People of the 254

Alfred Solano, 58, President and CEO, Cen-Tex Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Has lived in Waco for nearly 57 years  “Jacob de Cordova. Jacob was in a lot of ways the founder of Waco. He was the largest landowner in Texas. He’s Spanish, Jewish, Jamaican descent. That’s Waco’s root. And if your root is that, then all the branches that come from it are of very different backgrounds and cultures and ideas.”

Amanda Haygood, 36, Branch manager, BankcorpSouth, Woodway Born and raised in Waco, moved back 6 years ago “Hands down, my pastor is one of the most influential people in my life. His name is Pastor Lloyd Zeigler.”

Charra Burns, 33, Founder, Think Learn Play, Educator Has lived in Waco for 27 years  “Bettie Beard. She’s a mentor of mine. She has a nonprofit here called PACC, Parents Against Crime Coalition. She’s given me a lot of advice and has guided me through my business ventures and working towards establishing my own nonprofit. She does a lot in the community.”

Deborah McGregor, 58 , CEO, Care Net of Central Texas Has lived in Waco for 27 years “Jimmy Dorrell. He is humble, funny, lives on mission all the time, and I treasure him. And he’s just a man of the people.”

Elizabeth Barnhill, 45, Book buyer, Fabled Bookshop & Cafe Has lived in Waco for 30 years “George Kazanas, the superintendent for Midway schools, for handling this pandemic so beautifully. I appreciate what he’s done to make our schools safe.”

Ginger Terrell, 90, Retired adjunct professor, Baylor University School of Education Has lived in Waco for 44 years since 1947 “Wade Terrell. He was the CEO of the chamber of commerce, and what he did to build Waco was outstanding. He brought industry in that is still going big time. He was a community builder.”

Jacob Green, 37, Co-founder, Keep Waco Loud Born and raised in the Waco area, moved back 3 years ago “There’s a story that we’re working on called ‘An Invisible Icon: The Tom Wilson Story’ and so far, he’s my favorite Wacoan. He was born and raised in Waco, left for Fisk University, transferred to Harvard in the ’50s and started his own record company. He was the first black man to work at Columbia Records. He produced Bob Dylan’s first record.”  

Jason Scarborough, Capital construction project manager, city of Waco Born and raised in Waco, moved back 2 years ago “Robert Griffin Jr. III/RG3. He put Baylor sports on the map and for that reason alone he’s my favorite.”

Jillian Ohriner, 28, Co-founder, We Grow the Co Has lived in Waco for nearly 2 years “I think one of my favorite Wacoans is Ashley Bean Thornton from Act Locally Waco. She’s the sweetest most genuine person. She’s really passionate about inspiring others to create Waco to be the city that they want to live in.”

Jonathan Cook, 42, Director of Parks & Recreation, city of Waco Has lived in Waco for 19 years “Classie Ballou is an unknown legend in the world of Southern music and has been my favorite artist to ever work with. Classie shared with me countless stories of blues, R&B and zydeco heroes that he shared the stage with. Not only is he a Waco music legend, but he is one of the friendliest persons this city has.”

Josette Ayres, 53, Owner, Ink & Stitches Has lived in Waco for 18 years “I love Betty Bauer. I think she is just the epitome of Waco’s giving spirit. She pulls, she actively pulls in newcomers to bring them into the city to bring them into contributing to growing the city and using their talents towards improving the city.”

Karenna Malavanti, 32, Psychology and neuroscience professor, Baylor University Has lived in Waco for 13 years since 2006 “Bronwen Forbay. She is a music professor at MCC, and she is just one of the most beautiful people inside and out that I’ve ever met in my life. She’s from South Africa, and she’s an opera singer.”

Mia Moody-Ramirez, 52, Journalism professor and department chair, Baylor University Has lived in Waco for 30 years “May Jackson. She was a Waco politician, the first African American female mayor of Waco. She was a wonderful role model. She was a member of my church when she was alive. We were also in the same sorority. She had a magnetic personality, very charismatic.”

Mike Mosel, 52 , General manager, Baylor Club and McLane Stadium Has lived in Waco for 5 years “John Morris, voice of the Bears. He’s flat-out the nicest person I’ve ever met in my life. He’s the real deal, just an awesome person.”

