This article was originally published by Donalsonville News: https://www.donalsonvillenews.com/2025/01/30/tis-the-season-to-be-frozen/
I went home on Tuesday and picked up my parents’ motor home, driving it back to Auburn the next morning. After loading the Winnebago with essential supplies, four couples took off for Maggie Valley, North Carolina. The occasion was the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Winter Formal, and the year was 1973.
Departing on Thursday seemed reasonable for a long weekend. We were already in North Carolina before we got word that it was snowing in Auburn. It snowed so much that the majority of my SAE fraternity brothers that had planned a more responsible departure on Friday morning did not make it out.
That day became legend in Auburn lore. School was quickly shut down and students poured out into the snow as it just kept falling. Eventually, between eight and 14 inches of snow blanketed the plains, resulting in plenty of material for the snowballs lobbed from the top of Haley Center before they shut it down.
In the meantime, the weather in Maggie Valley was brutally cold. The manmade snow was hard and icy, making skiing even tougher for those of us tackling the slopes. Taking several falls caused much of my frozen moustache to literally break off, causing me to have to shave before our return back to Auburn.
Those that made the trip to the formal had a great time. It was like a small private party with more food and cold beverages than we could possibly consume. The band made the trip, and we danced the night away. Deep down, however, many of us secretly wished we were back in Auburn with all our friends enjoying the type of snow that only happens once in a generation.
This past week, Auburn once again experienced a generational snowstorm. This time, however, the temperatures remained below freezing for much of the next few days.
Snow hung around for three or four days with much of it on the sidewalks and roads turning to ice. That did not stop the students from experiencing the same type of euphoria that my classmates enjoyed 52 years ago.
I made my way to Samford Lawn during the peak of the snow showers. I had missed my chance when I was a student, moved away for 47 years, and wanted to experience what I had missed so long ago.
Do not get me wrong. I did not slide down the hills on a lunch tray or engage in snowball fights. I just stood and watched the sheer joy that was on display in front of Auburn’s most iconic buildings. Thousands of students and townspeople were milling around like we were in a Hallmark Christmas movie. It was special and it was worth the wait.
In the meantime, my children and grandchildren, all living more than 100 miles south of here, easily got two or three times more snow. Our lake place in Florida received seven inches.
Instead of the 35 mm photographs made five decades ago, everyone was a photographer, using their phones to share in real time the memories of the snow of 2025.
My grandchildren all experienced the first big snow of their lifetime in their hometowns. I could see how much fun they were having and know from experience they will remember this past week for the rest of their lives.
As for me, I finally got to experience snow in Auburn. It was everything I had imagined those many years ago. I am glad I did not miss it this time.
About the Author
Daniel (DAN) Evans Ponder, Jr. (Auburn ’76) followed in his father’s footsteps and was initiated into Sigma Alpha Epsilon at Auburn University. Pledging during the summer of 1972 after his graduation from Dothan (AL) High School, Dan was initiated January 13, 1973 during a ceremony awarding of the John O. Moseley Zeal Award to the SAE Chapter at Auburn.
Dan was involved in all aspects of the fraternity and served in numerous leadership roles prior to being elected first as EDA and then EA in his junior year. He lived the three years in the fraternity house prior to his graduation from Auburn summa cum laude in 1976 with a degree in Agricultural Economics.
At the time, Alabama Alpha Mu was the largest fraternity on the Auburn University campus. There were 44 outstanding members in his pledge class.
Dan remained close with a number of his pledge class members over the next 50 years. For many years, a group gathered for golf each year. For the past 10 years, Dan and his college roommate and pledge brother, Bill Moench (Auburn ’78), along with their wives, took trips together, with the goal of visiting all 7 continents. They leave in April for Spain, Northern Africa and Portugal. Following a trip to Antarctica a year ago, only Australia remains on that bucket list for the two longtime friends.
Dan was the fourth generation in his family to enter into the peanut business owned by his family. At the age of 29, he struck out on his own with his younger brother, Ernest Ponder (Georgia ’79), who was an SAE at the University of Georgia. Together, they owned and operated 38 Hardee’s Restaurants before retiring in 2018.
Politics was always of interest to Dan. He has served as Mayor, County Commission Chairman and a Representative in the Georgia Legislature. In 2003, Ponder was awarded the John F. Kennedy Profiles in Courage Award for a speech he gave in the House of Representatives in support of Hate Crimes Legislation. He later was a speaker at the SAE Leadership School regarding that award.
47 years after graduating from Auburn, Dan and his wife, Mary Lou, retired back to Auburn. They live less than a mile from Auburn and the SAE house and have enjoyed watching the new dormitory being built at the fraternity house where he once lived.
Ponder also owned his hometown newspaper until this past year, and continues to write weekly columns under the title of “Ponderings” and “Points to Ponder”. He has penned almost one thousand columns published in area newspapers.
A half century after joining together with a group of young men as pledge brothers, none of whom he knew at the time, he credits his time as an SAE as life changing. “The friendships I made during those days have lasted for a lifetime. SAE, along with the education I received at Auburn, prepared me in so many ways for life in the real world”.
