Seadrift Texas

by Rebbeca Bretz,
Portrait Artist of the Seadrift Legacy Project

On a sunny Sunday in Seadrift
I wander down to the docks.

Intoxicated by the bay breeze,
I play hide-and-seek with
brown pelicans and perched gulls.
Seemingly unamused, they stare back at me;
the crunch of this seashell path
has betrayed me.

Beneath a lone tree, a chair sits in shade.
Pollock’ed with bird squat.
Armies of ants, march stem-to-stern
at work in their bottle cap and beer tab universe.

Bleached white and sun-baked, the shrimp boats come in.
Exhaust fume-enshrouded fishermen
in slimed white boots
work in transfer their catch.
Their mouths move, but I hear nothing,
only the baritone hum of the boat engine.
I watch them work awhile.
Mystified by their gadgets and nets,
I guess they must speak a different language
that those of us not in the white boot club
may understand or appreciate.

Crunching back toward my reality,
I see sparrows playing Labyrinth in
teetering stacks of shiny neon-yellow crab baskets.
I pass a handsome craft in dry dock
with long rubber gloves drying vertically,
waving their faded red-and-yellow salute
to the passing of an era.

Sat., Oct. 27 Monster Dash 5K Run and Walk
8:00 a.m. Calhoun Air Center

Sat., Oct. 27 Monster Bash

Sat., Oct. 27 POC School Halloween Carnival

Sat., Oct. 27 White Elephant/Rummage Sale
8:00-2:00 St. Patrick’s Church, Seadrift

Sun., Oct. 28 White Elephant/Rummage Sale
10:00-1:00 St. Patricks’Church, Seadrift

Sun., Oct. 28 Great Day in the Morning
11:00 a.m. Port O’Connor First Baptist Church

Sun., Oct. 28 Annual Thanksgiving Dinner
1:00 a.m. St. Patrick’s Church, Seadrift

Sun., Oct. 28 POC Cemetery Association Meeting
6:30 p.m. Community Room, Community Center

Wed., Oct. 31 Halloween Parade in Seadrift
5:00 p.m. Register for Costume Contest

Wed., Oct. 31 Trick or Truth
First Baptist Youth Building, Seadrift

Wed., Oct. 31 Youth Night at the Chapel
7:00 p.m. Fisherman’s Chapel, Port O’Connor

Thurs., Nov. 1 Open House Bubba’s Smoked Meats
9 a.m.-9 p.m. 704 W. Adams, Port O’Connor

Fri., Nov. 2 Archeologist to Speak
1:30 p.m. Calhoun County Museum, 301 S. Ann, PL

Sat., Nov. 3 Service Club Garage & Bake Sale
8:00 a.m. POC Community Center Pavilion

Nov. 3 & 4 Quilt Show
10:00-4:00 Bauer Community Center, PL

Nov. 3 & 4 Arts, Crafts and Antiques Festival by the Bay
10:00-4:00 Bauer Community Center

Sun., Nov. 4 Daylight Saving Time Ends
Turn your clocks back one hour.

Tues., Nov. 6 Election Day

Tues., Nov. 6 Public Hearing
6:30 p.m. Seadrift City Hall

Tues., Nov. 6 Bunco
7:00 p.m. Port O’Connor Community Center

Sat., Nov. 10 Seadrift Clean-up
9:00-1:00

Sat., Nov. 10 PL Chamber Consignment Auction
10:00 a.m. Calhoun County Fairgrounds

Sun., Nov. 11 Veterans’ Day

Mon.,Nov. 12 Port O’Connor Chamber of Commerce
6:30 p.m. Back Room of Community Center

Thurs., Nov. 15 Seadrift Chamber of Commerce
6:00 p.m. First National Bank, Seadrift

Put it on your Calendar!
17th Annual Port O’Connor Community Thanksgiving Service
6:00 p.m., Sun., Nov. 18 at Fisherman’s Chapel

Club & Organizations’ Meeting Schedules:

AA meets each Saturday night at 7 p.m. at First Baptist Church Fellowship Hall in Port O’Connor.

POC Lions Club meets the second Wednesday of each month, 12 Noon, at Cathy’s Restaurant

Commissioner’s Court meets the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of each month at 10 a.m., 1st Floor of the Court House, Port Lavaca.

Crossroads Astronomy Club meets at 7:00 p.m., third Mondays, at U of H, Victoria, Room 223 info: wes81461@yahoo.com 935-2016

Calhoun County Quilt Guild meets the first Wednesday of each month at 9:30 a.m. at the Fairgrounds Exhibit Building.

Open Arms (Families Surviving Infant Loss) meets every third Tuesday at Central Church of Christ, 801 E. Airline, Victoria, from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m.

Calhoun County Democratic Club meets the last Thursday of the month at IBC Bank, Port Lavaca, at 5:30 p.m.

Calhoun County Conservative Club meets 2nd Tuesday each month, 11:00 a.m. at the Heritage Center in Port Lavaca

CASA (Christians Against Substance Abuse) meets each Thursday from 6-7 p.m. at Seadrift Bayfront Pavilion

Friday Night Youth every Friday except the first Friday of each month, 7:00 to 10:00 p.m., Fisherman’s Chapel, Port O’Connor

POC Sports Associationmeets the third Monday of each month at 6:30 p.m. at POC Community Center.

National Alliance on Mental Illness (N.A.M.I.) meets 3rd Monday each month from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Parkway Church, Victoria. Support group meets at Laurent Towers fountain from 6-8 p.m., 2nd and 4th Tuesdays each month.

“The Way I See It” is an attempt by the guest columnist to enlighten readers on a subject, as he views it, and does not necessarily reflect the views of this publication.

More Media Malfeasance

In the second debate Obama bragged on “his” increased oil and gas production. But the truth is this was accomplished in spite of Obama’s Administration, not because of it. Obama has had much Federal land withdrawn from oil leases, his EPA has tried to stop drilling in many areas, even on private land, and worse, he canceled the Keystone pipeline. However, fueled by rising gas prices around the world, the private sector managed to overcome all of Obama’s stumbling blocks and increased oil and refined gasoline production. And much of the drilling and fracking that has been going on is from the blessings of G. W. Bush and him Approving the start of that fracking process before he left office in 2009, on PRIVATE LANDS.

Obama’s big “Green Energy” has been a complete failure. There are 36 Green Energy companies that received over $10.2 billion in grants and loans, all are failing, 19 have declared bankruptcy. But Obama is determined to keep pushing this wasteful agenda. Many of the big grants are to companies that are owned by major campaign donors and bundlers like Solyndra. Obama still wants to fund this with taxpayer dollars. If companies have good ideas and are well run, they can raise money through stock sales. Obama could give tax breaks to investors to fund these projects, but the investors would be taking the risk, not the Treasury. Also Obama claims publicly that “every dime” of the TARP stimulus has been repaid, but the Congressional Budget Office says they are still $24 million short. And the people are left holding the bag on those companies that filed Bankruptcy because the Administration has made a ruling that the TAXED Investors are to be PAID BACK LAST, while the PRIVATE INVESTORS GET PAID BACK FIRST from the left over selling off and repositioning of Loss.

Obama and his representatives tried to blame the 9/11/2012 Benghazi attack on a little seen video trailer causing a demonstration, when intel assets had warned the State Dept and supposedly the White House before the attack by Al Qaeda-linked jihadists. Even the dead ambassador, Chris Stevens, had asked for more security assets, but most were removed. It took them almost 2 weeks to publicly admit that it was an organized terrorist attack, but in the debate Obama claimed he said it was a terrorist attack in his Rose Garden speech the following day. And Candy Crowley backed him up on it. Not true, he did mention at the end of his speech that he was against terrorism, but the main thrust was to blame the video, free speech, and religious intolerance against Muslims. Obama’s foreign policy is based on his personal love of Islam, his anti-colonial prejudices, and hope. Not on facts and reality. Lying to cover up mistakes is “politically normal”.

Obama’s people try to reduce the Unemployment Rate numbers by jiggling the statistics and putting healthy workers on Disability. His “Job Creation” does not keep up with the job losses and new workers entering the workforce. In fact, the workforce is shrinking with more people taking early retirement, getting on Disability, or just dropping out. The reason that last week’s numbers had gotten so low was because the State of California failed to submit their numbers on time, and when they did come clean about it the results showed that there would have been an increase of .38% bringing the Unemployment numbers up 1.28%, not the drop to 7.8% as touted by the Obama Administration.

Obama’s Attorney General is the most politicized and corrupt in history. “Fast and Furious” was designed to build public opinion for more gun control and the “Assault Rifle Ban”, but has gotten several Americans killed and wounded plus over 200 Mexicans. Obama, Holder, and Hillary Clinton want to expand the Assault Weapons Ban to include all semi-autos – rifles, shotguns, and pistols. They also want to outlaw all handguns, do away with Concealed Carry for civilians, and put prohibitive taxes on any guns and ammo.

Welfare is up 32% since Obama took office. Now over a trillion dollars per year. It will continue to get worse as people get discouraged and quit trying to be independent. This is part of the Cloward-Pivens Strategy to turn the USA into a totalitarian socialist state. Cloward & Pivens were professors at Columbia.

