Tour visitors enjoy NASA display

An old Tiger football helmet and football playbook were highlights of displays at the North Alexander School Saturday. The school was open for Spring Tour of Homes visitors, allowing old students and visitors alike to see the work already done and the work still needing to be done. Display cases were filled with Washington High School memorabilia and classwork. With noticeable improvements already made to the school, the North Alexander School Association (NASA) is continuing its effort to restore the old structure.

Spring Tour was a success’ with perfect weather, happy crowds

Homeowners Charles and Betsy Wagner welcome Spring Tour of Homes guests to their newly renovated Barksdale-Thomas-Wagner home on North Alexander Avenue Saturday. Local and out-of-town visitors enjoyed seeing the extensive restoration of the house and garden area that the Wagners have accomplished in just two years.

Homeowners Charles and Betsy Wagner welcome Spring Tour of Homes guests to their newly renovated Barksdale-Thomas-Wagner home on North Alexander Avenue Saturday. Local and out-of-town visitors enjoyed seeing the extensive restoration of the house and garden area that the Wagners have accomplished in just two years.
“In all our travels, we’ve not seen anything like this Tour of Homes,” said Phil and Kaki Jones of Denbeigh, Wales. “Friends invited us and we came two years ago, and it’s just gotten better.”

“I’d say the Spring Tour of Homes was a success,” said Carol Jackson. “We had guests from all over, we had perfect weather, and even if it was Easter weekend, the crowds were great and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.”

This year’s annual Washington- Wilkes Spring Tour of Homes gave visitors a look at nine private homes and other historic places throughout the city beginning Friday evening, with a full day of touring Saturday.

Jackson recognized all the hard work done by everyone involved. “Thanks to all the homeowners and the volunteers, the drivers, the hostesses, the docents, for giving up their Saturday to take part in the Tour. We really appreciate it.”

The annual Spring Tour of Homes is sponsored by the Washington Woman’s Club, the Washington Kiwanis Club, and the Washington- Wilkes Chamber of Commerce with help from nearly 300 community volunteers of all ages.

Visitors took the weekend as an opportunity for shopping and dining in Washington. One woman, part of a group of six from Danielsville, won Saturday’s drawing for 500 Washington Dollars at the Washington-Wilkes Chamber of Commerce, Jackson said. The Washington Dollars may be spent at Downtown businesses, she said, “but they already did a good bit of shopping in town.”

Both civic luncheons were popular, she said, and restaurants did good business all weekend.

The North Alexander School was popular with visitors, too. “They’re really drawn to the display of an old football helmet and a playbook,” Susan Abramson said. “We’ve had a steady stream of visitors all morning.”

At the Robert Toombs House Historic Site, the Toombs Family and friends welcomed visitors with a living history program on Saturday, while the “1860’s Civilian Society of Georgia” period dance group performed downstairs.

This year’s spring musical by the Washington Little Theater was well-attended. This year’s production, the musical, My Fair Lady, will again be performed this weekend at the Bolton Lunceford Playhouse on North Alexander Avenue, at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday nights. Tickets are $10 each.

One visitor from Madison, which also holds a tour of homes, said that he preferred Washington’s chauffeured Spring Tour. “This is a class act,” he said. “You’re like a welloiled machine.”

"Welcome to the Norman home"

Over and over, Georgia belle Sylvia Lee Walker welcomed Spring Tour of Homes guests to the home of Gary and Suzanne Norman during Friday’s Candlelight Tour. She was just one of hundreds of docents and other volunteers who put in many foot-sore hours on duty during the Tour weekend. “It gets a little tiring, but it’s fun,” she said.

Washington-Wilkes Tourism Director

Ashley Barnett was on Channel 6 television Monday at 12:30 to promote the upcoming Annual Tour of Homes set for April 2-3. . . . There was also a nice advertisement about the tour in a relatively new magazine called Lakelife. The magazine is advertised as “Your guide to living in Georgia’s lake country.” It’s published by Mark Smith who used to be with the Athens Banner-Herald. It’s a beautiful publication.
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This year's Tour has some interesting features. At the invitation of Charlie and Betsy Wagner, to visit their house, which is the Colley-Barksdale-Thomas-Wagner House on North Alexander Avenue, I had a tour of the house and gardens Friday. They have done a fantastic job of restoration and decorating and I was so pleased to note that it looks just like it did during all those years I visited for piano lessons and various other things. The Wagners say they are “outdoor people” and there is much evidence of that in the gardens and other areas of the yard. All of

Miss Gene’s camellias, azaleas, oak hydrangeas, and other shrubbery has been pruned to perfection and they have added walkways and many other things. It’s all beautiful. Don’t miss it. . . . Of course, all the other houses on the tour are beautiful and interesting, too. This is just one that I got to visit personally. Be sure to read The News-Reporter accounts of the houses both in the regular weekly paper and in the upcoming Tour Supplement in next week’s paper. There is a “world of information” there.

