The Equalizer

Sabine District Transportation Club

Member of Traffic Clubs International

 Please keep our troops and their families in your thoughts and prayers.

Payton Bridges was born on June 28, 2005 at St. Luke’s Hospital in Houston.  He was born with Spina Bifida, a neural tube defect.  He is very active even though he can’t walk yet.

Payton lives in Lumberton with his mom, dad, brother and 2 sisters who all think he “hangs the moon”.  He will be in Kindergarten this next school year.

He loves playing ball more than anything else. First thing every morning he asks for his ball box, which is full of footballs, basketballs baseballs, bats, etc.  He recently learned to dribble a basketball while scooting quickly around the kitchen, which is quite an impressive sight!  He plays on the Mets baseball team with the Challenger Baseball League in Nederland.

Payton also loves playing with friends.  He enjoys going to his big brother’s baseball tournaments.  If doesn’t have a friend there, he will make some new ones!

Payton also enjoys fishing and will probably be hunting with his dad and big brothers in the years to come.

Payton has outgrown his wheelchair so we have been looking at new ones.  We were hoping to find him a more all-terrain wheelchair.  The one he has gets stuck in sand, dirt, high grass or rocks, which makes it hard for him to get around with his friends a lot of times.

Thank you so much!

John Cordova is a Type 2 Diabetic that was diagnosed with end stages of Pulmonary Fibrosis which is a lung condition in which the lung tissues becomes thickened, stiff and scarred over a period of time.  As the tissue becomes scarred and thicker, the lungs lose their ability to transfer oxygen into the bloodstream.  As a result, patients suffer from shortness of breath, dry coughing and a lack of oxygen to the brain and other organs.  

John is on a waiting list for a double lung transplant.  After receiving the transplant, he will be in the hospital for at least 4 weeks.  Once he is released from the hospital he will have to remain close to the hospital for 6 months to a year to make sure there are no complications or rejection of the transplanted lungs. 

He will also be required to take 30 medications three times a day for as long as the doctors feel he needs them.  While John does have insurance, there are a lot of out of pocket expenses that the insurance will not cover.

John is married to his high school sweetheart, Josie and has lived in Little Cypress/Mauriceville area for the past 31 years.  He had to take an early medical retirement from DuPont, Orange.

After retirement, John is found helping others with whatever they need, such as grass mowing, rides to doctor visits, buying groceries and even babysitting.  It never mattered whether you were a friend, acquaintance, fellow church member if you were in need, John was there to help! 

Now it’s our turn to give back!

Thank you!

A special thanks to Michael Truncale, Republican candidate for Texas Congressional District 14 for being our guest speaker at our January meeting.

Michael is a local attorney with Orgain, Bell & Tucker law firm.  He officially filed to run for the new Texas Congressional District 14 that includes all of Jefferson and Galveston Counties and part of Brazoria County.

Being a lifelong Southeast Texas gulf coast resident, Truncale currently serves on the State Republican Executive Committee (SREC) and as a Regent of the Texas State University System.  He pledges to vote on EVERY ISSUE like a taxpayer, not a politician.

Michael Favors: A Federal Balanced Budget Amendment, strong pro-life and pro-family values, less government, lower taxes, economic reform for private sector jobs creation, border security and immigration reform, defending our constitution, protecting individual freedoms, protecting states’ rights, defending 2^nd amendment rights, strong national defense and

military, clean environment standards based on energy independence, fewer governmental regulations.

Michael Opposes: Tax increases, liberalism and socialism, Obama care, amnesty, runaway national debt, unfunded federal mandates, federal government intrusion into our daily lives and federal government expansion.

To obtain more information of this candidate and his views you can reach his website at:

http://www.michaeltruncale.com

He can also be reached by mail at:

Michael Truncale for Congress Committee

P.O. Box 148

Beaumont, TX  77704

            Mark your calendars!

February 28 – 6 pm at the Cattle Company

                        Special guests: Payton Bridges and

                         John Cordova

March 8  – Bbq lunch fund raiser at

                   Elk’s Lodge 10 am-2 pm

                   11431 N. Hwy 90 (College St.)

                   Beaumont, TX  77713

April 10 – Annual Shrimp Boil

                  Elks Lodge on Hwy 90 N.

