbie Benitez, the school secretary, and on the right is Robin Guice who is the school registrar. Debbie has worked at the Seadrift School for four years; Robin has been there for thirty-three years
.
Robin spoke up for the two of them and said, “We love the Seadrift School and the Seadrift community. We enjoy working with the students, parents, grandparents, and the faculty. Every day is an adventure and we love working together.”

While studying for my Mothers’ Day article, I found this information about fathers from 2000. I know that is almost 25 years ago, but I think these facts are probably about the same or maybe even worse!

1. In America, an estimated 24.7 million children live absent from their biological fathers.
2. There are about 1.25 million living with their single mothers. That is 25 percent!
3. About 1.25 million of all babies are out of wedlock. That is 37 percent!
4. Today nearly 40 percent of all first marriages end in divorce; and more than 1 million children each year experience the divorce of parents.
5. One out of every six children is a stepchild.
6. There are nearly 1.9 million single fathers with children under 18.
7. Four of every ten cohabiting couples have children in the home. Of children born to cohabiting couples, only 40 percent will see their parents every marry. Cohabiting couples who marry have a 95 percent divorce rate during the first five years of marriage.
8. Over 26 percent of absent fathers live in a different state from their children.
9. Over 40 percent of children who live in fatherless households have not seen their fathers in at least one year, while 50 percent have never stepped foot in their father’s home.
10. Children who live absent from their biological fathers, on average, are more likely to be poor, experience educational, health, emotional, and psychological problems, be victims of child abuse, and engage in criminal behavior than their peers who live with their married biological parents.

If these facts are true and I believe they are this bad or worse, it is time for men to “get a grip” on manhood and begin living like real men!

1. We need to “get a grip” on truth! Most men are not honest. I meet very few men who possess genuine integrity. Once a man told me about another man. “He had rather climb a tree to tell a lie than stand on the ground and he truthful!” Real men are willing to stand up and take the full consequences of their actions, especially when they are wrong. One man told me he liked the teaching of the Koran for it allowed him to lie in any of these situations. (1) when it would give him an advantage over his enemies; (2) when it would get him out of trouble; and/or (3) when it involved his wife! I continue believing real men stand tall and tell the truth 100 percent of the time!

2. We need men to “get a grip” on right. Not the popular, not what everyone else is doing, but men should seek to know the right and have the backbone to do right even when wrong would feel better! True men are self-disciplined. It is the immature boys who are always needing someone to keep them on the right pathways. Men, let boys be boys, but let us be men who stand for the right!

3. We need men to “get a grip” or becoming teachable. No man knows it all! A man’s man will always listen to instructions and/or advice. He will gather as much information on the subject as possible before he makes any decision. He will weigh a matter until he understands the ramifications of that matter before he acts. And men are people of action, not reaction!

4. We need men to “get a grip” on perseverance. Almost anyone can start a project, but a man will stick with the life problem until it is solved. Often, a man of perseverance will have to be a man of compassion, because men do not steam roll over those who are weaker than they are. There are man tests in life after school is over, and men will always strive to excel to maturity.

5. We need men to “get a grip” on eternity. Every child we “seed” comes with an “unexpirable” tag on its toe! Your child will live FOREVER! You have started them on a journey that will never truly end! One day, every father’s child will face a Righteous Judge Who will pronounce their just reward. As Dads, we need to understand that forever our child will curse us for the ungodly influences we had upon their natural lives or they will thank us for the external blessings an love to us for helping them make the right choice, which resulted in them knowing Christ as their personal Savior!

Happy Fathers’ Day, and may we strive to be men in a world filled with boys who have never grown up – who have never gotten a “grip” on truth, right; becoming teachable. perseverance or eternity! Only men can change the “facts” I found during my studies – together let’s become the Godly Men we have been created to be!