"Reflections on the Mill Pond"

You’ve all heard the saying "The ole gray mare just ain’t what she used to be." This week’s Rollin’ Down The River feature is about Merritt’s Mill Pond and that saying could well be said about the Mill Pond. It just ain’t what it used to be.
When spending time on the Mill Pond now, with all the hydrilla and algae, I find myself sounding old and a little cynical when I think that it just isn’t as pretty as it used to be. I think back to the many fond memories I have about the ole gray mare. My family briefly owned a house on the Mill Pond and I recall first swimming there when I was five or six years old. In my teenage years we used to spend time out there swimming, fishing and just kickin’ around. On some nights, especially when the moon was full, we would head to the Mill Pond after summer football or basketball practices for a moonlight swim.
In 1978 my parents bought me a 14 foot aluminum Jon boat with a 9 horse Montgomery Ward motor for my high school graduation. It wasn’t anything fancy and I’m pretty sure the motor was older than I was. You could sneeze wrong and the motor would shear a pin. You had to take the top cover off the motor half the time to rewrap the cord to get it to crank. But it was mine and I was captain of the ship. Many a carefree day was spent in my late teens and early 20’s serving as captain of the ship on that boat at the Mill Pond.
I remember the day that I was cooling off in a tube by the boat. My then girlfriend and now wife commented that there was a big snake in a tree not far away. Being the outdoorsman that I am, I kicked back in the tube and told her it was no problem. She then screamed as the snake made its way towards our boat. After scrambling to get aboard, I realized the anchor line was tied to the front boat handle, which was right at the water line and right where the snake was headed. I fought off the snake with a paddle and finally managed to get the anchor pulled up and we motored away.
The memories are too numerous to print. But the older I get the more of them I seem to recall. And I am still making memories on the Mill Pond as it is still one of my favorite places to spend time. And I find that my sons are making there own memories on the Mill Pond as the cool clear waters beckon them as well to come and enjoy the Mill Pond. So while the ole gray mare just ain’t what she used to be, Simply Put, the Mill Pond is still a treasure to be enjoyed by all.
From the front porch: Coach said there are no shortcuts to anyplace worth going.

“The Value of a College Education ”

There’s an old country song that has the chorus of “it’s too hot to fish, too hot for golf and too cold at home.” Well I don’t know about it being too cold at home but it is certainly too hot to fish, golf or do much else outdoors unless it involves cooling off in a pool, river, lake or spring. The scary thing about this current heat wave is that we are just in the middle of June.

As I write this column on Tuesday night we’ve had temperatures in the upper 90’s for the last week. A check of the 10 day forecast calls for 10 more days of the same. Well there is one day in there that we’ll get a cool snap as they are predicting a high of only 92.

Some folks say that the first real heat wave in June is always the worst, theorizing that our bodies just haven’t adjusted to the heat yet. They go on to say that the same type of heat wave experienced in July or August is just as hot, but our bodies are more acclimated to the heat. Others would theorize that this much of a heat wave early in the summer is proof of global warming.

Of course I have my own theories about the heat and I’ve expressed them before in this column. As a whole, most of us just aren’t able to handle the heat like we used to, you know, the so called good ole days. We’ve gone soft. And being a middle aged, overweight and out of shape fellow like myself doesn’t help with the heat. I readily confess that I purposely spend as much time as I can in doors under the air conditioning during these heat waves. But I find myself embarrassed when some of us bellyache about the heat on the way from the parking lot to our air conditioned offices.

When I catch me or my co-workers complaining about the heat on the way to our offices I always remind myself out loud, “It could be worse. I could be roofing for a living on a day like today.” In the summer of 1979 I helped put on a new roof in the middle of July. Simply put, that sold me on the value of a good college education.

If it weren’t so hot I’d take my hat is off to all the folks that have to make a living outdoors this time of the year. But I’ll keep my hat on for the time being to keep my head cool. So drink up folks, water that is, and stay as cool as possible ‘cause it’s going to be a long hot summer.

From the front porch: Uncle Bob said be careful not to argue with an idiot because somebody might be watching and not be able to tell the difference.

“Rollin’ Down The River”

It’s back by popular demand and not a minute to soon. I’ve had several folks asking me when we are going again, with our summertime feature Rollin’ Down The River. For those unfamiliar with the feature, last summer I would paddle a section of the Chipola River, take a few photos and write an article about my trip. The general idea was to give our readers the feel of a summertime journey down the Ole Chipola. We also included a few articles and stories by our readers about trips they’ve taken on the river. The feature was extremely popular and folks are ready to get it going again.

Our final stop last summer was Peacock’s Bridge in southern Jackson County. We’ll pick back up there in a few weeks but first we’ll start the summer and paddle at least one of the main tributaries of the Chipola. This week we are featuring Blue Springs and later in the month we’ll feature Merritt’s Mill Pond and Spring Creek. While there are many folks that are familiar with Blue Springs, the Mill Pond and the Spring Creek, I thought it would be good to chronicle these sites since they have a direct connection with the Chipola. And after that I might even try to throw in a feature on Dry Creek, which I have never paddled before.

