NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: Aug. 18, 2025
Contact: Sean Hoffmann, Director of Communications, shoffmann@texas-wildlife.org

TWA Foundation to host second annual San Angelo gala

New Braunfels, TX — The Texas Wildlife Association Foundation (TWAF) will recognize the San Angelo Area 2025 Conservationist of the Year during their annual gala on Aug. 28.

The statewide wildlife and conservation organization will honor the John Cargile Family at the event slated for 5:30 p.m. at Bentwood Country Club.

“The Cargile family started ranching on Rocky Creek in Irion County in 1904 and have continued to ranch in West Texas for the last 120 plus years. Generation after generation of the Cargile family have exemplified natural resource conservation and land stewardship for the livestock and wildlife that call their pastures home,” said TWAF President Alan Curry.

“I encourage our friends and neighbors in San Angelo and the surrounding counties to attend this second annual gala in support of the Cargile family and the TWAF Educational Initiative in our local schools,” he said.

Greg Simons, TWAF trustee, notes that last year’s gala success created immediate momentum for the initiative. “Monies raised through last year’s gala allowed us to hire Christine Foley as our conservation educator who is servicing schools in 11 nearby counties. In less than one year, Christine’s education efforts have reached over 7,000 students, 34 schools, and more that 450 teachers.”

According to Simons, “Conservation of our natural resources and preserving important local cultures are among the greatest challenges facing societies—globally, nationally and right here in our back yard. Addressing these challenges, effectively, must fundamentally begin through education.”

Simons also added, “By applying a proven education model that TWA has been deploying in other Texas regions for many years, we can educate people on the importance of sustainably healthy natural resources and the role that private lands stewardship plays in this process.”

TWAF’s inaugural San Angelo Conservationist of the Year was awarded to the Virgil James Powell families including the James L. Powell family, the Madolyn Powell Mertz family and the Marolyn Powell Bean family in August 2024.

For more information about the event, call (210) 839-9453 or visit https://twafoundation.org/17653-2/.

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