Austin360 blogs > Out & About > Archives > 2010 > October > 02 > Entry
Children in Nature Gala at the Four Seasons
Galas come with speeches. It is customary. Not always welcome. But expected. Every once in a long while, however, a speech rallies a gala audience to the point of euphoria.
Stacey Abel and Kirsten Ingram
Credit Texas Parks and Wildlife director Carter Smith with one of those eloquent exceptions Thursday night. His topic, the importance of the out of doors to youth, suited the Children in Nature Collaborative gala at the Four Seasons Hotel like a worn work glove. His accented delivery sent the believers into orbit. I have no inkling of Smith’s political leanings, but based purely on his oratorical skills, he could make a run at any Texas office.
Laura Esparza, Kelly Snook and Margaret Russell
Other high points from the pre-dinner ceremony included nods to leaders who have taken young people out of cities and into the country. Evidently, the Westcave Preserve, which led the collaborative event, has turned some kind of institutional corner. The voluble assembly included plenty of generous heavy hitters from all walks of Austin life.
Steven Hubbell and Forest Croft
After the ceremony, the guests poured out of the banquet room to tables set on the manicured lawns of the Four Seasons — that’s nature, too! The Preserve was just one of several groups that bet on beautiful conditions outside this week — and won the weather lottery.
Phrase of the evening: “One foot in the country, one foot in the city”
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