Alamo Aggie | Spring 2025

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2025 MUSTER

OVER 500 AGGIES GATHERED TO SAY “HERE” FOR THEIR COMRADES

PAGES 16

ANNUAL GOLF CLASSIC

144 AGGIES & FRIENDS GATHER TO RAISE MONEY FOR SCHOLARSHIPS

PAGES 12

HOWDY, AGS!

Howdy! The first half of 2025 is over, and the San Antonio A&M Club has been a busy place. Monday lunches have been well attended with interesting programs arranged by Vice President Paula Schnettler. In the first three months we have heard from our scholarship students. The following week Egan Little told us about the San Antonio Livestock Exposition and Rodeo. Stephanie Reyes ’22 told of her work with the Real Estate Council San Antonio (RECSA) along with a fascinating story of her journey to become an Aggie. Max L. Knight ’73 told of his most recent novel, Ghostly Bugles: A Novel of the Alamo. We heard from the new Lifetime Members of the class of ‘70 and got a Texas Open preview from Aggie Past Champion David Ogrin ‘80. We learned the main campus details from recently retired provost Joe E. Ramirez ’79 and what to expect at the Final 4 from Pat Frost followed by Richard Oliver ’81 who filled in any Final 4 gaps and told us about how the city runs its event facilities. Darnell Smith told us about the newly created sports program at Texas A&M University – San Antonio and Paul Pausky ’78 gave us a fascinating demonstration on how to find a job through the Aggie Network combined with LinkedIn. If you haven’t been to Monday Lunch lately, we would love to see you there.

In addition to Monday Lunch the Young Aggies have hosted monthly happy hours at various establishments around the city, and Pickleball outings for those who are interested. March 1 was this year’s first Aggie Workday where volunteers spent the morning cleaning and making Aggie Park a more beautiful place. The annual Golf Tournament and fundraiser was held on March 20 where a good time was had by all, and a significant sum was raised to cover our scholarships.

Coming up is our Coach’s Night on July 21 and our newest fundraiser, Boot Scootin’ For Scholarships, on November 1st, along with our club Watch Parties! Come out and join your fellow Aggies at any and all of these events. If you would like to volunteer at these events a sign-up sheet is available on the Aggiepark. com website under the Volunteer tab.

I have been meeting with presidents of other large Aggie Clubs and can say we are the only club to have our own facility. Our Aggie Park staff of Alisha and Esha help keep the club running and rent the building when the club is not using it. The rental funds pay the salaries and expenses of the club and allow for our fundraising to go to scholarships for Bexar County students. Thanks again to those who donated to make our Original Aggie Park the showplace that it is today.

Thanks & Gig ’em, Lane Mitchell ’79 President

Stay in the Know

Follow the San Antonio A&M Club on Social Media

Board of Directors

PRESIDENT

Lane Mitchell ‘79 president@saamcf.org

VICE PRESIDENT

Paula Schnettler ‘82 vicepresident@saamcf.org

TREASURER

Robert Lozano ‘90 treasurer@saamcf.org

SECRETARY

Mitchell Byrum ’17 secretary@saamcf.org

3RD YEAR DIRECTORS

Don Meyer ‘78

Austin Teske ‘18

Marianne Marquardt Fly ’88

2ND YEAR DIRECTORS

Mario Guel ‘07 ’19

Ty Chumbley ‘06

1ST YEAR DIRECTORS

Richard Delgado Jr. ‘19

Andrew Quesada ‘15

Chris Schrader ’19

YOUNG AGGIES COORDINATOR

Trey Gonzalez ’19 youngaggies@saamcf.org

YOUNG AGGIES VICE COORDINATOR

Thomas Holmes ‘19

EVENT SCHEDULE

YOUNG AGGIES

OF SAN ANTONIO

Howdy Ags! The first half of the year is off to an incredible start, and the San Antonio Young Aggies are in full swing! From lively happy hours to active extracurriculars, our calendar has been packed with energy and engagement. Whether it’s golf outings, pickleball matches, run club meetups, trivia nights, or two-stepping at Thirsty Horse, one thing is clear — we are so back!

It’s been inspiring to see so many young Aggies come together to build meaningful connections and friendships in the Alamo City. The momentum we’ve built so far has been nothing short of exciting, and we’re just getting started. With more happy hours, game-watch parties, and community-centered activities on the horizon, there’s no shortage of ways to get involved and stay connected.

We encourage all fellow Aggies to follow us on social media to stay in the loop on upcoming events and initiatives. As we continue to strengthen our network, we’re also looking forward to giving back through community service projects and making a lasting impact in San Antonio. Gig ‘em, and we hope to see y’all soon!

