Yesterday the Island Holiday Market took place at the newly spruced-up Art Center. The idea is for local artists to have a venue to offer their art. The holiday season is a perfect time and the New Art Center the perfect location.

The outside porch is filled with gift opportunities.

Inside are a number of tables of artwork.

Another view of the tables and shoppers.

While taking photos, I came upon Jo Ann who told me a wonderful story about her grandson Gray. The family lives in Glen Rose, Texas which is near Fort Worth about 400 miles from Port Aransas. Gray loved to visit Port Aransas, and when he heard about the hurricane, he gathered together his ball card collection and offered to sell them to help.  What transpired was the adoption of two fourth grade classes here in Port Aransas. Gray plans to have a gift for each child. His grandmother Jo Ann and his Aunt Tammy were in Port Aransas telling Gray’s story.

The card below explains this heartwarming story further, and I’m sure the fourth-grade children of Port Aransas will be happier as a result of Gray’s compassion.

At the same time, the Market was underway the grade sixth through twelve student art show which included entrants from Port Aransas, Flour Bluff, and Seashore Middle Academy were on display.

Here is a representative look at the entrants.

Another view of the competition.

One of the first place awards

Another first  for a Ninth grader

A Seashore Academy

This was a second place but made me smile, so I put it in. The art produced by these students was inspiring. I hope you enjoyed the view this week.

A group of volunteers from Kyle, Texas decided they would come down to Port Aransas and set up a Thanksgiving dinner as a way to help.  The reason for doing so, as explained by Deborah the organizer, “Our hearts are with Port Aransas.” So she began to organize a Thanksgiving dinner for all Port Aransas residents. She made a point in telling me that she never asked for volunteers. All her help came from those who wanted to be a part of something beautiful. All the volunteers live in the greater Austin area which is a three and one half hour drive to Port Aransas.

As you enter the cafeteria there is a place to fill out a name tag. This one idea had everyone feeling that they knew everyone else.

Here are some folks beginning to arrive.

More arrivals

There was ham, turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, sweet potatoes, green beans, and corn. Notice the smiles of the volunteers

Of course a roll too.

The tables were set with festive decorations.

There were pies, cookies, and cakes for dessert along with a big pot of coffee.

This is the wonderful family from Kyle that took it upon themselves to reach out with full hearts and share the joy of Thanksgiving with a town in need. Many thanks to you all.

This is a shot of the cafeteria from the outside.

I wanted to put in a photo of the H. G. Olsen Elementary School which is right next door to the cafeteria to give you an idea of how much planning it must have taken to secure a venue for the Thanksgiving event.

Here are a few of the temporary buildings now known as Olsen Elementary School South Campus.

As a footnote to this story, I was at the hardware store after taking the photos. While I was there two meals from the Thanksgiving event were delivered to the two employees working. Both were overwhelmed by the generosity of the folks from Kyle Texas.

This week I thought it would be nice to talk about the support that Port Aransas has been getting from other places around the nation. This week we expect the arrival of a truckload of supplies from Farmington, Minnesota. Farmington residents started a bucket collection in which buckets were filled with donated items.

Here is a photo of the buckets and the caption tells you more.

The truck arrives on Monday after a 20-hour drive and is loaded with 500 buckets, lumber, windows, and doors.

Last week a former resident of Port Aransas got all his Austin friends together, and they loaded a semi with used furniture and household items.

Here is a shot of the semi and some of the items

Those are computer monitors and some office furniture.

Another photo of more items. The truck was unloaded, and people were free to come and pick up what they needed.

In a house that was completely gutted a donation station has been set up. The above photo shows available healthcare items.

Water and cleaning supplies.

Human and pet food.

Shoes.

I had to take a close-up to show that Toms donated some shoes to Port Aransas residents.

Always heartbreaking to realize the little children are involved as well.

To lift the spirit, there are art items.

The former kitchen has kitchen items.

The rules of the donation station and an announcement that the food pantry is open on Tuesday for an hour.

So day to day life in Port Aransas moves on with the help of donations.

When it rains it pours they say. On October 19th a barge filled with crude oil had an explosion three miles off the Port Aransas coast. The picture above was taken by the Coast Guard. Before the fire and resultant leakage of oil were contained approximately 2000 barrels out of the 133,000 barrels on board leaked into the gulf. So three weeks after Hhurricane Harvey we also were challenged with oil on the beach. Sadly two of the eight crew members went missing, and only one body has been found. I did not report this sooner as there were other positive things to see in Port Aransas.  My reason for publishing it now is the Texas Land and Cattle company responded quickly and got most of the oil picked up in a matter of days, so it ended quite well. Few sea creatures and birds were affected as well.

Here is a long-range shot of clean up crews working the beach.

It is interesting the way they draw circles around the oil and then shovel and rake it up.

The oil goes into plastic bags, This crew is working South.

A view to the North shows another crew working their way South as well.

A crew member picking up bags.

A view to the South again. The oil rides on the tide, and you can see in this shot the tide is high, so the oil is high on the beach.

This photo was taken yesterday, and you can see quarter-sized chunks of oil now solidified into tar.

Today’s View of the Neighborhood is a collection of random photos taken while searching for something interesting to share. There are a couple of stories in these pictures, and I hope you enjoy them.

Virginia’s by the Bay is one of the first restaurants to open after hurricane Harvey. Their sign says what a lot of people think.

The other side of their sign also says what a lot of Port Aransas people think.

Port Aransas lost all of the firetrucks and EMT equipment. Here is a photo of The Cleburne Texas truck doing duty in Port A.

Here is a truck from Abilene, Texas which is in the center of the state.

And the Fire Chief from Wichita Falls, Texas which is up near Oklahoma

This next series of photos are of boats that ended up as far away from water as possible. This one landed in a scrub pine outcropping.

Here is one in a shopping center.

Another boat is in the parking lot of a shopping center.

This one ended up at the end of a canal.

Signs are another interesting part of the Port Aransas scene. This one is simple and tells you the IGA is open.

A kind offer by the local Chiropractor. Most of the signs in Port A are handmade.

Here is an exception. The Pepsi company put some of these signs where Pepsi is sold.

Here is a sign I love. This sign pointed the way to the National Guard position where you could get Ice, water, and food. When you have none of these things, this sign was a welcome sight indeed. It is on its back because it is no longer needed.

While taking pictures I came upon my barber Mike’s new location. He has set up shop in a storage unit. I’m glad I found him.

I hope you liked the walk around today. Next week there are several activities which I will document.