Expectations for Howe’s Annual Founders Day Festival have never been higher. The event that starts at 2 pm on Saturday will see a record number of vendors that will be set up all over the two-block area of downtown stretching from O’Connell Street to Davis Street. Vendors will not only be on the sides of Haning Street downtown, but also in the middle of the street. All in all, nearly 80 spaces will be filled with those selling all kinds of items from jewelry to funnel cakes. Two bands will provide entertainment during the event’s entirety and kids will have bounce houses, and a kid train to keep them occupied.
This year’s event will feature a Summit Gardens BBQ dinner (to be held at FBC Howe), silent auction (held at Summit Gardens), and live auction (at the EDC/Chamber office). Also, there will be a 6U Ferguson Field Founders Day Classic game between two Howe teams. Former Howe Youth Baseball Commissioner Ray Bledsoe will be recognized before the game for his contributions to Ferguson Field 48 years ago.
But for the fifth consecutive year, the Founders Day Festival will actually kick off tonight with the Howe Area Chamber of Commerce’s Howe Hall of Honor and Awards Celebration at 6:30 pm. Donna , Bobby Sollis, Marion Allison, and Lowell Thompson will be enshrined into the illustrious Hall of Honor just after the chamber announces awards such as the Norma J. Citizen of the Year, the Business of the Year, and the Volunteer Organization of the Year. That event will take place in the Howe EDC/Chamber office at 101 E. Haning St. and tickets are $15.
On Saturday night at 7:30 in the same location, the Summit Gardens organization will hold their final live auction with Clint Catching serving as auctioneer. The chamber wants to thank all of the sponsors that are helping make this a great looking Founders Day Weekend. Torque Plumbing and The Girls Next Door have sponsored the main stage area where the bands will perform. Baker A/C & Heating is the sponsor for the 65′ inflatable obstacle for the kids. Sandy Setliff of JP & Associates is the sponsor for the bounce house for the kids. Star Auto Body of Howe is the sponsor for the Interurban Kid Train that will run the same route as in year’s past. Advantage Business Machines has once again sponsored the lawnmower race, but a location for the race has yet to be determined due to large amounts of vendors.
The Founders Day Festival sprung its roots from the 1986 Texas Sesquicentennial celebration. First held on May 10, 1986, and organized by the Sesquicentennial Committee headed by Jim Utley, the celebration featured a parade, horseshoe tournament, a one-mile run, a 5-mile run, and egg toss, a tobacco spitting contest, bubble gum blowing contest, cow chip throwing contest, and a beard contest.
Since then, Howe’s Founders Day has been a staple each May, but there were a few years that it was canceled due to either weather or to not enough interest. But since 2014, the event has grown each year and has been the largest attended to date. This weekend the streets will be full of people.
Schedule of events:
Friday at 6:30 pm – Howe Hall of Honor and Chamber Awards
12 pm – Haning Street is blocked off and vendors begin set up
2 pm – Founders Day Festival Begins. Bent Creek begins playing on the to Torque Plumbing and The Girls Next Door Stage.
Summit Gardens silent auction begins at Summit Gardens
Star Auto Body Interurban Kid Train begins route
3 pm – 6U Howe Baseball players parade through downtown from Ferguson Field and back.
3:30 pm – Festivities begin at Ferguson Field recognizing former Howe Youth Baseball Commissioner and former Mayor Ray Bledoe. Hall of Honor inductee Donna Jarma will throw out the ceremonial first pitch.
4 pm – Founders Day Ferguson Classic begins.
4:30 pm – Limbo contest in front of the Torque Plumbing and The Girls Next Door Stage.
5:20 pm – Lawnmower race to begin at Ferguson Field (sponsored by Advantage Business Machines).
5:30 pm – Summit Gardens (Save the Church) BBQ dinner begins at FBC Howe’s Fellowship Hall.
5:30 pm – Montecito begins playing on the Torque Plumbing and The Girls Next Door Stage.
7:00 pm – The Star Auto Body Interurban Kid Train shuts down.
7:00 pm – Summit Gardens silent auction ends
7:30 pm – Summit Gardens live auction begins at the EDC/Chamber office downtown.
