Victoria – Stuart Valigura, formerly of Port O’Connor, entered into rest on Wednesday, April 5, 2017 at the age of 74. He was born February 28, 1943 in Galveston, TX to the late W.J. and Agnes Valigura. Stuart was in the U.S. Navy and was a Vietnam War Veteran.

Stuart Valigura is survived by his wife Carolyn Valigura, son Gordon (Jaynie) Valigura, daughters Stacy (Buddy) Brobston and Rachel (Shea) Watts; his sister Ann Bertrand; his grandchildren Austin, Sheila, Lauren, Cameron, Ashlynn, Blake, Channing, and Cabel; and 4 great grandchildren.

He is preceded in death by his parents.

Funeral services were Tuesday, April 11, 2017 at Grace Memorial Chapel with Deacon Ed Molina, officiating. Entombment was at the Chapel of Peace Mausoleum at Memory Gardens Cemetery with full military honors under the auspices of the Victoria County Veterans Council, AL, CWV, VFW, DAV, MCL, MOWW, EX-POW, MOPH, VVA, and KWV.

To leave a comforting message, or to share a fond memory, please visit www.gracefuneralhome.net

Seadrift – Evelia G. Ureste, age 70, of Seadrift, passed away Tuesday, March 21, 2017.

She was born December 17, 1941.

A funeral service was held on Saturday, March 25, 2017 at Cornerstone Apostolic Church in Bloomington. Burial was at Seadrift Cemetery.

World War II Remberances

Agnes Belle Pendergrass Crosier passed away and had a very nice Military funeral Thursday, March 9, 2017, at the Chapel in the Seadrift Cemetery.

She was a Navy nurse on the hospital ship, the USS Rescue, in World War II. Sharing memories with her family at the cemetery, I did remember she was at Okinawa, Japan during World War II at the same time as my husband Dennis Andrew Wilson was in the Navy also. He was on the USS Brazos. He was injured when a Japanese suicide plane dove at his ship and was knocked unconscious on the deck by shrapnel.He was put on the USS Hope, a hospital ship and did receive a Purple Heart for it.

Agnes and Dennis found out about this years later when she moved to Seadrift. Agnes did see many burials at sea when on this ship.

Dorothy Geraldine Wilson
Seadrift

Sambar Deer
Has anyone else noticed that our gracious and exotic SAMBAR deer population is dwindling?

I no longer see Sambar grazing in the pastures on the way to and from Port Lavaca.

I can remember just a few years ago that you would see many with their elegant horns shining in the sun. It was always a treat to see them and made the drive something to look forward to.

I know there have been many killed by careless drivers on the stretch from Cathy’s to Speedy Stop by boaters in a rush in the mornings to launch their boats but I do not think this is the reason for the decline in population.

Since Texas Parks and Wildlife have taken over the Powder Horn Ranch there seem to be fewer and fewer.

I have heard and don’t know if it is true, that the Texas Parks and Wildlife only want native deer on the Powder Horn. This means there will no longer be Axis or Sambar and they must eliminate them.

I looked online and have found Sambar Hunts on the Powder Horn with YouTube so this makes me think they are being eliminated.

The Sambar have been here a much longer time than Texas Parks and Wildlife took over the property and I sure hate to see them disappear. I can remember seeing them back in the early 80’s when I first started coming to POC but have been told by folks that have lived here much longer, they were here much earlier than that.

To me, they are part of Port O Connor just like the fishing, the sand and the front beach. You never knew when you might see one of these big deer as I have even had them run through my yard. I’m sure they were bothersome to some but again I hate the fact that they will be eliminated and no longer roam this area.

I don’t know if it would help to call Texas Parks and Wildlife to complain but just wanted to bring to everyone’s attention that if you are fortunate enough to see one in the near future, enjoy it as it may be you last time to see this type of deer.

Maybe someone from Texas Parks and Wildlife will read this and give an explanation on if this is true?

Concerned, Name Withheld

Thank You

We would like to thank our community. Thank them for the tremendous turn out Saturday the 18th, at the front beach for the Paige Satterfield benefit. The only thing more awesome than the weather, was the support of a community when someone needed it most.

I would also like to acknowledge Debbie and Dawn for organizing such a great day, Willie, Gary, & the guys who cooked the amazing BBQ, Pam, Margaret, Brandi, Colette & anyone else that helped put together said BBQ, Ms Maryann, Amber B & everyone that helped sell raffle tickets, the Bourg family for helping me with last minute hurdles, and the Man Upstairs for giving us a beautiful day to hold it!

The Satterfield family is forever grateful for the outstanding support of their community!

Paige, Jerry, Melissa, Bill

Paige Satterfield

Dear Dolphin Talk;

I have never written to the paper, but I decided to write this time. The Service Club Garage Sale has been a community event around here for a long time. They use the money in our town. They help people who need it too. Last weekend, several things were taken from the garage sale tables overnight when someone came in after the workers went home. POC is not the kind of town where that should happen.

This group helps people all the time. If you genuinely need something, they would help you. You do not have to steal it. Tell them you need help and they will give it. And, if it was just greediness and not need, then ‘Shame on you for taking what is intended to help others.’

The Service Club does good for POC. Do not do this in our town.

