Now and Then by Marion Reppert - Life and its changes in the last 80 or so years

Marion Reppert was born in January 1925 and was raised in Mt Aetna PA, a tiny town about about one hour north-west of Philadelphia. Marion trained as a nurse at Hahnemann Hospital and Medical College in Philadelphia while her future husband flew in a B-17 over Germany during WWII. After the war, Marion married and raised 4 children, eventually ending up in Reading, PA.
As the most life-experienced contributor to the Galloping Galapagos, Marion Reppert brings a unique perspective and view of life to our writing. She has traveled across the continent too many times to count. Her trips began with a stint as the camp nurse at the Girl Scout Roundup to later trips with family for vacations.
Throughout her life, Marion has seen how life has changed and how easily we get caught up in our every day life forgetting to reflect on how blessed a life we live. We forget that phone calls used to be on a "party line", ice cream was a luxury and using the bathroom in the winter meant using the "pot" if is wasn't to full. So for a blast from the past to keep our current situations in perspective, don't miss an article from "Now and Then".

Say What? by Heather Meek - Living in a world without color

Heather has a unique perspective on life issues… more so than the usual person. Her single most important qualification for this column has been the hearing loss that she's had from birth. 'Say What?' will attempt to picture for the normal hearing person what life situations like eating at restaurants, shopping, parties and watching TV are like for a hearing impaired individual. So for an appreciation of the hearing sense and life, stay tuned for more details…

Snippets by Paul Schmutzler - Covering a little bit of everything

Paul Schmutzler was born a military brat in Berlin, Germany. He was raised in Griffin, GA about an hour south of Atlanta. In 2003, he earned a B.S. in Cinema and Video Production from Bob Jones University. After college, he began pursuing a career in multimedia working as an account manager for a creative company in Atlanta that provided in-house media services for the Coca-Cola Company. He then took a job in Oak Ridge, Tennessee as a media producer for a large government contractor. In 2005 he co-founded Braintrust Digital, a multi-disciplined media production and consulting company, with Tim Siglin of Kingsport, Tennessee. Currently he is president of Braintrust Digital where he specializes in the area of video production. Paul can be contacted at pauls@braintrustdigital.com or www.braintrustdigital.com.

Dollars and Sense by Heather Haskins -

Heather has a bachelor's degree in accounting and a Master's degree in Business Administration. She has worked in the private and public sectors as an accountant giving her a unique perspective and "sense" on financial matters.

Societal Silhouettes by Jessica Boling - seeing the big picture after life abroad

Jessica Boling spent the first 23 years of her life in Tennessee, and the next two serving as a resident assistant at a missionary boarding school in Germany. Now back in Tennessee, she is working as a private tutor, writer and a blogger. When she isn't grading papers, you can find her curled up with a latte and a good book...or her beloved laptop computer updating her blog I Wonder as I Wander.

The Consult by Eric Meek - Viewing life from the world of medicine

A former software engineer (B.S. in Computer Science 2001) and current medical student, Eric has a unique feel for medical technology and how much potential it has for changing the medical profession. He sees how little computers are used; how much value they would bring to the medical field; but how much computer use is resisted for various reasons. Just like the sharks in "Finding Nemo" reminded themselves that "Fish are friends not food", Docs need to be reminded that "Computers are useful tools not enemies." Keeping this in perspective, Eric as our resident "not-so-expert" expert, will bring a unique perspective of life from with-in the walls of medical school on current modern day issues.

Tortoiseshell by Laura Jones - Life in the "not so fast" lane

Typically, it is very difficult to provide a well rounded picture of someone with a bulleted list. Yet Laura, as demonstrated by the bio she submitted, defied the odds and painted an excellent portrait of herself in bullets. Laura always keeps us on our toes looking forward to her sometimes unorthodox, yet always creative articles.

Laura is a …

• native Knoxvillian (Knoxville, TN… Tennessee Volunteers… Vols… etc.)


• 29 years old (Really!)


• secretary


• copy-editor


• tutor of English


• hymn lyricist


• tea cup collector


• social entrepreneur wannabe


• baby sitter extraordinaire


• recovering Scrabble-a-holic

… who is learning to define herself the way her Savior defines her instead of by the laundry list above.

A Fresh Perspective by Jonathan Randazzo - a glimpse of life viewed as Christian college aged male

Jonathan is 18 year old high school graduate who it currently taking a few classes at the local community college while working, scrimping, saving, begging (ok, maybe not that far), i.e. raising money so he will be able to attend Pensacola Christian College starting in the fall of '09. He feels led by the Lord Jesus Christ to go into camp ministry after graduating from college. He will be enrolled in a Sports Management program at Pensacola to assist him to that end.