Ponderings by Dan Ponder

I’ll admit that I have never really been a NASCAR fan.  The one race Mary Lou and I ever attended, the Hardee’s 500, may have been the loudest place I have ever been for an extended period of time. Our hosts had given us some headsets to listen to the pit crews.  Unfortunately, we had…

We have all had it happen to us at one time or another.  On a planet of 7.5 billion people, you happen to run into someone in someplace so unlikely that it sends chills up your spine.  There is never a logical explanation other than perhaps it was just fate.  I think of it as…

As a general rule, I am a believer that local control is better than state control.  Whether it is your city council, county commission or the school board, these elected officials are your friends and neighbors.  More often than not, local officials know better than Atlanta or Washington about what is best for the local…

Small rural towns have often had an uphill battle in the past 50 years.  Agriculture became more mechanized and people moved off the farm.  There was seldom enough industry to bring new jobs to replace those that were lost.  The youth complained there was nothing to do.  The adults complained about having to go out…

Today is Grant and Elizabeth Faulk’s eighth wedding anniversary.  For those of you that don’t know, Elizabeth is our youngest daughter.  Catherine and Daaron Vanstone, our other daughter and son-in-law, recently celebrated their tenth anniversary. Tomorrow, Wednesday, March 4th, Mary Lou and I will celebrate the 37th anniversary of our wedding vows.  Tomorrow would have…

It was fitting that the weather changed Monday afternoon for the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Bainbridge State College Learning Center in Donalsonville.  Rain threatened all day until the skies broke open with brilliant sunshine.  It was somewhat symbolic of a project meant to be. The lightning strike was quick, direct and devastating.  Before it…

It is often said that which does not kill us makes us stronger.   As unbelievable as the story now seems, the massive oak trees at Toomer’s Corner were poisoned back 2010.  Most know the story of the overzealous Alabama fan that poisoned the trees after an Auburn victory in Tuscaloosa.     The misguided…

I was part of a generation that grew up hearing the nightly news end with the words “and that’s the way it is”.  Each night Walter Cronkite told America what was happening around the world and we believed him.   There was no 24 hour news channel, Twitter or Facebook to tell the facts instantly. …

Occasionally there are problems that are simply unavoidable that only have solutions that are unfavorable.   To continue to do nothing in such a case is often unthinkable. Georgia has a transportation funding problem.  We have a huge infrastructure of roads and bridges that needs more money, lots of it, just to maintain what we have. …

“When did you first hear God’s voice?”   We were recently attending services at the First United Methodist Church in St. Petersburg with friends when the minister posed this question. Like many others in my own church, I grew up in a faith based home.  My parents and grandparents attended the same church I grew up…