SCHOLARSHIPS OUR 2025 SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS

The Scholarship Committee met on April 12 and interviewed 21 highly qualified candidates. After careful consideration, nine students were selected as recipients of the 2025 scholarships. Eight of these students will each receive a four-year, $12,000 scholarship. One student was awarded the inaugural Mike Hedges ‘76 Memorial Scholarship, established through a generous gift from Pat Hedges in honor of Mike Hedges, our former Scholarship Coordinator.

This year, we were pleased to welcome a new member to our scholarship team: Abigail Dixon, Class of 2023. A former scholarship recipient herself, Abigail joined the committee to begin giving back and supporting future scholars.

We extend our sincere thanks to the 2025 Scholarship Committee for their dedicated service. Your outreach to high schools, thorough application reviews, and participation in the interview process were instrumental to this year’s success.

Thank you,

Joe Rodriguez ‘02 Scholarship Committee Chair

Travis Collins

SmithsonValleyHighSchool

Gabriel Gilbert-Deveraux

Pieper High School

Jacob Lopez

BasisSanAntonio-ShavanoCampus

Ella Shaw CommunicationsArtsHighSchool

Patrick Amann

JohnJayScienceandEngineeringAcademy

Ava Camarillo-Mitchell

JudsonHighSchool

Haddon Mollenkopf Home School

Aleesa Pando

AntonianCollegePreparatoryHighSchool

Benjamin Barrick

(MikeHedges‘76MemorialScholarship)

TomC.ClarkHighSchool

Scholarship Committee 2025

Vernon Carr ’71

Christine Chen ’16

Hanna Dawson ’19

Abigail Dixon ’23

Kathleen Hill ’86

Bonnie Hitschel ’86

AJ Kwan ’71

Karl Nentwich ‘85

Jim Whiteaker ‘70

COACH’S NIGHT 2025

The San Antonio A&M Club invites all Aggies to join us Monday, July 21st at Pedrotti’s North Wind Ranch for an evening of camaraderie, as we raise funds to provide scholarships for Bexar County students to attend Texas A&M and gear up for the upcoming Aggie Football season. Coach’s Night 2025 promises to be an unforgettable event, showcasing the future of our Aggie football.

Coach’s Night 2025 provides a chance to meet Coach Mike Elko, learn about his program, and get excited for the football season. Your attendance will enrich Aggieland’s spirit and make this event memorable.

AGGIE MOMS’ CLUB

Howdy! Our San Antonio Aggie Moms’ Club has had a very active year! This year has been another successful year for our club. We supported almost 300 members by bringing a number of speakers in our monthly meetings that even included a famous Physics Professor, Dr. Tatiana Erukhimova who has also been popular on social media platforms. We awarded book scholarships in our meetings to several San Antonio Aggies this year. We also supported several organizations at TAMU campus to include donating to food drives to the 12th Can at College Station that provides a food pantry for students in need.

Our board members led a successful “Boots & Bling Gala” in March. Our gala is one of the largest fundraisers of the year. We came together as an Aggie Community to have fun and raise funds for scholarships. The event was a success due to the number of volunteers, donors and participants that were able to give their time and funds to raise money for scholarships for our San Antonio Aggies. We are already planning our Centennial Gala which will be in honor of our club celebrating 100 Years of Existence in 2026! Look for the date to be shared soon.

In April, we supported the Aggie Moms’ Boutique on Family Weekend with our Aggie Moms’ Store. Our team again donated their time and was able to raise funds through their sales for our Aggies.

Last, but not least, we most recently delivered almost 200 Goody Bags to our Aggies in College Station. These goody bags are free to our students and they are able to be funded from donations from our generous members.

As we get ready to wrap up the year, we want to encourage all new and transfer students joining TAMU and TAMUG to join us for our annual “Howdy Social”. It will be held on July 19, 2025. This

is an opportunity to hear from several campus organizations and become familiar with some Aggie Traditions. Our CSTAT Yell Leaders will be joining us at this event. You can follow us on our Facebook Page “San Antonio Aggie Mothers’ Club – Texas A&M College Station and Galveston” for more details.

We encourage all Aggie Moms’ to join our club in August. We will resume our monthly general meetings after May on August 4th. Our meetings are held the first Tuesday of every month.

If you have questions about our club or are interested in joining, you can find membership details at our “San Antonio Aggie Moms’ Club” website. It’s been a pleasure and honor to serve this great group of women this school year! I look forward to another successful year as we get ready to celebrate 100 years of existence!

