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.

Fri., April 13 Bingo Social
6:30 p.m. Port O’Connor School Cafeteria

April 13-14 Women’s Conference Alamo Heights Baptist 552-2532

April 13-14 Go Texan BBQ Cook-off Cal. Co. Rodeo Arena

Sat., April 14 Service Club Garage and Bake Sale
starts 8:00 a.m. Port O’Connor Community Center

Sat., April 14 BBQ Benefit for Shawn Dietzel
11:00-5:00 Lutheran Church, 2535 Coletoville Rd. E, Victoria

Sat., April 14 Sweet Success Baking Competition
3:00-7:00 p.m. VISD Conference Center, Victoria

Sat., April 14 The Music of “Night Edge”
6:00-10:00 pm Seadrift Bayfront Pavilion

Mon., April 16 CASA Representative “Child Advocacy”
10:00-4:00 Seadrift Library

Mon., April 16 CCISD Board Meeting
5:30 p.m. Port O’Connor School Auditorium

Wed., April 18 Blood Drive
12:30-4:00 POC School Parking Lot

Thurs., April 19 Port O’Connor Service Club
10:00 a.m. Back Room of POC Community Center

Thurs., April 19 Seadrift Chamber of Commerce
6:00 p.m. First National Bank, Seadrift

Sat., April 21 Free Wetland Kayak Tours
10:00-1:00 Bay Front Park, Port Lavaca

Sat., April 21 Decoration Day
10:00 a.m. Evergreen Cemetery, Victoria

Sat., April 21 Paddlesports America Class
1:00-5:00 Bauer Community Center, Port Lavaca

Sat., April 21 San Jacinto Day Festival & Battle Reenactment
10:00-6:00 San Jacinto Battleground Historic Site

Sat., April 28 Clean Up Boggy Nature Park
Morning Port O’Connor

Sat., April 28 Adopt-A-Beach Spring Cleanup
9:00-Noon Magnolia Beach, King Fisher Beach, Austwell Pier

Sat., April 28 Port Lavaca Art Guild Spring Art Show
12:00-4:00 Train Depot, Port Lavaca

Sat., April 28 Lighthouse 2911 Coastal Bands Bash
Noon-10 p.m. Calhoun County Fairgrounds

GARAGE SALE MANIA has taken over, and the members of the POC Service Club have fallen victims.  This all became apparent at their meeting on April 4th.      Because of the many activities involved with all the members and others, there were numerous active and vocal discussions as the final plans were being confirmed for the Annual Spring Garage and Bake Sale.  Although the Sale is scheduled for Saturday, April 14th at the Community Center, members were notified to be on hand that morning by 7:00 a.m. as the Sale will be starting very promptly at 8:00 a.m. and a huge number of shoppers from various areas throughout our County is anticipated.

Lydia Strakos, is the Chairman of this Event and she is being assisted very capably by Debbie Busby.  Donations of furniture and kitchen items, clothing, art work and books have arrived continuously for storage, and luckily, all items are in good condition for the sale.  Lydia stated that a sign-in sheet will be available on Thursday for members to plan their hours to work in preparation of the Sale on Thursday and Friday.  And once again, she has again made arrangements with members of our local Coast Guard to help husbands with the loading and unloading of large items for the Sale.
As the Bake Sale accompanies the Garage Sale, all members have been contacted by Sally Ragusin, Chairman, and Sally is not taking “No” for an answer from anyone.  Sally is currently planning on a vast display of stunningly delicious appearing cakes as well as cookies of all shapes and types to offer to the Community at large.  And, if you’re planning on purchasing something sweet for your weekend dinner, you have been advised that the Sale starts promptly at 8:00 a.m. and is usually sold out within an hour.

Our next meeting will be Thursday, April 19, 2012, at 10:00 a.m. in the meeting room in the back of the Community Center.  Hope to see a full listing of members there as plans will be made for our activities later in the year.

Houston, TX – More than 1100 retired educators met in Houston last week at the Texas Retired Teachers Association (TRTA) 59th annual convention. Attendees from all over Texas joined with local members of the Calhoun Co. Retired Teachers Association. Attending from Calhoun Co. were: Joanne Mueller and Linda Brush. These public education retirees met to discuss the future of their health care and pension issues, among other things.

“We’re in critical time between legislative sessions,” said TRTA President Herbert Norris. “Public education retirees are concerned about the growing misinformation campaign against the Teacher Retirement System’s (TRS) defined benefit pension plan. We want to keep what we have and promote the great value our teacher retirement system offers to the entire state. In addition, public education retirees haven’t received a permanent pension increase in a decade, and we are concerned about the more immediate issues with funding for the TRS-Care health insurance program. There is much for us to discuss before the 2013 legislative session.”

The convention, entitled “Countdown to the Future,” offered retired public educators an opportunity to learn about TRTA’s efforts to participate in two interim studies being conducted by TRS about their retirement and health insurance plans. Sessions this year also focused on topics such as community engagement, leadership training, healthy aging and investment management.

Members also learned about plans to strengthen TRTA’s grassroots advocacy efforts. Joanne Mueller, Calhoun Co. RTA president-elect stated: ”I was reminded how important it is that we contact our legislators now and not wait until the legislative session begins. Retirees need to be diligent in educating candidates and leaders about TRS, for example: that its 83% funding ratio makes it one of the best funded pension plans in the nation.”

-For more information about TRTA,, visit www.trta.org or call 1-800-880-1650.

Cody Branch, Kaitlyn Lashley, Mathew Stapp, Melany Romo, Aislin Guzman, Kyle Doggett, Alex Lopez aerate the garden.

Students in Mrs. Renee Hawes’ class are learning gardening skills first hand at Tommy and Brenda Smith’s garden. The kids have planted green beans, potatoes, squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, and bell peppers.

At the garden, students are responsible for watering, weeding, aerating, and measuring plant growth. They are also conducting an experiment using different planting methods. Bell peppers were planted with the soft pots on, some had half of the soft pot, and some had no pots.

The class is very excited and anxious to see what will happen. Students visit and work in the garden two or three times a week and are having a great time! We can’t wait until it is time to pick and eat our vegetables in the classroom.

Thank you to Tommy and Brenda Smith for letting us share your garden with us.

Aislin Guzman, Kyle Doggett and Kaitlyn Lashley measure plant growth.