Column Articles

Cheers to Gladys!

By Bradley Robertson Gladys was all things you would want in a friend, loads of fun, adventurous, a cackling laugh and you never quite knew what was going to roll off her tongue. She was a mystery of a woman. She was a thrill and in 1989, she was my grandmother, Gaga....

Prepare scrumptious dishes for leisurely weekend brunch

By Ann Cipperly As azaleas and dogwoods begin to bloom, plan on serving a leisurely weekend brunch on the patio or porch for enjoying spring days with fragrant warm breezes. Brunch is also ideal for Easter, Mother’s Day and other spring occasions. Plan a make-ahead...

Making the Grade –– Susie K’s Country Cooking

By StaceyPatton Wallace As I have mentioned before in this column, I am an Alabama girl who LOVES chicken on the bone. There. Is. No. Substitute. However, other than fast-food establishments, which can do in a pinch, I hadn’t been able to find a local restaurant which...

Making the Grade: Zazu Gastropub

By Stacey Patton Wallace  I absolutely LOVE downtown Opelika. It has so many interesting shops and great restaurants at which to dine. Also, this railroad town has maintained its small-town atmosphere and charm, unlike other cities which have gone 21st century...

A tribute to the dentist

When I was young and just a bad little kid, My momma noticed funny things I  did. Like shooting puppies with a BB gun. She said, “My boy, I think...

read more

Willie at the Speedway

We all have memories of that “special” Fourth of July. This one is mine. Back in the mid-1980s word got out that Willie Nelson was going to do a big...

read more

Ready for football weather

Here we are, barely a week into summer, and I’m ready to tap out, but I’m not complaining. I spent 34 months in Iraq, where it gets extremely hot....

read more

Vacation? What’s that?

“Vacation was just a word to us Frontier Country people, like “rehabilitated” was just a word to Morgan Freeman (think “Red,” in Shawshank...

read more

Thanks for writing

Since I always include my e-mail address with my columns, occasionally one of my intensely ambivalent readers will write to comment on what I have...

read more

The perfect acre

By Randy Bearden guest columnist We searched for the perfect acre among a thousand. It was time to build our house and, this being a large farm, we...

read more

Seems plain to me

By Norma J. Kirkpatrick guest columnist We Southerners have our own way of talking.  No matter how refined and educated we might become, we still...

read more