Poinsett County Democrat Tribune: Columns: By SAMANTHA MARTIN, Democrat Tribune Editor

Sayng a fond farewell (01/28/10)
After six years of writing a column for this page, this column will be my last. This Friday, Jan. 29, is my last day at the Poinsett County Democrat Tribune. When I came to work at the newspaper in January of 2004, I had just turned 23 years old. Josh and I had only been married six months so we were newlyweds. Boy, a lot has changed since then!...

Change can be scary (01/20/10)
I've never been a big fan of change. I'm the type of person who doesn't like to rearrange their furniture or suddenly paint the wall a new color. It's just not me. My husband, Josh, has wanted a new television for forever. ...

Twenty-nine and counting (01/08/10)
Tuesday was my birthday, so I'm now officially 29 years old. With each passing birthday since I turned 26, it's been harder and harder to deny the fact that I'm almost 30. Now, I'm in my last, final year as a "twenty-something."...

We don't make mistakes (01/04/10)
My brother and I had quite an ordeal trying to get him home after Christmas. He was supposed to fly from Memphis to Orlando Sunday. However, when he booked his flights over the phone they made a mistake. He flew into Memphis on Christmas Eve, and for some reason that booked his return flight to Orlando on the same day, just a few hours later, instead of for Sunday...

Black Friday not so bad (12/03/09)
I like to shop as much as the next lady, or at least I used to think so. After a great visit on Thanksgiving, my mom and I decided to do something we hadn't done in literally 15 years. We decided to go shopping on "Black Friday."...

Counting my blessings (11/25/09)
It's Thanksgiving, a time to reflect on all the things in life for which we are grateful. I read once that the key to a positive attitude is gratitude. An older man once challenged a group of us at church to make a list of five things we are thankful for each day with the goal being not to repeat the same things. ...

Helping your neighbor (11/18/09)
The United States Department of Agriculture's released its 2008 Food Security Report this week. According to U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln - Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry - the report showed that 14.6 percent of U.S. ...

Feeling a little bah humbug (11/13/09)
I'm having a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit this year. Normally, I'm chomping at the bits to put up my tree and decorate the house as soon as the trick-or-treaters leave. And, I almost always have a lot of my Christmas shopping done by this time every year. ...

Trick-or-treating with my dad (10/30/09)
When I think of Halloween, I always think about my dad. I think he loved Halloween just as much as we did as kids, maybe even more. Halloween festivities always started around our house the first week of October. ...

Magazine promotes county, tourism (10/01/09)
You may have noticed something a little different inside your paper this week. There, with some other inserts, you'll find the first annual Poinsett County Community Guide. The full color magazine was a labor of love for the staff of the Democrat Tribune, and we are pleased to offer it to you, our readers...

Inside your local paper -- Part One (08/21/09)
This is the first of a series of columns for you, our readers, about how things work here at the newspaper. I guess in the day to day grind of things we newspaper folk tend to take for granted that our readers magically know why we do some things the way we do them. ...

By SAMANTHA MARTIN, Democrat Tribune Editor
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