With over one hundred people in attendance our Chamber Appreciation Casino party was a blast! Everyone devoured the six-foot Charcuterie table, which provided a lot to snack on during the evening. A big thank you to Brookie’s Cookies for the best themed casino cookies. The music was provided by DJ Locomotion which helped to loosen everyone up for some great dance moves. We also had table games which included Blackjack, Roulette, and Craps! Congratulations to our prize winners, Jo Beth Staff, Gary Crone (two-time winner), Otto Hardt, Mary Wygrys and Dennis Smith. A huge thank you to all our diligent Board Members who bartended, decorated, and greeted our guests!

Plans continue for the Crawfish Festival & Cookoff on April 29th. Admission is $5, Beer tickets are $5, and Crawfish plates will be $25. Boudreaux will be returning with his Zydeco music and will be bringing Pousson this year!! Don’t want to wait in line then get ready and order early. Presales for your admission wristbands and beer tickets will go on sale beginning April 1st on the Chamber website. You will be able to pick them up on Friday, April 28th, from 3-6 pm at the pavilion or at the Will Call gate from 10-2 pm the day of the festival. Start following the POC Crawfish Fest & Cookoff Facebook page to keep up to date of what will be happening!

Start watching for the bright yellow litter bags! The Port O’Connor Chamber of Commerce has partnered with the Nueces River Authority in cleaning up our Beaches and Bays. The UP2U litter bags will be placed in boxes near the Kingfisher pier, along Kingfisher Park, the little jetties and other strategic places to help collect litter. We are providing the bags free of charge, in hopes that you will grab one to collect your trash in and place in the trash cans in the area. Please help us keep our beaches and bays clean and free of trash! We want you to have a beautiful and safe beach for you and your family to enjoy!

This year, the Chamber will be raffling off a new 2022 Polaris Ranger Premium SP250, Crew with a Camo Package. Tickets will be $100, with only 500 sold! Stop by the First National Bank in Port O’Connor to see it! All Board members will be selling tickets. Tickets can also be purchased at the Farmers Market (2nd weekend of each month), the Crawfish Festival & Cookoff, and also at the July 1st Fireworks (pavilion). Drawing is scheduled for October 8, 2023, or sooner if all 500 tickets are sold prior to. Do not wait. tickets are going fast! Call 361-983-2898 for more info.

Remember, that if you have not renewed your Chamber Business membership, all listings will drop off our website on April 1, 2023. Only member referrals are given out to incoming calls and inquiries about Port O’Connor. If you would like to become a member, please call us or join online at www.portoconnorchamber.com. We welcome everyone in supporting Port O’Connor, individuals as well as businesses!

We are still very busy working to raise money for the Community Center. We have raised almost 1/3 of the total needed to do the repairs and additions to the Pavilion. Those include adding additional stalls to each restroom, adding a prep area for catering, adding additional storage for new tables and chairs, installing a pull down door on the north side near the restrooms, painting and repairs. Our expected cost is $150,000.00 for all this. Look for our THERMOMETER near the highway and track our progress. Once this project is completed, we will start a campaign to raise money for the main building restoration.

The next event we will be a part of is the Crawfish Festival put on by the POC Chamber each year. We will be selling raffle tickets for our Redfish Bench (drawing to be held May 6), our neon sign donated by the Chamber, and a large basket of goodies to host your own crawfish party. The winners for these two items will be announced at the Festival at 4:30.  If you have never been, now is the time. It’s an amazing event on April 29, at Kingfisher Park.

On May 6, we will be hosting our first annual Derby Day celebration. It will start with a fun run through the Sanctuary in the morning. At noon, we will start our festivities at the Community Center. There will be food available, fun and games for all ages, a silent auction, races, hat decorating contests, and live streaming of the Church Hill Down’s day of racing ending with the Kentucky Derby. Come join in in the fun! We will be announcing the winner of our Redfish Bench at this event . We will be telling you more about this event in next month’s Dolphin Talk. Mark your calendars.  
     

The night was lit up with excitement. Kids wondered with amazement at the special guest speaker who spoke about how city government works and took time for Q & A. Coloring books especially prepared for the 2012 Seadrift Centennial were passed out and autographed by the mayor. Pictured are Seadrift mayor Elmer DeForest and Corben Rasmussen.
This all took place at the Seadrift First Baptist Church’s gym where their youth program is held on Monday and Wednesday nights. The mayor came to visit in February on a Wednesday night.

Join us at our meetings on the 3rd Tuesday of each month at 6:00 p,m, at the Seadrift Train Depot.

Market Days are held at the Train Depot the last Saturday of each month from 8-12 – vendors are always welcome!

Shrimpfest is June 9-10. We have a great lineup so far and are accepting vendors!

Check out our website at seadriftchamber.com for updates, information and to register as a vendor for any of our great events!