April Fool’s

I don’t mean the joking or pranking kind because that will be over with by the time you’re reading this, that holiday will have passed, all the brilliant gags sprung, all the dumb pranks…pranked. Rather the April fool’s that makes you think Spring is here, that it has arrived, Old Man Winter is asleep again and Ms. Spring is eager to show us what she can do with a lot of green and a few other colors.

I mean it too, dear readers, where I sit currently in East Tennessee it is a whopping forty-two degrees at a quarter-to-ten in the evening, with snow forecasted in the mountains near me as well overnight, meaning the temp will go lower as this night shivers on.

Three days ago it was above seventy degrees out and sunny…April fool’s indeed.
I noticed it has worked this way in my personal life this month as well, as situations change and rearrange in such ways that I’m not sure if I’m being fooled or perhaps I am the fool myself.

It certainly feels like a prank gone wrong at times or maybe, as I mentioned, my geographic location in this piece maybe a prank gone ‘south’ is more witty wordplay.

But then maybe that’s the point.

Maybe the reason we get cold days in Spring that will make you wish for the heat to flood back is because they are there to teach us, they are the fall from the horse, the proverbial litmus test for the soul, the day that can either enlighten or destroy.

That may be a dramatic way of seeing it, if not almost darkly romantic, but living through those days where a chill screams at you in the bitter wind is really what shapes us.

People of all sorts have been carved from the extreme heat and cold teetering between light and dark, good and evil, heroes and villains, both were not carved on calm days; our troubles usually start and sometimes end at very opposite ends of the spectrum.

All we can do is prepare, to not let the fool enjoy so much time on the floor, to not allow him to trick us with misdirection, not to juggle shiny distractions we chase without catching, and not to allow him to laugh in our faces when we fall.
We all realize we usually are setting up our own pranks for ourselves, wasting our sunny days to chase the jester’s worrying wares, letting the cold settle into our newly risen Spring rather than casting it aside as a blip in time.

Answers are never easy so we reach for them where they are when we can find them, so perhaps hilariously enough, it is Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi of Star Wars game that can explain the base truth behind the fools and jesters who prank us with the quote: “Who is more foolish? The fool or the fool who follows him?”

Don’t follow, the cold will go away if you can stick it out, it’s just another April fool’s.

Port O’ Connor’s “Hooked On Books” Book Club held its monthly meeting on April 12, 2022 at 2:00 PM in the Multipurpose Room of the Port O’ Connor Library. Hostesses were: Jeanette Henke, Sandra Pustka, and Ursula Price. The Club’s “Book of the Month”, Before We Were Yours, by Lisa Wingate, was interesting and suspenseful, and all the ladies agreed it was a wonderful historical fiction, weaving fictional characters with real-life occurrences of Depression Era Tennessee, in which an almost unthinkable chapter in our nation’s history took place for twenty five years!!

The book describes the fate of poor children who were abducted by “authorities” and/or unknowingly signed over by their indigent parents, to the “Tennessee Children’s Home Society” as “orphans”, and placed in group homes where they were starved, abused, and neglected, until they were hopefully, and mercifully, sold to wealthy people throughout the Country who were desperately seeking a child!!
The real-life Proprietress of the “Tennessee Children’s Home Society”, was the notorious, Georgia Tann, whom the authorities allowed, for one reason or another, to carry on her child trafficking business for a staggering 25 years, from 1925 to1950!!

To showcase the children to their wealthy, prospective parents, Ms. Tann arranged elegant “Tea Parties”, for which the “Orphans” were cleaned up, dressed nicely, and transported to fancy homes by “Tennessee Children’s Home Society” workers, for inspection. If the parents found “a match”, adoptions were hastily arranged, at huge profits for Ms. Tann.

In keeping with the “Tea Party” theme, the Hostesses held a “Tea Party”, and attendees were served delicious finger foods, sweets, and beverages that were of that period. Following the “Tea party”, the Ladies held a lively discussion of the book, which followed the fictional “Foss family”, whose seven children fell victim to Ms. Tann’s evil ways. Six of the Foss children survived the trials and tribulations of their abduction, and were adopted out to different families. One perished under the care of the “Tennessee Children’s Home Society”. Four of the Foss siblings were able to locate each other in adulthood and reconnect, enjoying each other’s company throughout their adult lives, but in secret, for fear of disgracing their respective families because of their sordid past. They were never able to reconnect with two of their siblings because the adoption records, in that era, were sealed by law, and unattainable, All the Ladies agreed that it was an excellent read- well written, and mysterious and suspenseful to the end!!

The Book Club’s next meeting will be held on May 10, 2022 at 2:00 PM, and our book is All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. If you would like to join “Hooked On Books”, please email your contact information to alanehaardt@yahoo.com. All are welcome!!

Paula JoAnn Moncrief, 64, of Seadrift, passed away March 29, 2022, in Corpus Christi. Paula was born March 9, 1958, in Port Lavaca to Evelyn Christine Middaugh and Joe Thomas Middaugh.

She graduated from Calhoun High School. She was with her lifelong partner Buddy Hernandez for 14 years. She worked as the Seadrift City Secretary for 21 years.

Paula is survived by her lifelong partner, Buddy Hernandez; children, Monte Jr. and spouse, Meghan, and Crystal Cossey and spouse, Jeremiah; brother, Terry Dale Middaugh; grandchildren, Mason, Mackenzie and Marcus Moncrief, and Madisyn and Cody Cossey; and many nieces.

She was preceded in death by her father, Joe Thomas Middaugh; mother, Evelyn Christine Middaugh; and brother, Thomas Earl Middaugh.

Visitation was held from 5-7 p.m. Monday, April 4, at Richardson-Colonial Funeral Home. Funeral services were at 2:00 p.m. Tuesday, April 5, at 1st Assembly of God Church in Seadrift with Pastor Tim Smith officiating. Burial followed at Seadrift Cemetery.

Pallbearers were Jeremiah Cossey, Adam Price, Chad Critendon, Dolph McVicker, Bubba Brown and Dan Key. Honorary Pallbearers were Mason Moncrief, Mackenzie Moncrief, Marcus Moncrief, Madisyn Cossey and Cody Cossey.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given in to the Alzheimer’s Foundation. Words of comfort, fond memories, and condolences may be shared with the family at www.richardsoncolonial.com.

Benny Torres

Benny Torres is Seadrift City’s newest employee. He started with the city on 2-2-22! (all 2’s!)

Benny’s family live in Seadrift and make their living off the bay. Benny speaks highly of his dad. His dad believes in Benny and wants him to pursue his dreams.
Benny loves his job with the City of Seadrift. He says everyone who is on the Seadrift City Crew gets along great and they love the work they do for the city.
Currently, Benny is a student barber at Crossroads Barber Academy in Victoria. One day Benny wants to be a full-time barber in Seadrift.

Benny works part-time on his dad’s shrimp boat and loves to fish around the bay. Benny says, “Being part of Seadrift will always be a cherishable memory.”
-Tanya DeForest