The storms that came through Washington-Wilkes and surrounding counties last Wednesday night (February 18) destroyed one home and played havoc with lots of other property in Wilkes County. The home of Doug, Paula, Logan and Emily Denard on Stoney Ridge Road was destroyed as they took refuge in a storm cellar at their home. The family had been in the cellar for about two minutes when the storm took their house, leaving just the four in their shelter. . . . There were many trees toppled or blown away in the Lundberg community and other damage throughout the area. The steeple on

Booker's Chapel Baptist Church was blown away. It was a scary night with many emergency management teams out checking the progress of the storms and lending help where needed.

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It was a stormy and troubling night for many humans and animals.

Norris Ware recorded 2.5 inches of rain in Washington and "a whole lot of wind" during the storm. Sonny Johnson in the Tyrone area recorded 2.2 inches of rain.

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Pam McCarty read Loran Smith's column in The News- Reporter about "lip-smacking South Georgia sausage" in Cordele at Stripling's General Store. Pam's sister,

Gail Hammock, lives in nearby Warwick, so Pam is familiar with the Stripling sausage. But Pam says the Stripling sausage is not nearly as good as our Wilkes County sausage which Randall Denard makes and sells at his Washington Food Market on East Robert Toombs Avenue. Pam says that she and husband

Ricky have friends in the Atlanta area from Snellville and Alpharetta who come to Washington-Wilkes just to buy sausage from Washington Food Market and also buy steaks from the market. Pam brought me a package of the Stripling sausage and Smythe and I agree that it was good but couldn't hold a candle to the Wilkes County sausage made by Washington Food Market. . . . Many people come to Washington to buy Randall's pork barbecue, too. In fact, he ships it to customers all over the United States.

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Mary Wright Blue celebrated her 104th birthday on February 15th and was treated to special celebrations on several occasions. She appreciates all the things friends and family do for her, not just on her birthday but throughout the year. She makes her home at Washington Manor personal care home and is able to get out and about now and then with friends and family members.

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It's official! Joe Barnett will be on Bobby Flay's "Throwdown" program on the Food Network on March 18.

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My granddaughter, Elizabeth Newsome Holmes, DVM, tells me that Dr. Michael Lowder, the professor with whom she works at the University of Georgia School of Veterinary Medicine, is on a trip to Disney World to see if he can help one of the elephants in the Animal Kingdom who has a problem with a tooth. Lizzie accompanied Dr. Lowder to the Animal Kingdom last month where they worked with several animals that had medical problems. We have a picture of Lizzie doing dental work on one of the zebras!

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Have you noticed all of the beautiful pansies around the trees surrounding The Square? Lloyd Johnson at Master's Wildlife has daffodils and buttercups in the flower plot in front of his business.

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Saturday, February 28, is the time for the 2009 Washington Area Junior Steer and Heifer Show at the McGill-Woodruff Agriculture

Building on the North By-Pass. Wilkes County exhibitors this year are Greg Callaway, Tommy Howard, Sheena Kopecky, Brett Lunceford, Chelsea Tamsi, Danielle Thornton, and Kelsi Thornton.

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According to a news release from the Can-Am Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) Racing, the "world's best off-road racers are coming to Washington-Wilkes" on March 7 and 8. The competition involves "over 1,500 of the fastest dirt bike and ATV cross-country riders in the world" and will be held at Aonia Pass motocross facility here. Not only do the races bring the 1,500 racers to the county, it also brings 1,500 or so who accompany the riders, plus spectators.

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The Tour of Homes Committee is asking that any of you young ladies who have borrowed Southern Ante-Bellum dresses from the Woman's Club or Chamber of Commerce or the Touro Committee return them so that they can be used for the upcoming Spring tour. You may leave the dresses at the Chamber of Commerce office on The Square. The dresses are needed right away.

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I've said it so many times. It's really uncanny the way Washington- Wilkes folks seem to meet somebody who knows somebody from Washington-Wilkes when they are out-of town. Sparky and Mary have season tickets for the Georgia Bulldog Baseball team home games at Foley Field. Their son-inlaw, Justin Holmes, is a coach for the team and their daughter Molly is a Diamond Girl. A student whose name is Todd Lee has a seat next to theirs. At the opening games last weekend, Mary asked Todd if he went to the College World Series games in Omaha, Nebraska, last summer. Todd said that he would have but that he went with a mission group to Canada. Mary told Todd that Molly had recently been on a mission trip to The Potter's House Community Church in Canada. Todd replied, "Did you say The Potter's House? That's where I was!" Knowing that Kevin and Alicia Madden had founded The Potter's House in that wide expanse of Canada, they asked Todd if he "ran into" Kevin while he was there, and surprised again, Todd said that Kevin was his supervisor while he was there ... So, behave yourself when you're out-oftown. You never know who you will "run into."