Robert Geiger at Talk of the Town on The Square made some late night pictures during a heavy fog that had set in over the area. As a big fan of "The Daily Buzz" news magazine that airs on the CW in Augusta, Robert submitted several pictures for their daily weather shot that features images made by viewers. He was delighted to see his Washington photos broadcast as part of Mitch English's weather segment Wednesday morning. He has the shots rotating on a digital picture frame at Talk of the Town for anyone interested in seeing them.

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Gloria Wheatley, Washington's Animal Control Officer, says Washington is "full of wildlife." She has caught or rescued, raccoons, possums, deer, and other wildlife, but last Friday was a first for her. She got a call to come to the Pure Service Station at the intersection of Alexander and Robert Toombs avenues to help catch a coyote -- at midday. The employees at the Pure Station had seen the coyote limping across the street under the traffic light and watched as it went right past a group of men into the bay area at the station and hid behind an air tank. Gloria arrived with a kennel, and the game warden, assisted by some of the employees, managed to catch the coyote with a catch pole and get it into the kennel. Gloria and the game warden then took it away. They noticed that the coyote had a broken leg and possibly other injuries and made the decision to euthanize it. End of tale.

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Former Tiger Head Football Coach Frank VoHun and Mrs. Vohun visited in Washington-Wilkes during the weekend and attended evening worship services at the First Baptist Church Sunday. He is now coaching at Tallapoosa.

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Chip and Nicci Bentley's daughter Danielle is a member of the Thomson Elementary School Competition Cheerleading Squad. Danielle is a member of the third grade team. During the weekend her team received second place in national competition in Atlanta. There were thousands of people attending the competition which included teams from elementary schools all the way through college. Danielle is the granddaughter of Cheryl and W.C. Bentley. . . . The University of Georgia squad also received second place in national competition.

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I know of a special canine Valentine delivered here in Washington- Wilkes Saturday. Kermit says that about lunch time, the Fievet Pharmacy van, with Jeff Murphy driving, arrived at his home on Spring Street with a special Valentine for Duchess, Kermit's Black Lab Retriever. The Valentine included a Fievet cheeseburger and cheesy fries and was from Duchess' former neighbor, Lawrence Hyde, who lives in Savannah.

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Gas prices have gone up a bit since last week this time. They now range from $1.81 per gallon on the west side of Washington; to the high $1.80s in town; to $1.96 on the east side.

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The annual Tour of Homes will be held this year on April 3, 4, and 5, with a total of 19 homes included. There will be a Candlelight Bed and Breakfast Tour Friday night; a Washington-Wilkes Day Tour on Saturday; and a Sunday in the Country Tour of the Danburg community on Sunday afternoon. There are many other activities available during the three days. You can read all about them in a related article in this week's News-Reporter.

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My granddaughter sent me a copy of the February issue of Martha Stewart Living, a magazine with all kinds of beautiful pictures and articles in it. The reason she sent the magazine is there is an eight-page article in it titled "With a Flourish." The article is about vintage penmanship drawings which combine elegance, linear flair, and a touch of nostalgia which has become a lost art. The article quotes our Janie Cravens who has the title of "President of the International Association of Master Penmen, Engrossers, and Teachers of Handwriting," an organization that promotes penmanship. Janie does beautiful penmanship and calligraphy. Excellent penmanship combines words, curves, scrolls, flourishes, and lines to create works of art, according to Janie. She is quoted as saying, "Beautiful penmanship will always catch your eye. When you get a stack of mail and there is an envelope addressed in perfect script, it is like you have been given a gorgeously wrapped gift." I've seen some of Janie's penmanship and it truly is a "gorgeously wrapped gift." . . . Lizzie (my granddaughter) has studied penmanship and calligraphy with Janie and last summer addressed all of her wedding invitations and reply envelopes. . . . Rosemary Hopkins has beautiful penmanship, as did the late Mary Callaway Burton. . . . When Mrs. May G. Van Saun taught the third grade at Washington Elementary School, we had penmanship lessons and practiced as soon as we came in from recess. We had copybooks with all kinds of flourishes and exercises in them. It was fun! Somewhere in my "saved things" at home, I still have some of my copybooks. It IS a dying art, and so is just plain old script writing.

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Doug Abramson, who lives on the old Hill Place on the Newtown Road, will be receiving a prestigious award from the Georgia First Amendment Foundation this month. The Foundation is holding an awards banquet February 28 in Atlanta, and Doug will be presented the 2009 Open Government Hero Award. He has worked hard towards insuring that governmental institutions keep their records open and accessible to the public by trying to keep governmental "wheeling and dealing" open and transparent to the public. His dedication to the citizens of the State of Georgia help insure that the Freedom of Information Act is honored by state and city governments.

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We got a little rain Saturday -- very little. Norris had .15 of an inch, but says that out at Sandtown where he keeps his cows, there was .75 of an inch in the gauge. . . . Sonny says he got almost two tenths of an inch -- .188.

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Did you see the picture in last week's paper about the new Civil War Heritage Trail signs being erected in Washington-Wilkes.

Carol Cartledge says the Washington Wilkes Historical Foundation provided $3,000 to help pay for the signs.