The Port O’ Connor Community Service Club has had an active and successful year. We said goodbye to a few members, and welcomed several new ones. After hosting two community wide garage sales we funded more than seven scholarships for local students to continue their education; honored over 20 locals citizens, friends and family members with in name donations to the Volunteer Fire Department or the Library; purchased new signage for the fire department, flags for the Warriors Weekend Celebration and the Community Center; donated to the community benevolence food pantry and holiday baskets; gave seed money for the children’s painting classes at the Community Center, bought and installed pet potty stations and community bike racks at front beach, honored three community members as Citizens of the Year; donated time, funds, food and support to numerous community events and much more.

We also recruited more than 100 local businesses and professionals to participate the in the Port O’Connor Locator Map; developed and printed the map; and installed it at Kingfisher Beach. We sold over 250 baked goods and shared information about our club with locals and visitors alike at community activities and events like the Crawfish Festival and Fabulous Fourth of July. The Club also maintained, updated and frequently changed lettering and flyers to provide advertising, announcements and public information on the billboards and bulletin boards at the Community Center, Firehouse and Post Office. Service Club members volunteered and served in numerous other community activities including school mentoring and student buddy programs; Friends of the Port O’ Connor Library, Chamber of Commerce, Warriors Weekend, Toy Run and Boat Parade, Beach Clean Up, and numerous other investments of time and talent large and small. We were proud to plan, fund, prepare and host our annual seniors’ Christmas Luncheon with delicious Mexican themed food, homemade desserts, door prizes and entertainment. And in our spare time… No, seriously, we had a busy and productive year.

We are already preparing for the New Year. Two more garage sales are scheduled, and yes, we need your donations. We have selected a theme for next year’s Christmas Luncheon, and no, I can’t tell you. It is a secret. We are in the process of organizing the next edition of our well loved cookbooks. We would love to find space for your favorite recipe.

This is a very special group with big hearts and willing hands. They provide a unique and uncommon addition to our community. They have a heart for others and service is their theme and purpose. Watch for what they do next. And, if you are looking for a place where you can meet great people and be a blessing to others, come join us. Ladies of all ages are welcome. We meet at in the back room of the Community Center every 1st and 3rd Thursday. We have plenty to do, so you won’t be bored; and we have tons of fun so you will be glad you joined us. For questions or more information please contact President Marie Hawes at 361-920-2322.

So, until next time, be safe, live simply, love openly, forgive generously and remember what our great founding father Thomas Jefferson said, “May I never get too busy in my own affairs that I fail to respond to the needs of others with kindness, generosity and compassion.” We know some needs near you, so come and help us find a way to respond. It will add greatly to your New Year!

Greetings fellow culinary enthusiasts! Life is full of compromises. We give up somethings and accept others in an attempt to get through life by being agreeable. With that being said, this will be my last cooking column.

When I married my husband, Jared, he was insistent on the appearance of the Christmas tree. The tree should be artificial with colored lights. My tradition was “real” tree with white lights. We put up a “fake” tree with colored lights that year. The compromise was on the way we spent the Holiday.

His family did not celebrate on Christmas Eve but enjoyed Christmas day eating spaghetti and meatballs (his mother is Italian). My family had snacks on Christmas Eve and a “full blown Thanksgiving dinner revisited” on Christmas day.

Although his family now accepts my tradition of “snacking” together on Christmas Eve, we still have spaghetti and meatballs on Christmas day instead of the traditional turkey and dressing.

MEAT BALLS

Combine 1 pound of hamburger meat, 2 eggs, 1 garlic button (chopped fine), ¼ cup fine bread crumbs, ¼ cup grated Romano cheese, and salt and pepper to taste.

Make into balls about the size of golf balls and brown in a skillet. Drain off grease. Add meatballs to sauce and cook on low for about 2 hours.

This recipe was submitted by Emma Powers in the Port O’Connor Community Service Club Cookbook over twenty years ago.

