Nobles, owner of the former downtown San Angelo restaurant Gideon's (named for a buffalo soldier in Elmer Kelton's ''The Wolf and the Buffalo''), wondered why a town with a river like the Concho and a growing stock show and rodeo didn't have a convention center.

She set out to change that and was told that the first step was to form an innkeepers' association and a restaurant association. No problem for the Madre of the Cadre. She soon organized both groups and pulled them together. After many meetings, planning sessions and a presentation to the City Council, the convention center became a reality in 1978.

And what is a new convention center without a VIP host welcoming group to promote it?

To mix and mingle and make the public aware of events and conferences now coming to San Angelo, Nobles held a meeting at the River Club, and on Oct. 19, 1977, the Concho Cadre was born.

This charter Cadre meeting was attended by prominent folks in San Angelo, including then-Standard-Times publisher Tucker Sutherland and his wife, Carol, Ross McSwain, Marion Szurek, Stanley and Deanna Mayfield, Mary Ellen Astudillo, Wayne Franke, Kate Rushing, Herschel Shelby, Arch and Royce Black, Drew Darby and Dudra Butler.

''There was probably 40 to 50 people there from every profession and every walk of life,'' said Mary Ellen Astudillo, a charter member and former Convention and Visitors Bureau sales director/staff coordinator for the Cadre. ''And Joan's enthusiasm was absolutely contagious.''

Nobles was successful in convincing every person in the room that the new convention center and the city needed official hosts to welcome out-of-town conventioneers.

Convention attendees also enjoyed motor coach tours of the city, given by feathered-up and floozied ladies from Miss Hattie's Bordello. These ladies certainly knew their way around town.

Herschel Shelby, who retired in 1968 after 29 years with First City Bank, was a charter Cadre member who served as vice president the first year the Cadre was formed and president the second.

''They called me 'Padre of the Cadre,''' he said with a grin. Shelby ran a blackjack table every year at Casino Night. He recalls one year when he was in Austin at a conference and happened to meet a man who said he had just had a wonderful time at a convention in San Angelo and would never forget casino night. That's when Shelby realized how a friendly group of people can make an impact beyond the bounds of home.

''I think the Cadre has been a real vital part of business development in San Angelo,'' he said.

Today, almost 28 years after that first meeting, the Cadre has more than 60 members. Though Casino Night is a thing of the past, Cadre members conduct about 65 ribbon cuttings a year, as well as face-to-face business visitations to new Chamber members. They also help with convention registrations and Discover ASU events on campus.

Madre of the Cadre Joan Stocks Nobles has written two books and currently lives in Midland, but the excitement she ignited 28 years ago in San Angelo among a group of people who genuinely cared about their community is still ablaze and shining brightly today.

Concho Cadre members are the quintessential volunteers who give their time, energy and a special personal touch to make every event memorable. They leave impressions on visitors and business owners for years to come. They are the ultimate ambassadors of San Angelo.

If you happen to see those blue jackets and vests around town, give 'em a smile and a wave. They'll return the favor. It's the Cadre way."