We are not sure where, how or why; just that 2007 has flown by. The days are past, time never again to find. The memories past, only baggage left behind.
July
The night sky over Houston shone bright from the Houston Lions Club fireworks display. The big blast was one of the largest in the area.
When it rains, it pours – three inches in much of the surrounding area.
The trial began for an 18-year-old Summersville girl accused of conspiring with her boyfriend to kill her parents.
The jobless rate is 5 per cent.
The Houston swim team swam to second place at districts.
Several brave area residents jumped at the chance to participate in skydiving in conjunction with the July 4th celebration.
April’s spring freeze cost state agriculture at least $400 million in frozen assets. The freeze was unprecedented in 110 years of record keeping, and the two-week period from March 21 through April 3 was the warmest on record for those 14 days in 118 years.
Corn prices have popped 40 percent higher since 2006 with the demand for feed corn fueling the ethanol boom.
The Route 63 Car Club hosted its annual show at Licking with a record 126 vehicles.
The e-Herald, the entire printed version of Texas County’s favorite newspaper, is now available on line anytime, anywhere, on the web.
A national animal shelter consulting firm released a needs assessment that calls for the construction of a 6,700 square foot building east of Houston to shelter lost and abandoned animals. It is estimated the shelter could handle as many as 1,000 to 1,500 animals.
The downtown Lone Star Plaza continues to develop with the installation of an irrigation system and the delivery of 17 benches.
August
A stretch of U.S. 63 from Licking to Highway K will receive passing and climbing lanes. Rumble strips will alert motorists they are leaving the travel lane.
Dalton Wilson, Houston High School junior, knows how to fish for more than compliments. He won 11 first-place finishes and placed 24 times in the top 10 during his three-year career as a competitive angler.
Parched and pouched, Texas County is done after a week of heat index values greater than 105 degrees.
Landscaping was completed along Grand Avenue. A tip of the hat to the correctional center employees who watered them.
Chandler Postlewait of Bucyrus has a swell head of cabbage to brag about – 23 pounds.
Houston’s First Baptist Church served a meal to carnival workers operating at the Texas County Fair-Old Settlers Reunion.
Attendance was hot at the Texas County Fair-Old Settlers Reunion despite excessive heat. The four-day event attracted around 1,500 nightly.
The Texas County Soil and Water Conservation District has declared war on the spotted knapweed, an evil weed that has wrecked havoc on pasture land in the western United States.
Spc. Adam Williamson received the Army Commendation Medal with Valor. He is the grandson of Bill and Jo Williamson and was injured July 4 by an improvised explosive device.
A 1995 Houston graduate, Staff Sgt. Matthew Schilling earned a Bronze Star Medal with Valor when a mission to patrol a river in Falahat, Iraq, ended with an ambush of 100 insurgents. Schilling was honored for his actions.
The Texas County Health Department moved from the old Baptist church facility on First Street to remodeled facilities on North U.S. 63.
School doors opened in Houston for 1,052 kids, nine less than last year.
The Houston Quarterback Club held its 15th annual pig roast at the Tiger Stadium. Proceeds benefit the football program.
Some much needed rain blew into the area, snapping trees and blowing floral arrangements off the Ozark Cemetery.
A car smashed into the corner window of the historic Leavitt Building.
Enrollment for Texas County Technical Institute totaled 80.
About 300 attended the Heart Truth Women’s Expo. There were health presentations, free health screenings and giveaways.
September
A three-day wagon and trail ride occurred over the weekend.
The Texas County Republican Women’s Club donated 340 American flags to fifth graders to be used during the study of the U.S. Constitution.
Gov. Matt Blunt included Texas County among the 65 counties included in a drought advisory. He asked the Missouri Department of Transportation to waiver the fee for blanket permits for hauling wide loads of hay.
Sales tax collections are up $11,748 from last year.
The Houston Herald won seven state awards in the 2007 Missouri Better Newspaper Contest.
Democrat Missouri attorney general Jay Nixon spoke at the Houston Storm Shelter. Nixon is expected to challenge Republican Gov. Matt Blunt.
Forty members of The Piney River Quilt Guild sponsored “Quilts -Our Heritage III,” an exhibit of more than 246 quilts. Nearly 400 people from 41 towns and eight states pieced together to make a successful show.
Walnut harvest brings $13 per hundred pounds.
The acorn shortage is predicted to bring more bears to the area.
The arrival of the world-famous Budweiser Clydesdales brought a large crowd to Grand Avenue
Senior Jackie Kidwell was crowned homecoming queen.
A truck pull benefiting the Raymondville Fire Department pulled in an estimated crowd of 1,300.
October
The TCMH board voted unanimously to approve a $17.48 million bond project to build a new core hospital. The 38,000 square foot expansion will be one of the biggest construction projects undertaken in Houston.
A sheriff’s sale of confiscated items, no longer required for court cases, was held at the fairgrounds and netted $11,307.
Seventy walkers participated in the CROP Hunger Walk.
Archers can expect abundant deer and scarce turkeys, due to the second-worst nesting season on record.
Bandits made off with a record $100,000 in spools of copper wire, a flatbed truck and a 4-wheeler. Copper is presently $2.50 in open market.
