This event is sold out! We will honor mail in ticket orders postmarked on or before March 8, 2024. We look forward to seeing everyone on Saturday, March 23rd!
This event is rain or shine.
Checks or cash are preferred for the silent auction.
Join ACT on Saturday, March 23, 2024, from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. for the Annual Conservation Stewards Awards at Prairie Creek Lodge. This event honors individuals in our community who are influential in a wide variety of ways – the arts, historic preservation, and particularly, in protecting our wildlife and natural resources. Past Conservation Stewards Awards have been some of the largest gatherings of community leaders and supporters of wild Florida in the region.
This year's honorees are the Gary Family and Anne & John Shermyen!
The event will include dinner, drinks and a musical performance from The Savants of Soul. Tickets for this event start at $100 and will go on sale by February 1st. Ticket prices will increase to $125 after March 1st. All funds from the event will support Alachua Conservation Trust's work towards land conservation.
As Florida’s biggest conservation event of the year, you won’t want to miss it!
Cocktail Hour • Catered Dinner • Silent Auction • Live Music from The Savants of Soul
Celebrating 35 Years of Saving Special Places
The 2024 event will celebrate the first 35 years of ACT’s conservation journey and honor several individuals who have helped make saving special places possible along the way. Conserving land is no small endeavor and ACT could not have accomplished so much over the last 35 years without support from so many. Our theme invites you to reflect on the moments that have defined a legacy of conservation across North Central Florida.
Much like the beginnings of ACT, our honorees represent the different ways in which a group of committed and passionate individuals can come together to save the natural lands they love. A donation of a conservation easement from the Gary Family on multi-generational farmlands has led to the protection of hundreds of acres in Marion County over the last decade and a half. Anne and John Shermyens’ dedication to environmental protection has ensured the conservation of thousands of acres of land that runs along the banks of the iconic Santa Fe River as well as a conservation easement buffering San Felasco Hammock Preserve State Park.
These individuals exemplify the belief held by many Floridians that our environment and way of life is worth protecting today for the benefit of future generations. Please join us in recognizing the imprint this year’s honorees have made on the story of conservation in North Central Florida.
Thank You to Our 2024 CSA Event Sponsors!
Click on the logos above as they scroll through to view each sponsors’ website.
Driving Directions to the Event
This year’s event will take place at Prairie Creek Lodge located at: 7204 SE County Road 234, Gainesville, Florida 32641 (Google Maps)
From Downtown Gainesville:
Drive east on University Avenue (S.R. 26) for approximately 1.1 miles.
Veer right onto Hawthorne Road (S.R. 20) drive approximately 5.2 miles.
Turn right onto County Road 234
Stay left on County Road 234, cross the Gainesville-Hawthorne Rail Trail, and drive approximately 1.1 miles south. Please note, Google Maps has been taking vehicles down a private driveway immediately after this turn - keep driving until you see the green ACT entrance sign on the right. This error has been submitted to Google for correction.
Turn right after mailbox labeled “7204” - there is a green ACT sign.
From Interstate 75:
Take Exit 374 (Micanopy), turn east onto County Road 234 and drive approximately 1.3 miles.
Turn right onto Highway 441 and drive approximately 0.7 miles.
Turn left onto County Road 234 and drive approximately 5.9 miles.
Turn left before mailbox labeled “7204” - there is a green ACT sign.
Questions regarding the event? Contact ACT at info@AlachuaConservationTrust.org or (352) 373-1078 and we will assist you.
Banner image by Thomas Niemi.
