Heritage News

History and Halloween

10/29/2019

We have been hard at work hosting our two annual Halloween events!

Auden Jelsma took home the Best Carved pumpkin ribbon in the children’s category!

Beaumont Heritage Society held the Pumpkin Walk and Haunted Halloween Tour at the John Jay French Museum on Saturday, October 24th from 6-9p.m. with over 350 in attendance. Children and adults were thrilled to vote on the 60 pumpkins decorating the grounds!

Guests also enjoyed a special “spooky” tour of the 1845 John Jay French house where actors Mike Rodgers, Jeri Sullivan, McKenna Bradford, and Ed Seymour portrayed members of the French family, delivering monologues about the family’s travel and time spent in Texas. Caroline Badon portrayed Nancy French on a haunted hayride of the historic grounds, where guests viewed a replica tannery, blacksmith shop, and the French family cemetery. Hay riders also encountered grounds “ghosts” portrayed by Brad Franks, Brandon Franks, and Sarah Vickery!

Guests enjoyed a hayride of the grounds.

Beaumont Heritage Society’s Haunted Halloween Heritage Happy Hour took place October 24th, 2019 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Chambers House Museum. Guests enjoyed craft beer from Giglio Distributing who showcased a selection from Buffalo Bayou Brewing Co. on the beautiful Chambers House lawn.

Items from the family member’s funerals were on display for guests.

Inside the Chambers House, actors Emily Buesing, Jessica Paskell, Patrick Anderson, and Lynette Bloyd portrayed our dearly departed Florence, Ruth, Homer, and Edith respectively. Under special lighting, the actors delivered short monologues about their character’s lives in the home to 75 guests.

Beaumont Heritage Society is passionate about creating events centered around fun and education. Beaumont Heritage Society would like to extend a thank you to all of the volunteers who made these events possible. Please watch for these annual events in 2020 – you won’t want to miss them!

Thank you to our 2019 Pumpkin Walk Underwriter and Sponsors!

10/15/2019

We appreciate the support of these community partners and individuals!

A Blast to the Past: Camp Lookinback 2019

07/24/2019

Mary Nash with The Golden Triangle Quilt Guild teaching campers how to quilt.

Beaumont Heritage Society once again hosted our annual Camp Lookinback at the John Jay French Museum! Every year, Camp Lookinback aims to educate kids about the French family through activities and practices that the French family might have used. From July 9^th-12^th and July 16^th-19^th, the kids stepped into the past one day at a time! By the end of each week, the kids were immersed into what life was like for the French family.

On the first day, Stable-Spirit taught the kids about horse care with horses on property. They were taught about horses throughout history, horse care, and also learned how to lead a horse before getting to do it themselves! This was definitely a fan favorite of the kids! They also learned about cattle branding from Deputy Don Metts with Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office along with a special roping demonstration.

Camp Lookinback attendees shown discussing their yarn dolls.

Day two had the kids learning about what Christmas would have been like for the French family! They made wreaths and “buckskin” ornaments just like the French family might have made their own Christmas decorations! They also tried their hand at gift making by making yarn dolls! Kids were so excited about their yarn dolls that they all asked to bring them home early!

Day three was made possible by the Big Thicket Park Rangers. They captured the kids’ attention with their Skins and Skulls program, and also taught them all about the Food Web and how it would have been important to the French family! Cooking on an open flame with Elizabeth Schreck had the attendees enjoying pancakes cooked outside on a cast iron skillet!

Kids were fascinated learning about cooking practices in the mid-1800s.

The last day culminated with a tour the oldest fully restored home in Beaumont, the John Jay French Museum. Mary Nash and Becky Tabor with The Golden Triangle Quilt Guild taught the kids about how quilting was done, which turned out harder than they expected. Carol Weishampel was on hand to talk about leather! The kids practiced stamping leather and learned more about John Jay French’s leather practices.

Camp was chock full of fun, games, AND history. We had the best two weeks with our Camp Lookinback kiddos, and we can’t wait to do it again next year!

Introducing Rowdee Raccoon!

05/23/2019

The John Jay French Museum has a “rowdy” addition in the form of its new mascot, Rowdee Raccoon! Rowdee can be found on our new grounds tour signage, made possible by the financial support of Susan Conn McCurry and The Crawford Foundation. The signage, placed at all of the outbuildings and the family cemetery, allows guests to enjoy the historic grounds while reading about the French family and the historic use of the facilities on property explained with the help of historian and French decendant, Judith Linsley. Rowdee Raccoon was brought to life by artist Aggie Bollman and illustrator Chase Dryden. Beaumont Heritage Society is grateful to all those involved in making Rowdee Raccoon and our educational signage possible! Make plans to come take a look!

