What a great Thanksgiving celebration! Not only did the Chapel celebrate with passing out Thanksgiving Food Baskets to needy families, but we also received special donations from several groups! The POC School did an amazing job of providing over 1,800 units of food, the Service Club brought multiplies of donations, the Bunco ladies contributed with a special gift, the First Baptist Youth and 4-H Club worked together to bring in many pounds of groceries! I am sure I missed some of the items that were provided but special thanks to all who participated. The Community Thanksgiving Service held this year at the Catholic Church was a great success and a special offering was received. Funds keep coming in, so next month I will attempt to provide an accurate accounting. Twenty-eight families received baskets and again we say a special thanks to Dick’s Food Store in Seadrift for their assistance in obtaining the food!

We distributed the Christmas Baskets on December 17 to needy families who have been identified through friends, neighbors, and family members. Our unique efforts truly make a difference in families’ lives. There will be extra in the Christmas Baskets because we understand the need will be greater with the holiday school schedule.

The Dedication of the Cross was the result of ten (10) years of effort and obedience! We were honored to have over 75 people attend this special event. We appreciate the effort of the many who assisted this Cross project. Please read the article about the Cross which is the story as well as I can remember it. This effort cost many people of this community a great deal of time and money and we are humbled and appreciative! POC Cross stands as a beacon of hope for all who are on land or at sea!

Christmas activities are many and varied. For the first time, we had a Live Nativity at the Cross on Friday on December 13 and December 20. It featured not only the Nativity Scene but also a fire in the pit with hot dogs and S’mores ready for all to enjoy.

On December 15 we celebrated Christmas Sunday. The morning events spotlighted the birth of the King of Kings. The evening was our annual Chapel Christmas Party. We had our traditional food, white elephant exchange, and of course, the “dirty Santa” will show up! It was a time of great fun, food, and fellowship.

We will not have any activities on Christmas Day at the Chapel because we want all our families to celebrate with family activities! Get together, play games, eat great food, and exchange love! It’s Jesus’ Birthday, so it will be great if you have a cake for the Lord and even gifts!

We are planning a New Year’s Eve gathering at the Chapel at 6:00 p.m., with a time of reflection, praise, and fellowship! Everyone is invited to set a couple of hours aside to celebrate the coming New Year!

Fisherman’s Chapel is an interdenominational congregation whose goal is to exalt God’s Special Gift, a Baby, Who came to earth for one reason – to pay the redemptive expense for our redemption! One will always find a warm welcome at the Chapel, whether it is at our Sunday Bible Class at 10:00 a.m., the Morning Service at 11:00 a.m., or the Sunday Evening Service at 6:00 p.m.. We also meet each Wednesday for a time of fellowship and a special Word from Scripture. All are urged to attend and to “Come, Help Us Grow!”

POC’s “Hooked On Books” Book Club held their Annual Christmas Party, and donated their money collection to the “Friends of the POC Library” to be used for their “POC Library Expansion Project”. Here pictured are Book Club member Alane Haardt (right) presenting their donation to Linda Orrick, Vice-President of the Friends of the POC Library.
The Ladies wish everyone a “Merry Christmas” and a “Happy Holiday Season”!!

The Club has enjoyed discussing some interesting books and being entertained by gracious hostesses. November’s meeting was hosted by Brenda Berger, Val Tiemann, Melanie Martinez, Darbie Morris, and Lisa Berger. The ladies put together an amazing CSI-type afternoon for attendees discussing the suspenseful The General’s Daughter, by Nelson DeMill.

December’s Hooked on Books Club Meeting and Annual Christmas Party was a delightful and festive gathering, brimming with fun, laughter, and holiday cheer. A heartfelt thank-you goes to the hostesses—Annie Seay, Debra Stewart, Val Tiemann, Michelle Lippold, Marie Hawes, Nan Burnett, and Alane Haardt—who truly outdid themselves in every way. The stunning decorations and warm, welcoming atmosphere made the event a memorable celebration of friendship and the season.

The event began with a meet-and-greet, followed by a delicious spread of appetizers, desserts, and beverages that everyone enjoyed while sharing stories and laughter. The holiday spirit was in full swing as attendees discussed Janet Evanovich’s Visions of Sugar Plums: A Stephanie Plum Holiday Novel. The hilarious story, featuring the hapless bounty hunter Stephanie Plum, provided plenty of laughs as participants related to her holiday stress and chaotic adventures. From hunting a bail-jumper named Sandy Claws to working with the charming and magical Diesel amid cookie-wielding elves and holiday mayhem, the book delivered sharp humor and an entertaining escape. The grand finale of the novel, featuring a party with Sandy Claws and his quirky elves, added to the holiday cheer and merriment.

