Peeping through my Venetian blind, I saw Miss Cora and Miss Flora, coming over from Covington Hall, a bouquet of daffodils, freshly picked, in Miss Flora’s hands. They had come over on a cold, grey, February day with a little floral cheer. I let them in, and we settled into a cozy nook for talk and tea.

Fifty Forward, the senior adults of First Baptist Church, met for their monthly luncheon in the Fellowship Hall of the church February 24.

The hall was decorated in red and white, in keeping with the recent celebration of Valentine’s Day.

There were valentine napkins, centerpieces of red roses in white baby’s breath, red-wrapped “Kisses” scattered about the roses, and red-velvet cake.

The decorations were prepared by Trudy Vickers, though still recovering from her illness. Trudy was assisted by Kittye Wyatt and Betty Bass.

Trudy’s husband, Gordon Vickers, director of senior-adult activities, presided.

Gillis “the Combman” Jones worded the invocation.

Judson Blackstock, who works with the educational program at First Baptist, prayed the benediction.

The program was presented by Kristy White, a native of Opp, now a teacher of English and speech at the Lurleen Burns Wallace Community College.

Mrs. White spoke about the pictorial history of Andalusia, edited by her and recently published by Arcadia Publishing in its Images of America series.

Mrs. White holds degrees from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Spring Hill College in Mobile.

She and her husband, Charles, have two children, Taylor and Madison.

The catered buffet for Fifty Forward included ham, cabbage, field peas, fried bread, and red-velvet cake.

Congratulations are in order for Dr. Rex A. Butler, a local doctor, and his sixteen-year-old son, Allen, a student at the Andalusia High School, who on the same day, February 2l, earned their black belts in Isshinyu Karate; Dr. Butler in the first degree; Allen in the third degree.

The celebration of the War of 1812 (1812 – 1815) has come to a close. The war ended in February of 1815. The famous Battle of New Orleans, which made a national hero of Andrew Jackson, later president, was fought two weeks after the war had been concluded by treaty. The news had not reached our shores. (There was no Twitter in that day.)

If you collect stamps, now is the time to buy those commemorating the Sesquicentennial of the War Between the States and the War of 1812. A stamp about the Battle of New Orleans, the last great battle of that war, is available in our local post office.

Grandmas and grandpas, ask your grandchildren to name five significant events of the War of 1812.

Again, I ask the citizens of Andalusia to join the Covington Historical Society and pay its annual dues of $25 to help preserve the history of our county, whether you attend meetings or not. Mail to CHS, P.O. Box 1582, Andalusia, Alabama 36420.

To commemorate the Sesquicentennial of the War Between the States, let us return to the past three weeks 150 years ago. (There are only a couple of months left in our commemoration.)

Northern General Sherman’s army marched north from Georgia to Columbia, the capital of South Carolina, destroying property as it advanced.

A build-up of Northern forces along the Canadian border upset Canadians and British.

Fort Sumter fell to the North.

Southern General Hardee evacuated Charleston.

Columbia surrendered to Sherman. That same day an estimated two-thirds of the city was burned. Southerners blamed Sherman. He blamed the South.

Southern General Lee joined others in approving the idea of arming slaves to fight for the South, but the Confederate Senate failed to make it law.

Sherman burned more of Columbia.

Part of Sherman’s troops headed to Selma, Alabama.

Lee’s army still lay under siege in Petersburg, near Richmond, Virginia.

Southern Gen. Braxton Bragg ordered the evacuation of Southern troops from Wilmington, North Carolina, the last major Confederate port.

Southern Gen. Wade Hampton denounced Sherman for allowing his men to destroy private homes.

Sherman’s troops marched toward North Carolina.

The South was sinking to her knees.

The mysterian, the Little Building, was another name for the Annex at the Andalusia High School. The original Annex housed the seventh and eighth grades and was destroyed to make room for the new junior-high building, being occupied for the first time this January. The seventh and eighth graders have returned after all these years.

Congratulations to Robert Lee Holley, AHS Class of 1971, for knowing the answer.

The new mysterian is a person. She taught science at the AHS and liked to say, “The older the bird, the brighter the plumage.”

Recent birthdays are those of Charles Lamb, English essayist; Thomas Edison, the American inventor who liked to say that genius is l percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration; Jack Benny, American entertainer; John Barrymore, American actor, “the Great Profile,” and Drew Barrymore’s grandfather; David Garrick, English Shakespearean actor; George Washington, “the Father of Our Country”; James Russell Lowell, American poet; Frederic Chopin, Polish composer; G.F. Handel, German composer of “The Hallelujah Chorus”; Samuel Pepys, English diarist; Enrico Caruso, Italian tenor; Victor Hugo, French novelist; Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet (the “centerpiece of American literature”); John Tenniel, English illustrator of Alice in Wonderland; and G.A. Rossini, Italian composer.

Jefferson Davis was inaugurated president of the CSA on February 18.

In February of 1898 Americans shouted, “Remember the Maine!”

Now, gentle reader, allow me to join Buffalo Bob Smith in encouraging each of us to be in his place of worship this weekend, Lord willing.

Fare thee well.