Make a cool adventure product? Enter it in the Texas Works Awards!

I’d rather wear a Texas-made hat, sip a Texas-made bourbon, and wear a pair of Texas-made boots. We live in Texas, after all, and we should support our community.
That’s what the Texas Works Awards are all about, and when Chet Garner asked me to help judge them, I got pretty excited. Garner, host of the TV show “Daytripper,” in which he rambles around the state doing totally Texan things like running through corn mazes, looking for the mysterious Marfa lights and drinking Big Red floats, teams up with Vincent Friedewald, founder and CEO of No. 4 St. James, purveyors of cool Texas products like T-shirts that say “Porque por queso,” enameled Big Bend-themed camp mugs, and surfboards, to put on the competition.
The idea is to celebrate Texas creators. The competition is divided into eight categories – Fashion and Style, Workshop, Food, Drinks, At Home, Adventure and Outdoors, Pets and Animals, and Apothecary. The 2020 awards, presented by Go Texan, are open for entries now at www.texas.works/awards.
Garner asked me to judge the Adventure and Outdoors category, so I’m hoping to see everything from camping gear to bike stuff, paddling paraphernalia, running goods – anything that someone who likes to get outside and explore our state might need. (The 2018 winner in this category was wooden landing nets by Heart Wood Trade, www.heartwoodtrade.com.)
This year’s overall winner will win $10,000 and title of Best Consumer Product in Texas. Members of the Go Texan program can enter a separate People’s Choice Award, too, which lands a $5,000 prize.
Entry deadline for the main competition is Aug. 4. For more information go to https://www.texas.works.