Galveston Park Board of Trustees

09/11/2026

Galveston residents, we want to hear from you!

What do you value about tourism on the island? What concerns you? We want to understand your perspective.

The Galveston Park Board and Visit Galveston want to better understand resident perspectives, including both the benefits and challenges of tourism in our community.

Take the survey here: https://survey-d.yoursurveynow.com/survey/selfserve/53b/2608191

Please share with your Galveston neighbors and friends. The survey is open through September 27.

09/10/2026

Tourism matters to the local businesses that help make a day at the beach even better. 🌊

This month's Tourism Matters spotlight is East Beach Cantina & Rentals. From special events to beachgoers spending the day on the sand, attracting people to our beaches creates an impact that extends beyond the shoreline.

When people come to East Beach, they’re not just visiting. They’re supporting the people and businesses that are part of our island community.

09/08/2026

You’ve probably seen Galveston Beach Patrol’s red rescue trucks making their way up and down the beach. But what’s actually inside them, and what other equipment does Beach Patrol rely on when an emergency happens?

In this week’s column, Chief Austin Kirwin takes us behind the scenes of the gear that helps keep Galveston’s beaches safe.

Read the full column below:

Behind the Red Trucks: The Gear That Keeps Galveston's Beaches Safe

Every summer, millions of visitors flock to Galveston's shores, drawn by warm water and wide stretches of sand. Few of them stop to consider what stands between a pleasant afternoon and a tragedy: the Galveston Island Beach Patrol, and the specialized equipment its lifeguards depend on to do a genuinely dangerous job.

Galveston's beaches are not always the gentle, predictable coastline some visitors expect. Strong lateral currents, shifting sandbars, and rock jetties combine to create conditions that can represent real hazards, requiring much more than a buoy and fins to keep swimmers safe.

Beach Patrol's fleet reflects the range of emergencies it faces. Many of you have seen our rescue trucks patrol the shoreline, each staffed by at least one lifeguard who is also a certified EMT. These trucks carry trauma kits, spinal immobilization equipment, and oxygen — turning them into rolling first-response units capable of stabilizing a patient before an ambulance ever arrives.

For emergencies in the water itself, we rely heavily on personal watercraft. Jet skis can launch directly from the beach, operate in surf that would swamp a conventional boat and run in water barely a foot deep — a critical advantage given how shallow our bay is and the 32 miles of beach front we guard without a boat ramp. Guards must demonstrate real proficiency on these crafts before they are used in a live rescue.

But jet skis have limits. Texas law prohibits their use after dark, which matters in a city that fields water emergencies around the clock. To close that gap, we added a rigid-hull inflatable boat — a vessel built with a cutout in the stern that lets a jet ski dock inside and serve as its engine. The result handles like a jet ski but performs like a twenty-foot boat, equipped with GPS, depth gauges, spotlights and a medical kit for the technical work of a nighttime search. It operates in just over a foot of water and handles exactly like a jet ski, which keeps our training simple and provides redundancy for our fleet. If a jet ski has mechanical issues, it is a quick switch to make sure we always have a nighttime capable rescue craft available.

None of this equipment operates itself. Every piece — the trucks, the jet skis, the inflatable boat — is only as good as the training behind it. Supervisors must certify as personal watercraft rescue operators; guards train continually to maintain the swim standards and equipment proficiency the job demands.

My team is more than just lifeguards in towers blowing their whistle to keep you in safe areas. The equipment we use day in and day out is the product of decades of adapting to an ever-evolving coastline, purpose-built to get help to people fast, day or night, in all conditions.

See you on the sand.

09/02/2026

What happens when hundreds of people who help decide where organizations across Texas meet come to Galveston? It’s an opportunity that can pay dividends for years to come.

In this week’s Inside the Park Board column, CEO Marty Miles looks ahead to the Texas Society of Association Executives (TSAE) New Ideas Conference, coming to Galveston Sept. 13-15.

