No! No! No! Bee Southern is NOT going out of business. Angie and Pam are just thanking their customers by having a semi-annual half-price sale and making room for new merchandise. It's a great place to shop. . . . Some people have seen their signs on the windows and thought that they are closing the store.

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With all the planning and publicity for the fireworks and other activities on The Square on the Fourth of July, don't forget the early morning

Independence Day Parade beginning at Fort Washington Park behind the Courthouse. The parade will get underway promptly at 8 a.m. (we've never been late), making its way up to The Square, down Spring Street; turn left on Liberty Street to the Mary Willis Library; turn left on Jefferson Street; and back to Fort Washington Park. There will be a brief salute to Independence Day after we arrive back at the park. Bicycles, tricycles, scooters, strollers, wagons, dogs, cats, and people are encouraged to take part. No motorized vehicles will be allowed. This is the tenth anniversary of the parade.

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Dan and Mildred Nunn McAvoy celebrated their 64th wedding anniversary June 19. All members of their family were present for the celebration.

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Lawrence and Sandy Burton took a fabulous trip recently. They flewto Chicago where they met Bob and Susan Browning of Fort Collins, Colorado. The Brownings are special Air Force friends who have visited the Burtons in Washington- Wilkes three times. The next day, the couples departed on Amtrak's "Empire Builder" passenger train for Seattle. They traveled through Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, and Idaho. Lawrence says the compartments were a bit "snug," but the food and service were excellent. Among the sites they saw in Seattle was Boeing Aircraft's factory where three 777 planes and the first 787 "Dreamliner" were being assembled.

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Most of you know that my spouse and I battled squirrels in our house for about 30 years before finally getting rid of them. (If you want to call me, I'll tell you how we got rid of them.) One morning last week I had a different kind of squirrel encounter. I was walking along in front of the Tupper-Barnett house very early one morning when I heard a "whoosh," and a rush of air passed close to my face. At the same time something plopped with lots of force onto my left foot. In stride, my right foot stepped on something big and furry. When I lifted my foot, a big squirrel ran off behind the fence. Apparently it had fallen from very high in the tree. Another half-an-inch and it would have been right on the top of my head.

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We've had threats of rain for the past week, but very little has fallen. Monday of last week (which was reported last week), Norris and others reported about 2.25 inches; Tuesday, two-tenths of an inch; and Friday, just one-tenth of an inch; making for just a half an inch since Monday (last week). . . . I haven't had a report, but I've heard that Rayle, Walker Road, and Philomath have gotten around four inches.

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It's such a shame. A young man coming to Washington-Wilkes for the weekend rode his bicycle more than 800 miles from Michigan. It took him eight days and he traveled mostly from 5 p.m. until midnight in order to avoid the heat. As he was coming through Tignall Friday, somebody in a pick-up truck shot him in the back with a BB gun. Of course he wasn't injured, but he felt the sting. I'm sure he felt another kind of sting too, to know that somebody would do that. It hurts me to know that somebody in Wilkes County would do something like that. He says it was a distinctive truck and he would recognize it if he saw it again, but he didn't want to press charges.

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Lorraine Goolsby called to say that she got so excited when she tuned in to MSNBC Sunday night that she called several friends to tell them that "Death and the Dentist" about Dolly Hearn was on. She didn't realize it was after 11 p.m. and that she was getting some folks out of bed to answer the phone. Lorraine says that Dr. Carlton Hearn has been her dentist all her life.

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Don't forget to call me and tell me about your special trip or vacation this summer. It makes interesting reading. . . . You especially need to call me next week because we will be getting out two News-Reporters in one week. We will be closed the week of July 1-7, so after we finish the June 28 paper, we will put together the July 5 paper and print it on June 29. We have early deadlines for the July 5 paper, so check our advertisement elsewhere in this paper.

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A friend of a friend of mine brought an interesting article which she had clipped from the "Living" section of a recent Athens Banner- Herald. It's titled Manners That Matter and was printed to promote National Etiquette Week. The article lists and illustrates 10 Manners That Matter. With rudeness moving closer and closer to becoming a virtue in this world we live in, I thought I would give two of the manners that matter each week during the next few weeks. The first one is "Please say 'Please' and 'Thank you.' Say these words every chance you get. They show respect for yourself and others." . . . Another is, "Be on Time. Honoring appointments and arriving early make a positive statement about you." And we could turn this one around and say that doctors and other businessmen should honor the appointments of their patients and clients and not keep them waiting for hours.

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Harris Custom Cycles has been sponsoring a "Mystery Ride" eveny Thursday at 6 p.m. when riders travel to a different surprise location each week. They are also taking donations for the Ga. Sheriff's Association Youth Homes.