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Texas broadcaster Tumbleweed Smith has interviewed a lavender farmer, a potter, a woman who is an expert on anything and everything Jimmy Rogers and who has a Texas heritage music foundation and the owner of the Lonestar Motorcycle Museum. That was only one day of work for Smith, also known as Bob Lewis, who travels around the state finding stories and interviewing interesting Texas characters.

His tales are woven into his broadcast show "The Sound of Texas" and statewide syndicated column. He will also share his stories and work at the Sealy Chamber of Commerce banquet Feb. 7 at the Knights of Columbus Hall.

A native Texan, Smith had to travel outside of the state and the country before realizing his love for Texas. He studied in Mexico while attending Baylor, but it would take one more trip outside the state before his appreciation and love for it emerged.

"I went to Europe for two years with the army," he said. "When you're away from your country, you get a better look at it. I really fell in love with the U.S. and what it stands for, especially Texas."

Now, he travels around searching for Texans who embody the spirit of the state.

"A Texan is fiercely proud of where he or she lives and they are very interested in independence," he said. "Texans are fiercely independent and they like making their living doing what they like to do. I have met so many artists and writers and musicians who will, by George, do that in spite of everything. They're extremely stubborn."

And Smith knows the meaning of being stubborn and independent. He started "The Sound of Texas" on Aug. 1, 1969 as an experiment of where he wanted his life to go.

"It was an experiment when I started it to see if I could make a living doing what I love the most and, after 40 years, I can say that it worked," he said.

The day of the banquet also marks the 10,000th broadcast of "The Sound of Texas." Smith will celebrate by talking with his first interview subject, Jon Voight, who was first on the show while filming "Midnight Cowboy" in Big Spring in the lead role of Joe Buck. Since then, Smith has interviewed many more people and traveled across the state, but one thing remains the same: the satisfaction he gets from his work.

"It's given me a lot of happiness and joy to be able to do what I think is important and the work I love to do," he said.

He has never wavered in his devotion to his work, where he gets to meet "some of the most fascinating people in the world."

And in order to be interesting, there are no requirements. An average, run-of-the-mill person will do just fine for a subject.

"There are lots of characters in the state - people with a gleam in their eye who love to talk and can make a trip to the grocery store the most exciting story you'll hear," Smith said.

He'll be looking for more exciting stories while in Sealy, interviewing some "interesting people."

Sealy Chamber President Karen Skrivanek hopes Smith will "fall in love with Sealy" - the theme of this year's banquet - after visiting here.

"We want to show people how much fun we have in Sealy," she said. "What better person to help us do that than Tumbleweed? He loves Texas."

When planning for the annual event, Skrivanek remembered Smith and his humorous anecdotes from a conference she attended in 2006.

"I wanted to get somebody that was inspirational, somebody that was fun, an excellent storyteller and who knows a lot of Texas history," she said.

With the recent transfer of the San Felipe de Austin Historic Site to the Texas Historical Commission and the revamping efforts to follow, now is the time for those in the county to spread the word about the rich historical significance of the area, she said.

Chambers of commerce exist to make the community and life better for all who live in the area it serves, said Smith, who spent time serving as a member of the Sealy Chamber of Commerce.

"It should be a clearing house for all of a community's ideas and the desires of the people who live in that part of the community," he said.

Another role of a chamber of commerce is to foster a sense of community in the area it serves. The Sealy Chamber would like to do just that and hopes to see as many people from the community as possible.

"Life is so fast now; just take five seconds to visit with a neighbor," Skrivanek said. "Everybody needs to get out and meet everybody else. Get to know who your neighbors are - it might surprise you who you'll meet."

In addition to his work on air and in newspapers, Smith has also taught broadcasting and speech at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin in Odessa. For more information about his work, visit his Web site at www.tumbleweedsmith.com.

For more information about the Sealy Chamber banquet, call the Chamber office at (979) 885-3222.

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