🌳 The surprising story behind Cameron Park

Good morning, Waco. This is The Waco Buzz, the local newsletter that’s as refreshing as a morning walk on the river trail at Cameron Park.

In today's Sunday Sip:
🌳 How Did Waco Get Cameron Park?
🏡 Home of the Week: 721 Austin Ave #C
📅 Three Events to Circle This Week
💛 Waco Gem: Día de los Muertos Parade
☕️ Origin Story: JD’s Waco

Let's get to it!
- Autumn Newman, Sam Harper

🛞 Buy 3 Tires, Get 1 for $1
The Tire Fresh Start Event is on at Chevy of West, and the math is the best part. Buy three select tires with installation and the fourth is just $1.*

Brake pads and rotors, shocks and struts, and tire pressure monitoring system sensors have offers too, all handled by Chevrolet Certified Service technicians. Owner Leo Pacheco, General Sales Manager Mark Varia, and the Chevy of West team are ready to get you rolling before the cold snap and the next pothole find you.
👉 Schedule service here*
_{^{*Terms apply}}

One of Waco’s most beautiful (and free) attractions is the 416 acres of cedar forest, soaring bluffs, and riverfront views we call Cameron Park. You might know it for its 20 miles of trails, or its talent for both cooling off and tiring out your kids at Pecan Bottoms on a July afternoon, but do you know how it all began?

As the City Beautiful Movement became popular in the early twentieth century, Wacoans began petitioning their city to prioritize aesthetic improvements: specifically, the construction of parks. Enter Flora B. Cameron, a widowed mother of 3 with a recently acquired deed to the land still known today as Proctor Springs. She donated it to the city in 1910 with a few stipulations guaranteeing city maintenance, protecting free park access, and honoring her late husband by making the park his namesake.

In 1917, the Cameron family sweetened the deal with the acreage known as Lover’s Leap and then connected the two parks in 1920 with the addition of the Mouth of the Bosque area, which overlooks the confluence of the Bosque and the Brazos. (Confluence is your SAT word of the day).

Throughout the early 1900s, the city worked to beautify the park and make it pedestrian-friendly. But when the city pushed ahead with the Herring Avenue bridge in the late 1960s, public opinion soured. Subsequent city efforts to restore the park’s community appeal brought us features like the wildflower preserve, a new playground, and a $9.6 million relocation of the Waco zoo.

Today, Cameron Park is more beloved than ever. Additions like mountain bike trails and a disc golf course over the years have drawn outdoor enthusiasts and created plentiful opportunities for family fun. The next time you find yourself gazing out at the confluence from a tree-lined bluff, remember to thank Flora B!

Welcome to Home of the Week. We'll give you a few clues about a local home for sale. You guess the price.

Is it the perfect plug-and-play rental property or the downtown, city-vibes home of your dreams? You be the judge.

👉 You guess the price, then take a look here.

Want to see it in person? Connect with Lezlie Roark to tour it as a buyer.^*
Listing courtesy of Melissa Miller, Magnolia Realty. Lezlie Roark, our Home of the Week partner, is not the listing agent on this property. She represents HBL Realtors and can help if you're buying.

Halloween week brings a sugar rush from the driver's seat, a Thai supper club, and a Toy Story fall festival.

🍬 Drive-Thru Trunk or Treats
Multiple dates and times | Multiple locations | Free
Calling all candy lovers! This is your week. Multiple spots around town are hosting free “trunk or treats” for the community. All you have to do to participate is pile your family in the car and prepare for a sugar rush! Costumes encouraged. Here’s the info on a few:
🍭 With the City of Waco PD on Wednesday, 5:30 PM @ the Waco ISD Stadium (1401 S. New Road)
🎃 At Doris Miller Community Center, on Wednesday, 6 PM (1020 Elm Ave., Ste. 800L)
🍫 With City of Waco Athletics on Friday, 6 PM @ South Waco Community Center (2815 Speight Ave)

🍛 Thai Supper Club: An Evening in Thailand
Thu, Oct. 29 | 6:30 to 8:30 PM | Carleen Bright Arboretum | $86.60
Curry Up & Wok This Way is hosting their first Thai Supper Club this Thursday at the Carleen Bright Arboretum. This elevated dining experience will center around a multi-course meal intentionally crafted to celebrate Thai culture, open up conversation with new friends around the table, and, of course, taste delicious! 👉 You can see the menu and reserve your spot here.

🤠 WIC Boo Bash
Fri, Oct. 30 | 3 to 6 PM | Waco-McLennan Public Health parking lot | Free
You’ve got a friend in the WIC Boo Bash! The Waco-McLennan Public Health Department is hosting a fall festival on Friday, October 30th at 3 PM. The theme? Toy Story. The goal? Family fun and an alternative to the pounds of candy your house might acquire this week. Bring your little Jessies and Buzz Lightyears out for face painting and games, and don’t worry about the sugar crash. The event will be full of healthy snacks. 👉 Get the details here

Every year on November 1 and 2, families gather to remember lost loved ones with food, drink, and celebration. The tradition is roughly 3,000 years old, and this Saturday it comes to downtown Waco.

Creative Waco’s Día de los Muertos Parade and Festival is free from 3 to 10 PM at Indian Springs Park, with live music, local artists, food, and hands-on activities for kids. The parade brings the bright colors, face paint, and traditional dress that honor the holiday’s roots. Dress up if you like, but leave the Halloween costumes at home. Different holiday. Here’s the event page.

Creative Waco, the nonprofit that champions Waco’s arts and culture, needs volunteers to set up and tear down. Want to help? Sign up here.

💰 Three Free Money Courses, One Email a Day

With so many ads encouraging people to gamble their money away, I want every Wacoan to have access to free, high-quality financial education that helps them build lasting wealth — no matter how much money they have in the bank today.

I’ve teamed up with Winnacle Wealth, a long-standing Waco financial planning firm, to create three free email courses. Each delivers one short lesson every morning for four weeks, helping you build your financial knowledge one day at a time:

Make Your Money a Routine: for families in their 30s and 40s, with Chad Castle.
Your Retirement Paycheck: for those near or in retirement, with Chad.
A Plan That’s Fully Yours: for women whose finances are changing, with Jessica Burch.

Prefer in person? Chad and Jessica teach Retire Ready at MCC on Nov. 2 and 9, 6 to 8:30 PM. 👉 Pick your course or register here*

Origin Story is a recurring series where you learn a little more about Waco's coffee shops, because a new one seems to open every month. Find the one you like best, become a regular, learn the baristas' names, and maybe they'll learn yours (and your drink order).

JD’s Cafe | 📍 6500 Woodway Dr Ste. 101

JD’s Cafe opened its current location in November 2024, but the story starts on Austin Avenue in 1998. After a fire closed the original, owners JD and Lisa kept catering for years before reopening. Now it roasts its own coffee and has added a high-top table for students who want to stay awhile.

Open six days a week, closed Sundays. General manager Kim Henderson invites everyone: “Come and study all day, come and sit and take up tables.” That’s their heart: a table ready for you, and no clock on how long you stay.

(Fun fact: I worked a few weddings on JD’s catering team about 15 years ago.)

👉 Read the full story → by Alexandra Brewer

The goal of The Waco Buzz is to help you get local again: know your neighbors, meet new people, and make this big small town feel even smaller.

📅 See what's happening this week →
🤝 25 ways to make Waco better this week →
🍝 Where to meet people in Waco →

Thanks for reading The Waco Buzz today. If you found something useful, share it with the friend who has lived here for five years and still hasn’t made it out to Cameron Park.

See you Tuesday.

Whenever you're ready, here are few ways to get more involved: