While hanging out at Clark’s Marina and bait camp I watched my friend and local guide open his fish box and I saw a good catch of specks and reds and drum that his party caught this morning. All of the specks were nice size and one was 27 inches long. When asked why it wasn’t catch and released he stated his customer wanted to keep her. Since they are the boss he had to follow their wishes. Knowing the sportsman he is, I am sure that if it was up to him he would have released the fish if it was in good shape.

Catching has been a little on the slow side as of late, But I expect it to get better with less moon and better tides.

G. B. Robertson

Russell Cain, Delegate to the Republican National Convention

Seven Calhoun County residents were among the 8,000 people in attendance at the Texas Republican Convention held June 7th through 9th in Fort Worth. Delegates included Russell and Cherre Cain from Port Lavaca, Russell and Mary Lee York of Olivia, Sara Bill and Tracie Massey of Port Lavaca, and Lamar Bush of Seadrift.

Governor Rick Perry was the keynote speaker. Governor Perry’s election in 2010 marked the first time in many years that Republicans carried Calhoun County.

Senate District 27, comprised of Calhoun and 16 other counties met on Saturday to elect three delegates to the national convention. For the first time, a Calhoun County resident, Russell Cain, was elected as a National Delegate. Also elected as national delegates were June Gallihon and Gil Hernandez, both from Nueces County. Alternates are Alicia Villarreal, Nueces; Becky Berger, SD-18 representative, and Jackie Glor from Victoria.

The entire convention elected Robin Armstrong and Lieutenant Colonel Borah to speak at the convention. The Republican National Convention will be held in Tampa, Florida August 27 through August 30.

Earth as seen from the Voyager 1

We have all heard the saying, “What a small world.” But as I look up at the heavens at night at the vastness of the cosmos I am reminded just how small we really are and of my own insignificance and how little I am in the great scheme of things, I can see a thousand stars with my naked eye, then turn and look into the telescope at one point of blackness and see a million more. “My eyepiece is but a tiny thimble with a million sparkling diamonds.”

I can see strange gasses of all colors (nebulae) and groups of stars so dense that they glow in the eyepiece like a far off city (Globular Clusters). Distant galaxies glow with their trillions of faint points of light and I wonder, “What would we look like from there?” But for now, we could only imagine.

Well, it turns out we do have a small glimpse of just how small we really are. In 1990, the Voyager 1 spacecraft “the farthest man made object” finished its NASA mission of studying and photographing the far out planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, and was headed for interstellar space. Astronomer Dr. Carl Sagan talked NASA into allowing JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) to turn the spacecraft for one last picture of earth from 3.7 billion miles away.

With all the beautiful close up and colorful pictures being returned to earth of all the planets, the one that stood out to Dr. Sagan was the one of a grainy “Pale Blue Dot” that took 5.5 hours for the signal to reach earth.

I’m reminded of the tiny ant that craws along the ground. He could not imagine how large the world he craws upon really is. And the same with us as we try to see deeper and farther into the cosmos with larger and larger telescopes; we are but a tiny grain of sand in the large ocean of interstellar space. It is said that “astronomy is humbling”; problems of every day become small and insignificant when one stargazes into the larger world beyond our own.

Dr Sagan pointed out that “all of human history has happened on that tiny pixel, everyone we know, everyone that has ever been, every person, everyone you ever heard of, our posturings, our imagined self-importance — Here! Right here! on this “Pale Blue Dot”.

It’s Almost Here!

You can begin to smell the barbecues being set up, hear the sound of ice being poured across bottles of beer to chill and you can almost see the bright bursts of light illuminating the night sky with multitudes of color.

That’s right, the Fourth of July is coming up fast, that day when we celebrate our nation’s independence and glory by being around friends and family and enjoying the freedom generations of Americans have striven to achieve and maintain.

Here are some interesting facts you may not know about “The Fourth”:

The first Independence Day was held on July, 8th, 1776, in  Philadelphia. This included the Liberty Bell sounding to call the public to Independence Hall for the first reading in public of the Declaration of Independence, read by Colonel John Nixon.

Two of our most important historical figures, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, died on Independence Day in 1826.

Out of the fifty-six signatures on the Declaration of Independence, only six were put to the document on or before July, 4th, 1776. The other fifty “John Hancocks” were placed there during an event on August, 2nd of the same year.

The National Anthem is actually the tune for an old English drinking song called To Anacreon in Heaven, just with different lyrics.

The Fourth of July was not actually a national holiday until 1941.

Modernly, your pooch may hide under the bed when the fireworks start, but back in the days before cars the Fourth was the dreaded holiday of horses everywhere due to all the noise and the children who would throw firecrackers at them.

Around 150 million hot dogs will be cooked and consumed on the fourth, enough dogs to stretch from Los Angeles, California to Washington D.C. Five times.

If you are eating anything containing beef this holiday, there is a good chance that the meat came from right here in Texas as the Lone Star State produces one sixth of the nation’s beef output. If your meat was not from Texas, then it most likely originated in either Nebraska or Kansas.

Yankee Doodle was originally sung by the British to poke fun of the American colonists.

According to data from 2009, Americans spend six hundred million on fireworks each year. Other items totaled were ninety four million on lighter fluid, two hundred and three million on condiments, three hundred and forty one million on beer, one hundred and ninety three million on hamburgers and one hundred ninety three million on potato chips and soda combined.

Here’s hoping that everyone has a safe and healthy Fourth of July holiday!

Dear Editor,

As a member of the Calhoun County Historical Commission, I deeply appreciate the value and emphasis The Dolphin Talk places on Calhoun County’s history. I enjoy reading the “Now and Then” by J. Phillip Ellenberger, the Historical Commission Chair. As an editor you value the contributions of individuals who helped to pave the way for others. Thank you for the Indianola, Old Town (Cemetery on the Ridge), and Zimmerman Cemeteries coverage.

In addition to the Port O’Connor Cemetery, the Commission is interested in any area that involves the citizens of your community which would be over fifty years old. If anyone is interested in writing a Historical Marker Story, please contact me at 361-552-5931.

With thanks,

Mary B. Meitzen, Calhoun County Historical Commission Marker Chair

Dear Dolphin,

We would like to thank the Port O’Connor EMS/ Fire Department for allowing the First Baptist Church youth group to hold their car wash fund raiser at the station on Saturday, June 16th. And a really big thanks to Sylvia and Martin who opened up the station and moved the fire trucks and ambulance. So many people in our small community have been supporting the youth group and we want everyone to know just how much we appreciate it. We couldn’t attend camp without the help of our church members and the POC community that support us in our fund raising.

Thank you all,

First Baptist Church Youth Group

Warrior’s Weekend Sand Sculpture:

The patriotic Warrior’s Weekend sand sculpture is still in the front lawn of the Port O’Connor Community Center. It stands 15 feet tall and consists of 130 tons of sand. It took 12 days to build and was a labor of love for our wounded heroes who have sacrificed so much for us. Don’t just drive around it, get out and take a close look. There are over 327 names of wounded men and women out of the 417 who came to Port O’Connor for Warrior’s Weekend. It will touch your heart to know that we hugged, laughed, and cried with each and every one of those heroes whose name is written on the Wall of Hope. We thanked them for their service to our country and we thanked them for their sacrifices. This sand sculpture is our small way of showing them we care.

The Sand Sculpting Team would like to thank the following people and businesses of Port O’Connor who helped us in so many ways…Roger & Karen Krause, Bridget Sprague & Darrell McMahan, Mack & Peggy Eliott, J.R. Lange, Virgil Redding, Commissioner Kenneth Finster, Kathy Yearwood, the Community Center Board Members, Bill Tigrett, Joyce Rhyne, Marilyn Giessel & Shelley Gasch, Kim Sonnier, Paul McGee, Martie Gonzales, Joane & Erny McDonough, Emma Jean Dumas, Ann Pesek, Art’s BBQ, Captain G’s, Cathy’s, Hurricane Junction, Josie’s, Mama’s Pizza, Mini Mart, Speedy Stop, the Senior Citizen’s Tuesday Lunch group at the Community Center, and Tigrett Realty.

We are so appreciative of the help with lodging, food, tractors, ice, drinks, labor, and news coverage. Because of all of you we were able to build our best tribute to the wounded warriors yet.

We can’t thank you enough for your kindness and patriotism.

Gloria Fric aka The Dragon Lady and the Sand Sculpting Team

Attention Dog Lovers:

Loving homes urgently needed for several small dogs. Many are pure breds. All have been lovingly cared for. Circumstances require owner to give away pets right away. Many to choose from. Please call 361-655-7189 if you would consider adopting one or more of these good pets.

FREE PUPPIES
Chihuahua Mix
Born May 14
2 Males, 2 Females
Adult size 5-7 lbs.
(361) 648-2654

Hello, I am in the search for a little Pomeranian dog owner. I live in Victoria, TX and my search has reached to Port O’ Connor and I don’t even know how these two little travelers made it here! lol We recently discovered a fully grown pom pom male and black lab in our back yard and the pom pom only had a silver collar and red vet tag for rabies shot from the Bayside Vet Clinic in Port Lavaca. We called the vet and they said that the owners of the dog only had a PO box in Port O’Connor. I have no idea how to get a hold of these people do you think their is any way of putting a lost dog add in your paper? I really wanna find these little guys owners they are awfully scared. Please help them on their long journey home, pleeeease?
nocojackson16@yahoo.com

Lost: Woman’s Large Link Gold Necklace. Lost last week of May in front of Cathy’s, Speedy Stop, or Teresa’s. Reward. Mary Posey 210-265-7250.

The Dolphin welcomes letters from our readers on any subject that is of general interest to our audience.  Letters should be 300 words or less (with exceptions at the Dolphin’s discretion).  Letters reflect the opinion of the writer, and not that of Dolphin Talk staff, and we retain the right to determine suitability for publication.  It is the policy of this newspaper to promote area interests: therefore, complaints against local businesses should be directed elsewhere.  Letters must be signed and include day and evening phone numbers, which will not be published.  Your name will be withheld upon request, but anonymous material will not be considered for publication.

Letters to the Dolphin:
Dolphin Talk, P.O. Box 777,
Port O’Connor, TX 77982
dolphin1@tisd.net

The next Dolphin Talk comes out on Friday, July 13.
Deadline: Monday, July 9