By JANE JENKINS HERLONG/Columnist

Published on Wednesday, March 3, 2010 - 12:05pm |

• Opinion

My friends are mortified. 

“Jane, you are not going to write about this in the paper, are you?”  

“Yes I am. I just can’t help it.” I said.  “Everyone, demo-graphically speaking, has had one and they tell you about it.  Just say the word and they will share their experience.”

What is the word? It’s the dreaded colonoscopy.

I plunged/drank myself into the experience we should all heed if one cares about maintaining good health.

God bless Tommy Stone when he handed me the massive plastic jug with four flavored packets.  The first thing I thought of was how nice to have this plastic jug for watering my plants. Then I asked the question, “Tommy which flavor is the best?”  Tommy wisely answered, “The flavor you kinda like. Don’t use the flavor you really like since after drinking the four liter jug you will hate the sight, smell and taste of that flavor forever.” I thought how great if the “flavor people” could come up with a flavor called, Chocolate Delight or Little Debbie Nutter Butter.

By MIKE ROSIER/Publisher

Published on Thursday, February 18, 2010 - 8:31am |

• Opinion

For most people, having their anniversary to fall on a Monday would serve as some sort of a bad omen.

But after seven years of marriage it’s amazing how easily things like this get shrugged off. Perhaps even five years ago, what took place this past weekend would have caused major issues for us. Sheila and I were supposed to circumvent this bit of calendar craziness by spending Friday together and celebrating our anniversary then by actually sitting down to a nice meal with just the two of us.

Sure, we had a few errands to run, but then it was Red Lobster or Ruby Tuesday’s.

We had been looking forward to it all week long.

By PENNY L. HUNT/Faith Columnist

Published on Wednesday, February 10, 2010 - 11:54am |

• Opinion

Noble, right, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy; these traits, exhorted by the bible writer of Philippians for us to focus upon in times of trial, come to mind as I watch the world’s response to the tragedy confronting the people of Haiti. 

How wonderful and how right this response has been in the midst of the loss of most of that country’s infrastructure.   The United States has a “Convoy of Hope” in place, American families are adopting orphans and the movie and music industries are preparing telethons and fundraising concerts including, “Real Hope for Haiti Now”. 

Through the efforts of battle hardened reporters who rarely lose their composure amid overwhelming tragedy and suffering, I hear in their halting voices the unspeakable pain of what they are witnessing and have sensed an inexplicable thanks and joy from the Haitian people as help has arrived from all corners of the earth. 

By JOE BRADY/Columnist

Published on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 - 3:22pm |

• Opinion

Lonnie Mons did not have an easy life.

Known as L.P. to all of his friends (and not that he had very many of those), he looked back on his young twenty years and wondered what had taken him to this point in his life. Born in Barnwell, South Carolina he remembered vividly growing up with an empty stomach and tattered clothes.

One of the oldest of eight children he had learned at an early age that if you expected to eat you had to work. He had started out as a farm laborer at the ripe old age of six - when the plow was taller than he was.
 
He reached up to absently scratch his head, remembering the pain he felt as the plow handles would render him almost unconscious, blood streaming down his face in rivulets as he doggedly pulled himself back up and continued to plow, his small hands bleeding at the blisters lining his palms. But he never complained. Not L.P., as he rose each morning at 5 a.m. to begin his work in the fields until now at twenty years old he had dreamed of a better life.

By JOE BRADY/Columnist

Published on Tuesday, January 26, 2010 - 9:41am |

• Opinion

This past weekend I was in a cleaning frenzy.

Now, I must confess to the fact that as I get older, these frenzies seem to occur less frequently over time. But this weekend I suddenly found myself cleaning out all the closets and hauling stuff by the box loads to the trash can. I even managed to clean out the laundry room, which was a daunting tak let me tell you, since that room had become the catch-all for everything. It's amazing how much stuff we accumulate that we don't really need but we thought we just had to have it at the time.
 
While I was cleaning I was reminded of Granny. Granny would deep clean, as she called it, once a year. That was the time for the baseboards to get dusted, the walls mopped with pine sol, the lamp shades vacuumed and the curtains washed and pressed. We call this spring cleaning now, but then I called it pure torture. Granny was a harsh task master and loved to stand over us with the proverbial white glove to inspect our handy work.
 
