The Office Cat

2008-12-18 / The Office Cat

'No hats at the table'

The Pre-school Sunday School Department at First Baptist Church had its annual "Breakfast with Kermit" Sunday morning. The theme for the breakfast was "The Star." The children made their own crowns with a big star in the front and wore them for the breakfast. Three-year-old Ron Grimes removed his crown and put it by his plate. One of the teachers put it back on his head, but he promptly removed it again. Susan Pope came by and asked him didn't he want to put his crown on. Ron's reply was, "No hats at the table." I know some older boys and men who need to take a lesson from Ron. . . . He is the grandson of Rick and Angelynn Price.

ƒ

If you missed seeing all the homes decorated for Christmas during the Christmas Tour of Homes last week, you get another chance on December 21. That's the annual Night Of Lights home decorating contest night and most of the houses will have their lights on (outside only.)

ƒ

The Christmas Parade through Downtown Washington Sunday afternoon was the largest one in recent years, with some 50 units participating. Zella Bennett walked the entire parade route with the Little River United Methodist Charge float; and three-week-old Madison Locklear was the youngest with the same float. She was, of course, accompanied by her mother, Margaret Ann Locklear. . . . A party celebrating the birthday of Joe Bennett was in progress at the Talk of the Town on The Square. Guests stopped partying long enough to watch the parade and one of the guests remarked to

Debbie Bennett that it was nice that she ordered a parade for Joe's birthday.

ƒ

We had a very rainy Thursday and Friday last week. Most areas got four inches or more and many creeks were overflowing, something we haven't seen in a good many years. On Hill Street, Norris recorded four inches, making us 10 inches short for the year. Sonny Johnson in the Tyrone area recorded 4.57 inches for the same period, for a total of 47.116 for the year. Last year he recorded 4.48 inches for the whole month of December.

ƒ

The photograph on the front cover of the Georgia issue of Farm Bureau News, billed as "The Voice of Georgia Farmers," is by a young lady with Wilkes County connections. The photograph is by Joan Casey Mitchell and shows a farm scene at the home of her parents, James and Jean Newsome Casey, in Polk County (Cedartown). Since 1976, Polk County Farm Bureau President James Casey has celebrated Christmas by lighting a star atop a silo on his farm. He says he usually lights the star for two weeks before Christmas until Twelfth Day, January 6. He accidentally lighted the star when his daughter Joan gave birth to her daughter Jessica, and then lighted it on purpose when Jessica gave birth to her son Jackson. So neighbors know if the star is lighted other than Christmas a new member of the Casey family is on the way. Jean Casey is the daughter of the late

G.B. and Mary Newsome of Aonia in Wilkes County.ƒ

The latest example of the inevitability of Wilkes County folks "running into" someone who is from Wilkes County or knows somebody from here comes from Lyn Randall who lives on Tybee Island. Lyn is a media specialist at H.V. Jenkins High School in Savannah. A volunteer tutors students in math in the media center each day during lunch. Her name is Phillippa Kandel Paddison, called "Flip" as a student at Georgia State College For Women (GSCW) in Milledgeville during the late 1940s. She asked Lyn where she was from and when Lyn said Washington, Georgia, the tutor said, "Then you must know Olive Boline (Wills)." Of course, Lyn knew Olive. Her family and Lyn's family have always been special friends. Phillippa's roommate at GSCW was

Sara Sue Wansley from Tignall and she remembers the Washington girls fondly. She spoke of Todie Bolton Derrick and remembers Ben Fortson. Phillippa's friend Natalie Hymes was Olive's roommate in college. In the 1949 GSCW yearbook, the picture next to Phillippa's is Mary Jordan from Washington. She is the sister of the late Charlie Jordan, children of the late Mr. and Mrs. Brown Lee Jordan.

ƒ

The Christmas Tour of Homes last week was successful and beautiful. To ride down the streets Friday and Saturday nights was like being in a fairyland. . . . One of the homes on the day tour had not been on any of the tours in several years and it was especially interesting. It is the home of Sniggy and Mike Eskew at the corner of Water Street and South Alexander Avenue. The home was originally the home of Sniggy's grandparents, Dr. and Mrs. Addison W. Simpson. On display in the home were some of Dr. Simpson's medical items from the early and mid-20th Century, including saddle bags containing medical supplies on one side and surgery equipment on the other. Old medicine bottles were on the mantel and an invitation to a dinner from President Theo-

dore Roosevelt was included. Dr. Simpson made his house calls with a horse and buggy. The children in my family called him "Doctor Man" and loved him dearly.

Return to top