At its February meeting, the Seadrift City Council officially set the date of the next City election as Saturday, May 9, with Early Voting to be held April 28 and 30. Three Council positions will be on the ballot. The deadline for filing for a position is February 27, 2015, at City Hall.

Spring Clean Up in Seadrift has been set for March 23 through 26.

Council voted to amend the City’s Culvert Ordinance. In order to ensure proper drainage, the public works director must inspect and approve all culverts, even if the property owner plans to do the installation himself. A Culvert Permit must be obtained from City Hall.

Chief Leonard Bermea gave the Police Report for January. There were 310 calls for service, ranging from information calls to calls resulting in arrest. 115 traffic stops resulted in 45 citations and 70 warnings. Seven reports were written: 1 DWLI; 1 possession of marijuana; 1 wreck; 1 theft of vehicle (recovered); 1 unlawful carry of weapon; 1 missing person (found); and 1 theft (cleared). There were a total of four arrests.

City Building Inspector Boyd Staloch reported five permits issued in January, totaling $96,125.00 in value.

Seadrift Municipal Court heard 45 new cases last month. Twenty-seven cases were closed and 63 cases are current. Fines collected were $3,142.00, of which $1,730.90 is kept by the City; $50.22 goes to the Municipal Court Sec. Fund; $66.96 to Municipal Court Tech Fund and $1,303.93 to the State.

Councilman Ranier Brigham gave the Animal Control Report. There were eight dogs picked up and impounded; 10 dogs picked up and returned to owners with warnings; one dog picked up and returned to owner with tickets; 19 verbal/writing warnings issued. Two dogs were found new homes. There was one call for animal cruelty (cleared) and three call outs for animals hit by cars. Eleven cats were trapped and impounded. Sixteen wild animals (possums, skunks, etc.) were trapped. There were two calls for cows in the street.

The next Council meeting will be held Tuesday, March 3, 7:00 p.m. at City Hall. All residents interested in the business of the City are encouraged to attend.

For more than 40 years, the month of March has been an exciting time for Boy Scouts of Troop 106 in Seadrift.  Scouts, their leaders, parents and others in the community have worked together to present a barbecue dinner and auction for the benefit of area boys who are learning to be good and responsible citizens by working their way through the Boy Scout program.  Months of preparation have resulted in an evening of good food, fun and fellowship for the Seadrift community.

But now, tradition has been interrupted. There will be no barbecue fundraiser for the Boy Scouts this year.

Although Troop 106 is still meeting and pursuing the goals of Scouting, membership is down. And although the leaders still do their best for the boys, they are getting older and thus not as physically active as they’d like to be. And although there are a few parents who are committed to helping their boys in any way they can, there are just not enough.

For these reasons, there will be no Barbecue Fund Raiser this year for Seadrift’s Troop 106.

The key to a productive Scouting program is parental involvement. Parents: please consider the importance of being involved in your child’s activities. If more parents could realize how important it is to instill the values of Scouting –  A Scout is: Trustworthy,  Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, and Reverent – not only could the Annual Barbecue resume next year, but our community would reap the benefits derived from having young men invested in the principles of Scouting.

For information on Boy Scouts of America, please contact Michael E. Ledbetter, Senior District Executive, at 361-816-3851.

A Few Fish Despite the Cold in Army Hole
by Mrs. Penny Young
Port Lavaca Wave, January 1959
from the collection of Mrs. R.H. Harrison
PORT O’CONNOR- A cold norther that hit Port O’Connor Saturday afternoon resulted in frozen pipes and water pumps throughout the town and temperatures were recorded as low as 21 degrees early Sunday morning. The anti-freeze in town was soon sold out, and Sgt. Elliott who runs the local Gulf Service Station reported that he had to go in town to replenish his stock before noon on Sunday.
A few brave souls dared the winds and cold and tried their luck at fishing in the Army Hole, with good results, if the fish brought in can be compared to the cold toes and fingers and the resultant runny noses. Prior to the cold spell, there was quite a run of intestinal flu cases around town, mainly effecting younger children.
Of these, probably the most serious was Steven Rankin, 4 year old son of Mr. and Mrs. Jim Rankin, who was in the Port Lavaca hospital for four days under 24 hour nursing surveillance. Stevie was brought home on New Year’s Eve and is now up around and doing fine. Also sick were four of the Mayhew children, three of the Earl Jones children, the Wilkinson children and numerous others.
New Year’s Eve was celebrated by the townspeople in various ways, although the traditional fire crackers, gun shooting and horn blowing was pretty much the same in all parts of town. A party for the younger children was held at Claude Cede’s Snack Shack and a bar-b-que was held at the Daniel and Dumas Seafoods.
Attending the bar-b-que were Mr. and Mrs. Pat Zefero and daughters of Victoria, Sgt. and Mrs. Bill Young and son, Mr. and Mrs. Tony Apostalo and daughters, Mr. and Mrs. Jim Rankin, Mr. and Mrs. Bill Atkins and son of Port Lavaca, Mr. and Mrs. Alex Apostalo, Mr. and Mrs. Bill Strain, Mr. and Mrs. Tony Apostalo, Airman and Mrs. O’Neal and daughter, and Jimmy Apostalo.
An open house and dancing was also held at Stryker’s Cafe and a large number of people attended this gathering at the only place in town which was open for the coming of 1959. Mrs. R.B. Madden, Mrs. C.W. Goode, Mesdames Phenie and Gussie Hawes watched the old year out while playing canasta at the home of Mrs. Gussie Hawes. At midnight, the ladies stopped the game long enough to welcome in the New Year by shooting a few fire works and then continued playing until well into 1959. Mrs. Terry Carroll served hot doughnuts and tea to the partiers.
A large number of local people and their friends attended a New year’s dance at the Westerner in Victoria. Among these were Mrs. Rita Breedan, Billy Ragusin, Ronnie Brown, Mr. Tom Gould, Mr. Eddie Gonzales Jr., Misses Cecelia, Rosalie and Mary Evea Saenz, all of Port O’Connor. Mr. and Mrs. J.D. Ramos and family of Houston, who were visiting Mrs. Lola Ramos over the New Year’s holidays, also attended the dance, and visitors from Port Isabelle who attended were Miss Mary Helen Ragusin, Miss Catherine Ann Ragusin, the Misses Jesse, Virginia Lee and Leslie Stringo and Jeff Lang.
The St. Joseph Altar Society held their annual banquet on Sunday night at the Parish Hall. The banquet menu consisted of baked ham, salads, green beans, sweet potatoes, relishes, pie and coffee. Those attending the outing were Mr. and Mrs. Sam Day, Mr. and Mrs. Pat Hawes, Mr. and Mrs. Boots Striedel, Mr. and Mrs. Allan Berger, Mr. and Mrs. Buck Hawes, Willard Day, Mr. and Mrs. P.B. Munsch, Mesdames Phenie and Gussie Hawes, Miss Barbara Munsch, Mr. and Mrs. Leslie McDonald, Mrs. C.W. Goode, C.W. O. and Mrs. Terry Carroll of Panama City, Florida, Father Jerome Burnet of Port Lavaca and Father Cyril Kuelme of San Antonio. After dinner, the men as well as the ladies enjoyed several games of dominoes and “42”.