If you walked into one of those dinners this past August, you might’ve thought it was just another night out in Texas. The lights were low, the tables were set, and the air smelled like seared steak and oak-aged bourbon. But if you looked a little closer, listened past the laughter and the clinking glasses, you’d have noticed something different.
This wasn’t just dinner. It was a gathering with a purpose.
All across Texas, from Dallas to the coast, folks were sitting down together for a meal that meant something. Each evening was part of the Texas Waterways Dinner Series, a partnership between Garrison Brothers Distillery, Landry’s, and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation benefiting Gulf Trust, and every course, every pour, every story shared was about something bigger than bourbon.
Where It All Began
The idea was simple. Take good food, great bourbon, and good people, and bring them together for the kind of night that reminds you what community feels like. Then, use that moment, that shared table, to give back to the land and water that make all of it possible.
Because in Texas, bourbon and water are tied together tighter than barbed wire on a fence line.
Each bottle of Garrison Brothers bourbon begins with water pulled from the limestone aquifer that runs beneath the Hill Country. It’s hard, mineral-rich water, the kind that shapes flavor and character. When that bourbon is finally ready, after years of aging in the brutal Texas heat, it’s proofed with pure rainwater collected on the ranch. It starts with Texas water, and it ends with Texas water.
Charlie’s Welcome
Charlie Garrison was the first to stand up at each dinner. The lights dimmed, the chatter settled, and the sound of ice hitting a glass became a kind of opening bell.
Charlie didn’t give a speech, that’s not his style. He told stories. Stories about the early days of Garrison Brothers in Hye, when the idea of making bourbon in Texas seemed as far-fetched as snow in July. He talked about his brother Dan’s stubbornness, about the first barrels they rolled into the barns, about how nobody believed Texas could make bourbon worth drinking, until they did.
Then he smiled, raised his glass, and said what everyone in the room was already thinking: “Texas has a way of proving people wrong.”
That set the tone for the evening, a mix of pride, gratitude, and a quiet kind of wonder.
Donnis and the Water
After the plates were cleared from the second course, Garrison Brothers’ Master Distiller, Donnis Todd, took the floor. Donnis has the kind of booming voice that draws people in, calm, steady, touched with the cadence of someone who’s spent more time in rickhouses than boardrooms.
He talked about bourbon the way most folks talk about family. How it starts with grain from Texas farmers, how it’s aged under the blazing sun, and how, if you do it right, it ends up tasting like the land it came from.
Then he talked about water.
Not in the technical way, not about pH or filtration or yield, but in the way only a distiller can.
“We make bourbon out of what nature gives us,” he said. “If we don’t take care of it, we’ve got no business calling it Texas bourbon.”
You could’ve heard a pin drop.
It was a simple truth, but it hit hard. The same water that fills the barrels at Garrison Brothers also fills our rivers, feeds our bays, and flows into the Gulf. Protecting it isn’t just a nice gesture, it’s essential to who we are.
The Mission Behind the Meal
That’s what the Texas Waterways Dinner Series was all about. Each event raised money through Good Bourbon for a Good Cause, Garrison Brothers’ nonprofit that turns good bourbon and good company into real help for real Texans.
The $30,000 raised through this series will be donated to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation to benefit Gulf Trust, an initiative dedicated to restoring and protecting Texas waterways and coastal ecosystems. It’s the kind of work that doesn’t make headlines but quietly shapes the future, ensuring the rivers keep running, the marshes keep breathing, and the Gulf keeps giving.
Jay Kleberg, who leads Gulf Trust, was there for the dinners too. He spoke with the conviction of a man who’s spent his life outdoors, explaining how every drop of water in the Hill Country eventually finds its way to the Gulf. “What happens up here,” he said, “matters down there.”
And sitting nearby, Phil Lamb from Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation nodded in agreement. For him, the mission is personal. TPWF has been championing Texas land and water for decades, and partnerships like this one are how that legacy continues.
What These Nights Felt Like
There’s a certain magic to a Texas dinner when everything’s just right, when the bourbon’s warm, the food’s rich, and the conversation rolls easy. But these nights had something extra.
They felt like a reminder of how connected we all are. The ranchers, the chefs, the distillers, the folks in boots and pearl snaps, the couples in their Sunday best, everyone in the room was part of the same story.
When Charlie and Donnis spoke about the distillery, you could see heads nodding around the room. When Jay and Phil talked about the rivers, the gulf, people leaned in. It wasn’t a lecture. It was a conversation, one that stretched from the Texas panhandle to the salt flats near the Gulf.
By dessert, the atmosphere was less like a fundraiser and more like a family reunion. People lingered. They talked about fishing the Frio, kayaking the San Marcos, or just floating down the Brazos on a hot afternoon. Everyone had a story, because everyone in Texas has a connection to the water.
And by the time the final toast, at the final dinner, was made, that connection had turned into something tangible, $30,000 to help keep Texas water clean, flowing, and full of life.
Good Bourbon for a Good Cause
At Garrison Brothers, Good bourbon can change the world isn’t just a slogan. It’s a way of doing business. Over the years, the distillery has helped raise millions for causes that matter, from disaster relief to wildlife conservation to community rebuilding. The Texas Waterways partnership was a natural extension of that spirit.
This wasn’t about writing a check and calling it a day. It was about showing up, pouring bourbon, telling stories, and breaking bread. It was about looking people in the eye and saying, “You’re part of this too.”
And that’s what made the Texas Waterways dinners special. They reminded everyone that doing good doesn’t have to be complicated. Sometimes it’s as simple as gathering around a table, listening to a story, and raising a glass for something that matters.
A Toast to What’s Next
In Texas, we’ve always believed that when you sit down, break bread, and raise a glass together, you can make something good happen.
So here’s to everyone who joined us for those dinners. To the chefs and servers who poured their craft into every plate. To the folks who came to listen, to learn, and to give. To the partners at Landry’s and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation who helped make it possible. And to the team at Gulf Trust, who will turn this money into real change for the waters that shape our lives.
Because bourbon, like a river, has a way of carrying good things forward.
And somewhere down the line, maybe when the next rain falls on the Hill Country, or the next barrel is filled in Hye, the story of these dinners will ripple through the water once again.
A reminder that in Texas, the best stories always begin, and end, with a shared toast.
Salud!