Next week we’ll have a “Rollin’ Down The River” for a good cause as we’ll have an article and photos from this past weekend’s Canoeing For Cancer Fundraiser. I wasn’t able to attend due to having weekend duty at my real job but Shelia Hayes and the gang did another fine job of raising money for the fight against cancer. And all the while they spent a beautiful day on Spring Creek and the river.

Once we get those tributaries chronicled, the plan calls for picking back up at Peacock’s Bridge. From Peacock’s Bridge we’ll quickly depart Jackson County and paddle into Calhoun County. Notable stops on this leg will include several springs, Hayes Landing and Johnny Boy’s Landing. South of Johnny Boy’s Landing, which is west of Altha, we’ll encounter Big Lookin’ Tremble.

South of Big Lookin’ Trembel we head to…, well, I don’t know where we’ll head to south of Big Lookin’ Tremble. You see I’ll be in uncharted waters, at least for me, once we get south of Big Lookin’ Tremble. So I’ve hooked up with Chris Matthews to help me chronicle the lower portions of the Chipola River. Chris is a veteran at canoeing the river and knows his way around this neck of the river. I hope everyone will enjoy their summer and our upcoming “Rollin’ Down The River” features.

So, Simply Put, saddle up. It’s time to go paddling.

From the front porch: Coach said our attitude toward life determines life’s attitude toward us.

"It’s Been a Good Ride For Heiar and The Indians ”

Last week the news came that many of us local sports fans have been expecting for some time now. Greg Heiar, Chipola’s Head Basketball Coach for the past five seasons, announced that he was leaving to become an assistant coach at Southern Mississippi.
The five year ride with Heiar at the helm has been phenomenal and we’ve known that he would eventually leave to pursue his goal of being a division one head coach. His record at Chipola was 165-15 and the Indians captured four out of the last five State Championships. In making four trips to the National Tournament, the Indians made it to the final four three out of the four times.
Having been one of the basketball announcers for Indian basketball during Heiar’s tenure at Chipola, I’ve had the opportunity to watch him at work. There are several attributes that serve Heiar well. Obviously he’s got a good head for the game. You don’t win 165 games in five years, which is a winning percentage of just over .900, without knowing the X’s and O’s of the game.
But Heiar has two other coaching skills that sometimes went unnotice. First there is the recruiting. He could arguably be considered the best JUCO recruiter in the nation during the past five years. The level of talent that he brought into Chipola the last five years was just amazing. And each year he seemed to outdo himself from the previous year.
He was able to convince some of the nation’s top basketball players to come to a rural area like Jackson County. He did so by promoting Chipola’s great basketball tradition and Chipola’s approach to treating their athletes like family. For many of these young men, who may have come from difficult backgrounds, that family like environment and a packed house at the Milton H. Johnson Health Center were just the right combo. They could come to Chipola, be treated like family, get on track academically, fine tune their basketball skills and be on a nationally recognized team.
To me though, his greatest skill came in molding 12 young men into a cohesive unit each year. Remember most of these 12 players were the star players on their respective high school teams. Only five can play at one time and managing all those egos and attitudes is no easy task. But Heiar had that ability to get the team to pull together. Oh I’m sure there were arguments and heated discussions that most of us fans never saw. But when they hit the floor the Indians played as a team.
So as Coach Heiar departs from our little corner of the world, we all wish him the best. He has set a high water mark that will be hard to follow for new interim Head Coach Jake Headrick. Simply Put, it’s been a good ride for Coach Heiar and the Indian Nation.
From the front porch: Uncle Bob said that when sailors are trying to navigate through high seas, there are a lot of wise men ashore.

“Another School Year has Come and Gone ”

They say time flies when you are having fun. It is hard to believe but another school year has come and gone. It seems like yesterday that we printed the Grid Iron Gazette, our preseason high school football publication that serves to kick off a new school year of high school sports. But that was over 9 months ago and the 2008-09 school year comes to a close this week.

Looking back on this school year one has to say it has been another banner year for Jackson County High School sports. In the fall two of the county’s football teams (Marianna and Graceville) made the playoffs. Only one of the county schools (Sneads) had a losing record. On the girl’s side both Marianna and Sneads made the volleyball playoffs. Sneads advanced all the way to the Regional Finals before falling to Maclay. That was a school first for the Lady Pirates.

Moving on into the winter sports we all know that basketball is near and dear to us Jackson County folks. This year our county school did their best to uphold that Jackson County tradition by sending five of the ten programs all the way to the Regional Finals. In girls basketball the county had three of the five varsity programs (Marianna, Graceville and Cottondale) make it all the way to the Regional Finals. Cottondale won their Regional Final and made the Lakeland trip for the State Semi-Finals. Marianna made it to the Regional Final for the first time in ten years. Graceville finished the season with a 25-3 record after falling to a solid FAMU team in the Regional Finals.