Rachel E. Pate, 39, Vice President, Cen-Tex African American Chamber of Commerce Waco native “My grandmother, Victoria Burton Jefferson. She grew up in Waco. Her mother grew up in Waco. And before them, their families were slaves in Waco. My grandmother was so graceful and elegant and such a God-fearing woman. She raised 11 children. She just was so strong and embodied such great presence.”

Ross Sams, 93, Retired, L.L. Sams and Sons Waco native “Ralph Wood. He was our mayor. He took care of business. He [owned] the paper, but there was also a little paper this guy put out. He went up to the mayor and said, ‘I want you to explain to me something,’ and that’s about as far as he got when the mayor just [punching noise] knocked him across the room.”

Shamica Evans, 42, Owner, Waffle Chic Has lived in Waco for more than 26 years “Someone who’s walked with me on a long journey to help me improve into the woman that I am is Jim and Teresa Rambo. I love them like they were my own parents. Through this journey in my life, they’ve made sure that I’ve built myself up.”

Todd Bertka, 57, Director, Waco Convention Center & Visitors Bureau Has lived in Waco for 2 years “Fiona Bond, the executive director of Creative Waco, has been super supportive in our industry, the tourism and hospitality industry, and helping to merge the two — cultural arts and tourism. Her commitment and dedication to her passion is really impressive. She’s what I would consider to be my favorite contemporary Wacoan.”

Veronicka Smith, 36 , Community director, WacoWork Has lived in Waco for 18 years “Arthur Huron. He is one of the most interesting people I’ve ever met. He’s a teacher, he’s worked at a bank before, he’s been in the military, he travels all over the place — and kind, just a very kind person. He’s not famous, but I feel like he should be.”

Armando Ramirez, 31, Comic book illustrator  Waco native “We, as Wacoans, have persevered through it, in the sense of being able to adapt and adjust to things. We hear a lot of other cities are having a hard time, struggling. We persevered through it.”

Aaron Williams, 28, Co-owner, MC Art Supplies Waco native “Waco has been incredibly supportive. Even during that time when we were physically closed for about 2 1/2 weeks, people were still shopping with us and showing support.”

Amine Qourzal, 37, Woodway City Council member Has lived in Waco for nearly 20 years “The pandemic has been really tough for many people, obviously, but especially in Waco where people are social, where they enjoy being able to do things. There’s so much natural beauty and so much to do in Waco. It’s been hard on Wacoans to be confined.”

Cheryl Pooler, 55, Social work professor, Baylor University Has lived in Waco for 12 years “Some of the youth that I work with at The Cove, we couldn’t even find them at first. When you’re homeless and told you have to stay home or go, it just exposed all the gaps in humanity. We still have a long way to go to make sure that everyone is given a comfortable way to survive and thrive.”

Corey Lain, 48, Texas Ranger Major, Company F Has lived in Waco for 3 years “I’ve moved around a lot throughout my career. All of Texas is friendly in every place that I’ve been, but it’s especially true for Waco and the pandemic I think has just shored that up. I think people are aware and more considerate and it’s heightened the amount of respect.”

Dominic Villa, 24, Founder, South Waco Strength Waco native “With Waco, it exposed the things that were lagging. There’s a big gap between businesses who are able to go contactless and have a good digital platform versus our smaller businesses that don’t really have access to those resources. It exposed where we need to work on.”

Dominique “Rocko” Bolts, 31, Owner, RocMyStyle barbershop Born in Waco, moved back 12 years ago “I was in the process of exchanging shops. Then out of nowhere they told us we couldn’t cut. But people from the city reached out to me, donating, giving advice or letting me know where I could go to get assistance. So it taught me that people in this city really have my back.”

Greg May, 52, Owner, Greg May Honda and Greg May Hyundai Has lived in Waco for 25 years “The pandemic has taught me that there is a lot of different opinions in this town and that our town is somewhat divided in our views and in how we think. It doesn’t mean we can’t all coexist in the same population, but there’s a lot of difference in opinions about what’s going on.”

