Cowbells strike a perfect chord in Beaumont

The cowbells are gone, meaning they’ve all been given away. But don’t worry if you did not get your free bell this year. We’ll make sure to order more for next year’s bike race!

Fans of this Friday’s professional cycling event, the Beaumont Road Race, quickly snapped up about 140 free cowbells that the city promised to give away—and did—in less than a week.

Because of high demand, City Hall will double the order of cow bells for next year. Cowbell or not, you can still catch the thrills and excitement of professional cycling in your hometown.

“I would like to invite everyone to come out and enjoy this world-class event and catch 300 professional racers in action as they wind their way through the streets of our community,” said Mayor Roger Berg.

Race details

The one-day Beaumont Road Race is part of the Redlands Bicycle Classic, which starts this Thursday and runs through Sunday. The Beaumont portion of the cycling event consists of three separate races this Friday that will take riders throughout Beaumont and Cherry Valley. At 7:45 a.m., a special hand-cycling race for disabled athletes will follow a modified route. At 9:15 a.m., the men’s race will consist of five laps through Beaumont and Cherry Valley. (The men’s route will cover about 120 miles.) At 9:25 a.m., the women’s race will start with three laps through Beaumont and Cherry Valley, covering about 72 miles. All races start and finish at the Beaumont Civic Center, located at 550 E. 6^th St.

If you’re looking for a great spot to see the start and finish of all the races, the lawn in front of City Hall is the perfect location. Bleacher seating will be available.

During the race day, there will be rolling street closures and “No Parking” zones throughout the course. The areas most affected within the city of Beaumont will be along 6^th Street, Beaumont Avenue, Oak Valley Parkway, Brookside Avenue, Highland Springs Avenue and Palm Avenue. For a complete list of closures visit www.ci.beaumont.ca.us/bikerace

So whether you have a cowbell in hand, another noisemaker, or just your own hands to clap and voice to raise a ruckus, let’s cheer the cyclists on Friday as they race through our hometown streets on the way to the finish line!

Ring Them Cowbells—Never Mind the Moos!

In the olden days, they kept track of herds on the open range. Now, the distinctive clang of cowbells will reverberate throughout Beaumont. The city is giving away about 140 cowbells to ring and cheer on cyclists during a March 23rd race through city streets and Cherry Valley.

The one-day Beaumont Road Race is part of the Redlands Bicycle Classic, which runs from March 22-25. Beaumont is one of the toughest rides in the four-day, world-class cycling event. And now the local race will have cowbells too!

“It’s great to see the City of Beaumont adding excitement and energy to the race,” said Dan Rendler, president of the Redlands Bicycle Classic. “The racers love the encouragement and cowbells are great souvenirs.”

Bells for bikes

Cowbells actually have a long tradition in sports. From hockey to cross-country skiing to professional cycling, sports fans have cheered on their teams and favorite players with cowbells. Soon, cowbell ringers will serenade riders as they speed through Beaumont and Cherry Valley. So if you need a prescription for fun and excitement, gather up the herd, and stop by City Hall for your very own Beaumont cowbell. They are free while supplies last, so pick one up and make some noise!

(City Hall is located at 550 E. 6^th St., and hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. until noon on Friday.)

For more information on the race, click this link: www.ci.beaumont.ca.us/bikerace

Pencil from the past writes its own history

Pencil from the past writes its own history

Seventy five years later, it’s still sharp enough to take an order.

The yellow pencil from Beaumont Hardware & Lumber is a throwback to the days when everyone met at the hardware store.

Tradesmen sat on old nail barrels smoking cigarettes and sipping coffee from mugs. Youngsters put nickels in a big red machine and waited for cold Cokes to come tumbling down. Women dressed up in their finery strolled about the store to see the latest in dishes.

During the 1930s and 1940s, hardware stores were filled with small-town charm and friendly, helpful clerks—many with a handy pencil tucked behind their ear.

Serving customers with flair

In those days, homespun, tongue-in-cheek advertisements in the local paper kept customers flocking to Beaumont Hardware and made household names out of employees like the late Don McLaughlin. In a career that spanned decades, the former Beaumont city councilman would wait on customers and then go to their homes and businesses to install linoleum, repair Formica table tops, and spruce up wood floors.

Here’s an excerpt from an early humorous advertisement written by Myrl Beck Sr., co-founder of Beaumont Hardware. A snippet at the end jokes about sales at the store.

“Don (that’s Don McLaughlin, you know…) was complaining the other day because he was so swamped. Said he never got to loaf like the rest of us do and couldn’t we do something about it.

“So we decided to do something for Don and the only thing we know to do is to write an ad about him—that ought to do the trick. It works swell on everything else we have down here. If we have something we’re especially fond of and don’t want to sell, we just put a special price on it and invite all you good people to come down and buy it—and it’s ours for life!”

In about 1930, the Bebee and Beck families opened up venerable Beaumont Hardware, one of many early and beloved hometown businesses.

“Everyone showed up at the hardware store, it was a great place to be,” said Bill Bebee, whose father Earl was a co-founder. “In those days, nobody was in a hurry.”

For more than 50 years and at two different locations, Beaumont Hardware lived up to the wording imprinted in black lettering on the old pencil: “The Builders Supply House.”

Many remember the hardware store’s big, brass cash register with mechanical keys and “store accounts” that allowed customers to sign for merchandise and pay at the end of the month. Some fondly recall how the lumber foreman at Beaumont Hardware had a school named for him. The former Andy Chavez Elementary School is now a maintenance operations and child nutrition center for the Beaumont Unified School District.

A trip back in time

In your mind’s eye, a slight twisting of the pencil between your fingers is almost like turning back the hands of time in Beaumont. The clues are right there for all to see. The phone number? It’s only four digits: “3372.”

For baby boomers growing up in Beaumont, a “four-digit” phone number seems very quaint. Some remember the days of telephone prefixes and how dialing “Vi 5” followed by four numbers could reach anyone in Beaumont.

The next clue is the hardware store’s simple address: “5^th & Grace Sts.”

The address evokes memories of a seminal moment in the history of our hometown’s transportation: the coming of the freeway.

In the late 1950s, Beaumont’s old downtown area along Fifth Street was razed to clear the way for Interstate 10. Beaumont Hardware and many businesses were bought out and relocated before the freeway came through in 1961. The hardware store moved to Sixth Street and Michigan Avenue and continued to serve customers there until its sale in the 1980s.

Living history

In today’s digital age, with our master-planned communities and 24-7 lifestyle, the humble pencil from Beaumont Hardware links us to our past. We think of bygone stores like Mobley’s Department Store, Gray’s Ice Cream and Conley’s five and dime. And while many things may have changed, it reminds us that our history endures and is being rediscovered anew by succeeding generations. The solid pencil with its sharp tip could easily write the next chapter in our city’s great history.

(The Beaumont Blogger would like to thank the San Gorgonio Pass Historical Society for preserving this reminder of our heritage during this centennial year.)