the President

from Spring Spinnings 2023 - Volume 87 Issue 4

April mini Meetings

upcoming placements and courageously lean into all the growth opportunities that await them next year.

This quote has really resonated personally with me lately, and I think it is very representative of our JLB members as well. You cannot remain comfortable and expect to grow. Time and time again I have been amazed by the determination, creativity, and sheer willpower of our league members. As our annual May Dinner approaches, now is the time to celebrate all we have accomplished the league year - the growth, the successes (and failures), the members who have courageously stepped up to lead, the members who have stepped out of their comfort zones, the legacy we have continued to build.

As with nature blossoming all around us, springtime presents many concrete growth opportunities for our members. At our March General Meeting, our Provisional and Active members learned which committees they will be a part of for the 2023-2024 league year. Placing our members is like completing a very complicated, humongous jigsaw puzzle, and our Nominating and Placement Committee really knocked it out of the park! I hope our members embrace their

In April, our members attended Mini Meetings in lieu of a general meeting in which we all come together. These smaller meetings are always a favorite as members are given the opportunity to choose a topic that piques their interest while connecting with others on a more intimate level. Mini Meetings activities this year included flower arranging, yoga, pilates, and wine tasting, to name a few. These meetings also give members a chance to step outside of their comfort zones and try something new.

I would not be who I am today if it were not for the growth opportunities the Junior League of Beaumont has given me. Final thoughts on growth: if you are facing a decision in your life and there is uncertainty on the other side – do the thing that stretches you. The easy thing and the right thing are rarely the same.

With much appreciation,

Katie O’Neill Baker

Junior League of Beaumont President, 2022-2023

President ...........................................................

President-Elect

Treasurer ..........................................................

Treasurer-Elect

Communications Council Director ..............

Community Council Director

Membership Council Director

Planning Council Director .............................

Corresponding Secretary

Recording Secretary ........................................

Past President

Sustaining Advisor

Katie Baker

Sara Norman

Rebecca Tatum

Kate Eckhart

Sarah Wells

Ashley Willis

Ashlee Garrett

Kate Thorne

Amanda Yarbrough

Lindsay Brake

Brenna Rodriguez

Kara Hawthorn

That’s a Wrap on Mural Fest

JLB Members Mallory Cross and Christina Lokey help spearhead the 2nd annual Mural Festival in Beaumont

A Family Legacy

In honor of Mother’s Day, JLB celebrates the mother-daughter pairs within the League

Day in the Life of Nurses

Meet four JLB members who do great things in the community through the medical field

Member Spotlight

Get to know JLB Members Carrie Zihlman, Kristen Davidson, & Hillary Lampson

Shanning

Pack It

Project

The Provisional Class develop a new project to help students at Vincent Middle School have access to personal hygiene items

Ongoing Legacy of Building a Better

Beaumont

The City of Beaumont recognizes the League extraordinary accomplishments in strengthening female leaders

Content Creators

Meet two JLB members who find success with new media

Spinnings

In Recognition of Beaumont’s Historical Spindletop Oil Field.

An internal publication of the Junior League of Beaumont, Inc.

Distributed Fall, MSM Special Issue, Winter, DWTS Special Issue, Spring, and Summer

EDITOR

Kellsey Fairchild

CO-EDITOR

Margaret Victores

STAFF WRITERS

Lauren Reicis

Kaylee Allen

Sonni Shell

Karley Zummo

Laura Victores Wyman

SUSTAINING ADVISOR Dr. Marleen Swerdlow

AD SALES

Laura Victores Wyman

DESIGN/LAYOUT

Lori Bane

Journeys to Motherhood

JLB members share their experiences of fertility and the process of becoming mothers

Spring Cleaning

Lauren Reicis shares ways in which you can refresh and recharge your home while spring cleaning

Spring Showers & May Flowers

Check out these local boutiques for your spring must have items

Provisional Elected President

JLB Provisional Tiffany Shelton was elected President of the Beaumont Community Partnership for Children

Beaumont Farmers Market

Help support your local farms and businesses by shopping at the Beaumont Farmers Market

April Mini Meetings

Check out the photos from this years mini meetings and thank you to all of the sponsors and hosts on the cover

The Junior League of Beaumont contiues to make unparralel connections, helps women become better leaders, and provides valuable services to the Beaumont community. Why not spring into JLB?

