Thursday, February 10, at 6:00 p.m. a sellout, standing room only crowd, celebrated with FBC as they held their 25th Sweetheart Banquet. The community center was transformed with beautiful silver and white decorations and FBC Pastor Phillip Miller, opened the evening with prayer. The food was delicious (beef tips over rice, green beans, corn casserole, rolls, salad and cake). Dorothy Rhueman entertained everyone with her extraordinary voice. She opened with “God Bless America” and proceeded to bless us with one beautiful song after another.

The evening was filled with memorable and exciting moments, but the most poignant was the announcement that Mary Nell McGee was the recipient of the FBC 2022 Citizen of the Year award. There was a standing ovation for her and not a dry eye in the house when she made her acceptance speech. No one is more deserving of this award than Mary Nell. Her contributions to FBC and our town are so numerous and don’t go unnoticed. We are blessed by knowing her and POC is a better place because she is here.

Later in the evening, FBC honored the longest married couple in attendance. This year the honor went to Mr. and Mrs. George Yarborough who have 67 year marriage. Brother George told the crowd that they had never had a fight. He is a former pastor of FBC, so we know that is the truth! What a testimony! The couple that had the least number of years together (3) is Jeremy and Peggy Edison. They have a way to go to match the Yarboroughs! God bless them all.

A lot of preparation goes into this event each year. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED. We will see you in 2023 for the Texas Bluebonnet and Barbeque 26th banquet.

Honored at the Sweetheart Banquet:

-Photos by Jessica Diercks

Ten Years…

Ten years can make all the difference in the world, it can be the distance between eras in history or our personal lives.

In this case, it has been ten years since I started writing for the Dolphin Talk and I got to be in the lives of you lovely people for the last decade as you moved forward as well.

Also tempting to call it ironic as well as I personally am in a similar spot as I was then, moving back to Illinois after being gone awhile (of even bigger irony is I’ll most likely be back in Victoria soon enough, making that ten years a round trip -and there wasn’t even an ‘in-flight movie’ jeez), and it does not feel like ten years have passed at all.

Hopefully, in that time I have been more an attribute to your lives than a detriment, more helpful than harmful, and made you think about things more as well, if not in broad strokes then hopefully at least what angle you look at things from time to time.

The world sure has changed quite a lot between now and ten years ago…the world was not full of fear then, not as full of anger at the complexities that bind us in the modern world.

There is a reason you can never really go home again and it is because everything constantly shifts…in this column, I hope I have paused that shift at important and opportune moments for the people who lay eyes on this newsprint, as the goal of writing is, of course, to reach out as well as inform.

And of course, the old standards of everything costing less, the times being more innocent, where an aura of simplicity seems to hang over everything like a warm light.

On the last part, I’m not sure if that is all true or just a symptom of seeing a few decades go by already…And it may that for once, time will not reveal the answer as the effect might get worse as the ten-year counts continue to add upwards.

I looked through the Fish Out of Water ‘archives,’ and felt these couple paragraphs from the columns first year anniversary summed up how I feel still in its tenth year:

“ …I am not sure how many pairs of eyes have actively followed this space over the last three hundred and sixty-five days, but I am glad I was allowed to be here and wanted to take time to thank both Joyce and the Dolphin Talk for the opportunity and thanks to you as well for reading the ramblings that flow from this keyboard and this rattled rat’s maze of a mind.

The experience of writing this column and other items for this publication gave me the confidence to start other writing projects and also gave me a chance to keep producing something with regularity. This to me is one of the key ingredients for any writer’s success, especially when real life can at times try to knock you off the horse of your dreams by making you ride very rough terrain.”

Thank you for ten years of riding that terrain beside me.

As we learned with Winter Storm Uri, cold fronts pose a lethal threat to our beloved marine life. While 557 dead sea turtles were the local causalities of that storm, this year volunteers were recruited, trained, and stood at the ready. When a 3-day cold front pushed the water temperature below the turtle’s tolerance of 46 degrees for more than 24 hours, volunteers sprang into action. The winds laid on Saturday February 5th and ten boats combed the bays rescuing 16 cold stunned turtles found floating in shallow water or pushed ashore. Two had already been injured by predators. Two others were found dead.

