Current events

Parade participants needed

The Columbia County Merchants Association's annual Christmas Parade will be Dec. 1. Participants are being sought, and may contact Ruby Lane at 863-0785 for applications. The deadline for entries is Nov. 20.

Gardening at Lunch

The Columbia County Extension Service will hold the second monthly lunch seminar, Gardening at Lunch, in the auditorium of the Evans government complex Wednesday.

The topic is Planting Spring-Flowering Bulbs and will be presented by Jenny Addie from Green Thumb West Garden Center.

The seminar is free and open to the public from 12:10 to 12:45 p.m. Bring a lunch. For more information, call (706) 868-3413.

Ground-breaking ceremony

The Columbia County Board of Commissioners is holding a ground-breaking ceremony for Building C at 11 a.m. Wednesday. The administration building will house the tax commissioner, tax assessor, and finance and information technology departments.

Livestock Compensation Program

McDuffie, Warren, Richmond and Columbia counties have been approved to accept applications for the Livestock Compensation Program, a new U.S. Department of Agriculture program that provides direct payments to producers who suffered financial losses as a result of severe drought.

Eligible livestock under the program's provisions are beef, dairy cattle, goats, sheep and buffalo and beefalo, when maintained as beef cattle. Swine, poultry, feedlot livestock and equine animals used commercially for human food or kept for the production of food or fiber on the owner's farm, are not eligible.

Farmers are requested to call the McDuffie County Farm Service Agency and schedule an appointment. For more information, contact the office at (706) 595-1339, Ext. 2, or visit the USDA Web site at www.fsa.usda.gov.

Evans band fruit sale

The Evans High School Marching Band is holding their annual fund-raising fruit sale through Nov. 8.

Indian River oranges cost $13 per case and grapefruit cost $11 per case.

For more information or to place an order, call (706) 855-6616 or (706) 860-7815.

Humane Society holding rabies clinic

The Columbia County Humane Society is holding a rabies clinic from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday at Blanchard Park.

A discounted $5 covers each cat or dog.

For more information, call Donna Evans at (706) 860-5020.

Third-graders to sing

The third-grade class of Brookwood Elementary School will perform Brookwood Sings America at 1:15, 2:15 and 7 p.m. Tuesday. Admission is free.

The school is at 455 S. Old Belair Road just off Belair Road at the Interstate 20 exit. For more information, contact Johnny Carr at (706) 855-7596 extension 217 or jcarr@ccboe.net.