The Office Cat

Charles Kopecky came by one day last week to say that he has been enjoying watching two baby foxes (kits?) playing at the entrance to Resthaven Cemetery. I went out to Resthaven immediately and there they were! Charles says the first time he saw them he thought they were dogs, but when they jumped into a hole, he knew they were not. Apparently that hole is their home. They were playing around on the grass and when I drove up one of them dived into the hole and every now and then it would pop its head up to see if I were still there. Just as Charles said, apparently somebody has been feeding them because there was a sprinkle of dogfood on a metal culvert nearby. They were fun to watch.

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Gas prices are on the rise again. I don't know why. On U.S. Highway 78 through Downtown, prices range from $2.05 on the west side to $2.11 on the east side.

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The mention in this column last week of the Christmas canopy of lights Downtown brought quite a few comments from various ones who would like to see the canopy return. Call and let us know what you think.

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Mabel Johnson brought an interesting piece of jewelry for me to see. It is a beautiful gold pin which her mother, Mabel Claire Lewis, received as an award when she won the elocution award in 1900 as a student in Washington High School. The engraving on it reads, "1900 -- Washington High School Elocution Award." Mabel says that the pin is still in the box as it was presented to her mother. On the outside is printed, "Beckum Stones, Augusta." . . . We don't use that word much any more, nor do we present elocution awards much. For you younger ones, the word means "the art of public speaking."

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Norris Ware and Sonny Johnson report their record of rainfall to me on Monday mornings. Norris recorded two inches for the week; and Sonny got one and nine-tenths of an inch.

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When I was a child, there was a bit of mystery surrounding the

St. Joseph Catholic Orphanage which was on the hill where the Washington-Wilkes Department of Parks and Recreation is now located. The townspeople didn't know much about it except that it was an orphanage for boys. Occasionally we would see the boys, accompanied by the nuns, as they walked to the "picture show" (theater) in town to see a special movie. The younger boys wore short pants with knee socks, white shirt, tie, and jacket. The older boys wore long pants. . . . Rosalyn Adams brought me an article from a Catholic bulletin called "The Southern Cross." In it was an article about "Six early Sisters of Saint Joseph who served in Washington, Georgia." After reading the article, I gather that the St. Joseph Sisters began their work in St. Augustine, Fla., but encountered so many mosquitoes they were moved to Savannah. The article says, "By 1876, the Bishop had arranged for the [six] Saint Joseph Sisters and 60 orphan boys in their care to move to a healthier setting -- Washington, Georgia." You Wilkes County Catholics may already know all of this, but this was my first knowledge of how the orphanage began. The article has a picture of the six Sisters who came to Washington.

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Becky Hughey was the winner of the Mother's Day gift from Scarborough's in Downtown Washington Saturday. Shoppers registered for the beautiful "Life Is Good" shirt and tote bag.

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On May 23, the Wilkes County

Emergency Medical Services is celebrating the 35th anniversary of having an ambulance service in Wilkes County. The celebration will be at the EMS office at 105 Marshall Street (adjacent to Wills Memorial Hospital) at two o'clock. We're all invited. . . . I saw the quick response of one of the EMT's at a Little League baseball game Friday night. She was sitting up high on the stands when her beeper went off. She immediately hit the ground running and outran all the other EMTs to the ambulance. . . . This year is the first time I have been to Little League games in several years, and I had forgotten what encouragers the moms who attend the games are. Once in a while they will yell out some advice to players, but for the most part they are encouragers and supporters.

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She Chic Boutique will have its grand opening at 12 West Square in Downtown Washington Saturday, May 16. The store is in the Fitzpatrick complex where The Antiques Orphanage was located. The owners have plans for being open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m.

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Taxidermist Lloyd Johnson of Master's Wildlife Services on The Square in Downtown Washington, is in the process of mounting parts of an elephant from Tanzania in Africa. He is doing the work for a retired Marine who is now with the Department of Homeland Security. Lloyd arranges African safaris for hunters and this man and his son are among his clients. Lloyd has received the elephant's skull which the client expects to place in his office when it is mounted. Lloyd will also be doing the tail, the trunk, the ears, and the feet. The client plans to have the back skin made into barstool covers, and has an artist friend who is going to paint something on one of the ears. These parts come to Lloyd by Federal Express, and one shipment was coming in while I was talking to him Friday. . . . The elephant's skull had a bullet hole in it. . . . Lloyd also told me about hunters with medical problems who buy high-priced insurance that guarantees that if they have a problem on the safari they will be rescued and flown back to the United States. Lloyd called the rescuers "EMTs with guns."

. A letter came last week from Roena McJunkin of Newport News, Va. Miss McJunkin is 86 years old and a retired teacher. She says that "at times I love to 'live in the past.'" She sent an account that she and her sister, Penny McJunkin, have written about living in Tignall for three years beginning in 1930. Along with their reminiscences of Tignall, she says, "I remember these classmates: Audrey Lindsey, Vera Blanchard, Ninelle Rogers, Jean Williamson, Gwenette Cooper, Billy Adams and Sam McLendon (who were teacher's pets), and Nita Rhodes." I have given the article to Carolyn Gammon, our Tignall correspondent, who will probably tell you some more items.

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Leonard Todd, who has written the book, Carolina Clay: the Life of the Slave Potter Dave, will be in Washington Thursday, May 14, for a book-signing and promotion of his book. There are many pieces of Dave's pottery in Washington- Wilkes. Dave's pottery is sold for thousands of dollars today.

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