                  Beaumont, Texas

                   (gates open at 5:30 pm)

May 4 – 2nd Annual Golf Tournament-Bayou Din

                NTW Week May 14-20, 2012

                NTW Week Mayoral Proclamation

                NTW Person of the year award

June 14 – Vacation time!

July 17 – Annual Fish Fry at Rich Courville’s

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Board Meeting Announcements:

Web Site Update:  To reach the web site from the Internet: http://www.txsdtc.org 

To retrieve the Equalizer from the server:  http://www.txsdtc.org/equalizer/january2012/   or from the web site: txsdtc.org

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It is not too early to start making your reservations for the April Shrimp Boil!

Call Sherry Eckerle@ 791-3259, Al Anselmo @626-0466,

Gene Landry @ 350-7017 or Joe Ochoa @ 791-3255.  You can also make your reservations by fax: 842-5154 or from the Web site: txsdtc.org                  

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We are currently seeking prizes and donations for our 2012 events.  If you would like to make a donation, have an idea, or could help the committee members with obtaining some really great prizes for the fund raiser, please contact Gene Landry 350-7017, Joe Ochoa at 791-3255 or Sherry Eckerle at 791-3259.  Your assistance is greatly appreciated!

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Did you know?                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Editor:  Sherry Eckerle

                                                                                             Valentine’s Day Trivia

 After Christmas, Valentine’s Day, which happens annually on February 14, is the most celebrated day of the year in the U.S. Here is some interesting trivia about the international day of love.

Roses and Flowers:

• 110 million roses, mostly red ones, will be sold and delivered within a three-day time period.
• Valentine’s Day is the big time of year for red roses. Mother’s Day sees more pastel-colored roses sold.
• The State of California produces 60% of American roses, but most roses sold on Valentine’s Day in the U.S. are imported from South America.
• 15% of American women send themselves flowers on Valentine’s Day.
• 73% of people who buy flowers for Valentine’s Day are men; only 27% are women.

Cards:

•  About 1 billion Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged each year.
• Valentine’s Day is the second-largest seasonal card-sending occasion of the year, after Christmas.
• One third of all Valentine’s Day cards are accompanied by gifts.
• Romantic cards are the bestsellers.
• About 25% of Valentine’s Day cards are funny.
• More than 50% of cards are sold during the actual week of the holiday, and the largest and most elaborate Valentine’s Day cards are sold 48 hours before February 14.
• Of those celebrating Valentine’s Day, 70% of those give a card, 49% make a phone call, 48% give a gift, 37% make a special dinner, 33% give candy, 30% go out to eat and 19% give flowers.
• The people who will receive the most Valentine’s Day cards are (in order): teachers, kids, moms, wives and sweethearts.
• Kids aged 6-10 exchange more than 650 million Valentine’s Day cards with their teachers, classmates and family members.
• Hallmark, the famous card company, makes over 1,330 different cards for Valentine’s Day.

 Candy:

•  Candy hearts (the ones with the sweet messages printed on them) were first made in 1866 by candy maker NECCO; in those days, they were called Motto Hearts. According to NECCO, 8 billion of these little candies are sold between January 1 and February 14.
• More than 35 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate will be sold for Valentine’s Day.

General:

• In the U.S., 64% of men don’t make plans in advance for a romantic Valentine’s Day with their sweethearts.
• The Italian city of Verona, where Shakespeare's lovers Romeo and Juliet lived, receives about 1,000 letters addressed to Juliet every Valentine’s Day.
• Valentine’s Day is big business. Consumers will spend an average of $77.43 on Valentine’s Day gifts this year. Internet retailers expect to rack up about $650 million in sales of food, candy, flowers and other Valentine’s Day gifts. Of that amount about $350 million will be for gifts and flowers and another $45 million will be spent on food (including chocolate).
• About 3% of pet owners will give Valentine’s Day gifts to their pets.

Don’t forget that someone special in your life this Valentine’s Day!