This weekend – February 12-14 – is going to be a busy weekend in Washington-Wilkes. I can’t begin to get all the activities in this column, but will give some idea of what is involved. . . . Sunday is Valentine’s Day and all the Downtown restaurants have specials for Saturday night and some on Sunday. It’s also the celebration of the Fifth Annual Revolutionary Days with many activities scheduled.

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First Baptist Church and the First United Methodist Church will pool their resources in sponsoring a movie and night out for anyone interested. The movie “Fireproof” will be shown at the Methodist Church on Saturday at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. and it’s free. Childcare will be available free at the Baptist Church for children through the fifth grade.

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The Revolutionary Days parade will form Saturday morning, February 13, in front of the courthouse at 10 a.m. This is a walking parade with no motorized vehicles allowed. There will be no speeches following the parade. Everybody is encouraged to enjoy the living history activities on The Square and in the stores. . . . A portrayal of the Battle of Kettle Creek will be conducted from 11:30 a.m. to 12 noon in Fort Washington Park behind the courthouse. . . . There will be a short Colonial worship service at First Baptist at 9 a.m. Sunday morning. Other activities are scheduled in the afternoons.

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Today there is a forecast of rain and snow for Friday and Saturday, but maybe that will change and allow these activities to be dry. . . . We had another wet week last week.

Norris Ware got 2.35 inches of rain last week and said that Broad River between Tignall and Elberton was “all out into the woods.” Others have reported that creeks between Washington and Athens look like lakes, and that Clark Hill Lake between here and Thomson is as high as they have seen it in recent years. . . . Sonny Johnson says the two rains of last week left 3.3 inches in the rain gauge at his house at Tyrone. He also says that he has recorded a total of eight inches of rain for this year.

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It's not long until the annual

Spring Tour of Homes. The dates are April 2 and 3 for a candlelight and day tour.

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Jimmy Barnett, a member of the 1966 and 1967 Tiger state championship football teams, will become head football coach at David Emanuel Academy in Stillmore, Ga., for the 2010 season.

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Taxidermist Lloyd Johnson III of Master’s Wildlife received a call last week from a woman in Dewy Rose who said she wanted to order a taxi to come pick her up and take her to Elberton so that she could get groceries before the snowstorm and bad weather arrived! . . . Lloyd is involved right now with several shows at which his work will be displayed. I talked to him on the phone but when I got out my notes to write about it, I had trouble understanding it all. So as soon as I can go to the shop and see and talk to Lloyd, I’ll tell you about it. He has some elephant ears, tail and trunk, and a hippopotamus skull, among other things.

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Don't forget that Washington- Wilkes will be on Georgia Public Broadcasting Friday, February 12, 9 p.m. The Robert Toombs House and Holly Court Inn will be featured on the “Legends and Luxury Tour” across the state of Georgia.

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Work has begun on the renovation for The Gift Shop at The Fitzpatrick. The shop is located next to the hotel entrance.

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The pipe organ at the First Baptist Church is 100 years old this month (February). The organ was purchased for about $1500 in 1909 and installation was completed in February 2010. Prior to that time the organ had to be pumped by hand, and this task was assigned to teenage boys and young men of the church. But the church acquired electricity in 1895 and this relieved the boys of this task. The organ has undergone several renovations and updates through its 100-year history. The last one was in 2001 during the church’s “Nehemiah Project” when First Baptist did a major renovation of the sanctuary and the adjoining Grice Wing. The beautiful and exposed original pipes are still used and make for a visible reminder of the importance of music in worship.

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The F&M (Farmers and Merchants) Bank has a 60th anniversary coming up in March and we will be hearing about that.

ƒ Twenty young people and a few adults from First Baptist Church braved the threat of snow and ice and made their annual skiing trip to North Carolina last weekend. They left Washington-Wilkes Friday afternoon in the rain and the further they went the more snow they got into. They stayed at Ridgecrest Baptist Assembly near Blackrock Mountain and skied at Wolf Mountain. They attended worship services at the home church of Casey Nickels’ fiancee Sunday morning and wouldn’t you know – Chris Townsend always manages to find some connection with Washington- Wilkes. A bus from Augusta was parked in the Ridgecrest parking lot and when Chris began to talk to some of the travelers on the bus he discovered that one of the young men had just made arrangements to be married at Washington First Baptist this summer.

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Chef Joe Barnett got a call from restaurant owner and chef Paula Deen inviting him to appear on one of her shows. Details are not yet complete.