Back at the All-School Reunion in 2010, a poem was read. Many people have asked to have it published, so here it is. It will also be in this week’s edition of The Howe Enterprise.
If It Weren’t For Howe
There would be no victory light
No Bulldog band on Friday night
No one to wear the black & white
If It Weren’t For Howe
There would be no Chisums, Yonces, or Mack’s
No Howe Enterprise, Magni-Fab, or Hap’s
No Ferguson Field by the railroad tracks.
If It Weren’t For Howe
Pat Stewart would never cross my mind,
No Bulldog pride of any kind,
Van Alstyne, for once, could shine,
If It Weren’t For Howe
No proms or homecomings to mix and mingle,
No “We aren’t so very brilliant” in our little jingle,
No Cavenders, Holloways or nine-thousand Engles
If It Weren’t For Howe
No Bettys: Davis, Cordell or Chumbley,
No Norman Bennett, Elmer Schenk or Janie Finney,
No E.E. Clark, Edna Dutton, Dr. Wayne King,
If It Weren’t For Howe
No Tonia Bement or Robin Stonebarger,
No speed demons Carlene Wilson or Laura Schneider,
No Coach Adams or Coach Rich to make them push harder,
If It Weren’t For Howe
No Dickey, Fryar, McQueen or DuBose,
Not even Charles Thompson, I suppose,
No white towels being waved by Rob Boaz,
If It Weren’t For Howe
No Randy Geer for 98 yards,
No Skipworth to Hawthorne to set all the marks,
No Jesse Farrer and his great big heart,
If It Weren’t For Howe
No pom poms, pep rallies or fight songs,
No streets being painted by Bulldog moms,
No Mr. Gilstrap for 10 minutes on the intercom,
If It Weren’t For Howe
No Southwest Auction or Catching Farms,
No Future Farmers of America or the Ag barn,
No Travis Arterbury and all of his charm,
If It Weren’t For Howe
No kids educated, motivated or dedicated,
No teachers staying up late to get papers graded,
No graduates to say, “I made it!”
If It Weren’t For Howe
No Coach Simmons who built Bulldog Hall,
No trophies or photos on the wall,
No “Glory of old Howe High” at all,
If It Weren’t For Howe
But by the grace of God, there is Howe, Texas,
And I know how very happy that truly makes us,
We’re friends, we’re Bulldogs, we’re exes.
Because of Howe.