BEEVILLE, TX — Come October, the community of Beeville will be buzzing with excitement now that Western Week, their long-time tradition, has been saved.
"This has been a big ordeal for Beeville for many years. Born and raised here, everyone looks forward to Western Week,” community member," Janie Gonzales said.
It was a disappointing moment, when Gonzales and neighbors found out their beloved Western Week, was in trouble. City officials told KRIS 6 News that previously, it was because of a lack of participation, support, and funding.
"We're not having a Western week parade, but we still want to have the pageant, and she asked if I would be interested in coordinating the parade,” Gonzales said.
Western Week isn’t just about show. The Miss Western Week Scholarship Pageant was formed 51 years ago to provide opportunities for Bee County high school seniors.
"I am President of the Miss Western Week Board. So, we did not want to have those funds not given to those girls,” city council member," Crystal Franco said.
So, the Miss Western Week Scholarship Pageant Committee is sticking to the plan.
"We put the word out and within a couple of days, we started getting people letting us know they wanted to help. People wanted to help fund it, wanted to sponsor it or volunteer for it. We got a lot of feedback from the community without us asking for it. It just came to us. It was probably within 10 days we had funding and a schedule,” pageant director of Western Week, Anna Marie Silvas, said.
As the group gathers more volunteers and funding. They expect this year's Western Week to be smaller than usual, but ticket prices will be more affordable.
Western Week is scheduled to run from October 6th through October 12th.
For more information or to get involved, contact:
General Information, Sponsorships, & Pageant: Anna Marie Silvas at 361-343-0299 or misswesternweekbee@gmail.com
Parade & Food Trucks: Janie Gonzales at 361-358-2000 or affordablebeevillel@gmail.com, or Melissa Sanchez at 361-358-4641 or melissa.sanchez@beevilletx.org
