The Heart Gallery of South Texas is a traveling art exhibit featuring photos of foster children in the state’s conservatorship who are seeking their forever family. This year, the Heart and Soul Gallery was created to feature African American children legally free for adoption, with hopes of ending disproportionality.

The Museum of the Coastal Bend served as a backdrop for some of these photographs, and will host the Heart & Soul Gallery exhibit for the dates of June 23 – July 23. MCB has partnered with Golden Crescent CASA and Devereux Texas – Victoria in the presentation of this exhibit.

The Heart and Soul Gallery is a project of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, Region 11. The purpose of the project is to find stable loving families for foster children needing permanent adoptive homes. Many of the children in the Heart Gallery are considered more difficult to place because they are older or in a sibling group. The Gallery serves as a reminder that children never outgrow the need for parents.

The exhibit will also feature original artwork by children involved with the mission of Golden Crescent CASA and Devereux Texas – Victoria, as well as information about fostering and adoption efforts of agencies in the Victoria region.

An opening reception for the exhibit will be held on Thursday, June 23 at the Museum of the Coastal Bend. For additional information please contact the museum at 361.582.2511.

The Museum of the Coastal Bend is located on the campus of Victoria College, Victoria, TX, at the corner of East Red River and Ben Jordan. Viewing hours are Tuesday – Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

We were disappointed this past weekend that Sam Craig and his Eagle Wings Camp boys were unable to come to Port O’Connor. During the freeze that Houston had early this year, school was closed for three days. The school time lost had to be made up, so Houston Schools had to continue for an extra three days. Sam and the boys were very disappointed, as they really enjoy the fishing, swimming and fun things in Port O’Connor before going to their Eagle Wings Camp on the Medina River.

Vacation Bible School begins this Monday morning, June 13. Our church has been decorated to look like New York City, The Big Apple! The theme this year is “The Big Apple Adventure – Where Faith and Life Connect”. There is “Times Square”, “Statue of Liberty”, “Ellis Island”, “New York Pizza”, “Brooklyn Bridge”, “Central Park”, “Manhattan”, “Harlem”, “Taxis”, “Broadway” and “Yankee Stadium”. The children will enjoy the worship rally video which continues each day. There are exciting stories of missionaries and their work in various countries. The daily Bible stories are exciting and adventurous. This year, the children will have an enjoyable and exciting time during their recreation period on a “Play Place”, brought in especially for VBS! Crafts will be a fun time and this year’s music is fantastic. Snack time will offer a real taste of New York’s Big Apple! On the last day, the children will be treated at noon with all the hot dogs and chips they can eat. All children, PreK though the sixth grade are invited to attend Monday through Thursday, June 13, 14, 15, 16 from 9:00 a.m. until noon each day. The church van will pick up and deliver the children each day. Pick up time is 8:30 a.m.

Vacation Bible School Graduation Program is Thursday evening, June 16, at 6:00 p.m. All children, parents, grandparents, friends and relatives are invited to attend. The children will have a program showing what happened each day and everyone will tour the rooms, crafts and decorations. Refreshments will be served and Graduation Certificates will be presented to the children.

Saturday, June 11 – 11:00 – 3:00
Plates: $5.00 & $7.00
302 W. Dallas Ave.

The Port O’ Connor Sports Association would like to thank each team for their participation in the 4th Annual BBQ Cook Off. We would also like to thank our judges and everyone who came out to support us!!! We look forward to hosting the bbq each year!!

POCSA Cook-Off Winners The Band Aid Crew took top honors at the May 28th annual cook-off on King Fisher Beach in Port O’Connor. They took first place in chicken, chili, and beans, and third in gumbo.

Smokin’ Nuts
1st Place Brisket

2nd Place: Tipp n’T’s Cookers
3rd Place: It’s 5 O’Clock Somewhere

Grand Slam Cookers
1st Place Ribs

2nd Place: It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere
3rd Place: Granny C’s Kiddos

Chicken: 1st Place: Band Aid Crew
2nd Place: It’s 5 O’Clock Somewhere
3rd Place: POC VFD

Beans: 1st Place: Band Aid Crew
2nd Place: POC VFD
3rd Place: Salty Dog Outfitters

Chili: 1st Place: Band Aid Crew
2nd Place: OG Smokers
3rd Place: Granny C’s Kiddos

Gumbo: 1st Place: Salty Dog Outfitters
2nd Place: Granny C’s Kiddos
3rd Place: Band Aid Crew

POCSA’s Calvin Ragusin serves up barbecue sandwiches at the annual cook-off.

The Camels are coming, the camels are coming. That might have been the gossip in 1856 at Indianola. One of the many unique aspects of Calhoun County is that among the shipments that came here were camels. They were not for a zoo. The Camels arrived at Decrows Point, by ship, on April 29, 1859, however, because of weather and swells they couldn’t actually come ashore until May 13th at Indianola.

That date was several months after Jefferson Davis, who was the Secretary of War in President Franklin Pierce’s administration, had convinced congress to appropriate $30,000 dollars for “a great Camel experiment”. That $30,000 would equate to $5.5 million dollars now. The idea was to use their ability to carry great loads, as much as 3/4 of a ton per camel, to transport supplies to the Army’s western forts. Many of those supplies were coming through Pass Cavallo and docking at the thriving port of Indianola.

At that time we didn’t have railroads. Indianola was the “gateway to the west”. There were many army forts to the west that needed the supplies hauled west from that gateway. Had the experiment been an unqualified success the railroads would probably still have been the eventual winner for the hauling contract. The Camels only traveled about eleven miles per day. That is almost as slow as rush hour in Houston.

Be all that as it may, we still know about “the great camel experiment” It is one of those things that many think and talk about as they reminisce about Indianola. This year the Calhoun County Historical Commission is starting an Event to Remember Indianola.

We need to celebrate and preserve that exciting period on a regular basis.

It just so happens that this year is 125 years since that Queen City of the West was dethroned by a second Hurricane. That Hurricane marked the end of the battle of ports between Galveston and Indianola. That doesn’t mean we should forget our historical precedent.

So once again we here in the County can chant, “the camels are coming, the camels are coming.” As a part of that August 20th 2011 (125th anniversary) we have invited the camels to share in the fun. Doug Baum, Texas Camel Corps owner, will be at the celebration. He has preserved the tradition of Camels in Texas and will help us celebrate that unique and historical era when Indianola thrived. I don’t know that any of these camels are direct descendants of those first ones. I do know the area has many folks who are descendants of either the camel herders or whose family stories contain some camel content.

So you should mark August 20, it is a Saturday, on your Calendar and come help us celebrate. There will be ceremonies at Magnolia Beach in the morning. Then there will be opportunity to tour the Indianola Cemeteries and we will have many festivities at the Bauer community center including an opportunity to purchase German food and other items of interest in the air conditioned comfort.

Photo from Doug Baum’s Texas Camel Corps website