🎣 We made a Waco video game

Good Morning Waco! This is The Waco Buzz, the local newsletter that feels like a surprise iPhone update you didn't ask for, but now can't live without.

In today's edition:
🥫 Waco's New Food Bank Opens Next Week
🎣 We Made a Video Game
🏈🏐⚽ Three Free Chances to See Baylor This Weekend
🛍️ Sprouts Opens Friday
🤠 The Texas Ranger Museum Turns 50

Let's get to it!
— Sam Harper

You’ve said “we should do something different” three weekends in a row. This weekend, actually do it.

Basin Climbing & Fitness day passes are $25, or $10 each when you buy 10. No experience needed. No gear required. Shoes, harness, and a free orientation are included, so a curious kid, a first-timer, friends, or a surprisingly fit grandparent can walk in and try it the same day.

It’s one of the easiest ways in Waco to actually do the different instead of just talking about it.

Stop saying “we should.” Go climb.

👉 Try Basin for a Day*

Central Texas Food Bank's new Waco distribution center opens Aug. 25, and it's bigger than most of us realized. The 64,000 square foot building at 1402 Gholson Road has two stories of warehouse space, a prep kitchen built to cook and package thousands of meals, and a market designed to feel like a grocery store.

It's already serving about 40 families a day by appointment, and it recently folded Shepherd's Heart's work into its operation., one of Waco's longtime local pantries. The new facility makes Waco the hub for food relief across the food bank's nine northern counties, rather than relying on food trucked in from Austin.

🥡 The Takeaway: A food pantry with its own prep kitchen, market, and workforce training program isn't really a food pantry anymore. It's closer to a small campus. Read the entire story from the Trib ($) or Sign up to volunteer.

💬 Community Corner

I built my first video game a few days ago. It all started when I learned that The New York Times has more people playing their games than reading their news editorials (remember Wordle). Next logical step is to introduce more games to The Waco Buzz platform.

It’s Amazon Trail meets Temple Run…except on the Brazos. You paddle a pixelated kayak down the Brazos, racking up points for every soda can, tortilla, and stray disc golf disc you scoop out of the river. All while trying not to get eaten by the Brazos alligator.

👉 Play free at river.thewacobuzz.com. Hand your phone to your kid and see if they beat you. Leaderboard will get a shoutout in an upcoming newsletter edition.

Speaking of doing new things, I’ve got two events coming up that I’d love to see you at:

THURSDAY EVENING: Social Studies at The Baylor Club. Dr. Gordon Melton is joining us to talk about how one faith became 1,500 denominations, followed by Q&A. Only 15 seats left. Get a ticket.

August 26: Waco Buzz Dinner Club. Start the school year off by meeting some new people you otherwise probably wouldn’t meet. Take the short quiz. Find out which restaurant you will be having dinner at on August 26. 👉 Grab your seat here.

Waco to Denver, roundtrip, for $268. Depart Sept. 29, return Oct. 1. Fall colors, cooler air, and three days away from the Texas heat, which by late September we'll all still very much need.

👉 Check flights on Google*

*_{^{Price is subject to change and may no longer be available at the time you check the link.}}

Train Waco Is Taking Over Gold's Gym

Train Waco is taking over the Gold's Gym space at 250 N. New Road. Current Gold's members are getting their memberships transferred over at the same rates, and Train Waco's existing Valley Mills/Franklin location stays open for the next several weeks while everything consolidates under the New Road spot.

The short version: same membership, same rate, new name on the door. The longtime member wishlist is pretty short: better AC and bringing back the pool that's been closed since COVID.

Quick Hits:

🥤 Swig's grand opening line was something else. If you drove anywhere near 10th Street this weekend, you saw it, the drive-thru wrapped the block for two straight days. Wacoans do not play around when free drinks are on the table. Recommended orders: the Texas Tab (Dr Pepper, vanilla, coconut cream), Unbreakable, or The Fighter.