Thanks and Gig ’em, Martha

President, 2024-2025

samomspresident@aggienetwork.com

Howdy Ags! Our San Antonio Aggie Women’s Club started the year having our January luncheon hosted at the home of one of our members. We had wonderful food and fun games. Each attending member donated a $25 gift card for our March fundraiser.

AGGIE WOMEN’S CLUB

Also in January, Evening Programs organized a gathering at Viola’s Ventanas to celebrate San Antonio Restaurant Week. Everyone had a wonderful evening.

In February, our group enjoyed gathering at The Cove to listen to Uncle Brent and the Nostone. Great Americana music, good food, and fun conversation!

Our Viva La Bingo fundraiser held in March was a HUGE success! Our club raised over $35,000 and we had a lot of fun too! Special thanks to Bay Star catering for the wonderful food, Siobhan Anders for her entertaining Bingo calling, the fun vendors who brought wonderful products, all the committee members who worked so hard to prepare, organize and decorate, and especially to the generous donors who bought tables and/or donated items for our silent auction. See our San Antonio Aggie Women’s Club Facebook page for pictures and acknowledgements of our donors.

Stay up-to-date on our organization’s activities by following us on San Antonio Aggie Women’s Club Facebook or visiting www.aggiepark. com.

For questions about our club or membership, contact Rita Richardson at tygammer@gmail.com or 210-6634108. You can also reach incoming President, Terri Sobey at sobeyt@ gmail.com or 210-956-9842.

Gig ’em, Debbie Castro

Outgoing President, 2024-2025 aggiewomensclubSA@gmail.com

RIDING IN THE WESTERN HERITAGE PARADE THE CORPS IN SA

On the morning of February 1, a group of us from the San Antonio A&M Club had the privilege of supporting Parsons Mounted Cavalry before their ride in the Western Heritage Parade & Cattle Drive. If you haven’t seen this parade before, it’s something special, a full cattle drive down Houston Street, along with wagons, mounted infantry, and heritage groups that bring a little piece of Texas history to life.

Of course, the highlight for us was seeing our Aggie cavalry ride through downtown San Antonio. They absolutely stole the show. We were loud and proud cheering them on from the sidelines, and afterward, we had the chance to serve them lunch before they loaded up for the drive back to College Station.

It was a fun and meaningful way to connect with fellow Aggies, support a great A&M tradition, and be part of a uniquely San Antonio event. Big thanks to everyone who showed up to help, we’ll be looking forward to doing it again next year.

Gig ’em, Mitchell Byrum ’17

LIFETIME MEMBERS LUNCHEON

On Monday, February 10, 2025 we welcomed our Lifetime Members which were from the Class of 1970. We had a wonderful, enthusiastic crowd as we honored them. As you can imagine there were many great stories and laughs shared by and about our honorees.

2025 GOLF CLASSIC

144 AGGIES GOLFING FOR SCHOLARSHIPS

On March 20th more than 144 Aggie golfers filled the Olympia Hills Golf Course. This 12th annual event takes place every year as a fundraising event to help raise money for the scholarships to Bexar County incoming freshman attending Texas A&M University in College Station. Special thanks to all the volunteers who helped make this day successful.

Our club raised more than $27,000.00. Thank you to all the golfers who participated and local businesses who helped support another successful golf event while helping future Aggies as they pursue their dreams!

Mark your calendars for next year’s golf tournament that will be held on March 26, 2026.

Gig ’em, Robert Lozano’90 Golf Committee Chair Executive Board Member 2025 Treasurer

MEET THE STAFF: ESHA

Esha joined the Aggie Park team on February 24, 2025. Prior to joining the team, Esha was an active member and volunteer of the club. Esha has a Bachelor of Science in Mass Communication. She comes to us with previous professional experience in wedding coordination, event planning, and sales. Esha grew up in San Antonio, TX and is a proud Texan. Esha loves her maroon and is always smiling and ready to greet everyone who enters the door with an enthusiastic “Howdy!” Esha enjoys working alongside Events Manager, Alisha (her younger twin sister by one minute) and the Board of Directors in fulfilling the mission of the San Antonio A&M Club and Foundation.

THE 12TH HAND

Committee Chair(s)

Coach’s Night

July 21, 2025

Boot Scootin’ For Scholarships

Nov. 1, 2025

Facilities

Don Meyer ’78 & Robert Lozano ’90

Mitchell Byrum ’17 & Austin Teske ’18

Austin Teske ’18 & Madeline Slay ’91

Marketing Brooke Byrum ’17 (Interim)

Membership Mario Guel ’07, ’19 & Yen Yan ’95

Young Aggies Trey Gonzalez ’19 & Thomas Holmes ’19

Interested in joining a committee or learning more?

