Brother Marcos Gohlke, our pastor for the past four years, preached his final sermon as pastor this past Sunday. It was a sad, but joyous service. Sad, because all of us are disappointed to lose Brother Marcos and Sue, but happy to see them enter into the retirement mode with less pressure and more time to spend with their children and grandchildren.

The morning service was packed with members, friends and a gathering of family members. The service opened with Marcos and Sue singing “When We Get Carried Away”, followed by Brother Raymond Grant leading the congregation in singing “To God Be The Glory”. Granddaughter Meg Gohlke sang a beautiful solo accompanied at the piano by Sue Gohlke. The special music continued with Sue, Marcos, and their daughter Misty Gohlke singing “Precious Savior”.

After the offertory, Brother Marcos and Sue sang the beautiful song, “Holy Ground”. Brother Marcos’ final sermon was “Remembering” from Isaiah 46: 9-10. Two young men who made decisions to give their life to Jesus during the Children’s Summer Camp at Palacios, came forward for salvation – a final tribute to Brother Marcos and his outstanding pastoral leadership at our church.

Sunday evening was a special evening dedicated to Brother Marcos and Sue with an “Ole Fashioned Ice Cream Social”. Fellowship Hall was full of friends and everyone enjoyed the celebration. Recognition was given to all those who had birthdays in April, May and June. It was really a great “Birthday Bash” and a “Happy Retirement Party”.

A great preacher, Bible teacher and friend, Brother George Yarbrough from Goliad, will be preaching all Sunday sermons in the month of July. Brother Yarbrough and his wife Barbara have visited us many times and he has graciously filled the pulpit on several occasions.

The Men of the Church are meeting every Tuesday morning at 7:30 a.m. in Fellowship Hall to pray for our church and the elected “Pastor Search Committee”. After a cup of coffee, the men enter into a season of prayer that God will guide the Committee in their effort to find a new Shepherd to lead our Church.

See you in church Sunday!

Marcos and Sue Gohlke

Emily De La Garza won first place in the Shrimpfest Kids Karoake Contest singing “Stuck Like Glue” by Sugarland.

Kids:

1st Emily De La Garza

2nd Chloe White

Adults:

1st Leslie Gomez

2nd Greg Morales

During the July 7th Club meeting two members were commended for being one year older as each was celebrating her birthday this month. Our membership chairman and our Community’s Librarian, Shirley Gordon had noted her birthday on Tuesday, July 5th. And our sterling president, Janet Johnson celebrated her day on that Thursday of the meeting. Expressions of congratulations and other kudos were voiced for these outstanding members.

If you were outside on Saturday, July 2nd, you saw the incredible fireworks that lit up the sky. In charge of the pyrotechnics was “Fireworks’ Setter-Off-Er” Donnie Haynes. Our thanks to him and his helpers for an outstanding evening of oohhhhs and ahhhhs. And earlier that day the Volunteer Fire Department provided bbq plates to go of brisket and salad and other juicy items that were capped off by desserts as provided by the members of the Service Club.

After an outstanding meeting of the Historical Book Committee when Mr. and Mrs. Paul Apostolo were present to speak to the members of early day life in this community, we were thrilled to have the acceptance of Grady Jean Clark to appear at the next meeting in July. Mrs. Clark has been a member of this community for a number of years and we are all looking forward to listening to her tell us of some of the tales and joys of living here at that time. Hopefully, following that July meeting, we will be able to convince Kenneth Clark to speak more learnedly of the fishing industry in the 30’s and 40’s.

As we are now on our Summer schedule of holding only one meeting a month, the next meeting will be August 4th at 10:00 a.m. in the back room of the Community Center. We welcome all interested women at any time at our meetings; contact Shirley Gordon, Membership Chairman, 983-4365 or Janet Johnson, President, 983-4733 for further information. Do plan to come and say hello.

Here at the Library we have just received another donation of books and dvds; our patrons are the very best anywhere as they continually help us. If these are duplications of existing books on the shelves, they are put up for sale, and the proceeds go to purchase some dvds or books that we do not have. As our purchasing budget has been cut in half, we are extremely grateful for the thoughtfulness of all.

