Thank You!

Thank you! Thank you to all who donated time, money, and prizes to the Annual Halloween Carnival. This was our big fundraiser for the year and a POC tradition. We couldn’t have done it with out the help of so many people and businesses and everyone who came out to support us. Thank you again from the POC PTO.

To the Editor:

I would like to thank all of you who supported me on the POCID ballot election. I thank you for considering that my past 27 years experience in installing water and sewer systems would have helped in fixing our problems with our systems.
I would ask that the new board strongly consider installing the proposed electronic water meters, for they have many good attributes. I realize they will cost about $1,000,000, but that includes installation.

Advantages:

1. Better accuracy in reading monthly usage.

2. Allows the 3 employees to use these three days they spend reading these meters now to do other maintenance on our existing systems plus save about $100,000 per year we now pay them for this job.

3. These meters work under water when the meter boxes get under water during heavy rains.

4. Wear and tear on the vehicles they use to read meters, not to mention the gasoline usage and maintenance on them.

5. Can be shut off when residents leave town for long periods of time.

These are just a few of the advantages of these electronic meters. Once again, I suggest the board consider the meters. We have plenty money for that project. Use some of the other bond money to remedy our sewer system upgrades and relief lines and plant work.

Once again, thanks for all that supported me and may God bless you and the new board.

Sincerely, Ricki McKinney

The Dolphin welcomes letters from our readers on any subject that is of general interest to our audience. Letters should be 300 words or less (with exceptions at the Dolphin’s discretion). Letters reflect the opinion of the writer, and not that of Dolphin Talk staff, and we retain the right to determine suitability for publication. It is the policy of this newspaper to promote area interests: therefore, complaints against local businesses should be directed elsewhere. Letters must be signed and include day and evening phone numbers, which will not be published. Your name will be withheld upon request, but anonymous material will not be considered for publication.
Letters to the Dolphin:
Dolphin Talk
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Port O’Connor, TX 77982
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It is time once again for the Adopt a Christmas Angel program in Port O’Connor, to provide Christmas gifts for our less fortunate children. This is how the program works: From now until December 10, you can pick up paperwork at POC Hardware. This consists of a numbered envelope containing the “vital statistics” for your chosen child – age, gender, grade, clothing sizes, shoe size, and coat size. Shoe and coat sizes will only be available if your child needs these items. You do not need to purchase any toys. The Toy Run, another annual Christmas program, provides these.

The Adopt A Christmas Angel committee recommends a spending limit of $100 per child. If you would like to participate but feel that you cannot afford this amount by yourself, enlist a friend or two to split the cost, and share the fun of shopping and wrapping, along with the glow of knowing you have helped a child have a nice Christmas. After you have shopped for your Angel, wrap the gifts, place them in a bag, and put your Angel’s number on the bag (not on the gifts). Please take your gifts to POC Hardware Store by December 19. The store will keep the gifts until time for their delivery/pick-up. The employees at the hardware store are most gracious in helping to complete this project each year, and they have an alarm system which keeps everything safe.

If you want to participate but are unable to do the shopping, you may let Wanda or Judith at the POC Hardware know. Santa’s elves will be glad to help. Help these children to have a Merry Christmas and it’s very likely that your Christmas will be even merrier!

If You Need To Put A Child On This Year’s Angel List:

Angels will be accepted until November 30. Do not wait until the last minute! This is a large program and it takes numerous people to get it up and going. You should contact Wanda Redding at the POC Hardware (983-2708) during the store’s business hours. Strict confidentiality will be maintained. Even the kind souls who adopt these angels do not know the identity of the child. The parent or guardian only may put a child on the list and make arrangements. The child must live in Port O’Connor and be between the ages of one year and sixth grade. School-aged children must attend Port O’Connor School. Do not put relatives’ children on the list unless they live with you.

You will need to furnish the child’s age, grade and clothing sizes. You may also include any special interest that your child may have. Please use this program if you need, but do not abuse it. If you have used the program in the past, and if you can, maybe this year you can adopt an angel.

Let us be perfectly honest – not every family gathering is an exercise in kindness, gentleness, and self-control.

