We have passed out 37 Thanksgiving Food Baskets for this year and will be passing out Christmas Food Baskets on December 23. We are able to do this only because of the blessings of the Lord and all the churches working together. Also, we have a lot of friends who have assisted us in this goal of feeding the needy in our community. If I fail to list you, I apologize in advance.

Women’s Service Club
Formosa workers
Lion’s Club
Scouts
4-H Club
Baptist Youth Group
Josie’s
First National Bank
HEB

And many individual donors, some from local friends and others from out-of-town friends, including funds “In Memory of Connie Wattles”.

Again, we can only accomplish what you help us do – so thank you and please know that the Lord is blessing you for giving to the poor!

Chairman,
Pastor Joane McDonough

These amazing volunteers are just a few of those who donated money, time and food items to the POC Benevolence Fund Thanksgiving Baskets. 37 were given for Thanksgiving and another 27 or so more will be given this Christmas. If you have items or funds to donate, drop them off at any church in POC. They will go to families in need this season. You will find joy in the giving just like these did. Thanks to all who helped!

This Christmas I’d like to make this column one of positivity and hope. World events as ever challenge us as people, but progress is made through light and love rather then gloom.

For me personally like many others, the best Christmas memories come from childhood, a time that fades into the distance with each passing holiday season.

Beyond the toys long lost and candy long eaten, there is an aura of joy and contentment seldom matched and fondly remembered.

For many it was also our first taste of sweet temptation, counting down the days till Christmas, knowing there would be no school and other changes to the status quo. As children, we seemed to relish this change in routine, it meant having the chance to experience new things and have all of the important people in your life come together in one place.

Personally my favorite part as a child was seeing all the wrapped presents under the tree the days leading up to Christmas. Not through the greedy eyes of an adult but the simple and humble eyes of a child. Eyes that only knew the tantalizing mystery behind each hidden item and the possible adventures that lay within.

Being half Lithuanian on my mother’s side, it also meant we got to eat Kugela, a sort of stuffing made with potatoes rather then bread, with bacon and onions added. The dish was usually served in my house with sour cream, but now, as then, I had a love affair with ketchup.

The dish was delicious but time consuming, requiring whole bags of potatoes to be peeled and shredded with a hand shredder.

However, in this case, the effort was more than worth it in the end as the result is like a potato pancake stuffing the likes of which you have never tasted before!

Then there are the memories that endure in our minds because of odd circumstances. One Christmas when I was still petty young I went with my mom to get her hair done on Christmas Eve. I got sick all over myself inside the parlor as the sickness just seemed to appear out of nowhere and to this day I still remember the embarrassment while they washed my shirt in the beauty parlor’s washer/dryer set.

To be positive about it, that was probably the only time in my life I will be sitting shirtless with three attractive beauticians, but at least I can say it did happen at some point.

Another memory that sounds awful but ended up being better then expected was the one random year a snow storm took out the power at our house in Chicago because of heavy snow and ice cover bringing down a power line (something no one in Texas should worry about happening to them this year).

Despite having no power to illuminate our Christmas, we made the best of it and like many instances when we are willing to turn off our technological devices and pay attention to the people around us, it had excellent results (and let’s hear it for stoves that don’t require electricity).

Christmas should be a time for fond memories and also about making new ones, although they may never quite match up with the Christmases of our youth.

Always remember this holiday season to carry that good spirit with you throughout the rest of the fast approaching New Year.

Happy Holidays!

“God’s Promise Fulfilled” was the theme of the program presented by Seadrift Community Choir in their 25th year of sharing the music of Christmas with the Seadrift community. Traditionally, an all female choir, this year the choir included men’s voices, and special selections sung in the Vietnamese language by Rocky Le. The choir is under the direction of Nancy Childress.

Surely as we approach the end of the year, if ever there is a time to reflect, it would be now. Google “reflection”. There are at least two meanings that occur. The first would be to see a reflection as in a mirror. The second is to think deeply about a subject. Both of those would seem to apply.

The first meaning gives us the ability to look backward on the year. There we might find our triumphs and our not so triumphant times, our joys and our sorrows. These are the events that stick out in our minds. Some may be worthy of keeping in our scrapbook of memories. Many are probably just the events of daily life which are not to be forgotten, and yet not to be dominant as we move forward.

Some are lessons to be learned and followed. They may be to be followed by their absence, or as ways to act in the future. As we live, we can learn. The choices are ours to make.

If we manipulate the mirror, we might also look ahead as well as back. Immediately after the old year ends, a new one begins, and for most some kind of plan or resolution for our intended actions in the New Year can be made. This is probably more prevalent for the youthful folk. As one get older, the intent seems to gravitate to just taking one more step of our path along the way of life.

The second meaning, that of deeply thinking, is somewhat more problematic. It is a part of many philosophies dating back to Plato and Socrates. Folks have been asking in many different ways what meaning is there to life other than survival. Some point to God and some point in the other direction. I tend to agree with G.K. Chesterton who said, “ If there were no God there would be no atheists.”

However, the point is we each should think of how we act and why we act the way we do. Did we do our best when our best was required? If we did our best, then what else could we have done? Was that irritating action really worth all the fuss we raised? Did Mother Nature really single us out for that downpour?

No one but us can answer those questions. Well, maybe the Mother Nature one could be answered. But, many of us remember “it’s not nice to fool Mother Nature. The point is, we can take the opportunity here at the end of the year to reflect on those first few kinds of questions, If we do that, we may find answers.

It doesn’t take much time to reflect on any of the subjects mentioned in this little essay. But I suggest that a little reflection just might make the years behind and the year ahead a little better for you.

At our December meeting, we welcomed two new clover kids into our club, Antonio and Elanah.

Our sewing group is meeting again to make more kennel blankets to donate to animals in need.

POC 4-H and the First Baptist Youth Group are going to team-up again to help out our community with another food drive. Thank you all for being so generous!

Our President, Justin Munsch, had a great time at his career development and leadership conference in San Antonio. He spent the day with the DPS and San Antonio Police Department at their training facility learning about law enforcement careers.

We have also decided to start a photography project! We will be taking pictures around POC and having a monthly photo contest for our club members.

Some of our members are also starting to participate in archery and shooting sports. We wish them luck and hope to have good reports on their meets soon.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Intercoastal 4-H!