Thank you, Mr. Jim “Hoop” Hooper, Proprietor of Hurricane Junction.

At our monthly Friends of the Port O’Connor Library Board meeting in November, we all presented a Certificate of Appreciation to Hoop. Once again he sponsored the annual chili/gumbo cook-off in October as a benefit to help facilitate the building of the new POC library and learning center. In addition, Hoop wants to give special recognition to the Redfish Rodeo for that organization’s generous donation to the H-100 Club, which Hooper has formed to help with local community activities and needs. In turn, a sum from H-100 was donated by Hooper to “Friends!” Much appreciation is due to everyone who made the cook-off a fun, tasty, and successful event!

Brooklyn Redmond donating Doll Bones to Noemi Cruz and Shirley Gordon at the Port O’Connor Library

Student Advisory Board members have been staying busy with monthly morning meetings in Mrs. Ochoa’s room. In November, they enjoyed a quick breakfast provided by Mrs. Doggett and then headed to the annual Scholastic Book Fair in the PO’C Elementary School Library.

The students grinned with excitement as they scanned the book fair shelves for books to donate to the Port O’Connor Branch Public Library. Each Student Advisory Board member chose one book, so the selections showcase a variety of interests and reading levels from Kindergarten through 7th grade. Friends of the Port O’Connor Library purchased these books, and now local library patrons can enjoy them as well.

After school on Wednesday, December 3, the Student Advisory Board met at the Port O’Connor Branch Public Library to present their selections to Port O’Connor Branch Librarian Shirley Gordon and County Library Director Noemi Cruz. Their faces lit up when they saw the recently added Christmas decorations which made the library even more inviting to these young book lovers. Of course, students had a good time browsing the library shelves, recommending books to each other and discovering new ones.

The Student Advisory Board and Friends of the POC Library hope that local young readers will enjoy these new books:

Undersea Creatures: Extreme Encounters with Aquatic Beasts by Scholastic Inc. – Nicholas Ragusin – Kindergarten

Star Wars: Yoda’s Secret Missions by Scholastic Inc. – Luke Doggett – 1st Grade

Puppy Powers: A Wishbone Come True by Kristin Earhart – McKenna Guevara – 2nd Grade

I Survived: The Nazi Invasion, 1944 by Lauren Tarshis – Kyle Doggett – 3rd Grade

Princess Ponies: A Magical Friend by Chloe Ryder – Leah Lucey – 4th Grade

Crush by Gary Paulsen – Amy Resendiz – 5th Grade

The House of Hades by Rick Riordan – Sarah Doggett – 5th Grade

Doll Bones by Holly Black – Brooklyn Redmond – 6th Grade
Whatever After: Bad Hair Day by Sarah Mlynowski – Carly Rosenboom – 7th Grade

The final Bunco Celebration of the year met Tuesday, December 2, 2014, and hostessing this event were Shirley Gordon and MaryAnn Claiborne. This evening celebrating the start of our Christmas Season meant a “covered dish” occasion, and on display were appetizers of all kinds, a salad or two, and lots of chocolate when it came to desserts. And after a slightly noisy hour or two of sampling and talking, play started.

This time our winner of Most Games was Evelyn Lewis; and if you read this column about the Bunco group, you will see that Evelyn has a tendency to WIN each time. Second most games was Susan Raybon and Sally Jones brought up the rear with the least winning games. Most Bunco winner was Sally Ragusin with Ann Pesek following closely at second; and Paige Satterfield was the winner of the Floating Bunco award. And not to be outdone was MaryAnn Claiborne with the “Booby” prize. Ending the evening were the distribution of gifts that each member brought, and there were a few surprises and some very welcome gifts.

The next meeting of the Bunco Group will be Tuesday, January 6, 2015 , and our hostesses will be Diane Cooley and Judy Overton. If you wish to attend this meeting, please contact Shirley Gordon at the Library for further information.

For several weeks, I have been battling a bad case of pneumonia, which definitely could have interfered with my plans for December. But Henry and I will once again spend several weeks in Louisiana, primarily in New Orleans, and as this is a City that I dearly love, I can hardly wait. Additionally, reservations at Antoine’s for an exciting Revillion meal await. Of course, January means not only diet but a BIG AND UNSHAKABLE BUDGET!

And don’t forget, January also means a return of a Gumbo Cookoff! Sponsored once again by Hoop of the Hurricane, this should be an event definitely worth seeing and taking a part of; and the “Big Man” himself is one of the entries! HMMMMMMMM!

