Port Aransas South Jetty (Port Aransas, Tex.), Vol. 37, No. 50, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 13, 2007 Page: 1 of 24
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Thursday, December 13, 2007
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hOkl ARANSAS TX 78373-4128
PCET ACANSAS
750
m,
Vol. 37 No. 50
Port Aransas, Texas on Mustang Island
Island Life
Subscribers on ice
The South Jetty subscription
list includes many Mid-
westerners caught in the
grips of an ice storm.
Page 7 A
Island Outdoors
Seeing things?
You're not seeing things.
That's a cat -- surfing.
Page 15A
Island Life
Come to the Cabaret!
Adults and kids take to the
PACT stage Friday and
Saturday, Dec. 14 and 15, in
a Christmas Cabaret.
Page 2A
Church
Church directory 4A
Pastor's pen 4A
Obituary
•Melvin 0. Schabiliion
Island Life
Columnists
•Tony Amos
•Kate Williams
For the birds
Island agenda
Law enforcement
Youth
.... 15A
.... 12A
.... 15A
2A
3B
School menus 12A
Sports
Basketball
Opinion
.8-1 OA
Dave McNeely ..
Steve Martaindale...,
Mary Henkel Judson
Cactus Pryor .....
Outdoors
,...3A
...3A
...3A
...3A
Fishing report ............... 14a
Tides & Weather 14A
Classified
Classified ads 4-8B
south jetty newspaper flu#
946-020
Christmas ~ island style
1 And I want a ...' STAFF PHOTO BV DAN PABKEn
Jacob Bender, 5, visits with Santa Claus at Fred Rhodes Memorial
Pavilion at Roberts Point Park as part of the Carolers Afloat and
Lighted Boat Parade Saturday. Santa, who was visited by dozens of
children and several adults, held a microphone so spectators could
hear the kids' requests. For more photos, see page 1B.
Sights of the season
Staff photo by Murray Judson
Spectators filled Roberts Point Park from one end of the Dennis Dreyer Municipal Harbor to the other
on Saturday, Dec. 8. They were there to participate in Carolers Afloat and Lighted Boat Parade, both
sponsored by the Port Aransas Chamber of Commerce-Tourist Bureau. At the end of the parade, Santa
Claus arrived via Coast Guard boat and, while their parents enjoyed hot chocolate, cookies and tamales
courtesy of the Coast Guard, their children talked to Santa Claus. More photos on Page 1B.
Ship's wake washes boat ashore
By Phil Reynolds
South Jetty reporter
They had a few flounder and had
gone to the breakwater at the end of
Turtle Cove to see if another of the flat
fish was lurking on the sand bottom,
when suddenly their boat was lifted
and swept ashore.
Carl Reatzch, of San Antonio, and
a Corpus Christi friend who asked not
to be identified, had been fishing on
the East Flats and decided to try for
just one more flounder at about 10:30
p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 5.
"We were pointed toward the
shore," Reatzch recalled, "and this
freighter went past outbound. It just
sucked all the water out and then sent
it back. It was about a six- or seven-
foot surge of water."
Reatzch said the water rise didn't
hit like a wall, but was more gradual.
He said the boat didn't overturn,
but was deposited right-side-up on
the patio of a home on Turtle Cove
Private Drive.
"At one time I considered getting
out and trying to hold the boat off the
rocks," he said. "Then it hit us, and I
gave up on that."
Reatzch said neither he nor his
fishing companion was hurt, except
for sore backs, "but that could just be
from being over 50 (years old)."
Mike Roberson of TowBoat U.S.,
who retrieved the boat Thursday
morning, said it would have been
easier to take a crane along the street
and lift the boat up, but he decided
against that course.
"The people who own the house
weren't home, and those cranes can
chop up a yard," he said. "I didn't
want to do that without somebody
being there."
Roberson said in the end, he laid
timbers between the boat and the
water and skidded it down to the edge
Unexpected company CouRTESV PH0T0 BV MlKE Roberson
A ship's wake sent this boat and two fishermen into the backyard
of a home at Turtle Cove on the Corpus Christi Ship Channel late
Wednesday, Dec. 5.
of the water.
Scraping the boat along the concrete
patio would have caused even more
damage, he said.
Roberson said he'd never heard
of another instance of a boat being
shoved ashore by the wake of a pass-
ing ship.
"If that happens, you'd think they'd
put a sign up there, warning boaters,"
Reatzch said.
