Columnists

Apple Snicker Salad, Squash Casserole and Easy White Cake Rejoice! He will reign forever and ever! May the joy of Easter reign in your heart forever, Wishing you a beautiful and blessed Easter! Let’s do some quick and easy dishes for Easter! Apple Snicker Salad 6-8 Granny Smith apples, cut into chunks (peeled or not)

By Toni Ford Chapter 4 of the Book of Jonah reveals Jonah’s sins as well as the intentions and thoughts of his heart. We are reminded in 1 Samuel 16:7 that God looks at our hearts and weighs the motives of our heart. The root of every problem is the problem in the heart, and

By Robert Halsey Pine “So, teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart.” (Psalm 90 NRSV). We have all considered just how short our lives are on this earth – but usually not until we become old or have some life-threatening situation. This prayer of Moses puts us in our place.

By Vicki Scott With the threat of severe weather, Cove Creek Baptist and other local churches cancelled morning church services this past Sunday. Incidentally, Lake Martin Baptist Church, where my mother attends, cancelled services as well. It is always better to err on the side of safety, but I missed morning worship miserably. Spending time

The Ringling Brothers Circus made its first appearance in Gadsden on Nov. 8, 1899. Ringling Brothers was a rival of the Barnum & Bailey show and equally as large and imposing. The two big outfits were later combined later and still bears the name of Ringling Brothers & Barnum & Bailey Circus. The show grounds were

A short piece by Carl Sagan… What an astonishing thing a book is. It’s a flat object made from a tree with flexible parts on which are imprinted lots of funny dark squiggles. But one glance at it and you’re inside the mind of another person, maybe somebody dead for thousands of years. Across the

Lettuce and Pea Salad, Cornbread Skillet Casserole and Quick and Easy Banana Pudding I grew up around women who recognized that there was no greater art form on earth than a lovingly prepared meal. As a matter of fact, there is nothing more rewarding to a Southern woman than to hear someone say, “My gosh,

By Craig Ford Unintended consequences are a common problem when it comes to making laws and government policy. A good example of this is the changes lawmakers made in 2012 to the retirement systems for education and state employees. The economic recession that began in 2008 had severely hurt the Retirement Systems of Alabama’s investments. The

By Danny Crownover Back in 1869, there was an article from The Selma Times advocating a canal across Sand Mountain to connect the Tennessee and Coosa rivers. The paper’s editor said that the project would be a great boon to this part of the south and that he wished to stand on the banks of

By Robert Halsey Pine “…Blessed are the eyes that see what you see!” (Luke 10:17-24 NRSV). Jesus tells the disciples that prophets and kings have desired to see and hear what they have seen and heard, but did not. Bonding with Jesus has tremendous benefits. Once committed to Christ our whole view changes. Things that were

By Toni Ford In just a few days, Easter Sunday will be here and millions of people will gather around the world to reflect on the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Yet the resurrection is more than just a historical event. For the believer, this is a time of great celebration

By Vicki Scott About a month ago, my brother stopped calling me, cold turkey. That scared me because he is the one God has called to keep check on us and peace in our family. He is good at it and has the biggest heart in comparison to my baby brother and me. I thought

With each passing year, we are living a journey that continuously changes, sometimes by our choices and others by unknown forces that could not have been planned for. My present age finds me being a daughter, mother and grandmother, and my fifth great-grand-baby girl was born last night in Colorado. The word “great-grandmother” always makes me

Strawberry Pie, Strawberry Bread, Strawberry Ice Box Dessert and Strawberry Pizza Crust The strawberry, red in all of its glory, is one of nature’s sweetest offerings. It can be eaten straight off the vine and can be barely sprinkled with sugar or salt. The peak season for strawberries is April to June, so now is

By Danny “The Vagabond” Crownover The first steamboat to ply the waters of the Coosa River was appropriately named The Coosa. On July 4, 1845, that gallant little steamer, came around the bend below what is now Gadsden. Captain James Lafferty commanded the boat. Large proportions and un-heard-of-profits were said to have been derived from

