Driving Notes

The Gospel Music Association is pleased to announce nominees for the 53rd Annual GMA Dove Awards. Top nominations include songwriter and producer Jeff Pardo with nine (9) nominations, Matthew West and Maverick City Music with seven (7) nominations each, six (6) nominations for Anne Wilson, Ben Glover, FOR KING + COUNTRY, Jeff Sojka, Jonathan Smith and Phil Wickham and five (5) for Brandon Lake, CeCe Winans, Chandler Moore, Chris Brown, Jonathan Jay, and Steven Furtick. Voted on by the GMA Professional Membership, this year’s nominees were chosen from over 2,087 submitted entries.

Song of the Year nominations
“Be Alright” (Writers) Sean Cook, Evan Craft, Willy Gonzalez
“Believe For It” (Writers) Dwan Hill, Kyle Lee, CeCe Winans, Mitch Wong
“Come What May” (Writers) Darren Mulligan, Jeff Pardo
“Good God Almighty” (Writers) David Crowder, Ben Glover, Jeff Sojka
“Hold On To Me” (Writers) Lauren Daigle, Paul Duncan, Paul Mabury
“House Of The Lord” (Writers) Jonathan Smith, Phil Wickham
“Jireh” (Writers) Chris Brown, Steven Furtick, Chandler Moore, Naomi Raine
“Look What You’ve Done” (Writers) Tasha Layton, AJ Pruis, Keith Everette Smith, Matthew West
“My Jesus” (Writers) Jeff Pardo, Matthew West, Anne Wilson
“Promises” (Writers) Keila Alvarado, Joe L. Barnes, Dante Bowe, Phillip Carrington Gaines, Lemuel Marin, Aaron Moses
“Rattle!” (Writers) Chris Brown, Steven Furtick, Brandon Lake

Artist of the Year nominations
CeCe Winans
FOR KING + COUNTRY
Maverick City Music
We The Kingdom
Zach Williams

Read the complete release and list of nominees at this link from GMA.

I am…Davy Crockett. Congratulations to Joy of Bellville, who guessed correctly and wins the $5 gift card to Round Hill Dairy Ice Cream.

Thanks for listening!
– Joe

Here are some ‘who knews’ on July 4th travel this year:

AAA is reporting that more than 47.9 million Americans, including a record 2.2 million Ohioans, will travel this Independence Day holiday weekend (June 30 – July 4). This is an increase of 3.7% nationally, and 3.8% for Ohio. While national travel numbers are expected to fall just shy of 2019, AAA expects Ohio travel will build on the record travel numbers set in 2021 to reach a new high this Independence Day.

Despite historically high gas prices, a record number of people are planning a holiday road trip, with 42 million Americans (nearly 2.1 million Ohioans) hitting the road this Independence Day travel period.

AAA predicts Independence Day holiday air travel will grow by 1.5% nationally with 3.55 million Americans flying during the holiday travel period. Ohio air travel numbers will fall 1.2% compared to last Independence Day, with just over 70,000 Ohioans flying during the five-day holiday period. Higher flight costs, recent issues with air travel and ongoing concerns of cancelations and delays may be pushing more people to drive this year.

A few other tidbits:

Woman finds stash of cash in garage sale couch – https://abc7news.com/money-in-couch-woman-finds-cash-sofa-craigslist-california/11916367/

6th grader gets yearbook turnaround – https://kdvr.com/news/high-schoolers-step-in-to-help-after-6th-grader-says-no-one-signed-his-yearbook/

Congratulations to Ruth from Mount Vernon, who guessed correctly and wins the $5 gift card to Round Hill Dairy.

Thanks for listening!
– Brogan and Joe

Today we shared Brogan’s conversation with Rev. Dave Matos, Chaplain for Hospice of North Central Ohio. Dave shared about plans for this year’s Camp Hope. You can listen to the conversation here at our SoundCloud link.

The link below also has registration information.

https://www.hospiceofnorthcentralohio.org/2022-camp-hope-registration

This is also a big week for bridge birthdays. Who knew?

• the Brooklyn Bridge opened May 24, 1883, connecting New York City and Brooklyn over the East River
• the Golden Gate bridge opened May 27, 1937 in San Francisco. Did you know that more than 200,000 people paid 25 cents to walk the new bridge?