Most turtles were brought to the POC Coastal Fisheries dock where TPWD staff completed the data forms and contained the turtles for shipment to the Amos Rehabilitation Keep (ARK). One turtle found along the upper Matagorda Peninsula shoreline by LNRA employee volunteers, Scott Hartl and Zachary Wittneberg, was taken to the Dickinson Marine Lab. Another turtle was brought in by John Humbert,
Seadrift resident, to Charlie’s and delivered directly to the ARK transport volunteers. TPWD staff and POC residents, Gloria and Bill Carlberg hauled the POC turtles to the meet-up point where they handed them to ARK transport volunteers. Bill and Gloria ended up transporting some of the turtles all the way to the rehab center in Port Aransas. Later on Saturday afternoon, a call came in from Allen Junek, nephew and namesake of POC resident Allen Junek, who found a cold stunned turtle while out fishing. Allen was provided training over the phone and ‘deputized’ to handle the turtle for transport. On the way in, Allen found another cold stunned turtle. This one was the largest found that day, almost 2 ½ feet. She was aptly and affectionately named “Big Sheila” by Austin Sury, TPWD. With the permission of the ARK coordinator, both of Junek turtles were kept overnight at the POC TPWD facility. They were transported on Sunday to Rockport by POC resident and Texas Master Naturalist Denise Crane where they were handed off to an ARK volunteer.

While we have not received a complete report of the final disposition of all 16 Mid-Coast turtles, we do know that “Big Sheila” and a few others were among the 106 turtles release on Tuesday, February 8th near Bob Hall Pier. Again, answering the call for help, Gloria and Bill Carlberg drove to Port A and helped transport and release these lucky critters.

While we hope there will be no more cold fronts this year, our newly formed Mid-Coast Cold Stunned Turtle Rescue Program passed its first test and again stands ready. Thanks go out to all those who participated and who signed up to help. Special thanks to Kelley Kowal and the TPWD staff.

Those who wish to join the program can contact Brigidberger61@gmail.com. Anyone who finds a stranded turtle, anytime of year can call 866-Turtle5 (866-887-8535) And don’t forget to download and report all turtle sightings using the iSeaTurtle.app.

Our 2022 membership drive is well underway, and we are excited to host a Mardi Gras Themed Membership Appreciation Night on Friday, March 11, 2022, from 7 pm -10 pm. Chamber members and a guest will enjoy a casino party with music, hors d’oeuvres, and drinks. Please consider joining the chamber today and be our guest at this entertaining event. Membership applications can be found on our webpage at www.portoconnorchamber.com.

February is here and that means the Crawfish season is getting closer. Mark, your calendar for our 10th Annual Crawfish Festival and Cookoff on April 30th. Vendor and cooker registration information is available on our website. If you would like to volunteer or if you have any questions, please email Crawfish@portoconnorchamber.com.

Remember the Farmers Market is the second Saturday of the month from 8:00-12:00 at the Kingfisher Beach Pavilion. Come support your neighbors as they sell homemade or homegrown products.

We are grateful for our new and renewing members. LeAnn’s Photography, POC Liquor Store, Julie Thomas, Realtor EXP Realty, R&R RV Resort & Casitas, Matagorda Bay Pilots, Gulf Coast Title Company, Becky Spicak, Realtor, RE/MAX Land & Homes on the Bay, Boat House Storage, Small Town Realtor, Triple R Tractor, POC Electric, Dawn Ragusin LLC, POC Washateria, Jeco’s Marine & Tackle, Tow Boat U.S. Port O’ Connor, Full Stringer Realty, Hammertime Guide Service, Smart Repairs, Garage Door Services, Bahia Services & Rentals, Hurricane Junction, Designs by Darla, Coastal Bend Marine, Thomas’ Boat Repair & Auto, Victoria Electric Cooperative, Infinium, Flat Cats Boats, The Two RV Park, The Admiral Collection, Shorty’s Home Improvement, Michelle Davis, Allan & Brigid Berger, Arnold & Melanie Martinez, Debbie Michalek, Mike & Judy Overton, Otto & Alane Haardt, Nancy Ladshaw, Britton & Susan Braudaway, Bob & Twiggy Wadley, Mike & Peggy Macha, Lois W Kolkhorst, Tanya & Robert Coldeway.

Please continue to visit our webpage at www.portoconnorchamber.com for more information on local events.