33rd Arkansas Outdoor Hall of Fame Banquet set for Aug. 24

LITTLE ROCK — Make plans to join the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024, at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock to honor this year’s inductees to the Arkansas Outdoor Hall of Fame.

“The Foundation is honored to celebrate the outstanding efforts of this year’s honorees,” said Deke Whitbeck, president of the Foundation. “This year is particularly special because each honoree represents an entity dedicated to the outdoors. It’s a true pleasure to highlight these remarkable organizations and their invaluable contributions across our state.”

Shawn Daniel, Colonel, U.S. Army (Retired) – Darby’s Warrior Support
Daniel is the executive director of Darby’s Warrior Support, providing a lifeline for countless post-9/11 Special Operations combat veterans dealing with the physical and emotional aftermath of their service to the nation. DWS delivers all-inclusive Arkansas hunting and fishing opportunities in a safe environment fulfilling its mission of giving back to these heroes by giving them a place to heal with camaraderie and Understanding.

Steve Lochmann, Ph.D. – Professor, University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff
Lochmann has been a professor of Fisheries Management and Ecology at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff for 30 years. Dr. Lochman’s teaching and research efforts have produced many biologists for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Fisheries Division as well as AGFC Chief of Staff Chris Racey and Deputy Director Ben Batten. In 2016, he was recognized with the Joe Hogan Award for outstanding leadership and strong commitment to Arkansas’s fisheries and aquatic resources by the Arkansas Chapter of the American Fisheries Society.

This year’s Steve Smith Spirit of Giving Award goes to The Mayfly Project. Founded in 2015 by Jess and Laura Westbrook, the mission of The Mayfly Project is to support children in foster care through fly-fishing, providing mentorship, introducing them to their local water ecosystems and developing a rewarding lifelong hobby. Now active in multiple states, The Mayfly Project helps foster children have fun, feel supported and develop a meaningful connection with the outdoors.

The Legacy Award will be posthumously presented to Andy Simmons, a lifelong outdoor enthusiast who made history when he named the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation in his estate, resulting in one of the largest single gifts ever received by AGFF. As a lasting tribute, the Foundation turned the gifted property into the Andy Simmons Outdoor Skills Farm, which opened in October 2023, as a way of perpetuating Andy’s legacy of conservation and outdoor recreation to future generations of Arkansans.

The event will include dinner, music, raffles, online silent auction and the induction ceremony. Doors open at 6 p.m. Tickets to the 2024 Arkansas Outdoor Hall of Fame Banquet are available at the Foundation’s website: www.agff.org.