Beaumont 2021: contemplating city successes

Beaumont officials say city departments accomplished numerous important tasks to propel the community forward into 2022.

“While many places pumped the brakes during a tough year, we had our foot on the gas pedal the whole time,” city officials reported. “Beyond the normal day-to-day city operations, departments and leadership adopted the mantra ‘More than Ever Before’ to move the city forward.”

Beaumont Animal Care announced that a total of 1,358 animals were rescued, and 670 were adopted. Additionally, 179 spay and neuters were done through our voucher program. The program was so successful, they ran out of vouchers in early October and have already started giving them out for 2022. BAC completed 321 trap-neuter-returns, over 100 more than 2020. The animal shelter also participated in several community events, including Dogtoberfest, Touch a Truck, BISD Reads, monthly adoption events, volunteer fairs, and even presented a lifetime achievement award presented to Mayor Becky Ames.

The Beaumont Convention and Visitors Bureau also had a busy year, per their reports. According to the Travel Texas Industry Association, visitor spending in Beaumont brought in over $308 million last year, including meetings, sports, and leisure travel, and topped neighboring cities like Sugarland, The Woodlands, and Conroe.

The Localist Program celebrated its one-year anniversary. Residents were asked to eat, play, do and share their adventures around town so everyone could see all there is to do in Beaumont and help change the narrative. With more than 100 participants sharing their experiences, love letters, and local recipes with the hashtag #GoBeau, Beaumont CVB says it’s a fun way to see the city from a tourist’s perspective and drown out the negativity.

“Beaucycles were introduced to the city, a fleet of 24 bikes rentable for just $5 for 3 hours,” the CVB reported. “Explore on your own or follow one of the suggested routes for one of the best ways to see downtown.”

An official Geocaching Tour was launched, a real-world, socially distanced scavenger hunt residents can do anytime. The 25 hidden containers have been found over 2,000 times, with participants spending $3000-plus in the area and coming from as far away as Georgia to participate.

A free foodie passport program, the Cajun Trail, was created, which allows residents to earn prizes for eating locally and enjoying native cuisine. With over 1,200 check-ins, there are currently over 600 active participants – and participants can join anytime.

The first-ever Artaco Festival brought 3,500 people to downtown Beaumont for tacos, brews, art, and sunshine, raising over $6k for the Art Museum of Southeast Texas and The Fire Museum of Texas.

Over 7,000 people came out for the inaugural Beaulympics, which brought a Cajun Carnival like no other. Over 80 groups, partner organizations, and hundreds of volunteers enjoyed a dunk tank, gator races, “Try”athalons, food competitions, and live entertainment.

Throughout 2021, the convention sales team hosted week-long meetings and tournaments with sporting events, bringing in over 100-plus teams each weekend.

Cattail Marsh was named the best free outdoor attraction in Texas, and offerings expanded by hiring an Education Coordinator to add more weekly programming, including kids’ crafts and ecotourism initiatives.

The city’s event services department hosted more than 300 events in 2021. Concerts/shows of note included: Eddie B, Kountry Wayne, Charley Crockett, Blue October, Bely y Beto, Army National Guard Band, Brian Regan and Jesse Dayton. The department additionally reported that a record crowd celebrated at Oktoberfest, with an estimated attendance of 6,000.

The Summer Sundown Concert Series was launched this year, and the wildly popular Lunch at the Lake returned. The Lakeside Center expanded its offerings to include free sewing classes and holiday painting pop-ups, in addition to regular programming.

Beaumont street and drainage workers also reportedly had a successful 2021. The team cleaned thousands of feet of gutters in the streets of Beaumont, which will allow for better drainage during heavy rain events. They also patched numerous asphalt roadways and replaced hundreds of square yards of concrete panels to improve driving conditions.