🦗 Waco's cricket problem

Good morning, Waco. This is The Waco Buzz, the local newsletter that finally looked into why every store entrance in town seems to come with its own cricket convention.

In today's Sunday Sip:
🦗 The Waco Crickets Explained
🏡 Home of the Week: 172 BRAZOS POINT DRIVE
📅 Three Events to Circle This Week
💛 Waco Gem: Fuzzy Friends Rescue
☕ Origin Story: Bitty & Beau's Coffee

Let's get to it!

- Sam Harper

🛞 Buy 3 tires, get the 4th for $1
Cooler mornings are a good excuse to check what you ignored all summer, and Chevy of West has the tire deal through Nov. 30*. Also through Dec. 7: a 6-quart synthetic oil change for $79.95 and a tire rotation with multi-point inspection for $22. One customer recently said that Eric in service “kept me informed every step of the way.”
👉 Schedule service at chevyofwest.com*
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Every fall, crickets pile up by store entrances, and we all skirt around them like a puddle. I've noticed them for years, so this year I finally looked into why they show up. Here's what I found.

First, it isn't a Halloween trick. It also isn't exactly what you read about in Exodus, since that was locusts and ours are crickets with great taste in lighting.

Where did they come from? Black field crickets show up around Texas buildings every late summer and fall, Texas A&M AgriLife says. They've been around all season, hiding by day and becoming more active at night. Their fall swarms are part of a seasonal cycle.

Why the front door? Lights. A&M's entomologist says they gather at the entrances of stores, gas stations and car dealerships with bright lighting that stays on all night. So the pile by the cart return is basically a cricket meetup at the brightest spot around.

Are they dangerous? No. They don't bite or sting, and A&M says there's nothing to fear. The one real downside is the smell once they die by the entrance, which is why Waco made NPR over crickets back in 2012.

When will they go away? These swarms usually run four to six weeks, so plan on a few more weeks of skirting the pile when you walk into Target.

Want fewer at your own door? Turn off the porch light. That's A&M's first tip. Businesses can dim their lights or switch to yellow bug bulbs.

Until then, give your grocery bags a quick look before they ride home with you.

Welcome to Home of the Week, where I give you a few clues and you guess the price.

Imagine skipping the drive to McLane Stadium or Slow Rise on the Brazos and taking your boat instead. At this Waco waterfront home, that's a real possibility.

A few other highlights:

👉 Take your best guess at the list price, then click to see the listed price and photos.

Want to see it in person? Connect with Lezlie Roark for your private tour.^*
Lezlie Roark of Homes by Lainie Real Estate Group, our Home of the Week partner, isn't the listing agent but can help if you're interested in buying.

Silobration is coming back to Waco.

For four days, the Silos will be full of 85+ makers from across the country, daytime music, food, activities and, of course, concerts.

The Silos Stage lineup:

🎸 Fri., Oct. 23: The Fray | 8 PM
🎸 Sat., Oct. 24: Dylan Gossett | 8 PM
🎸 Sun., Oct. 25: Cory Asbury | 10:30 AM

Silos Stage concert tickets are 20% off right now, while supplies last.

The weekend kicks off Thursday night with Mt. Joy at Baylor’s Foster Pavilion. Then you've got the Vendor Fair, live music and plenty to eat and do around the Silos all weekend. For the first time, Silobration runs through Sunday.

So grab some friends, head downtown, and make a weekend of it.

👉 Get 20% off Silos concert tickets →^*

Three very different ways to spend a week in Waco: fair food and rodeo, a world-class guitarist, and a Saturday night under the lights at McLane. Pick your kind of fun.

🤠 The Fair Is in Town
The annual excuse to eat something fried, ride something questionable, and tell yourself you'll only stay an hour. The Heart O' Texas Fair & Rodeo continues all week, with carnival rides, livestock, fair food, and rodeo action. Perfect for a weeknight outing or a family adventure before it packs up Sunday. 🎟️ Plan your fair trip

🎸 A Grammy-Winning Guitarist Is Playing Waco
Rhythm & Radiance with Sharon Isbin | Thursday, Oct. 15, at 7:30 p.m. | Waco Hall
If your ideal night out involves something a little more cultured than a funnel cake, put this one on the list. Guitarist Sharon Isbin joins the Waco Symphony for an evening featuring Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez. It's a chance to hear an internationally acclaimed musician right here at home, without making a trip to Dallas.
🎟️ Get tickets

🏈 Baylor vs. TCU. Blackout. Saturday Night.
Blackout on the Brazos | Saturday, Oct. 17, at 6 p.m. | McLane Stadium
This is the kind of Saturday night that reminds you why college football is such a big deal. Baylor hosts TCU under the lights, and the assignment is simple: wear black and bring some noise. A win would give Baylor a big boost heading into the rest of the season.
🎟️ Grab tickets

Since 1997, Fuzzy Friends Rescue says it has saved more than 21,000 homeless, abandoned and injured cats and dogs.

On Tuesday, Oct. 13 at 7 p.m., John O'Hurley, best known as J. Peterman on Seinfeld, brings his one-man show A Man with Standards to the Waco Hippodrome to benefit the rescue. Expect Great American Songbook favorites and stories from Seinfeld and Dancing with the Stars. He also hosts NBC's National Dog Show, and his wife went to Baylor.

👉 Get tickets | Volunteer or foster

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).

Bitty & Beau's Coffee | 📍 110 Franklin Ave.

Bitty & Beau’s opened its downtown Waco shop in November 2021 with a simple idea: real jobs for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The coffee is good, and the blueberry muffin is worth coming back for. There’s a lot of personality in the room, too.

“We honestly have the greatest workers of any coffee shop, because we just love people so much,” says Blake Hyland of Bitty & Beau’s Coffee in Waco.

Employees take your order, make your drink, and sometimes sing karaoke for the room. The company says about 80% of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are unemployed nationwide, and the shop calls itself “a human rights movement disguised as a coffee shop.”

👉 Read the full story by Alexandra Brewer

Looking for something fun to do in Waco and meet new people? Try dance.

USA Dance Waco is hosting a social dance night Saturday, Oct. 17, and nobody needs a partner or any experience. A beginner lesson comes first, so you'll know a few steps before the music starts.

📍 Sat., Oct. 17 | South Waco Community Center, 2815 Speight Ave.
⏰ 6:30 PM ballroom fundamentals, 7 PM tango lesson with Jeff Page, 7:45 to 9:30 PM open dancing
💵 $10 members, $15 non-members, $5 students. Cash only.

Dress is dressy casual, and the night is smoke-free and alcohol-free.

👉 See the dance details → or contact Landon Lewis with questions.

Registration for the Paper Airplane Championship close Tuesday, Oct. 13. On Sunday, Oct. 18, from 4 to 6 p.m., you can show up at McLane Stadium and settle who in Waco makes the best plane. Build one with help from the Mayborn Museum, throw as many times as you want, and land closest to the prize circle to win a year's supply of Joyride Candy (52 bags). Dinner from the Baylor Club is included and the whole event is presented by L3Harris. 👉 Get tickets before Tuesday

Thanks for reading The Waco Buzz today. If you found something interesting, share it with your co-worker most likely to wear a costume at some point this month.

See you Tuesday.

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3. Dinner Club: Meet five other locals over dinner. New to Waco or have been here for years, it's an easy way to meet people you probably wouldn't otherwise cross paths with.