Most Texans would agree the weather is hotter than a jalapeňo pepper! Our gardens are barely hanging on unless the gardeners have okra, eggplant, peas or pumpkins. Gardeners are indeed on a regular watering maintenance schedule.

Most gardeners have started preparing for the next planting season and are dreaming of tomatoes once again. Gardeners will be FALLing in love with autumn weather that is conducive to growing deliciousness, such as onions, spinach, broccoli, beans of all kinds, beets, and cabbage, which are only a few items that grow in cooler temperatures. Members of the garden club agree with Audrey Hepburn’s philosophy, “To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.”

All twenty-four beds are occupied, but there is still room to be a part of the garden club. ALL are welcome! Our annual meeting is Sept.19th at 5:30 at the garden site at 16th Street and Harrison, right next to the water tower. The yearly membership fee is $20 which ALSO allows FREE attendance to the monthly educational meetings, which are held the third Tuesday of each month. Consider joining us whether you wish to plant a garden or not. The garden workshops are very interesting!

At the annual meeting, we will be electing officers for the new year, setting the budget as well as reviewing the site laws and by-laws. It has been an exciting year, and there have been growing pains; however, we were all quite pleased with our harvest efforts. We are all definitely looking forward to the fall planting season!

We have not stopped working for one minute on this important project. Our latest grant from M.G. and Lillie A. Johnson Foundation for $25,000.00 has started Phase 2 off with a vengeance. The main building will be getting new floors, countertops and backsplash within the next month or so! How exciting is that? The entire amount for Phase 2 has not been raised yet, but we do have enough to get started with these new projects and they will go a long way in sprucing up that interior. We will still have painting inside and out, new tables and chairs, new stoves and landscaping to complete.

Work on Phase which covers the Pavilion cannot begin until December because of all the rental activity. Once that starts, it should take 2 months to complete that part of the renovations. Then the Pavilion will have more bathroom stalls, a new paint job, a new prep area, new chairs and tables and an improved kitchen area, plus much more.

Our next Fundraiser will be our second annual Clay Shoot on October 14, 2023 at the Pavilion. The entry fee for each 4 man/woman team is $800. There will be prizes, raffles and a silent auction. For entry information go to www.pocserviceclub.org. Last year was a sellout. Don’t wait too long to enter!

If you would like to be part of this very important POC Community Center Facelift Project, donations can be made at First National Bank here in POC , mailing a check to P.O. Box 812. POC, 77982, or PayPal @ POC Community Center. The response has been overwhelming and we reached our goal of $150,000.00 in only 8 months for Phase 1. Now our goal for Phase 2 is $75,000.00. Please support POC’s future and contribute.

Fall Mega Garage Sale and Bake Sale: : Our Fall Mega Garage Sale and Bake Sale will be held on Saturday, September 30, 2023 from 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. at the POC Community Center Pavilion, and promises to be bigger and better than ever! We will have a huge variety of breads, sweets, baked goods; household, kitchen, and decorative items; small appliances; clothes; shoes; toys; children’s and baby items; framed pictures; mirrors; books; crafts; seasonal items; sports equipment; furniture; tools; lawn equipment; and much, much more! There will be something for everyone, so please don’t miss it! As we prepare for the sale, we welcome your generous donations, which can be left in the “Drop Box” at the front of our Donation Center behind the POC Community Center Pavilion, or for larger items, you can contact one of the ladies listed below.

2nd Annual POC Clay Shooting Competition: Save The Date! The POC Service Club will be hosting the 2nd Annual POC Clay Shooting Competition event on Saturday October 14, 2023, 7:00 a.m. -12:00 p.m. at the POC Community Center Pavilion. For information, questions, or sponsorships about the Clay Shoot, call, or text Maeghen @ 512-608-8388. Carts will be allowed this year. All proceeds from the Clay Shoot will go to the “POC Community Center Improvement Project. The Service Club has helped the Community Center Board accomplish their goals for Phase 1, with Construction on the expansion and improvements of the Community Center Pavilion scheduled for this Winter 2023! Now we are working on Phase 2, which will be improvement of the POC Community Center. Please come out and support this very worthwhile, and much needed. POC Community Project!

Memorials: To honor two of POC’s finest, the Service Club made memorial donations to the POC Cemetery Association in honor of Ronnie Elkins and Rudy Covarrubias.

Farmers Market: The Service Club also appreciates your support at our Booth at POC’s Farmers Markets, the next one being Saturday, October 14 from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. Please come check out our homemade goodies, plants, hand crafted items, our “Service Club Cookbooks” and our “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!

Meetings: The Club’s next meetings are September 21, October 5, and October 19, – all at 10:00 a.m. at the POC Community Center. All ladies are welcome!

