22nd Annual BBQ Fundraiser!

Party Time!

The Galveston Island Beach Patrol will hold its 22nd Annual BBQ Fundraiser and Silent Auction today, Friday, June 14, 2019 from 6 pm – 10 pm on 24th Street between Church and Post Office. This location is in front of the Press Box restaurant and will be a lot of fun. BBQ dinner tickets are only $15 per plate and the food is prepared by our Galveston Rugby Team. Those guys can cook! Master Ukulele player Robert Krout and DJ Joe Rios will provide music entertainment, and we’ve got some really nice silent auction items. New this year is a presentation regarding #TourismPays and a demonstration of some equipment used by our Coastal Zone Management team. Bring the family and have some good food and good times at the BBQ Beach Party of the year. If you haven’t already bought tickets, just come on down and buy them at the event.

So far, this summer has been a really busy one for us. Even the weekdays are crazy, and it seems like we are called out every night for an aquatic emergency. We’ve also been cranking out the training courses for our staff and for other groups. The other day I was a little overwhelmed when I got back from helping Grandmaster Ismael Robles, our local martial arts and self defense legend, teach a self-defense/de-escalation course for the Park Board Coast Zone Management group. When I walked into our complex there was a lifeguard shift completing their daily training before hitting the towers, a CPR course my staff was teaching to the Park Board Parks Department, a huge group of Junior Guards out on the beach working through some rescue techniques, and a team in our Office Coordinator’s office working on some type of administrative deadline. And somehow in there we’re preparing to put on this giant BBQ fundraiser. A couple of hours later the beach really heated up and we had a couple of emergencies working at the same time during the normal busy afternoon workload of moving swimmers, finding lost kids, treating first aids, etc. Many of the same people were working the beach who had been instructing, teaching, and doing administrative work earlier, and they transitioned seamlessly to focus on the beach when it was needed. When I slow down enough to register this, I’m so proud and feel so much admiration for our staff. They have so much heart and show so much dedication. They truly care and put in so much energy day after day.

Monday, we start another lifeguard academy which means none of us will take a breath until after the 4th of July holiday. Send anyone interested our way! But after that the massive load of training up all our seasonal staff members will be over, and we can relax a little and focus on our main responsibility of protecting the people who visit our beaches.

Looking forward to seeing many of you tonight!