On November 25, 1943, S/Sgt. John William Ring, Army Air Corps/Air Force, of Virginia boarded a B-24 bomber. He was a gunner, taking part in a bombing mission. Upon take off from Pandaveswar Airbase in India, the plane crashed, killing all aboard.

He was buried at Camp Nelson National Cemetery in Nicholasville, Kentucky and the Amercian flag (48 stars) was presented to his family.

S/Sgt. Ring was the grandfather of Chuck Carter of Port O’Connor. For many years, Chuck’s mother displayed the flag in her Aransas Pass home. But in 1970, Hurricane Celia hit and the flag was lost. It was found later in a field without its display case. Dirty and wrinkled, it was packed away for many years, until it was given to Chuck.

Chuck had the flag cleaned, but did not know how to properly fold it. Mentioning this to Russell Cain, he was surprised to find out that Russell contacted the local Rotary Club, of which he is a member, and arranged to have the flag folded with honors by area Veterans.

On March 21, Rotary Club members; members of American Legion Post 167 and VFW Post 4403, representing all branches of the military; Marc Longoria, representative of Congressman Michael Cloud, and members of the media, gathered for a flag folding ceremony honoring Chuck’s grandfather.

The ceremony was conducted by American Legion Honor Guard Commander Ralph Belter and Chaplain, Reverend John Fisher. The flag was folded by VFW members Jesse Briseno and Fabian Balboa.

Some time later, Russell Cain had a wooden box built for the flag. Chuck was very appreciative for all that was done and now has the flag of S/Sgt John William Ring proudly displayed in his home.

The Port O’Connor Chamber of Commerce proudly announces the 7th Annual Crawfish Fest & Cookoff to be held on April 27 at King Fisher Park.  This is the Chamber’s largest fund raising event of the year and the event brings in approximately 3,000 people. We offer all of the following:

• Crawfish Cookoff
• Live music • Dancing
• Horseshoe contest
• Crafts • Food Vendors
• Raffles • FUN!!

The entry price is $5.00. Gates open at 10:00 am and close at 7:00 pm.  Coupons are sold for beverages and crawfish plates.  The price for crawfish will be $20.00/plate and beer tickets are $4.00.  Please no ice chests or dogs.

Entertainment begins with The Mudbugs Cajun & Zydeco Band. The Chamber is proud to have Bri Bagwell as the feature entertainer this year.  Bri was named Female Vocalist of the Year by the Texas Regional Radio Music Awards in 2013, and she received the honor again in 2014. In 2015, Bagwell released her second full-length album, When a Heart Breaks, including the song “My Boots,” which became a breakout single in Texas.  Her current album is In My Defense. Bri will be starting her set at 5:00 pm and will close out the evening at 7:00 pm.

Port O’Connor’s Chamber of Commerce’s mission is to promote business, enhance economic & community development and serve as a means for improving the overall quality of life in the community.

Please come out and support our mission, eat some crawfish and have some fun!

Dora Garcia, recently retired Calhoun County Election Administrator, was honored by the Calhoun County Republican Club at their monthly dinner, Monday, April 1. Mrs. Garcia received an engraved silver tray commemorating her excellent service to the county. Mrs. Garcia’s knowledge and tireless willingness to assist candidates, party officials, and poll workers, will be sorely missed by all. Best wishes to Mrs. Garcia and her family.

Friday May 17 – Sunday May 19

The 13th Annual Warrior’s Weekend is scheduled for the Third Weekend in May and preparations have already begun. It is The Tigrett Team’s Honor to be Volunteer Coordinators to locate accommodations for our wounded heroes and their families who Drive-In. This year, we are expecting at least 150 ‘Drive-In Groups’ amounting to 242 adults and 138 children. Many of our Heroes and their families drive great distances to enjoy the camaraderie, patriotism and most importantly, healing for those who have been wounded on the field of battle.

We are asking for your support to help provide lodging. To those who have answered the call in the past, Thank You for your contribution. The use of your home means so much to the Warriors, their families and our community. By providing lodging, you assist the families in remaining close to the scheduled activities and events.

Please respond as soon as possible. We have a lot of placements to make. If you have any questions, contact us at the number below. We look forward to hearing from you.

The Tigrett Team – Housing the Defenders of Freedom
Bill Tigrett
(361) 983-2671 – Office
(361) 920-2671 – Cell
bill@tigrett.com – email

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.