With all the furor about being “politically correct” currently, I’d really love to hear from my readers about what the Christmas Season was like for them as a child. I grew up in a dead-end canyon in the Carmel Valley of California; we had 10-15 Acres of land and an old house that often had to use a fireplace for heat and an old oil stove for cooking; that is, when the power went down. But Christmas and all the days leading up it were sensational. Shopping at Woolworth’s in town with the money saved from chores to buy a candy dish for my parents, which they still used till their deaths; decorating a tree that was selected and selected and selected and finally decided upon by vote; using many old and older decorations on the tree that had been in my Mother’s family for years; making fondant candy with my Mother; hanging a stocking over the fireplace; sadly tho, if the nights were cold, the contents in the stocking had a tendency to melt. Listening to Bing Crosby on the radio after attending Midnight Mass and returning home to help my Dad put together toys for my younger brothers … these are my remembrances of the days preceding Christmas. But, then came Christmas Day! When my younger sister and I could no longer sleep but were up at 5am to check out the tree and stockings and presents; all to the total delight of my parents at that early hour? Always, as a young girl, there was a doll under the tree, replete with a dazzling new outfit: a skating dress with the doll poised on a mirror to reflect an ice rink; a wedding dress of satin and lace with a beautiful bouquet and veil; and one year, a spectacular ball gown. It took me several years before I realized that my mother had kidnapped my previous doll for several weeks and then outfitted her in a totally new dress with a new wig and hairdo too. And then given her back to me! And that was why I fell asleep in December listening to the rattling of the old sewing machine! One year my father had made a doll wardrobe-armoire to hold the dolls’ dresses with hangers on a rack. A luscious and huge breakfast was then served by my mother with lots of fruit and ham and eggs and sweet rolls too, but the stockings had to be checked first. And, then, following breakfast, all those presents that we had surreptitiously shaken and pinched for several weeks were finally opened, which always contained at least a new book and a sweater. Later in the day, visiting and exchanging some gifts of freshly baked cobblers or sweet rolls or a loaf of bread with our neighbors in the Canyon, all wishing each other a very Merry Christmas, were the events of the day.

Where has our Life gone?

And so, I wish to all our readers, a Very MERRY CHRISTMAS and a delightful New Year, 2015!

I value the input and comments from any of the readers; please contact me at the following address if you have an event to discuss or not. Or just want to tell me how far I’ve erred!

kubeckasue@yahoo.com
361 798-0560

Merry Christmas!
Thanks to all you readers for the many years that I’ve bugged the daylights out of you with my incredible prose: for reading about the service club for 11-12 years; for reading the bit re the library; and finally,  my footprints column.   Hope I haven’t bored you all too much. But I’ve loved writing each of them!
Sue Kubecka

for the 2nd Six Weeks of the School Year

Perfect Attendance

1st Row: Audrey Rhoads, Landy Resendiz, Abygail Resendiz, Pryncess Few, Remington Eure, Bradley Eure

2nd Row: Lyric Lopez, Justin Gossett, Adamariz Zuniga, Jayce Simpson, Kyndra Carriles, Landin Rhoads, Leland Carriles, Grace Brown

3rd Row: Dylan Ramirez, Cody Branch, Mackenzie Smith, Keegan Short, Hagen Rhoads, Kayla Resendiz, Adrian Ramos, Justice Epley

4th Row: Shayla Teel, Harley Albrecht, Shane Branch, Jayden VanDusen, Damian Guzman, Adalia Gossett, Matthew Stapp, Sergio Sanchez

5th Row: Madison Stringo, Amy Resendiz, Tarah Munsch, Anthony Luna, Jessie Lashley, Maddie Hawes

A Honor Roll

1st Row:  Jaydin Rhoads, Tanner Pittman, Lyric Lopez, Alexavier Lopez, Luke Doggett, Blake Bowman, Cole Spicak, Anthony Flores

2nd Row:  Rylie Ragusin, Mackenzie Smith, Kyle Doggett, Hagen Rhoads, Aiden McClelland, McKenna Guevara, Justice Epley, Maddix Delgado

3rd Row:  Shayla Teel, Matthew Stapp, Alexzaria Lopez, Shane Branch

AB Honor Roll

1st Row: Keegan Short, Christopher Richter, Kayla Resendiz , Jackie Gutierrez, Antonio Gloria, Jenna Branch, Stephen Bowman

2nd Row: Leah Lucey, Damian Guzman, Adalia Gossett, Ashton Albrecht, Ayden Brown, Cody Branch

3rd Row: Amy Resendiz, Tarah Munsch, Athony Luna, Sarah Doggett
(Not pictured: Landin Rhoads)