Jaja Chen, 27, Private practice therapist, Co-owner, Waco Cha Has lived in Waco for nearly 10 years “The day the shelter in place occurred in Waco was the day we got approved to open [Waco Cha]. We really saw how the community gathered around us during that time to encourage us. Folks would message us, ‘Hey, keep going!’ along with the support of local chambers advocating for small business needs.” 

Jennifer Wilson, 47, Owner, Spice Village Waco native “With everything else that has taken place in other areas of the U.S., I would say that it has been a proud moment, to see that Waco has been very mature. We have maintained grace with situations that have gotten out of hand in other places.”

Joanna Gaines, 42, Co-founder, Magnolia Has lived in Waco for 24 years “If this pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that we’re all much better when we’re pulling together. To see the people of Waco come together in support of one another has been so encouraging. The pandemic has served as a gentle reminder of what makes this city so special.”

Jonathan Pokluda, 39, Pastor, Harris Creek Baptist Church Has lived in Waco for nearly 2 years “I’ve been really encouraged by the way people have rallied and sought to serve those in need, particularly the elderly in the beginning. Even when we couldn’t come close physically, I saw people early on delivering toilet paper, taking meals, just understanding the needs of the community and meeting those needs.”

Megan Henderson, 44, Executive director, City Center Waco Has lived in Waco for 11 years  “The pandemic has made it clearer to me how important the physical space around us is. I walked along the riverwalk every day for weeks. I sat out in my front yard on the swing and saw so many of my neighbors walking around.”

Mike Reeser, 67, Chancellor and CEO, Texas State Technical College Has lived in Waco for 13 years “When we know there’s something that needs to get done, we do it. This pandemic has exaggerated the character of the Waco people. Exaggerated in a positive way.” 

Mitch Thompson, 55, Head baseball coach, McLennan Community College Has lived in Waco for 26 years “I think that we’re people who have common sense, who understand that, OK this pandemic is something that we have to respect, but I don’t know that it’s something that we have to fear. And for the most part, I think that’s how the community has gone about it.”

Robin McDurham, 53, CEO, Transformation Waco Has lived in Waco for 20 years “For one, it’s taught me that Waco is up for a challenge. I work in the school system. Our teachers are all in. They want to do whatever needs to happen to ensure that their kids are still learning and thriving. I appreciate and admire that.”

Ruben Andrade Jr., 48, Senior pastor, Family of Faith Worship Center Waco native “That it affects every socioeconomic status. Many times, people perceive that those coming for groceries are low wages, living paycheck to paycheck, but honestly, that has not been the case. We have seen people from all walks of life, from low income to people who have driven up in luxury vehicles.”

Stephanie Korteweg, 43, WISD school board member, Prosper Waco board member Has lived in Waco for 25 years “Our leadership in our community has been phenomenal in terms of looking out for the best for the people in our community. The leadership from every sector in our community from civic leaders, to medical to education. We’ve always had great leadership, but I think it really did shine when the pandemic hit.”

Travvis Scott, 28, Independent consultant Has lived in Waco for 10 years “Waco’s ability to get back up has always been impressive, and with the pandemic I am finally getting to see that play out in my lifetime. The ways that businesses and communities have rebounded and come back to support each other has been a real testament to what Waco really is.”

Alison Sorley, 39, Development specialist, Advocacy Center for Crime Victims and Children Waco native “A dream of mine — this is a crazy dream I’ve had for maybe 15 years — is basically a nonprofit council where a representative from each nonprofit sits down quarterly with a calendar, that way we don’t compete with events, we’re just full circle with each other.”

Amelia Bachofen, 22, Dance and Pilates instructor, Joy’s School of Dance, Club Pilates and Baylor University Born and raised in Waco, moved back 6 months ago “Every time I go [downtown] I think about all the older buildings that are still empty. I think there’s a lot of potential for business. Waco could tremendously improve and really flourish if people were able to take those old buildings and make something new out of them.”

Andrew Gomez, 29, Affair” podcast Has lived in Waco for 12 years “A White Castle down here. Waco’s great. It doesn’t need too much improvement.”

Anna Mitchael, Deputy Editor, Magnolia Journal Has lived in the Waco area for 12 years “Sushi.”

