DOWNTOWN MARKET FESTIVAL
FARMER'S MARKET OPENS WITH RUN, MUSIC, KIDS' ACTIVITIES
Summertime is surely here as the
Downtown Tifton Farmer's Market opens
Saturday, June 4,
with a street festival at the
old train depot platform on the corner of
Third Street and
Tift Avenue.
The day's events get under way with a 5K Run to the Market road race beginning at 8 a.m. Registration opens at 7:15 a.m. From 9 a.m-12:30 p.m., the Farmer's Market itself will be open along with live entertainment, tractor and farm equipment displays, children's activities including face painting, story time and a bouncy house -- and a lot of food and fun.
The
Downtown Tifton Farmer's Market will be open
every Saturday morning going forward through Saturday,
Oct. 1.
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SENIOR HEALTH
GEORGIA RANKS 39th
Georgia is ranked
No. 39 in the nation according to a
new report on
senior health.
America's Health Rankings Senior Report -- which is released by
United Health Foundation -- says the
obesity rate among
Georgia seniors has
increased to
29.5 percent in 2016, f
rom 25.4 percent in 2013.
But
Georgia does have some
s
trengths: A l
ow prevalence of excessive drinking, h
igh hospice
care use, and a h
igh percentage of senior health screenings.
Other
highlights include:
- In the past year, SNAP (food stamp) reach decreased 21 percent from 87.7 percent to 69.3 percent of adults aged 65-plus in poverty.
- In the past two years, preventable hospitalizations decreased 15 percent from 65.2 to 55.1 discharges per 1,000 Medicare beneficiaries.
- In the past three years, smoking decreased 25 percent from 10.8 percent to 8.1 percent of adults aged 65-plus.
- In the past three years, very good or excellent health status increased 16 percent from 32.9 percent to 38.1 percent of adults aged 65.
But among the c
hallenges among seniors are l
ow flu-vaccination coverage, a h
igh hip fracture rate, and a l
ow percentage of quality nursing-home beds.
Georgia has more than
1 million people 65 and older. That amounts to roughly
10 percent of all the
state's residents, and it's bigger than the entire population of some states. And Georgia's senior population is expected to swell during the next two decades.
Other states in the South wound up in the bottom third of the rankings. They include Texas, at 41; Tennessee, 43; Alabama, 44; Kentucky, 45; Arkansas, 47; Mississippi, 48; and Louisiana, which was 50th.
Massachusetts replaced Vermont as the
healthiest state for seniors, according to the
2016 report, which used 35 measures of senior health.
Besides looking at people
65 and over, the report also
compares the
health of middle-aged Americans in
2014 to middle-aged Americans in
1999 and reveals health concerns for the next generation of older Americans.
By 2030, the senior population is projected to increase by more than 50 percent in 25 states, including Georgia, whose increase of people 65 and older is projected to be 61.4 percent.
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PROCESS YOUR OWN FOOD!
TIFT CANNING PLANT OPEN FOR YOUR SUMMER VEGETABLES
The
Tift County Food Processing Center, an educational public service, is
now open to help residents
process their own food, allowing them to eat healthy by controlling the amount of salt, sugar and fat in their diet.
Located in the back of the
Agriscience Building behind
Tift County High School
(enter the bus entrance off New River Church Road) the processing center is open 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays through July 3, is closed July 4-9, and open on July 10. It is open by appointment during other times of the year.
Agricultural education teachers with the
Tift County School System are responsible for operating the canning plant, whose
purpose is to provide instructional services in preparation, processing and preservation of food products for home use.
The only cost in fully canning produce is
65 cents per metal quart can or
15 cents per glass jar (glass jars are not provided by the facility). Can costs are subject to change from price fluctuations.
Blanching for freezing costs $1 per blanching tray (more than 50 ears of corn or two bushels of peas per tray).
Foods that can be processed include o
kra, s
quash, c
abbage, a
sparagus,
peaches, carrots, c
orn, s
oup, p
ears, s
paghetti sauce, b
oiled peanuts, b
erries, b
eans, t
omatoes, a
pples, g
reens, p
otatoes, p
eas and d
ry products such as flour and sugar.
Anyone who wishes to process food for home use may use the facility. S
ervices available include w
et-pack canning, d
ry-pack canning, b
lanching, p
eeling, c
ooking, c
orn creaming and p
ea shelling.
The food processing center is provided through the cooperative efforts of the
Tift County Board of Education, Tift County Board of Commissioners, Tift County Agriculture Education Department and the Georgia State Department of Education.
For
information,
call 229-387-2475 or 229-387-2400.
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LEROY ROGERS SENIOR CENTER GETS NEW VAN
Tifton's
Leroy Rogers Senior Center has just received a
new 15-passenger van recently approved by
Tifton City Council.
