Over the past week our friend, Susan Wallace volunteered to decorate driveways around Port O’Connor with chalk art. This was done without any cost or any purpose other than to do something cheerful for her friends and neighbors in Port O’Connor. All who had their driveways decorated were very grateful and those that drove by stopped to comment how much they appreciated this beautiful art work, particularly during this somber time in our history.
-Dave Pope

The greatest force in the life of the child is his home. When the family is the building block of society, the community is building a stronger society and a better environment for communal health.

People need relationships. Our personalties are shaped in those around us. Life is shaped and communicated by life. A living model is the best model and in the family, parents are responsible for communicating values for their children.

God has established an order for the family unit. Father, mother, and children each have obligations. Happiness in the domestic circle depends upon realizing these obligations and mutually sharing them.

The husband/father was created to be the head of the home. As the head, the man is responsible to God and country for his wife and children.
Every father bears the responsibility for entrusting that will insure that the family unit is a moral unit. To assist him, Holy Scripture provides great encouragement for the directing of his family unit in the areas of the learning of Truth, directing family prayer and worship, and the leading in the ways of right relationships with God and mankind.
Secondly, even this age of extreme financial pressures, the father is responsible as a provider. He should provide materially, but only according to his ability. It is a proven that most children have very little appreciation for the over abundance of things we try to provide.
Above all, the husband/father will provide an example of a loving relationship with his wife. Children receive security in their home life as they see their father’s love and gentleness toward their mother.

By displaying a calm, unruffled spirit during crisis, the father can pour oil on troubled waters and provide emotional security for his family. We have our times of extreme anxieties with the complexities we face on a daily basis, but being calm and collected in the middle of the problems surely pays great dividends for the family.
The Father is responsible as a protector. This always begins with proper discipline. Every young life needs guardrails or fences. As guardian of the family’s morals and their spiritual and physical well-being, he will be available as adviser, confessor, and confidant. He will always be a good listener, seeking opportunities to give his wife and family a sense of belonging, and commend and encourage them when they do a job well or exhibit pleasing behavior. He will find time to laugh and play with them and to help them in their rough times, instead of minimizing their drama.

The mother goes down to the gates of death for her children, and for this reason her love is more self-effacing than the father’s. But that love must never serve as an excuse not to discipline them. as the primary influence with the children, the mother is at the center of home management. This does much to contribute to the children’s security and confidence, enabling them to face the world with assurance.

Mothers – and fathers – can give the following treasures to their children:

First, every child needs a sense of law and order. Through order and discipline in the home children learn the rights of others and how to get along. They will learn the “rules of the playground” before they ever get to the playground!

Second, each child must have a reverence for life. Children need to practice the Golden Rule. Proper respect for one’s body, which is the temple of the Holy Spirit, must be taught to both the boys as well as the girls. Children need to understand the necessity of keeping body and mind clean and pure
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Third, children need to have a proper appreciation for values. Food and clothing and video games are not the number one priorities. Appreciation for spiritual values and the family are vital. Our youngest grandchild asks her mother, “When I get sixteen, may I have a phone and a boyfriend?” “Maybe a phone,” was her reply.
Fourth, we must teach children that conduct and comfort are never as important as character. Goodness is not put on and taken off at the moment’s notice; it is ingrained by daily living. We could list many other characteristics of what an adult should possess that will be taught them as a child, because parents always need to remember we are raising adults, not children! Far too soon, they will be gone and only what they have learned at home will remain with them.

I should address the child’s part in the home and the difference in a one-parent home, but space will not permit. I still believe that the Church is the best place a family can learn how to live in harmony and enjoy the unit that God designed – the home! Never just send a child to church, take them!

Not sure if you had noticed, the basketball goals on front beach were in need of repairs.  Thanks to Brent Hart, he took this project and upgraded by sanding and repainting, “Thanks to Brent and The Two RV Park for the hard labor and furnishing the paint and supplies for this job. These goals are used by many of our young people. I also saw Ronna Fishbeck down there lending a helping hand. If you have not been by King Fisher Beach and Park, it is a must to go see. The  new beach is close to being finished.
Chamber office manager, La June

I hardly knew how to put together this issue of the Dolphin. We have news of events to come, and then this one is cancelled and then that one is cancelled. Then everything is cancelled. Everyone is panic-buying; people are warned to stay away from each other. Many are afraid to go to work or were told to stay home. The world as we know it has been turned upside down. I don’t get it and I don’t like it! This old lady is teetering on the edge of the “conspiracy theory universe”.

Anyway, let’s just plow along and do our best under the circumstances. Hopefully everything will get back to, not normal. but better than normal. Here is my un-asked for advice:

“Trust in the Lord and use your common sense.”

Thank you for reading the Dolphin Talk.

Joyce Rhyne, Editor

State Representative Geanie Morrison; Seadrift Mayor Elmer DeForest; US Congressman Michael Cloud
-Photo by Kenneth Reese

Last month Seadrift had some very special guests. Everyone met in the Seadrift Council Chambers and later were given a tour of the harbor and the bay front. This all happened on February 22! The reason for the celebration was the awarding of a $3.4 million dollar grant to refurbish the harbor. The grant was awarded through the Economic Development Administration. The money will be used to dredge, shore up parts of the harbor, and for bulk-heading.

The guests who came to celebrate were U.S. Congressman Michael Cloud, State Representative Geanie Morrison, County Judge Richard Meyer, Commissioner Gary Reese and wife Sandy, and grant representatives Robert Peche, Michael Ada, and Hannah Crone.
Our Seadrift representatives present were Mayor Elmer DeForest, City Secretary Gabriella Torres, Councilman Ranier Brigham, and Councilman Kenneth Reese and wife Barbara along with a group of local citizens who made the celebration complete!

Mayor Elmer DeForest was awarded a Texas flag for his part in Harvey recovery. Also, our hats off to all the others who worked to get the grant: City Secretary Gabriella Torres, Councilman Kenneth Reese, Harbor Master Ricky Carter, and Hannah Crone and Michael Ada with the Golden Crescent Regional Planning Commission. Also contributing to the event were Justice of the Peace Wesley Hunt, Seadrift Police, and the Seadrift City Crew.

From Congressman Cloud: “In May of last year, I proudly wrote a letter of support for Seadrift’s grant application. It’s an honor for my office to assist local projects in this way. In September, the EDA announced Seadrift would be awarded the grant. It will be matched with $862,500 in local funds and is expected to help create 40 jobs and retain 90 jobs! The harbor at Seadrift is a hub for businesses in the area as it generates private investment and attracts new investments as well.”