The Office Cat
Anybody know about the BANK?
The good news this week is the rain! Norris says that we are just one-tenth of an inch short of the average 4.07 for July. Our total in town for the month is 3.9 inches. Most of that has come in the last week. This varies according to where you are in the county. We got a half of an inch Thursday; 1.4 inches Saturday and early Sunday; and .5 of an inch Monday morning. . . . Did you know we're in the midst of "Dog Days" which occurs annually in July and August? We've got about two more weeks of muggy, humid weather. I'll take it if it means more rain. But it really doesn't matter whether I want it or not. I have no control over it. If He who made us calls for rain, it will rain. If He doesn't, we'll be dry.

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The early morning quiet will be shattered Friday morning when all the school buses crank up and get on the road, along with all the other traffic associated with school. School starts in Wilkes County Friday, August 3. I know you've heard it all summer, but it really does seem like school just got "out" for the summer. Be careful. Watch for children and school buses.

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Lairee Rodgers called me this week to tell me that she sang with

W.R. Callaway's Band in the 1940s and 1950s. (This is the band I've been getting information on for about three weeks now.) She says that she sang with him in Atlanta and Elberton and at the Washington Wilkes Country Club. . . . She also remembers when the famous Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey played in Elberton; and when Astronaut John Glenn autographed her National Geographic magazine at a function in Elberton.

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The Washington Little Theater Co. continues to get confirmation from "celebrities" who plan to be here for the Washington Follies "Look-Alike" walk at The Playhouse in October. The latest two to accept invitations are Dolly Parton and Katie Couric.

. Beth and John Conard were vacationing in Daytona Beach, Fla., last week when their little son, Jonathan Benjamin Conard, decided to make his way into the world a few weeks earlier than expected. Beth and John were with Beth's mother, Pauline Bell; sister, Jennifer Cragle; and friends, Bill and Linda Smith, for the week, confidentthat the baby was not due until September. He weighed 5 lbs. 12 ounces, but has to remain in the hospital in Daytona at least another week since he was premature. Pauline and Jennifer were on their way home and were in Thomson when they got the phone call with the news. So they just turned around and went back. Pauline and Beth and the baby are still in Daytona.

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Jane Garner and all her family, including Jim Garner, Nancy Garner, Phil Garner, Steve, Peggy and Kelsie Garner, and Nate, Jessie, Ashton and Avery Pennington enjoyed a week together on Amelia Island, Fla. With some of them, Jane was browsing in an art store at Fernandina Beach when one of the clerks inquired about where they were from. When she found out that they were from Washington-Wilkes she commented that she comes through here frequently. She also said that she was filling an order for an artist in Washington who lives in an old mill. It was Diana Smith who lives in the renovated Wilkes Mill & Feed Co. at the corner of Liberty Street and Garland Avenue.

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Some time ago, Michael Horgan invited David Zelski, producer of the "Georgia Traveler" program on Georgia Public Broadcasting, to visit Washington-Wilkes and let him "show him around." Mr. Zelski had come across Mike's name in the "Ghosts of Georgia" book but had never been here. He and a filmcrew will be shooting in Washington- Wilkes on Monday, August 6, and Friday, August 10, in preparation for the half-hour show that should air with the new season in October. "Georgia Traveler" is usually aired on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. They have never featured Washington before.

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Signe and Genna Grushovenko of LaGrange, with ties to Washington Wilkes, are featured in the "Georgia Living" section of the August issue of Southern Living magazine. Signe, daughter of Kim and Les Sales, of Washington- Wilkes, are co-founders of Artists in Residence (AIR), a cooperative studio-gallery housed in an old Victorian house in LaGrange. Genna, a Russian-born sculptor and potter, is featured on the cover of the section with his hands covered in clay. Signe does her painting in the highceiling parlor and there is a picture of her standing only half as tall as her work in progress. Her work has been shown all over the South. She and Genna and their tight-knit group of artists say "the house itself seems to give us energy."

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The quarterly newsletter of the Georgia Downtown Association has an article about Washington-Wilkes and its development of the Downtown area. The article featured the Fourth of July celebration on The Square with photographs by Mercer Harris. There is also a picture of the interior of the Fitzpatrick Hotel and information on its restoration.

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Steve Sanders, owner of the corner building (Pop-Lahr Possibilities) on the south side of The Square, and his helper, Garfield,have uncovered still another piece of history on the brickwork on the top of the building. In huge block letters is simply the word "BANK." I've asked around but haven't found anyone who knows what bank. Steve and Garfieldrecently uncovered (on the east side) the words "Izzie Always Busy." Call me if you have any information on the bank.

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