Port O’Connor Chamber of Commerce

The chamber board members have been busy getting ready for the Annual Crawfish Festival scheduled for Saturday, April 24, 2021. As you can imagine, this event could not happen without our volunteers. We are so thankful many of you have pledged your time to ensure the success of this event. The day’s events will include crawfish plates for sale, live music, cold drinks, food and craft vendors, crawfish eating contest, horseshoe tournament and the ability to taste delicious crawfish prepared onsite by our competition cookers. You will be able to purchase “People’s Choice” tokens which will allow you to visit all the crawfish cookers, get a small sample and then vote (leave your token) for your favorite crawfish cooker.

Please remember to join or renew your Chamber membership. Membership applications are available on our website, and you can join online. You do not have to own a local business to join, we welcome Individual and Couple memberships as well.

The chamber board recently revised the Chamber Bylaws and submitted to the full chamber membership for approval. The original bylaws were completed in 1964 and then they were last updated in 2017 but were not filed with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Therefore, once the revisions are approved, the bylaws will be filed with the IRS and will always be available to the membership.

Mark your calendar for upcoming events:

• Crawfish Festival- Saturday, April 24th at the Kingfisher Beach

• Farmer’s Market- Saturday, May 8th at the Kingfisher Beach Pavilion

• Chamber Board Meeting-Monday, May 12th at the 6:30 at the Community Center.

• Memorial Day Kids Fishing Tournament- Saturday, May 29th

• Golf Cart Scavenger Hunt- a date is being finalized and will be announced soon.

Make sure you like the Port O’Connor Chamber of Commerce Facebook page to keep up to date on current events. You can also check out the chamber website at www.portoconnorchamber.com

Patricia Mayhall, who resided in Port O’Connor much of the past 25 years, passed away Friday, April 9, 2021.

She was a faithful Christian, member of Fisherman’s Chapel, and a friend to many.

She died peacefully after a long battle with cancer at her sister’s home in Colorado.

She will be greatly missed by all who knew her.

It was a blessing this year to be able to hold the Easter Sunrise Service at Kingfisher Beach. The sun rose over the calm waters of the bay into a clear blue sky. Dorothy Ruehman started off the morning celebration by singing “Amazing Grace”, “America the Beautiful”, “It Is Well With My Soul” and “Open My Eyes, Lord”. It was a beautiful way to begin the day. Brother Erny McDonough, co-pastor of Fisherman’s Chapel, followed with the opening prayer. Our First Baptist Church choir sang “He Is Risen”. FBC pastor, Brother Phillip Miller, preached an inspiring Easter message for his first sunrise service in our community. The crowd was a little smaller than in past years because the Covid virus still has some people cautious about gathering in large groups. There were several hundred people in attendance and it was so good to be able to do something normal with everyone.

On Easter Eve, FBC held their annual egg hunt at the church. This event has been going on for over 50 years! This year volunteers hid over 2,000 eggs. It didn’t take the crowd of children long to find all of them. It takes lots of volunteers, under the direction of Candice Stryker, to make this event happen every year. Thank you to all for making it so special for the children. The smiles make it all worth it!

Donations for our Samaritans Purse Shoe Boxes are continuing to arrive. We were able to pack 172 last year. This year our goal is to surpass that and fill 200. November will be here before we know it, if your year is flying by like mine! You can donate items or money for shipping at any time. There are some restrictions: no liquids, no toothpaste, no food or candy. Things need to be small enough to fit into a shoe box with other items. Some examples: washrags, soap bars, hair bows, combs, jewelry, small stuffed animals, socks, flip flops, knit caps, gloves, books, colors, etc.

There is an ongoing need for food pantry donations. With so many people still out of work or ill, the pantry at Fisherman’s Chapel needs constant restocking. Any non-perishable item is appreciated.

FBC has several events each week and anyone interested is invited to attend.

Sunday at 11:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. church services
9:00 a.m. Sunday school

Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Bible study

Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. Prayer meeting and youth activities

We are waiting to welcome you.

Service Club Members, Commissioner Gary Reese, and the crew of Lozada Concrete Works celebrated the “Groundbreaking Ceremony” of the POC Community Service Club’s new Building on April 12, 2021!!

The Ladies of the POC Service Club would like to thank all who attended our Spring Mega Garage Sale on April 17th!!! It was a tremendous success, and you opened up your hearts and your wallets in a huge way to support our fundraising endeavors!!!! We would also like to thank you for purchasing all of the items from our booth at the Farmer’s Market on April 10th!!! Your generous donations, and continued support, are greatly appreciated as we work steadily toward raising money for our much needed storage barn, and our many projects aimed at giving back to the POC Community!!!

Our next Booth at the Farmer’s Market will be on Saturday, May 8, 2021; 8:00AM until Noon at the Front Beach Pavilion

The Club continues to accept, and appreciate, your generous contributions of gently used household, decorative, and kitchen items; small appliances; clothing; shoes; jewelry, books, toys; children’s and baby items, sporting goods, tools and lawn care equipment , furniture; etc. We cannot accept computers, electronics, or mattresses.

To donate, please contact:

Alane Haardt at 281-416-6028
Nancy Ladshaw at 830-832-0510
Marie Hawes at 361-920-2322

Our May Meetings are May 6 and May 20 at 10:00AM at the POC Community Center. We welcome all who are interested in joining this group of fun, hardworking ladies. We would love to have you!!

Our next Bayfront service will be April 24, 6:00 p.m., at the pavilion. There will be a simple meal with COVID considerations, games for kids, music and a brief message from a local pastor. We suggest you bring your own chair, though there will be some chairs and tables provided. Churches involved are: Methodist Church, Baptist Church, Pentecostal Church and Community Church. -Pastor Cody Logan