Impressions by David Maxwell

It will be a sure sign that the end of Summer has arrived, regardless of what the official calendar says, when, in two short weeks, those familiar yellow school buses will begin to spill onto local roads, ferrying young students in the annual back-to-school migration. Remember that first day back to school when you were…

Although the Fourth of July now seems more of a party than a memorial, it has great significance to many Americans. And if you call yourself an American, the reasons for the celebration in the first place MUST be remembered and understood by ALL of us. The Fourth of July is a chance to reflect…

Welcome 2014 Georgia Young Farmers Summer Tour participants!   The results of this year’s census of American agricul­ture, which is taken every five years, are disturbing not only to rural communi­ties like ours, but the nation as a whole. Figures released by the United States Department of Agri­culture indicate the number of U.S. farms is…

Father’s Day is a time to show appreciation and honor to fathers and those special persons who have been fatherly figures. The first Father’s Day was officially observed on June 19, 1910, in Spokane, Washington.  The special day was started by Sonora Dodd who was inspired to honor her own father, William Smart, a widower…

In 1886, Jekyll Island was purchased to become an exclusive Winter retreat for America’s most elite families. Known as the Jekyll Island Club, it soon became recognized as “the richest, most inaccessible club in the world.” For more than half a century, the nation’s leading families, including the legendary Rockefellers, Morgans and Pulitzers, came to…

Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass,     it’s about learning to dance in the rain.    -Vivian Greene In my life I have dealt with personal hardships of varying degrees, as I am sure all of us have. Those experiences were brutal.  Each of them knocked me down, off course and counted…

This past week as I was putting together the Memorial Day tribute for this week’s edition, one question kept popping into my head. With each photograph that came in of a veteran and with each story submitted of heroic, courageous and selfless acts, I kept asking myself, “Could I have done what they did?  Could…

It’s graduation time, but graduates, I am sorry to tell you the tests don’t end, they just change. Sorry to tell you the grades don’t stop coming, they just come in a different way. Sorry to tell you the homework assignments don’t end, they just become projects for work or college. It might be a…

The title of Mother alone is synonymous with unconditional love. Sunday is the day to celebrate that love and to honor the mothers in our lives for all they selflessly give or have given to their families, their communities and society as a whole. Whether her children are small or all grown up, a mother’s…