Left to Right: First Place, Second Place, Third Place:

Girls age 0-1: Abigail Pawik; Abygail Gonzales; Avery Gosness

Boys 0-1: Remington Eure; Madden Guevara; Corbin Washburn

Girls 2-3: Sara Doolin; Sofia Vasquez; Christina Ragusin

Boys 2-3: Jaxson Key; Raiden Baldera; Tyler Hagler

Girls PreK: Harley Maraggia; Jenna Branch; Audrey Partida

Boys PreK: Linkyn Doolin; Haydon Schubert; Luke Vela

Girls Kindergarten: Cindy Rasmussen; Melany Romo; Alslin Guzman

Boys Kindergarten: Charlie Alstrom & Whitten Buzzell; Braeden Ragusin; Kyle Doggett

Girls 1st Grade: Elizabeth Carriles; Makayla Reed; Adalia Gossett

Boys 1st Grade: Dylan Ramirez; Chase Harding; Ashton Albrecht

Girls 2nd Grade: Shayla Teel; Madison Stringo; Sarah Doggett

Boys 2nd Grade: Joey Helms; John Rosenboom; Landon Rasmussen

Girls 3rd Grade: McKaelyn Carriles; Brooklyn Redmond; Chloe Ragusin

Boys 3rd Grade: Andrew Ragusin; Collin Branch; Hunter Hadlen

Girls 4th Grade: Riley Hughes; Carly Rosenboom; Elizabeth Carey

Boys 4th Grade: Sam Thumann; Gavin Guiterez; Thomas Hawes

Girls 5th Grade: Caroline Hrncir; Cierra Harper; Adrianna Carriles

Boys 5th Grade: Gavin Gosnell; Marshall Arlitt; Mitchell Arlitt

Girls 7th Grade: Jaylin Rameriz; Shelby Rodgers; Hailey Mang

6th Grade: Joseph Lambright; 7th Grade: Kayne Carriles

Girls 7th Grade: MacKenzie Stringo; Hailey Whitaker; Whitney Ronshausen

Boy High School: Robert Carriles; Girl High School: Jaclynn Lopez

Adult Female: Marie Hawes; Becky Carville; Valerie Nelson

Adult Male: Robin Carville; Robbie Hawes; Scott Wheat

Evelyn Burleson is ecstatic as she reaches the end of the race.

Saturday, October 29th marked the kick off of the first annual Halloween themed Monster Bash at the Calhoun County Airport, KPKV, in Port Lavaca, TX. This event expanded on the airfields yearly fly in and opened the airport up to the surrounding community.

The morning started out with a 5k Run/Walk, the Monster Dash, sponsored by the Port Lavaca Chamber of Commerce and benefiting the local YMCA. Sixty-seven participants completed the course in a fantastic turn-out for the event’s first year. The race’s participants ranged in age from eight to seventy-eight; awards were presented to the top finishers in their respective age groups.

Local Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Chapter 340 was out in force on the beautiful Saturday flying in members from surrounding airports bringing with them the gift of aviation for the youth of the coastal Texas town. On that day alone, EAA members came together to give Young Eagles flights to 75 lucky children! The flights were offered free of charge to youngsters age eight to eighteen. Representatives from the 1940 Air Terminal Museum out of Hobby airport were present as well selling raffle tickets for their pristine 1958 C-172 that they flew in for the day. A flour- bomb drop, spot-landing competition and golf ball raffle drop were also scheduled.

Victoria Chapter #340, Experimental Aviation Association took 75 children on flights at the Monster Bash.

Golf Ball Drop Contest winner Tom Dent was awarded a flight.

Ghosts’ and ghouls’ of all ages were out to ring in the Halloween season with creepy classics like bobbing for apples, hay rides, a full pumpkin patch, as well as costume and pumpkin decorating contests. Twenty-two vendors registered for the event selling everything from jewelry and horse feed to turkey legs and bar-b-que. Habitat for Humanity was present raising funds by selling raffle tickets and the local Humane Society brought out pets that were available for adoption.

All dressed up! Suzanne Anderson, Hope Anderson, Tomas Pena

The costume contest had 70 participants; prizes were awarded to the top two costumes voted on by a panel of judges from the Port Lavaca Art Guild in five age groups, including a canine division. The evening wrapped up with the Trunk-or-Treat, the Calhoun County’s sanctioned “safe trick-or-treat event for the season” where participants decorated the trunks of their vehicles in a Halloween theme, and children donning cute and creepy costumes went from car to car collecting candy. “It is well lit and safe and the children can start celebrating Halloween,” FBO Manager Steve Plunkett said. “I am happy with the turn out. I think it has been a success so far.”

To find out more information please contact our publicist, Jasmine Gordon at 361-746-8846 or email her at jas@deitydesign.net

Contest Judges - PL Art Guild’s Margo Thorn, Barbara Burkett, Toy Wilson

Daniel and Larissa Salinas crossing the finish line

Ghosts’ and ghouls’ of all ages were out to ring in the Halloween season with creepy classics like bobbing for apples, hay rides, a full pumpkin patch, as well as costume and pumpkin decorating contests. Twenty-two vendors registered for the event selling everything from jewelry and horse feed to turkey legs and bar-b-que. Habitat for Humanity was present raising funds by selling raffle tickets and the local Humane Society brought out pets that were available for adoption.

