Rhonda Cummins

Rhonda Cummins, Calhoun County Extension Agent, Coastal & Marine Resources, was honored on March 20 by the Texas House with a Resolution congratulating her on being named Port Lavaca Chamber of Commerce 2014 Woman of the Year and recognizing her valuable service to the community.

Rhonda received her Master of Marine Resource Management degree from Texas A&M in 2008. She began her work in Calhoun County on March 3, 2008, and is in her eighth year as our marine extension agent.

“I often explain to people that I am a newer, better looking Joe Surovik,” Rhonda joked. Joe was the first Marine Agent in the U.S. and was hired by Calhoun County in December 1972. He served in this job more than 23 years. Rhonda is the fourth Sea Grant agent to be located in Calhoun County.

In addition to her duties as a Marine Agent, Rhonda serves on the School Advisory Council for Our Lady of the Gulf Catholic School and chair the Outreach Committee. She also serves on the San Antonio Bay Foundation Board of Directors and the Board of Directors of the Texas Chapter of the American Shore and Beach Preservation Association. She is a volunteer coordinator for the GLO Adopt-a-Beach program for Magnolia Beach. Rhonda is a member of Grace Episcopal Church, Galveston and assistant club manager for the Mariner 4-H Club.

Speaking of her job as Marine Agent in Calhoun County, Rhonda said, “Every day is different and never boring. I have the opportunity to make a difference by interacting with the community in many ways including projects that improve degraded wetlands, teach adults and youth about the importance of our estuaries and other topics like kayaking, fishing, and cooking with seafood. One of the best parts of my job is that TAMU pays me to learn new things nearly every day as I help answer questions for people and try to help improve their lives, businesses and communities. I work hard to tailor my educational outreach programs and activities to meet the needs and requests of the people of Calhoun County. I can’t do it all but I do all I can.”

It’s That Time! OK, I hope you have finished or in the process of making plans for the 3rd Annual Crawfish Festival and Cook-off. But with two weeks left you still have time to get a vendors spot or sign up to be in the cook-off and win the title of “WINNER” for 2015. The planning for this event is looking as if it’s going to be the biggest and best, so get your sunscreen and bring the family to King Fisher Park on May 2nd and spend the day. We will also be selling crawfish to the public –3 # crawfish, tater and corn for $20 per plate.

Then you can start planning on spending your time for Memorial Day at the park & beach on May 23rd. In the morning will be the Free Kids Fishing Tournament, ages 3-12 and after lunch there will be a Kite Contest for all ages. Come with snacks, blankets and chairs for an old fashioned, relaxing family day.

Give us a call 361-983-2898 or visit portoconnorchamber.com

New and Renewed Memberships:
Bits & Margie Braudaway
Bob Bonar/State Farm
Roger & Karen Krause
First National Bank
Beacon 44 R.V. Park
Beacon 44 Seafood
Victoria Electric Cooperative
Sonny’s Marine
Dolphin’s by the Bay R.V. Park
Froggie’s Bait & R.V.Park
Larry & Mary Vaughn
Mr. Doyle Adams
Stephen & Susan Gumina
Captain’s Quarters Motel & Suites
Arnold & Keiko Gordon
Carol A.Fox
Jason & Jennifer Hagan
Mary Ann Claiborne
Rust & Chyrl Brhlik
Capt. Tom Horbey
Warrior’s Weekend
Gary & Jane Madden
Coastal Boat Services
POC Rentals
The Dolphin Talk
Commissioner Kenny Finster
Unlimited Logos, Inc.

The next Chamber meeting will be Monday, May 11 at 6:30 p.m. at the Port O’Connor Community Center.

The pilots and volunteers who organized this year’s WOAW event in Albuquerque.

Back in 2011, I was introduced to the Fly It Forward Challenge™ which is hosted by Women Of Aviation Worldwide (WOAW). The challenge is a week-long event which is concentrated around March 8th, International Women’s Day. WOAW conducts multiple contests and challenges to engage the female population and the industry. The annual Fly It Forward™ Challenge rewards the aviation communities and individuals who conduct the most Fly It Forward™ flights during the week. Rules designed to ensure validity of data are strictly enforced to determine the winners among events and pilots registered for the competition.

The week addresses a key barrier to women’s participation in the industry’s technical fields, namely the lack of awareness of aviation and aerospace opportunities available to them. The number of females which comprise the pilot population is a shockingly low number — 6%!

