Amy Treadwell was quick to answer the request of Vera Anderson in this column last week about the weather on July 16, 2008. Amy is administrative assistant for the Georgia Forestry Commission, District 3, and says that on that day the temperature was 91 degrees and the relative humidity was 97 percent. She also says that the Georgia Forestry Commission has a very accurate weather station located at the Washington-Wilkes Airport. To find weather from previous years, go to the Georgia Forestry Commission website -- www.gatrees.org -- and click on Fire Weather on the left side and you will see many options from which to choose. Climate data at the bottom right will list weather from every Georgia Forestry Commission weather station as far back as 1998. . . . Amy is married to Fireman Jeff Treadwell and they have two daughters, Emily and Ella.

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Michael Horgan also supplied some internet locations to find the information, including wunderground. com, and go to history data and put in the date. Another one is http.//lwf.ncde.nlaa.gov/oa/ncde. html . . . NOAA in Asheville, N.C., will also provide records. . . . Tim Zello says he keeps temperature records and on that date he wrote down “mid 90s.”

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Our Kevin Madden was home from Canada for a few days last week and at First Baptist we had a chance to hear him tell about his mission during the prayer meeting time on Wednesday night. Kevin is a missionary to Canada with the North American Mission Board and has all kinds of things going on in that vast expanse of territory. He told about his plans there and some of the projects he is involved with. There is an article, written by Kevin, in the March issue of Missions Mosaic, published by the Woman’s Missionary Union of the North American Mission Board. In the article he tells about his son Noah who is a teenager now. Noah put together a team of four other young men to go to Fort Simpson in the northwest territories in Canada about 1,500 km (19 hours) from where they live in Edmonton and with a population of about 1,500. Their quest, Kevin says, was to find another “person of peace” to help them identify some of the needs and find how they could be involved in ministering there. . . . When Kevin was a teenager growing up in Washington-Wilkes he was involved with all kinds of ministries to other people. Here at The News-Reporter we didn’t feel that we had “covered the news” unless we had an article about Kevin in the paper. And he’s still ministering wherever he goes. . . . He’s Wayne and Nancy Madden’s son, and his wife is Alicia.

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Charlotte Simmons told me this week about a group of ladies who are known as the Tapping Tornadoes who minister in Washington- Wilkes now. The group of about 11 ladies goes to Harper’s Family Care Home and other locations and they tap dance for the residents and then lead them in learning to tap dance. Charlotte says that some of the “students” show real talent. They are available to go to any facility where they can help people have fun and improve their health too. Some of you “activity directors” might want to check them out.

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There was not much rain this past week, but wasn't the sunshine and weather in general glorious! . . . Norris didn’t get but .45 of an inch and that was Monday morning.

Sonny had .2 of an inch Monday of last week; and a half of an inch this Monday morning.

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Mark Waters e-mailed a picture of his five-year-old granddaughter,

Savannah, who lives in Hanover, Pennsylvania. She was standing against a bank of snow at least two feet taller than she was. Her parents wouldn’t let her play outside by herself because they feared she might fall down somewhere and they wouldn’t be able to find her. This was during all that snow that the Northeast got a couple of weeks ago and when we had about four inches.

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Bunny Gunby, chairman of the Wilkes County Helping Wilkes Cancer Relief Fund, says that the organization is in need of funds to supply aid to Wilkes County cancer patients. Contributions to the fund help pay for gas and other expenses for cancer patients who have to travel to Athens, Augusta, Atlanta, and other places for their treatment. She is grateful for all the contributions already provided but encourages individuals, businesses, clubs, and others to make a donation to provide these needs. Contributions may be sent to her at 2990 Thomson Road, Washington 30673. She says the need is very great.

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The annual Spring Tour of Homes will be held April 2 and 3 -- the first weekend in April. We will have in-depth information about the tour in next week’s News-Reporter. To give you a small sample of what’s in store: there will be four houses on the candlelight tour on Friday, and six houses on the day tour on Saturday. Of course, all these are subject to change, but right now the ones on the candlelight tour include the home of Suzanne and Gary Norman, the Petersille Home, and the Smith-Stratton Cottage. The Day Tour includes the Fortson-Denard House, Colley-Barksdale-Thomas House, Irvin-Harris Home, Fortson Hill, Hagralin, and the home of Hoyt and Ellen Penna. The Champagne and Dessert Soiree at Regions Bank Friday evening will feature a talk by Skeet Willingham on the legendary lost gold of the Confederacy. . . . The Washington Little Theater Company will be presenting “My Fair Lady” at the Bolton Lunceford Playhouse during the weekend.

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The 56th Annual Washington Area Junior Steer and Heifer Show and Sale will be held Saturday. February 27, at the McGill- Woodruff Agriculture Center with preliminaries beginning on Friday evening. This show has been a big and popular event in the area for a long time. Not as many students show steers and heifers as did in the early years, but it’s still a big event.

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Here at The News-Reporter we received a review copy of a new book about George Washington that has just been published. It’s titled George Washington’s Legacy.” The sub-title is “The Towns Named In His Honor.” The book is by Donald E. Howard who grew up in eastern North Carolina and now lives in Virginia. There is a chapter in the book about Washington-Wilkes, and it seems pretty accurate.