The Office Cat

The Ninth annual Indepen dence Day Parade will get

underway Tuesday morning, July 4, at 8 o'clock, and one of the participants who has not missed walking in the parade for the first eight years will be missing. Gail Hunter has participated in all eight of them but will miss this one because she and husband David will be attending the U.S. Postal Workers Convention to be held this year in Savannah. When I talked to Gail, she expressed her appreciation to Jo and Buzzy Randall for founding the celebration and keeping it going for nine years. She said it has really meant a lot to her. It's a way of showing our patriotism and our gratefulness for the freedoms we have, and it's lots of fun, too. So get out your red, white, and blue and join us. There's a very short program in Fort Washington Park following the parade.

The annual Amos A. Martin Invitational Golf Tournament will be held at the Washington-Wilkes Country Club Saturday and Sunday, July 1 and 2. This event always brings a lot of family members and former residents home to participate and visit as well as visitors from around the area. Last year's tournament had a big problem with rain. I don't wish the golfers any bad weather, but if it will bring us some much-needed rain, maybe they would be willing to endure one more time.

Some folks in Downtown Washington did a double-take when they noticed a man whom they thought had a familiar face cruising around

The Square. He was riding a motorcycle and then he was walking and he indeed did have a familiar face. He was Alton Brown, host for "Good Eats" and "Iron Chef America" on the Television Food Network. The chef was looking for "road food," the local and regional cuisine that travelers found along the highways before interstates and fast food, and chose to make his way down U.S. Highway 78. He's doing four shows called "Feasting on Asphalt" and was accompanied by his camera crew in a truck. They visited Phil Tanner's Biscuit Place, Purple Palette (no food there, just interested), Mayflower Coffee Shop, and other places. Brown said he planned to bring his wife to visit, eat, and shop.

Janie Cravens and daughters Jennifer and Maggie, attended the wedding of Ryan Wheatley and Jessica Kessler in Savannah last week. While driving down famous Bull Street, the three ladies were a little frightened by a pounding on their car and someone knocking on the window. "Don't stop, Mom," said one daughter. "Don't roll the window down," said the other. But Janie recognized Lawrence Hyde of Washington-Wilkes who was just glad to see a Wilkes County license plate and people he knew. Lawrence spends about as much time in Savannah these days as he does in Washington-Wilkes.

The Lions Club building on Spring Street has been in need of a new sign in front of the building for a long time, and now it has one. Ronnie Cofer at Fareway Builders Supplies donated materials; Lion Smythe Newsome painted the boards. Miriam Singleton Kitchens did the lettering and design as a contribution to the club, and it looks great.

We had a great storm with lots of rain Friday night and it was truly welcomed. We thought the twohour storm with heavy rain and lots of lightening was sitting right on our house but after talking to various ones in the county, I found that they thought the storm was sitting right over their house. It was odd, though, the way the rain fell so heavy in some places while in others, there was much less. On East Robert Toombs Avenue in the vicinity of North Pecan Street, Buzzy Randall got four inches; but down on Hill Street, Norris Ware got 2.6 inches. Norris also said that the same thing was true in the Tignall-Sandtown area. One area got four inches, but a mile down the road, it was more like 2 inches. Logan Woods got four inches; but as of Monday night, Rayle still had not had but about an inch. Some Wilkes Countians traveling to Athens Monday morning said that around Lexington (which is not far from Rayle) they got in the heaviest rain they had seen in many years. Whatever we got, it's good.

Adam Scarborough is back in the States after a longtime stint with the U.S. Navy in Japan and other foreign areas. He will be stationed at the King's Bay Naval Base at St. Mary's on the coast of Georgia for two years. The visas for his family to join him in Georgia have been approved but have not been delivered, so it will be a little while before they arrive. Adam is Phyllis and Mike Scarborough's son, and they are glad to have him safe "at home," as we all are.

I'm sure that many of you have already noticed that Wendy's is closed.

The annual Fourth of July celebration on The Square will get underway in the afternoon with lots of vendors hawking their wares and serving the public. Many activities are planned throughout the after noon and evening, with the usual spectacular fireworks display planned for about 9:30. . . . Ronald McDonald, the clown will be in Washington-Wilkes that day to help celebrate the re-opening of McDonald's and will greet fans from 6-6:30 p.m. Then he will present his famous "Ronald's Magic Show" on The Square before the fireworks begin.

Sgt. Arthur E. Scott is another Wilkes County man who gave his life for his country but was not listed in the Athens Banner-Herald salute to fallen soldiers on Memorial Day. He has enrolled in Augusta College but then joined the armed forces knowing that the draft was coming. He was killed in Vietnam in 1969.