AUCTION ITEMS

4 Quilting/Crafting Books. Donated by Daisie Smithwick. Framed Print by Nicky Boehme Donated by Anonymous

Photograph of the “V” Wall by Mark Hansen Donated by Howe Mercantile

Gift Certificates Donated by Abby’s Restaurant

6-month Business Card-size Ad. Donated by Howe Enterprise.

2-month Half-page Ad in HE Donated by Howe Enterprise Photography as Art Donated by Janie Finney

Jewelry: 3 Pair Clip Earrings Donated by Cindy Puckett, Howe Mercantile

Jewelry: One Pair Simulated Pearl Pierced Earrings Donated by Cindy Puckett, Howe Mercantile

Jewelry: Two Angel Pins Donated by Cindy Puckett, Howe Mercantile

Jewelry: Oriental Necklace Donated by Cindy Puckett, Howe Mercantile

Basket of Boyd’s Bears Donated by Brenda Soward

Scotty Dog Pajamas Size Small Donated by Russell-Newman, Denton

Tiffany-style Stained Glass Hanging Light Fixture Donated by Don and Helen Alexander, Decatur

Camillus Fighting Knife with Sheath Donated by Howe Mercantile Crystal Light Fixture Donated by Boyd Dunn

Turquoise Cross on Sterling Chain Donated by Howe Mercantile, Georgia Caraway

3 sets of Notecards with Watercolor Paintings by Trudy Whitney Donated by Trudy Whitney

Carvel Hall Silver Letter Opener Donated by Howe Mercantile, Georgia Caraway

Basket of Goat Milk Soap Donated by Howe Mercantile, Wayne Carlisle

9 Large Crosses made from the Old Doorframe of the First Christian Church (Summit Gardens) Donated and made by Oscar Blankemeyer

7 Small Crosses made from the Old Doorframe of the First Christian Church (Summit Gardens) Donated and made by Oscar Blankemeyer

Howe Bulldawg Bot created by Jake McBee Donated by Howe Mercantile, Jake McBee

Mikasa Christmas Bell Candy Dish and Christmas Bowl Donated by Howe Mercantile, Jake McBee

One Daytime or Nighttime Use of Cottonwood Creek Pavilion Event Venue Donated by Howe Mercantile

Two Art Prints. Donated by Richard and Genie Davis. Black Powder Coffee Donated by Watt Wealth Management

Handcrafted Cross with Key Donated by Howe Mercantile, Lyn Sawyer

Carmel Pecan Cake Donated by Mama Suzy’s Sweets & Eats

“Tips, Tools, & Techniques.” Donated and autographed by Georgia Caraway, author

Tree with Six Handblown Egyptian 12K Gold Ornaments Donated by Howe Mercantile, Georgia Caraway

Resin Seated Angel and Rachel “Children’s Joy” Seraphim Classic Angel. Donated by Gayle Strange

Two Plaster White Angels Donated by Gayle Strange

Renewing Faith Cross, Peace Cross, CarpenTree Metal Cross, Stone

Cross, and Tulip Cross Donated by Gayle Strange

The Lord Takes Broken Pieces and By His Love, Makes Us Whole Cross You are a Gift from God Cross Donated by Gayle Strange

Four Mugs Feed on the Word Psalms, Identity, Prosperity, Health & Healing Donated by Gayle Strange

Neiman-Marcus Purple Handbag Donated by Howe Mercantile, Georgia Caraway

Large Handblown Egyptian 12K Gold Perfume Bottle Donated by Howe Mercantile, Georgia Caraway

Large Handblown Egyptian 12K Gold Perfume Bottle Donated by Howe Mercantile, Georgia Caraway

Large Handblown Egyptian 12K Gold Perfume Bottle. Donated by Howe Mercantile, Georgia Caraway

Bulldog Pillow Donated by Howe Mercantile, Georgia Caraway

Four (4) Feed on the Word Mugs Donated by Gale Strange

$25 Gift Certificate Donated by Gabriela’s Cantina’s Italian Cream Cake. Donated by Jean Norman.

