Sat., Nov. 27    Poker Run Tournament 10:00 – 3:00    Josie’s Port O’Connor
Tues., Nov. 30    Giving Tuesday  Port O’Connor Library
Fri., Dec. 3    Senior Citizens Christmas Luncheon
11:00 am    Port O’Connor Community Center
Sat., Dec. 4    Christmas Market Days
10:00 – 4:00    5D Steak House, Port O’Connor
Sat., Dec. 4    Toy Run Arrives afternoon    The Inn at Clarks, Port O’Connor
Sat., Dec. 4    Lighted Boat Parade
At dark        Scurlock to Little Jetties, down the ICW
Sun, Dec,  5    Seadrift Community Choir
9:15 am        St. Patrick Catholic Church, Seadrift
Sun., Dec,  5     Seadrift Community Choir
6:00 pm        First Assembly of God Church, Seadrift
Dec. 6 – 10    Visit with Santa 6:00 – 8:00 pm    1108 Bay Ave., Seadrift
Tues., Dec. 7    Bunco Christmas Party 7:00 pm  POC Community Center
Dec. 9th    Seadrift Community Choir 6:00 pm  Trinity Shores, Port Lavaca
Dec. 10        Seadrift Community Choir        2:00 pm        Seadrift School
Fri., Dec. 10    Port O’Connor Chamber Christmas Party
6:00 pm        Port O’Connor Community Center
Sat., Dec. 11    Farmers Market
8:00 – Noon    Kingfisher Beach, Port O’Connor
Sat., Dec. 11    Children’s Christmas Activities
10:00 – 11:30    Port O’Connor Library
Sat., Dec. 11    Seadrift Community Choir
7:15 pm        St. Joseph Catholic Church, Port O’Connor
Sat., Dec. 11    Santa at the Fire Station  2:00 – 4:00    Port O’Connor
Sun., Dec. 12    Seadrift Community Choir
11:00 a m    First Methodist Church, Seadrift
Sun., Dec, 12    Seadrift Community Choir
6:00 pm        First Baptist Church, Seadrift
Wed., Dec. 15    Food Drive 5:00 – 7:00    Speedy Stop, Port O’Connor
Dec. 15 & 16    House Decorated Lighting Judging
7:00 – 10:00 pm    Judges will be driving by
Thurs., Dec. 16    Port O’Connor School Christmas Program
6:00 pm        Port O’Connor School
Sat., Dec. 18    Nutcracker Market, Tree Lighting, Lighted
Vehicle Parade    Seadrift Bayfront
Wednesdays    Coffee and Conversation
8:00 – 9:00 am    Port O’Connor Library
Fridays        Mahjong 1:00 – 3:30    Port O’Connor Library
Fridays        S.M.A.R.T. Recovery 7:00 – 8:30 pm    Port O’Connor Library

After ten years of gathering donations totalling approximately half a million dollars to fund their new and improved facilities, the folks at the Calhoun County Humane Society welcomed visitors to the grand opening of their new home, located at 106 Haley Lane in Port Lavaca, on the 21st of last month. Built on 3 acres and boasting 4 outdoor arenas, currently used as exercise areas for their 4-legged boarders, there is ample room for future expansion.

Everyone at the Calhoun County Humane Society, including volunteers, Janice Holiday and Kim Tatum, look forward to the continued generosity of Humane Society supporters with monetary donations sufficient to allow them to add a part-time permanent staff member to be on-site Monday through Friday for four hours each day, however; all donations are appreciated, whether they be money, time and/or labor, or goods needed. If you’d like to support our friends at the humane society but aren’t in a position to donate cash, one alternative method is fulfilling the “Full Bowl Challenge” by donating, and delivering one, or more, bags of qualifying food to the Calhoun County Humane Society each month for 12 months. The following items qualify for this challenge:

1. Purina Dog Chow Complete, 50-lb minimum;
2. Purina Puppy Chow, 32-lb minimum;
3. Purina Cat Chow Indoor, 20-lb minimum; and
4. Purina Kitten Chow , 14-lb minimum

Individual and group donors who complete the challenge, will have a food bowl, personalized with their name, proudly displayed on the facility’s wall of “Full Bowl Heroes”.

Another way to donate, should you have the means to provide financial support, comes with “naming opportunities”: In preparation for the move to the new facility, our local humane society offered donors the opportunity to name 18 areas of the new shelter by making pre-determined substantial donations which provide for the display of donor names in designated areas. At this time, only half of the naming opportunity areas are fulfilled (or named) leaving nine areas open for naming.

A great example, showcasing a fulfilled naming opportunity can be seen as you step through the facility’s front door into the Naomi S. Albrecht Lobby. A paw-print Lobby sign bearing Ms. Albrecht’s name hangs on the wall to the immediate left of the entrance. Ms. Albrecht’s daughter, Janice Stalder, provided a signed original painting of Ms Albrecht’s that will hang underneath the Lobby sign.

Ms. Albrecht was one of the most-loved and well-respected women Calhoun County has known. She served as a board member on the Calhoun County Humane Society’s Board of Directors for many years while teaching at Port O’Connor Elementary, and later, taking on a different role in education, by becoming the school’s principal. The move to principal rounded out a long and distinguished career in education.

Please contact the Calhoun County Humane Society for additional information regarding “Naming Opportunities,’ still available and any form requirements they may have.

Normally, forms required for adopting, donating, and volunteering could be accessed by visiting the Calhoun County Humane Society’s website but, they are in the process of creating a new and improved website to go with their new and improved shelter facility so, all forms may not be readily available via the website for now. Those looking for information might check out the society’s Facebook page, the yellow pages online or similar sites/services. According to Janice Holiday, telephoning them is not currently a good contact method since they have had serious issues with telephone service for three plus months, with no resolution in sight at the time of this writing. Once the phone issues are resolved, you can call them at 361-553-8916.

