After much preparation by an advance crew to get the

McDonald's building ready for the demolition crew, the bulldozers arrived Monday morning and pushed over and tore it down. Tuesday morning there was nothing left but a pile of rubble. . . . Owner David Cravens couldn't wait. While waiting for the bulldozer crew to arrive, he did what he had been wanting to do for several days. He got on one of the tractors already available and pushed over some of the walls. McDonald's expects to be ready in a new building in May. Meanwhile we do without Big Macs, and Crispy Chicken, great coffee and French fries, sausage and bacon, egg, and cheese biscuits, and lots of other good things.

When the restaurant reopens, we will no longer place our order with a smiling, courteous human being. Like at all other fast-food restaurants, we will speak our order into an automated post, proceed to the first window, then to the pick-up window. Gone will be all the young ladies (sometimes a man appears) who know what you're going to order before you tell them. This is the case in the early mornings when

go through the drive-in to get two

sometimes three) "seniors coffees." They're always ready, efficient, and quick. Some of them I know by name. Manager Margie Burke supplied me with the names of the ladies who are "on duty" in the early morning. My thanks to Christy Buchanan, Audrey Gartrell, Margo Stephens, Tonia Bolton, Monterey Norman, and Anna Radakovitz. (There may be others). Thank you, and I will miss you.

The Tour of Homes Website became operational on March 2 - two weeks ago. In that short length of time, the site has had almost 11,000 hits and 469 visits. Included on the website are general and specific information about the tour and attractions and opportunities for advertisement and sponsorships. That's a lot of folks reading about Washington Wilkes. Check it out at wwtourofhomes.com

This week is Mildred Sisson's last article for The News-Reporter. Mildred has been writing about people in Wilkes County (sometimes other counties) for more than 30 years. For the past 20 or so years, she has done her writing at her home, learning how to use a computer and a camera, and turning in her articles by e-mail. We will miss her column and miss seeing her come in for various things or to just visit.

Mary (Mrs. Charlie) Jordan, who has moved to a retirement community in the Atlanta area and who supplied lots of items for this column through the years, called me last week with some interesting items. She is always one to gather information about WashingtonWilkes people or connections that she meets elsewhere. She told me that in her new community she has found several people who have worked with Bessie Callaway, Elizabeth Hall, Jim Reynolds, and Eileen Reynolds from Washington Wilkes. She attends the same church that Johnny and Lynda Gresham attend and the pastor is a friend of John Childers, former First Baptist pastor here. Also in the community is Stephanie Macchia's aunt, Augusta Workman.

Joseph Baldwin, Brittany Ray, and Blake Stitcher are stars in the Briarwood production of the musical, "Camelot", this weekend.

The Washington-Wilkes Tour of Homes will be featured with Mary Morrison at noon on Channel 12, Augusta, March 21.

Just in case you missed it in last week's paper, and for the record, Katherine and Bradley Barber are planning a Farmers Market at the corner of Allison and Court Streets (across from the Old Jail). It will be indoors and will be open by early summer.

The News-Reporter website has been a popular place, too, since it was established about eight months ago. During the month of February, there were 20,340 visits to the site, averaging more than 13 minutes per visit, and about 5,085 visits per week. This is 10 percent more than our print circulation of The NewsReporter. The website is currently free, but due to maintenance and hosting costs, that's not going to last forever. Check us out at www.newsreporter. com

About 20 people from Wilkes County will be attending the Georgia Women of Achievement awards luncheon in Macon Thursday when two Wilkes County women will be honored for their achievement. They are Sarah Porter Hillhouse and Eliza Frances "Fanny" Andrews. (See article in last week's News-Reporter). Tuesday's Atlanta Journal-Constitution featured the women on its "News for Kids" page.

In about two weeks we will be cranking up Daylight Saving Time.

During Tour of Homes Weekend, the Washington Little Theater Company will be presenting The 1940s Radio Hour at The Playhouse. If you grew up in the 1940s, you will remember the era of the big bands and radio shows (no television available), and won't want to miss this show.

Our very fine police chief got "lost" in the First Baptist Church last week! The ministry staff (three ladies) of the church had had an escalating problem with a transient all afternoon. They did what the church policy says and sent him to the police station for help, but the police couldn't help him because he had been a problem here a year or so ago. He came back to the Baptist Church; got no satisfaction, so he tried the Methodist church. The ladies thought he was gone, but one of them saw him sitting on the church steps when she left. The police were called and the chief himself came, along with two officers. The chief and one officer went into the church to search for the man and then when the third one went to look for them, she came back saying she couldn't find them. Anyway, to shorten this tale, Chief Davis and his partner were doing a thorough search of the building and it's a big building with lots of nooks and crannies. The transient wasn't in the building but he did show up at the Mary Willis Library later and the police took care of him for the night. Our police department has a very fine crew of officers!

The City of Washington Zoning Appeals Board last week granted a conditional variance to the new LaFayette Manor Inn to serve lunches and meals for private groups by reservation. Owners Gilliam and Sokun are pleased that they will be able to add this service to their bed and breakfast.

Norris says we have had just .25 of an inch of rain since last week this time.