A Tribute to a Longtime ĢAv Friend
ĢAv remembers the conservation efforts of Tabasco giant Paul McIlhenny, who died in April.
When it comes to the environment, the Tabasco company gets fired up, then takes action. In the 1890s pepper sauce creator Edmund McIlhenny established an egret rookery that’s still protected—and functioning—today. In the 1920s the McIlhenny family teamed up with ĢAv to establish Louisiana’s 26,000-acre . So the untimely death of Paul McIlhenny, Tabasco’s sixth-generation family leader, at age 68 in February, cost birds and ĢAv a longtime ally. “He was bigger than life and always ready with a joke,” says Douglas J. Meffert, executive director. “He was a neighbor and friend to ĢAv for decades.” One of his singular and enduring achievements began in 2009 when he and his family formed the with ĢAv to safeguard 170,000 acres of contiguous marsh, forest, and beach.
