Staff Reports
Giving back to the community and working to preserve Caddo’s natural beauty has caused Jeffersonian Stella Smith, a member of the Cypress Basin Texas Master Naturalist, to win the Texas Parks and Wildlife Region 6 Volunteer of the Year award.
Since the Master Naturalists chapter was organized 15 years ago there have been at least 3 attempts to get the entrance to Caddo Lake State Park beautified and all three met with limited success. Stella was more than successful.
Setlla’s nomination read: Stella Smith is a member of the Cypress Basin Master Naturalists. In 2023, Stella volunteered with her fellow master naturalists supporting the park’s 100-year Anniversary event by teaching guests about Monarch butterflies. When she found out the park was struggling to maintain a large native plant garden around park headquarters, one that her organization created over 10 years ago, she initiated a
redesign of the area and worked with the park superintendent to make it better. Stella revitalized the garden by minimizing the space that needed to be maintained through the addition of a flagstone walkway through the garden. She also planted more native plants and added new mulch. Stella took the lead on the project and recruited other members to assist her with the labor. She always had a smile on her face. Most days she worked alone or with only one or two others. She worked many mornings during an extremely hot summer while preparing the ground, laying flagstone, and planting plants. She faithfully came to the park early in the morning to water the plants and pull weeds. Before she started this project in early 2023, guests were complaining that it looked messy and full of weeds. Now the park continues to receive compliments. It is a common site to see visitors sitting on a small bench in the garden resting and enjoying the numerous pollinators that flutter and buzz about the area. Stella continues to maintain the garden and her volunteerism greatly enhanced the visitor experience at park headquarters.