Albert Willis of Washington- Wilkes is a graduate of Clemson University. As a member of the Clemson football team, he played halfback in the 1949 Gator Bowl game. Clemson played the University of Missouri and won the game. Albert's nickname on the team was "Rabbit" because he was such a fast and elusive runner. This was Clemson's first time in the Gator Bowl; and the next year the team played Miami in the Orange Bowl. Albert was a member of both teams. Last week when Clemson played Nebraska in the 2008 Gator Bowl game, Albert was surprised when he heard the trivia question asked by one of the announcers. The question was "Who was the Most Valuable Player in the 1949 Gator Bowl game?" The answer was Albert's teammate, Bobby Gage. Albert says that the Clemson teams in the late 1940s were "end of the war teams." The war was over and the education of thousands of young men had been interrupted by the draft. After the war they could go back to college under the GI Bill and it didn't cost them anything. The Clemson team was inundated with college students vying for a place on the team and Albert says that the coach just about worked them all to death trying to "weed out" as many as he could and get the team down to a reasonable size. . . . Albert celebrated his 80th birthday Wednesday, December 31.

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Chip Bentley, for many years a member of the Washington Fire Department, has been named Firefighter of the Year for the Thomson Fire Department. Chip joined the Washington Fire Department as a volunteer at the age of 16 when he was a student at Washington- Wilkes High School. After moving to Thomson he joined the Thomson Fire Department and now has a total of 21 years as a firefighter. He is the son of W.C. and Cheryl Bentley of Washington and his dad retired from the Washington Fire Department with 28 years of service. Chip and his wife Nicci have two daughters, Danielle, 8, and Aubrey, 5.

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Marley (not the Marley in the current movie showing) is back home after a quiet night out "on the town." Marley is the 11-year-old Pug who lives with Janet and Martin Burgess. He has lived with them for 10 years so you know he is just as much a part of the family as his three "sisters" -- Mandy, Molly, and Maria. Martin let Marley out about three o'clock Friday afternoon to do what he needed to do. The Pug always came right back. But not this time. After 15 minutes when he didn't show up, Janet and Martin started looking for him. By late afternoon they were about to panic and drove around the neighborhood looking for him. After dark, they DID panic, but there was nothing they could do. They left the outside lights on and Janet got up about every hour to see if he was back, but no Marley. Saturday morning they checked the Shelter and the Veterinary office, but still no Marley. The police came and got pictures and promised to be on the lookout for him. Jim Cullars, a special friend of the family, went to Ingles later in the morning and noticed a flyer on the door with a picture of what appeared to be Marley and indicating that he had been found. Marley was not wearing a collar so there was no way for those who found him to contact his family. There was a cell phone number on the flyer and Martin promptly called the number. Jennifer Barnwell Hardy had been at the clinic of her dad, Dr. Paul Barnwell, on the North By-Pass and Marley had scratched on the door. Being a doglover herself, she posted the flyer at Ingles and took Marley home with her. Marley was reunited with his family shortly after the call and is home now, being petted more than ever.

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As a fund-raising project, the Washington-Wilkes Animal Shelter conducted a 50/50 raffle last month, with the winner receiving half of the money raised. The drawing for the prize was held on Christmas Day and the winner, Randee Barry, received $1,140. . . . If you want to make a contribution to a very deserving organization, please remember the Shelter. They have so many animals there who need good homes.

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We've had a little bit of rain for the first five days of the new year. Norris Ware on Hill Street reports .25 of an inch. Sonny Johnson in the Tyrone area reports .9 of an inch. Sonny says that the rain in December brought his average per year since 1985 (when he started keeping up with the rain) to 46.571 per year.

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Edith Beckum of Lincolnton is an avid reader of The News-Reporter and calls me about news items every now and then. Last week she brought copies of some old weekly newspapers which she had found. One was The Statesman in Hapeville dated July 9, 1940. Most of the paper was devoted to the fact that Eugene Talmadge was opening his campaign for governor of Georgia. One headline read "People rally behind Talmadge. Thousands greet him as he opens his campaign for governor." The story was accompanied by a half-page picture of the crowd of thousands gathered to greet him. A sub-head read, "Red suspenders flash again as race begins." If you remember Talmadge's visits to Georgia towns in the 1940s, you're as old as I am. I remember when he came to speak on The Square here and I was just eight years old. I had never seen that many people at one time. . . . In this same paper was an article which said "Beckwith Trial opens in Wilkes County." I was not familiar with such a trial. The article listed William Wynne as foreman; with Judge Perryman as the judge for the trial.

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Ruth Flynt of Rayle is another avid reader of The News-Reporter. She brought me a collection of old postcards (dating from 1935) which she had found. Who remembers when a post card cost one cent; and a stamp for a letter cost one-and-ahalf cents? That was in 1935 and 1939. She also had the wrapping from a package which was mailed for three cents when Ruth worked at McConnell's Store in Hartwell. She was Ruth Herring then.

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