The old "Apple Gin" (red barn) just before you get to Rayle

on U.S. 78 west of Washington was hit by lightning about four o'clock Sunday morning and burned. It was still smoldering late Sunday afternoon. A line of thunderstorms moved through our area at four different times after midnight Saturday - one at about 1:30 a.m.; another about 4:00 a.m.; another about 7:30 a.m.; and the final one about 10:00 a.m. The lightning in these storms was not as severe as the one on Sunday, May 7, but there was damage in the Rayle area and perhaps others. . . . Norris says we got .55 inches of rain from Tuesday, May 9, through Tuesday, May 16, and that the Tignall-Sandtown area got a shower Monday afternoon.

Betty Slaton was one of several who gathered at the University of Georgia's Hargrett Rare Books and Manuscript Library recently to view a recently found collection of letters in the Eberhardt family of Elberton. The letters are from Eberhardt family members who fought in the Civil War and the letters had been stored in a shoebox in an attic since 1863. Betty was invited to view the letters because of the interest of her father, the late Russell Slaton, in historic preservation in Wilkes and Elbert counties. The finding of the letters and the presentation to the Hargrett Library were reported in a feature article in the Saturday Athens Banner Herald. The collection contains more than 100 letters.

McDonald's is looking towards being ready for business next week. The building and premises look great.

Willard Lance is retiring as a science teacher at WashingtonWilkes Comprehensive High School after 38 years. Willard began his teaching career at about the same time that he and his wife Sue came with his mother, the late Sara Bell Lance, to talk to us about helping to care for a special child in our family. She became a member of our family and later became a valuable employee at The News-Reporter, retiring when she was 80. Willard and Sue and their family have been special to us through these 38 years. We wish him well.

In preparation for the Good Ole Summertime Tent/Crusade in June, there will be an auction and bake sale to help raise funds on Saturday, May 20, 6 p.m., at the old Tignall school.

Katherine and Bradley Barber have been making preparations for the opening of their Washington Farmers Market on West Court Street. They were very surprised last Thursday when they found that their handpainted "Washington Farmers Market - Coming Soon" sign was missing. They're offering a monetary reward for the return of the sign - in the same condition that it was before it was stolen.

This week is National Police Officers week. We need to do what we can to show appreciation to our law enforcement personnel who put their life on the line every day for us. They have a very dangerous job, which becomes increasingly more dangerous every day. I thank each one of them. They deserve an extra show of appreciation for their handling of traffic, arrests, and keeping the peace in general during the recent MayFest weekend.

Most girls and ladies have read Little Women by Louisa Mae Alcott at some time in their life. Peggy Barnett's book review in this week's News-Reporter is about March by Geraldine Brooks. The book is a novel based on the absent father - Mr. March - of the Little Women girls and is the result of extensive research by the author who won this year's Pulitzer Prize for fiction. You ladies and girls may want to check it out. (It hasn't arrived at the library yet, but will be here soon.)

The Memory Lane Cruisers' Cruise-In on The Square in Downtown Washington Saturday brought a lot of people and vehicles to Washington-Wilkes and also brought a lot of Wilkes Countians to Downtown to see all the mint condition (most of them) cars.

Don't forget to check CBS television at 8 p.m. Tuesday, May 23, to see Hillary Lindsey. Hillary has been nominated to receive the Academy of Country Music award for "Song of the Year" for songwriters for her song, "Jesus Take the Wheel." The event will be broadcast live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Hillary is

Kathy and Ricky Lindsey's daughter and all the Lindsey clan will be flying to Las Vegas Sunday to be present for the awards.

Del Branch of WashingtonWilkes has been in Iraq with the Georgia Army National Guard for the past year. He arrived home Monday to a joyous reunion with family and friends. We hope he's here to stay.

Claudelle Bonner has been a patient in three different hospitals in the last six weeks or so, and she says she just wants everybody to know what a treasure we have in Wills Memorial Hospital. She says she received the treatment she needed in all three hospitals but when she came back to Wills Memorial she felt like she was coming home and that everybody from kitchen to administration is just wonderful. I know that. Do you?

For a variety of reasons, The News-Reporter and Radio Shack will be closed this year on Memorial Day, May 29. Deadlines for classified and legal advertisements and women's news is Friday, May 26. Community correspondents are asked to slip their news under the door Monday morning (May 29). All other advertisements and news should be in by noon on Tuesday, May 30.