The Boys didn’t do too bad either. Four out of the five varsity programs in the county made the playoffs (Malone, Graceville, Cottondale and Marianna). Graceville, Cottondale and Marianna all made it to the Regional Finals. And the Bulldogs made another trip to Lakeland for the Semi-Finals. That’s back to back Lakeland trips for the Bulldogs and the only other time that has occurred at Marianna was 1977 & 1978.

Springtime brought baseball and softball and the county had four baseball teams make the playoffs (Malone, Graceville, Sneads and Marianna). Malone made it all the way to the Regional Finals where they fell to an outstanding Eagles View team. The Tigers were the last public school standing in the Class 1A playoffs. In softball three of the county’s five teams made the playoffs (Graceville, Sneads and Cottondale). The Lady Hornets made it all the way to the Regional Finals. And not to leave the track folks out. Cottondale, Graceville, Sneads and Marianna all did well in their respective Regional meets and several county track athletes made it to the State.

So it has been another great year of high school sports. Simply Put, it was another year of what we’ve come to expect in Jackson County sports.

From the front porch: Coach said change is inevitably but progress is optional.

"Spring Practice "

I spent the last few weeks railing about some things that just don’t seem right (Sidewalk to Nowhere and Weight Rooms While We Lay Off Teachers). But in order to dispel the speculation that Sid Riley is rubbing off on me, it’s time to relax a bit and return to some sports news.
If you catch my article on page two of sports you’ll notice that spring football practice is wrapping up this week. But you’ll also notice that one school, Sneads, did not have spring practice at all this year. Another school, Graceville, cut their spring practice short and are not playing in their scheduled jamboree. A third school, Cottondale, had their Head Coach on limited duty early on due to being involved with the Lady Hornet’s softball squad in the playoffs.
The good news for most of these schools was that their baseball, softball and track teams did really well this year and made the playoffs. The bad news, especially for the three smaller schools, is this meant that many of the football team’s players and /or coaches were unavailable or limited in the abilities to participate in spring football.
Some football gurus are fretting over this fact. But most of the coaches really don’t seem to be that concerned. Sneads and Graceville could have mustered up a semblance of full spring practice but the thought seems to be, why bother. With players and coaches likely to miss the first portion of the spring session, it really is not worth the time and effort to get all the equipment out. At best they’d only have a few days to get some work in.
Even under the best of circumstances some would say spring practice is not really that benefical anymore. Spring practice has been reduced to three weeks, beginning May 1st. The first week is without pads, just helmets and shorts. The last week usually includes a spring game or jamboree on Thursday. So teams will spend at least a couple of days getting ready for that game. Do the math and that really only gives a squad about 8 days in full pads. Some would say that is just enough time to get a few folks hurt. At the very least it is not enough time to get much done.
The larger schools are not in quite the same shape as the smaller schools. They’ll likely have enough players at least to practice. But they usually will be missing a few of their better athletes that are still involved in baseball or track.
So to the football gurus worried that their favorite squad might be lagging behind. Simply Put, take a chill pill. The coaches will have the guys working all summer long and come fall they’ll get geared up and will be ready to go.
From the front porch: Uncle Bob said he agreed with Albert Einstein, who said "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results".

"Weight Room and Teacher Layoffs ”

Last week I wrote about the "sidewalk to nowhere", the planned project to build a sidewalk from Citizen’s Lodge Park on the Caverns Highway all the way to Marianna High School. I’ve had several folks echo my sentiments that this seems to be a poor use of stimulus money for our area. Another recent announcement that has got some folks upset is the construction of a new weight room facility by the practice field at Marianna High School.
Now don’t get me wrong. I’ve said it before that my family and I bleed purple and gold. And I am all for the sports program having the best possible facilities. And that includes a weight room for the athletic programs at my alma mater. When they built the new school several years ago, it did not include a weight room. The plans called for the construction of a weight room facility several years later.
The stated reason for needing a weight room and the location of the new facility all make sense. They have been making do with the weights in a room for about five years now. But that room was not designed as a weight room and a better location is needed.
In addition, the practice field, located just east of the school, has no bathroom facilities or dressing rooms. The practice field is used by a variety of teams including varsity and junior varsity football, soccer and track. The band also uses this same field to practice as well. So the practice field gets a lot of use and students needing to use the bathroom or change clothes must go all the way back inside the school.
So an argument can certainly be made that they are in need of a weight room facility. The problem is that coinciding with the beginning of this project is the news that Jackson County must lay off teaching and support staff due to shortfalls in the budget. But apparently the money for the weight room had already been allocated and comes from budget entities other than teacher’s salary money. I have worked for 26 ½ years in state government and I understand just enough about state budgets to be dangerous. I understand that there are times when money from one entity can’t be spend in other entities.
But you tell me, does it make any sense to build an $800,000 weight facility when we are also announcing layoffs of teachers and support staff. Surely the bean counters could figure out a way to wave their magic wands and fix this problem.
My last two columns have probably got some folks speculating that I’ve been working around Sid Riley too long. But with the "sidewalk to nowhere" and the new weight room while we lay off teachers, Simply Put, we ain’t getting it right.
From the front porch: Uncle Bob said a happy marriage is a matter of give and take. The husband gives and the wife takes.