Prettiest Little Town in Texas?

primed to revive the vision of Miss Roberts from long ago and once again make Howe "The Prettiest Little Town in Texas "

Little Town in Texas "

The year was 1940 and Howe was the talk of not only radio programs all over Texas, but also was featured in Readers Digest, The Rotarian and The Dallas Morning News. It was all because of Miss Mame

Roberts and her vision to turn Howe from a dreary, shabby drive-through town from Dallas to Sherman along Highway 75 (Denny Street) to a beautiful city full of zinnias throughout the community

That project and vision labeled Howe as "The Prettiest Little Town in Texas" back in 1940

Roberts said in a 1940 interview for The Rotarian "With a united effort, we can make the place in which we live clean, wholesome, and attractive. We can make the crowded city dweller homesick to come back to us and to real living We can bring new life, new business, new beauty, to the little towns "

Keep Howe Beautiful understands fully that this effort is not just one that is going to be made from

70 years hasn't been so kind to Howe and the Keep Howe Beautiful organization is continued on Page #2

Earth Day 5K Mud Run scheduled for Founders Day

which will be a fundraiser for Keep Howe Beautiful to help with "The Prettiest Little Town in Texas" mission.

Nothing like this has ever happened in Howe. A mud run event will take place coincided with the events of Founders Day on April 25. There will be a family fun run of one mile that starts at 8 am and the 5K mud run will begin at 9 am. The event is being held as the first annual event

Several of the board members walked off the grounds at Jones Park in preparation for the event Donna Wormsbaker, Marylin Keller Starr Stanley and Becky Hogenson walked the 40 acres to map out the trail for the 5K event Several different obstacles have been outlined for the first ever mud run continued on Page #3

Prettiest Little Town in Texas

Continued from Page #1

Howe. No dollar-studded wand-waving from Washington D.C. achieved the miracle. W.P. Thompson, Mayor of Howe was a lover of flowers He and a city councilman became a booster They gave each of the churches $5 to start beautification funds The churches matched the money and started to landscape their grounds When Howe couldn't meet the requirements for Public Works and National Youth Administration projects, the citizens rolled up their sleeves and said, "Well, we'll just do it ourselves " board members

"This is a fully-functional city-wide operation involving citizens rolling up their sleeves to help share in the pride of knowing that we, as Howe, have something special to hang our hats on " said Keep Howe Beautiful President Monte Walker "I think in our meeting, there was an overwhelming sense to not only do something good for the city, but to do something extraordinary for the city that involves some equity from the citizens whether that's monetary donations to the cause or good old-fashioned sweat equity"

New Beginnings Fellowship Church was the first group to offer their services to the project. The idea is for each yard, large, small, on the corner of a busy street, or hidden in a back alley to dress-up their yards in zinnias or plants and trees of their choice

The organization has started a donation drive online which is located at http://wwwgofundme com/m4be3s Donations can be made also through mail at Keep Howe Beautiful, PO Box 250, Howe, Texas 75459

As soon as the last freeze occurs, the group will be scheduling planting days in preparation for the big Founders Day weekend in the last week of April With so many events taking place throughout the town that weekend, KHB thought that it would be great to have some of the beautification done in time for vendors to see part of the makeover.

Mame Roberts was a former school teacher in Howe and upon retirement began her crusade for the beautification miracle that happened in

Miss Roberts got upset while listening to a Dallas radio program that saluted Texas towns and only mentioned the big cities She demanded recognition and was put on the air by the program director. Lynn Landrum of The Dallas Morning News heard the program and suggested in his column that Howe should look after its own welfare This upset Roberts even further and before too long Roberts had made the proclamation to Landrum that Howe would be "The Prettiest Little Town in Texas." Roberts was successful and Landrum visited the town to smell the flowers and eat crow.

Roberts will be inducted into the Howe Hall of Honor on April 24 along with 11 other key members to the history and betterment of Howe Along with her will be the former Mayor WP Thompson, who helped kick-start the mission

Keep Howe Beautiful's 2015 mission is the same as Roberts' plan 77 years ago They just want a beautiful town and for the uplifting feeling of pride that comes from a community that believes in themselves

Mud Run Continued from Page #1

They are:

Obstacle #1

Mud Crawl - is a trench dug to a depth of 18 inches, roughly 30 feet long. Runners will have to low crawl the distance of the mud trench under a web or rope

Obstacle #2

Tires - Roughly one hundred tires placed on the ground set in a pattern that the runners will have to step into and run through

Obstacle #3

Over and Under - Three rows of tires placed where the first row has to be crawled over next under and the final over

Obstacle #4

Panel Wall - Panel Fence design where contestants climb over 6' panel wall.

Obstacle #5

Haystack - 6 round bales stacked on their side Three wide with a second row

Obstacle #6

Balance Beam - Three rows of logs placed at the existing ground grade They are placed every 20 feet and support by a post buried into the ground at least three feet

The total length is approximately 50 feet. There is also a mud trench that is roughly 40 feet long at the bottom with ramps on both sides.

Obstacle #7

Rope Swing - Three ropes suspended over a mud pit 10'x30'

Obstacle #8

Creek Crossing - Sounds like it is

Obstacle #9

Log Carry - design to have logs cut at different lengths and different sizes Runners will have to carry one log a short distance on the course trail and then dropped it off where they originally picked the log up

Obstacle #10

Dumpster Diving - Three lined 10 yard dumpsters which will contain water and ice no more than 3 feet deep. The runners will have to jump into the dumpsters and will have to get to the other side where they will have to climb out There will be ramps that are a ladder type design on both sides for the runners to climb in and out of the dumpsters

(Obstacles are subject to change in order or type)

Sponsorships are available in a variety of ways

Cash Sponsorships – Sponsorships are available for various sites, obstacles and areas of the race. For example, each obstacle will have a corporate sponsor as will each water table and first aid station Your signs, banners and logos will be seen as a vital part of the success of this fun event. There are several levels of cash sponsorships available. Each is listed on the last page of this packet.

In-Kind Sponsorships – Many of the material needs of the Mud Run

Mud Run

Continued from Page #3 are being met through product/service donations from companies If you have a service or product that would be helpful, we are available to discuss an In-Kind donation

Food Vendors – If you are interested in getting involved as a food provider or sponsor, please contact us

On-Site Presence – We will have a central area near the Start/Finish line that will serve as a staging area for the Mud Run heats as well as a gathering area for spectators Nonfood vendors who wish to have display tables to attract new customers are welcome Please contact us for arrangements There will be no electricity provided

Volunteers –

Of course we would love to have you Volunteer opportunities are available before, during and after the Mud Run If interested, please call Laura Duree at 903-818-1076 or email khb@cityofhowe.org