Last November, Sharla Earl Hotchkiss attended the national meeting of Keep America Beautiful in Washington D.C. to accept an award on behalf of the Keep Texas Beautiful, or so she thought.

"When they began to hand out the big individual awards, I really wasn't paying much attention," she admits. "But then I heard someone say 'Midland' and my ears perked up."

As it turns out, Hotchkiss was there to be honored with the Lady Bird Johnson Female Volunteer of the Year Award. "It was a total surprise. They announced my name and my family came out to be with me. I spent the next month completely stunned."

The national award, named in honor of the former First Lady's numerous beautification and litter prevention activities, dates back to 1968. It recognizes women who "throughout their lives have focused considerable time and energy in making America a more beautiful country." Hotchkiss' efforts over the last two decades certainly merit this recognition.

She first joined Keep Midland Beautiful in 1986 as executive director. There, she helped earn the organization awards through her litter prevention and waste reduction efforts. Upon leaving the position in 1991, she joined the Keep Texas Beautiful board and went on to serve as its president, organizational trainer and public speaker.

She since has been appointed to the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission's Pollution Prevention oversight committee for state-mandated programs. In Midland, she serves in many areas including the Planning and Zoning Commission, the YMCA membership committee and the George W. Bush Childhood Home fundraising committee.

Hotchkiss is a 1988 graduate of Leadership Texas and a winner of the 1999 Texas League of Women Voters Environmental Excellence Award and Southwestern University's 1991 Citation of Merit.

"You don't do the kind of work I do for recognition," she says. "You do it because you can see the benefits and results of your efforts. With Keep America Beautiful, I work alongside people who have a passion to make their community a better place. It's a win-win situation for everyone."

Hotchkiss moved to Georgetown from El Campo, Tex., in 1962. Her father and aunt had attended Southwestern, but she arrived on campus "not knowing a soul. But that was good for me. Southwestern nurtured me and taught me how to think." As a senior, she was in Professor Emeritus of History Bill Jones' first class at the University, titled "Historiography."

She married her college sweetheart, Bart '66, and spent the next 20 years as a full-time mother to her son, Bret, and her daughter, Erin, who went on to attend Southwestern.

When her children had grown and moved out, she says she got bored and decided to take the job with Keep Midland Beautiful, an organization "that had a mission and a message that I could believe in--to empower Texans through education to take responsibility for enhancing their community environment."

"I was raised by volunteers and Bart and I raised volunteers. I would encourage anyone who doesn't already volunteer to try it. Often we work in positions other than where our hearts are, and if you find time to volunteer, you get back so much more than you give. It makes the world a better place and broadens your perspective."