While Reatzch said he didn't get the
name of the vessel that was passing
through the jetties, Ray Harrison of the
Port of Corpus Christi Harbormaster's
Office said the freighter Overseas
Cathy left Cargo Dock 8 at about
the right time to have been passing
through Port Aransas at 10:30 p.m.
He said the Overseas Cathy had a
draft of 22 feet when it left Corpus
Christi.
Reatzch estimated the damage to
Please see 'WAKE,' Page 5A
Round Up donations lagging
:::
bfiSStSU
"Please help now," said Round Up chairman
Kristin Barton concerning donations of toys for
infants through teens for the 10th annual Port
Aransas Emergency Services Toy Round Up.
"Giving has been much less this year," she
said, "and we desperately need money and toys
to make this drive successful."
The program helps lower income families pro-
vide Christmas toys for their children. Donations
will be accepted through Monday, Dec. 17.
Barton has no explanation for the lack of
donations but hopes it will turn around this
week, she said. "Usually people are extremely
generous, even giving bicycles and other big
items, but not this year, so far. Our tables are
pretty bare to date; please don't let these kids
down," she said.
Gifts for teens are needed as well, since people
tend to buy more for the little kids, according
to Barton.
Families that want to receive toys may pick up
applications at the EMS office or city hall.
Applications for toys must include proof of
residency in Port Aransas with a rent or utility
bill having a Port Aransas zip code and some
form of identification.
Parents will pick up the unwrapped toys
before Christmas along with wrapping paper
and tape.
New unwrapped toys may be dropped off at
the Port Aransas Police Station or EMS office at
705 W. Ave. A, the Family Center IGA at 418 S.
Alister St., city hall at 710 W. Ave. A, ValueBank
at 500 S. Alister St. and The University of Texas
at Austin Marine Science Institute administra-
tion office at 750 Channel View Drive.
Monetary donations may be left at city hall,
710 W. Ave. A, at the EMS office or mailed to
Please see 'TOY,' Page 5A
Slim pickings
Staff photo by Phil Reynolds
Port Aransas emergency workers say pickings will be slim for this year's Toy Round
Up if more people don't come forward with toys. Looking over the toys collected so far
are (from left) Danny Perkins, Mark Stokes, Sabrina Millard, Yancy Gillespie, Sandra
Flores, Lyn Gillespie, Steve Walker and Kristen Barton. Toys can still be dropped off
at the police station, EMS office, Family Center IGA, city hall, ValueBank and The
University of Texas Marine Science Institute administration office. Monetary donations
are welcome at city hall, the EMS office, or by mail to Port Aransas EMS, Attn: Toy
Round Up, 705 W. Ave. A, Port Aransas, TX 78373.
Sunday is last day to donate
food to VFW Care and Share
Sunday, Dec. 16, is the last day to donate so
that less fortunate families in Port Aransas will
have a Christmas dinner.
VFW Post 8976 volunteers hope to add to
current Care and Share donations by manning
a table at the Family Center IGA, 418 S. Alister
St., from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday,
Dec. 15 and 16.
Contributions may be put in a box at the Fam-
ily Center or dropped off at the post home, 311
N. Alister St. Cash contributions may be mailed
to Care and Share, c/o VFW Post 8967, P.O. Box
1447, Port Aransas, TX 78373, or dropped off
at the post home by the deadline.
Nonperishable food donations to complement
a Christmas dinner will be accepted. Hams
and turkeys and other perishables will be pur-
chased with cash donations. The collection of
nonperishable foods and cash used to purchase
Please see 'VFW,' Page 3A
CfBMNSe- FOREIGN
POF 8967
PORT ARrt,oAS,T!$
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Sharing because they care STAFF PHOTO BY PH,L RE,NOlDS
Members of VFW Post 8976 stand ready to receive donations of nonperishable food at
the Family Center IGA on Saturday, Dec. 8. The VFW's annual food drive helps families
celebrate ths holiday season by providing Christmas meals. The drive runs through
Saturday, Dec. 16. Standing from left are Johnny Martin Mathews, Jim Brannan, Roger
Kottke, Ken Yeakel, Ron Messerich and Sam Lawson. Janet Brannan is seated.
Hi
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Judson, Mary Henkel. Port Aransas South Jetty (Port Aransas, Tex.), Vol. 37, No. 50, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 13, 2007, newspaper, December 13, 2007; Port Aransas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth409990/m1/1/: accessed April 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Ellis Memorial Library.