Eagle Scout Candidate Alex Butler helps Beautify Historic French Grounds

07/06/2018

Alex Butler, an Eagle Scout candidate and Boy Scout Troop 221 member, went to work with his fellow scouts to beautify the grounds of the historic John Jay French Museum. They planted knock out roses in a flower bed beside the French house and brought in a load of dirt to spread around the swept yard at the museum. Alex is fifteen years old and will be a sophomore at West Brook High School in the fall. Besides scouts, his hobbies include playing video games and hanging out with his friends. We are thrilled that this young man chose the Beaumont Heritage Society’s historic John Jay French Museum as the beneficiary of his Eagle Scout project. Great job, Alex and thank you for making our community a better place!

Announcing our 2017 Pumpkin Walk pumpkin contest winners!

10/22/2017

We had many, many fabulous entries in this year’s contest in both the Adult and Child categories. Enjoy looking at the winners in each category and plan on entering the contest next year! Thanks to all who entered the contest and attended the event. Special thanks to all who volunteered their help ~ we couldn’t do it without you! We appreciate Elizabeth and Russ Waddill, who underwrote the event, our sponsors Regina Rogers and Suzanne Lewis, and in-kind sponsors Sonic Drive In, Cici’s Pizza, and Tractor Supply. We love sharing Beaumont’s history with the community in fun, unique ways! Until next year…

Benches, and more benches ~ Eagle Scout project completed!

07/26/2017

Eagle Scout candidate and Boy Scout Troop 65 member, Victor Thornton, went to work with his crew to build new wooden benches for use on the John Jay French Museum grounds. They will be put to good use during our events, tours, and demonstrations of 1800s related activities. Victor is a high-honors student at Monsignor Kelly Catholic High School where he serves as the Junior Class President. He is a member of the Mu Alpha Theta Math Honor Society and the Kelly track and soccer teams. We appreciate this impressive young man choosing the Beaumont Heritage Society’s historic John Jay French Museum as the beneficiary of his Eagle Scout project. Great job, Victor!

Entergy and BDG celebrate Arbor Day at the French Museum!

05/05/2017

We would like to thank our friends at Entergy: Clint Mabrey and Richard Bucknert, and BDG: Agripin Urbina, Jesus Solis, and Luis Dominguez for their hard work beautifying the John Jay French Museum grounds in honor of Arbor Day 2017! The addition of azalea bushes alongside the museum adds to the natural beauty of the property, and helps transport our guests back to a time before neighborhoods existed and all you would have seen were trees and bushes surrounding the home. We appreciate the folks at Entergy and BDG giving back to the community and helping improve the guest experience at the historic John Jay French Museum!

Thank you to our 2017 Easter Egg Hunt Underwriter and Sponsors!

04/03/2017

The Beaumont Heritage Society is so grateful for the support of our Easter Egg Hunt Underwriter for the second consecutive year: Earth Analytical Sciences, Inc and our Sponsors: UBS ~ Mike Persia and Suzanne Lewis. We would also like to thank our In-Kind partners: M & D Supply, Sonic Drive-In (McKibbin Group), Carol Matthews, and Susan & Roger McCurry. All proceeds from this event benefit the John Jay French Museum and the Society’s educational programming.

Drum Roll Please, the Pumpkin Walk Winners Are…

10/24/2016

We had some terrific pumpkins entered into this year’s Pumpkin Walk competition! The public voted , ballots were tallied, and prizes and ribbons awarded. Our winners are…

BEST OVERALL: ADULT – SUZETTE BROUSSARD CHILD – THOMAS MCKENZIE

SCARIEST: ADULT – INTERACT CLUB CHILD – SHANE DIAZ

FUNNIEST: ADULT – KIMBERLY MEDRANO CHILD – GABRIELLE MEDRANO

BEST CARVED: ADULT – REMI KIMBALL CHILD – ABEL COLON

MOST CREATIVE: ADULT – BARBIE DUNNAGAN CHILD – BROADDUS FAMILY KIDS

Thanks to all of our Underwriters and Sponsors, the actors from Beaumont Community Players, our volunteers who drove tractors, helped set-up and take-down, or worked the event, and our neighbors at the Apostolic Church of Beaumont who lent us use of their parking lot. We couldn’t have done it without all of this support! Thanks to everyone who came out to experience the historic John Jay French Museum in a fun and creepy way, and to everyone who entered pumpkins. See you next year!