Nearly 600 association and meeting professionals will experience our convention facilities, hotels, attractions and hospitality firsthand, giving Galveston an important opportunity to showcase why the Island is a great place to meet.

Check out the column below to learn more.

TSAE New Ideas Conference Heading to Galveston

In September, Galveston Island will have an opportunity to make a lasting impression on hundreds of professionals who decide where organizations across Texas meet, gather and do business.

The Texas Society of Association Executives (TSAE) will bring its New Ideas Conference to Galveston Sept. 13-15, welcoming nearly 600 association and meeting professionals to the Island. Conference events will be held at the Galveston Island Convention Center, but the impact of this gathering has the potential to extend far beyond those three days.

TSAE represents more than 1,200 association professionals across Texas, and more than 60% of its members have direct influence or purchasing authority over meetings and events. That makes New Ideas an important opportunity for Galveston. These attendees are not simply conference guests. Most are decision-makers who can choose our Island for future conventions, conferences and meetings.

For our Visit Galveston sales team, having these professionals experience Galveston firsthand is invaluable. We can talk about our convention facilities, hotels, attractions and hospitality, but there is no substitute for experiencing the destination personally.
The value of the association meetings market is already evident in our results. State association meetings booked by Visit Galveston during fiscal year 2024-2025 will generate 27,229 future lodging room nights and an estimated $19.5 million in direct economic impact for the Island. For fiscal year 2025-2026, bookings to date have grown to 33,373 future lodging room nights and an estimated $27.2 million in direct economic impact.

Those numbers represent business for hotels, restaurants, attractions and other Island businesses. They also demonstrate why hosting TSAE is about much more than a single conference.

During New Ideas, attendees will exchange knowledge with their peers, participate in expert-led education and connect with others who share similar professional responsibilities. They will also have opportunities to explore Galveston beyond the convention center, with experiences that include Moody Gardens Aquarium Pyramid, The Bryan Museum The 1877 Tall Ship ELISSA and the Strand Historic District.

Those excursions are an important part of showcasing what makes Galveston distinctive as a meeting destination. We want attendees to leave knowing that the Island offers not only excellent meeting facilities, but also memorable experiences that can enhance their own conferences and encourage attendance.

Galveston has been awarded the honor of hosting the New Ideas Conference approximately every five to six years, and the Island has developed a reputation for delivering one of TSAE’s favorite conference experiences. This September, we have another opportunity to build on that reputation — and to turn a great conference experience today into meetings, visitors and economic impact for Galveston for years to come.

09/01/2026

Happy National Hotel Employee Appreciation Day! 🏨

Today, we’re celebrating the hardworking hospitality professionals who help make Galveston feel like home for millions of visitors each year.

From the front desk to housekeeping, maintenance, food and beverage and everyone behind the scenes, hotel employees play an important role in creating the welcoming experience Galveston is known for.

To our island’s hotel teams, thank you for all you do for our visitors and our community! 💙

Know a Galveston hotel employee who deserves a shoutout? Tag them or give them some love in the comments below!

08/25/2026

Watch Live: Park Board of Trustees meeting August 25,2026

08/24/2026

Park Board Meeting Reminder 🗓️
The Galveston Park Board of Trustees meets tomorrow at 1:30 p.m.

Meetings are open to the public and livestreamed on Facebook and the Park Board website for easy access.

📍Attend in person or watch online: www.galvestonparkboard.org
💡Your voice matters in shaping Galveston’s future.

Explore the beautiful beaches and parks of Galveston, TX! Whether you’re looking to hang beachside or enjoy outdoor activities, the island has something for everyone. The Park Board proudly offers a variety of amenities for residents and visitors to enjoy.

08/20/2026

West End friends, keep an eye out for something new on the beach! 🏖️
Up2U boxes are being placed along West End beaches this week, providing free trash bags for beachgoers to pick up the trash they create and any litter they find along the way. It’s a simple way we can all help keep Galveston’s beaches clean and beautiful.