Oh, and joy – let us not forget joy, particularly the “joy” we feel when a kid grabs the remote after the meal and flips on mindless cartoons rather than the football game of the century that we really wanted to see.

Consequently, a typical Thanksgiving or Christmas gathering may leave us more weary and emotionally drained than refreshed and grateful we had believed the trip would be.

At my university class titled “Abnormal Psychology” we learned that no one had any chance of being normal – we all have just too many factors that will drive us off course! Our professor asked, “Why do we teach functional as the norm when most every family is dysfunctional?”

So, when we gather this holiday season, we must realize that virtually every family is experiencing some level of discomfort. We can easily imagine the neighbors’ lives are like a Hallmark commercial, when, in reality, most people can relate more to a flawed, stressed-out sitcom family.

As an “ole” pastor, I have the strange privilege of peering behind the illusion of perfection to where the deep secrets of family dysfunction and the pain associated with its presence lurks. It is easy to see that dysfunction is tenacious, but survivable. But the sad truth is, even the best-laid plans of even pastors’ homes sometimes go awry. We end up irritable, passive-aggressive, and fighting over the remote. So how do we arrive on the island of contentment before embarking on the voyage of family chaos? To survive the holiday gatherings, allow me to suggest two vital components.

The first, I call spiritual preparation. There is an Old Testament King of Israel, King Rehoboam, who made the mistake of failing to prepare his heart before an important encounter. The Bible says, “He did evil because he had not set his heart on seeking the Lord.” Are we guilty of bringing our gunk to the family dinner and expecting that it will not show itself?

Everyone who faces a challenge successfully did so because they were prepared. A football team will never win without difficult practices. A musician will never get the applause without hours of solitary practice. A family will never find harmony until they are at peace within themselves. A heart that is overflowing with the love, joy, peace, and patience that we want will only come from inside a heart that is prepared to share love, joy, peace and patience!

The second, I call emotional preparation. One can not hear the cries of hurting people very long before we must say, “You can not allow others to dictate how you feel.” Individually we have the personal responsibility of caring for and directing our own heart; we can not rely on others to do this for us. Walking around with our hearts in our hands, offering it to others to validate or recognize, is often just a desperate ploy for attention. That attention will not make one feel complete, but fragmented!

We must prepare our hearts for the gathering. We must take time to play the soccer match that keeps us sane. Take time to relax before the trip. Treat yourself to something out of the ordinary special. Do what is necessary to care for your heart so that it is not so easily bruised when someone snatches the remote from your turkey-greased fingers.

A change in you will change the environment you find yourself in. It will not make other family members any more functional, but it will help you handle the stress with true love!

Traditions are fun, and we have one I really enjoy. We always give a Christmas Jar. I have written about The Christmas Jar a few times and shared the special stories of families and individuals in POC who have received a jar on Christmas morning. If you are unfamiliar with the story and tradition, grab a copy of the book and read it. Bestselling author Jason Wright wrote the fictional account of the chain reaction created in a small town when a neighbor saved spare change and leftover pocket money all year long in a glass jar. The jar was then secretly given to a neighbor in need of a blessing. The jar’s recipient, appropriately named Hope, is a reporter who dives in to discover that more intriguing than the money in the jar was the message and meaning behind it. The book was a smash hit that created a movement. Now, Christmas jars are lovingly started in the new year by many to be joyfully given at Christmas time, and sequels to the book tell of the impact they have made. If you have never given a jar to someone, I challenge you to try it. It only takes a little money and a little time to make a big difference. If you didn’t start earlier, there is still time. Clean out that change slot in your car, behind the sofa cushions, the bottom of your purse, the dish on the dresser where your husband dumps his pockets and put it in all together. Add it to a jar with a ribbon and card, add a loaf of nut bread if you like and secretly share your jar with someone who needs a little something special this year. Did they have a rough time, lose a loved one or deal with illness? Maybe hope seems lost for them as they face seemingly hopeless situations. Leave them a little magic Christmas hope by leaving them a Christmas Jar. They will feel loved and you will be blessed and rewarded. It is a great lesson for kids and teenagers love the secret giving. Families can do it together. Try it and you might find you want to make it a tradition in your family.