The Calhoun County Extension Office is one of 250 Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Offices across the state.  AgriLife is a partnership between the Texas A&M University System, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the County Commissioners Courts. The Extension Service is a unique outreach education agency designed to address local priority needs.

Our goal is to provide quality, relevant outreach and continuing education programs and services to the people of Texas. We do this by bringing the resources of the Texas A&M University System to Calhoun County. Local agents can provide unbiased, research-based information, educational programs, and technical assistance in various core service areas.

Currently our Agriculture Agent is Mr. Eric Taylor. Eric holds a Master’s Degree in Animal Science from Texas A&M – Kingsville. He works closely with the Cattleman’s Association, Junior Livestock Committee and the Row Crop Committee. He also works with Stephen Biles, the Integrated Pest Management Extension Agent that serves Calhoun, Victoria, and Refugio counties. Eric is also passionate about working with youth and their animals. His commitment to community service and youth leadership is evident in many of his programs.

Ms. Tina Trevino has been the Family and Consumer Science Agent here for nearly four years. Her Master’s Degree is from Texas A&M – Kingsville in Human Sciences. In addition to working with the Texas Extension Education Association, she offers programs on managing diabetes, child safety seats, health, diet and nutrition. She also assists with the 4-H programs such as clothing and textiles, food show and food challenge. Whether it is “Walk Across Texas” or “Step Up to Scale Down”, Tina is your resource person.

When we are fully staffed, the Calhoun County Office has an agent dedicated to working with more than 40 projects that Texas 4-H Youth Development program offers, including animal projects for the county fair and livestock show. Currently this position is unfilled, so Eric and Tina do most of this programming.
Our Officer Manager, Katherine Sutherland, is also extremely knowledgeable about the 4-H program. Katherine is usually the “face” or “voice” of our office, located in the Agriculture Building at the County Fairgrounds outside of Port Lavaca. She holds the most regular office hours of 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., closed from noon to 1:00 p.m. for lunch. As agents make site visits, work in the field, visit schools, lead field trips, attend meetings, etc., she is in the office to answer questions and answer the telephone.

Texas has 18 coastal counties, of which seven are served by a Coastal and Marine Resource Agent (a.k.a Marine Agent). This person not only works for AgriLife but also for the Texas Sea Grant College Program with is a federal program under the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Rhonda Cummins is in her 9th year in our office after completing a Master’s Degree in Marine Resources Management from Texas A&M Galveston. Her programs generally fall into the main focus areas as defined by the Sea Grant program, including Healthy Coastal Ecosystems, Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture, and Environmental Literacy. She builds boats with 7th grade students, does wetland restoration work and outreach at Little Chocolate Bayou Park, showcase the biodiversity of the bay with her saltwater aquarium at the annual Hardhead Derby, and many more projects.

The best part about the Extension Office is that the entire staff is here to serve you – the residents and visitors of Calhoun County. Give us a call or drop by. We’d love to help you.

Over the past several months, the improvement district has been working on efforts to improve and maintain your service while at the same time finding mechanisms to reduce your rates. In addition, we have made it a priority to enhance the communications flow between the district and those who use the services the district provides.

This article is an addition to that effort. For several months, we have been communicating the issues and discussions of the district on the official Facebook site (https://www.facebook.com/POCIDofficial). This was step one of our overall communication strategy and the quickest one to implement.

On the site, we have described the rate study steps to determine the fairest ways to determine your base rate. This systematic process has allowed citizens to follow the logic and see how the district’s conclusions were made. Despite the complexity of some of these issues, we have worked to make them understandable to everyone so they don’t need to have a degree in engineering or finance. We are in the process of describing in full detail the recommendations from the engineers concerning the upcoming bond initiative. We have listed the first half of the planned upgrades and explained where they will happen. Later this month, we will conclude with the rest of the engineers’ recommended list. If you have not visited the site, we ask that you do, that you “like” us, and that you become part of the online discussion.

We understand that not everyone is on Facebook. As part of our strategy, we are currently developing a quarterly newsletter. We will be submitting the rough version for directors to approve at the April directors meeting. This newsletter will be emailed to ratepayers once it is approved. To save on expenses, the directors approved a digital newsletter. However, for those who do not have email or online access, we are designing the newsletter so that it can be easily printed and stapled and provided at key areas around town and in the office if that is desired.