One day I asked her, "Granny, why don't you ever help us with all this cleaning?" and her response was, "Son, every job needs a supervisor. Besides, that's why kids are out of school during spring break, to help spring clean."

By JANE JENKINS HERLONG/Columnist

Published on Tuesday, January 12, 2010 - 11:11am |

• Opinion

Many of you know that my sister died on December 20. 

My heart is heavy for her husband and three children.  To bury my mother and sister in a period of five months is surreal.  My prayer is that my family will live in peace, and my sister will rest in peace.

What I am going to share in this article is heartfelt from personal experience of how to live in peace regardless of circumstances.  To be totally honest, I am a work in progress.

1.    Forgive.  
It does not matter what you story is. Don’t allow yourself to live in a spirit of unforgiveness.  The acid destroys the container quicker that it will touch the person who has wronged you.

2.    Grieve Well.
There is a difference between healthy grief and unhealthy grief.  I saw my grandmother grieve over my grandfather for years and years.  My grandmother chose to live in a spirit of grief, which is not healthy.  Whether you are grieving the loss of a loved one, job, or your home, do not be consumed with a spirit of grief.

By PENNY L. HUNT/Faith Columnist

Published on Thursday, December 10, 2009 - 12:04pm |

• Opinion

You never know what children are thinking! 

Sometimes their understanding of what they hear is spot on while other times their interpretations are somewhat confused. 

Such was the case with our youngest daughter when she would sing the lyrics to The First Noel. Bless her heart until she was able to read, she was sure the song proclaimed, “The first Noel, the angel did say, was to frighten poor shepherds in fields as they lay”.

Of course the words are, “The first Noel the angel did say was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay”.

By RICH ECKSTROM/S.C. Comptroller General

Published on Wednesday, December 2, 2009 - 3:53pm |

• Opinion

Even in the best of times, it’s important to remember those less fortunate.

Helping others is our highest calling in life.

I don’t have to tell you that these are not the best of times. We’re facing the greatest recession of a generation, and our state and national unemployment rates continue to climb.

During tough times, those of us who have enough to meet our own needs must dig a little deeper to help those who do not. There are numerous ways we can all do our part, including contributing to organizations that feed hungry people, offer comfort to the sick or homebound, or provide shelter or warmth for those who lack proper housing.

One of my favorite charities is HomeWorks of America, a South Carolina-based non-profit organization which makes repairs to the homes of elderly and financially disadvantaged people.

By JANE HERLONG/Columnist

Published on Wednesday, November 18, 2009 - 3:34pm |

• Opinion

I am speaking at the most fabulous resort, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.  I have never been to this state and was impressed to be invited to speak for the Idaho School Board Association.  

For days, I have been pronouncing this place, Chicken Cordon Bleu. All I knew it is a "fer piece" from home.  Augusta to Salt Lake City to Spokane to Coeur d' ALene.  

There is an interesting history to Coeur D' Lene. French trappers used a sharp instrument call the "awl" to make holes in the pelts.  The trappers were so savvy with their trading practices, this place was named "in the heart of the awl" in honor of the French.

By DOUG DICKERSON/Columnist

Published on Sunday, November 1, 2009 - 3:53pm |

• Opinion

ESPN’s Graham Hays wrote a story about a women’s softball game between two conference opponents back in 2008.

The game was played between Western Oregon and Central Washington. Western Oregon won the game 4-2. Both schools compete as Division II softball programs in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. At first glance, this may sound like a routine game. The events that transpired that day were truly amazing.

Western Oregon senior Sara Tucholsky had never hit a homerun in her career. Tucholsky came to the plate in the top of the second inning of the second game with two runners on base. A part-time starter throughout her four years, she was the unsung player at the plate about to crush the ball over the center field fence for the first home run of her career.

Filled with emotion as she began rounding of the bases, Tucholsky missed the tag at first, reversed direction to tag the base, and then it happened. Her right knee gave out. Lying in agony from a torn ACL, Tucholsky tried to reach the bag.