Citizens of the Week at Port O’Connor School
Week ending Sept. 16: PreK- Kolt Leiker; K- Layla Banda; 1st- Landy Resendiz; 2nd- Gracie O’Shields; 3rd- Cole Spicak; 4th- Aiden McClelland; 5th- Gage Smith
Week ending Sept. 23:  PreK- Audrey Breedlove; K- Avery Gosnell; 1st- Bradley Eure; 2nd- Dane Spencer; 3rd- Alex Lopez; 4th- McKenna Guervara; 5th- Matthew Stapp
Week ending Sept. 30:  PreK- Leray Austin; K- Riley Pagel; 1st- Audrey Rhoads; 2nd- Landon Jones; 3rd- Jaydin Rhoads; 4th- Christopher Richter; 5th- Ayden Brown
Week ending October 7:  PreK- Ana Brown; K- Emma Sanchez; 1st- Kailey Resendiz; 2nd- Brayson Thumann; 3rd- Anthony Flores; 4th- Justice Epley; 5th- Sergio Sanchez
Week ending October 14:  PreK- Isaiah Ochoa; K- Clara Stryker; 1st- Laela Aranda; 2nd- Dane Spencer; 3rd- Derek Tausch; 4th- Alex Mallory; 5th- Dylan Ramirez

Seadrift School’s Pirates of the Week

Week ending Sept. 23: PreK- Jennifer Barcenas; K- Jaidyn Hernandez; 1st- Christopher Barcenas, Liam Key; 2nd- Ashton Sternadel; Keegan Goode; 3rd- Matthew Morgan, Kingston Cady; 4th- Ethan Saenz, Audrie Wesley; 5th- Mirakle Gutierrez  Junior High: Henderson- Eliana Cowan; Cady- Adrian Cano; Sternadel- Noah Estrada; Anderson- Shelby Cady; Sternadel- Jason Nguyen; Charnetski- Kathy Huerta; Lillge- Brilee Christensen
Week ending Sept. 30: PreK- Symone Smith; K- Payten Rivera; 1st- Brylie Penny, Brennan Gregory; 2nd- Colten Evans, Alexis Green; 3rd- Wesley Blevins, Gunner Evans; 4th- Sabrina Nguyen, Maci Bryan; 5th- Tyler Salinas  Junior High: Henderson- Avery Flood; Cady- Vivian Ledesma; Sternadel- Austin Cameron; Anderson- Sierra Callaway; Sternadel- Franklin Rivera; Charnetski- Tres Canales; Lillge- Rebecca Graham
Week ending October 7: PreK- Ryan Gohlke; K- Tyler Hataway; 1st- Ava Salazar, Anna Nguyen; 2nd- Alaina Morgan, Zachary Ford; 3rd- Sarah Armbruster, Jada Dean; 4th- Jesus Huerta, Sonny Arriaga; 5th- Alissa Blevins  Junior High: Hendrson- Nadia Vallejo; Cady- Blake Reyna; Sternadel- Emily James; Anderson- Daniel Castillo; Sternadel- Donald Morales; Charnetski- Leah Lucey; Lillge- Jada Dean
Week ending October 14:  PreK- Jordan Pena; K- Peyton Ruiz; 1st- Saige Carter, Talen Henson; 2nd- Johnathan Owen, Lorena Torres; 3rd- Baylee Bates, Cadynce Gonzalez; 4th- Natalie Hunt, Trevon Ragusin; 5th- Cruz Mayorga  Junior High: Henderson- Ethien Nguyen; Cady- Ryan Wesley; Sternadel- Hector Rodriguez; Anderson- Jasmine Guthrie; Sternadel- Jason Nguyen; Charnetski- Jacob Nguyen; Lillge- BreAnn Kelly

Oct. 21: Michael Trammel, Jr.

Oct. 22: Dennis Keys; Emma Jean Dumas; Hugh Hawes; McKaelyn Carrriles

Oct. 23: Howard Mitte

Oct. 24: Ryan Scott; Noral McCauley; Holton Hadley

Oct. 25: Nancy Adams; Deanna Williams; Jessica Wolf; Tiny Christy; Reed Kallus

Oct. 26: Ralph Weathersby, Jr.; Emily Vasquez; Drake Dyes

Oct. 28: Robert Lewis; Lisa Paige; Ted Sonnier; Ben Mullins; Jimmy Scott

Oct. 29: Sally Ragusin

Oct. 30: Candice McLemore; Nancy Childers; Paul Gonzales

Oct. 31: Autumn Hrncik; Misty Sonnier Kivadeaux

Nov. 1: Britanny Murphy; Miles McCoy; Shelsea Scott; Hilda Villarreal; Charles E. Maxwell

Nov. 2: Billie Jo Klein; Gage Stringo

Nov. 3: Ricky Morales; John Jordan; Jacob Diaz; Albert “Ace” Pavlicek

Nov. 4: Winnie Davis; Armando Moreno, Jr.

