The Office Cat

The front page of Monday's (Memorial Day) Athens Ban

ner-Herald was devoted solely to "A Roll Call of Northeast Georgia Veterans Who Lost Their Lives In Foreign Wars Since World War I." There were many Wilkes Countians on the list. I am grateful for each one of them. On the list are: WORLD WAR I: Pvt. George Allen of Washington, Pvt. Cabe Chenault of Tignall, Pvt. John C. Daniel of Aonia, Pvt. Ed Evans of Washington, Pvt. George Harper of Washington, Pvt. Dan Marignay of Tignall, Pvt. Tommie Paschal of Rayle, Pvt. Moses L. Williamson of Washington, and Pvt. Jerome A. Wootten of Washington. . . . WORLD WAR II: Pvt. Sol Anderson Jr., Pvt. James H. Bailey, Pvt. Robert E. Christy, Pvt. Milton L. Downer, Coxswain Edward W. Echols of Tignall, Lt. Vincent B. Garrard of Washington, Pfc. James A. Gunter, Pfc. Thomas E. Hearn, Pvt. Grady L. Jenkins, Pfc. Eugene Lindsey, 2 nd Lt. Robert M. Matteson, and Seaman 1st Class Henry B. Poss of Washington. . . . KOREAN WAR: Sgt. James R. Schroeder. . . . VIETNAM WAR: Pfc. Melvin Bolton of Tignall, SP5 Charles Michael Corry of Washington, Pfc. Charles M. Shelton of Washington, and Lance Cpl. Michael A. Smith of Tignall. . . . WAR IN IRAQ: Lance Cpl. Michael Philip Scarborough of Washington.

Angie Burdette Strother has retired after teaching school for 34 years. Angie did her student teaching in Thomson and then stayed on to teach for two years before coming to Wilkes Academy for 17 years. Since that time she has been teaching at the Washington-Wilkes Middle School. For the past 10 years she has been involved with the Accelerated Reader program in the schools. She and Pam McCarty are partners in Bee Southern, a gift shop located in the old Busy Bee Caf building on The Square in Downtown Washington. So that's where you will find Angie these days. She will be missed at the middle school.

Charlie Burke, a student at Georgia Southern University and son of Margie and Kip Burke, is a summer employee at the Chamber of Commerce. Kelli Thornton Tillman, who has been a most efficient employee at the CofC for several months, is now employed at

Farmers State Bank.

Washington-Wilkes piano teacher Ruth Harris told me this week about three generations of teacherstudent continuity in piano from Washington-Wilkes at the prestigious Northwestern University School of Music in Evanston, Illinois. When Ruth was in high school, her piano teacher was Nona Caroline Quinn, who had earned her Master's degree in Music from Northwestern during the 1940s before joining the Washington High School faculty. Ruth subsequently earned her Master's degree in Music and was a member of the Northwestern faculty for many years in the 1960s. Joseph Baldwin, a piano student of Ruth, will be a music student at Northwestern in the fall.

Jason Cobb, valedictorian of the Washington-Wilkes Comprehensive High School Class of 1998, has earned his Doctor of Medicine degree from Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. He will be doing his resident training there, too. Dr. Cobb is the son of Kay Frances Cobb of WashingtonWilkes.

First Baptist Church, Washington, had a stirring Memorial Day service during the morning worship service Sunday. The service began with the singing of "The StarSpangled Banner," which was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America led by Navy Captain (retired) Mark Waters in his white dress uniform. Interim Pastor Dr. Charles Strickland gave a tribute to veterans followed by "Taps" played on the trumpet by Ryan Dukes. The Senior Choir sang "Mansions of the Lord." I'm sure there were many other patriotic services in the county. The First Baptist one is the one in which I participated.

The Washington Farmers Market brought a lot of visitors to the site for the opening day Saturday. There were not a lot of farmers there with their produce because there are not many vegetables, fruits, etc. ready yet for harvest in Wilkes County. But it won't be long!

Remember the Good Ole Summertime Tent Crusade/Revival beginning Sunday and continuing through June 8. This is the ninth year for the revival which is held in a tent at the junction of Georgia Highway 17 and Sandtown Road just outside of Tignall.

The wedding of Lt. J.G. Lloyd Johnson IV and Angela Morar Saturday at the First Baptist Church was the first military wedding which I have attended. It was a beautiful wedding with the groomsmen in their white uniforms with swords at their side. Angela was a beautiful bride and the bridesmaids wore beautiful dresses which were just the right shade of red. The wedding was a blend of military, Southern Baptist, and Romanian culture. Lloyd is serving with the U.S. Navy, stationed in Milton, Fla. Angela is from Arad, Romania, and has just graduated from Agnes Scott College in Atlanta.

Joseph and Laura Baldwin spent from Wednesday until Monday in New York and attended the high school prom of a friend of Joseph's who had attended Interlochen Music Camp with him last summer. The family lived just outside New York City and treated Joseph and Laura to many interesting things in the area, including Chinatown, "The Phantom of the Opera" and "Rent" on Broadway; a visit to Princeton University, Ground Zero, Times Square, and other interesting places. Laura will begin classes at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta June 20. Joseph has a couple of months at home before he begins his college career.