The Brown County Museum of History’s annual “GALA 2026” brought well over 200 people to the Brownwood Event Center on Saturday night, combining dinner, live entertainment and an auction to support educational programs for children.
Guests were served Chuckwagon Braised Beef prepared by Sodexo food service. The event recognized Mariann and Rex Tackett as honorary chairs for their contributions in Brown County over many years.
A look at Brown County’s past
Entertainment came from “When the West Was Wild,” a play written by Lamar Cravens and performed by the Lyric Wild West Players. The production offered a humorous, partly accurate look at the early days of Brown County. Nancy Jo Humfeld directed the play.
The cast included Jonathan Harvey, Drex Holt, Tracy Brandon Tucker, Eric Evans, Brandon Pierce, Taylor Crow and Rex Tackett. Troubadours Riverside Road—Martee Blanton, Marshall Billingsley and Suzanne Harris—also contributed music.
After the performance, Rex Tackett conducted a live auction featuring seven items: a First Love Sculpture from Montana Silversmiths, a Leather Treasure Tote, a custom portrait of a pet, a flight in a 1929 Travel Air Plane, a Lake Brownwood bowfishing adventure, a Henry Golden Boy .22 rifle and a Mayan Dude Ranch weekend for two.
Funds support children’s programs
Money raised through the gala supports the museum’s children’s educational programming. The museum’s offerings include material and activities covering fossils, gemstones, the prehistoric world, Native American and frontier history, ranching and conservation, as well as hands-on drawing, painting, pottery and fabric arts.
Children’s exhibits and programs also include Dino Day, natural history, science, geology, the Old Griffin School House and an H.O. Kelly art exhibit. Kelly was an artist from Blanket, Texas.
According to the gala program, the museum preserves historical information and artifacts, creates exhibits about local and regional history, offers educational opportunities in art, music, writing, literature, nature and natural science, and provides outreach to local schoolchildren and support for teachers.
The program states that the museum welcomes more than 4,000 visitors annually, draws tourism dollars—with one-third of visitors coming from outside the area—and operates as a designated Purple Heart Museum that honors veterans.
Next year’s theme announced
Organizers announced that next year’s Museum Gala show will be set in 1955, the year Elvis came to Brownwood, according to the event program.
The Brown County Museum of History is located on Broadway Street in downtown Brownwood. More information is available from Museum Director Kyndall Howard at 325-217-2270 or [email protected].