J.D. Callaway is a resident of Heritage Healthcare of Wilkes. He travels alone in his wheelchair. When he received his Christmas box from the ladies who delivered shoeboxes to nursing homes and personal care homes in the county for Christmas, he took his and went back to his room. In a few minutes he was back at the party shouting, “Look what Santa Claus brought me!” He was so excited because in his box he had received a harmonica. He said that he always got one for Christmas when he was a child and played it until he “wore it out.” He then proceeded to play many familiar tunes on it and those in attendance began to clap and sing with him. He was so proud of the harmonica.

Jo Sonny Johnson at Tyrone has been recording the rainfall since 1985. He says that the year 2011 was the second lowest he has recorded since 1985. We had a total of 36.8 inches for the year. The average yearly rainfall since 1985 has been 46.1 inches.

May Sally’s Diner on West Robert Toombs Avenue has a new sign. It looks great.

Jo and Buzzy Randall adopted a dog from the Washington-Wilkes Animal Shelter several years ago. “Bonnie” is a medium-size, shorthair dog and stays in the house most of the time. She is smart. If Jo or Buzzy thinks she is annoying a guest, or if she is being a problem, they say, “Go to your boudoir, Bonnie,” and she immediately goes to a small pantry-like room set aside for her. They learned a long time ago that Bonnie would not come into the den if there was a football game on television. Baseball, tennis, basketball, soccer are acceptable, but not football. (I told you she was smart.) But during Christmas holidays she refused to come into the room for anything and would just “hang around” in the hallway, whimpering and crying. They finally figured that son Joe Randall had brought a large size television to them for Christmas and that Bonnie just found it unacceptable. They have worked with her and have got her to the point that she will come into the room sometimes – but still no football. Bonnie is also very much afraid of thunderstorms, and begins to get upset long before the storm arrives.

When we bought our house on Lexington Avenue in 1966, we applied for insurance with a Washington agency representing a particular insurance company. We have had that same policy since that time and never made a claim. In April, 2011, I received a letter from the company saying that they would be making an outside assessment of the premises and would let me know immediately if they found any problem. In late December I received a letter saying that as of February 8, 2012, the policy would be cancelled. Most of the problems were trivial and could readily be corrected, but they didn’t even give me a chance to correct anything. They just cancelled. Needless to say, if that’s the kind of insurance company they are, I don’t want any part of them any more. This has nothing to do with the Washington agency – they have all been very helpful. But I now have a new policy with a different insurance company.

Monday's monthly meeting of the Washington City Council must be the shortest one in history. Ames Barnett was sworn in as mayor; Travis Armour and Mike Scarborough were sworn in as new councilmen; Councilman Henry Harris made a motion on check-signing; and that was it. There was a large crowd in attendance.

Rumor says that Ocean Buffet, a Chinese-style restaurant, will be opening soon in the Bi-Lo shopping center.

There is some interesting activity going on on Lexington Avenue, up and across the street from the Pope Center. Many years ago, the late Cicero Lucas, James Baston, and others, purchased some railroad cars that were parked at what, in the 1930s and later, was called Eubanks Planer on Depot Street. Some older residents of Washington remember that Helen Eubanks and her husband, Alex Kish, converted one of the cars into living quarters and lived there after their marriage. The one which was bought by Cicero Lucas was moved to the Lucas property on Lexington Avenue, property that is now owned by Lucas descendants, Hackney, Averette, and Hopkins. Mildred Hackney told me this week that a railroad museum in northwest Alabama has found out about their old railroad car and is planning to purchase it and move it to Alabama for restoration. The car was built around 1870 and still has some original paintings on the wall. On one of the inside doors is a sign saying “Gentlemen’s Saloon.” A crew from the museum has visited, measured and examined the car, and has declared it in perfect condition. Mildred says that the Lucas family never used it for anything much, except for storage, and for children, grandchildren, and greatgrandchildren to play in when they came to visit. It will be interesting to see what is done with the old car.

I have found out who bought the Bounds-Barnett-DeShazo House on Spring Street, but am not at liberty to say because they are currently out-of-town.