Ponderings by Dan Ponder

The boxes have only been moved once or twice since I inherited them.  My grandparents took thousands of slides during their life, but most of them were of their travels.  While they were neatly catalogued, most were of unnamed churches and flowering plants from around the world.  They were neat, but no one in the…

This week’s column is about when two people decide to work together in spite of some pretty long odds and along the way became friends.  This story is relevant at this time of extreme political partisanship.  You see, these two people first got to truly know each other as politicians. J.E. “Bo” Earnest was the…

Jack Dempsey was one of the greatest fighters in the history of boxing. He was the heavyweight champion of the world from 1919 until 1927.  His bobbing and weaving style made him not only the most popular boxer of his time, but a cultural icon as well.  He fought in front of enormous crowds for…

Four decades.  Forty years.  It is hard to believe that much time has passed since I said “I do” and married my best friend Mary Lou Ponder. That is not a typo for those who don’t know this long running story.  I married my best friend and my 10th cousin, whose last name happened to…

By now you have probably seen, heard and read almost everything possible about the amazing life of Billy Graham. Maybe once in a lifetime a person comes along that you know will not be replaced.  His impact on this country and indeed around the world makes his story worth repeating one more time. He became…

The greatest dream I had as a kid was to be like my Grandfather and my Dad. More specifically, I wanted to be a man. A grown man. They were called Big Joe and Big Dan. Part of that moniker was they each had a namesake son.  Part of it was they gained a respect…

The building looked the same after all these years, though the downtown had clearly suffered the same fate as so many rural small towns.  I waited until nearly 11 in the morning to come into town as I knew that is when the restaurant would open, if it still opened at all. Imagine my surprise…

On Tuesday I walked into The American, a new restaurant in Bainbridge that seems to be doing quite well.  I was there to have a birthday lunch with my daughter Catherine, and her husband Daaron. I think Catherine is a pretty amazing woman even if she is my daughter. Little did I know that I…

This column is about sports, grandchildren, talent and courage.  I don’t normally reveal the topics in the first sentence, but I want you to read until the very end. Hopefully, I will have done justice to some of the amazing things I experienced these past four days. This was a weekend Mary Lou and I…

To me, there are only five real jobs in America:  Police Officers, Teachers, Firefighters, Doctors, and the Military Service. Those words were spoken by the great basketball player, commentator and philosopher, Charles Barkley. This past week Donalsonville and Seminole County celebrated the opening of a brand new fire station. The building stands on a five…