CANYON — Texans Caring for Texans hosted its 32nd annual state employee recognition ceremony Thursday, Aug. 6 at the Legacy Hall in the Jack B. Kelley Student Center on the campus of West Texas A&M University in Canyon. State Representative John Smithee delivered the keynote address.
WT President Dr. Walter Wendler thanked the attendees for their good work, “where public service is not treated as background noise, which is too often the case, but is something worthy of attention and gratitude.”
Wendler said that unfortunately we live in a time where there’s a lot of criticism about public service and agencies and that some is justified, but that he knew too many public servants to ever classify a group that should accept criticism for anything because of the good work they do.
The WT president acknowledged that it would be his last time to address the group due to his upcoming retirement on Aug. 31, exactly 10 years to the day he started. Wendler said that he and his wife were going back to the Holy Land — known as College Station.
Don Nicholson, a Texans Caring for Texans task force member, was honored with two special awards as a founding member of the group. His compassion and leadership have helped the group fulfill the goals and vision representatives had in mind when they created this event.
Nicholson, who is also retiring from the state, was honored for his many years of service to Texas and wished the best for his next adventure.
Nicholson, who admitted he didn’t know about the honor, then told about Wendler coming from WT from Southern Illinois University as director of school architecture in 2015. Before becoming president of the university, Wendler held multiple leadership roles at Texas A&M including vice chancellor and executive assistant to the president of the school of agriculture.
Wendler was also introduced as a New York native but told that it wouldn’t be held against him. Nicholson also said that Wendler and his wife. Mary, have two sons and six grandchildren and was the longest serving president of a school in the Texas A&M University System.
NIcholson credited Wendler with providing the location and meal for every Texans Caring for Texans event, following a tradition that started years ago with other presidents.
Nicholson then introduced Rep. Smithee, who attended Amarillo public schools, Tascosa High and Amarillo College, along with WT and the Texas Tech University School of Law. After being a practicing attorney and arguing for many cases, including before the U.S. Court of Northern District of Texas, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, U.S. Court of Claims and the Texas Supreme Court, he became a state representative for Disctrict 86 in 1984. He has also served on a number of committees in the Texas Legislature over the years.
Smithee made a joke out of bring the last person asked to host an outdoor toilet association and mentioned serving at the lowest rung of elective politics and staying close to the people.
“I could go hire a pollster for $10,000, but I can learn more from a trip to the grocery store because people will come up and not hesitate to tell you what they think,” he said. Smithee also gave credit to the late David Swinford, who was a good friend of his and came up with the idea of putting a poll in some of the newsletters they received, asking people if they had had any dealings with state agencies.
“We were amazed to see the positive reaction from our constiuents about dealing with different state agencies and how they had helped them out,” Smithee said.
He said that he and Swinford were in Austin talking to some other legislators who were having problems with their state employees complaining about everything, and they said, “It’s not like that in the Panhandle.”
After that conversation, Swinford said that they should do something to recognize state employees of the Panhandle because they were the best anywhere. Smithee said that Swinford took the lead and got the event organized, and he wished he could be there to see it now.
Examples of leadership, courage
Among those honored were Texas Department of Criminal Justice officers Kari Belamy Thornton and Troy Thornton, who on Dec. 9, 2025, encountered an individual dressed in white clothing with a hospital wristband and immediately investigated.
Their calm professionalism ensured the situation remained contained until responding personnel arrived.
The sheiff’s office identified the person as a man who had been suspected of being involved in a serious incident the night before. Deputies located the man, who was arrested on a murder charge.
Another honoree, Brandon Mason, serves as the Section Chief of Preparedness and Response for Region 1 with the Texas Department of Emergency Management. He also served with the Amarillo Fire Department and deputy chief of support systems. He responded to the Smokehouse Creek Fire and more recently, the Hunggate and Stinky Fires. He was also deployed on July 4, 2025, to the Kerville floods and to North Carolina and California wildfire responses.
Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) Amarillo District crew members Kevin Wilcox, Dusty Lee, and Cody Harris received awards at the event. Wilcox is a Transportation Specialist in the Traffic Operations department; Lee is the Sherman County Maintenance Section Supervisor; and Harris served as the Section Supervisor at their Expressway maintenance section.
“Our TxDOT crews go above and beyond the call of duty each and every day to ensure our roads are as safe as possible,” said TxDOT Amarillo District Engineer Blair Johnson. “Kevin, Dusty, and Cody are prime examples of that and what it truly means to be a Texan caring for Texans.”
Employees from various agencies were given awards at the event. Agencies representated included:
Nell Williams is a staff writer covering trends and other news for the Amarillo Globe-News. Have a story idea? Email her at nwilliams@usatodayco.com .
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: State employees recognized at Texas Caring for Texans ceremony
Reporting by Nell Williams, Amarillo Globe-News / Amarillo Globe-News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Nell Williams, Amarillo Globe-News | USA TODAY Network
