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Call 'The Cat'
. Many Wilkes Countians watched the Fiesta Bowl last week with Oklahoma University playing West Virginia. The Oklahoma University Marching Band director has a Wilkes County connection. The director, Brian Britt, is the son of Walter and Patricia Cheney Britt and is the nephew of Irvin Cheney Jr. of Washington-Wilkes. Patricia grew up in Washington. Brian became director of the band six years ago when he was 35 years old. He told the 400-member band to give him six weeks and if he met them on campus and couldn't call them by name he would give them a dollar. In the six years, he has had to pay out just $3.00. Amazing! In those six years he has taken the band to the Rose Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Orange Bowl, Sugar Bowl, and the Fiesta Bowl twice. Both of his parents are gifted musicians. . Uncle Irvin [Cheney] read my item in this column last week about "Made in China" and brought me an interesting item Friday. He had a jacket which he had had for several years and was looking for directions on how to clean it. This is what was on the label: "Country and Outdoor from American Classics Colebrook. Authentic American Workmanship, Traditional Quality Label, USA. This trademark label is your guarantee of authenticity." Just below this information was a tag label which read "Made in China." So you have to read everything printed on the inside of clothing to get the whole story! . This is the time of the year when we have a few weeks when we are not quite as busy as we are the rest of the year. We have a little extra time to read; get our income tax information in order; write thankyou notes; rest a little; and pick up and out pecans. At my house, we've never had such a bumper crop of pecans as we have had this year. Because of the drought we thought we would not have many. But we have them everywhere. After the wind and rain last week, the ground is covered with pecans and there are still many left on the trees. It will probably take us until next year this time to get them all up, picked out, and in the freezer.. Ernie Harwell, one of Washington Wilkes' famous native sons, will be honored at a big event at The Pope Center on February 15. The next day Ernie will be inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in Atlanta. He will be honored as an all-time great sports announcer, as an author, and a writer of songs. Scholarships will be established for a local broadcast journalism major and an annual award for a Washington Wilkes Tiger baseball player. (You can read more about all of his accomplishments in an article in this week's News-Reporter.) . . . Ernie was born in Washington-Wilkes in the beautiful Pignatel House which stood where Fievet Pharmacy now stands. He is a cousin of our Mary Johnson (Mrs. Dan) Duggan. His parents were Davis Gray Harwell and Helen Barksdale Harwell. Mary's mother, Elizabeth Barksdale Johnson, was Ernie's mother's first cousin. His brother, Richard (Dick) Harwell, was also born here and came back here to live in his later years. Richard was a librarian and historian, among other things, and had a marvelous collection of Margaret Mitchell and Gone with the Wind memorabilia. He and his parents are buried in Resthaven Cemetery. . Joe Barnett was installing draperies at The Pope Center last week when he took a fall from a 10-ft. ladder. He landed on the ladder and has seven broken ribs! He was outand about several days later but still has pain. . Last week this time (Monday night) we were expecting temperatures in the twenties and teens. Today we have temperatures in the seventies and are expecting that to hold for several days, with some rain probable. . . . Last Wednesday morning, it was 23 degrees on my back porch which is on the north side of a hill not far from a pond, and the wind was howling. Thursday morning it was 18.1 degrees, dropping to 17 by 8 a.m. Friday it was 21 degrees. Most of this time the temperature didn't get out of the 30s. I think some areas in the county got down to 14 and 15 degrees, depending on where you were. . There's a really good video of Hillary Lindsey singing "Jesus Take the Wheel" on the CMT website. Take a look at http://www.cmt.com/ loaded/index.jhtml?vid=200949 . A community worship service sponsored by Wilkes Ministers United will be held Sunday, January 13, at 7:15 p.m., at the Episcopal Church of the Mediator. The speaker will be the new Georgia Baptist Association minister, Rev. Andy Perryman. .
I still need for you to call me with items for this column. Three people called me this week, and I thank them. I don't want announcements. They go in the "Don't Forgets." I want news about people. The telephone number is 706-678-2636.
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