Executive Women’s Club: gas cards for cancer patients driving from Rock Springs, and a Survivor Walk that makes the room cry
This year’s gala carries a Bavarian Oktoberfest theme — dirndls, lederhosen, a Bavarian hat bar, stein holds, and a non-sharp ax-throwing activity.
Kayla Zachary and Tammy Riley described the moment simply.
Local cancer survivors walk across the stage. Each one is handed a single pink rose. The audience cries.
“To see a group that large of local community members gather and walk across the stage because they have beat cancer,” Riley said Friday on Lead Live’s Nonprofit Week. “That’s the tearjerker. That’s the crying part.”
Zachary and Riley represent the Executive Women’s Club, a network of approximately 48 to 50 women of what the organization calls “executive caliber” — each nominated by an existing member — who gather monthly for networking lunches and organize one major annual event: Baubles and Beads, now in its 24th year.
The fundraiser originally ran as a daytime luncheon style show. It was reimagined as an evening gala around 2018 or 2019 and has not looked back. Last year, under the “Lumpkins and Pumpkins” theme, it raised a record $95,000. This year the organization is adding direct flood relief to its giving priorities alongside its two permanent programs: college scholarships for local high school girls and direct financial support for local cancer patients.
The scholarship is substantial: $2,000 per year for four years, totaling $8,000 per student. The medical support is intensely local and intentionally flexible — designed to fill the gap between what insurance covers and what a person can actually afford.
“For those that are having to choose… do I get this treatment or can I afford this medication or do I pay my electric bill this month?” Zachary said. “That’s what we’re here for.”
The programs are specific: the Big Hug initiative provides brand-new blankets to the local oncology center for patients during chemotherapy — the blankets cannot be reused, so the club must constantly replenish them. Gas cards go to Texas Oncology for patients driving daily for radiation from communities as far as Rock Springs. The club also funds local mammograms and recently purchased new chairs, robes, and mammogram machine covers for the facility.
This year’s gala carries a Bavarian Oktoberfest theme — dirndls, lederhosen, a Bavarian hat bar, stein holds, and a non-sharp ax-throwing activity. The keynote speaker is former KSAT news anchor Leslie Mouton, a high-profile cancer survivor who documented her treatment journey on live television. The event is Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026, from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Hill Country Youth Event Center.
Zachary and Riley closed with matching messages, summarized in two sentences: Get your mammogram. See a doctor. Not the internet.
Baubles and Beads: Saturday, Oct. 17, 5-9 p.m., Hill Country Youth Event Center. executivewomensclub.org.
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