Mark calendars for Texas Master Naturalist 20 year anniversary gala
Oct. 25 event to be in Georgetown
Writer: Steve Byrns, 325-653-4576, s-byrns@tamu.edu
Contact: Mary Pearl Meuth, 979-845-7294, mpmeuth@tamu.edu
GEORGETOWN – With sizzling hot temperatures blanketing the state, the Texas Master Naturalist program hopes to cool things down with the announcement of their 20th Anniversary Gala, coordinators said.
The event will be the evening of Oct. 25 at the Sheraton Georgetown located off Interstate 35 and State Highway 29 at Georgetown. The Texas Master Naturalist program is a collaborative effort between the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
Proceeds from the gala will benefit the Texas Master Naturalist Endowment Fund. The fund’s mission includes enhancing the Texas Master Naturalist Program, its chapters and volunteers, now and into the future, for the benefit of natural resource education, conservation and stewardship, said Mary Pearl Meuth, AgriLife Extension Texas Master Naturalist program coordinator at College Station.
“We urge everyone interested in preserving our state’s native flora and fauna to mark their calendars now for this event,” Meuth said. “This celebration will be one to remember, with a live band, a variety of live and silent auction items and a celebratory presentation by founding Texas Master Naturalists — all befitting our organization’s 20th anniversary. It will be a really cool affair to look forward to this fall as we head into what thus far promises to be a blistering hot summer.”
Michelle Haggerty, state program coordinator at Kerrville, said for the past 20 years the Texas Master Naturalist Program has trained more than 11,000 individuals who have contributed more than 4 million hours of volunteer service. That service includes time spent restoring native habitats, creating outreach events educating the public, building community awareness, conducting research and citizen science efforts while working with state agencies alongside local partnership organizations.
“What makes the work of a Master Naturalist so important is they are not only individuals who love nature and offer their time, but they are trained naturalists with specialized knowledge of different ecosystems, species, habitats and environmental demands,” she said.
Haggerty, who works for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, said the mission of the organization is to develop a local corps of master volunteers to provide service dedicated to the beneficial management of natural resources and natural areas within the volunteers’ own Texas communities.
For more information about the gala, go to https://masternaturalistendowment.org/20th-anniversary-gala/ .
For more information about the endowment, go to https://masternaturalistendowment.org/ .