A concerned POC citizen and Service Club Member

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
P.O. Box 777 Port O’Connor, TX 77982 dolphin1@tisd.net

I have the best Mother! No, really, I do. I call her Momma, and she is the first, last and greatest teacher, example and standard to strive for that I could ever have. When I was a little girl, she sewed countless doll clothes, sang songs, read stories and bandaged boo-boos for four little girls with creativity and love that encouraged us to learn and explore and question.

All I know about being filled with childlike curiosity, I learned from my Momma. When I fought with or got mad at my sisters, Momma would negotiate, referee and problem solve with love and compassion, never crushing our individuality or limiting our originality. When we made friends, lost friends, brought home new and old friends, Momma would make them feel special and welcome.

She taught us to be accepting and tolerant and to believe that different is not wrong, just different. She taught us to be a collector of beloveds. Everything I know about making friends and treasuring relationships, I learned from my Momma. When I had my first crush, my first date, my first love, my first broken heart and when I got stood up or dumped, she taught me that I am enough, okay as I am, and could only love someone fully if I loved and accepted myself.

I watched her love my Daddy with complete abandon, disagree with him without demeaning, argue without accusing and correct without censure. I watched her live out what ‘forever and ever no matter what’ really meant. What I know about true romance love I learned from my Momma. A full-time wife of a busy young preacher, mom of four, part time employee in public relations; she kept herself, her family, her house, her life in balance and in order. Her priorities were those things that last. Things like relationships and experiences mattered more than dusty furniture or unmade beds that sometimes happened. The process of learning took higher precedence than the perfect outcome. She was good at finding the best in a sea of good and the important in a pool of the pressing.

Everything that I know about balance and tranquility I learned from my Momma. When I made what seemed monstrous mistakes and enormous errors, she separated me from the mess. She loved and affirmed me while correcting and fixing the problems. She did not equate me with failure or give me a sense of doom no matter the issue. Most that I learned about unconditional love and affirmation, I learned from my Momma. When life dealt her health a blow and she went through intense cancer treatment more than once, she stayed positive, full of faith and focused on the progress not the struggle.

All I learned about fighting through the hard stuff and staying strong and upbeat I learned from my Momma. After loving my Daddy for more years than I have been alive, I watched her support and help him through death. As her heart broke and her life changed forever, I saw her seek good, find the beauty, trust God and chose life.

Much of what I have learned about life lived abundantly I learned from my Momma. She taught me to be, to live, to challenge and conform, to test and trust, to love and lean. How to be a girl, a teen, a grown up; how to be a daughter, a sister, a mother, a wife; how to work and how to play, how to spend and how to save, how to risk and reserve… all this I learned from my Momma!

Happy Mother’s Day to all the Mothers out there whose overwhelming, unmanageable, never ending job of being Mother never ends. And yet, you teach your children just by being who you are… Mother.

Roseate spoonbills with great egrets and snowy egrets and a pair of ducks on the road just outside of Port Lavaca on the way to Port O’Connor.
-Photo by R. Patrick Wood

The Texas pink flamingos. Those big pink birds. Huge, bright, long legged birds with that weird big spoon shaped bill. For ages people living on the coast or visiting for the weekend have claimed to see flamingos up and down our Texas coast. They are big and bright alright. Definitely pink, but they are not flamingos. Our pink birds are Roseate Spoonbills. They are in the large group of birds we call wading birds. They live along the entire Texas coast, and at times wander a few miles inland using freshwater ponds. You will normally find them feeding along shallow coastal wetlands or along bay shorelines.

The Roseate Spoonbill’s spatulate-shaped bill is specially adopted to feed in shallow waters, moving their head and bill in sweeping motions side to side. As the bill moves it is detecting small prey by feel, and strains any food items out of the water. Their diet consists of mostly small fish and aquatic invertebrates, such as minnows and killifish, but also shrimp, crayfish, crabs, aquatic insects, mollusks, and some slugs. They may also at times forage on some plant material, including roots and stems of the common sedges. The bright pink plumage color comes from the carotene found in their prey items such as shrimp.

Today spoonbills are doing relatively ok, but are vulnerable to changes or destruction to their feeding and nesting habitats along the coast. The North American Waterbird Conservation Plan estimated a continental population of 20,500 breeding birds in 2014. Any changes to their breeding sites by human activity can easily affect population numbers. Climate change affecting sea water levels can also do the same. In the 1800’s spoonbills were almost wiped out in the United States by people hunting birds for feathers used in women’s hats and decorations. Entire nesting colonies were destroyed. The birds have since made a recovery thanks to decades of protection. Mother Nature is resilient if she is left alone!

These birds can have an average wingspan of 49” and weigh an average of 50 oz. They nest in large colonies in small trees or shrubs on coastal islands and shorelines, often sharing the colony grounds with other heron and egrets. The large numbers of birds offer some protection from predators. Their romantic courtship starts a bit on the aggressive side, but calms down and the birds will perch closely together, presenting a stick to each other, finally crossing their bills, and then one clasps the other’s bill.

On a related side note, there is actually one real flamingo flying around our coastal area. It escaped from a zoo some years ago and moves freely up and down our coast. It towers over the spoonbills that are half its size, and is normally only seen from boats out in the bays. Our biologists here at the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory have recently spotted it while out doing shorebird surveys. Keep your eye open for those big pink birds!