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Beautify Texas Awards

Nominations Open October 14 - November 20

Overview

Who:

Anyone can nominate a local hero! Award winners come from all walks of life: students, civic and non-profit organizations, individuals, community groups, sports teams, and more. Self-nominations are encouraged!

What:

The Beautify Texas Awards recognize efforts made by individuals and organizations to enhance their communities and protect Texas’ environment. These awards range in honoring extraordinary volunteers, professionals, youth, educators, businesses, local/civic governments, organizations, and specific projects and programs.  They are organized into two main categories, Individual Awards and Organization Awards.

When:

Nominations for the 2026 Beautify Texas Awards  will open October 14, 2025 and close November 20, 2025 at 5 pm CT.

Meet the 2025 Winners!
Meet the 2025 Winners of the Beautify Texas Awards

Award Categories

Individual Awards

Stan Weik Leadership Award

The most prestigious award Keep Texas Beautiful presents, this once-in-a-lifetime professional distinction is awarded to an individual who has provided outstanding leadership in improving and enhancing the environment of their community, the state of Texas, and beyond.

Read about Stan Weik

OP Schnabel Volunteer of the Year Award

This award recognizes an adult individual who supports the mission of KTB through extraordinary volunteer efforts and contributes to the betterment of their community.

Read about OP “Old Pushbroom” Schnabel

Ruthe Jackson Youth Individual Volunteer of the Year Award

This award recognizes the efforts and leadership of youth (as individuals and their collective efforts as a group or team) to beautify the community and create cleaner, greener campuses, parks, and neighborhoods. A youth individual is defined as a student (elementary through postgraduate), scout, youth advisory board member, etc.

Read about Ruthe Jackson

Sadie Ray Graff Educator of the Year Award

This award recognizes the efforts of an educator who provides instruction/programming to Pre-K through college students to encourage youth involvement and promote the KTB mission through environmental education.

Read about Sadie Ray Graff

Organizational Awards

Ebby Halliday & Maurice Acers Business/Industry of the Year Award

Recognizes a business with sound environmental principles that supports the Keep Texas Beautiful mission, including locally owned, state, or national businesses.

Read about Ebby Halliday and Maurice Acers

Outstanding Program of the Year Award

Recognizes outstanding contributions by civic organizations and city/county/state government departments, divisions, or agencies supporting the Keep Texas Beautiful mission through a specific, continual program.

Outstanding Project of the Year Award

The Outstanding Project award recognizes contributions by civic organizations and city, county, and state government departments that support the KTB mission through a specific one-time project or event from the previous year.

Sadie Ray Graff Public Education & Outreach of the Year Award

Recognizes outstanding contributions to the Texas environment made by educational institutions, city government departments, divisions or agencies, media outlets, and nonprofit and youth-oriented organizations
to provide instruction/programming that promotes the KTB mission through environmental education. This award celebrates the leadership of local organizations in beautifying communities and creating cleaner, greener campuses, parks, and neighborhoods.

Read about Sadie Ray Graff

Honorees

Several of the Beautify Texas Awards are named in honor of notable people who were an important part of Keep Texas Beautiful’s founding and development over its 55+ year history. Let’s meet them:

Stan Weik

Stan Weik, together with his wife, Joanne, devoted time, energy, and joyful spirit to elevating Keep San Saba Beautiful and Keep Texas Beautiful (KTB). He served on the KTB board for many years and served as Board President in 2012. Over the years, Stan won many awards for his service including the Iron Eyes Cody Award from Keep America Beautiful, their highest honor, and the KTB Leadership Award.

O. P. Schnabel

O.P. Schnabel was a San Antonio insurance salesman and a pioneer in spreading the anti-litter message. Upon returning from a trip to Switzerland in 1948 where he was struck by the cleanliness of the Swiss cities, Schnabel was inspired to organize the Beautify San Antonio Association. In 1967, he became the founding president of the Beautify Texas Council (later re-named Keep Texas Beautiful.)

He devoted his life to making Texas cleaner and more beautiful and encouraged others to do the same. O.P. was affectionately known as “Old Push Broom,” and was well known for his catchphrases, such as “Nice people don’t litter” and “Be a beauty bug, not a litterbug.”

Schnabel’s hometown of San Antonio has a park, apartment complex, and clean-up week named after him. The O.P. Schnabel Senior Citizen Award recognizes citizens over the age of 55 who show leadership in improving the local community’s environment, just as Schnabel did.

Ruthe Jackson

Ruthe Jackson was the first female president of Keep Texas Beautiful and a founding member of the organization. Ruthe served on the Grand Prairie City Council and won multiple awards and honors including the Lyndon B. Johnson Environmental Award in 1977, the Outstanding Community Volunteer Award in 1998, and the President’s Volunteer Service Award in 2008. The Ruth Jackson Event Center was named and dedicated in Ruthe’s honor by the Mayor of Grand Prairie.

Ruthe enjoyed leading cleanups and often got her own hands dirty to beautify her city. She believed youth are the future leaders of Texas and devoted her time and energy to them, making it very fitting the Youth Leadership Awards are named in her honor.

Sadie Ray Graff

Sadie Ray Graff was an educator for more than 50 years. A “Teacher of Thousands,” she was named among the Ten Outstanding Women of the Year in 1967 by The San Antonio Express-News. She received the Texas State University Alumni Association’s most prestigious award, the State Achievement Award, in 1983. Award recipients are Texas State graduates whose leadership serves as an example to all members of the Texas State community.

After retiring from education in 1971, Sadie Ray and her husband Waldo continued to serve actively in the Beautify San Antonio Association. She visited elementary schools to involve them in recycling and conservation projects. In 1992, the City of San Antonio named the Graff Pavilion at O.P. Schnabel Park for them.

The Sadie Ray Graff Educator Awards recognize those in the field of education who encourage or demonstrate efforts to promote the KTB mission through environmental education.

Ebby Halliday & Maurice Acers

Ebby Halliday and Maurice Acers were married in 1965 and soon became involved with Keep Texas Beautiful. Both were business owners with a passion for keeping Texas clean and beautiful.

Acers, a former FBI agent, secured the partnership with the Texas Department of Transportation and named the Governor’s Community Achievement Awards while working as the executive assistant to Gov. Allan Shivers.

Ebby was well-known as the “First Lady of Real Estate,” and sold selling homes in the Dallas area for more than 60 years. Ebby Halliday Realtors is now one of the largest privately owned residential real estate firms in the country.

Learn About Past Winners of the Beautify Texas Awards

The 2025 Beautify Texas Awards Winners collage
The 2025 Beautify Texas Award Winners Beautify Texas AwardsKTB Blog

The 2025 Beautify Texas Award Winners

The Beautify Texas Awards recognize efforts made by individuals and organizations to enhance their communities and protect Texas’ environment. These awards honor extraordinary volunteers, professionals, businesses, organizations, and sustainable projects and programs.  They are organized into two main categories, Individual Awards and Organization Awards. The Categories Individuals Stan Weik Leadership…
lara
February 25, 2025
The 2023 Beautify Texas Award Winners – Organizational Categories Beautify Texas AwardsKTB Blog

The 2023 Beautify Texas Award Winners – Organizational Categories

The Beautify Texas Awards honor Texas companies, schools, and organizations doing extraordinary things in their communities. We're proud to showcase the 2023 Beautify Texas Awards winners in the Organizational category, and thank these Texans for their hard work as volunteers, educators, and leaders. Ebby Halliday & Maurice Acers Business/Industry Award…
lara
February 12, 2024

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