SAN MARCOS FIRE DEPARTMENT
The Texas Capital Air Show staff welcomed San Marcos-area first responders to the Pauline Espinosa Community Hall on Tuesday for a catered feast originally planned for the VIP area of the air show. Scheduled for Nov. 1 and 2, the show was cancelled due to the Federal government shutdown, according to a TCAS press release.
Lunch guests included members of the San Marcos Fire Department, San Marcos Police Department as well as area EMTs and State Highway Patrol Officers. The Wings & Warriors Foundation, the charity partner of TCAS, raises funds and awareness of suicide prevention for veterans and first responders.
Tim Scherer, Chairman and Founder of both the Texas Capital Air Show and Wings & Warriors, said his team had spent two years planning their first air show in San Marcos.
“We had a decision to make, either postpone the air show for a year or put on a watered down show, and we didn’t want to do that, Scherer said. “The city of San Marcos deserves better. Our sponsors deserve better. Quite frankly, we deserve better, and the people that attend the air show deserve better.”
Scherer said that caterer La Pera had already purchased the food for the air show, and decided to donate the food, as well as their services, for the first responders lunch. La Pera also agreed to roll over their catering contract with TCAS until the Air Show next year, according to Scherer.
Gourmet dishes from Le Pera included braised short ribs with heirloom tomatoes and onion jam, Texas pecan chicken and saffron sweet corn cream, blistered green beans and honey apricot mostarda, Oaxacan truffle mac & cheese, with churro con Abuelita chocolate brownie bits for dessert.
A statement on the Texas Capital Air website says: “We are deeply saddened to report that the inaugural Texas Capital Air Show will not take place November 1st and 2nd 2025 due to the Federal Government shutdown. We have determined that we will be unable to give our great fans, and our Veterans and First Responders the kind of air show you deserve.
“We dreamt up this event with the purpose of bringing a world-class aviation show to the Texas Capital Region, while raising funds and awareness of suicide prevention for our Veterans and First Responders. We remain committed to that mission as we postpone our inaugural show to November 7th and 8th 2026.”
Austin-based Le Pera Catering was founded in 2017 by co-owners Bethany DiBaggio and Rafael Rodriguez. Their menus are inspired by “Beth’s background in Coastal Brazilian cuisine and many of Rafael’s childhood food memories, family recipes and travels in and around Guadalajara, Mexico,” according to the company website.
