Senior Citizen’s Christmas Luncheon: Please join us for the Service Club’s Annual Senior Citizen’s Christmas Luncheon on Friday, December 1, 2023 at 11:00 a.m. at the POC Community Center. The Service Club Ladies will treat everyone to beautiful Christmas decorations, lively Christmas music, a delicious multi-course meal, door prizes, wonderful Christmas Spirit, and lots of fun, laughter, and visiting with friends, neighbors, and loved ones! All Senior Citizens are welcome! If you are unable to attend due to health issues, please call or text Diane Cooley at 903-467-6335 by November 29, 2023 so that arrangements can be made for delivery.

Memorials: In honor of Steven Duane Clark, beloved son of Kenneth and Grady Jean Clark, the Service Club made a memorial donation to the POC Cemetery Association.

Intercoastal 4H Honors: The Club honored 14 members of the Intercoastal 4H Club at their November meeting for their hard work and dedication to their County Fair projects. Receiving congratulations and cards containing cash from the Service Club were: Bryce Sandy, Christina Ragusin, Christopher Richter, Dalton Garner, Kolt Leiker, Madden Guevara, McKenna Guevara, Nickolas Ragusin, Orion Ragusin, Reed Thomas, Rylie Ragusin, Sailor Ragusin, Trevon Ragusin, and Waylon Thomas. The ladies of the Service Club are proud of these fine young men and women, and wish them well in their future endeavors!

POC Elementary Student Honors: The Club honored 41 Port O’ Connor Elementary Students by presenting them with $1 Coins for making all A’s; all A’s & B’s; and having Perfect Attendance for the first 9 weeks of school. Congratulations to these hard-working students for their academic achievement- the kadies of the Service Club are proud of them all!

Farmers Market: The Service Club appreciates your ongoing support at our Booth at POC’s Farmers Markets, the next one being Saturday, December 9, 2023 from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 Noon at King Fisher Beach Pavilion. Please come check out our homemade baked goods and treats, potted plants, hand crafted items, “Service Club Cookbooks“, “POC- End of The Road” License Plate Covers, and raffle tickets of $5.00 each for a beautiful handmade quilt. There is something for everyone, so please stop by!

Service Club Meetings: The Club’s next meeting will be on December 7, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. at the POC Community Center!! All ladies are welcome!

Garage Sales: The Club is already preparing for our Spring Mega Garage Sale scheduled for April 6, 2024, and is gratefully accepting your generous donations of household, kitchen, and decorative items; small appliances; clothes; shoes; toys; children’s and baby items, etc. Due to limited space, we cannot accept furniture at this time, and we can never accept mattresses of any kind because we are not allowed to resale them. For information, please contact one of the Service Club Ladies listed below:

Alane Haardt- 281-416-6028
Nancy Ladshaw- 830-832-0510
Marie Hawes- 361-676-3093
Nan Burnett- 832-276-5948

There is a Christian hymn entitled “Count Your Blessings.” One of the hymn’s verses goes like this: “Count your blessings, name them one by one; Count your blessings, see what God has done.” Bobbie Vickery, our County Sheriff, recounted some highlights since he became Sheriff January 1, 2017. That was the year of Hurricane Harvey. Here is what he had to say.

“It was a trial by fire!”

The first major thing Sheriff Vickery had to encounter since taking office was Hurricane Harvey. The hurricane hit in August of 2017 and had sustained winds of 130 mph. The storm packed a big punch. The county was told to evacuate. The Sheriff’s Department was extremely busy with security checks on all businesses, residences, and checking on those who stayed. The Courthouse generator went out during this time. Sheltering in place at the Courthouse were not only the Sheriff’s Department, but elected officials, volunteers, and the Texas National Guard. The situation looked grim, but all ended up going well when a call was made to a generous benefactor who sent over a new generator in no time! The good thing Sheriff Vickery saw during the hurricane was the way everyone came together and the donations that came in from all over.

