The Smallest Community Center in Waco

The Smallest Community Center in Waco

A Little Free Library on North 43rd Street [https://www.facebook.com/underwoodlittlefreelibrary/] doesn’t look like that much: a blue wooden box on a post filled with donated books, puzzles, and whatever else happens to land there. But after stumbling across its decade-long trail of guestbook entries, holiday decorations, repairs, a missing weather vane, and an outbreak of alleged book theft, it starts to seem like something more. An examination of one of Waco’s smallest free libraries turns into a reflection on the fingerprints people leave behind when they build something and then let it go. ----- Hit subscribe so you don’t miss the next episode of Your Waco Weekend—and visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wacoinsider.stubstack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://wacoinsider.substack.com/] to sign up for our weekly newsletter.

Hot Dog, Y'all!

A picture on Facebook of a hot dog buried beneath guacamole, carne asada, sour cream, and pico de gallo raises a simple question: Where’s the actual hot dog? What begins as a close look at the “Cali Dog”—available for “only” $11—leads to Waco’s month-long Hot Dog Crawl [https://www.wacorestaurantweek.com/hotdog], complete with a passport app, voting for the best dog, hot dog t-shirts, and even runners covering the 22 miles between participating restaurants. Somewhere between the ballpark and the hot dog crawl, the humble wiener became more than just lunch. This week’s episode explores how one of America’s simplest foods is now your ticket to an entirely different kind of Saturday afternoon. ----- Hit subscribe so you don’t miss the next episode of Your Waco Weekend—and visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wacoinsider.stubstack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://wacoinsider.substack.com/] to sign up for our weekly newsletter.

"Whistlin' is a Young Man's Game"

Darrell “D-Rail” Ray [https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100056868557288] has spent more than three decades performing around Central Texas, becoming one of the most familiar names on local music calendars. Catch one of his appearances, and you’ll hear an eclectic setlist that jumps from Johnny Cash to Radiohead to Otis Redding, along with periodic breaks for a swig from a bottle of Tabasco sauce. A recent conversation with D-Rail traces the evolution of Waco’s music scene from a handful of venues in the 1990s to today’s larger network of bars, breweries, restaurants, and neighborhood stages. Along the way, he explains how audience requests shaped his repertoire, why supporting other musicians has become central to his approach, and how he once played a four-hour show for an audience of exactly one cat. ----- Hit subscribe so you don’t miss the next episode of Your Waco Weekend—and visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wacoinsider.stubstack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://wacoinsider.substack.com/] to sign up for our weekly newsletter.

"Honey, The Town Has Just Blown Away"

On May 11, 1953, an F5 tornado destroyed much of downtown Waco, killing 114 people. This episode looks back at the disaster through oral histories in a 1980s documentary recorded by survivors [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYD1SbZaALo] decades later—stories about collapsing buildings, cars buried under rubble—as they still try to make sense of it all. It’s a reminder that good history isn’t just names and dates but ordinary people describing a day when the worst happened to them through no fault of their own. ----- Hit subscribe so you don’t miss the next episode of Your Waco Weekend—and visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wacoinsider.stubstack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://wacoinsider.substack.com/] to sign up for our weekly newsletter.

Ellen Mote's Contour Lines

Waco artist Ellen Mote [https://ellenmoteart.com/] has spent years moving between creative disciplines without settling permanently into any one identity. In this episode, she talks about jewelry design, cyanotypes, painting, and basket weaving. Along the way, the conversation turns into something larger about attention and creative reinvention. This episode also explores a side of Waco’s creative culture that rarely fits into tourism slogans or polished branding campaigns. From the Austin Avenue Art Walk [https://www.austinavenueartfair.com/] to ad hoc galleries in coffee shops and vintage stores, it’s a look at the kinds of environments where unfinished ideas still have room to evolve. Sometimes the most important thing a city can offer artists is enough breathing room to keep exploring. ----- Hit subscribe so you don’t miss the next episode of Your Waco Weekend—and visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wacoinsider.stubstack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://wacoinsider.substack.com/] to sign up for our weekly newsletter.