Bradley Ford, h 38, City manager, city of Waco Has lived in Waco for 3 years “We have an opportunity to get better at how equitable our community is. There’s two sides of Waco, not geographically, but how successful people are. There’s a lot of wealth in certain populations and there’s a lot of gaps in certain populations.”

Chip Gaines, 45, Co-founder, Magnolia Has lived in Waco for 25 years “A drive-in movie theatre, because who wouldn’t love that?”

Courtney McCormick, 39, Director of operations, Waco Social, and freelance makeup artist Has lived in Waco for 10 years “Increasing small businesses that represent the community that’s here and the community that grew up in Waco, passing the mic and giving them a place in the community.”

Crystal Balderas, 35, Owner, Kneading Crystal Therapeutic Massage Waco area native “I wish we had more places to actually go dancing. I’m old enough to remember when Graham Central Station was here, and we would all go dancing there and there were all different types. I just want different types of dancing.”

Devin Li, 30, Co-owner, Waco Cha Has lived in Waco for 11 years “Encouraging young people to get involved. Continue to bring diversity. That’s something we’re really passionate about. Continue to create a place where everybody gets a seat at the table in politics or businesses.”

Eric Shephard, 58, Executive director, Waco Civic Theatre Has lived in Waco for 2 years, worked in Waco for 8 “I would like to see it become more inclusive and more visibly diverse. There are an awful lot of talented people who are not white, Anglo-Saxon Protestant, and I don’t think we’ve done a good enough job highlighting or providing focus and opportunity for people of color.”

Fiona Bond, Executive director, Creative Waco Has lived in Waco for 10 years “Unquestionable, a new performing arts center for Downtown Waco. We’re ready for something like that. It’s needed by a number of different organizations across our community from Baylor and MCC to our Convention and Visitors Bureau to school districts and, of course, the performing arts organizations too.”

Isabel Lozano, 45, Principal, Kendrick Elementary, Waco ISD Has lived in Waco for 42 years “A Pappasito’s or a Pappadeaux.”

Jackye Clayton, 47, Diversity and inclusion consultant Has lived in Waco for 6 years “If we had more sidewalks and if we had more of a biking, outdoors community outside of just Cameron Park.”

Julien Curatella, 38, Director of tennis, Ridgewood Country Club Has lived in Waco for 16 years “In a dream world, I would love to have a Main Event here, which encompasses bowling, laser tag. I would love to see a Central Market here. And some maybe high-end shopping. And maybe a few more local bistros.”

Kylie Skellington, 31, Owner, Skellington Curiosities Has lived in Waco for 2 years “Waco needs more rock ‘n’ roll. Waco needs some edge. We’ve got the country covered, small town covered. Waco really needs, maybe like a musical festival or something with a little edge to it.”

Zac “Lefty” Colbert, 43, Professional tattoo artist Owner, Infamous Ink Has lived in Waco for 17 years “Industry. I think bringing industry into Waco and putting tax incentives and things like that instead of them all just on interest of tourism, putting them towards interests of industry and things that can be built. Cities are able to offer allotments of land or tax revenue to draw all that in.”

Makenzie Fuller, 29, Associate director of women’s basketball operations, Baylor University Has lived in Waco for 20 years “More entertainment. Whether that’s a minor league baseball team, like it’s been discussed, or Top Golf and entertainment venues. I think that you don’t want to crowd it to make the city huge, but anything to keep people coming.”

Mandy Conner, 47, Theater teacher, Connally High School Waco native “Maybe just I-35 being finished. Construction ending.”

Maria Berry, 48, Executive director, Trinity Sports Organization Owner, Berry Best Business Solutions Has lived in Waco for 13 years  “The greatest thing that I think would improve Waco at this point would be equity in financial lending, giving, plans, implementation. We really need some equity in giving, lending and also business industry for minorities.”

Sean Corley, 34, Rating specialist, Department of Veterans Affairs Has lived in Waco for 15 years “I feel like the Brazos is a jewel for Waco. I would love to see that space continue to be developed and the riverwalk down there expanding, connecting our downtown spaces to Cameron Park.”