Special Edition - Howe Enterprise April 24, 2015

Serving the community of Howe since 1963

SPECIAL EDITION

Howe's That

Friday, April 24, 2015

howeenterprise.com

The first Howe Hall of Honor class

by Monte Walker honored for their time and dedication served.

Today is a special day in the history of Howe, Texas.

We would like to welcome you to the first ever event at the new home of the Howe Area Chamber of Commerce/Howe Development Alliance/Keep Howe Beautiful. The event is to honor and recognize twelve individuals who dedicated a portion of their lives for the betterment of Howe, Texas.

This special edition also serves as the first printed publication of The Howe Enterprise since 2010 and the first by a Walker since August of 1974, which by the way, I was 3 months old.

With Howe being the highest elevation between the Red River and the Gulf of Mexico, I hope you'll find yourself at home at the Top of Texas.

The members shown in order in the picture to the left are: Jabez Haning, W.P. Thompson, A.M. Ferguson, Mame Roberts, Charles R. Thompson, Arthur Boyle, Tony Brinkley, L.B. Kirby, Norma Wallace, Ray Bledsoe, Carrie Waller and Elmer Schenk.

12 charter members of the Howe Hall of Honor The first item on the agenda of the new Howe Area Chamber of Commerce was to recognize those that came before them to honor them for their dedication to the city to help make Howe what it is today and will be tomorrow. The board consists of young business

leaders and that is what is unique about this dedication. It is more common than not that a young group will decide to turn their back to the past and move forward with a new direction filled with young ideas. The new chamber board seems to be

filled with new ideas, however, they are not so focused on the future that they don't salute those who helped bring them here.

These individuals were selected based on their unique contribution to the city of Howe. They served Photo

by Michelle their lives for the Carney betterment of the The Howe Hall of Honor community or the youth of will be an annual induction the community and in some ceremony with the citizens cases, both. voting on who should be so continued on Page #2

© 2015 The Howe Enterprise

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beautification. As the writer of a weekly column in the Howe Messenger, Mame Roberts promoted her hometown and encouraged its beautification. Her campaign to make Howe the "Prettiest Little Town in Texas" motivated other small Texas towns to take similar action. A series of articles in the Dallas Morning News provided step-by-step instructions for carrying out beautification efforts, and she was in great demand as a speaker at garden club gatherings throughout this part of the state. Mame's work attracted the attention of Life magazine and Reader's Digest, and she was named "Woman of the Day" on May 14, 1949, on Eleanor and Anna Roosevelt's National Radio Program. Her leadership positions included: President of the Grayson County Federation of Women's Club; President of the Texoma Redbud Association, which urged the planting of Redbuds along highways in Texas and Oklahoma; and founder and president of the Howe Sesame Club. Her Mame Roberts' beautification project had Howe featured in numerous magazines and work, which spanned the decades before and newspapers in the late 1930's and early 1940's. Photo from The Rotarian, June 1940. after World War II, is a significant part of the Alexander McGowan Ferguson (1874-1955), civic history of Howe and of all the towns that Jabez Haning (1827-1883) came to Grayson put her lessons into action. a professor at the University of Texas wrote a County with his family in 1846. In the 1850s continued on Page #3 Jabez Haning obtained a grant of 320 acres of book called Elementary Principals of Agriculture which became the accepted land from the Peters Colony. His land was textbook in public schools in 30 states for 12 located about nine miles south of the town of years. He moved his company called Ferguson Sherman. Harriet Campbell (1834-1880) and Seed Farms to Howe in 1931 and shipped Jabez Haning were married in 1854 and between 70 and 100 cars of seed daily by train. established a farm. In 1873 the Houston & Texas Central Railway established a line south Howe was known as the seed capital of Texas.

The former seed farm was located at the of Sherman. The route went through the location of A.M. Ferguson Park (named in his Haning property, and they donated land for a honor), which the land was donated to the city town site in 1876. That town later became by the Ferguson family for strict use of a city known as Howe. park.

Walter Pratt Thompson (1876-1959) was Mame Roberts (1883 - 1976) lived her entire voted mayor of Howe for at least nineteen life in or near the community of Howe. Largely consecutive terms spanning from 1913-1949.

More research could prove more re-elections. self-taught, she worked as a substitute teacher in the lower grades at the Howe public schools Every two years, Thompson would say he wouldn't run for mayor again, but the citizens in the early 1900's before turning to her life's work -promoting civic improvements and re-elected him anyway.

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Continued from Page #2 preparing for an invasion of Japan by the Japanese who surrendered on Aug. 15, 1945. Kirby was one of only 25 men left out of his unit of 250.

Photo by Michelle Carney

L.B. Kirby in downtown Howe in August of 2014.

Charles R. Thompson (19101996) dedicated his life to the Howe Public School System. He served as teacher, principal, and superintendent. He graduated from Howe High School in 1928 and Baylor University, Waco, in 1933.

He returned to Howe as a coach and teacher in 1933 and served s Superintendent of Howe Independent School District from 1948-1972. In 1978, the Howe School System named the New High School Gymnasium (now middle school gymnasium) for him and he was honored with Charles Thompson Day on April 21, 1996.

He was a member of First Baptist Church in Howe and taught boys' and men's SundaySchool Classes for 55 years; he served as a deacon from 1936-1988. Charles was a member of Howe Masonic Lodge and was awarded the Lamar Medal on September 24, 2003. He was a member of Howe Lions Club and was active in all civic organizations in Howe.

