Wilma Cunningham, Anna Davenport, Charlotte Gantz, Lulu Knibbs and Sue Phillips will be recognized. The criteria used to select the honorees were age (over 85), community service and current membership in the Democratic Women's organization.

The luncheon will be held at the Days Inn in Southern Pines, beginning at 11:30 a.m. The cost is $25 per person. Reservations must be called to Juanita Harbour at 245-7527 no later than Aug. 19.

ROAD SIGNS -- Personnel from the N.C. Department of Transportation Traffic Engineering and Safety Systems Branch met with the Sandhills Agri-cultural Tourism Board Monday afternoon at the Moore County Agriculture Center.

The visit was a follow-up of inquiries about the use of highway signs to advise travelers of agricultural attractions, such as roadside produce markets, farm tours and corn mazes.

Board members learned that eligibility for these state signs limits participation. To be eligible, a business must be open to the public and provide continuous operation at least eight hours daily five days a week during the normal operating season. Fees are also charged.

TODS (tourist-oriented directional signs) are installed only on at-grade intersections, where sufficient right of way and sight distance are available for sign placement. They are restricted to rural areas, defined as rural unincorporated areas or in towns or cities with a population under 40,000.

AREA TODS -- Evan McKinnon, one of the NCDOT officials present Monday, said five TODS have been installed along state-maintained highways in this section of the state.

The only one in Moore County was installed for the Ferguson Farm and was placed on N.C. 24-27 near the intersection with Old U.S. 1. Proprietor John Ferguson has since closed his produce stand because about 80 percent of his business was lost last year after the relocated and widened U.S. 1 was opened to traffic.

Ferguson now sells most of his peaches, apples, plums and other fruit through the Farmers Market in Carrboro.

Other TODS in this region include one for Green Gables on U.S. 1 in Lee County, one for Puppy Creek on U.S. 1 out of Raeford, and two for Quail Ridge and Tobacco Road golf courses in Lee County.

FILM -- "Shelly's Diary," better known as the Moore County "courthouse movie," is to be filmed in southwestern Virginia and Moore County during the fall months.

A schedule from the N.C. Film Office lists the schedule as September through October but does not specify when filming will take place in Moore County.

Filming was originally scheduled for late winter or early spring but was delayed after the director, Timothy Walker, broke an arm in an accident.

The company, w2 Entertainment, secured permission from the Moore County Board of Commissioners last year to film a few scenes in the historic courthouse in Carthage. The company has headquarters in Seagrove.

Based on a story by North Carolina writer Benjamin Frazier, "Shelly's Diary" is a tale set in "the hidden world of Appalachia, cut off from the outside and frozen in a moment of time from yesteryear." A murder takes place, and scenes from the trial are to be filmed in the Moore County courthouse.

w2 Entertainment held auditions in Southern Pines earlier this year to select extras to fill the courtroom.

Florence Gilkeson can be reached at 947-4962 or by e-mail at florence@thepilot.com.