Guillaume and Sokun Slama are well-known in the Washington hospitality area as the operators of the Fitzpatrick Hotel, Down Under restaurant, and The Bistro next door to the hotel. But Guillaume and Sokun's hospitality extends far beyond Washington. When Guillaume learned that Bonnie Bounds (Cindy and Lincoln's daughter) was going to Paris for a month of study abroad, he arranged to have a driver at the Paris airport upon her arrival to drive her to school in downtown Paris. He also then arranged for the same driver to drive her from her hotel, where she had stayed for an extended visit after school, to the airport, a little over a month later. Washington-Wilkes' hospitality even reaches as far as France.

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During the Fourth of July weekend, somebody stole some of the American flags from the yard of

Mark and Emilie Waters on East Robert Toombs Avenue.

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Rev. Chris Townsend of First Baptist Church told me about the

Singh Family visiting in Washington Wilkes while on a family vacation. Members of the family were from Trinidad, Toronto, and Fort Lauderdale. Chris says they loved

Callaway Plantation and all the history there. They stopped by the First Baptist Church and Chris gave them a tour of the historic facilities there.

Tim Miller (Post Oak Farms) was traveling from Palmer's Equipment Co. on the North By- Pass through the "back roads" by Colonial Builders Supplies and the Wilkes County Stockyard to Highway 78 when he spotted a big bird sitting on a wire. Being somewhat of an amateur birdwatcher, Tim stopped to watch the bird. He thought at first it was a Mockingbird but decided it wasn't. It was bigger than a dove and had a long tail, forking straight out. It hovered like a hummingbird and Tim could see its pink underwings. On his way back to Post Oak he remembered that he had read about a Scissors-tailed Flycatcher and so he looked in his bird book and found it. The information said that the Flycatcher is a rare visitor to the southern part of the United States and likes to hangout on wires and bare branches of trees.

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Irvin and Carol Cheney will be leaving Washington-Wilkes in a few weeks to make their home a little further in North Georgia near where their daughter lives. They have been active in many areas of our community during the time they have lived here since retirement and we will miss them. (Irvin is a native Wilkes Countian.) They have lived in the house of the late May G. Van Saun, (our third grade teacher in the 1930s and 1940s), on North Alexander Avenue.

. I have a collection of U.S. Presidential campaign buttons since I found several in my daddy's desk drawer after he died. I don't pay huge sums of money for them as serious collectors do. Most of them have been given to me by friends who know that I like to collect them. I may have paid $2.00 each for some of them, and I do have a few rare ones. I had not been able to find an Obama button, but last week my niece, Lyn Randall, who is media specialist for a Savannah high school and lives on Tybee Island, brought me one. (I think she must have conned it from one of her teacher friends.)

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Now that we have passed the Fourth of July, how about that canopy of Christmas lights on The Square? Is there any chance of getting it back?

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Billy Thornton, who has been providing a record of river and climatological observations (weather) for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Weather Service for 30 years, sent a report of these observations for the month of June. His report shows a maximum temperature of 96 degrees recorded on June 26; and a low of 62 degrees on June 30. The average high for the month was 88.3 degrees; and the average low was 67.2 degrees. . . . His rainfall report shows 1.13 inches on June 5; .08 of an inch on June 6; .10 on June 13; .41 on June 18; and .01 on June 26, for a total of 1.73 for the month.

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Lynsy Floyd is spending nearly two weeks at the Georgia Lions Camp for the Blind in Waycross. Accompanied by her dad, Obie Floyd, and Lions Smythe Newsome and Jerry Stover of the Washington Lions Club, Lynsy joined other children and teenagers from all over North Georgia at the Georgia Academy for the Blind in Macon for the trip by special bus to Waycross Monday.

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The Washington Farmers Market continues to grow. There have been many vendors and many buyers for the past two weeks. The variety of vendors continues to grow with hot tamales for sale by a beauti- ful Mexican family whose little boys are great interpreters for customers; potted plants, cutflowers, all kinds of vegetables, live chickens, books, soap, beef jerky, and other items are available. The Market is behind the courthouse on the edge of Fort Washington Park every Saturday from 8 a.m. until 12 noon.

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The 12th annual Independence Day Parade and patriotic program was a big success on the Fourth of July with the a record number of people, dogs, scooters, and bicycles participating. A total of 105 persons signed the registry, but there were many who did not sign it. Bobby West and his dog, Franklin, were parade marshals; Rev. Klay Aspinwall led the prayer for our nation; Robert Harold Kendrick led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag;

Laura Toburen read excerpts from the Preamble to the Constitution; and Tom Wells led the singing.

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A big thank you to all you readers and advertisers who helped us get two News-Reporters out in one week. It's just the only way we can get a few days off. Please don't stop now with your items for this column. Call me at 706-678-2636; or come by. I would love to visit with you.

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Gas prices are a few cents lower in Washington-Wilkes this week. The lowest I've seen on Highway 78 is $2.43 per gallon and the highest, $2.46.

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Sonny Johnson at Tyrone says he's had 1.09 inches of rain for the past week, and a total of 29.95 for the year. . . . Norris Ware says it has rained all around us, but not in Washington.

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