Thanks for listening!
– Joe

So today we shared the name origins of some of our famous cities…here’s the list:

Baton Rouge, LA – red stick (French)

Boise, ID – woods (French)

Des Moines, IA – of the monks (French)

Terre Haute, IN – high ground (French)

Detroit, MI – strait (French)

Anaheim, CA – hybrid of Santa Ana and the German word for home

Philadelphia, PA – brotherly love (Greek)

Athens, OH and GA – named for the Greek capital

Phoenix, AZ – named for the immortal bird of Greek mythology

Cincinnati, OH – curly hair (Latin) named for Lucius Cincinnatus – a Roman hero

Chicago, IL – wild onion (Native American)

Milwaukee, WI – gathering place (Native American)

Tucson, AZ – base of the black hill (Native American)

Los Angeles, CA – the angels (Spanish)

Amarillo, TX – yellow (Spanish)

Santa Fe, NM – holy faith (Spanish)

El Paso, TX – the pass (Spanish)

Las Vegas, NV – the meadows (Spanish)

Memphis, TN – city in ancient Egypt, named by Andrew Jackson b/c of its location on the Nile-like Mississippi River

Cairo, IL – like the Egyptian capital, pronounced CAY-roh by the natives

Odessa, TX – city in Russia, named by Russian/Ukrainian rail workers

Thanks for listening!
– Joe and Brogan

Who Knew May the 4th Be With You would be a rallying cry to start a Star Wars Day?

It is…and to learn more about one of the most popular movie franchises in history, click here!

Who Knew May 4th was a day to celebrate the 45 RPM record?

It is! Read more from DaysoftheYear.com by clicking this link!

I am…Audrey Hepburn, actress and humanitarian. Congratulations to Stephanie from Mount Vernon, who guessed correctly and wins the backpack and Our Daily Bread devotional.

Thanks for listening!
– Joe and Brogan

Today we honored Morse Code Day with…

I am…Samuel Morse!

Congratulations to Maude from Mount Vernon, who guessed correctly and wins the WNZR drawstring backpack and the Our Daily Bread devotionals.

Today is also National Tell A Story Day, so we shared some of our favorite stories as kids. Here are some of the books we mentioned:

The third Wednesday of April is National Banana Day!

Some fun facts about this popular fruit (which is actually an herb):

A banana is about 100 calories and contains a lot of fiber and potassium, so it is very good for the treatment of high blood pressure, ulcers, calcium loss and some cancers.

Bananas are rich at manganese, vitamin B6 and vitamin C.

There are more than 1,000 varieties of bananas, but the most widely eaten in the United States is Cavendish. 

Who Knew? Cavendish bananas were named after William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire. Though they were not the first known banana specimens in Europe, in around 1834 Cavendish received a shipment of bananas. His head gardener and friend, Sir Joseph Paxton, cultivated them in the greenhouses of Chatsworth House. The plants were botanically described by Paxton as Musa cavendishii. For his work, Paxton won a medal at the 1835 Royal Horticultural Society show.

Some popular uses of bananas include: banana splits, banana bread, a peanut butter and banana sandwich, Bananas Foster and a frozen chocolate-covered banana.

Who Knew? Bananas Foster was named for a New Orleans businessman? Read more by clicking here.

This person is our own Dylan Elliott! Congratulations to Eric from Mount Vernon, who wins the drawstring backpack and Our Daily Bread devotional.

Thanks for listening!
– Joe and Dylan

Today we featured Marcy Rinehart’s conversation with Amy Grant ahead of her concert tomorrow night at the Knox Memorial Theater.

Click this Soundcloud link for all the segments!

• I was born April 6, 1945 in New York City
• My real name is William December Williams
• I have a twin sister, Loretta
• I made my theatre debut at age 7
• I won a painting scholarship to the National Academy of Fine Arts and Design
• I played football legend Gale Sayers in Brian’s Song
• Most kids and adults know me best as Lando Calrissian

I am…BILLY DEE WILLIAMS! Congratulations to Mark from Utica, who wins the backpack and Our Daily Bread devotional!

Thanks for listening!
– Joe and Dylan