Does the Mainstream Media report and discuss these serious problems? NO! The Obama Campaign and their media friends are quick to call Romney a “Liar” when he suggests changes in policy, but Romney has been a success in every job he has held. These Obamunists call him a liar, but will not take the time to hear out his suggestions. They don’t attack his plans, because they can’t, only him. They know that Obama has been an abysmal failure, so all they have left is personal attacks and insults based on nothing factual. Obama is the one who has lied to the press and the people. He promised us transparency and has paid over $4.6 million to one law firm to keep his records sealed. He has been President for over 3 1/2 years and he hasn’t given out basic info necessary for a normal job application. His Social Security number will not even pass an E-Verify check. But they call Romney a liar? For the Obama Administration and Obama himself to call Romney a LIAR is the true POT calling the KETTLE black. Romney has Never been anything but honest in all of his business dealings in the past and he runs a very tight ship when he is pulling a company out of and away froom a Bankruptcy situation. That is what has made him successful in most of the dealings he has taken charge of.

Can we stand 4 more years of this? And as he told Vladimir Putin, he “will have more flexibility after his re-election”. I wonder what he means by that, and I greatly fear that it does not bode well for the American People and Constitutional Govt.

Obama was a great social experiment to prove that America was not racist. It did. Everything else about the Obama Administration has been a failure, especially economically. We simply cannot afford to re-elect him. Also, I believe that in a second term he “will have more flexibility”, and will go even further in destroying our economy, Constitution, and reduce us to a minor power internationally.

The October 2 Bunco Party was hosted by Kelly Cooper and Diane Cooley. Everyone dressed up in Halloween costumes and Biddie Hileman and Sally Jones were declared the best dressed.

Evelyn Lewis won the most games; Malinda Wilson won second most. Cherie Authement had the most Buncos and also won the Floating Bunco. Kelly Cooper had the second most Buncos and Shirley Gordon won the Booby Prize.

Everyone enjoyed a fun evening and delicious refreshments.

The November Bunco Party will be held Tuesday, November 6, at 7:00 p.m. in the back room of the Port O’Connor Community Center. Biddie Hileman and Sally Jones will be hostesses. All area ladies are invited to attend.

On November 6, all registered voters will have a chance to affect the outcome of local, statewide, and national races in our country. This article is not an appeal to “get out and vote”. This is an appeal to citizens to be aware of who, and what you are voting for. Over the past few decades, many changes have occurred in our country. Do these changes reflect your personal values?

I was going to attempt to summarize issues such as the economy, energy policies, marriage, and taxes, but I find it impossible to do so without reflecting my own values, which I realize may not be the same as all our readers’. So I will urge each of you who have access to the Internet to search for and read the Platforms of both the Republican and Democratic parties. (Please be aware that many web sites purporting to explain one party’s stances on issues are actually being posted by agents of the opposite party.)

You cannot find out all you need to know by watching the news or reading the papers, or even watching the debates. You must see from their own platforms to what values each is committed.
You may have to read carefully to distinguish high sounding rhetoric from what is actually being said, and you will have to translate general statements into the specific issues we face today,  but you will find out there which platform comes closest to your own values. Whichever that is, is the party and the candidate for which you should vote.

Please check these out for yourself and, additionally, do all you can to educate yourself on the issues. The future of our country depends upon how you vote.

The Lighter Side of Politics

The problem with political jokes is they get elected.
-Henry Cate, VII

We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. -Aesop

If we got one-tenth of what was promised to us in these acceptance speeches, there wouldn’t be any inducement to got to heaven.
-Will Rogers

Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber. -Plato

Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build a bridge even where there is no river.
-Nikita Khrushchev

When I was a boy I was told that anybody could become President; I’m beginning to believe it. -Clarence Darrow

Why pay money to have your family tree traced; go into politics and your opponents will do it for you. -Author Unknown

Politicians are people who, when they see the light at the end of the tunnel, go out and buy some more tunnel. -John Quinton

Politics is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich, by promising to protect each from the other. -Oscar Ameringer

I offer my opponents a bargain; if they will stop telling lies about us, I will stop telling the truth about them.
-Adlai Stevenson, campaign speech, 1952

A politician is a fellow who will lay down your life for his country.
-Texas Guinan

Any American who is prepared to run for president should automatically, by definition, be disqualified from ever doing so.
-Gore Vidal

I have come to the conclusion that politics is too serious a matter to be left to the politicians.
-Charles deGaulle

Instead of giving a politician the keys to the city, it might be better to change the locks.
-Doug Larson