Thanks to all the people who donated blood last month at the POC Elementary School blood drive. Enough blood was donated to save 69 people!
The first grade class won a prize for recruiting the most donors. Mrs. Cindy Carpenter of the South Texas Blood and Tissue Center presented a plaque to our school.
Show in the photo above are Judy Anderson, first grade teacher at POC Elementary and Cindy Carpenter.
-Carol Rosenboom

Citizens of the Week at Port O’Connor School

Week ending April 27: PreK- Jenna Branch; Kindergarten- Matthew Stapp; First Grade- Ethan Redding; Second Grade- Keven Salinas; Third Grade- Evan Clifton; Fourth Grade- Colton Williams; Fifth Grade- Gavin Gosnell

Week ending May 4: PreK- Antonio Gloria; Kindergarten- Kyle Doggett; First Grade- Arely Ixtepan; Second Grade- Jarius Munoiz; Third Grade- Dalton Alford; Fourth Grade- Trey Hagler; Fifth Grade- Madison Posey

Students of the Week at Seadrift School

Week ending April 27: PreK, Mrs. Myers- Trevon Ragusin; K, Mrs. Kern- Taegan Sanders; 1st, Mrs. Christy- Olivia Gillespie; 1st, Ms. Stringham- Hector Perez; 2nd, Miss Sistare- Alex Perez; 2nd, Mrs. Flisowski- Nataly Rodriguez; 3rd, Mrs. Hons- Matthan Morgan; 3rd, Mrs. Petrisky- Dustin Miller; 4th, Mrs. Gray- Isaac Turner; 4th, Ms. Adams- Justin Lambright; 5th, Mrs. Canales- Karley Gregory Junior High: Mrs. Henderson- Matthew Frazier; Mrs. Cady- Ronnie Camacho; Mrs. Bull- Erika Ruiz; Coach Anderson- Kayla Williamson; Coach Sternadel- Trent Martinez; Mrs. Charnetski- Chris James; Mrs. Smith- Wyatt Bowman; Coach Lillge- Christopher Boyce; Ms. Blackburn- Victoria Reyes; Mrs. Beaver- Shelby Pritchard

Week ending May 4: PreK, Mrs. Myers- Natalie Hunt; K, Mrs. Kern- Edgar Munoz; 1st, Mrs. Christy- Nate Saenz; 1st, Ms. Stringham- Creasie Gohlke; 2nd, Miss Sistare- Trenton Goodman; 2nd, Mrs. Flisowski- Jordi Vallejo; 3rd, Mrs. Hons- Stormy Mills; 3rd, Petrisky- Viviana Munoz; 4th, Mrs. Gray- Jasmine Wooldridge; 4th, Ms. Adams- Ethan Mikolas; 5th, Mrs. Canales- Angel Chavez Junior High: Mrs. Henderson- Joseph Mayorga; Mrs. Cady- Noel Munoz; Mrs. Bull- Erika Ruiz; Coach Anderson- Jennifer Rodriguez; Coach Sternadel- Samantha Mendez; Mrs. Charnetski- Angel Martinez; Mrs. Smith- Victoria Reyes; Coach Lillge- Bayley Neuman; Ms. Blackburn- Grant Gray; Mrs. Beaver- Mario Rodriguez

AA meets each Saturday night at 7 p.m. at First Baptist Church Fellowship Hall in Port O’Connor.
AA Meetings are held each Monday at 7:30 p.m. at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, 4th & Cleveland, in Seadrift.  Fellowship begins at 7:00.
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
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 Association meets 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.

Sat., May 12    City Council Election  -7:00 p.m. -Seadrift City Hall

Sunday, May 13    Mother’s Day

Mon., May 14    Port O’Connor Chamber of Commerce -6:30 p.m.    -Back Room of Community Center

Wed., May 16    PL Chamber Business to Business Luncheon -Noon     -Bauer Community Center

Thurs., May 17    Lions Club Blood Drive    4:00-7:00 p.m.    -Dicks Food Store, Seadrift

Thurs., May 17    Seadrift Chamber of Commerce  -6:00 p.m.    -First National Bank, Seadrift

Sat., May 18-19    Warrior’s Weekend!        9:00 a.m. Sat. approximate arrival time in Port O’Connor

Sat., May 19    Coast Guard Auxiliary Open House   9:00-4:00    -Bauer Community Center, Port Lavaca

Sun., May 20    Our Lady of Guadalupe Festival    starts 11:00 a.m.    -Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Tivoli

Sat., May 26    Fishing, Kites & BBQ on King Fisher Beach

Sun., May 27    St. Patrick’s BBQ Dinner & Raffle starts 11:00 a.m.    -St. Patrick Church in Seadrift

Mon., May 28    Memorial Day

Tues., May 29    Election Day

You can be a part of this yearly event, honoring our wounded American heroes.

American Heroes from 12 military installations, including Walter Reed Hospital and Brooke Army Medical Center, will begin arriving in Port O’Connor, Seadrift and Port Lavaca on May 18 and staying through May 20. The actual fishing tournament is May 19. We are striving to bring in 400 of these heroes plus about 150+ family members this year. About 270 of these heroes will be flying into Bush Airport in Houston.