Financial Donors:

$1,000 Grace Johnson

Donations for Chairs:

$160 Grace Johnson

$100 Oscar Blankemeyer

$200 Georgia Caraway

$ 40 Marilyn and John Kubalak

$40 Karen Dawkins

Inkind Donors

Boyd Dunn, services, construction supervisor for church restoration

Mike Barlow, services, restoration construction

Matt Poage, services, restoration construction

Howe Mini Storage

City of Howe, services and sidewalks, use of building

Howe Enterprise, advertising

FBC, use of dining hall to lure Independent Bank, they recommended a website PDF publication because they were unsure of the legalities of a social media news publication It was an awakening and became the model as social media became only the driver The Howe Enterprise went from a Facebook news business to HoweEnterprise com

Abby’s Restaurant opened a few weeks later downtown and all of a sudden the once cobb-webbed downtown area began life again

My goal was to give these businesses an opportunity to speak to the masses in Howe and be able to stay in business and stop the revolving downtown door of restaurants I’m so very proud to say that the two restaurants downtown in 2014 are still there in 2019 That is rewarding That was the goal

In the beginning, while learning what the local news actually was, we filled the gaps with stories on local people such as Ray Bledsoe, Steve Simmons, Walt Schneider, George Cavender, and others Early big stories that helped make the Enterprise relevant was Garrett Fulenchek being drafted by the Atlanta Braves and a Howe Bulldogs football team that came out of nowhere to go three rounds deep in the playoffs with a young and energetic set of coaches

In July of 2014, I approached the Rideouts about officially selling their business to me because they owned to rights to all of the historical newspapers and the actual name of the business I had virtually no money at the time and offered what I could I’m forever grateful to them That next week, my publication went from Volume 1 to Volume 52 as I now owned the history of the publication – meaning I own the same company my papaw did I soon started Grayson Publishing, LLC as papaw’s company was Grayson Publishing Company I was officially walking in his shoes to council meetings, school board meetings, and collecting ad invoices

Sometime that summer while working in my home office, I received a phone call from Howe City Administrator Joe Shephard I’d grown to know him a little bit since I’d been attending and reporting on city council meetings. This was also the man that I had barged into his office a

Continued from page 3 year earlier and mightily complained about the baseball field’s status Nonetheless, to my surprise, while meeting with him in my basketball shorts (as any athome self-employed worker should be), I was offered a position with the city as the director of economic development on a parttime basis During that part-time year, I helped start the chamber of commerce and formed a “Save the Church” committee to help restore the old First Christian Church I also negotiated a deal to get Summit Hill marketed to fill with homes The part-time job a year later became a full-time job

One thing that I did for many years in radio was broadcast football games for Sherman, Denison, and McKinney I stopped doing that when my son became old enough to attend Howe games as I wanted him to experience that Friday night atmosphere at a young age Once the Enterprise was established, it opened the doors for me to broadcast Howe games online Thanks to Zack Hudson, the slotT, and their outstanding group of young talented players, the Howe Enterprise began to grow even more by broadcasting their games deep into the playoffs

It was also that fall season that I found myself beating my head up against the proverbial wall trying to take photos of every event in town while Michelle Carney was already doing it It was a clear and obvious partnership and I’m so grateful to her for what she does for our community.

In those early years, I interviewed a lot of people that were successful in Howe They inspired me greatly. I began conversing a lot with M E Curtis who shared his business sense and local investments But after a meeting with David Catching, I was thoroughly inspired. I was just doing a story on him and his successful career in Howe, but it turned into a learning session for me and to how to get from step one to step two in Howe, Texas.

In five years in the news business, I have learned that what I think is a front-page story on Tuesday might be page five by Wednesday And sometimes when you have no front page story and wonder what in the world you’re going to write about – a train flips over in Howe This publication has never been one to write about controversial subjects, at least since my ownership We try our best to avoid topics such as high school kids and vaping for example This day and age of the internet can be damaging to a kid for the rest of their lives, whether it be a band student, football player, or a future Army Reserve To be recorded online forever, I feel is unjust and whether one agrees or not, it’s how we’ll continue to do things as long as I’m signing off on it Am I guilty of protecting our kids? Yes I was once a kid who did extremely dumb things and am grateful my actions weren’t permanently placed within the archives

This venture and adventure, to me, has been the work of God It allows me to give back to my community which is what I prayed for It also is a means to share church calendars and front page stories about Community Easter Worship services It allows me to share a weekly Bible verse and a column from a pastor In this day and age of media, publications are bought to push their own narratives and it’s hard sometimes to find the truth, much less the Truth Unlike the mega publications, we are not burying the truth in paragraph eight under a sketchy headline We just want to serve our community and serve our Savior

With this 262 consecutive weekly edition of the Howe Enterprise, I must admit that I’ve mentioned to my wife about quitting somewhere in about half of those weeks

However, she now is in full support and talks me out of it each time It’s still fun and I have a goal of publishing as many editions as my papaw Lord willing, I’ll reach his plateau of 421 editions on April 4, 2022 At that point, my youngest will be a sophomore and my oldest in college That combination probably assures me that I’ll financially have to go on past 421 If you’re still reading this terribly long article, thank you for all of your support throughout the last five years.

I'd like to think papaw would be proud But he'd be a little jealous that it's easier now It's not nearly as sweaty a job as it was when he did it He would likely have tried to talk me out of this, or at least warned me of what I've learned