Nov. 5: Adolfo Covarrubias; Chris Napier; Tonya Carriles; Rick Scott; Calvin McIntyre

Nov. 6: Howard Lewis; Curtis Fowler; Joe Garcia; James Morales; Teresa Nguyen

Nov. 8: Michelle Hallford; Elizabeth Williams

Nov. 9: Holly Quinn; Sylvia Palmer; Rodney Guice, Sr.

Nov. 10: Dell Weathersby

Madden Guevara, Byron Ferrell, McKenna Guevara, John Rosenboom, Connor Ferrell, Colby Hummel and Nathan O’Neil hard at work.

Exemplifying what makes our Port O’Connor community so special, citizens and students worked together several days in August to fix the school playground before the school year started.

Even though most of the schools in the district have the rubber tiles on the ground around their playground grounds, there was no money in the budget to fix ours. Around seven years ago the current playground equipment was donated to us through a grant. Since then the school district has done some maintenance on it, but much more needed to be done. The current weed barrier was old and torn creating a tripping hazard for children. The mulch was pretty useless and the ground was overgrown with stickers and weeds. Many parents spent their time at the playground pulling weeds out from under the slides and swings while their children played.
This past school year, the Port O’Connor PTO held fund raisers to save up enough money to fix the grounds. It was an expensive project and required the help of many volunteers. Nathan O’Neill of O’Neill Services donated all his time and labor and spearheaded the project. He contacted his supplier, Ewing Irrigation Products, and through them we purchased all our new weed barrier at wholesale cost. O’Neill Services spent two days straight digging out the old ground.

Many other businesses and community members came out to help. Billy Goode used his dump truck to haul off the old mulch and dirt. Gary Cunningham supplied new dirt to fill in ruts and holes from the recent bad weather. Sonny’s Marine came on Tuesday with four workers and a tractor to help dig out the ground. POC Liquor Store supplied materials for maintenance on the grounds.

PTO members, elementary school kids, and parents spent Monday and Tuesday digging out the places the tractors couldn’t get to. On Tuesday the first 18 wheeler of mulch was dumped in the driveway. By late Tuesday evening, part of the weed barrier was in place and the first load of mulch was spread out. On Wednesday morning the second load was dumped. Victoria Sweeping Services came, finished laying the rest of the weed barrier and dumped the mulch in small piles all over the playground perimeter.

Thursday morning, over a dozen parents and community members along with seven Coast Guardsmen showed up at 8:00 a.m. and started spreading mulch and pressure washing picnic tables. Kim Dickens and Josie’s Mini Mart brought tacos and “breakfast on a bun” to all the workers.

In three and half days this community banded together and dug out 11,500 sq ft. of old mulch and weed barrier and made it new.

Even though we have to fight everyday to keep our top-rated school open and operational, deal with massive budget cuts, and worry about the day we might have to ship our babies by bus 30 miles one way to school, our small community sticks together and takes care of their own. We are so blessed to have this community and all the people in it.

POC Students at School Playground
Top, L-R: McKenna Guevara, Clara Stryker, Jaydin Rhoads; Middle: Audrey Rhoads, Madden Guevara, Cole Spicak. Emily Ferrell; Bottom: Byron Ferrell, Connie Ferrell

Local 4-H members are counting down to the Calhoun County Fair, held in Port Lavaca during October. They’re currently raising roasters, turkeys, rabbits, and goats; some for a few months, and some for a few weeks. All have been hard at work caring for their animals and attending clinics to learn more about the process of raising poultry and livestock. In addition to participating in these main events, they will also visit the fairgrounds to feed and tend to their animals once or twice daily as they have been doing at home.

For the Intercoastal 4-H Club members, the main action starts early in the morning on Wednesday, October 12, as they will arrive to weigh in their animals and go through the sifting process to see whose animals are ready to be judged. Intercoastal members’ poultry and rabbits will be judged in the morning starting at 8:30 a.m. while goats and other livestock will be shown beginning at 5 p.m.

On Thursday, October 13, the auction will begin at 6:00 p.m. Wish them luck to receive a good price for their investments! Raising these animals requires hard work, determination, time, and money. If you are interested in being a buyer at the auction, please contact the County Extension office at 361-552-9747 for more information.

Friday, October 14, a Young Exhibitors show will be held at 6:00 p.m. This is for Clover Kids who are below age 8 and third grade and are trying out club projects.

If you are at the fair on Saturday, October 15, stop by the County 4-H booth and get some tasty chicken wings and sweet tea. Intercoastal club members will be working from 5-10 p.m. You may also see them walking around and selling tickets for chicken squat bingo! (Presale tickets available at County Extension office.)

Then, Sunday, October 16, club members will arrive at the fairgrounds bright and early for the release of their animals and fair clean-up.

Finally, they will complete their project record forms and thank you cards to their buyers. Some will also submit a project record book for judging in the spring.

These young people should definitely be proud of themselves for their efforts. Not only do they learn the knowledge and skills of raising these animals, they also learn to work cooperatively and independently and to have confidence and courage.

Come out and support Port O’Connor’s Intercoastal 4-H Club at the 2016 Calhoun County Fair! We hope to see you there!

-Roxanne Ochoa

Calhoun County Fair October 11 -15
www.calcofair.com