As we had been out of town during the previous week and just returned Saturday afternoon, we decided to tour the Front Beach while the RV cooled. And I doubt that there was even an inch left of parking space there. Glad to see so many summer visitors and families picnicking, playing in the water and just enjoying the area; many were here also to watch the fire works and came early to get a good spot. And our fire works were pretty spectacular too. Our thanks to all involved.

A similar book to those of Ms. Dorothea Frank’s concerning family is How To Bake A Perfect Life as written by Barbara O’Neal. The title totally captivated me as did the book. Set in Colorado with a family totally engrossed in the restaurant business, the book starts with the teenage years of the elder daughter of the family. When she becomes pregnant at the young age of 15, she is sent to stay with her aunt in another town to have the baby and give it up for adoption. However, Ramona decides to raise the child and finish school with the help of her reluctant mother and grandmother. Throughout the book the author has included various recipes for making bread, and she subtly compares that activity with the life of her heroine and baby. Reading the book it becomes apparent how very difficult growing up and dealing with family issues is. A somewhat thought provoking book.

Lisa Scottoline is the author of a number of books concerning female attorneys in South Philadelphia, but her latest, Save Me takes a different path. Set in a suburban community in the North East, a young mother is forced to choose between the welfare of her child and that of other students. When an explosion in the cafeteria of the elementary school occurs, Rose McKenna, a Cafeteria Volunteer, is first “knocked out”, and then recovering, scrambles to care for two children, while she hesitates to rescue her daughter. But the public does not concur. Rose and her husband are threatened with criminal charges when one of the students is injured. Ms. Scottoline has the talent to write books that grasp your attention and hold it throughout the plot, and she has certainly succeeded this time.

Picked up a book entitled The Club as a result of the number of comments about this book and its humorous plot. This was written by Jane Heller whose previous book was entitled Cha Cha Cha (I’ve not read it), and I was extremely disappointed. I kept searching for the “funny stuff”, but either I’ve lost my “funny bone” or it just wasn’t there. Perhaps others will enjoy it; if so, I’d appreciate hearing or learning of their impressions of the book.

We have a number of books, both hard cover and soft cover, available for sale; at the prices of $1.00 for hardcover and $0.25 for the soft. They make excellent companions when you go on a trip and don’t want to worry about a due date from our Library. Do come and check them out! You won’t be disappointed.

“When an old person dies, a Library burns down”
Karin Gillespie

Dianna Stanger and Victoria Holt as they arrive at Alliance Municipal Airport in Nebraska ready to race!

As I stared down at the green fields with winding rivers that resembled snakes, I could not help but grin from ear to ear. It was difficult to envision that merely seven months ago this adventure seemed a lifetime away. Now there I was, aboard a Cessna Skylane182 in flight to Iowa City Municipal Airport (KIOW) from Calhoun County Airport (KPKV) prepared to embark upon a week of non-stop, aggressive promotion, in the midst of flying 4-5 hours a day! Our team, the Racing Aces, Dianna Stanger and Victoria Holt, had arrived a couple of days in advance in preparation for the 2011 Air Race Classic! Upon arrival their plane was inspected; they performed their handicap flight and the plane was quarantined. They were not allowed to even touch the plane until the start of the race which would not be for four more days!

One of the reasons I was ecstatic to begin promotion was the fact that the Air Race Classic (ARC) originated in 1929 as the Women’s Air Race Derby. In fact, Amelia Earhart was one of the first female pilots to compete in the cross country race. According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the pilot population is made up of ONLY 6 percent of female pilots. (I know what you’re thinking; I seldom use all caps, however in this case it is justified!) Therefore our mission was threefold: promote our team, the Racing Aces, the ARC and Girls With Wings (GWW), a non-profit organization which the Aces elected to sponsor through out the race. Together, we were set out to make an impact, introduce young girls to the promising avenues of aviation and share our passion for flight.

The Sunday prior to the race, we all mingled at a banquet where all of the teams were announced, presented with a special ARC pin and a lovely program was given. A very special instance was the presentation of ladies who have flown in 25+ races! I could not imagine the level of experience they must possess and found it amazing as they announced one of the ladies which has competed in 32 of the 35 ARC races! Unbelievable, another fact all of the teams found interesting was this year there were 11 collegiate teams competing. The most that have ever competed in one year! The room was electrified with everyone’s anticipation for the start of the ARC!

