NAVASOTA, Texas — A beloved ice cream shop in Navasota was nearly forced to shut down following Hurricane Beryl -- that's until the community stepped up to show how much the shop means to them.
Downtown is the heart of Navasota and in the heart, you'll find a certain type of charm.
It's called Martin's Sweet Shop and its owner, 72-year-old Martin Price, or Mr. Martin as he's known, is a master of all things ice cream.
"He's just an overall good guy," Mr. Martin's neighbor and friend, Kristie Mata, said.
He began his career 55 years ago more than 1,600 miles away.
"I started with a backpack on my back on Coney Island on the beach," Mr. Martin said.
He opened an ice cream shop in his hometown of Brooklyn, New York, but, he eventually left the lights of the big city for the quiet roads of Navasota nearly a decade ago to open up the only ice cream shop in town.
"I love to see the kids happy," he said.
His days of creating smiles in the community he now loves almost came to a screeching and painful halt recently when Hurricane Beryl tore through Southeast Texas.
The storm knocked out power to downtown Navasota for two days, melting the entire shipment of ice cream he had just received.
"When I got here Tuesday morning and saw what I lost, it was a lot," he said.
In all, it came out to be about a $3,000 loss. He said he reached out to his supplier but was told they don't replace ice cream due to Mother Nature.
"That was heartbreaking right there, you know. They wouldn't budge," he said. "I thought I was going to close down."
Devastated, Mr. Martin turned to Mata.
"He came and told me, 'I lost it all. I lost it all.' And just the tears and the defeat on his face was very sad to me. I was heartbroken," she said.
Desperate to keep Mr. Martin in business, Mata started a GoFundMe account for him with hopes that the community would help him recoup his losses in exchange for all the scoops and smiles he provided over the years.
And guess what ... they did, and in a major way.
"$5,065, and that's not including cash donations that started pouring in to him directly," she said.
The influx of money allowed Mr. Martin to re-up on the good and sweet stuff.
"They did it for Mr. Martin. It was the community that did it," Mata said.
It allowed him to keep his shop open so he could continue to be the sweetest part of the heart of Navasota.
"As long as I can walk and move and everything, I'm going to keep going," Mr. Martin said.