My thoughts are that this recipe would awesome served as an appetizer during Christmas Eve “snacking” of even for an untraditional Christmas dinner.

Enjoy!

Congratulations!
Congratulations to Janie Rhyne Goldman (Cooking with G) on earning her Master of Science Degree.

An angel broke the darkness of the night with the glory of the Lord and the shepherds trembled, not realizing that they were about to be the first guests to meet the Son of God in the flesh. Then, more angels appeared praising God. This news was too large for a single messenger to carry; the time had come for the Lord to fulfill all His promises.

When the darkness returned, the shepherds lost no time hurrying into town. Dr. Luke, the gospel writer, said that Mary and Joseph placed Jesus in a manger. For these new parents, Jesus’ feeding-through crib was born out of necessity. Pastor Joane told this story in a recent Sunday morning service: “A Sunday School was putting on a Christmas pageant which included the story of Mary and Joseph coming to the inn. One boy wanted so very much to be Joseph, but when the parts were handed out, the lad was assigned to be in inn-keeper instead. He was pretty upset about this but did not say anything to the director.”

“During all the rehearsals, he thought what he might do the night of the performance to get even with this rival who got to be Joseph. Finally, the night of the Christmas play, Mary and Joseph came walking across the stage. They knocked and the inn-keeper opened the door asking them gruffly what they wanted.”

“Joseph answered, ‘We would like a room for the night.’ Suddenly the inn-keeper threw the door open wide and said, ‘Great, come on in and I will give you the best room in the house!’ For a few seconds, poor little Joseph did not know what to do. Thinking quickly on his feet, he looked inside the door past the inn-keeper and replied, ‘No wife of mine is going to stay in a dump like this. Come on, Mary, let’s go to the barn.’ And once again, the play was back on track!”

But, did the manger itself point the shepherds to a Savior? Did the manger indicate the way in which Jesus would become their Savior?

Nativity scenes are used in most of our Christmas decorations. The manger is a reminder of the true meaning of this Holy Day for some and for others it is a pledge of allegiance to tradition when Christmas’ Christian roots seem to be threatened. But in ancient Judea, a manger was a small, hollowed out stone box where food would be placed for the sheep. In a food box, Jesus was laid as a baby. Years later, Jesus would take bread, break it and tell His disciples that it was a sign of His body that was broken for them. The sign of the manger marked Jesus’ chief purpose in coming to earth.

Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem is more than the happenstance of a census decree. In the Christmas story we discover that the manger sits in the shadow of the cross.

The shepherds were forever changed that first Christmas night – and their example is one we can follow as we celebrate “Christ’s birth. First, they shared their experience with everyone they could find. They could not stop talking about Jesus – and what God had done for them.

Second, they left the manger glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen. Shepherds lived transient lives and were often peasants. As a result, most Judean shepherds spent their lives on the fringe of society, feeling disconnected from God. But now God, through Jesus, had brought these men near and they could not help but become beacons of praise.

Finally, the shepherds broke the first rule of shepherding – they left their flocks. Given the proximity of Bethlehem to Jerusalem, it is possible these men were shepherding sacrificial lambs for use in the temple. But they walked away in search of the new thing the Lord was doing, no longer trusting in the blood of sacrificial lambs for they had found The Lamb of God.

There is nothing we can do to make our own way to God, so at Christmas, God made His way to us! New life will not be found in anything we might do for God – only in what Jesus has done for us. Christmas is good news because of Easter, but there would have been no cross without the manger.

What a wonderful time to be in Port O’Connor at Christmas! The annual Seniors Christmas Luncheon was a fantastic event! The Port O’Connor Community Service Club did an outstanding job on the decorations! It was a very elaborate Social Event that everyone enjoyed. Over 200 people attended the luncheon and over 40 plates were delivered to people unable to attend. The Mexican Food served was delicious. The entertainment by the entire Port O’Connor School Children was fantastic. Outstanding Christmas songs were sung by the Children.

