Spring Cleaning, Repairs & Mowing

Greetings from the island everyone. I hope that all of you are doing well and enjoying this much appreciated Spring weather that we have been having lately. We will continue to have late season northers for a short while still, but for the most part nice weather should pretty much be here. My dad has always said that when the northers begin to have west wind in them, they are nearing the end.

Well, I’m getting a much later start than normal, but I finally got my tomato seeds started and have little seedlings on their way. I’ll have a total of 18 plants this Spring/Summer season, consisting of 6 different varieties, including two new varieties, Atlas Hybrid and Cherokee Purple. I’ll see how the later start affects the outcome of their tomato production, but hopefully they will do just fine, and fried green tomatoes and BLT’s will be on the menu.

When living on an island, maintenance and repairs are a never ending chore. Over the years, the harsh corrosive environment and weather, especially the winds, cause problems and do damage to everything imaginable. Some repairs are very difficult to do when you live alone, so I was very grateful and appreciative when friends Britton and Susan showed up one morning, with boards and needed materials in hand, and helped with several much needed repairs around here.

The pier, ALWAYS a focus of repairs, had broken in several places and we fixed that. And the little gate leading from the pier onto the deck had completely fallen apart, so we built and hung a new one. The winter northers had blown everything awry on my outside porch island treasures display shelf, so Susan cleaned and re-arranged everything back in order to make it look great. This is something that I’m certain I never would have done. Thank y’all so much for your help.

With the warmer Spring weather and occasional rain showers, the grass is really growing again, so I’m back in full swing with my island yard mowing. I keep mowed eleven island weekender places out here. . it keeps me busy, puts a few dollars in my pocket and helps out the property owners from not having to deal with it the few days they are here. Thank goodness for John Deere riding mowers and Stihl weed trimmers, can’t beat them! I usually take Corky with me when I go mow, and he is happy just sitting in the golf cart watching me and napping.

In closing, I want to ask everyone to please support our wonderful local newspaper, Dolphin Talk. Other than yearly subscriptions by mail, which are only $30 delivered to you, the Dolphin Talk newspapers are given away free. Printing and distribution of this newspaper is very expensive. Please get a subscription for yourself or friends or relatives, or simply make a donation to this landmark local newspaper. Thank you!

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

Our Dictionary

April is one of those months that is known for beginnings and fresh starts as Spring across the Western world really kicks into high gear and among the Easter Baskets and April showers (that of course bring May flowers), its was also the start of something new and unique, something started right here in the United Sates and the start also of Americans separating themselves from the British we had fought for our freedom and independence.

And that is the fact that the first copy of Noah Webster’s An American Dictionary of the English Language received its copyright in April of 1882 and soon would become a well known book by the end of the 1830’s and by modern times would be a household name and synonymous with the written English language in America.

Besides serving as a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives as well as a graduate of the prestigious Yale University, Webster’s passions also lead him to write the three volume A Grammatical Institute of the English Language, consisting of a grammer, spelling and reader, which he wrote after seeing the state of America’s schools at the time, which were mainly one room schoolhouses with very little in the way of school text books to teach from.

This would pave the way for Webster to create the countries very first dictionary, A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language, which was released in 1806, Webster then began writing a more full-bodied version of the book in 1807 but it was not until April of 1882 that this second English teaching aid was available to the public.

During this two decade plus time span, Webster would learn and dissect twenty-eight languages and also changed the face of the written word in America by choosing simpler, easier to pronounce version of words that had before this time had multiple spellings and pronunciations, this is the reason you may see the word ‘color’ written as ‘colour’ in an English published book or publication.

The first edition only sold less than three-thousand copies however and Webster would have to mortgage his house in able to write, revise and print the two volume second edition of the dictionary with the help of his son, which was at the time the most comprehensive collection of words in the English language (with an American spin) in the world.

Before his death Noah Webster would also play a huge part in the establishing of American copyright laws and the Copyright act of 1831, which was apt considering Webster had also had a hand in constructing the earlier copyright laws used in the United States prior to that act in the 1780’s.

Webster considered his life’s work in English as establishing a ‘Federal Language,’ something he felt separated the still very young nation from the British Empire the American Revolutionaries had fought so fiercely to depart.

