Pleasure Island Marina is "slipping" for the better

It’s gonna be cool. Pleasure Island Marina, already a lovely spot, is getting a makeover on 300 slips and the place is looking great. Most will have floating aluminum docks that have a wood look. Others will be covered. Also boat owners can get a wave of confidence with a 626-foot floating concrete break wall to cut wave action, Jimmy Dike, Pleasure Island Commission director, said.

Because it’s common that docks have a lot of out-of-town patrons, Dike said commissioners are hoping to draw boaters from the Houston area who want to take advantage of Sabine Lake and Gulf of Mexico fishing and fun. Rita and Ike hit the marina hard, he said.

I just went to take a look see and I’m impressed.

Locals already know Pleasure Island as home to Cajun Cabins, Fun Island Depot playground, a disc golf course and areas for birders, crabbers and fishermen to set up a family picnic. The Pleasure Island Half Marathon, 10K and 2-Miler is set for Nov. 4. Runners will cross over the expansive Martin Luther King Jr. Bridge.

Praise for the Y

“It’s clean, it’s pleasant, it’s happy,” Yvonne Sutherlin says.

She’s talking about the Port Arthur YMCA, where’s she’s been going for water aerobics.

“They work the daylights out of us, but it has helped me more than anything,” she said.

She’s not done praising the Y.

“Everything you see is clean, there are people coming out of your ears, there are people of all ages and they are busy and happy and singing. It’s so nice and people don’t know that we have got that great place out there and I’m just trying to get the word out.”

Sutherlin also volunteers at the Port Arthur Public Library and says their computers are “top notch” for researching ancestry.

“Used to we had to go to graveyards and talk to kinfolks. So much of it is online now,” this historian/genealogist reminds us.

Get to the Fiesta in a “Flash”

Grupo Flash is a big deal in Coahuila, Mexico, and the Mexican Heritage Fiesta planners think they’ll be a hit here, too.

Andrea Velazco said they’ll headline the the evening dance at the 44^th annual Mexican Heritage Fiesta, set for Saturday, Sept. 8, at the Robert A. “Bob” Bowers Civic Center.

Folkoric dancers dressed in regional costumes, pageants and food vendors will fill the center. Ready for menudo? At 2 p.m. Mariachis Magico Mexico will take the stage. Folkloric Dancers will go on from 3:30 to 6 p.m. and guests may dance from 6:30 p.m. to midnight. Bohemios de Michuacan, Kumbo Zelekta and Grupo Enamorate will also play the dance.

Doors will open at the center, 3401 Cultural Center Drive, at 9:30 a.m. and opening ceremonies will follow at 10 a.m. Pageants are scheduled from 10:20 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for seniors and children 11 to 17. Children younger will be admitted free. Tickets will be $20 after 6:30 p.m.

Sept. 8 is a busy day in the Port Arthur area. Friends of Sabine Pass Battleground will host Dick Dowling Day, a re-enactment of an 1863 Civil War battle, on Sept. 8, in nearby Sabine Pass, down the road from Sea Rim State Park, Port Arthur’s beach.

ddoiron@panews.com