Port O’Connor Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors
left to right: John Reneau, Darla Parker, Mary Jo Walker, Dawn Ragusin, Kacie Skalak, Mary Francis Bauer, Eloisa Newsome, Ronna Fishbeck, Staci Hein, Troy Wygrys.

First, the Chamber wants to “THANK” everyone who made it out to our Annual Chamber Christmas Party. It was a beautiful evening, after the true blessing of the gift of snow the night before.The party was a fantastic success. Joanie Morgan and Mary Jo Walker took the bull by the horns and turned this into a unforgettable event. Also we want to let anyone that helped put this party together, know it was truly appreciated, from the music to the food. It will be hard to top this next year.

The election of 2018 Directors was held, In January, the Directors will select the 2018 officers.

Opps– so much going on this month I almost forgot the 2017 Lighted Boat Parade. The night with a full moon and fantastic weather has been said to be the BEST EVER!!!!
Thanks to all participants and the Chamber members who worked so hard to make it all come together.

One more event for 2017: Business & House Lighting Contest on Dec. 20th & 21st. Don’t forget to leave your lights on and contact Beverly (361-220-1583) to make sure your house is on the list.

Thanks to everyone in the community who volunteered in any way or helped to make 2017 a fantastic year.

New & Renewed Members
Captain Lawn, Tree and Deck Service
AJL Advertising Specialties
Dock’s Restaurant
Dain & Judy Whitworth

Have A Safe & Happy New Year!

Chamber Christmas Party -Bill Tigrett

What a great start for the Christmas Season!

24 students and 14 adults got together to build Gingerbread Houses. Shaney Bradford, a retired Art Teacher from the Katy School District donated not only her time but all the materials, as well. Her husband, Frank, was there to do the heavy lifting for us and help keep everything organized!

The story of the Gingerbread Man was read by Charlotte Fitzgerald and each child took home a copy of the book. Nan Burnett made a beautiful apron for the helpers from Friends of the Library to wear. Our two librarians, Noemi Cruz and Shirley Gordon were there to watch the Gingerbread “mansions” appear! The following pictures tell the rest of the story. Lots of fun together!

The Bradford family will now share more of their generosity! They plan to donate more of their time and all the materials to the POC Elementary School students to have every child there build a Gingerbread House. No two houses are ever alike. The fun continues as the Christmas Spirit grows in POC!!

Joanie Morgan
Friends of the Port O’Connor Library

Shaney and Frank Bradford from Katy, who own a home in POC.

Best Commercial
Kirk Vossler – Captain Harold

Best Small Pleasure
Eric Rogers – 20 Mowdy

Most Spirited
Jimmy Hall 34’ Yellowfin – Wet Dream

Best Overall
Chris & Michele Hanson – 27’ Grady White

Best Large Pleasure
Garrett Supak – 35’ Center Console

“Santa got too happy.”
Photo submitted by Jay Lack

Boat Parade Winners Not Pictured:
Best Medium Pleasure – Micael Brown – 30’ Pro Sport cat
Most Unique – Randy Rabe 24 ‘ Shoalwater
Distinguished Service Award – United States Coast Guard

Two Winners Take Home $500 in Merchandise

POC Hardware’s Wanda Redding presents giveaway awards
to Maria Denny and Nathan O’Neill

The fall season just got a little more golden for POC Hardware & Supply and Nathan O’Neill and Maria Denney.

On November 30, 2017 Nathan O’Neill and Maria Denny were chosen as winners of the POC Hardware $500 Shopping Giveaways. Nathan O’Neill and Marie Denny were selected from more than 200 entries submitted at the store from August 28 – November 13, 2017.

Teddy Hawes said that POC Hardware is delighted to provide one of its customers with the opportunity to make their fall projects a little more exciting. “Everyone has a few extra chores this time of year, and we’re glad that Nathan and Maria will be able to choose whatever tools he or she wants to get the job done. We thank all those who entered the giveaway for their participation.”

POC Hardware is located at 1738 West Adams, Port O’Connor, and has been serving customers in the town area for 30 years. POC Hardware offers a complete line of building supplies for everyone from the do-it-yourself homeowner to the professional. POC Hardware has been a Do It Best Corp. member since 2013.

Based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Do It Best Corp. is the only full-service U.S. based, member-owned hardware, lumber and building materials buying cooperative in the home improvement industry. With annual sales of over $3 billion, Do It Best Corp is the second largest co-op in the industry, serving 3,800 member-owned stores in the United States and 53 counties.

The end is near. All years have an ending, and then a second later on, new one begins. Regardless of what you believe about the very beginning of time, that’s the way it has been forever.

I had a friend who had suffered through many years of being down on his luck tell me that as far as he was concerned the end of any year was in effect; good riddance. That might be said of 2017 and Harvey’s visit to many of us in Calhoun County.

On the other hand, if you are still around, you could say I am happy that it wasn’t worse. If you are an Astros’ fan, you might be exuberant about how the year ended.  Injuries have rather ruined the Texans hope for this year.  And so it goes.

One might be reminded of the Clint Eastwood movie, the Good the Bad and . . . so on.  It seems that things just don’t go all one way.   As my Mom used to say, “This too shall pass”. The hard part is remembering that saying includes good times also.

This is the Holiday Season. Many of us celebrate Christmas. In fact, many of the world’s religions have celebrations that happen around the end of our yearly calendar. That implies a New Year starting.

The major cycles of life follow the yearly cycle.  Mathematicians are familiar with the Sinusoidal nature of cycles. They have some highs, some lows, and in pure math vacillate around a common line.  When one is young that line seems to be trending up. As we grow older it also seems to curve towards flat and for some of us it begins to trend downward.  However, in all cases there is the up and down fluctuation.

One hopes your trend is up because that is more fun than the downward one. And as usual, the perception of which way it is trending can be dependent on your attitude. Like time, life will move on and it is better to look forward to that movement.

Sometimes there are imminent changes in your life and you have to physically move on.  Such a time for me is now. Many reasons dictate that it is time to do just that.
And so this is the last time I will be able to reflect on life with you in this paper. I have enjoyed sharing my thoughts with you and hope you have enjoyed some of them also.

It is time to retire; not only to bed, but to a less venturesome life and let others assist in the everyday chores of life.  I was never a military soldier, but like old soldiers I must fade away. C’est la vie. I will bask in memories of joys of past, and nap while dreaming of future joys.

My fondest hope is that you will have a joyous and happy future.    -Phil Ellenberger