Seadrift police have arrested a local adult male with two felony counts in reference to ongoing investigations, according to Police Chief Leonard Bermea,

Chief Bermea stated that there are several investigations going and that one came to a head on the evening of July 4 when Seadrift Police seized pills, needle, heroin, and a large amount of meth. Chief Bermea also said that no cash was seized as the narcotics was confiscated before it could be sold locally, but that a vehicle has been seized as it was used in the “commission of a crime”, and that more arrests are expected.

Chief Bermea stated that his administration has been changing tactics from what has been done historically in Seadrift and concentrating their efforts on dealers and suppliers in an effort to force users to have to go elsewhere. “I am concerned about the prevalence of meth because of the way it destroys people’s lives and families and communities,” the Chief said. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Chief with any information as anything could be helpful, and all information is kept confidential.

My goodness it is already the season of announcing that “I am running for president”. Not me, it has always been a mystery as to why someone would really want to be President. Nevertheless the Republicans have the most who want to be President but the Democrats have at least three. Who knows how many more egos will jump into the fray?

I guess it is sort of like being on Facebook and bragging about how many friends you have. However, in reality any President also has almost as many unfriends as friends. It is really difficult to get much over fifty percent of the voters to vote for any candidate. In point of fact, the parties or the PAC’s are willing to spend millions of dollars to get at least one percent more votes for their person..

There is little doubt that the people who sell the ads or take the polls like the big spending. That must be a big percentage of their income. It is as if the biggest campaign fund gets the win..

The arguments are about who is right about what might happen if you go the way “the other side” wants to do. This side says that going that way leads to prosperity and success. While the other side says no, my way is better..\ Those other guys aren’t giving you the true skinny. When there are literally dozens, like at the current time, it makes for a whole lot of I’m right – they are wrong in our ears.

One wonders who is telling the truth. If you stop and think a little you can wonder what is really the truth. That question has been bothering philosophers for centuries if not longer. Socrates was forced to drink Hemlock in 399 BC because some said what he taught wasn’t “true”. That may have been one of the first instances of not being Politically Correct.

The Philosopher A.N.Whitehead defined it fairly correctly when he said, “There are no whole truths; all truths are half truths.” When you are talking about the things both past and future that politicians talk about, it always seems that there are details left out. There is no doubt that many times there are also out-and-out whoppers but even those somebody might sort of agree with a “Yes but …” response.

It is a shame that we will be subjected to this bombardment of candidates and their speechifying for the next year and a half or so, It is even six or more months before the primaries will cut it down to, hopefully, a couple of candidates.

The early start is for the time to raise enough money to pay for all those millions they need to spend to get elected. It seems those costs are rising faster than the inflated egos that run.. I guess that is the truth of our modern social media connected world.

We would like everyone who has a loved one buried here to please contact Shirley Harper at 746-3108. One member of your family needs to be the designated contact for information concerning the cemetery.

All cement blocks marking your plots will be picked up if you don’t have your name on them and they are lying on top of the ground. If you marked your spot, please let Shirley or another member of the Association know.

We will be spraying Round-up around the graves and headstones.

POC Women’s Service Club is taking it a little easy this summer. While meeting only one time each month, we continue to work on projects and plan for upcoming activities. The much anticipated locator map listing local businesses and services is at the graphic shop and should be up soon. We had hoped to have it up for July, but you can’t rush art. We are certain it will be worth the wait.  With almost 100 listings and dozens of icons and artsy touches, it will be fun and informative for locals and tourists alike. Look for its unveiling soon.

The new edition of the POC Service Club Cookbook is in the works. Assembling, editing and categorizing hundreds of recipes takes time, but exciting new cuisine and timely tips and tricks for quick home cooking will be included. More recipes are needed, so call to include yours. If you have need of a bridal gift or housewarming, they make a great choice. A very few remaining copies of the previous cookbooks are available, and the new book should be ready to print around the holiday season. If you have a business or service that you would like to showcase on the business listing page, we will be offering some business card size spots. Contact a club member to reserve yours.

We have set the date for our biannual Community Garage Sale. It will be held October 10, 2015 from 8-2 at the Pavilion. Truckloads of treasures, boxes of baubles and cases of clothing will be sold to benefit our scholarship fund. Make plans to attend now. If you have storage or closets in need of purging, we will be taking donations for this event.

Do you have hidden talents? Love to cook? Decorate a mean table? We need new members to be part of the POC Service Club. There is always more to accomplish, and more hands make the work light. We meet the 1st Thursday only during summer months 10:00 AM at the POC Community Center. We will return to our two meeting per month schedule in September. Bring your bag of tricks and talents and join the fun.

So, until next time, be safe, live simply, love openly, forgive generously and remember what famous Stormin’ Norman aka General H. Norman Schwarzkopf said, “ You cannot help someone else get up a hill without getting closer to the top yourself.” Come climbing with us, no special equipment needed. Just a willing heart and a ready smile!

Greetings fellow culinary enthusiasts!  I find that during the hot summer months it is more enjoyable to serve small assortments of food as opposed to large meals.  For example, tonight my husband had fresh fruit and sliced sausage for dinner.  Searching for something else on the lighter side, I revisited the appetizer section of the Port O’Connor Community Service Club cookbook that was published nearly twenty years ago. The appetizer section of the cookbook includes many recipes for preserves, relishes and pickles.

Much of my culinary education came at a young age from my Grandma Ima.  I stood atop a dining room chair overlooking the stove top and watched her prepare many home cooked meals.  When it came time for “canning” the low key humming of her food preparation changed.  Her kitchen would be filled with large pots, racks, assorted glass jars and strange utensils.   As adult family members joined her in the kitchen, I was soon pushed out of the experience.  As an adult I always assumed that “canning” was way too complicated so I accepted  the fact that I would pay six dollars for a delicious jar of pickled okra at the grocery store.

It wasn’t until I saw the recipe for okra pickles in the Service Club cookbook that I thought, “This is something I could really do.”

OKRA PICKLES

This recipe was submitted by Leafy Ann (Johnson) Mang.  Leafy writes that you should have 3.5 pounds of small okra pods, 2 cups of vinegar, 4 cups of water, 2 teaspoons of dill seed, 1/3 cup salt, garlic cloves and hot peppers.

You should wash and pack okra in jars.  Put a clove and a hot pepper in each jar.

Make a brine of water, vinegar, dill seed and salt.  Bring to a boil and pout over okra in each jar.

So this is what I did….I sterilized 8 (8 oz.) jars and the lids in boiling water.   Then I placed in each jar a clove of garlic, a hot pepper and a sprig of dill.  I used 8 oz. jars because that is what I had, and used dill weed instead of dill seed because it looks nice in a jar.

I packed the jars with okra I had soaked overnight in ice water (I heard it makes them less mushy).  Made the brine of water, vinegar and salt and brought to a boil.  Then I covered the jarred okra with the brine and secured each with the lid.

The next step is to seal the jars or you can just put them in the refrigerator.  To seal the jars for pantry storage, put them in a pot and cover the jars slightly above the lid.  Bring to a boil until you see or hear the indention invert.  If you are not sure, you can check by seeing if the lid moves when you apply pressure.  The ones that don’t move are safe for shelf life and others should go in the refrigerator.

Everything else I know about pickling I learned from the internet.  Apparently you should let them set for 1 week to 1 month before eating.  Your guess is as good as mine.  And storage or shelf life is up for debate.  Use a sticker to mark your pickled okra with a date.  I don’t know when it goes bad….I guess you have to trust your senses… my Grandma is not around anymore for me to ask.
Thanks to Leafy for her okra pickle recipe.  I will find out in a week if I did it right.