AA meets each Saturday night at 7 p.m. at First Baptist Church Fellowship Hall in Port O’Connor.
POC Lions Club meets the second Wednesday of each month, 4:00 p.m. at Port O’Connor First National Bank
Seadrift Chamber of Commerce meets the third Thursday of each month, 6:00 p.m. at First National Bank meeting room, Seadrift
Commissioner’s Court meets the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of each month at 10 a.m., 1st Floor of the Court House, Port Lavaca.
Crossroads Astronomy Club meets at 7:00 p.m., third Mondays, at U of H, Victoria, Room 223 info: wes81461@yahoo.com   935-2016
Calhoun County Quilt Guild meets the first Wednesday of each month at 9:30 a.m. at the Fairgrounds Exhibit Building.
Calhoun County Democratic Club meets the last Thursday of the month at IBC Bank, Port Lavaca, at 5:30 p.m.
Calhoun County Republican Club meets first Monday of each month 6:00 p.m. at the Episcopal Church Community Room, 213 E. Austin, Port Lavaca.
CASA (Christians Against Substance Abuse) meets each Thursday from 7-8 p.m. Call 361-652-7451 for meeting place.
Friday Night Youth every Friday except the first Friday of each month, 7:00 to 10:00 p.m., Fisherman’s Chapel, Port O’Connor
First Baptist Youth Group (Port O’Connor) meets every Wednesday night from 6:00-7:00 p.m. Grades 6th – 12th; Team Kids Grades 1-5
Port O’Connor Cemetery Association meets 3rd Thursday of each month at POC Community Center
Ladies Bible & Book Study is held every Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. at First Baptist Church Fellowship Hall in Port O’Connor
VFW Post 4403 meets first Tuesday of each month. 552-3886
Open Mon-Friday; Closed Weekends R. Guitierrez 210-872-1198

Thurs., Feb. 26    Winter Lecture Series “Sharks” 1:00-2:00 pm    Port O’Connor Community Center

Thurs., Feb. 26    Democrats Club 6:00 pm        GI Forum, 2786 W. Main, Port Lavaca

Fri., Feb. 27    Colonial Waterbird Monitoring Training 10:00-12:00    2455 W. Maple St., Port O’Connor

Feb. 28; March 1    Texas Independence Celebration Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site

March 2        Texas Independence Day

Tues., March 3    Texas Independence Day Declaration Reading Noon        Calhoun County Museum

Tues., March 3    “The Snow Queen” Auditions 6:00 pm        Port Lavaca Main Street Theatre

Tues., March 3    Seadrift City Council 7:00 pm        Seadrift City Hall

Tues., March 3    Bunco 7:00 pm        Port O’Connor Community Center Back Room

Wed., March 4    Justice Court Open House 10:00 – 2:00    103 W. Dallas, Seadrift (old library)

Thurs., March 5    Port O’Connor Service Club 10:00 am    POC Community Center

Thurs., March 5    The Amazing Journey of Migratory Birds 1:00 pm        Port O’Connor Library

Thurs., March 5    Warrior’s Weekend Volunteer Meeting 6:00 pm        POC First Baptist Fellowship Hall, 5th & Jefferson

Thurs., March 5    “The Snow Queen” Auditions 6:00 pm        Port Lavaca Main Street Theatre

Fri., March 7    “The Snow Queen” Auditions 10:00 am    Port Lavaca Main Street Theatre

Sun., March 8    Daylight Saving Time Begins Set your clocks ahead one hour.

Sat., March 14    Arts & Crafts Festival starts 9:00 am    Port O’Connor Community Center Pavilion

Thurs., March 19    Port O’Connor Service Club 10:00 am    POC Community Center

Sat., March 21    St. Patty’s Dance 8:00-midnight    VFW Hall, Port Lavaca 361-271-0839

March 23-26    Seadrift Spring Clean-Up

Donnie Klesel of Port O’Connor finds himself featured on the cover of an international magazine.

When local businessman Donnie Klesel received his December issue of Angling International he was surprised by the cover picture of himself featured as the custom rod builder for the yearly issue. Angling International is the world’s largest issue of the global angling trade stories and products on the current markets.

The magazine covers countries like New Zealand, Aspen, China, UK, Europe and of course USA. Donnie Klesel along with his wife and sons, who own a local sporting goods store in Port O’Connor, was chosen to represent the rod building market with an ad from the company “Mudhole” , the largest rod building supplier in the US.