The costume contest had 70 participants; prizes were awarded to the top two costumes voted on by a panel of judges from the Port Lavaca Art Guild in five age groups, including a canine division. The evening wrapped up with the Trunk-or-Treat, the Calhoun County’s sanctioned “safe trick-or-treat event for the season” where participants decorated the trunks of their vehicles in a Halloween theme, and children donning cute and creepy costumes went from car to car collecting candy. “It is well lit and safe and the children can start celebrating Halloween,” FBO Manager Steve Plunkett said. “I am happy with the turn out. I think it has been a success so far.”

To find out more information please contact our publicist, Jasmine Gordon at 361-746-8846 or email her at jas@deitydesign.net

Russ Chumchal, Megan Dunbar, Robin Novak and Renee Ramirez at the first Monster Dash.

All smiles as Mary Sanchez completes the Monster Dash.

Hay Ride

Pumpkin Decorating Contest

Volunteers from Our Lady of the Gulf Catholic School helped with the Toy Walk. Pictured is Rhonda Cummins.

Costume Contest Results

Age 0-2
First Place – Caden Simon, age 3 mos.Second Place – Brylee Soefje, 2 yrs.

Age 3-6
First Place – Nicholas Sanchez, 4 yrs.
Second Place – Jaycee Barnes,5 yrs.

Age 7-12
First Place – Ashley Spears, 11 yrs.
Second Place – Kristin Resendez, 12 yrs.

Age 13-18
First Place – Jordan Reeves, 16 yrs.
Second Place – Destiny, Devil

Canine Contest Results
First Place – Buster
Second Place – Tinkerbell

Pumpkin Decorating Contest

Age 3-6
First Place – Mac Alaniz
Second Place – Bethany Wright

Age 7-12
First Place – Raelin Luna
Second Place – Kieran Garcia

Age 19 and up
First Place – Marcy King

Pumpkin Carving Contest
First Place – Ashley Spears
Second Place – Kasandra Spears

Monster Dash Winners

Male 14 & Under
John Daniels 23.30

Female 14 & Under
Ashley Spears 39.40

Male 15 – 19
Eli Milner 27.46

Female 15 – 19
Brittney Heibel 39.53

Male 20 – 29
Chris Gussman 23.16

Female 20 – 29
Sarah Cox 28.52

Male 30 – 39
John Cuellar 22.18

Female 30 – 39
Heather Socha 29.26

Male 40 – 49
Luis Barrios 23.22

Female 40 – 49
Kelley Muncrief 32.18

Male 50 – 59
Rick Rosalez 26.59

Female 50 – 59
Mary Sanchez 61.53

Male 60 – 69
Cecil Brooks 41.28

Female 60 – 69
Gracee Benedick 49.27

Male 70 & Up
Charlie Zirkelback 47.42

Female 70 & Up
Evelyn Burleson 63.21

Rover “Curiosity”

I was wondering how they are going to land the largest heaviest most complex rover ever built, to grace the face of another planet. While the rovers Spirit and Opportunity are the size of a child’s four-wheeler, this rover is the size of an automobile, She is the biggest, most high tech, rover ever built and she is nuclear powered! No more solar panels to get dusty and have power fades. No more tiny wheels and gears that wear out too quickly as with the rover Spirit whose right front wheel wore out and locked up causing NASA to drive it in reverse, dragging it behind the rover.

This new rover is one smart cookie. It can sniff the atmosphere and analyze what it smells, has a laser powerful enough to vaporize rock and then analyze the vapor. It comes with a unique instrument called a APXS (Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer) that can measure the abundance of chemical elements in the dust, soil and rocks. It will also search out organic molecules (the building blocks of life).

The rover is equipped with high definition color cameras and will send back both photos and video. She is one heavy rover, weighing in at 2000 lbs., and costing a whopping 2.5 billion dollars. It is expected to dramatically increase scientific knowledge of the red planet.

But getting this big, beautiful girl to the surface is going to be harrowing, as dropping in at Mars at more than 13,000 miles per hour would be certain disaster. So NASA has come up with a very unique way to land.

With a launch window of November 25 through December 18, 2011 and being launched on the massive Atlas V rocket and ten long months of journey, the rover will arrive at Mars riding inside a cone shaped-capsule with a heat shield cover on its bottom, for its 81-mile journey through Mars’ atmosphere. A parachute will deploy, slowing the capsule to the point that the shield and chute are no longer needed. The capsule will simultaneously release both chute and shield while four rockets fire bringing the capsule to a near hover while cables lower the rover. Upon contact with the surface, the cable will cut from the rover and the cone will then fly off at an angle crashing into Mars surface.

While some scientists shiver at the thought of this complex scenario, NASA says it has proven very reliable in its many tests here on earth.