The Freeze of 2021

The next major event that Sheriff Vickery had to encounter was the freeze of 2021. It was named Winter Storm Uri and hit in February of 2021. It was more of a challenge than Harvey because not only did everyone in the county lose power for several days, but the Sheriff’s Department was tasked with meeting the needs of an unevacuated population as opposed to the evacuated population during Harvey. Again, Sheriff Vickery saw people pull together during a very difficult situation.

Unity Among Other Departments

Since Bobbie took office, he has sought unity with other departments in the county, wanting their input on decisions that must be made. Bobbie also has a great working relationship with other elected officials. In addition, he works closely with the school district’s superintendent, teachers, and the school’s police department. It’s just as Sheriff Vickery says, “The working relationship we have with everyone in the county has more than doubled the safety, security, and service to the people we serve.”

Our hats off to Sheriff Vickery and all his staff on their great work in securing our citizens from harm! Indeed, we count our blessings!

Did you Know?

1. The Calhoun County Sheriff’s Department has 87 employees! That includes jail staff, day staff, patrol, and investigations.

2. Sheriff Vickery comes from a family of musicians. He and his “granddaddy” are fiddle players. Bobbie’s dad played guitar with the band “Bobby Lee and the Nightriders.”

3.Bobbie’s wife Rhea is a third-generation schoolteacher! Her great-grandmother “Mommy Coffee” named Seadrift!

4.Bobbie and Rhea have a daughter Hayley who married Tony who is in the Army Infantry and is stationed in Georgia. Their son Blayne is married to Kayleigh. He is in Army Military Intelligence and is currently stationed in San Antonio. Hayley and Tony have a daughter named Valerie. Blayne and Kayleigh have a son named Bennet.

Sheriff Vickery would like to leave the readers with these thoughts: “It’s been an absolute honor to serve as Calhoun County Sheriff for the past seven years. I hope to continue my service in many years to come. Being that my wife and I are from Calhoun County and having raised our kids here, this always has been and always will be home.”

-Tanya DeForest

The Calhoun County Republican Club will be hosting LJ Francis, State Board of Education Representative for District 2, on Monday, December 4, 2023 at 6:00p.m. at Drifters Hall, 5287 Fm 3084, Port Lavaca, TX 77979

LJ Francis humbly serves the people of Texas and is committed to championing parents’ rights in educating their children while working with teachers and administrators to meet the educational needs of Texas students – for such a time as this! Mr. Francis was elected in November 2022 as District 2 State Board of Education member representing the citizens in the counties of: Aransas, Calhoun, Cameron, Hidalgo, Jackson, Kenedy, Kleberg, Matagorda, Nueces, Refugio, San Patricio, Victoria, Wharton, Willacy

A catered meal is available at 5:00pm for $12 with a reservation. Please call (361) 552-6313 or email CCRCLUB@proton.me to RSVP for dinner or for more information.

The December meeting for Calhoun County Democratic Club will be held Tuesday, December 5, 2023 at the Calhoun County Library, in the community room, 200 W Mahan St., Port Lavaca.

Social/potluck is at 5.30 p.m .and the meeting starts at 6:00 p.m.

We may be hosting a speaker.

You can RSVP for the meeting here:
mobilize.us/calhouncountydemocrats/event/457242/
The following meeting will be January 2, 2024.
More info: CalhounTXDemocrats.org
calhouncotexasdemocrats.substack.com

Seadrift Veteran Jerry Maples

“Our Veterans accepted the responsibility to defend America and uphold our values when duty called.” Bill Shuster

Jerry Wayne Maples was one of those veterans who “accepted the responsibility to defend America and uphold our values when duty called.” We salute Jerry for his service!

It was during the Vietnam War when Jerry served state-side at a MAC (Military Airlift Command) Air Force Base in Charleston, South Carolina. This was a supply base as well as a training center.

Jerry’s father Raymond Maples served our country also. He joined the Army Air Corps and was in the infantry during WW2. He was stationed in the Philippines. He later became a tugboat operator.

Jerry became a commercial fisherman and worked at what was then Union Carbide (now called Dow) as an insulator. He was born and raised in Seadrift and still resides there with his lovely wife Dianne.