HAPPY NEW YEAR 2020!!!! We are beginning a new decade of the roaring 20’s! What will it hold? One thing I know for sure is that FBC will be holding it’s annual Sweetheart Banquet on February 13, at 6:00 p.m. Many hands are working hard creating beautiful decorations, planning menus and selling tickets. Mark your calendars and call our church 361-983-2727 or Diane Cooley 903-467-6335 to purchase tickets. They are going fast and you don’t want to miss it.

There are many exciting opportunities for you at FBC. The newest is our Homebound Ministers Team. These volunteers will visit sick and homebound in POC by appointment only. If you would like to have names placed on our list, please call our church. You do not have to be a member of FBC to receive visits. We are looking forward to seeing you.

Several other opportunities are being created under the direction of our new Pastor, Brother Phillip Miller. Come be part of it all.

This New Year is the start of some very exciting times at our church. If you would like to know what all the excitement is about, you are invited to attend any of the following. Sunday Church at 10:45a.m. and 6:00p.m. Sunday School at 9:45a.m. Wednesday prayer meeting and youth activities 6:00p.m. Women’s Bible Study Tuesday 4:00p.m. Men’s Bible Study Tuesday 7:00p.m. We are waiting to welcome you with open arms.

What happened to 2019! It seems like only yesterday we were celebrating the New Year and now it has become the Old Year and 2020 has taken its place!

Some, I am sure, do not realize that our Editor, Mrs. Joyce Rhyne, had to lay her husband down with a grave side service on Sunday, December 15. For more than 50 years, Johnny had counted on Joyce to be his confident, his partner, his bride, and the mother of his children. He has left a great hole in many hearts and is greatly missed and will be for years to come! I feel it was an honor to her husband that Joyce did not put out a paper in December. For more than 25 years, she has faithfully kept us informed, not of the bad news – there are many other papers to print that junk – but the things that will interest, inform, and inspire the many Dolphin Talk readers! Thank you Joyce for being you!

Now, back to our activities! We had a great Christmas Celebration, complete with caroling around the bonfire (with hot dogs and s’mores), our annual Christmas Party, and the kids program! It was a fitting celebration for the King of Kings. Thankfulness prepared us for receiving the Christ Child and our joy was enhanced by the friends and families that met together to make the time complete!

But, now that Christmas is gone, we have many other activities with which to start the New Year! Pastor Joane and I celebrated our Wedding Anniversary on January 8, and the Chapel helped celebrate her birthday (January 13) with a baked potato dinner on Sunday evening, January 12. Thanks so much for loving Pastor Joane and expressing it so excellently!
Our ladies had a Bake Sale, the churches of our area had a fellowship meeting, and we cleaned fish for the Freeze Out Tournament. Since the ladies had an activity, the men could not be outdone, so they traveled to Edna for a Men’s Breakfast. Pastor Joane will be attending a Leading Ladies’ Retreat in Clear Lake later this month and we will gather in Wharton for a special evening of inspirational music on January 31.

Yes, we are planning an area Revival in Port Lavaca on February 17 and 18. The special speaker will be Evangelist Martha Tennison. She spoke at last year’s event and was well received. Everyone is invited to attend these special services, which will begin at 7 PM each evening.

Fisherman’s Chapel is an interdenominational congregation whose goal is to introduce Jesus to every person in the Port O’Connor area! “The men and the women, the boys and the girls …” are the ones we are attempting to reach with the Good News that Jesus makes a difference in individual lives. One will always find a warm welcome at the Chapel and all are urged to, “Come, Grow with us!”

The BUNCO Ladies made a donation to the POC Cemetery Association at their December game night. Marie Hawes, Secretary/Treasurer for the association was present to accept the check. Every year, the BUNCO Ladies donate their surplus game night fees to charity. This year the money was divided between the Angel Tree and the cemetery.

If you would like to be part of this fun group, they meet on the first Tuesday of each month at the Community Center. Play starts at 7:00 p.m. and refreshments are served. Come join us and you will be guaranteed lots of laughs, new friends and plenty of excitement. For more information, contact Diane at 903-467-6335. -Diane Cooley

Mary P. Estes passed away January 9, 2020 at her Port O’Connor home. She was married to local shrimper Barney Estes, whom she often assisted on his boat. Mary was well-known in the Port Lavaca medical community, having worked for many years as a nurse.

Mary counted many locals as her friends and lamented that so many had already passed away. She was a member of Fisherman’s Chapel. Mary loved animals and was devoted to her pets.

She is preceded in death by her husband Barney Estes. She is survived by daughters Shirley Cosden (Norman), Donna Lynn McIntyre, son Calvin McIntyre (Deborah); brother Larry Phillips; seven grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.

Funeral services, officiated by Rev. Erny McDonough, were held Tuesday, January 14, 2020, at Port O’Connor Cemetery, with burial following at the cemetery.