There's a good reason some things are called classic.
They've stood the test of time, winning generations of fans.
The Augusta Chronicle, which can trace its roots back to 1785, is a classic, thanks to its readers. Several of our games, columnists and regular features are apparently classic, too.
We asked you recently to rate some of our standing features, and more than 1,000 of you took the time to complete a survey. Thanks.
We've gone cross-eyed tallying the results, but the final numbers are in. They show that many of our longest-running features are still must-read items for survey respondents.
Metro Editor Bill Kirby, whose musings on his little dog and family, tales of Augusta's past and joke of the day have been part of The Chronicle since his return to Augusta in 1992, is a solid favorite. He topped the list of local columnists.
He is joined on the leaderboard by several regular Chronicle features that have been running in the newspaper for decades: The daily crossword puzzle, which apparently was first carried in The Chronicle in 1929; and comics strips Beetle Bailey (Beetle made his newspaper debut in 1950), Blondie (which made its debut in newspapers in 1930), and the Lockhorns (1968).
There are some relative new favorites, too. Advice columnist Amy Dickinson, who joined the lineup in 2002, topped the voting. The comic strip Zits, which also was picked up in 2002, posted solid numbers, too.
Your least favorite features? The Word Salsa game and the bridge column.
We appreciate the input. We'll take the information into consideration when making some tweaks and changes in the next year to The Chronicle.
| never | sometimes | always | |
| puzzles and games | |||
| Daily crossword | 270 | 129 | 614 |
| Jumble | 295 | 185 | 421 |
| Sudoku | 516 | 93 | 265 |
| Word Warp | 462 | 159 | 247 |
| Sunday crossword | 417 | 240 | 240 |
| Scrabble Grams | 513 | 166 | 194 |
| Whatzit? | 503 | 144 | 188 |
| Bridge column | 697 | 58 | 117 |
| Word Salsa | 620 | 134 | 100 |
| Advice Columnists | |||
| Ask Amy, Amy Dickinson | 148 | 202 | 766 |
| Ex-etiquette, (blended family advice) | 354 | 199 | 343 |
| Parent to Parent by Jodie Lynn | 437 | 227 | 203 |
| Parenting advice from John Rosemond | 247 | 186 | 192 |
| Pet Doctor (veterinarian advice) | 296 | 164 | 148 |
| Today's Home Features (Sundays) | |||
| Neighborhood and home profiles | 95 | 165 | 370 |
| Treasures for Your Home (Helaine Fendelman and Joe Rosson) | 192 | 196 | 222 |
| Energy Conservation (conservation advice from Ken Sheinkopf) | 204 | 201 | 214 |
| Ask the Plumber (Ed Del Grande) | 224 | 219 | 163 |
| Divine Design (home design and decorating tips) | 277 | 175 | 148 |
| Food (Wednesdays) | |||
| Karin Calloway (weekly recipe and home cooking column) | 135 | 194 | 297 |
| Relish (recipes and food features from Relish the American Table) | 164 | 179 | 267 |
| Applause (Thursdays) | |||
| Lunch Money (restaurant review columnist Tharon Giddens) | 185 | 162 | 244 |
| Ramblin' Rhodes (country music columnist Don Rhodes) | 286 | 179 | 143 |
| Pop Rocks (entertainment reporter Steven Uhles) | 329 | 168 | 97 |
| Wine Time (wine reviews by Dennis Sodomka) | 356 | 161 | 88 |
| Sonic Spotlight (local musician profile) | 339 | 176 | 72 |
| Homestead Gardening (Fridays) | |||
| Sid Mullis (local gardening advice) | 106 | 153 | 382 |
| The Garden Gnome (local gardening news from Sandy Hodson) | 140 | 217 | 284 |
| Your Faith (Saturdays) | |||
| Gene Norris (religion column by local pastor Gene Norris) | 117 | 99 | 139 |
| Amen Corner (local faith and values news from Kelly Jasper) | 117 | 95 | 135 |
| Metro Columnists | |||
| Bill Kirby (local column of observations by metro editor) | 45 | 86 | 522 |
| City Ink (local government column by Sylvia Cooper) | 117 | 159 | 358 |
| Glynn Moore (Monday humor column) | 118 | 214 | 289 |
| City Core (city government column by reporter Johnny Edwards) | 149 | 207 | 259 |
| Sunday Comics | |||
| Blondie | 72 | 48 | 547 |
| Hi and Lois | 72 | 54 | 528 |
| Beetle Bailey | 94 | 54 | 520 |
| Snuffy Smith | 107 | 58 | 502 |
| Baby Blues | 142 | 53 | 463 |
| Hagar the Horrible | 229 | 74 | 458 |
| Garfield | 138 | 77 | 444 |
| Zits | 180 | 54 | 421 |
| Foxtrot | 228 | 99 | 305 |
| Dilbert | 246 | 123 | 263 |
| Cul de sac | 272 | 105 | 246 |
| Slylock Fox and Comics for Kids | 308 | 121 | 207 |
| Pearls Before Swine | 309 | 127 | 194 |
| Lio | 329 | 117 | 184 |
| Get Fuzzy | 352 | 112 | 161 |
| Brewster Rockit | 437 | 80 | 123 |
| Daily Comics | |||
| Beetle Bailey | 77 | 48 | 575 |
| Snuffy Smith | 77 | 48 | 575 |
| Lockhorns | 76 | 51 | 531 |
| Blondie | 116 | 47 | 528 |
| Family Circus | 97 | 54 | 517 |
| Hi and Lois | 76 | 58 | 516 |
| For Better Or For Worse | 97 | 60 | 483 |
| Hagar the Horrible | 111 | 71 | 466 |
| Baby Blues | 146 | 68 | 451 |
| Garfield | 134 | 92 | 420 |
| Zits | 182 | 61 | 395 |
| Pickles | 271 | 57 | 360 |
| Dilbert | 253 | 112 | 263 |
| Judge Parker | 322 | 67 | 238 |
| Cul de Sac | 290 | 95 | 232 |
| Overboard | 272 | 126 | 217 |
| Frazz | 324 | 81 | 215 |
| The Pajama Diaries | 315 | 102 | 206 |
| Pearls Before Swine | 333 | 109 | 194 |
| Lio | 334 | 102 | 185 |
| The Argyle Sweater | 358 | 88 | 167 |
| Get Fuzzy | 357 | 104 | 160 |
| Brewster Rockit | 463 | 71 | 115 |
| Candorville | 510 | 212 | 103 |
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