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On Saturday, the Howe Area Chamber of Commerce will host the annual Christmas Parade which will begin at 4:30 pm.  The best place to watch from will be near downtown where music will play.   A parade will have an emcee which will be located in front of the chamber office at 101 E. Haning Street (see route below).

Santa will arrive in Howe early Saturday morning to take part in the Howe Fire Department’s Breakfast with Santa which will begin at 8 am at the fire station.

Santa then will head to the Howe Community Library at 10:30 am for Story Time with Santa.

After the 4:30 pm parade, Santa and Mrs. Claus will then head to Summit Gardens at 100 E. O’Connel St. to meet and greet kids. The event is free to the public.

Those that want to enter a float in the parade also can do so at no charge.  The chamber will be selling hot chocolate at the Meet Santa event at Summit Gardens and will also be raffling off a shotgun at the chamber office before and after the parade. 

Those that have entered a float in the parade so far are Howe Police Department, Howe Fire Department, Pride of Howe Marching Band, Mantua Masonic Lodge #209, Eva’s All Season’s Glass, Ron’s Roadside Repair, “Freedom” – the veteran truck, Howe Pack 45 Scouts, Pristine Towing & Roadside, Jeff Whitmire for County Commissioner, Precinct 4, Bob Douglas for Constable Precinct 4, Daniel Moores for Constable Precinct 4, Texoma Classic Cars, Leader Auto, Katherine Ruiz Diaz, Ron West, Airview A/C & Heating, Good Fellas Barber Shop, Grayson County Sheriff’s Office,  Kings Trail Cowboy Church, Howe ISD Police Department, Howe Girl Scouts, and Grayson County Republican Party.

Howe ISD is currently accepting applications for substitute positions for the 2019-20 school year. To be eligible for substitute placement, applicants must:

Be at least 18 years old.

Have a high school diploma or equivalent.
All applicants who meet the above criteria are required to attend mandatory training on Thursday, January 9, 2020, 9:00 am – 11:30 am in the Howe ISD Administration
Building before placed on the district’s substitute list.
Please print and fill out the forms PRIOR to training and bring to the training.

Substitute Application

Criminal Background

ECOS Form

All applicants must provide the following:

Two forms of identification (i.e. Driver’s license, social security card)

Voided Check (for direct deposit)
Applicants who have a valid Texas Teaching Certificate must provide the following
before paid the certified substitute rate:

Copy of Transcripts

Copy of Valid Texas Teaching Certificate
You may contact Pauli Stephens at 903-745-4006 for additional information.

Billy Joe Wheeler, 85, 0f Howe, Texas, passed away on Friday, November 29, 2019 in Denison, Texas. Billy Joe was born to the late General and Millie Wheeler on March 30, 1934. He married Lucy Jane Loftice on October 6, 1955 in Van Alstyne, Texas and shared 60 wonderful years of marriage with her. Billy Joe had various jobs until he went to work at Conagra where he worked until his retirement. He and Lucy made their home in Howe, Texas, where they raised their four children and he was an active member of the church and community. Billy Joe loved his home and family where Christ was always the center. He was a member and Deacon at First Baptist Church in Howe and ministered to all he met through his words and actions. He had a true servant heart and served those around him happily. Billy Joe loved the Lord and shared this love freely to all that could hear. He will be dearly missed by many.

He was proceeded in death by his wife, Lucy Wheeler, his parents, General and Millie Wheeler, brothers, J.W. Wheeler, Lee Roy Wheeler, Dolan Wheeler, Vernon Wheeler, Eugene Wheeler, and sisters, Velma McCluskey and Juanita Vinyard. He is survived by his daughters, Anita Bickenbach and husband Mark, of Van Alstyne, Paula McCollum and husband Mike of Howe; sons, Michael Wheeler and wife Charlotte of Garland, and Mark Wheeler and wife Kelly of Denison; 8 grandsons, 2 granddaughters, 11 great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Funeral services will be held at 2:00 PM Tuesday, December 3, 2019 at the First Baptist Church in Howe with Art Rayburn, officiating. Burial will follow in the Van Alstyne Cemetery. The family will receive friends Monday, December 2, 2019 from 6:00 to 8:00 PM at Scoggins Funeral Home in Van Alstyne, TX.

