Annual Meeting Success

SMGA had a standing room only crowd at your latest annual meeting. We have so many people to thank for the success of this event, especially everyone in attendance. President Todd Derkacz opened the meeting with an eloquent and passionate speech about our connection with the natural world. Then each committee chair and project leader gave a summary of accomplishments and an update on new and ongoing projects. To summarize, it’s been a busy year and we’ll update the accomplishments on our website soon. Sally Campbell, executive director of Envision Central Texas, presented information on the Greenprint – what it is, how it works, and how to use it. And very excitingly, SMGA presented two awards to people in our community.

Each year SMGA chooses one community member who has made significant contribution toward the SMGA mission to receive the Walking Stick award. This year, we were pleased to present the award to Dianne Wassenich. Not only does she tirelessly work as the executive director, but her efforts with the county in the development of the Habitat Conservation Plan and her proposal submission to Hays County of one of the 15 properties for park bond funding has gone above and beyond supporting the SMGA mission. Thank you Dianne!

This year we started a new tradition – to recognize a volunteer of the year. This person is not a board member, but a volunteer from the membership who clearly demonstrates a dedication to our mission through volunteer hours and focus on quality work. Lance Jones, is not only a dedicated trail crew member; he also created and spearheaded the SMGA inclusion and layout in the San Marcos Activity Guide, is an outreach committee member, and is a liaison with the Hays County master naturalists. You may also recognize his name as a common contributor to the newsletter. Lance, thanks for all that you do for SMGA.