I wish everyone could see the reception these heroes receive in Houston. It is quite a sight. In 2011, there were over 1,000 Houstonians to greet the heroes and all of us were quite overwhelmed by the reception, especially the heroes. After the reception, the procession begins to Port O’Connor with a stop along the way at Prasek’s in Hillje, a slight detour nonstop through Ganado and Edna and a stopover in Victoria for the Warrior’s Weekend Field of Honor dedication, which begins around 3:00 p.m.

The procession will again move toward the heroes’ lodging in Port Lavaca, Seadrift and Port O’Connor. Once settled, they are brought to the Port O’Connor Community Center for a fish fry and then allowed to go night fishing under the lights, courtesy of The Sanctuary. That makes for a long day if they choose to participate in everything and many of them do. On Saturday, after fishing all day, there will be a great barbecue dinner for them and then night fishing again if they are up to it.

Why is Warrior’s Weekend so important in the lives of these truly great American heroes?

You should come down to Froggie’s Bait Dock or the Community Center and ask them yourself. They will tell you that they don’t receive this amount of love anywhere else. Some of them will tell you that Warrior’s Weekend has had a dramatic effect on their lives. Some of the wives will tell you that Warrior’s Weekend has had a dramatic effect on their marriage. These are very humbling things to hear and that’s why we try to touch as many of these lives as we possibly can. That’s why our lodging has spilled over into Seadrift and Port Lavaca.

Once again, the Warrior’s Weekend Field of Honor will be posting flags in the name of your veteran (s) next to Faith Family Church in Victoria. These flags, which will be posted on May 12, from 9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m., can be sponsored for $40 each by going to our website web.mac.com/warriorsweekend and clicking on Field of Honor or by coming to my office, 3603 Miori Ln. in Victoria. This is a great way to honor your veteran and support Warrior’s Weekend.

Something very unique is happening with Warrior’s Weekend this year on Saturday, May 12 in Victoria at the VISD Fine Arts Center, next to the old Victoria High School, 1002 Sam Houston Drive beginning at 7:00 p.m. For the past year, our very wonderful supporter, Sharon Burns, has been making a documentary about Warrior’s Weekend entitled, Return to Honor. This professionally done documentary includes interviews in the homes of some of our heroes all around America, interviewing the heroes’ families as to how an event such as Warrior’s Weekend touches their lives as they endure the effects of their injuries including PTSD and TBI (traumatic brain injury) that many of them suffer from. You can view a trailer of the film on YouTube, type in Return to Honor Trailer, which shows about four minutes of the documentary.

Tickets for the documentary are $15 and can be purchased at Tigrett Real Estate, Cathy’s Restaurant and Josie’s Mexican Food in Port O’Connor and in my office at 3603 Miori Ln. in Victoria. We believe this is going to be a very special evening.

There is going to be a final volunteer meeting in Port O’Connor on Monday, April 30th at First Baptist Church, 5th and Jefferson, beginning at 6:00 p.m. If you’d like to help and/or find out what will be going on at Warrior’s Weekend, try and attend.

We are still looking for boats to take the heroes fishing, as this year we will need 250+ boats to make sure all of our heroes have a great day. If you can volunteer your boat, email me at ron_kocian@hotmail.com. Let me know your contact information and the size of your boat.

Make plans to be at Froggie’s on Saturday morning, the 19th around 9:00 a.m. (I’d get there sooner for a great seat) to greet our heroes. Give them a handshake and/or a hug—they love it and certainly deserve it. Try and come to the Return to Honor showing; you might see yourself but, nonetheless, it will be a great evening. Also, the sculptors are hard at work, designing this year’s sand sculpture that the heroes love.

Try to come to the premiere showing of Return to Honor, the volunteer meeting in Port O’Connor on the 30th and Warrior’s Weekend VI on the 19th. You won’t regret it. You may call my wife, Sherry or myself at 361-572-0001 for more information.

-Ron Kocian, President, Warrior’s Weekend

“Return to Honor” was filmed at the 2011 Warrior’s Weekend. It was filmed in the hope of showing others in our country how South Texas honors the military heroes who serve and sacrifice for our freedoms.

The premier showing is set for Saturday, May 12, at the Victoria Fine Arts Center on Sam Houston Drive. Tickets are $15.00 donation per person and can be obtained at: Ron Kocian & Associates, 3603 Miori Lane in Victoria and at Tigrett Real Estate, Cathy’s Restaurant, and Josie’s Mexican Food in Port O’Connor.

Trooper Bill Davidson’s widow, siblings, children and grandchildren at the dedication of the new DPS patrol vessel. -Photo by Bret Williams

On Wednesday, April 11, a dedication ceremony was held on the Port O’Connor School grounds for the Department of Public Safety’s new patrol vessel, “Bill Davidson”. The boat is the third of six patrol vessels being commissioned across the state – a fleet of “shallow water interceptors” – to fight drug dealers and human smugglers.
Trooper Bill Davidson was fatally shot 20 years ago during a traffic stop in Jackson County. Since he loved to fish the Port O’Connor waters, it is most fitting that his name-sake be commissioned here.

His family, DPS officials and Troopers, local officials, and Port O’Connor School students gathered to view the new boat and to honor Trooper Davidson.
The 34-foot black and white vessel is equipped with armored glass and hull and a 900-horsepower engine. With automatic weapons and night vision, the six man crew is fully capable of taking on any threats they may encounter as they patrol the Intracoastal Waterway between Port O’Connor and Ingleside.