Summit Garden

Continued from page 1 year raising over $25,000 which included a donation of over $10,000 from a group called "Not In Grayson County" headed by Rob Hunt and neighbors from years prior That year the silent auction raised $7,000 and the BBQ dinner raised $3,550 The live auction raised $4,841

The "Save the Church" group held another fundraiser in April 2017 which raised over $10,000

Since the beginning of the work, Boyd Dunn and Mike Barlow have been inside and outside the structure doing the renovation - all on their time Rick Owens

Construction has done the electrical work, sheetrock, and general things to fill the gaps between Dunn and Barlow All combined, the building after nearly four years since the initial walkthrough is almost ready to show off to the general public

During the early stages of the renovation process, ideas were floated to have the building open as a museum or general community center However, it was determined that the facility could serve as an economic engine for the community In July 2016, Walker initiated the Howe Development Foundation (HDF) 501(c)(6), 12member board that would not only serve to benefit the economic development of Howe but oversee a wedding business that would bring dollars into the community Norman became chair of the organization with several members from the church restoration board sitting as voting members

Once the old church had been officially rescued, the "Save the Church" committee became the "Summit Gardens" committee after naming the building Summit Gardens - a wedding and event venue

"This entire operation has been so rewarding on so many levels," said Walker "We've been blessed to have the right people in place with their own set of unique skills that made this go If only one of them were not a part of this, it likely would never have happened We have some of the biggest leaders in our community's history working on this project "

His references were to Jean Norman for her dedication and abilities of not letting any item fall through the cracks Georgia Caraway's exquisite fundraising ability with experience in auctions has helped enormously with financing the goal And of course, the blessing of Dunn and Barlow to do the construction

Not to be excluded is the Keep Howe Beautiful organization will create a flower garden on the south side of the property to fill in the now beautiful property. They raised a significant amount of money by working the BBQ dinners in the first two fundraisers

This time, however, all of the money will go into the Howe Development Foundation which will retire debt from an anonymous member of the community which lent the group $15,000 at no interest in 2018 in order to speed up the process and get the facility open sooner Now that the construction is nearly complete, the HDF wants to page 3

Summit Gardens

retire the debt immediately in order to make sure of a sustaining entity in the wedding business.

The HDF will be selling sponsorships for chairs in Summit Gardens where individual names will be on a nameplate on chairs.

Perhaps one of the biggest questions will be how much Jean Norman's Italian Cream Cake auction for? In both auctions, her completed recipe went for over $750 each time.

Norman spoke to the Hurricane Creek Rotary Club on Thursday and gave a recap of how the project came about. She was in her typical upbeat and infectious spirit and had the room in-hand as she told of the long journey to get that building where it is today.

Back in the 1990s, Norman and the board members of the Howe Historical Society raised money and spent significant amounts of money replacing windows and replacing the roof.

"I got old and my board was older so we gave up," said Norman to the crowd.

Alton Norman told Walker in 2015 to please not get his wife involved again in that building. However, they both knew that it would have never been done without her.

"This has been Jean Norman's project for many years and to see it finished and to see the big smile on her face will make everything worth it to me," said Walker.

Posters were passed out at the Rotary Club meeting showing before and after photos which really showed the progress that has been made.

Dunn and Barlow are finishing up with a window replacement, refinishing the front door, and some painting. The goal is to have the first wedding in the building this spring/summer season. While the rates for lease will be greatly expensive to some, the pricing for the wedding venue will actually be well below the going market rate for North Texas.

"I'm excited that we have a destination location in Howe," said Walker. "We as Howe consumers spend our money in other towns and it will be nice to see us bring in significant money from outside."

The Howe Development Foundation will use the funds generated from the business to maintain the building, operate the business, invest in the building, and also reinvest in the community. The non-profit foundation has the ability to invest reinvest in community development.