Reach out to Marketing@saamcf.org

Find volunteer opportunities at AggiePark.com/volunteer or scan to learn more!

SELFLESSLY SERVE WITH YOUR FELLOW SAN ANTONIO AGGIES

Needs

Silent Auction Chair, Goodie Bag Prep (Night before), Day of Event Set Up (9:00 AM - 3:30 PM)

Silent Auction, Marketing, Day of Logistics

Committee Members and Committee Chair(s)

Ask your Aggie friends and family if they are current San Antonio A&M Club Members!

QUARTERLY UPDATE

AGGIE PARK ENDOWMENT COMMITTEE (APEC)

The San Antonio A&M Club Foundation (SAAMCF) has two endowment accounts, the Aggie Park Endowment (APE) and the Scholarship Endowment (SE), established and invested for the purpose of providing long term stability to maintain our Club home, Aggie Park, and helping to sustain our Club scholarship program. The Aggie Park Endowment Committee (APEC) is responsible for overseeing the management of these two accounts and for growing the endowments by promoting and soliciting charitable gifts.

APEC met on February 5 to review endowment account activity and investment performance for the 4th quarter of 2024. End of the year balances for 2024 were provided in the last issue of The Alamo Aggie. I have the end of 1st quarter account balances and activity to report, please see above.

APE activity during Q1 included earned income of $6,539, and a distribution of $37,255 to reimburse the SAAMCF for repair, maintenance, and improvement expenses incurred during Q3 and Q4 of 2024. Currently, $65,896 of the reported Q1 APE balance is designated as RMI Reserve.

SE activity during Q1 included earned income of $4,346, deposits of $113,600 ($96,000 raised for scholarships by the SAAMCF in 2024, plus $17,600 in restricted SE donations received by the SAAMCF during Q3 and Q4 of 2024), and a disbursement to TAMU of $40,500 to pay the spring semester stipends for our current scholarship students. Note that $309,000 of the reported Q1 SE balance is currently contracted or reserved for future scholarship stipend payments.

February and March were marked by a high level of economic uncertainty and market volatility. The APE and the SE both ended Q1 with a negative change in asset value of $19,670 and $17,694 respectively. Under the expert guidance of the SAAMCF Investment Committee, APEC is closely monitoring the endowment accounts and keeping our long term investment goals in focus, while maintaining healthy cash balances in each account to accommodate expected cash needs through the end of the year.

To make a lasting gift to one or both of our endowments, visit saamcf.org and click on Donate!

OVER 200 CADETS VISITED AGGIE PARK RUDDER’S RANGERS

On April 13, the San Antonio A&M Club hosted over 200 Cadets from Rudder’s Rangers and Texas A&M’s Army ROTC Program. After completing several days of exhausting training, the Cadets received a warm welcome as the San Antonio A&M Club provided lunch and an opportunity to rest before returning to College Station. Parents were able to visit with their students, and former Cadets were able to meet with the next generation of Cadets and

future Soldiers. We even had a little yell practice! Thank you to all the wonderful volunteers who made this event possible. We look forward to hosting Rudder’s Rangers and the Corps of Cadets after their next Field Training Exercise!

Gig ’em, Andrew Quesada ’15

Rudder’s Rangers Chair and 1st Year Director

MUSTER 2025

SOFTLY CALL THE MUSTER, LET COMRADE ANSWER, “HERE!”

Over 600 Aggies gathered at the Original Aggie Park to honor almost 150 local Aggies that we’ve lost in the past year. We gathered on a nice Monday evening, April 21st, and began our Muster with the beautiful Presenting of the Colors by the Joint Base San Antonio Honor Guard. Our current SAAMCF President, Lane Mitchell ‘79, then led us in the singing of our National Anthem. Secretary, Mitchell Byrum ‘17, gave us a beautiful and moving Invocation, which was followed by Opening Remarks by Paula Schnettler ‘82, Vice President and Muster Chair, and President’s remarks by Lane Mitchell ’79.

Robert Lozano ’90, Treasurer, read “The Muster Tradition” and Paula Schnettler ’82 took the stage again to introduce our keynote speaker, Benjamin Knox ’90, better known as “The Aggie Artist.” Benjamin was the perfect speaker for our group with the right amount of humor with his personal stories about his time at Texas A&M and from his many travels and encounters with Aggies all over, mixed with the relevance and reverence that our Muster is to all Aggies. His speech was highlighted with him gifting the Club a large, limited edition, beautiful watercolor montage of various campus scenes which he started sketching while he was a student at A&M.