Inside this quarter’s newsletter, our main story will focus on the May bond election. Ultimately, this election is a decision to fund the district differently by using property tax bonds. Through the rate study process, the directors have found ways to fund the long-term development of the district while at the same time be able to lower most ratepayers’ monthly bills. While the way to reduce rates to their lowest is through property tax bonds, the board did not want to make a single recommendation. Instead, they want to lay out what the property tax changes would mean to your wallet and compare that with our current system.

We are currently working on a comparison table that will allow you to see the overall effect of the property tax increase against the rate decrease. This way everyone can judge their own situation and vote accordingly. This will be the lead article in the newsletter, and we will provide our information to any news media that would like to analyze our comparisons. We will also have all of our analysis available on the Facebook site.

What if you are not on Facebook, have no email address and could not make the April district meeting? Then please call us (361-983-2652 office / 832-278-5510 Imagination Monkey) so we can figure out a way to get the information to you. Our goal is to provide the key information so that you can make the most informed decision possible. We will do whatever we can to make that happen.

Finally, we want to thank the Dolphin Talk for providing this platform. Each month we will provide updates on the district, using factual information free from bias. If you have any questions, please feel free to post on the Facebook page, website, or email me personally (chill@imaginationmonkey.com). We are working each day to improve the information flow of the district, so please join the conversation and post or email us your questions. We are listening.

Thank You

The family of Elvira Carabajal would like to thank you for your sympathy during our time of sorrow. Words cannot express how grateful we are for all of your kind words, food, money and beautiful flowers. We especially appreciate the time each of you took out of your schedules to simply be there for us. We are so blessed, that following her passing, we had the loving embraces of our family and friends to comfort us.

God called her home and she is now in her place in heaven. Although she is gone, we are left with our loving memories and these will live forever in our hearts.

The Family of Elvira “Tuffy” Carabajal

To All the Citizens of Port O’Connor

On Saturday, May 7th, there will be an important election for Municipal Bonds to fund important upgrades and expansion for the Port O’Connor Improvement District. This will spread out the funding to all approximately 3,300 taxpayer accounts instead of the home owners with water and sewer, which is only approximately 1,700. All property owners will eventually benefit from the improvements, So, why shouldn’t they help fund them?

The current and future needs of the district are available on the district’s Facebook page . This will cover the current needs and projected cost to the community.

All property owners with a homestead exemption and the ones with an additional over 65 exemption should see a reduction in their overall costs. Which is taxes and water rates combined. The new rate study shows a substantial difference in Municipal (Tax) Bonds and Municipal (Revenue) Bonds.

A copy of the rate study is available at Josies. Any questions can be asked on the Facebook page and will be answered by Chris Hill of Imagination Monkey.

Please vote on May 7th. We recommend a vote for the Municipal Tax Bonds.

Red and Nancy Childers

>Wow!
What a special birthday!

THANKS to all of you. In my 100 years, it was the best birthday I ever had. Your efforts with cakes, candies, dinners, gifts, plants, visits, flowers, hugs, smiles, best wishes and cards (over 150) let me know how fortunate I am to know all of you – so THANKS AGAIN from a very happy lady.

Grace Stone

Dear Editor,

I try not to make my articles personal in nature, so I am writing this letter to share a very personal thank you to an amazing group of people. This group, and some who were not present for the picture worked, behind the scenes this weekend to haul, sort, set up and price all of the community garage sale items. They logged more than 400 man hours, hauled untold tons of donations from houses, cars, trailers, barns and storage units to the community center pavilion where they then unpacked, cleaned, sorted, priced and displayed them for the sale.

Not one person who volunteered this year has a child or grandchild receiving a scholarship. None of them are benefitting directly from the many projects the garage sale proceeds fund. They work because they care, because they love our community, because they want to help and because they have a heart for others.

They were dirty, (okay, really dirty!) tired, sore, some were cut and bruised, they missed meals, missed family time and missed other events to be a part of what the Service Club was doing. They laughed, and talked and joked and cried. They shared their hearts and their personal stories with each other as they worked. And after two days of unpaid hard labor they arrived before 7AM Saturday morning with homebaked goodies they made after their working Thursday and Friday; they put on a huge smile and greeted shoppers, added prices, made change and carried purchases to the cars of those who needed help.