Haygralin

Annual Spring Tour of Homes features nine homes April 2-3, 2010

The home of Ellon and Hoyle Penna – 408 South Alexander Avenue The annual Washington-Wilkes Spring Tour of Homes will be held this year on April 2-3, with a total of nine private homes and many other historic places and events available to visitors during the weekend.
FRIDAY, APRIL 2
Candlelight Tour
The Candlelight Tour on Friday night, April 2, will have four homes open for visitors from 6 until 9 p.m. Featured are the homes of Gary and Suzanne Norman at 406 South Alexander Avenue; Kurt Wolf, the Smith-Stratton Cottage at 311 East Liberty Street; the Saunders-Ludwig Loft on The Square; and Fortson Hill on Spring Street, home of Nancy Farris.
A special event of Friday evening will be the Champagne and Dessert Soiree to be held at the Regions Bank, 100 East Robert Toombs Avenue, from 6 to 9 p.m. Skeet Willingham, local historian, will be speaking on “The Legendary Lost Gold of the Confederacy.”
The design for the Regions Bank building is based on the Bank of the State of Georgia, Washington branch, erected in 1824 and demolished in 1904. The building was located approximately where the Wilkes County Courthouse now stands.
It was in this building that Jefferson Davis signed the final acts of the Confederate government and consulted officially with his cabinet and advisors for the last time. The present building was built in 1985.
Tickets for the Candlelight Tour will cost $25.00, and for the Soiree only, $10.00.
Also available for visitors as well as Washington-Wilkes people will be the Washington-Wilkes Little Theater production of the musical “My Fair Lady” at the Bolton Lunceford Playhouse on North Alexander Avenue. Performances will be at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday nights. Tickets are $10 each.
Tour headquarters on Friday will be at the Washington-Wilkes Chamber of Commerce, 29 West Square, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Headquarters on Saturday will be at the Washington-Wilkes Elementary School, 109 East Street, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
SATURDAY, APRIL 3
Day Tour
The Day Tour on Saturday will have five homes open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., as well as many other historical places. Open for visitors will be the Fortson-Denard Home on the Tignall Road, home of O.A. and Jerry Denard; the Colley-Barksdale Thomas home, 306 North Alexan- der Avenue, home of Charles and Betsy Wagner; the home of Mercer and India Harris, 206 West Robert Toombs Avenue; Haygralin, home of Louis and Carol Harris, 306 South Alexander Avenue; and Pembroke, home of William and Virginia Pope, 217 West Robert Toombs Avenue.
The old North Alexander Avenue School dating from 1897 will also be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. for visitors to observe the progress being made in the restoration of the old building.
There will be a drawing at 5 p.m. Saturday for 500 Washington Dollars in the Downtown area.
“My Fair Lady” will be presented at the Bolton Lunceford Playhouse at 8 p.m.
Courtesy Tour Cars will be provided for visitors on Saturday. Cars driven by members of the Kiwanis Club and others will pick-up visitors at the headquarters at the school and take them wherever they wish to go and will be available to take visitors back to the headquarters.
Tickets for the Day Tour are $30 each. Cost of tickets for the two-day Homes and Museums Package are $50.00.
Visitors may tour a single house by paying $5.00 at the door of the house chosen.
The Washington Woman’s Club will provide a luncheon at a cost of $10 each on Saturday. Reservations are suggested, but not required.
The First United Methodist Church will have lunch available from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. No reservation is needed.
Other historic places on the tour include the Jackson Chapel AME Church, Mary Willis Library (quilt display), Robert Toombs House, Callaway Plantation, and the Washington Historical Museum, as well as most of the Washington churches..
Tickets may be ordered from the Washington-Wilkes Tour of Homes, P.O. Box 1293, Washington 30673; by phone, 706-678-2013; or email: wwtourofhomes@gmail.com
All major credit cards are accepted.
Special prices are available for tour groups.
The News-Reporter will feature different houses on the tour in each of its publications from now until tour day. This week’s featured home is that of Ellon and Hoyle Penna, 408 South Alexander Avenue.
This home was designed in a simplified Second Empire style in 1884 by W.W. Thomas, one of the leading architects of the era. General Robert Toombs, Secretary of State of the Confederate States of America, commissioned the architect to build the house for his grandson, Toombs DuBose.
The February 8, 1884, edition of The Washington Gazette described the building as “entirely modern, with tasteful gables, bay windows, and finishings.” Sometimes early in the 20th Century, the building was enlarged with the attachment of a smaller clapboard-sided house that was moved onto the site on rolling logs.
The house contains a wide central hallway, 13 full-sized rooms, plus at least four anterooms, separating the larger rooms from each other. There are three bathrooms and an especially appealing kitchen. There is almost 5,000 square feet of enclosed space and three porches. The entire top floor of the house contains a high-ceilinged attic.
During the mid-20th Century, the house was in the Sims family and at one point one of the Sims sisters, Elizabeth Sims (Mrs. Raymond) Smith, operated a kindergarten in the house for Washington’s children.
The current owners are Ellon and Hoyle Penna who bought the house while living in Florida. They visited Washington-Wilkes in the late 1900s and subsequently bought this house and property in 2002.
They restored and in some cases remodeled the house to make it what it is today.
“As we have restored the character back into this old house,” Mrs. Penna said, “we hope that it will add more charm and magic to this already charming and special town of Washington.”

