WE HAVE A NEW WEBSITE! GBPHC.ORG
Jimmy Buffett performs a unique style of music that encompasses aspects of country, reggae, pop, jazz, and folk styles and mixes in a taste of the Caribbean. Jimmy, himself, calls it Caribbean rock. Call it Trop Rock or Yacht Rock, it’s the Island Style music and life style that brings many of us together.
This is what Jimmy Buffett has to say about how the parrot heads came to be: “Timothy B. Schmidt (Eagles bass player) was in the band, and we were playing a venue outside of Cincinnati called King’s Island. People had already started wearing Hawaiian shirts to our shows, but we looked out at this Cincinnati crowd, and they were glaringly brilliant to the point where it got our attention immediately. I said “Look at that!” Then Schmidt says to me, “They look like deadheads in tropical suits. They’re like PARROT HEADS!” He yelled to me in the middle of a song. So I immediately took the term and threw it over the microphone – the people identified themselves with the term from the get-go.”
The Galveston Bay Parrot Head Club received its charter from Parrot Heads in Paradise (PHIP), the national organization, in December of 1995. The lifestyle we live around the lake, bay and on Galveston Island is perfectly in sync with the philosophies of a true Parrot Head (PH). Our activities tend to center around the lake, bay and the Island and we are closely associated with the environmental concerns that affect the waters and land in our area.
Since our birth back in 1995, the club has grown to about 490 members with new members joining each week.
The GBPHC meets for happy hours at different venues around the area where we are fortunate enough to enjoy the entertainment provided by several musicians (some who are members of the club who sing a full repertoire of Jimmy Buffett and other PH friendly tunes). In late July of each year, we host “Riddles in the Sand”, also known as “Summer Camp for Parrot Heads”, a three-day long convention/festival, attended by members of our club as well as members from clubs around the country, all for the benefit of some of our favorite charities.
We also do weekend road trips to house parties, pool parties, beach parties, seasonal parties, and, whenever there are a group of PH’s around, there’s usually an impromptu party! We also encourage our members to partake in other PH Clubs activities. Our members receive an electronic newsletter each month as well as weekly updates, to help them keep up with all our club’s activities along with timely info on what some of the other PH clubs are offering.
At the GBPHC, we do believe in “Partying with a Purpose” and most of these events have benefited local charities such as the Bay Area Turning Point, Noah’s Ark Bayou Animal Sanctuary, The Light House Charity Team, and national charities such as the Alzheimer’s Association, Ronald McDonald House, The Shriners Hospital Burn Center for Children, and Wreath’s Across America, just to name a few! We have also been involved in the Galveston Beach Cleanup and Galveston Bay Foundation marsh grass plantings. We’ve never met a charity that we didn’t like! All of this leads up to our Christmas/Birthday party for our members in December. We hope you will come join in the fun with the Galveston Bay Parrot Heads!
What we as a club are most proud of, is that in the year 2010, our club won the coveted “GOLDEN COCONUT AWARD”! An honor bestowed to us, as voted on by a secret panel, by the Mothership, PHIP’s! The award recognizes the top club in all of the Parrot Head Nation!
Phins up /) /) /) /) /) /) /) /)