The Racing Ace’s first air race proved to be eventful. Due to forecast weather the race was delayed by one day; instead of beginning on Tuesday, June 21st, teams were released that morning following a morning briefing and instructed to meet at Alliance Municipal Airport (KAIA) in Nebraska. Whammy! It was official; the start of the race had been moved to KAIA. The pilots were not stopping in Brookings, SD; Jamestown, ND; Spearfish, SD; or Rawlins, WY. Double whammy! The 2,722-statute-mile race was shortened to 1,632 statute-miles; beginning in Alliance, NE and venturing through Great Bend, KS; Borger, TX; Norman, OK, and El Dorado, AR, ending with the terminus in Mobile, AL.

On Wednesday, June 22nd, the Racing Aces flew to Alliance for the start of the race in their plane, an Aviat Husky. The plane is similar to the original entries in the race as it is flown stick and rudder, no autopilot, and at a very slow speed. As the race is handicapped according to speed, an entry may be the last to cross the finish line and still win. With this in mind, the Aces decided that they would like to run a race dependent upon their flying skills alone and the great characteristics of the Husky. Our “PR plane” flew in just before the Aces arrived at KAIA; our goal was to take photographs and video.

As we arrived at the airport, the sight before us was amazing! There was a large crowd gathered to see the race commence; the apron was filled with planes! Everyone I spoke with informed me they had not seen that many aircraft gathered at the airport ever; the kicker is they were all female pilots! I quickly jumped out and began handing out postcards with information about our team and the race; people were friendly and I answered a ton of questions about the race. The Aces landed and as they jumped out of the Aviat they were greeted by a bunch of children, “Are you the Racing Aces?” they cried. “Can we have your autograph?” as they waved their postcards towards the female pilots. I was in heaven; these moments are when I thrive. One newspaper and television interview later the Aces were back in the Aviat ready to race!

Pilot, Dianna Stanger said, “The morning was heavily overcast and we had to dodge weather and fight the winds on our way. The flight that morning took us six hours and we arrived at Alliance only to be met with an audience. The airport was packed with people who were fans of the air race. Following refreshments and fuel we were ready to head out early in the afternoon to the first official race stop of Great Bend Municipal Airport (KGBD) in Kansas.”

The racers had been instructed that they could take off at noon from KAIA. The departure was rather informal in comparison to the manner the race is usually operated. You see, the teams are normally lined up according to their Classic Racer #, which is determined by their entry time. We so happened to be CR# 9! However due to weather, circumstances were quite unique. I was absolutely delighted as engines were started all around us and plane after plane began to line up down the runway. As they taxied out, I stood awe-struck. The first plane ascended and did a left turn circling back around towards the runway in preparation for the required fly-by as second plane took off, a number of planes anxiously waiting. Quickly, about 15 planes were all lined up, ready for take-off! The race had officially started!

I was saddened as Lynda Meeks, founder of GWW advised we should take off to Wyoming in order to make it in time for presentations which we had scheduled to give to two groups of young girls. I reluctantly boarded the Skylane before the Aces took off from KAIA; however as I filmed our departure from Alliance, I heard a familiar voice over the radio! And wouldn’t you know I was filming with a Contour GPS video camera which plugs in directly to your headset. One not only records video, but all voices transmitted on the radio. Talk about right place, right time! Dianna came on the radio announcing they were taxiing down the runway and preparing for their fly-by!

Beyond excited, we flew towards Wyoming, opposite the direction the Aces were headed. This was only the first day; I couldn’t wait to see what other developments lay ahead. Till next time, to view photos and more of the Racing Aces first competition in the Air Race Classic visit, www.TheRacingAces.com

The aircraft lined up and ready for take off at KAIA. What a sight!

A moment to cherish forever; all of the ladies competing in the 2011 Air Race Classic pose at Sunday, June 19th’s Banquet.

Participants in the Air Race Classic are limited to STOCK and minimally modified STOCK airplanes, certified in the normal or utility category with normally aspirated engine(s) of not less than 145 horsepower nor more than 570 horsepower, rated for continuous maximum operation and handicapped accordingly. The team with the highest score over their handicap wins. The race is flown in daylight hours and VFR (good weather) only.