Sadly, Webster would die in May of 1844, never seeing firsthand how deeply he helped shaped the language he slaved over and the nation that he loved. Today, Webster’s (as the Merriam-Webster dictionary) is a household name, and every American school kid is sure to have had Webster’s book or a variation of it in his or her hands.

The Service Club’s first semi-annual garage sale of the year held on April 6 at the Community Center was a huge success. Thank you as always to all in our community who donated items and came and shopped at the garage sale. As we’ve mentioned in earlier articles, these sales are the Service Club’s primary fund-raising events that make it possible for us to fund many other community projects, as well as a scholarship fund for local students.

Do you know what is involved in putting on these massive garage sales? It is a TON of work and is all done primarily by Service Club volunteers! These ladies (who sometimes draft family members to help too!) volunteer LOTS of time and effort, spending hours every week in the months before the sale sorting through donations and inspecting large furniture items to make sure they are gently used and something we can actually sell. Then they spend entire days before the sale – putting up signs, getting donations transported from the storage location to the sale location, setting up tables, hanging clothes, sorting goods out onto tables – anything and everything needed to have the sale itself run smoothly for our community shoppers.

And we can’t forget to thank all those who bake for & work at the bake sale held at the same time either. The bake sale funds support the same Service Club efforts to help our community.

Service Club president Donna Vuichard reported there were more than 35 volunteers working all day Thursday and Friday before this sale, including some trustees from the jail as well as some of our awesome local Coast Guard members who donated their time as well! And this doesn’t count all the time spent at home by those bakers!

So, a HUGE round of thanks to the many, many volunteers who make these garage sales happen!

The next garage sale will be Saturday, October 5, and YOUR help is needed! The Port O’Connor Community Service Club is an all-volunteer, non-profit organization dedicated to supporting the Port O’Connor community by providing support and funds for programs and events for the betterment of this community. If you are looking for a way to give back to the Port O’Connor community, come join us!

APRIL 27 is the date for the Port O’Connor Chamber of Commerce’s Crawfish Festival. The Service Club provides volunteers to assist with ticket sales and we really need some more volunteers for this. If you’d like to volunteer to help out for a couple of hours, contact Donna Vuichard at 361-237-0476 and she’ll get you signed up for a shift…and a free T-shirt!

Scholarship Program – Any student who attended Port O’Connor Elementary School and is graduating from Calhoun County High School is eligible to apply for a Service Club scholarship. Contact Donna Vuichard for more information.

Our meetings are on the first and third Thursdays of the month at the Community Center. (Enter through the rear door.) All are welcome – come check us out – we work hard, but we have fun too! Members don’t have to be full-time POC residents – all who want to help are welcome. We are always planning various programs and events and identifying needs in our community where the Service Club can help but your support is what makes it all possible.

Some of us may have wondered how we ever wound up in Seadrift, Texas. But for others with the likes of Harrom Nipp they chose where they eventually would retire or re-fire! I mention re-fire because that’s exactly what Harrom Nipp has done! Having a colorful and rewarding work history combined with community involvement in different places, Harrom decided to come to Seadrift in 2016.

Tackling the needs of the Seadrift Museum/Depot’s restoration is presently his “labor of love”. Being a member of the Seadrift Chamber of Commerce has given him the opportunity to serve in what he was looking for. Harrom said of the Seadrift Chamber’s president Cindy Alford: “Cindy is a fireball that likes to get things done. I am the same way. Just give me a civic job and get out of my way.”

Here is a list of some of Harrom’s accomplishments:

1. Founded an industrial metals fabrication and construction corporation that operated for 40 years.

2. Founded the Texas City Industrial Trade Show which has a 30 year history and has given the Texas City Chamber thousands of dollars in revenue.

3. Founded a Flea Market in Texas City for the Rotary Club, netting thousands of dollars.

4. In Schulenberg Harrom worked with the Lions Club and helped raise money for educational scholarships and other local causes.

5. Harrom lead a team of people to build for Schulenberg a Downtown City Pocket Park. Harrom handled the fundraising, design, and construction of the Park.

Now Harrom, just like Ted Gill, is leaving us a legacy to embrace for ourselves and our children. It’s like Ted Gill said,” Without the knowledge of our heritage, who are we?”

This is the second in the Seadrift Legacy series. If you would like to contact Harrom Nipp, his number is 979-743-1778.