At their December Bunco gathering and Christmas Party, the Ladies of the “POC Bunco Group”donated $700.00 to the POC Community Center Association to help in the completion of Phase 2 of the “POC Community Center Beautification Project”, which includes kitchen updates, new flooring, painting, and new chairs for the Community Center. Pictured below the Ladies present Diane Cooley of the POC Community Center Association Board with a Christmas card containing their donation.
Merry Christmas to all!!

Ann Pesek

“Did you Know?”

Dear readers of the Dolphin Talk, did you know that one of the reasons that you enjoy reading the Dolphin Talk is because of Ann Pesek? She has been the Dolphin Talk proofreader for over 20 years!

Did you know that this sweet lady is famous for her banana pudding? And Ann says, “You can have the recipe if you come and visit.”

Did you know that Ann has had a colorful history of being a LVN, EMTP (that’s emergency medical technician paramedic)? Ann was the first in her group of nurses to be trained as an endoscopy technician in the early 70’s in Kentucky. For about ten years Ann worked as an EMT in Port O’Connor. We salute her service! Did you know that this talented lady plays the piano and the organ for the First Baptist Church in Port O’Connor?

Ann has worked as a caregiver for the elderly, was a desk clerk at the Captain’s Quarters for many years and did housekeeping for several Port O’Connor residences.

Ann’s History

Ann and her family are very interested in finding more information about Ann’s dad Ralph Muzny. You see, he was one of many orphans who rode the Orphan Train and was adopted by a family in Caldwell, Texas. You can google “Orphan Train” to find out more about this mass migration of children in America.

Ann was born to Ralph and Elsie Muzny in 1941 in Chriesman, Texas which is about 50 miles west of Bryan, Texas where Ann grew up.

The adventure of a lifetime happened in 1980, the year that Ann and her husband Ray moved to Port O’Connor. The plan was to bring their restored Cabin Cruiser from Indiana all the way down to Port O’Connor by water. They almost ran over a dam. They barely missed running onto a barge. They ran aground and sustained damage to their boat. It took them eighteen days to get to their destination.

Commenting about living in Port O’Connor Ann says, “I have had an immense love for Port O’Connor since Day 1. I felt accepted by the few that lived there at that time. I fished for a solid year when I first came to Port O’Connor.”

Ann has four children, three girls and one boy, four grandchildren, and four great grandchildren.

Ann’s Faith

Speaking from her heart Ann said, “The personal relationship (with God) is so much more important to me than just the years of my church attendance. Church attendance helped bring me to this relationship.” Concerning prayer this is what Ann had to say: “My communications with God have strengthened me and prepared me for whatever is on life’s path.”

Amen, Ann!

Seadrift Community Choir at the Seadrift Christmas Celebration

 
The Seadrift Community Choir kicked off the first of their series of programs to be held at different area churches, Trinity Shores, and the Seadrift School December 2nd at the Seadrift Civic Center. Songs of Christmas cheer will ring out this Christmas in all the venues they chose to be part of! Our hats off to the dedication of everyone in the Seadrift Community Choir! It’s been 33 years of providing these songs of Christmas cheer to to the public!                              -Tanya DeForest

In early December a team led by Dr. Philippe Tissot, Chair for Coastal Artificial Intelligence at the Conrad Blucher Institute (CBI) TAMU-CC placed several temperature monitors throughout Espiritu Santo Bay. The sensors were placed as part of the research conducted by the National Science Foundation AI Institute for Research on Trustworthy AI in Weather, Climate, and Coastal Oceanography (AI2ES). The sensors will collect water and air temperatures throughout the winter and the data will be used to develop and test a new AI method to predict cold stunning events.

“An artificial intelligence based warning system has been in operation for the Laguna Madre since 2009.” said Tissot. “But building such a system further north along the Texas coast has so far not been possible.” He and his students teamed up with POC locals, Brigid and Allan Berger of the Mid-Coast Sea Turtle Rescue to select the locations throughout Espiritu Santo Bay.

“Providing advance notice of a cold stunning event is very helpful to all involved, including to time the stoppage of coastal activities, for agencies and volunteers to be ready for rescues and rehabilitation,” explained Dr. Tissot. “Espiritu Santo Bay was selected to test a new method where predictions are based on far away TCOON stations.”

TCOON (Texas Coastal Ocean Observation Network) stations provide real-time information for water level, air and water temperature, and barometric pressure. These graphs are available on the TidesandCurrent.NOAA.gov/map website and can be helpful to fisherman and boaters. In Port O’Connor the TCOON station is at the end of the little jetty. The Seadrift station is outside the marina.

To place the sensors at the optimal water depth, undergraduate student, Christian Duff entered the chilly December water donning a wetsuit. PhD student, Miranda White, and Florence Tissot prepared, tested, and documented each of the monitors before and after the sensors’ placement.

In his final remark, Tissot said hopefully, “We are now crossing our fingers for the majority of the sensors to survive the winter and we are looking forward to a field trip early summer to retrieve the data loggers.”

For more information about the Mid-Coast Sea Turtle Rescue and other efforts by San Antonio Bay Partnership contact MidCoastSeaTurtleRescue@gmail.com -Brigid Berger