We have been pleased to do this and we are proud of the efforts of our partners The Covington Rotary, The Social Circle Rotary, The Rockdale Citizen and radio station Q92.3 FM.

This first event, which will become an annual affair that may include a golf tournament and other fun activities in future years, will make this weekend in March not only a fund raiser for the American Heart Association and the Rotary clubs' various civic projects, but also it will pump much needed tourist dollars into the local economies of both Social Circle and Newton County.

The other benefit of this weekend's activities is that those participating will get a chance to let their hair down during these trying economic times and laugh at the pure Southern, down-home humor that Lewis Grizzard brought to us for the many years before his untimely death from heart disease.

On this page today we've published one of Lewis' columns that literally took a local restaurant serving good Southern home-cooked meals, including fried green tomatoes, and put it on the map.

The Blue Willow Inn located in Social Circle is today one of the major tourist destinations in the state of Georgia, and yes, it still serves up those fried green tomatoes.

There are still tickets left for the Saturday night performance. The cost is $99.99, which includes dinner from the Blue Willow.

Sunday's performance begins at 2 p.m. at the Social Circle Theater; tickets can be bought from any of the above sponsors or at the door on Sunday. The price is $19.99.