The rover will be landing at Gale Crater and hopefully soon we will be hearing that it is running around sniffing everything it sees like a little curious puppy, which is fitting for a rover that NASA has named “Curiosity”.

Rene Cantrell and Capt. John Lee at the Seadrift Fishermen Celebration.

On October 15th, Seadrift, Texas was alive with music, dancing, great food, stunning artists and most importantly, fine fishermen!

The 6-week project reports nothing but success; approximately $4,000 was raised in the one day on Seadrift’s bay front. The goal was simple – to raise money to capture local fishermen’s stories for a project known as the the “Seadrift Fisherman’s Legacy Project”. The group wanted to get a reputable company with experience in documentaries to produce a professional project. Future goals include the development of a book that would be easy to transcribe once the interviews were held.

Janie Waghorne, Diane Wilson, Donna Sue Williams, Sabrina Williams, Laurie Weaver and Pam Booton were all crucial in the organization process. The ladies first became involved with the Seadrift Centennial Committee because they wanted to implement this project alongside the centennial.

There was vast variety of items which were auctioned off; paintings, photographs, jewelry and books. The committee felt there were such wonderful, supportive people who helped to make this event exceed their expectations. The bands were rockin’. Jeff Inman, Alan Cantrell of Seadrift and Kitt Elliott opened for Ponty Boone and the Squeezetones. Captain John Lee embraced the coastal theme and was proud to be the emcee. His father was a boat builder in Florida, specifically for shrimp boats. The food was fantastic! An all-you-can-eat-shrimp boil was provided by Bubba’s and coleslaw was provided from Barkett’s.

“This is for Seadrift and in honor of how it began. When the City of Seadrift was established it was a fishing town. We felt like we needed something to preserve those stories,” stated Janie Waghorne.

Plans began to fall into place when Diane Wilson spoke with the head of the Texas Legacy Project, David Wiseman. Since the Texas Legacy Project is very similar with how the project in Seadrift was envisioned, Wiseman was able to steer them in the right direction.

Supporters came from all over the state: Austin, Houston, many were fall visitors who heard of the event via word of mouth. Artists brought supporters, plus band followers came to jam. Tickets were sold in Austin by Pam Booton; locally and online via PayPal for $30.00 in advance and $35.00 the day of.

“It’s an important part of our heritage. I grew up in Seadrift and it’s a part of who I am. We want to not forget that part; our town was founded with fishing.” Janie voiced.

A portrait artist, Rebecca Byrd Bretz of Austin, will produce the 15 fishermen’s portraits which will be on display to the public at a local establishment in Seadrift. Three portraits are finished thus far: Bucky Chatham, Dennis Wittenbert and Rod Taylor. Rebecca is presently working on Thay Nugyen’s portrait. Plans are to present them to the families following the centennial in December of 2012.

Not only shrimpers are to be featured, a diverse group is to be documented. The committee wanted all four industries, ethnicities and all age ranges of fishermen featured; including shrimpers, crabbers, oysterers and fin fishermen.

A majority of them no longer fish commercially, but did so for a long time. “It’s crucial to document their stories before they start to dim,” said Janie.

Calendars featuring the fishermen and our beautiful coast were sold to raise funds, plus proceeds from Diane Wilson’s Diary of an Eco-Outlaw: An Unreasonable Woman Breaks the Law for Mother Earth. Both are still available. Please contact one of the committee members for info.

Starting in January 2012, fifteen fishermen will be documented. Diane Wilson will be in charge of the interviews which will be broadcast on YouTube, Facebook and other social media websites. They will also be available at the Centennial Celebration of Seadrift’s incorporation in December 2012 on DVDs. Each interview will be one hour in length.

In addition to publishing a book, a second calendar is in the works. The group is in much need of funding and support as they have used their own money to implement the project. For more info go to http://www.seadriftfishermencelebration.org.

Till next time!

Fishermen Celebration photos by David Wilson

Let the fun begin! Special thanks to all of the volunteers, artists and community members who helped to make this event successful.

Bubba Hall, owner of Bubba’s Cajun Food provided an all-you-can-eat shrimp boil.

he authentic accordion king, Ponty Boone jams out at the Seadrift Fishermen Celebration.

Various artists donated paintings and photos to help fund the celebration.

Regulation U.S. Buckle found in Calhoun County.

The Calhoun County Museum, in Port Lavaca, has opened an exhibit of Civil War Artifacts. The exhibition is scheduled to run until May 1, 2012.

Included in the exhibit are minié bullets, belt buckles, cannonballs and more.

In addition to the Civil War exhibit, you will find many other interesting items dealing with the life and times of Calhoun County. Of special interest is the Fresnel Lens from the 1852 Matagorda Island Lighthouse, an 8-foot-diorama of the town of Indianola. and the La Salle Odyssey exhibit.

The Calhoun County Museum, located at 301 S. Ann in Port Lavaca, is open Tuesday and Wednesday from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Thursday and Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.. Admission is free.

For more information, call (361)553-4689.