After the sale, at 2 PM, when everyone else left the sale and went home to rest, these same volunteers sorted and repacked all the leftover items to donate to charity, broke down tables and clothes racks, displays and shoe shelves, loaded these on trailers and stored them for use at the next garage sale. They bagged trash, swept, stacked and cleaned so the pavilion was ready for the next event.

Finally, after the labor of unselfish love was finished, guess what many of them did. They sat on the bench or folding chair near the edges of the now cleaned pavilion, rubbed their sore tired feet, shared a cool drink and laughed together. Tired as they were they took time to hug each other, thank each other, recognize the great work of this year’s garage sale chairs, Linda and Larry Orrick, and close the day together.

My sweet Daddy used to say “Who you are is who you are when no one is lookin’!” Well, I was looking. I saw these great people and their generous gift of themselves. I am grateful beyond expression for each of them and the chance I have to be part of their company. When no one is looking they are as kind and generous and giving as anyone you will ever meet. And they are working hard to make this place a home to be proud of.

As I try to be grateful out loud this year, I am saying Thank You Service Club members and Volunteers, 4H members, husbands, brothers, and others. I appreciate you and you renew my belief that people will give of themselves for nothing but the chance to help another. I hope you all have a good nap, a great meal and a full heart as you rest up from your hard work. And I for one am counting on you for the next big project because now I know, you do good work!

With Blessings and Sincere Thankfulness;
Kelly Gee

Port O’Connor Community Service Club
Some of the members who worked setting up the garage sale.

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 love film; I think when done properly that film can convey emotions and take us into another world and perhaps even teach us something.

Usually I will avoid making public commentary on media because, despite writing many reviews over the last ten years, I feel if you cannot do better you should probably keep your own mouth shut.

However after watching the horror that was Batman vs Superman I felt compelled to address the issues I see wrapping around the film industry like a fist from which no creativity is allowed.

It seems to me that the issues can be solved through some very simple steps:

Quit remaking old films and quit trying to squeeze every bit of profit out of existing franchises- Robocop was a cult classic to me, and part of its charm was that it was ‘totally’ from the 1980’s; it was a period fantasy as much as a science fiction film.

When I saw the semi-recent remake I could only stomach about twenty minutes before I realized all the nuance and campy fun had been replaced by a totally different tone, one that lost all of its magic.

Spider-Man, Batman, Star Trek, Star Wars..not that there are not good films in someone’s head that could work in those universes, but we forgot that the first thing that made those universes popular was their originality
.
Stop focusing on explosions and special effects and get back to engaging people- I’ve read tons of stuff on how to really reach a reader or a viewer when you are writing fiction. The most important thing you can do is engage the mind and hearts of those reading or watching, not just their minds.

I mentioned Star Wars above, and as much as I kind of feel The Force Awakens was a re-tread of stories and visuals seen in the original trilogy, I understand from a story stand point that this is a fresh start. (The first lines are: “This will begin to make everything right.” Very telling.).

But I know who the good guys are, who the bad guys are. I know what the bad guy wants to achieve and I was able to empathize with the heroes positions as well. I was able to become emotionally involved with the people on the screen without having to think too hard or know a million past variables.

Most of the popular fiction of any era has worked because the story involves something that touches you in there. In some cases, wonderfully rare, the art reflects you almost perfectly.

Put down your computers, we mean you no harm- Another thing I adored with the new Star Wars was the use of many practical special effects and sets rather then the now standard computer based CGI.

The Human eye can see the joins no matter how well it is done, and real life sets, costumes and props give a sense of a suspension of disbelief you just don’t get with a computer.

Within the last ten plus years I have seen one movie in the theater in 3-D and that was Man of Steel, the first of the recent Superman films.

Although the special effects of rampaged cities and laser eyes was impressive, it almost seemed too much and it took me right out of any emotional investment in whatever it was that was going on (Spoiler: Re-boot of Superman 2…what a shock).

If I had to be forced to mention Star Wars again, I’d say the same of the light saber battles in the prequels. They were acrobatic and graceful but the raw emotion and realism did not return till this new film, where it was more about the fight between good and evil, light and dark than looking good doing it.

There are some huge movies that still get it just right in my opinion, but they have sadly become few and far between in the quick cash grab that has become blockbuster movies…perhaps a few duds will teach them.