Pallbearers will be his grandsons, Jason Bickenbach, Jared Bickenbach, Justin Bickenbach, Glenn McCollum, Zach McCollum, Chase Wheeler, Colton Wheeler, and Camden Wheeler. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his memory to First Baptist Church Howe, PO. Box 247 Howe, TX, 75459, or the Van Alstyne Cemetery Association, PO. Box 1495 Van Alstyne, TX, 75495.

Services are under the direction of Scoggins Funeral Home & Crematory, 637 W. Van Alstyne, Pkwy. Van Alstyne, TX, 75495. 903-482-5225. You may sign the online register book at www.scogginsfuneralhome.com.

Originally published July 8, 2019 in Volume 57, Edition 8.

Billy Joe Wheeler’s story is a unique one. He’s a man who left school in the eighth grade and became a board member of Howe Independent School District and a city councilman for the City of Howe. Born to nomadic dirt farmers, he vowed not to raise his kids from town-to-town but used his childhood farming expertise to plant deep and strong roots for his family in one city, one school, and one church. Volunteering for nearly everything and anything that had to do with Howe, his kids, or friends, Wheeler, now 85, lived his life as what community developers refer to as “the ideal citizen.”

Wheeler was born in Anna, Texas in 1934 to Marion Frances “General” and Melvina “Mellie” Victoria Wheeler, but didn’t stay there long. As a matter of fact, he didn’t stay anywhere very long as a child.

“My dad always seen the grass greener on the other side somewhere,” said Wheeler.

Their travels took them to East Texas, West Texas, and Stillwater, Oklahoma before finally settling down at Elmont (east of Van Alstyne). His first schooling began when he had to walk four miles as a first grader to Lone Star school near Weston. “There were trees grown over this muddy wagon trail and I’d walk there every day,” said Wheeler. “Then we moved to Oklahoma and all over. I even went to Howe for a little while.”

Wheeler’s sense of work came at an early age in the cotton and cornfields with a one-row planter. They had no electricity, only the coal oil lamps that he despised.

“I told my dad when I was 16 that I didn’t want to be a farmer,” said Wheeler. “He said, ‘Son, I wouldn’t say that because one day you might be glad to get on the farm.’ I said, “I might get on it, but I won’t be glad.'”

After working a few years in Dallas after deciding to leave the farm, he met Lucy Loftice in 1955 at Elmont Baptist Church and married her in October the next year. He quit a good-paying job with General Motors and moved to Howe to begin his life as a family man.

“I thought if I was going to raise kids, I didn’t want to raise them up down there in Dallas,” said Wheeler.

He went to work with Fant Milling Company in Sherman who was later purchased by Con-Agra.

“That was good for us because we got a big raise,” said Wheeler. Their first child Nita was born in the latter part of 1956 followed by Michael, Paula, and Mark.

When Wheeler arrived in Howe, there was not a bank, but there were three grocery stores – all in the downtown area.

Once he got settled in Howe, he purchased a downtown building, was elected to the school board and city council. He and Lucy also joined First Baptist Church in Howe where he later became a deacon.

As a city councilman, Wheeler pushed for a water line that was proposed to run west of the railroad tracks along Old Highway 6.

“I guess we didn’t have the money, but that line would have paid for itself in a hurry with all of the homes that were built out there,” said Wheeler. “We did some good things and some bad things. We could’ve done it better.”

One of the hardest things for Wheeler was being on the council when Howe Police Chief Ken Vickers was let go of his duties.

“I voted for him to stay because I was hoping he could get things turned around. We had a room full, but we had to let him go and that was hard to do,” said Wheeler.

He says the best thing that ever happened to his family was joining First Baptist Church in 1956. He’s served in just about every capacity there is from teaching Sunday School to the youth and helped with the elders.