The festivities wrapped up with a lively and spirited and entertaining Chinese Christmas Gift Exchange, filled with laughter, playful stealing and plenty of good-natured fun. It was a delightful way to celebrate the season, leaving everyone in high spirits. Many thanks to Annie Seay for her warm hospitality. Wishing all a Merry Christmas 2024 and a Happy New Year 2025!

December meeting of the Hooked on Books Club

Every holiday season, the spirit of giving comes alive during the Annual Freeport to Port O’Connor Toy Run. This year the boats dealt with cold, wind and rain as they made the 72-mile trek from Freeport to Port O’Connor. Weather cannot stop this group as they continue to spread holiday cheer to children in need.

After the presents were unloaded and the sun went down the boats lined up for the annual Christmas Lighted Boat Parade. The participants shifted their focus and adorned each vessel with strings of colorful lights, festive garlands, and sparkling ornaments. The parade was not as lengthy as in past years, but all the activities resulted in a colorful celebration that left a lasting impression on participants and spectators. We really appreciate Charlie and Susan Upshaw for volunteering their home to host the judges for this event

Thank you, Darla Parker, Michelle Davis and Bridgett Burnet, for your efforts and time with installing the lighted trees at the community center.

The King Fisher Pavillion, an important staple in the community recently underwent renovations. The replacement of the roof and purlins has revitalized the venue, ensuring it remains a safe and welcoming space for events and gatherings for years to come.

The Chamber Membership Drive will begin in January, running through March 1st. Memberships are $100 for Business members; $199 for a Business Member with advertising; and $35 for an individual or couple membership. Make sure to save the date of February 28th for our Annual Member Appreciation Casino Night.

Get ready to indulge in delicious food, entertainment and a fantastic community atmosphere at the Annual Crawfish Festival. Mark your calendars for April 26th where friends and families come together to celebrate good times and great flavors.

We appreciate our renewing and new members this month. Audiential specializes in your existing media efforts by creating tailored placements designed for every unique audience. For more information on this business and our other chamber members please visit our website at www.portoconnorchamber.com.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

One idiom I’ve always been fond of is a “cruel mistress,’ a term which may now be a bit outdated, but I’ve always liked how it sounds, although I’ve always switched up the word cruel for strange in my usage, mostly as I feel things are not intentionally cruel in nature, but rather strange circumstances befall that create aggravating situations.

To be honest, I also just think it sounds cooler.

It has a plethora of uses on a day to day basis but one of my all time best applications of my fave edited idiom is to attach it to time, more succinctly the passing of time.

Because it is strange, so strange I can hardly believe it so it fits perfectly.

I find it strange that it’s time to change the calendar over to a new year already as I find it strange that it has been a full three hundred and sixty day cycle already.

I find it strange how much has completely changed in that time while also noting how many things have stayed the same, as contradictory as that sounds.

On a personal level it’s been more stressful and bad than easy and good, but that is not the focus I’m writing about here, more about how time seems to speed up as you age and how you may realize it or not but you have no time to waste, right from the time you’re born.

Another personal experience is how I’m like a car that has all its parts, has a navigation system and some very smart features, but for whatever reason either refuses to start or cannot really get up to cruising speed and I can feel the road will end in time more than I did in the past.

It’s a scary ride.

So the thrust of this column as one year fades and another rises in its place is to take every moment you can and make it yours as much as you can as soon as you can because the road is always under construction but eventually it is a dead end regardless of the car you drive or route you take.

I’m a victim of that broken engine born from abuse both external and later internal but I’ve learned from the darkest corners that when I had youth to burn, when I had health to take for granted I could have done a variety of things to escape my fate.

It seems only yesterday it was the turning of the new millennium which is now two decades plus behind us.
Before that Y2K, before that, now coming on half a century ago in my case, the heady days of childhood, where time stretches the way it does when you think it’ll go on forever.

But it doesn’t.

Everything ends.

And that’s OK as it’s not a bad thing as life is born out of death, endings least to new beginnings and so on and so on.

What is bad is to let time wash over you, to let this year pass like the previous, especially if you felt more stagnation than movement.