The Office Cat
The Rider House,
but other homes and places of interest seem to have been well-attended and comments were great. At The Rider House, we were “swamped” with visitors from 10:15 a.m. until almost 5 p.m. Then the rain began. I didn’t see many local people touring; most of them were “working” in places related to the tour.
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Deadlines are the biggest concern to The News-Reporter staff this week. See if you can follow this: we will print and distribute this week’s paper (December 17) on our regular schedule. Then we will be printing the issue for December 24 on December 21 (Monday) and will be closed for the rest of the week. Deadlines for the December 24 issue will be Thursday, December 17, for all classified and legal advertisements, and society news. Friday at 12:00 noon is the deadline for all other news and retail advertising. Rural correspondents are asked to bring their news by 11:00 a.m. on Friday.
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The December 24 issue of The News-Reporter will feature about 40 Wilkes County babies born this year and whose announcements of birth appeared in The News-Reporter. They are beautiful and sweet, and their pictures were made by master photographer Mercer Harris.
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We will not be open Monday, December 28, so our deadline for everything for the December 31 issue is Tuesday, December 29, at noon. We appreciate all your help.
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On Christmas Parade Day Sunday, we woke up to a cold, foggy, sometimes rainy morning. It was decided at 2 p.m. to go ahead with the parade and about half of the 50 entries did not show up. The parade proceeded in spite of the weather and was good. First place winner in the floats was the Wilkes County Pre-Release Center; second place went to the Washington-Wilkes Country Club; and third place to New Saints CME Church.
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Sonny Johnson in the Tyrone community says he recorded 1.6 inches of rain for the past week, ending Sunday; and Norris Ware in Washington recorded .65 of an inch. On Monday night, more rain was predicted.
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Kim Tucker Wall renewed her News-Reporter subscription this week and included an interesting note. Kim and her twin sister Kay were born in Washington and grew up here along with their brother Tony. They are children of the late Hubert and Doris Payne Tucker. In her note, Kim says that Tony is finally back in the United States after many years in Australia. He is a marine biologist and Kim says it always seems weird to think of their brother as Dr. Tony Tucker. He is living at Mote Marine Lab in Sarasota. While he was visiting Kay and Kim (who live with their families in the Atlanta area) during Thanksgiving, they got out The News-Reporter and “poured over” the nice Lions Club article about Grady Rogers. “Oh look, there’s Mary Hubbard, and Willard Lance, too, etc., etc.” Kim says. “Keep that good news from home coming!”
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The Washington-Wilkes Animal Shelter is always in need of food for the animals and other items for their survival and comfort. With all this cold wintry weather we’re experiencing, they are desperately in need of tarps and other items to protect the animals against wind and other weather. The Shelter is now open Tuesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m., and by appointment by calling 706-678-2287. . . . If any of you ladies receive a new washing machine for Christmas, the Shelter would love to have your old one. Consider it.
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Just in time for Christmas, Billy Walker at 439 Walker Road, Rayle, has opened his collection of antique toys so that we can all enjoy it during the Christmas season. Christmas is a time for toys and Billy has many for us to see. He travels all over the country and stops at antique barns and auctions all along the way to buy toys and other antiques. His toys, numbering about 800, are housed in a separate building at his home. He says most of them are “boy toys” which he has been collecting for about 20 years. You can see them this weekend, December 19 and 20, (Saturday and Sunday), from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.
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I think just about every church in the county is having a special Christmas program this next Sunday, December 20. Many of them are listed in the "Don't Forgets" in The News-Reporter and also in the Calendar. . . . Since I am involved with the music program at the First Baptist Church, I don’t get to attend other Christmas programs and comment on them. At First Baptist last Sunday evening we had one of the most enjoyable Christmas music programs that I have ever attended. The program began with songs by the Pre-Kindergarten class of the church with Angie Williams and Jeannie Bruce as teachers. Then the children presented “The Christmas Story” with the children portraying the Bible characters, even the animals, shepherds and kings. . . . The newly-formed children’s choir directed by Ann Tiller sang several songs, beautifully presented and perfectly performed. Ann retired as music director in the public schools at the end of the last school year. She has been director of the First Baptist Choir since September.
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Dot Harris with the local unit of the Salvation Army expresses appreciation to Wilkes Countians for their response to the Salvation Army kettles and bellringers which have been in operation for a couple of weeks. But Dot says that there is a need for larger donations from the general public. There have been more than 200 claims of unemployed people who need financial aid and other assistance. The Salvation Army has assisted as many as possible but is limited because of the lack of funds. You can send a contribution to The Salvation Army, c/o of Dot Harris, 409 N. Alexander Avenue, Washington 30673.
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