Lastly, but certainly not least, should you wish to adopt or to donate your time and volunteer at the facility, please contact Janice Holiday or Kim Tatum by leaving a message/post on the Calhoun County Humane Society’s Facebook page or by heading on over to 106 Haley Lane in Port Lavaca to personally visit with someone on-site and get a gander at their new digs.

Riding Out The Island Hurricane

Greetings from the island everyone. I hope that all of you are doing well and enjoying these cool Fall mornings that we have been having lately.
I so much enjoy sitting out on the porch during the cool mornings and watching the early sunrise, while having a few cups of strong hot black coffee, and seeing the hummingbirds drink from the feeder. No traffic, no horn honking and no bothersome noise. . or people. The winter duck hunters in their airboats will start showing up soon, but they don’t bother me at all, I’m to the point that I hardly even notice or hear them running the shoreline enroute to their blinds. It’s all good.

But I’ll tell you what certainly was NOT good last month, and that was my decision to ride out what ultimately became Hurricane Nicholas, very slowly zigzagging his unpredictable way across Matagorda Bay. Initially forecast as a “big rainmaker”, and even later as a Tropical Storm, Nicholas could not make up his mind when, where or at what strength landfall was going to be made, and I felt the fury of his strengthening and indecisions.

I had made the usual and necessary preparations, picking up all the loose yard items and moving things up high in case the surge rose above 4’, which is my safe number before the bay waters begin coming inside the downstairs kitchen. The primary concern, my Haynie Bigfoot boat, which I bought new nearly 22 years ago, was secured to my neighbors, Britton & Susan’s, very well built sturdy dock. I screwed 2×6 boards on the outside of the dock posts so the port side gunnel could rise and lower with the surge, adding a two foot buffer above the top of the 6×6 dock posts. This was a wise decision.

The winds started picking up in the afternoon, nothing terrible yet, from the NE 30-40 mph. But at about 5:45 p.m., the winds and driving rain got steadily worse, especially the winds, easily sustained at 60-70 mph (weather data would later show that recorded gusts in Matagorda Bay were 94 mph). At 7:10 p.m. the strong NE winds began pushing the surge into the back yard and beyond. I noticed that the stern of my boat was much lower than earlier, so in this storm I went outside and found that the lagoon had become part of Matagorda Bay, and the strong winds were pushing waves over the starboard side of the boat faster than the self-bailing drain holes could keep up, causing the boat to badly list and begin to sink. This was bad.

I quickly attached the stern battery hatch bilge pump and began pumping, and leaned all of my weight on the port side gunnel in an attempt to level the boat and keep the waves from crashing over the starboard side and into the boat. All the while, I’m trying to keep my balance on the dock, which now was nearly 2’ under water, and the wind blown salt water was burning my eyes. The boat battery eventually drained completely down from the bilge pump, so I quickly went got a battery jump box and used that to operate the pump. Slowly but surely I was able to gain ground and kept the boat from completely sinking, and kept the outboard cowling above water. Thank you, Lord. All the rear hatches were completely full of water and I was finally able to drain them. The ordeal with the boat, in those terrible weather conditions, had to be three of the longest hours I’ve ever endured.

I absolutely will not put myself in that position again. You have no control over what is happening during a storm like that; you are resigned to simply watch and hope, and pray. Lesson learned. Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and concerns, and offers to help in my storm cleanup and repairs. Slowly but surely everything is getting back to normal.

Well, that’s it from the island for now. Everyone take care and have a wonderful day.

Kelly Lillge – “Loving Life”

Kelly loves life! She says, “When I moved here twenty-four years ago I knew it was where I was supposed to be. This community as well as the Seadrift School has become my second family. I love to go to work because I get to see my kids.”

Kelly teaches K-8 Physical Education as well as 8th grade Health at the Seadrift School. Affectionately known by her students as “Coachie”, Kelly has won the hearts of the many students she has coached through the years.

Originally from Wisconsin, Kelly had a PE teacher who became a mentor for Kelly. Kelly wanted to be just like her teacher, and that became a reality! Kelly was always very athletic. She loves the outdoors and sports. One of Kelly’s memorable experiences was being inducted into the Wisconsin Track and Field Hall of Fame.

Kelly has one son, Zachary, two dogs, and a cat. Needless to say, Kelly is extremely proud of her son Zachary. Zachary lives in San Antonio and is Assistant Manager at Navy Credit Union. He is getting his Masters in Counseling.

Kelly loves to read Christian non-fiction. Some of her favorite authors are Max Lucado, Steve McVey, and Joyce Meyer. Also, she enjoys articles by Life Coach Kyle McMurray.

Kelly’s faith in Christ began one Christmas many years ago when a friend came to visit. As Kelly tells it, “I had just become a single mom. I had left college and was working two jobs. While I was at college I met a man that helped with the track program. We became friends. I was sitting in my living room staring at the Christmas tree in the early evening. I had put my son to bed and was sitting alone. The door bell rang and it was my friend from college. He came in and said he wanted to talk with me about something that the Lord had put on his heart. He then introduced me to Christ. It was an absolutely incredible conversation that changed my life forever!”

Kelly has this to say concerning the Seadrift School: “The last five years at Seadrift School has had great success with their volleyball teams and we’ve had numerous district champions in Track and Field.”

Kelly and her sister are involved in a teen suicide prevention advocacy group because of the tragic suicide of Kelly’s nephew. The advocacy group’s training has impacted Kelly’s whole perspective of teaching.

Kelly says, “I’ve learned that the constant in my life is my faith and my love for people.”