Arthur Boyle (1924-2014) came to Howe in 1958 and During his long career as an educator, he served twice as principal of Howe High School, coached the 1958 and 1959

Howe Bulldogs in football, was the girls varisty basketball coach and was superintendent of Howe Independent School District. His leadership in Howe and his ability to relate with people, faculty members and students made Boyle the obvious choice to return to Howe as the superintendent in 1977.

Brinkley was also the quarterback and captain of the Howe Bulldogs that found themselves without a coach in 1942. Brinkley organized practices and called the plays for the Bulldogs who miraculously won the district under those strange circumstances.

Norma Wallace (1929-1996) was actively involved in the creation of the marching band which later became know as The Pride of Howe. With her tremendous ability to gather people together for a willing and worthy cause, she impacted Howe in a way that forever changed the way people look at Howe. Wallace was also instrumental in the formation of the Howe Public Library, the Howe Historical Society and the placement of a Texas Historical Marker at Hall Cemetery and also was successful in petitioning for an outside mail drop box at the US Post office in Howe. .

Wallace quietly started a petition by local citizens advocating the movement of an on-ramp to US 75 located in Howe. Several accidents and some fatalities had occurred because of the location L.B. Kirby (1924- ) is the most decorated living veteran in the state on the on-ramp. Thanks to her of Texas, with seven Bronze Stars, diligence, the on-ramp was moved Tony Brinkley (1926-1944) was and lives suredly were saved.

Howe's first World War II two Bronze Arrowheads and a casualty. After the United States Purple Heart, awarded for his Ray Bledsoe (1932 - ) was a was attacked at Pearl Harbor, service in the army during World mover and shaker from the time Brinkley left school early and War II. Perhaps the most he moved to Howe in 1964. He joined the Navy at the age of 16 surprising thing about Kirby's was voted commissioner of the and was an aviation heroic achievements is that for Howe Youth Baseball League and machinist's mate, third class. decades, he never told anyone immediately went to work to Brinkley helped repair the fuselages about his awards, including his build a youth ballfield for the of fighter and bomber planes family. kids. He was successful in when they returned from battling constructing A.M. Ferguson Park the Japanese. He worked 12 to 14 A 1943 graduate of Howe High hours a day which was enough School, Kirby entered the military without using any city funds. without the air-strikes by the just 15 days after finishing high After serving on the Howe ISD Japanese on the the island which school. Kirby trained as a fire Board of Trustees and any other finally took his life after two weeks operator and served as a machine committee to the betterment of the of bombings. But his death did not gunner under General Douglas school or city, Bledsoe, in 1986 go unavenged. The same planes MacArthur in the First Cavalry that Brinkley had helped put back Division of the United States Army became mayor of Howe. He in the air helped take down the and was hit in the back by shrapnel received 80% of the vote even though he was not on the ballot Japanese fighters. Tony was just a from a Japanese rocket. He spent boy, but he was doing a man's job. three months in a field hospital recovering. He rejoined his unit Continued on Page #4

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Norma Wallace - the woman instrumental in getting the Howe band.

Bledsoe worked the job as if a fulltime employee by working 40-60 hours per week as an unpaid mayor.

Bledsoe was successful for obtaining many grants for the city and even worked a deal for a connector road from US 75 to Texas State Highway 5 now known as L.B. Kirby Ave. in 1997, Bledsoe received the National Leadership Award, given by the National Association of Small Cities. Only 300 officials in the country received this award.

He was presented on the House Floor in Washington.

Carrie Waller (1931 - ) was involved with nearly every organization that had anything to do with Howe. She became the first ever female city council member in 1972. She was also instrumental in reorganizing the Chamber of Commerce in 1972 in time for the city's Centennial Celebration. That year, she created the Howe city flag and the Centennial logo.

As well as being the first city councilwoman and remaining for 11 straight years, she was also mayor pro-tem for nine years and acting mayor for three months. She was the director of the Howe Historical Society as well as vice president, treasurer and reporter. She was a founding member of "Friends of the Library", a member of XYZ Senior Citizens Club, FUMC Women and Wednesday Workers. She served as director, secretary and treasurer of the Howe Chamber of Commerce, secretary of the Howe Community Facilities Development Corporation, a member of the Howe Transportation Policy Advisory Committee.

Elmer Schenk with the Howe High School Marching Band in a parade in Denison.

20 Sweepstakes Awards (first division in Marching,

Concert, and Sight-Reading) and was named the Class 2A TMEA Honor Band in 1986 and 2000 and was a top five finalist three other years. His band won the UIL State Marching contest in 1980, 1995 and 1997 and was a finalist multiple other times. He is also a founding charter member of the Association of Texas Small School Bands which is an organization that has brought immeasurable recognition and opportunities for smaller school bands and their students since 1992. Though retired, he continues to mentor band directors in the area and work Elmer Schenk (1949 - ) was hired with band students through as Howe High School's second ever substitute teaching and the band director in 1977. When he left volunteering of his time to work Howe in 2000, he was known as the man who put Howe on the map. As early as 1979, Schenk had taken a fairly new band program and turned it in to one of the most surprisingly talented marching bands in the region. By 1980, he made them the best in Texas. With a demand for perfection, his bands received over

with band directors and their students.

The Howe Area Chamber of Commerce plans to add to the list of Hall of Honor members on annual basis, but the charter members include some of the most influential people that had a servant's heart for their home town of Howe.

All 12 of these charter members contributed mightily in very different ways to the city of Howe.

In the list are people that served as mayors, city council members, teachers, principals, superintendents, school board members, band directors, historical society directors, book writers, beautification seekers, American heroes and even an individual who gave his life for his country.