Donnie has been building rods for almost eight years in Port O’Connor and has expanded the business from a rod shop to the business it is today as Port O’Connor Rod & Gun. The store features high quality products not found in larger box stores and personal service to help with all the fishing and hunting products, including service on equipment and, of course, custom fishing rods.

As I got into my old car, (my old car and me have a lot in common, we both were much nicer to look at in days gone by) – but, that’s life! – I drove away from the “little house on the prairie” where I live now and got on the Port O’Connor road to Seadrift. I passed by “Dead Man’s Mott” that took my mind way back in time.

I talk to Mabel on the phone and she tells me her dad, Mr. Strane, was a carpenter and he did build a “wooden coffin” for the Hobo that hitched a ride on the old steam locomotive train that came to Seadrift Depot, then went on to Port O’Connor many years ago.

This Hobo got off at the Seadrift Depot, but decided to walk on to Port O’Connor. It was a very cold day in January, just like today, New Year’s Day, January 1st, 2015.

The Hobo was very cold and gathered brush and built a nice, warm fire under “Dead Man’s Mott”. He did fall asleep too close to his warm fire and his clothes caught on fire and burned him so bad he died.

Mr. Strane built him a wooden coffin and the City of Seadrift buried him in “potters field” in the Seadrift Cemetery. His bones are there today.

I drove on toward town and as I passed the “old Seadrift Depot”, where it is today, my mind wandered back in time again to when the Dave Williams and Mary Alma Wooldridge family lived north of town on the “old Tom Dowda” place with their seven kinds: J.D., Geraldine, Wallace, David, Sugarfoot, Dennis and Donald.

We did not have a car, so when we went anywhere we walked down the railroad track to “tent picture shows” in town – “Rin Tin Tin, the Wonder Dog”, Hoot Gibson and Roy Rogers and his horse.

We passed the Depot where the freight wagons there had hobos sleeping on top of them. Seadrift was full of hobos looking for work for a handout of food. Most people did give them a small job to get some food to eat. They did get a few hens out of a chicken house now and then, but, no big deal. A few people, old timers, were not very well fed back in that day and time either.

Today “street people” around here are not called “hobos”; they are called “homeless people” and are given clothes and a place to sleep and food at the Salvation Army in Victoria.

The Salvation Army is a good place to donate money if you have any money to donate.

By the way, maybe the old Depot here could use a few donations also, so it can open and be useful to a few “old timers” that are left. They, like the hobos and old fishermen, are fast fading away.

A Texas Parks & Wildlife Department video, opened the new “Your Area’s Knowledge” Winter Lecture Series with stunning photography, wide sweeping aerial footage of our beloved coast and covered an array of informative topics including the impact of historical and recent hurricanes, coastal fisheries monitoring & replenishing efforts, water quality & sampling and the projected impact of climate change to our natural resources here on the Gulf. A nice number of winter Texans as well as Port O’Connor residents braved the blustery north wind on Thursday, Jan 8th to attend the kick-off of the series and were rewarded with a warm welcome & lively discussion. The lecture series is provided through a collaborative effort of the Port O’Connor Chamber of Commerce, Texas Sea Grant and the Calhoun County Extension Office in the backroom of the Port O’Connor Community Center each Thursday at 1:00 pm through the end of February. We hope that you will join in on these fun and informative sessions. For those who missed the showing of The State of the Gulf: America’s Sea video you can view it in segments or in its entirety at http://www.texasthestateofwater.org/video.php

Your Area’s Knowledge Winter Lecture Series

Thursdays 1:00 pm POC Community Center Backroom

Jan 15: “Oysters”—Nicole Pringle, TPWD

Jan 22: “Local Watershed Information”—Stephanie Shelly, GBRA

Jan 29: “Why Water Matters to the Bay (inflows)”—Leslie Hartman, TPWD

Feb 5: TBD — Madeliene Cantu, NRCS

Feb 12: “Seagrasses”—Colt Cook, TPWD

Feb 19: “The Invasive Lionfish”—Leslie Hartman, TPWD

Feb 26: TBD — Aaron Adams & Andy Gosnell, TPWD

Seadrift Volunteer Fire Department Fundraiser

Saturday, January 31 – 6:00 p.m.

Seadrift Fire Station, 102 E. Dallas Ave.

Chili Dinner • Open House • Bake Sale

Chili Dinner tickets are $6.00. Tickets available for sale from your volunteer fire fighters or at the door.

This benefit is to help raise money to assist your fire department with maintenance, repairs and supplies to better serve you and our community.