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Rain, rain, don't go away
Downtown Candlelight Shopping Tuesday of last week was a big success. I don't think I've seen that many people Downtown in recent years. It was a good night weatherwise and advertisement of the event had been good, bringing a lot of Wilkes County folks out as well as large number of out-of-towners. . . Another evening is scheduled for Tuesday, December 4, when stores will be open 6-9 p.m. for shoppers. . A big surprise to many of us is the renovation of the old News- Reporter building across the alley, west of The Fountain Salon and Spa. Workers had been working on the building for months but it was kept a secret as to what business would be in the building. Mark and Cynthia Walker have moved their Cost Cutter business from the old Coca-Cola building on Liberty Street to this Main Street location. It has been renovated and is beautiful from front all the way to the back. I'm just wondering how they got all the ink out of the building, especially the floor. In the early 1970s, Smythe Newsome, editor and publisher at the time, bought a new newspaper press but it proved to be too much of an undertaking to move the old one from the building. Sparky Newsome, Keith Winn, and Glenn Weber, who were teenagers, assisted the late Rufus Rider in dismantling the press and burying it beneath the floor, then covering it with concrete. . The Optimist Club is having its annual sale of Frazer Fir Christmas trees. The trees can be purchased from Optimists at the location of the old Boat Hill Marine behind the Movie Gallery on East Robert Toombs Avenue; or at Otter Creek Gardens on the Tignall Road. Optimist Kyle Brown made the trip to Cashiers, N.C., last week to bring the trees to Washington-Wilkes. . After nine years serving the public at the Washington Post Office,Faye Thornton has resigned to begin a new managerial job with McDonald's. All of us regular Post Officecustomers will miss her efficientand personal touch service. . The News-Reporter's annual Christmas baby pages are all set and parents and grandparents have reserved their spots for 2007. (The deadline for signup was Tuesday as previously announced.) Mercer Harris will be making all the pictures tomorrow. We really appreciated everybody's cooperation in helping us prepare for this special issue. . I had a call last week from a reader who wanted to know if I knew who cracks pecans in Wilkes County. I knew but needed to check it out. He said, "Just put it in 'The Cat' and I'll see it." And then I forgot to put it in. You can get your pecans cracked in Wilkes County by Dr. M.R. (Randy) Clayton on the Lincolnton Road; or by Glen Rhodes at Tignall. There seem to be lots of nuts this year. . This upcoming weekend (December 1 and 2) is our last chance to get things in order and be ready for all the Christmas celebrations which really get in gear next week. . . . The two events scheduled this weekend are the annual Christmas Bazaar and Luncheon sponsored by the Episcopal Church Women of the Church of the Mediator on Saturday, beginning at 10 a.m. in the Parish House; and the Tignall Christmas Parade on Sunday at 3 p.m. . . . The Washington-Wilkes Chamber of Commerce Awards Banquet is Thursday (tonight) at the Pope Center. . Jeanne Davis Blair, proprietor of Southern Elegance Bed and Breakfast and The Tearoom, has had lots of visitors to her tearoom and bed and breakfast accommodations recently. Last week she prepared and served lunch to 40 ladies from Lake Oconee who were here for a flower arranging workshop. . . . Saturday she did a luncheon for 15 people for me and I was impressed, as were my guests. The seated luncheon was served by Jeanne and her very efficient helpers, Angela and Holly, and I didn't have to do anything (not even flowers) but be there, greet my guests, and enjoy it all. It was great. . Coming up the weekend of December 7-8, will be the Washington Wilkes Humane Animal Society's "Silent Auction" at the Lions Club building on Spring Street. The :ions Club is letting the Society use the building free of charge as their contribution to the Shelter. (More on that next week.) . Email from Sarah McPherson Harriman who lives in Canaan, Maine, tells about her excursion to a little shop that was open on Thanksgiving evening. The shop has antiques and reproductions. "Very popular now for decorating are old label reproductions, framed and placed on canisters, etc.," Sarah says. "As I was browsing, I found the attached label stuck over in a corner. You can see why I nearly fell on the floor." Sarah was not sure what the label was. It has a picture of an open cotton boll; "Georgia" at the top; "Cotton" at the bottom; and Wilks on the side. It also has "Hand picked, 24 oz." I couldn't read the bottom line. Sarah says that even though "Wilkes" was misspelled, she didn't take any chances. She bought it on the spot and it is now framed and hanging on her wall. . My Upton Mill reporter tells me that Mr. and Mrs. Charles Immordino of Port St. Lucie, Fla., recently bought a lot and plan to build in Upton Mill next year. They were here for the holiday, heard about the performance of Messiah Sunday evening and were in attendance. They have been most impressed with Washington-Wilkes, and the performance added to that feeling. . Sponsored by the Washington- Wilkes Arts Foundation, the presentation of Messiah was a professionally done program, with an overflow audience in attendance, something we need more of in Washington-Wilkes. . Robin Booker's hometown is Abbeville, the county seat of Wilcox County. The Wilcox County High School football team will be playing the Lincoln County team Friday night in Rochelle. Robin didn't say if she planned to attend the game. . Jeffrey Roth, our Wilkes County young man who serves on NASCAR pit teams, continues to move on up in the NASCAR field. He assisted the #33 Craftsman Truck Team with pitstops as front tire carrier during the final race of the 2007 season on November 16 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. It was during this race that the #33 truck team owned by
Kevin Harvick Inc. clinched the 2007 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship.
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