Priscilla Maxwell has been gathering and writing the Tyrone news for 50 years. She seldom misses getting her news to us on time, even if it's a hardship. We have had her news come in written on a paper towel (even toilet tissue) or a scrap of paper or the back of an envelope when she has made an emergency trip to the hospital with no time to prepare. But she will not be sending next week's news on Monday. She will be having a hip replacement that day and will be "laid up" for a while. She has had many health problems in recent years and we appreciate all her efforts in writing the news. When she is able to write again I hope all you Tyrone people will call her with your news so she won't have to do a lot of calling.

The smoke that covered the town early Tuesday morning was from a controlled burn on the Danburg Road, according to Fire Chief Alan Poss. It was reminiscent of the 1940s and early 1950s when the local lumber companies (planing mills) made huge piles of sawdust which would catch on fire and the fire department would have to try to put it out. About the time they got one fire under control, another one would pop up. Consequently, the volunteer firemen spent days and nights on the scene trying to control the fires.

Pat Callaway on Stony Ridge Road called to say that she has at least 20 hummingbirds at her feeders and is putting out as much as three quarts of sugar water a day to keep them happy. I read in my "Birds and Blooms" magazine that the hummers are getting ready to migrate and will be leaving us in late August and into September. The article said there is nothing we can do to stop the migration and that even if there are a few stragglers left, they will eventually move on. So our time to watch the show is coming to an end.

The News-Reporter has a new family member. Eliana Ruth Thomas was born August 15 to Craig and Jenny Pope Thomas. She is the granddaughter of Susan (and Ed) Pope. Susan is our personalities editor and was working at The News-Reporter in this same job when Jenny was born.

Mal and Anna Norman Heaton were in New York this week and were spotted locally as a part of the inside crowd on the "Good Morning, America," show Tuesday morning.

Did you know that it will soon be Christmas? No joke. It really will be here before we know it. I was looking at Tourism Director Ashley Barnett's list of things coming up this fall when I realized how fast the year is going. You may be interested in looking ahead to some of these activities in case you want to invite out-of-town friends and relatives to come visit. The Cruise-In on The Square is September 13. The Little Miss & Mr., and Miss Wilkes County Pageant is September 27. Mule Day is set for October 11; and Chamber After-Hours, October 23. The Market Days Street Festival is coming up October 25; and the Arts Festival, November 8-9. The Chamber of Commerce Annual Banquet is set for December 4; and the Christmas Tour of Homes, December 12 and 13. Somewhere in there is the Tignall Fall Festival and the Rayle Ramble. Are you tired already? Better rest up.

I acquired a copy of the summer edition of the Presbyterian College magazine this week. In it were two articles about Randy Randall, 1975 graduate of the college. Randy is now the Executive Director of Alumni and Community Relations at the college, a position he has held for several years. Except for two or three years when he did graduate study elsewhere, Randy has been associated with the college since he became a freshman in 1971. His column in the magazine was particularly interesting to me this time because it explained the use of alumnus, alumni, alumna, and alumnae. I never know when to use which word, but Randy explains it because he had it "drilled into him" by a longtime employee when he was a student. Here are his explanations:

alumnus - one male. Alumni - more than one male (pronounced "alum-n'eye'") Alumna - one female. Alumnae - more than one female (pronounced "alum-knee").

Alumni - both male and female (pronounced as above.) . . . . Randy is also serving his second term as Mayor of Clinton, S.C. He is a board member with the Piedmont Municipal Power Association (PMPA), and has been named to a three-year term on the American Public Power Association's Policy Makers Council by the board of directors. You can read more about him in a related article in this paper. Randy is Jo and Buzzy's oldest son.

We had a mystery solved Saturday. On Monday night of last week, our Beagle, who is in the house at night, began barking at 1:40 a.m. and barked for 35 minutes without stopping. He was very angry about something outside the house. We checked around outside but didn't find anything. The next morning there were huge holes in my flower garden. That night when Smythe took the Beagle out at 10 p.m., he started barking again and wanting to get off the leash and go. Smythe saw some movement in the flower bed. We set our squirrel trap but didn't catch anything. Saturday afternoon the Beagle and I were sitting on the screened porch when we saw a "critter" coming down the driveway. As she (it had to be a female) got nearer I realized it was a rather large armadillo. She sashayed (that's how I knew she was a she) right on by us with the Beagle barking furiously. She ignored us and went into the garage, then came out and passed a foot from the porch where we were sitting. She sassily made her way on across the yard and disappeared. So now I know it's not a ferocious animal or a banshee and I can go outside at night!

Steve Price, who lives on Lexington Avenue, is a young man who writes poetry and stories - mostly about horses. He brought me a nice poem about horses. It's titled "To Ride the Wind," and I hope to print it soon.

Did you see the picture in last week's News-Reporter of the new signs that will soon be going up in the downtown area? The directional signs are very professional looking and will be pointing visitors and local people, too, to various shops and businesses downtown.