We embraced the challenge and since then have introduced over 1,525 girls and ladies to aviation via their first flight in a private plane or helicopter at three different airports in Texas: Calhoun County Airport, Victoria Regional Airport and Palacios Municipal Airport.

This year we took the challenge to the Albuquerque International Sunport in New Mexico and had the most successful year thus far! In one week our pilots; Dianna Stanger, Ramona Cox, Bobbie Lind, Zack Herrera, Art Tangen, Lanny Tobbing and Darrick Coffield were able to deliver 712 documented flights to local girls and women at Del Sol Aviation. Guests also had the opportunity to meet commercial pilots, peruse industry booths, and thanks to the Air Force’s celebration of 100 years of female pilots in combat, explore an HC-130. Albuquerque is the first event location to count slightly more female Fly It Forward™ pilots than males since the beginning of the initiative.

Over 225 students from local schools and colleges attended the event along with 258 Girl Scouts from the New Mexico Trails troops.

“This was the first time that the Fly It Forward Challenge™ came to New Mexico and I’m really glad I took the opportunity to take some of my female students there so they could experience flying in the aircraft,” said Raquel Foxx, 8th grade teacher at Van Buren Middle School. “All of the people that were there helping my students were super helpful and very nice. If you have not had the opportunity to go and do this I would definitely recommend it.”

I’m very proud to tell you our team is of more than 40,000 who participated in female-centric events organized on four continents to celebrate the 5th annual Women Of Aviation Worldwide Week, March 3rd–8th.

The countless hours of preparation paid off as our team flew away with multiple wins! Dianna Stanger of Port Lavaca was awarded “Most Dedicated Female Pilot Worldwide”. She conducted 111 flights to introduce 441 girls and women. Since 2011, Stanger has introduced 900 girls and women to flying as part of the Fly It Forward™ Challenge and has won the title 3 times. Ramona Cox was awarded the first runner-up in the same category and introduced 164 girls and women to their first flight.

Winner of the Most Dedicated Female Pilot award, Dianna Stanger with Miss Santa Fe, Ashley Fresquez.

We also brought back the title of “Most Female Pilot Friendly Airport Worldwide” to the US. The title identifies the aviation community that introduces the most girls and women to flying in a small aircraft during the week and was awarded to the Albuquerque International Sunport. No American aviation community has qualified for this title since Frederick, MD, won the title in 2011.

I was very excited to win the Event Organizer Contest. The WOAW organizer contest is designed to reward the most outstanding organizers, specifically the individuals who take the lead in their community and spend countless hours organizing, motivating, nurturing, and rallying their communities are priceless but too often unsung. I was also awarded first runner-up in last year’s organizer contest and “Most Creative Aviation Advocate” in 2011.

At the end of the day making a difference is what truly matters; but winning a worldwide competition solidifies all of the dedication, time and effort so many people put into making this year’s event happen! We swept the titles from Canada, Australia and other locations around the world.

We are already planning 2016’s event, can you guess where we’re headed next?!?

Winner of the Event Organizer contest, Jasmine Gordon, with Girl Scout, Aislinn Granzin.

Clint & Barnacle

Staying Active As The Island Years Add Up

Greetings from the island everyone. Hope all of you are doing well and had a nice Easter with the family. The cats and I gave our thanks and then I stayed on the island, working in the garden and mowing two of the nine island cabin yards that I maintain out here for extra income. And with the warmer weather and rain, the grass has really taken off and is growing tall.

Last Fall I invested in a small rear engine riding mower for the larger yards, and it certainly has made life a little easier. I’m beginning to understand the effects that aging takes on a person’s aching joints and mobility, so any device that makes physical labor easier is indeed very welcome. I don’t have a problem with getting older and living longer, I just wish my rotund body was equally as excited. Oh well, this month makes nine years living full time on the island, and if I can coerce my body to cooperate, I’ll be shooting for 29 more.

I’m beginning to see the yearly Spring ritual of beautiful migrating birds making their brief stop-over on the island. A variety of vibrant and multi-colored sparrows, yellow-headed blackbirds and hummingbirds have already arrived, and more species will start arriving shortly. It reminds me of the type of birds you would see in a tropical oasis, seeming out of place for south Texas, but a very welcome sight.

Of course the dreaded Spring arrival of rattlesnakes has also began, with several already being killed and unfortunately many more lying in wait on the island. I can never stress enough to visitors and newcomers that March thru June is prime rattler months, and you must be vigilant in keeping a lookout for them with every step you take.

Well, that’s it from the island for now; everyone take care, have a great day and enjoy the nice Spring weather.