A big thank you to the Up2U Litter Prevention Campaign for letting Galveston benefit from this great program, and to Wayne Oliver and the Linde team in Texas City, who built 10 wooden Up2U boxes for the island. Our beaches are even better because of you! 💙

You can now find Up2U boxes on the beach in front of:
• Spanish Grant
• Bermuda Beach
• Texas Campgrounds
• Pirates Beach
• Sea Isle
• Pointe San Luis Laguna and Playa

Grab a bag and help leave the beach better than you found it. 🌊

08/18/2026

Bringing national honors back to the beach! 🌊🏆 Galveston Island Beach Patrol’s Junior Guards and competitive team made an impressive showing at the USLA National Lifeguard Championships in Fort Lauderdale!

Their hard work builds more than strong athletes - it sharpens the rescue skills that help keep our beaches safe every day.

👏 Help us congratulate the team below, and read Chief Kirwin’s full column 👇

USLA Nationals Recap
By Chief Austin Kirwin, Galveston Island Beach Patrol

Last week the Galveston Island Beach Patrol competed in the United States Lifesaving Association's National Lifeguard Championships in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. This yearly event showcases both lifeguards and junior lifeguards in a series of events that directly relate to lifeguarding. It gives an opportunity for guards of all ages and across the entire country to show their dedication and commitment to saving lives in a competitive atmosphere.

The four-day competition had 18 different events including running, swimming, paddling, rowing and combinations of those disciplines. It includes multiple rescue races as well as both individual and team events.

This year’s competition brought together more than 1,200 competitors from 33 lifesaving agencies. Although Galveston had a smaller team this year, our junior guards and full-time guards delivered a strong performance. I am incredibly proud of our team!

Our Junior Guards really shined this year, with several standout performances against fields of more than 60 competitors in each age group.

Leading the way was Maddie Scott, who became a national champion with a first-place finish in the beach run. She also earned third in the surf swim relay and recorded three additional top five finishes.

Zoey Scott brought home second in the run-swim-run and third in the 2K beach run, along with two more top five finishes. Ryan Pryor earned third in the beach 2K run and teamed up with Henry Anderson for seventh-place finishes in both the board rescue and swim rescue races.

C**t Pryor finished fifth in the surf swim relay and eighth in the beach 2K run, adding two more top 10 finishes, while Houston Pryor also had a strong showing with an eighth-place finish in the beach 2K run.

With the level of competition they faced, our Junior Guards represented Galveston exceptionally well. One of the goals of our Junior Guard program is to develop the next generation of professional lifeguards, and performances like these show that our future is a bright one.

Our professional lifeguards also brought home some impressive results within their respective age groups. Loree Pryor led the group with second-place finishes in both the 2K beach run and 70-meter sprint, plus fourth-place finishes in beach flags, run-swim-run and the surf ski race. Penny Scott earned third in the run-swim-run, fourth in both the 2K beach run and 70-meter sprint, and fifth in beach flags. Melanie Hooper rounded out the podium finishes with third place in beach flags.

Throughout the summer, lifeguards train daily and compete on Sunday mornings to try and qualify for the competition team. This doesn't just build strong athletes. It pushes all our guards to train and hone their craft, which leaves them better equipped to handle the many emergencies we respond to throughout the summer. Please help me congratulate them.

See you on the Sand.

08/15/2026

Join us for Women in Coastal Science 🌊

📅 Friday, Aug. 21 | 9:30–11 a.m.
📍 East Beach Pavilion

Hear from Kelsea Hiebert, Environmental Project Manager with Balcones Field Services, as she shares insights from her work protecting wetlands, coastal habitats and species across the Gulf Coast.

This event is FREE and open to the public!
👉 Register now: https://t.e2ma.net/click/jo1ls2/7uawz4rb/zcjcpgh