“Harry (editor’s note – pastor’s name was Claude) Cone was the preacher there and he left two weeks after we joined,” said Wheeler. “He and Jack Norman came down and visited us about joining. We needed to get into church. We had kids and that’s the best thing you can do. If you’re not going to church, you need to get in a church.”

Wheeler says he was saved as a child in Elmont but was too young.

“I was drug down the aisle in Hess, Oklahoma,” said Wheeler. “I went down a sinner and come up a sinner. I was just a kid”

Later in life when his son Michael was baptized, Wheeler was baptized the same day. “I knew there was something lacking, so that’s why I did that,” said Wheeler.

In the mid-1970s, he worked alongside Gerald Hickox and Norman Dickey and others to construct Bicentennial Park where now sits Hash Field, North Field and a t-ball field. While volunteering to coach baseball, he once hit a fly ball to a young kid that bounced hard off his forehead. That little kid grew up to be Mayor Jeff Stanley.

“I went down to one of the council meetings a few years ago and told him, ‘I know I hurt you bad, but I didn’t know I hurt you this bad,'” Wheeler joked.

Tragedy struck Wheeler in March of 2016 when he lost his wife Lucy of 60 years.

“It’s like losing half of your life,” said Wheeler.

He found himself having to do things he never thought of such as cooking, cleaning, and housework. He says he eats out quite a bit now, but he can cook and bake a cake.

“I can do about anything if I want to,” said Wheeler who quickly changed the subject to his grandkids who he obviously cherishes and the time he gets with them.

Howe Bulldogs football is one thing that Wheeler has seen a lot of over the years. As his eyes looked off to the left, he began to talk about the 1970 regional championship team and of Rick Hanning’s high punts. Asked if that was the best team he’d seen; he began to stir over the 1985 Bulldogs team that his son Mark was a part of. With the team down 16-14 in the regional championship game against Groveton with seconds remaining and Howe within field goal range, Wheeler still believes Howe should’ve won that game in Corsicana.

“Groveton was pretty good, but I thought we were pretty good though,” said Wheeler. “If they’d have let him (Mark) try it, we’d have probably won the ballgame.”

Wheeler said he’s still a Bulldog fan and hopes Howe will do a better job of keeping their coaches.

As anyone who lives a long life, they begin to see their friends pass away and it’s been hard for Wheeler. He was recently shocked by Chuck Pelkey’s death and recently witnessed friends such as Norman Dickey and Marion Allison pass away.

Wheeler, himself, experienced bad health recently when he fell in his home which caused a bleed in his esophagus. Daughter Paula took him to the hospital where he stayed for two weeks before going to physical therapy. He’s back at home now and has a walker that he uses, although he says he doesn’t need it.

After years of driving his friends to the doctor and refusing money for anything he did, he’s now the one that has people checking in on him. The kids that he and Lucy reared in the church and disciplined are now the ones taking care of the ideal citizen who is aging. Howe needs more Billy Joe Wheelers.

Billy Joe Wheeler passed away November 29, 2019.

Gene “Bubba” Bridges, age 64, of Sherman, passed away on Monday, November 18.

He was born to the late Ruby Nell Bridges and Floyd Gene Bridges on July 3, 1955 in McKinney, Texas. Bubba attended Blue Ridge, Van Alstyne, and Howe public schools, and then joined the Army where was honorably discharged. He married Lezlea Mathis and they had two children together.

Bubba was preceded in death by his mother, Ruby Bridges; his father, Gene Bridges; his sister, Debbie Bridges; his son, Jason Bridges; and a great-granddaughter, Braylee. He is survived by his grandson, Quincy Williams of Sherman, his daughter, Alissa Bridges of Sherman; his granddaughter Angelina Williams of Sherman, his daughter Teresa Reed and husband David of Fort Worth; his grandchildren, Jason Burnett, Justice Burnett, and Todd Krause; his siblings, Rose Marr and husband Dennis Marr of Sherman; Sherry Kelley of Sherman; and Billy Bridges of Dallas, and numerous great-grandchildren.

Benny Jo Risner is officiating the graveside service that will be held at Coffman Cemetery in Anna, Texas at 1 pm Nov 30.