For Anthony Betters Sr., South Waco is more than where he grew up. It is the foundation that shaped his life, values and commitment to community.
Through U-Dawg Friday INC, Betters and a group of lifelong friends and family members work to preserve the stories, businesses and people who helped raise generations of Waco residents.
“We got together and started talking about how we could give back to the people who raised us,” Betters said. “So we looked back at that era and said, ‘Let’s go back and honor some of these unsung champions.’”
At its heart, U-Dawg Friday is an effort to honor community heroes who have come before and gather together in celebration of their impact. It also provides food and fellowship for the neighborhood where Betters grew up. The event takes place several times a year.
The most recent event was at the Talitha Koum Institute at 13th Street and Clay Avenue, the former home of the Waco Boys and Girls Club. The event honored Louis Gonzales, a Waco native who founded the Riverside Boys Club in 1945 and went on to work for the Waco Boys Club for 36 years. Before his death in 1982 he was repeatedly recognized by the national Boys and Girls Clubs of America for his impact on generations of Waco youth.
Growing up in South Waco
Betters, 60, has had a professional career as an quality assurance inspector for local industries and as a municipal environmental inspector. He has played leadership roles in community organizations, including a term as board chair of the Dr Pepper Museum.
But his roots are as a neighborhood kid growing up around the Kate Ross public housing complex between South Eighth and South 11th streets.
“My mother was born in Calvert, Texas, and came to Waco at the age of 13,” he said. “She had six children, and I’m the oldest son. We grew up in South Waco and went to the local public schools.”
He graduated from University High School which the “U-Dawg” name is inspired from and he attended what is now Texas State Technical College.
But beyond the schools and streets, Betters says it was the community itself that raised him.
Many of the schools and neighborhood staples from his childhood are no longer around, but the memories and lessons still stay with him.
After graduating from college, Betters worked at Sligh Lumber Co. a now closed lumberyard on North Fifth Street.
“As a young man coming out of the inner city, they took a chance on me,” he said. “That’s really where things started for me professionally.”
He later worked at the Hercules rocket motor factory in McGregor in quality assurance and quality control.
Betters said he became the first African American man to establish that role there, and later held a similar role at the Chrysler Technologies plant, which is now owned by L3 Harris.
Alongside his professional career, community involvement stayed central to his life.
The roots of U-Dawg Friday
The idea for U-Dawg Friday INC. came from conversations from those who knew the community best.
“The idea came from family and friends wanting to pour back into the people who raised us,” Betters said.
He traces much of the inspiration back to Waco’s era of federal Urban Renewal and the businesses that remained anchors for inner-city families through decades of change.
“Even during that time, there were local establishments that stayed in the inner city and continued serving as beacons for the community,” he said.
Betters recalls places like Cruz’s Drive Inn, Jesse’s Tortilla Factory, Krispy Chicken, Pancho’s on 11th Street and Lolita’s as important parts of growing up in South Waco.
“All of those places were pillars in our city,” he said. “They catered to us as young men.”
He especially remembers Jesse’s Tortilla Factory across from the Boys Club and the role businesses like Krispy Chicken played in supporting neighborhood kids.
“Those were places where we went to be fed,” he said. “And a lot of times we were fed for free.”
More than a reunion
Today, U-Dawg Friday gatherings bring together people who grew up in Waco’s inner-city neighborhoods from the 1950s through the 1990s.
The events include tributes, storytelling, food and music while reconnecting generations of residents who often have not seen each other in decades.
“I’ve seen tears and hugs from folks who haven’t seen each other in over 40 years,” Betters said.
The organization has also expanded into mentorship, community meals and outreach efforts throughout Waco, especially in marginalized neighborhoods.
The initiative officially began in 2023 after Betters attended a Waco Housing Authority meeting and noticed students being dropped off late because of bus driver shortages.
Concerned for families, he gathered family and friends from the Kate Ross public housing complex to provide free meals and mentorship on Friday evenings.
Their first event drew more than 125 people.
“That was the birthing of U Dawg Friday Inner-City,” he said.
A vision for Waco
After decades of community involvement, Betters says he has seen Waco grow in meaningful ways.
“I’ve seen our city muscle up in various dimensions,” he said. “From nonprofits expanding community involvement to youth organizations and mental well-being foundations taking it to another level.”
Betters hopes Waco continues focusing on education, relationships and community as the city grows.
“We live in a society of inevitable uncertainties with social media and artificial intelligence,” he said. “But if we keep the simplicity of life, body, mind and spirit, and education the main focus, our city will continue to thrive.”
For Betters, honoring the past is also about making sure future generations understand the communities and people that helped shape Waco.
