The Howe Area Chamber of Commerce decided to determine the Class of 2020 Howe Hall of Honor nominations as a board this year. They came up with eight deserving individuals to be eligible with four in the living category and four in the deceased category which has been the order for the past five years. The voting will go out to the public on March 1 and will end on March 30. The winners will be officially inducted by the Howe Area Chamber of Commerce at an awards ceremony held on May 1, 2020, at 6:30 pm at the chamber office. Voting can take place by clicking here.
This year’s living nominees are Dale Rideout, Linda Wall, Pat Stewart, and Sam Haigis. The deceased nominees are Lana Rideout, Billy Joe Wheeler, Duglas Wortham, and Wyline Poole.
Dale Rideout is currently serving a city council position and is a past chamber president. He’s also been on the planning and zoning commission as well as owned and published the Howe Enterprise/Texoma Enterprise for the longest tenure of any owner. He is a member of Boy Scouts of America, the Lions Club, Rotary Club, Sons of the American Revolution, Sons of Confederate Veterans, the Howe Friends of the Library, Howe Chamber of Commerce,
Linda Wall was named the 1997 Norma J. Wallace Citizen of the Year and is Howe’s mega-volunteer. She served in many capacities for the Howe Chamber of Commerce, First United Methodist Church, Cub Scout Den Leader. She was very active in PTA and helped push forward a plan to start a band program at Howe ISD. Wall was also a leader of the Friends of the Library and has led the charge for Peggy’s Porch for many years.
Pat Stewart has been associated with the Howe ISD in numerous roles including teacher and school board member for nearly 50 years. She began teaching in Howe in the 1965-66 school year until 2001- 02. She then became the first female school board member in 2003 and served in that capacity until 2014.
Sam Haigis is most known for his long tenure on the city council, but he also served as a scout leader and helped with the formation of the Howe Band Boosters which was the founding block of the Pride of Howe Marching Band. Haigis has served as Mayor Pro Tem for the majority of his time on the city council.
Lana Rideout was a 2-time Norma J. Wallace Citizen of the Year recipient with one coming in two separate decades (1987, 1998). She captured the history of Howe from the late 1970s through 2013 as the editor of the Howe Enterprise/Texoma Enterprise. She was a longtime advocate of the Howe Area Chamber of Commerce and served as a board member for many years. Rideout was also a founding member of the Howe Community Library and the Howe Historical Society.
Billy Joe Wheeler was a school board member and a city councilman who also owned Downtown Howe real estate for a number of years. He partnered with other community leaders to help build Bicentennial Park which contains three baseball fields along Highway 75. Wheeler was a strong advocate of family life in the church as he served as a member of the First Baptist Church of Howe for over 60 years.
Dug Wortham is a former mayor of Howe. He taught in the Howe ISD for six years and had served as a counselor for the Grayson County School Superintendent’s Office. His civic endeavors included the Texoma Regional Planning Commission, Grayson County Mental Health and Retardation Board, The Grayson County Volunteer Fire Fighters Association, Little League baseball, and the Texoma Livestock Exposition.
Wyline Pool was employed by Howe ISD for 31 years. She came to Howe in 1945 where she was a classroom teacher for six years before becoming principal for 21 years. She was a member of the Texas State Teachers Association and served as vice-president and president of the Grayson County unit of TSTA and one year as secretary of District TSTA. She is the daughter of W.P. Wheeler who was Howe Superintendent for 11 years.
Previous inductees:
Class of 2015
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, Elmer Schenk.
Class of 2016
Norman Dickey, Jimmy Bearden, Steve Simmons.
Class of 2017
Donal Gilstrap, Jean Norman, J.J. Chisum, Bob Walker.
Class of 2018
Bob Williams, Tommy Skipworth, Norman Bennett, Harold Taylor.
Class of 2019
Bobby Sollis, Donna Jarma, Lowell Thompson, Marion Allison.
The chamber will also announce the Business of the Year, Citizen of the Year, Volunteer of the Year, and Volunteer Organization of the Year.