By Robert Halsey Pine “As they left the council, they rejoiced that they were considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name [Jesus].” (Acts 5:27-42 NRSV). The apostles had been tea-ching and proclaiming Jesus in the Temple. Although a high priest with the Sadducees had the apostles arrested and put into the public

By Toni Ford The conversion of Saul, the leading persecutor of Christians, was one of the greatest events in church history. Saul, whose name was changed to Paul shortly after his conversion, met Jesus on his way to Damascus. The Lord had a special work for Paul. This Hebrew of Hebrews would become the apostle

By Vicki Scott One of our neighbors in Dadeville was laid to rest this past week. He will be missed. This gentleman was the same man who enlightened me on who Willie Golden was of the Oak Ridge Boys. The look on my face must have told on me when the man told me that

Phil was walking down the hall talking to himself. I was a little curious until he reached me and asked, “Guess what I found on the front porch?” He then reached into his coat and pulled out a little Siamese kitten. He continued to soothe the kitten. Sighing, I replied, “I didn’t think we were

Don’t tell Momma… It’s been years since my three grandchildren were young, and I was sitting with them while my daughter had a night out. After dinner, I decided to give them a bath and get them ready for bed. I then heard Dakota say, “Nana, Brittany is going through Momma’s drawers, and she is not

24 Hour Salad, Three Bean Salad and Hot Chicken Salad Let’s do some salads this week! 24 Hour Salad 1 can Eagle Brand Milk 1/3 cup lemon juice 1 large Cool Whip 1 large can crushed pineapple 1 large can fruit cocktail 1 cup pecans, chopped 1/2 cup cherries, chopped 1 1/2 cups coconut 1

By Robert Halsey Pine “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.” (Philippians 2:1-12 NRSV). Jesus is our

By Toni Ford When we read the minor prophet books in the Old Testament, we quickly observe a recurring pattern in their prophecies to Israel and the Jews. First comes the warning to repent of their sins and next is the judgement that will come upon the Jews and their land if they do not

By Vicki Scott On several occasions while in route to George Wallace Senior Center in Glencoe, I noticed a van parked across from Glencoe Elementary School. Because it was so close to the Glencoe Cumberland Presbyterian, at first I thought that the church was having a special catered meal or a bake sale or something

By Danny Crownover Gadsden’s historian Will I. Martin wrote extensively about early Gadsden. The following is a sample of his work: “When the Ralls Sanatorium was opened on Sept. 1, 1906, it had only 16 beds. More important, ‘at the opening of the hospital, a chartered school of nursing was started with six entrants.’ These

Strawberry Angel Pie, Lemon Meringue Pie  and Peanut Butter Ice Cream Pie Spring is here! I think one of the big reasons people do not cook anymore is the notion that it takes too long and it’s just too hard. I hope you learn from my recipes that good home-cooked food can be quick, easy

By Craig Ford One of the problems exposed during the gas tax debate was the fact that $63 million dollars a year gets diverted out of the Alabama Department of Transportation’s road and bridge funding to pay for state troopers and the court system. The logic – if you can call it that – for this

By Toni Ford I love the story in Acts 12 of Peter’s miraculous escape from prison. The story begins a few verses ahead, with King Herod Agrippa persecuting the believers of the church to such extremes as having the apostle James killed with a sword. This actually is the first of the twelve apostles martyred

By Robert Halsey Pine “I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.” (1 Corinthians 9:16-23 NRSV). I have been guilty of trying to please everyone, of trying to be all

By Vicki Scott Technology is supposed to make life easier, but the acclamation to new technology is sometimes inconvenient for me.  I ordered some shoes from Amazon for my plantar fasciitis because I needed some relief and they were cute. There was no relief when I tried the shoes on, so I decided to return