Debbie James, Lady Tiger’s volleyball coach for 14 years gets her 300th win in a program that has had four district titles.
A musical gala by the Houston Alumni Association drew a crowd.
Texas County Rural Area Information Network (TRAIN) won a $727,388 grant to bring high-speed wireless Internet to Raymondville.
Two career criminals from Rolla have been linked to the burglary of the Intercounty warehouse. Both men were stealing to support their drug habit, the sheriff said.
She wasn’t kidding, when Houston Elementary School Principal LeAnn Edington said she would kiss a goat if students sold enough cookie dough to reach their goal. Edington bussed the nanny on the noggin.
The Houston High School Alumni Association banquet fed 166 alumni and 56 guests at Hiett Gymnasium.
Trick-or-treaters found sweet deals when downtown merchants handed out treats to kids. One thousand guests paid the $1 admission to the Houston Optimist’s haunted “Houston Hotel.”
Walnuts are falling about two weeks behind thanks to fall warm weather.
Texas County Technical Institute celebrates making the grade for the past 11 years.
November
The Houston board of education highlighted a plan to add much-expanded library space, more classrooms and continued expansion to include science classrooms and laboratories, as well as speech and drama classrooms. The present high school library does not have space or resources needed for today’s computer and Internet world.
New signage and stamped concrete crosswalks at the Pine and Grand intersection spruce up the downtown.
Hospice of Care raised $23,144 in the first-ever TCMH Chili Cook-Off. The event proved to be an evening of spice, five-alarm chiles and a good time. It was sponsored by TCMH who peddled antacids and swings at a piñata.
Intercounty expects electricity cost to jump 5.4 percent next year.
About 15,00 Texas County residents received a shot in the arm to help fight the flu bug.
A 42-year-old Tyrone man was murdered by gunshots believed to be fired from the highway.
Opening day of deer season was dismal, disgruntling hunters with a harvest of 1,817, down 256 from last year.
The Lone Star Plaza shone bright under the lights of its first Christmas tree erected on the site. The giant cedar looked like it grew overnight, thanks to the planting skills of the city workers.
“Proud Little Americans” (Houston first graders) participated in a program honoring veterans, stirring the hearts and appreciation for our Armed Servicemen and women.
A case of the shingles is good for MoDOT, Missouri Department of Transportation, who reports using recycled shingles from rooftops in their asphalt mix. It has resulted in a savings of $90,000 to $150,000 in a typical resurfacing job, including reduced landfills and reused petroleum products.
Texas County jobless rate is 6.4 percent. The average unemployment rate in south-central Missouri was 5.9 percent.
The Christmas cooks had a chance to preheat their holiday baking with Houston “Taste of Christmas.” Participants entered various dishes at Houston businesses, and customers voted on their favorites.
Crude oil prices exploded at $98 a barrel, which aided in pump prices hovering between $2.50 and $3 per gallon. Alternate fuel options looked brighter in the eyes of those suffering at the pump.
First presidential polls placed Hillary Clinton, as Democratic frontrunner, against the hair-breadth GOP frontrunner – Rudy Giuliani.
Santa came to town on a big, red fire truck, compliments of the Houston fire department. He checked his list twice to make sure he hit all of the holiday huzza that went on to kick off the Christmas season.
Oh, deer. It was bad luck for the deer and the hunter who shot him in the intersection of Spruce and Frederick. The deer was DOA, and the hunter charged with discharging a firearm within city limits.
Free movies Saturday at the Phoenix Theatre were sponsored by the Houston Seventh-Day Adventist Fellowship.
Texas County deer were the hardest hit this season, with 4,043 harvested, the top in the state.
Jack pine, Norway spruce, pecan, paw-paw and witch hazel seedlings were among the reduced offerings from the George O. White State Forest Nursery for 2008 affected by the spring freeze.
The Houston Rural Fire Association, serving the community for 55 years, has added a Weis Quick Attack 300-gallon fire apparatus, which includes a 300-gallon water tank and foam system.
December
Missouri’s deer herd, estimated at a 1 to 1.5 million, supports an annual harvest of nearly 300,000.
TCMH optimism was up with the report of a healthy bottom line, a year-to-date revenue balance of $471,215.
A Raymondville man had holiday cheer after winning a $250,000 Mega Cash lottery ticket, five months following cashing in a $100,000 Missouri Lottery winning ticket.
Icy, wet weather caused several serious accidents on Texas County bridges, including two fatalities.
Pooches parked and paraded in the Lone Star Plaza in a Saturday dog show with 34 puppy participants.
“My Favorite Christmas Movie Is…” the theme of Houston’s annual Christmas parade.
Brenda Senter, five-year leader who took the Houston Area Chamber of Commerce from a membership of 135 to 226, announced her intent to step down to take a position in Oklahoma.
High school principal Ben Yocom did not duck the attention created when he was duct-taped to the school wall with sections of the sticky stuff. At $1 per foot, students raised $266 for “Share Your Christmas.”
At more than $100 a pelt, it otter be a good year for trappers. The river otter, released on the Piney in 1990 in an effort to re-establish their extirpated population, has fed on fish and fisherman tolerance until both have a reported decline.
2007 blew out with a chilly wind, or maybe it was 2008 just blowing in..
Happy New Year!