We can’t thank Benjamin and his lovely wife, Renee, enough for driving up from College Station to join us for our 2025 Muster. They stayed with us to the very end of our traditional fellowship time and seemed to really enjoy visiting with everyone. Benjamin was a hard act to follow, but current Board Member, Mario Guel ’07 and ’19, did an awesome job of getting us in the right frame of mind for our major task at hand, with a beautiful rendition of “Roll Call for the Absent.”

The lights were then dimmed for the Candlelight Service as Randall Roessler ’84, Carmen Knolle ’98, Chris Schrader ’19, Lisa Lozano ‘26, Austin Teske ’18, and Becki Holmes ’82 took their places for their solemn task. The Roll Call was extremely moving and given by Bonnie Hitschel ’86, Chris Clements ’79, and Ty Chumbley ’06, who are a mix of past and current Board Members. Once our listed names were read, Austin Teske ’18 asked for Last Call, and several more names were Mustered.

Silver Taps was then played to the North, South, and West (since the sun will never rise on our fallen Aggies again), by Alexander Antu, David Delgado, and Joe Flores.

Immediate Past President, Don Preecs ’83, then took the stage to recite every Aggie’s favorite poem, “The Last Corp Trip.” Lane Mitchell ’79 led us in The Spirit of Aggieland, and Paula Schnettler ’82 gave the official closing of all musters – and charged each of us to remain firm in our loyalty to our country and our God, and to keep warm in our hearts our affection for each other and for our Alma Mater. With that, our 2025 Muster ended and gave way to our fellowship time.

A special Thank You to those that made our wonderful reception possible. To our Aggie Women’s Club for providing our sandwiches, our Aggie Moms’ for providing our desserts, and to Randall Roessler ’84 – Rebecca Creek Distillery and David “Duke” Meadows ’96 – 12 Fires Winery and Vineyard for sponsoring our bar. A special, heartfelt thanks goes out to our Volunteers and Staff for supporting and helping with our beautiful and meaningful 2025 Muster! Until next April 21st…

Thanks, and Gig ‘em!

Paula Schnettler ’82

Vice President and Muster Chair

PROMOTING FELLOWSHIP IN SAN ANTONIO MEMBERSHIP

Howdy! The San Antonio A&M Club and Foundation (SAAMCF) exists to promote fellowship among former students, current students, and friends of Texas A&M; spread the Aggie Spirit across the greater San Antonio Area; and to provide scholarships to Bexar County students attending Texas A&M University (TAMU). We are here to build up the Aggie Network. The association of former students notes that since 1876 TAMU is proud to have produced 527,468 former students. 50% of those students are class of 2000 or younger! Aggies have different reasons for moving to San Antonio. Some Aggies already have family and friends in the area. Some are new to the area. Some Aggies move here to contribute to the amazing work going on in San Antonio. The City of San Antonio has industry clusters in Aerospace, Biosciences/ healthcare, Information Technology & Cybersecurity, and the new energy economy. SA Current cites San Antonio as one of the fastest growing cities in the US, with an influx of 22,000 people in 2023; “the US Census

Bureau called San Antonio the city with the biggest population boom that year.”

In this sea of people, it can be difficult to find others that share the values you cultivated during your time at TAMU. Your Core values of Respect, Excellence, Leadership, Loyalty, Integrity, and Selfless Service (RELLIS). We at SAAMCF aim to unite you with those that experienced Midnight Yell, every win at Kyle Field, every Big Event, every late night at Evans, your ring day, and the celebrations at Northgate that followed.

Your degree and your time at TAMU is the key to friendships, mentorships, and career opportunities. SAAMCF and Aggie Park is your home in San Antonio where you can meet those people. You can even rent Aggie Park for your next event. Membership costs $50 for individuals, and $100 for families, and that’s mainly because your contribution helps SAAMCF award scholarships to future leaders. These are students we believe will make impacts in their communities past graduation.

Members of Membership Committee meeting at Lion and Rose on April 18.

Sign up today at AggiePark.com.

Your SAAMCF membership committee is Jordan Burbank ’22, Vernon Carr ’71, Anthony Kwan ’71, Mike Torres ’91, with cochair Yen Yan ’95, and I, committee chair, Mario A. Guel ’07 ’19. We want to know what being a member means to you, and how it has helped you to be the Aggie you want to be.

Share your Aggie Park membership story today!

The membership committee is planning an increased presence at all Aggie Park events, but you can reach out to mario@saamcf. org, yenyan78230@gmail.com, or marketing@saamcf.org. Visit our website aggiepark.com for more information on events, volunteer opportunities, and our scholarship application.

Yours in Service, Thanks and Gig em!

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