1. Mineola offers East Texans a unique, nearby getaway

Award-winning country music artist Kacey Musgraves received a reward from her hometown for raising money to benefit local students.

The Lake Country Classics Car Club and city of Mineola had Ms. Musgraves’ 1967 Ford Mustang restored as a surprise gift for raising money for Wood County schools’ music and arts programs with a benefit concert last week – her “Hometown Hang” at the Mineola Nature Preserve.

Her father, Craig Musgraves, said the gift was an overwhelming surprise for his daughter.

“She was completely blown away,” he said. “There were a few tears and a lot of smiles. She was overwhelmed to see it. I was blown away. It looked like a million dollars.”

Musgraves’ daughter was enamored with classic cars growing up, he said. He’d owned a ‘67 Chevelle. She liked classic Mustangs.

Musgraves and his daughter found the Mustang after Ms. Musgraves performed at Miranda Lambert’s 2005 homecoming show in Lindale. She was heading into her senior year of high school and needed a car.

The emcee at the show asked Ms. Musgraves if there might be anything to say about her as she took the stage. She told him she’d just gotten her drivers’ license and was hoping to find a classic Mustang. He announced it, and the owner of the Mustang tracked them down.

The Mustang was a fixer-upper then, Musgraves said. It needed brakes. They replaced the lap seatbelts with more modern three-point harnesses and added headrests to the seats.

Ms. Musgraves drove the car her senior year, but it stayed home when she moved to Nashville. She took the car out with a friend during a Christmas visit, Musgraves said. She called around midnight, stranded, he said.

The engine overheated during an impromptu drag race, she told the Hometown Hang crowd.

The car hadn’t been driven since the breakdown. The Mustang was sitting in a barn covered with dust when longtime mechanic and car club member Robert Franke picked it up. Rats and cats had made a home in it, he said.

It was supposed to be a quick cleanup and tune-up to have the Mustang in daily-driver condition, but when Franke started digging into the car, he found a laundry list of problems.

“What wasn’t wrong with it?” he said.

The engine had to be replaced. After pulling the engine, Franke noticed problems with the transmission and radiator. The electrical system needed rewiring, and the brake system needed updating. The windows wouldn’t roll up or down and the right front wheel kept trying to fall off, Franke said.

“I told her I didn’t see how in the world she drove it,” he said. “She must be one heck of a driver.”

The car club split the restoration cost with the city of Mineola. The local Ford dealership pitched in some parts and a local paint and body shop polished the homespun paintjob into a smooth shine.

The toughest part was keeping the Mustang’s restoration under wraps until the big reveal.

By happenstance, Ms. Musgraves’ concert coincided with the Lake Country Classics Car Club’s sixth annual car show in Mineola.

The day of the show, Musgraves made arrangements for him and his daughter to visit the car show, where they announced there was a gift for the two-time Grammy Award winning country singer.

Larry Barnes, vice president of the car club, said the restoration was a great way to show the community’s appreciation for her celebrity and her using it to benefit local school children. Barnes said the restoration took a community effort from start to finish.

Barnes said the project turned out to be tougher than expected but worth it.

Musgraves said he was thankful to the club and city and everyone who had a hand in the restoration. He said Ms. Musgraves plans to ship her Mustang to Nashville and continue the restoration where Franke left off.

She wants to return the Mustang to stock condition and install air conditioning to make it a daily-driver in good or bad weather.

“It was all for a good cause,” Franke said. “I was happy she was happy, and that we could do that for her as a little something in return for what she was doing for Mineola.”

Twitter: @newsboyAdam