MEXIA, Texas — A lot of sounds could be heard coming from 114 S. Brooks Street in Mexia on a sunny, hot summer day. But nothing as loud as the buzz on the street.
"We're very excited. We have a lot of people buzzing like bees trying to check and see what's going on," said Mexia Mayor Geary Smith.
The mobile Texas storytellers made their way to Mexia with a new host at the helm of the iconic show Texas Country Reporter.
"I'm so excited to be the new host. I'm told constantly that I have big shoes to fill and I don't disagree. I do wear cowboy boots so I have a little bit of a head start but it's an honor to be on the road doing stories like this," said TCR Host J.B. Sauceda.
Sauceda is from a small town and says it was the story of the community coming together that caught their lens.
"When you've got a story like Cindy Walker's and the amazing work that the community is doing to continue to strengthen and promote her legacy, we're all about that. That's totally a TCR story," he said.
The Cindy Walker Foundation bought the home in 2022 and since then has cleaned out 3 tons of trash and saved historic artifacts and music. But on this day, a local crew begins to restore a national treasure.
Ronnie Carroll is part of the construction crew with Bi-Stone Building Supply and says the last time he worked on Walker's home, he was 21 years old.
"Our whole family grew up around them. I learned how to do carpentry work from the guy who lived next door. So I was always fixing doors, replacing glass in windows and things like that," said Carroll.
To have the ear of Texas Country Reporter, he hopes, will spread the word.
"She is an icon as far as I'm concerned in country music. She should be a legend," he said.
Once the home is restored, it will become a community arts and music space, a museum and a place where music can fill its walls again.
"This is every exciting for Mexia to have and recognize a person like Cindy Walker. Just on the local, state and national level to recognize her and have people visit Mexia," said Mayor Smith.
And hoping the visit from TCR reaches thousands more.
The episode will air in Season 53 of TCR which airs on KCEN-TV and in every Texas TV market as well as nationally on RFD-TV.
The Cindy Walker Foundation is hosting the 2nd Annual "Cindy Walker Days" in July 2024 to help raise funds for the restoration or you can make direct donations through the foundation.