🛍️ Get ready: Sprouts opens this weekend. Grand opening runs Aug. 21-23 at Central Texas Marketplace with pop-up parties and samples all three days. First 200 shoppers each day get a free tote, first 400 on Friday get a free rose.

🍕 Lucky Buck's Pizza is getting a bigger home. They're moving downstairs into the Hotel Herringbone shops, bringing a new menu of NY-style slices and Sicilian-style pan pizzas. Soft opening was yesterday. Pizza review video coming soon.

City Council meets Tuesday at the Waco Convention Center Bosque Theater (work session 3 PM, business session 6 PM).

Here are a few items on the agenda:

💰 Waco's proposed tax rate would lower the median homeowner's bill. Under the proposed $0.755 rate, the median Waco homestead lands at $1,434.52, about $74 less than last year. Rare good news out of a budget meeting.

🌊 Riverwalk Progress. Council is weighing riverfront progress alongside Waco Surf's Desperado project, with homes, parks, and open space planned.

🏠 Two new affordable homes are getting built through NeighborWorks Waco, at 2104 Cumberland Ave. and 2520 N. 19th St.

See full agenda here.

The Texas Ranger Hall of Fame & Museum turns 50 this year, and they’re celebrating with a night of dinner, boots and a little Cowboy Sparkle.

The 50th Anniversary Dinner is Saturday, Aug. 29, from 5:30–9:30 PM at the John Knox Memorial Center. Come early to explore the museum, then settle in for a George’s Restaurant-catered dinner, cash bar, silent auction and keynote from retired Texas Ranger James Holland.

And there’s a good reason to celebrate: proceeds will help update Hall of Fame exhibits that have been in place since the museum opened in 1976.

🎟️ $125 per person | $1,000 for a table of 8

Western Chic is the dress code. So, dust off the boots and add a little Cowboy Sparkle.

👉 Get tickets here

📅 Save the Date
AI is changing how people work, live, and build businesses. You can either figure it out as you go or spend one Saturday learning from people already doing it. YOU x AI comes to Waco on Sept. 12 with founders, marketers, and Baylor experts sharing practical ways to use AI to build faster, get discovered, and create better content.

Grab a ticket and use code YOUXAIBUZZ for 20% off.

👉 Get tickets here

Saturday: Meet the Bears kicks off at 1 PM at the Allison Indoor Practice Facility (doors open 12:30). Grab autographs from the full 2026 roster, meet Coach Aranda, and let the kids loose on the inflatables and face painting before walking it over to Ferrell Center for Baylor Volleyball's exhibition against UTSA at 3 PM. Both free, and so is parking if you grab Lot D.

Sunday: Soccer vs. Texas State at 7 PM (Betty Lou Mays Field). Free too.

Three sports. One weekend. Zero dollars. Quick update on my kids' ongoing jumbotron campaign from last week: still stuck at one appearance. The odds are back in our favor this weekend.

Tuesday, August 18:

Wednesday, August 19:

Thursday, August 20:

Want your event featured? Reserve a spot here.

🔥 HOTWORX Woodway is offering Waco-area teachers a free week through September 30.

🧗‍♀️ This Fall, Basin Climbing + Fitness is hosting the best birthday parties in Waco. Use code BUZZ75 to get $75 off a September or October birthday party. Reserve your spot.

🚗 Your neighbors at Chevrolet of West have been taking care of Waco drivers for years with new and pre-owned trucks, SUVs, and cars just 20 minutes up I-35 in West, TX. Stop by or browse their inventory today.

💧 Need a boost? I-ViT Hydration & Wellness offers IV therapy and wellness treatments to help you feel better, recover faster, and boost energy. Waco Buzz readers get $35 off by clicking the link.

💪 Move better. Recover faster. Live stronger. Waco Body Mend is a world class space built for everyday movers, athletes, and anyone who wants to feel their best.

✨ Skin & Body Refinery delivers top tier injectors, advanced treatments, and natural looking results that help you look and feel your best.

Thanks for reading The Waco Buzz today. If you found something useful, share it with the friend who’s definitely going to be one of the first 100 people at Sprouts this weekend.

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