"O Statesboro, where the sun smiles; where the evergreen grows from mile to mile." --Lyrics to "O Statesboro, Where the Sun Smiles," by Wemberly Ponder As a five-year-old "colored" boy growing up on Cotton Avenue in the 1950s, Wemberly Ponder remembers being transfixed to a telecast that featured a concert pianist playing the most beautiful sounds he'd ever heard. Undaunted by racial disparities that plagued the era, Ponder began a nightly petition: "Lord, please help me learn how to play the piano." So while many boys were praying for a new bicycle, football or fishing pole, Ponder was sowing the seeds that would reap his talent.