Josh and Jessica Pelzel were honored with a Baby Shower on March 9 by the “Coffee and Conversation Gang” of the Port O’Connor Library. Among the many gifts the couple received was the high chair that they had listed on their gift registry.

We wish this well-loved couple the best as they enjoy their new baby girl, who was born March 11.

Coffee and Conversation meets each Wednesday from 8:00 – 9:00 a.m. You are most welcome to join us here at the library!

Restroom
The old Seadrift Bayfront public restroom has been replaced by a brand-new prefab-modular one! The new bathroom was placed on its foundation February 24, 2022.

In August of 2017 Hurricane Harvey’s storm surge washed the old one off its foundation. The new restroom was funded by a grant from FEMA-PA (public assistance) funds and supplemented by CDBG-DR (Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery) funds.

In six to eight weeks the new bathroom facility will be ready for use.

-Tanya DeForest

Beacon of Light…Anchor of the Community”

Spring is a busy time at the POC Library, as Librarian, Michelle Marlin, continues with “Business as Usual” with all the Library’s routine services and schedules, but also readying everything for the influx of Spring Breakers, summer visitors, and school children looking for entertainment when school ends. She is also busy preparing for the Library’s Summer Reading Program, which is the highlight of summer for many of POC’s children. Ms. Marlin is proud to announce a new reading initiative for children offered at the Library by POC resident, Mrs. Sam Burnett!!! “Story Telling With Sam” will be offered on Tuesdays from 11:00-11:30 a.m. beginning on March 15, 2022!! In addition, the Calhoun County Library System is conducting a survey to find out how they can improve Library Services. They ask that all POC residents and visitors please come by the Library to complete one of the survey forms at your convenience!!

The Library’s support group, the Friends of the POC Library, is busy making plans for their annual Membership Drive, which begins on June 1, 2022. The Friends welcome all who would like to join this hard-working group in supporting the POC Library. The Friends will have their Annual Meeting at 4:30 PM on June 21, 2022 in the Multipurpose Room of the Library. The group is also staying busy with their Spring Adult and Children’s Programs. Please mark your calendars for the Friends’ upcoming Programs in April and May, all listed and detailed below. The Friends appreciate the continued support of the POC Community, and continue to work hard doing wonderful things for our beautiful POC Library and its constituents!!

POC Library Hours:
Sunday and Monday: Closed
Tuesday – Friday: 10:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Saturday: 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

The POC Library is hosting the following Programs and Meetings in the Library’s Multipurpose Room, and invites one and all to attend!!

Every Tuesday: 11:00-11:30 a.m. -“Story Time with Sam”
Story telling by POC’s own, Ms. Sam Burnett!
Every Wednesday: 8:00 a.m. -9:00 a.m. –
Friends of the POC Library’s “Coffee and Conversation”
Every Thursday: 1:00 p.m. – “POC Bridge Club”
Every Friday: 1:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. – “Mahjong”
Every Friday: 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. – “S.M.A.R.T. Recovery”
Meetings led by Robert Smith, 401-575-9778

April 9 – 10:00-11:30 a,m, Friends of the POC Library Children’s Program: “Create and Perform A Puppet Show”

April 11 – 6:00 p,m, – Chamber of Commerce Meeting

April 18, 6:00-7:30 p.m. – Friends of the POC Library “Book Signing and Program by award winning author, Myra McIlvain” Ms. McIlvain is a teller of Texas Tales through her historical fiction novels, one of which is set in the 19th Century town of Indianola, that blew away in the 1886 Hurricane, and her other novels depicting various historical stories throughout Texas and other Gulf Coast towns. Refreshments will be served starting at 6:00 p.m.; program begins at 6:15 p.m.

May 9 – 6:00 p.m. – Chamber of Commerce Meeting

May 10 6:00-7:30 p.m. – Friends of the POC Library “Book Signing and Program by Alison Moore and Phil Lancaster” for her novel, Riders On The Orphan Train. This is a fantastic multimedia program that combines live music and video montage with photographs and interviews of survivors of the largest child migration in history!! You do not want to miss it!!! Refreshments will be served starting at 6:00 PM; program begins at 6:15 p.m.

May 14 10:00 – 11:30 a.m. – Friends of the Port O’Connor Library Children’s Program: “Arts and Crafts”

-Submitted by Alane Haradt

Does it seem possible that EASTER is only a few weeks away? The days fly past and we fly with them! Mark your calendars for April 16, 2:00 p.m. at First Baptist Church and bring all the children that you know (babies through grade 6) to our annual Easter Egg Hunt. Punch and cookies will be served afterwards and prizes will be given to all those who find the golden eggs!! Our Pastor Phillip Miller will be there to welcome you.