On Saturday, December 5, the boats started arriving from the Houston area at Clark’s dock with hundreds of toys and bicycles for the children. Immediately after unloading all the toys, the boat owners and crews began decorating their crafts for the 24th. Annual Boat Parade on the Water Front. What a Parade it was!

A night’s drive around Port O’Connor gives you a glimpse of the beautiful Christmas decorations placed on the homes and businesses.

The Church held their Annual Christmas Party on Sunday Evening, December 13, along with their Quarterly Birthday Bash. It was really a fun event and well attended – a great way to begin our Christmas celebration.

The Church Choir will present “The Birth Of Jesus”, in music, on Sunday morning, December 20, 2015 in the 11:00 a.m. service. The music, directed by Raymond Grant, will include the following:

“He Is Born”, “Joy To The World”, “O Little Town Of Bethlehem”, “Away In A Manger”, “Born In Bethlehem”, “Hark The Herald Angels Sing”, “Angels We Have Heard On High”, “O Come All Ye Faithful”, “Go Tell It On The Mountain”, “Isn’t He”, “Emmanuel”, And “Glory In The Highest”.

The Church Van carried 15 Church Members to Cuero this past week to visit the Christmas Lights. Everyone enjoyed the trip and the free hot chocolate served on Thursday night.

The Church has set a Goal of $1,200 for the Annual “Lottie Moon” Offering for International Missions. This Goal should be reached before Christmas!

See you in Church Sunday!!

We enjoyed hosting the Annual Thanksgiving Service on November 15, and had a great time with Father Tommy sharing the Scripture Reading and Pastor Donnie bringing the message. There were over 100 people present and $1,426.00 was collected. Prior to the offering, the Women’s Service Club had donated $1,000, the Bunco Group gave $100, and the 4-H Club and First Baptist Youth had donated quite a bit of nonperishable items. We passed out 42 food boxes for Thanksgiving, for which we spent $3,055.32, because of the generosity of the Port Lavaca H.E.B. The balance of the funds has been provided by others, including the Chapel, which received a monthly benevolence offering this year. As of today, we believe we have enough non-perishable foods, and will be ordering the perishables to fill the Christmas Baskets for distribution on December 22.

When thinking about the number of food baskets we are providing this year, please remember the poor shrimping season and the red tide that is at best delaying the oyster season. If one wants to help, there is the Port O’Connor Benevolence Fund account at First National Bank or any of the Port O’Connor churches will be glad to assist you in helping meet this need for the truly needy, not the greedy! If there are any in need who have not made contact with us for the Christmas Baskets, please call my cell phone at 361/218-6693.

We are excited about our upcoming events. I have been preaching a Christmas message titled, “Oh Come Let Us Adore Him”. It has been well received and uplifting to the Chapel family. I will be finishing it on Christmas Sunday, December 20. Wednesday, December 16, was our traditional Christmas caroling followed by roasting hot dogs and marshmallows over an open fire.

On Christmas Sunday, December 20, at 6:00 p.m., we will gather for our annual All-church Christmas party. Our Spanish speaking congregation will join us, as well as our congregations from Halletsville and Nixon. We will be having our traditional “White Elephant Gift Exchange”, a special “Pot Luck Meal” and several games. It will be another evening to remember as we celebrate Jesus’ Birthday. Everyone is invited to attend!

On Wednesday, December 23, from 6:30 until 7:30 p.m., we will be having our traditional Family Communion Service. It will be a “come and go” type event. Please come as families, and if there are others already there, please just wait and each family will be served as a unit. Families do not have to be a part of the Chapel to participate. Everyone is welcome who has allowed Jesus to be Lord of their lives.

Fisherman’s Chapel is an interdenominational congregation whose goal is to help God’s special creation find their way to eternity with the Lord. One will always find a warm welcome at the Chapel, and you are urged to, “Come, grow with us!”