For information, please contact one of the Service Club Ladies listed below:

Alane Haardt- 281-416-6028
Marie Hawes- 361-920-2322
Nan Burnett- 832-276-5948
Nancy Ladshaw- 830-832-0510

“Beacon of Light…Anchor of the Community”
Libraries are the cornerstones of communities and there are many offerings for your advantage. Get involved somewhere: church, a sports team, a book club, or a place to volunteer. This goes for anywhere you live. Anywhere can be made to feel like home once you find your people. Everyone needs people with similar goals or interests to feel like they are a part of something bigger than themselves. It can be challenging at first. Friends and activities are what is important. Go find them!

Library News:
POC Library Hours: Phone Number: 361-983-4365
Sunday – Monday: Closed
Tuesday – Friday: 10:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Saturday: 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Wednesdays:
• 8:00-9:00 a.m. – Coffee & Conversation – At this meeting every week, coffee is a part of our daily “grind.” Come by for some coffee and fellowship!
• 9:30–10:30 a.m. – Bingo – We continue our day of fun due to the generosity of the noted sponsors. And we are extremely excited to add an additional game for three games in a month! 1st, 2nd and 3rd Wednesdays of the month at 9:30am.
• September 6th: Bingo sponsored by Trinity Shores
• September 13th: Bingo sponsored by Bethany Senior Living
• September 20th: Bingo sponsored by Calhoun Home Health
• 1:00-3:30 PM – Mah Jongg – Fun Fact: A total of up to 144 tiles are typically used in a game featuring depictions of bamboo, circles and characters from numbers one to nine as well as special symbols from seasons, winds, dragons and flowers.

Thursdays: 1:00-3:30 p.m. – Bridge – Bridge offers billions of possibilities! Bridge offers big benefits, regardless of age, income or physical condition. It is challenging and inexpensive.

We appreciate the generosity and support of all our members and those who donate in other ways. Many thanks to Barbara Brandon for donating coloring books and supplies to the Kid’s Corner and to Kathy Long for purchasing this beautiful painting and donating it to our library!

The Friends of the POC library is a support group and welcome ALL who would like to join, contribute, or attend a FREE, sponsored event. Programs are for the enrichment of our community. Every effort is made to offer quality events for residents of any age and for the greater community. Cultivate relationships and interests by attending events and visiting our lovely library.

The Friends have scheduled some fantastic children’s programs. Please mark these dates on your calendar to save the dates.
Super Saturdays Children’s Programs 2023- 2024
October 21 Fun for Fall
November 4 Thanksgiving Baking & Crafts
December 2 Cookies for Santa
January 13 Game Day
February 10 Valentine Creations
March 2 Tropical Fun
April 6 Planting & Butterflies
May 11 End of Year Party

The Friends of the POC library is a support group and welcome ALL who would like to join, contribute, or attend a FREE, sponsored event. Programs are for the enrichment of our community. Every effort is made to offer quality events for residents of any age and for the greater community. Cultivate relationships and interests by attending events and visiting our lovely library.

Fall has returned to our radars and so has Fall allergies.

For me it’s kinda funny because besides knowing I’m allergic to dogs and cats (and honestly not caring one bit), I did not have a lot of seasonal symptoms until living for over a year in Knoxville, Tennessee where the locals claim: “If you didn’t have any allergies when you got here, you will by the time you leave.”

Now I’m not too sure how ultimately true this is, such as the possible science behind it but I do know the local line was that it had something to do with Knoxville being in a valley where all the pollen and other allergy nasties were constantly barraging the town with allergens.

Regardless, it seemed to work with me as I gained the fun times seasonal allergies bring such as sinus headaches, pressure, sneezing, and a slight throat ache.

I’m not even sure if I mentioned the sleepless nights when you wake up with a wicked sinus headache that seems like a little man is ringing a bell in your head. Worse, both over the counter medications make me feel ‘ill,’ basically tired, and not feeling quite right, and that leads to my other gripe.

Today it seems you go to your regular doctor, he gives out referrals to a specialist, you wait a couple months to see said specialist, who then orders tests or actions to take before saying he will see you in another two months.

In the meantime, you’re still struggling with whatever ailments you may have, which although usually not of a severe nature, but annoying and painful enough to have made you come to a doctor’s office.

Maybe it’s a sign of getting older as I pass the gates of middle age into my ‘back nine’ on the course of life, but I miss the days when even if your primary care doctor had to send you to a specialist, he also took steps to try and remedy the problem for the short term right then and there. Half the time my childhood doctor (who was a third generation physician as well) would do so with samples of medication he had right there in his office!

He also understood if you needed to wait a week or two to pay him as long as you did in the end…try that in the 21st century!

Thing is I don’t know if I’m just becoming nostalgic for things that were not as good as memory makes them out to be, as I know the medical industry was always just that, an industry for profit, or at least it was during my lifetime. Regardless, doctors seemed to care more and seemed more diligent about their patients’ well being and health.

I’m not suggesting that there are no good doctors out there. I once knew a doctor in the modern era aptly named ‘Doctor Love,’ a wonderful doctor who once she was done working with the poor in Chicago moved on to working with the poor in Boston instead of getting some well paid cushy job away from the actual point of medicine…healing patients.

In short, more doctors like that please – and less guessing and passing patients around like a hot potato.