Category: <span>Column</span>

It has often been said that America needs to have a serious conversation about race. That time may be now, especially if Americans can focus their attention on it for more than a few weeks, after the news outlets lose interest. Hopefully that will happen. The terrible killing of George Floyd was just a little...

In retrospect, I suppose it was a matter of when, not if. Years ago, Charlotte, who has been known to be impulsive, decided having a pond with no boat was somehow just wrong. We obviously needed a canoe and she bought a used one. It is a nice 14-foot fiberglass canoe. I grew up with-flat...

It is the first Sunday in June. It has been a hectic week at Frog Holler in spite of the fact that half the country is still shut down. The other half are in the streets protesting the killing of George Floyd, including thousands who attended the viewing and memorial service right here in Hoke...

These are certainly unusual times. We are in the midst of the worst pandemic in a hundred years while downtown areas all around the country are being burned and looted in the wake of more horrible police brutality which resulted in another dead black man. These seemingly unrelated issues have coalesced into a stew of...

By Ron Huff •  Spring has brought the usual flurry of activity at Frog Holler but even more than usual. Even though it has been over two years, we are still trying to get over the destruction caused by Hurricanes Florence and Matthew. In addition, the recent acquisition of some additional land has made it...

After a long struggle during which he cheated death many times, Jack Putnam Huff, my last uncle, headed for heaven in mid-May. Jack was my dad’s youngest brother and was the last sibling standing of four. He will be greatly missed. My first recollections of Jack were when I was very young in the early...

After a long struggle during which he cheated death many times, Jack Putnam Huff, my last uncle, headed for heaven in mid-May. Jack was my dad’s youngest brother and was the last sibling standing of four. He will be greatly missed. My first recollections of Jack were when I was very young in the early...

In last week’s column I presented a list of problems that we share as Americans. The current Covid-19 crisis has illuminated many of our shortcomings and has given us food for thought as we watch our country struggle to cope with a dizzying array of challenges. The economic shut down has shown how fragile millions...

• By Ken MacDonald • • Social item— Ken and Holly MacDonald celebrated 40 years of marriage Sunday, May 24, 2020 by not taking a trip to New Mexico to see Richard Rhor and not driving up to Santa Fe to hike at Tsankawi mesa. The couple did not tour the art galleries nor did...

Man has made a lot of progress throughout history although progress itself is somewhat subjective. Some resist change, feeling more secure with things as they are. I sometimes think we put too much emphasis on new gadgets that, while intriguing, add little to our quality of life. For the most part, when given the choice,...

I have a compulsion to produce. I don’t think it is an obsessive compulsion, but sometimes I would like to tone it down a bit. I often find myself lining up tasks in my brain when I would rather just forget about them. I am not sure what drives this. Perhaps it is a deep-seated...

By Ron Huff • In Hoke County, one of the poorest counties in the state, we have more than our share of poverty. Poverty in the United States can go largely unnoticed by those who are best equipped to lend a helping hand. Those of us not living in the midst of poverty on a...

Spring comes to Frog Holler • By Ron Huff • We are having a beautiful spring at Frog Holler in spite of the current National Emergency. If you don’t believe it, ask the Fed Ex driver, our only regular visitor. The azaleas and dogwoods are really showing off. The grass is greening up and the...

By Ron Huff • I just returned from the funeral of a lifelong friend. Ruth Calloway Wilkerson has been a member of the Ashley Heights Community since before I was born. She was born a Calloway, the family for which Calloway Road in western Hoke is named. Their beautiful farm at Five Points became the...

By Ron Huff • Once the initial wave of the Covid 19 Pandemic has passed, what will the world look like? I hope that things will normalize when the initial peak has passed, but will there be a new normal? This event has certainly pointed up some weaknesses and failures of the current system. Will...

I like to keep one or two columns ahead of the News-Journal deadlines, which come every Monday for me. I have found myself in situations where I needed a column and did not have time to really think about a decent topic. As you have seen, I have written columns without a decent topic, but...

By Ken MacDonald Whatever you think about whether more money will help children in poor counties get an education as good as those in wealthy places, the disparity grows—the gap in North Carolina is getting worse. That’s the conclusion of this year’s report about school funding by the Public School Forum. For 33 years the...

In the last episode, I had struggled mightily to arrange the repair of the defective icemaker on my three-year-old refrigerator. This had led me down the perilous path of dealing with a large corporation intent on not dealing with me. I had, nevertheless, apparently cracked the code and been promised a “one time accommodation” to...

By Ken MacDonald •  The reviews are in, and the McLauchlin Park remake is a hit. If it were an Amazon product it would have 4.5 stars. If it were a movie, it would be two thumbs up. If it were a middle school lunch, it would be eaten and not thrown.  The City can...