SUBMISSIONS

Do you have an idea for a story? Would you like to be a featured or guest writer? Send ideas or articles for consideration to the 2022-2023 SPINNINGS Editor, Kellsey Fairchild, at spinnings@juniorleaguebeaumont.org. We welcome your input!

TO SUBSCRIBE

If you or someone you know is interested in receiving a hard copy of our publication, please email the 2022-2023 SPINNINGS Editor, Kellsey Fairchild, at spinnings@juniorleaguebeaumont.org to be added to the mailing list.

You will also see SPINNINGS all over town. Feel free to pick one up at your favorite boutique, hair salon, or Headquarters!

MISSION STATEMENT

The Junior League of Beaumont is an organization of women committed to promoting volunteerism, developing the potential of women, and improving communities through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. Its purpose is exclusively educational and charitable.

The second-annual Beaumont Mural Festival wrapped up in early March, but the impressive artwork can be enjoyed for years to come. A four-day, live art extravaganza, the festival featured muralists from across the United States and the world. Artists painted scenes throughout downtown Beaumont to beautify the city and to expand the Beaumont art scene.

Junior League members Mallory Cross and Christina Lokey, both with the Beaumont Convention, were two of the women spearheading this event and the driving force behind its success. While many people worked tirelessly to make Mural Fest happen, we want to highlight our two Junior League members for their contributions in making the event such a success.

Lokey, Min Dai, and J Muzacz are the three founders of Mural Fest. The inaugural festival took place in 2022, but Mural Fest was back bigger and better for 2023. “This year we worked with the City of Beaumont and blocked off Pearl Street near the Art Museum of Southeast Texas and the Jefferson Theatre,” Lokey said. “At this location, visitors could see the works of a 4-story mural being painted, 10 installation cubes (8ft x 8ft), 2 trailers, a car, and a tri-wood canvas.” But that’s not all: “across Beaumont, 16 murals were also being painted, including the

3-story mural at Beaumont Housing Authority, and a record-breaking 10,000 sq-ft mural at 1600 Cedar Street that will be measured as one of the top 3 largest murals in the state of Texas,” Lokey said.

Planning for Mural Fest 2024 starts right now! Around Beaumont, business owners are showing interest and asking for their building to be a canvas for next year’s artists.

“There are a lot of behind-the-scenes logistics,” Lokey explained–from determining whether the wall space is sufficient and whether the material is easy to paint on, whether it will need to be primed, what equipment is needed, agreeing on and approving mural designs, planning the amount of paint and other supplies needed, and budgeting costs.

It takes a lot of community buy-in for an event like this to succeed as it has.

“The Beaumont Independent School District allowed seven of the artists to go into seven different schools for happen, Wooden Pallets made and installed all of the cubes for free, [and] Del Papa and Giglio Distributing and many other sponsors helped financially,” Lokey notes. Min Dai, CEO of Obana Restaurant Group, “has put up financial backing, staff, and so much more every year in hopes of leaving his own mark on Beaumont. He owns Pour09, Ko Korean Grill, Suite C, and Tokyo. He sacrifices a lot to make the Beaumont Mural Festival a reality, so I hope the community returns the support,” says Lokey.

If you missed out this year, mark your calendar for the first weekend of March 2024. Lokey offered Spinnings readers teasers for next year: “Bigger, better, and record-breaking, for sure…. Who knows, maybe we can host the DWTS after-party at Mural Festival Downtown next year?”