by Howard Applegate
    Extreme heat hitting Wilbur County this week threatened to wither the honeydew crop and put a strain on water supplies. Fridays high registered a July record 104 degrees in downtown Germaine, and it is expected that the temperature will stay in the high 90s for a few more days.
    Arnette Wilson, who just had a swamp cooler installed by her son, said, “It’s just in the nick of time. I don’t know what I would have done if Tommy hadn’t got it in.”
    The seventy year old grandmother moved to town less than a year ago from Winslow, Arizona. “I left Winlow because I couldn’t stand the heat no more,” she said. “Now look what I got myself into.”
    She laughed at her predicament, but the situation is not humorous, especially for the elderly, who are vulnerable to the extreme heat. Everyone is urged to stay in a cool place until the hot weather passes.