Many events planned for Spring Tour weekend

Downtown merchants, Washington restaurants, local food vendors, and musical actors are working hard to make sure Washington is hopping by Friday evening March 30, 2007, for the Spring Tour of Homes weekend.
Shops on The Square will be open on Friday evening, March 30, from 6 to 9 so guests in town for the Tour of Homes can enjoy shopping before the tour, said Washington- Wilkes Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Donna Hardy.
To provide a "Taste of Washington." Wilkes County specialty cooks, barbeque vendors, restaurants and cafes have been invited to fill the Court Street end of The Square.
For fans of the musical theater, the Washington Little Theater Company will be presenting the musical "Gypsy" directed by Sue Davidson on Friday and Saturday nights, March 30 and 31, at 8 p.m.; and again on Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. Musical director Debbie McLeod will play Mama Rose, and Cynthia Aultman is the choreographer. Reservations are recommended for the performances and may be made by calling 706-678-9582.
Churches, museums, and historical sites will be open on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday afternoon.
A historic reenactment will bring wedding excitement to the Robert Toombs House State Historic Site. Set in April 1853, historic characters from the Toombs and Alexander families will entertain guests at the wedding celebration of Miss Mary Lou Toombs and William Felix Alexander from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday.
At the Washington Historical Museum, visitors will be able to see displays of actual personal belongings used by George Washington's family, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Pickens, and John C. Calhoun, along with the museum's wealth of other items, including a broad range of rural Southern pottery.
Callaway Plantation, the city's living history museum, will be open with guided tours throughout the weekend.

2009 Spring Tour of Homes sees good crowds in spite of economic strains

Welcoming guests at the Robert Toombs House, docent Jenny Lindsey presents a timeless image of 1859 Washington.Although the final attendance numbers are not complete, it appears that the annual Spring Tour of Homes was at least as well-attended as last year, despite the worsening economy.
"It was wonderful," said Louise Maynard. "We had a super crowd, at least as good as last year, which is very exciting, considering the economy."
The spring tour, which began Friday and continued Saturday and Sunday, brought visitors to some 19 tour homes and special events. "We had rave reviews from everybody who came. They said they really enjoyed it and wanted to come back."
Volunteers filled more than 400 positions in tour homes and other locations. "Everybody who worked gave 100 percent, and we are so grateful for their hard work all weekend," Maynard said. "This would not be possible without them."
The tour was sponsored by the Washington Woman's Club, the Washington Kiwanis Club, and the Washington-Wilkes Chamber of Commerce.
Story and photos by KIP BURKE Sabrina Dodgen welcomes Tour of Homes visitors to the Spring Street home of Deb Talley, which was the tour's Decorator Showcase house.More than 80 guests attended Friday night's Champagne & Dessert Soiree at the home of Mark and Emilie Waters. "We had a full house, and everyone seemed to have a marvelous time," Mark Waters said. "It was a very nice group of folks."
Due to weeks of effort by Sue Davidson,Gone With the Wind stars Mickey Kuhn and Patrick Curtis entertained a devoted crowd with their "Hollywood Revue" Friday night at the Washington Little Theater. The two actors also appeared at the Washington Historical Museum and Retro Cinema on Saturday. "Sue put in so much work to see this happen," Maynard said. "It was a wonderful addition to the weekend."
Visitors also flocked to the Washington Historical Museum to see a collection of original, hand-painted Gone With The Wind poster boards and other movie posters of the era, while at the Robert Toombs House, re-enactors in 1859 period costume welcomed guests to the home on the eve of Senator Toombs' departure for service in Washington, D.C.
On Sunday, the Tour moved to the country to visit the classic country homes of Danburg. "Our Sunday in the Country guests really enjoyed the antique cars, and our country flea market was a big hit, especially Bobby Heffner's yard plants at the Old Danburg School," Maynard said.
Throughout the weekend, visitors shopped and dined in Washington. Merchants said that traffic was good, and that shoppers were buying despite the economy. Especially popular was the tour's Decorator Showcase House, done by Deb Talley and Debbie Bennett. "They did a wonderful job pulling it together," Maynard said. "More than 50 people paid at the door just to see the showcase, and it was terrific having something different to bring people out."