Easter Sunday will start with the annual SUNRISE SERVICE at Kingfisher Beach at 7:00 a.m. Brother Erny McDonough, from The Fisherman’s Chapel, will be bringing the message, Pastor Phillip Miller, from POC First Baptist Church, will bring the benediction and Brother Raymond Grant, also of FBC, will be leading the singing and directing the POC FBC Choir. This service has been a tradition in POC for many years. Hundreds come each year to watch the sun rise over the bay, sing, pray and worship together. It never fails to remind everyone just how blessed we all are here in our little corner of the world. Afterwards, stay for free Cathy’s cinnamon rolls and coffee. What a great way to start this special day. Beginning at 10:00 a.m., both Fisherman’s Chapel and First Baptist Church POC will have their regular Sunday school classes and services. Make plans to be there!

TEAM KIDS and YOUTH MINISTRIES continue to host a great group of kids each Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. They are treated to a meal when they arrive and then go into Bible study, crafts, and games until they are dismissed at 7:00 p.m. If you know of any youth from K – 12 that might like to join these groups, call the church at 361-983-2727 for more information or to arrange for our van to pick them up.

FBC weekly schedule. Everyone is invited to any event. We are waiting to greet you!

Sunday School 10:00 a.m.
Church 11:00 a.m.
Sunday Bible Study 6:00 p.m.
Tuesday:
Ladies Bible Study 4:00 p.m.
Men’s Bible Study 7:00 p.m.
Wednesday:
TEAM KIDS 5:30 p.m.
Youth Ministry 6:00 p.m.
(5:30 p.m. if they want to eat
dinner)
Prayer Meeting 6:00 p.m.

We are living in some extremely exciting days! Jesus made it very plain that when we hear of wars and rumors of wars, we need to get ready for His Soon Appearing! My heart breaks for the people of Ukraine and the personal suffering they are experiencing. I feel the pain of those in America who are kissing their loved ones good-bye as they set sail as a peace keeping force, because we all know how some of these missions escalate! I feel the stretch when I go to fill up my vehicle with gasoline and wonder if something else could be done by our leaders to reduce the suffering of ordinary Americans. (We drove over 50,000 miles last year, but will certainly be trying to make less trips.) I even feel badly for the Russian people who are also under oppression from a brutal dictator. Where is the suffering going to end? I wish I knew, but I do know one thing, Jesus cares! My task as a Christian is to join with all other Bible believers and pray the last prayer of Scripture, “Even so come quickly Lord Jesus!”

Call me “ crazy”, but “Time Change” did not adversely affect me as normally it does! Maybe it is because I have not changed many of my clocks from savings time. I like more sunlight later in the day, but I truly wish someone would make a decision that would work all year long! Maybe that’s a task for our Congress, since they have so “little” to accomplish – at least it seems to me that they get almost nothing done that affects me!

My mind is drawn to a small church which sat at the end of the football field in Catossa, Oklahoma. It was March 16, 1964, and I was there with my pastor F.L. Baker to meet a committee of ministers to ask for credentials to preach the Gospel of Jesus. I knew almost nothing but was willing to learn. “Have you read Bible Doctrines by P.C. Nelson?” “No, Sir!” “Will you read it and pass a test over the text?” “Yes, Sir!” With that I left the small Sunday School Room in the back of the church and exited a Credentialed Minister. I would have to read 7 other books and pass tests on them but would accomplish that task and be interviewed at Claremore, Oklahoma, for Licenses the following year. When I left that day, I was qualified to “Marry and Bury”! There would be 14 more book tests to complete, University to attend, and a lot of preaching to attend before being ordanined over 50 years ago. It has been a great adventure, which has taken me from Oklahoma to Germany, to Southern Missouri, to Arizona, back to Southeastern Missouri, and finally in 1986 to Texas. But in the words of an old song, “I wouldn’t take nothing for my journey now!” Thank you, Port O’Connor, for loving me these 27 years since we came here to found Fisherman’s Chapel, and to the Chapel for honoring Pastor Joane and me with a fellowship meal.

Pastor Joane will be attending a special Women’s Conference at the Houston Galleria and I will go to Halletsville for a Men’s Breakfast. Pastor Joane will be preaching in Victoria and Pastor Erny in Cuero this month. We will be leading a Sectional Revival at Victoria First with Pastor Don Nordin and Evangelist Rod Vincent on March 24 and 25.

We are headed to Easter. Our Community Sunrise Service will be at the Beach Pavilion on Sunday, April 17. Everyone is invited to attend, but be sure to bring a lawn chair. Last year, it was estimated that between 600 and 700 people were present. Many failed to bring lawn chairs so they improvised and sat in their ATVs and golf carts! It was a great time and we trust you will be a part of it again this year as we sing, “Because He Lives, I Can Face Tomorrow”!

Fisherman’s Chapel is an interdenomination congregation that has something for the whole family. On Sundays we gather at 10:00 a.m. for Bible Study; 11:00 a.m. for Morning Service; and 6:00 p.m. for Evening Service. On Wednesdays, we arrive before 7:00 p.m. and generally enjoy a fellowship meal before listening to the Word. It is a great Midweek experience. Everyone is welcomed to attend any and all of our services and all are urged to, “Come, grow with us!”