The van will be used to
transport local seniors on recreational outings.
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"Best-Selling Truck for 39 Straight Years"
511 West 7th Street
(229) 382-1300
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SUMMER AR
READING CENTER
READY TO OPEN
The
"Jackson Five" --
Bill Jackson of the
Tift County Foundation for Educational Excellence and his
family -- recently gave up an afternoon to get the
Summer AR Reading Center set up.
The
Accelerated Reader summer program will be open on
Tuesdays and Thursdays from
11 a.m.- 7 p.m. from
June 7 through July 14 at the
United Way of South Central Georgia Betty Jo Roach Community Center on
Fourth Street.
Readers may take
AR tests on
books read during the Reading Center hours.
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FLOWER BLOOMS ENCOURAGING
FOR PECAN GROWERS
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
University of Georgia
Seeing
Georgia pecan trees covered in blooms this spring has
University of Georgia Cooperative Extension pecan specialist
Lenny Wells encouraged about this year's crop.
Although harvest time is still five months away, Wells and
Georgia farmers are assessing what
pecan season will look like by the appearance and number of
female flower blooms.
"To produce fruit, the main thing that you've got to have is those female flowers. If you look at those trees early on and you're not seeing those female flowers on there, then you're definitely not going to have any nuts," Wells said. "If you see the female flowers early in the season, you at least have the potential for them to develop into a good crop."
Looking at
pecan trees a few weeks ago, Wells saw plenty of
blooms opening among the
140,000-plus acres devoted to pecans in
Georgia, but not all of these flowers will develop into nuts.
"At that time, a lot of those flowers looked kind of weak, and a lot of times those weak flowers will end up dropping off. We have seen some of that, but overall I still think we're looking at a
decent crop," he said. "I don't think it's going to be a record crop or anything, but I do think we have the
potential for a
pretty good crop."
Wells added that
"Desirable" pecans have a heavy bloom of female flowers already, but will likely drop between 40 to 60 percent of blooms in June. This is what growers of the Desirable variety expect every year, but it's also why it's an in-demand variety.
Desirables are consistent because they do not bear an extremely heavy crop from one year to the next, said Wells. The number of flower blooms this season's Desirables maintain remains to be seen and is the deciding factor as to whether
Georgia's most popular variety will produce a bumper crop.
Considering all of the challenges that
Georgia pecan growers can face during the summer, it's still too early to estimate this year's crop in yields, Wells said. The
pecan trees need
good pollination and have to overcome
pecan scab disease, which is prevalent among Georgia's most productive varieties. The trees must also fend off any
late-season insect problems, especially
Desirables.
"Certainly, disease is going to be an issue. Scab is already a problem in
Southwest Georgia, where pecan acreage is widespread. Farmers are already seeing some scab on Desirable varieties. That's going to be a battle, but it's a battle every year," Wells said. "The more rain we receive this summer, though, the more intense that battle becomes."
According to the
UGA Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development,
pecans generated
$313.3 million in
farm-gate value in
2014. Georgians can be tentatively optimistic about a similar performance this year.
"The foundation for a good crop is there," Wells said. "When you're looking at a tree and see more than about
60 or 70 percent of your terminal branches with
flowers on them, that's a
sign you've got a
good crop."
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YOUR WEEKEND
...at a Glance
SATURDAY, JUNE 4
- Run to the Market 5K, 8 a.m., Old Train Depot, Third Street and Tift Avenue, Tifton
- Downtown Tifton Farmer's Market & Festival, 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Old Train Depot Platform, Tifton
- Wiregrass Farmers Market, 9 a.m.-Noon, Georgia Museum of Agriculture, Tifton
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MAY 26
Faye D. Troxell, 81, Tifton
Jimmy Drury, 65, Fitzgerald
Oscar Acosta Gomez, Tifton
Sylvia S. Lewis, 81, Adel
MAY 27
Danny Bob Broome, 66, Tifton
Ronnie Melvin Brogdon, 72, Alapaha
Minnie Land Young, 99, O
cilla
MAY 28
"Mike" David Michael Williford, Tifton
Keith Lamar Murray, 39, Nashville
MAY 29
Frances Hall Moore, 89, Worth County
Daisy Lane Tison, 97,
Ashburn
MAY 30
Mary Savanna "Sarah" Colvin Lindsey, 61, Tifton
James Edward Dean, 57, Fitzgerald
MAY 31
Ana Balderas, 55, Tifton
Charles Robert Huff, 69,
Ashburn
JUNE 1
Shirley Sue Stripling Baldree, 79, Tifton
JUNE 2
James Edwin Barnhill, 70,
Tifton
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SERVING YOU WITH PROFESSIONALISM
BEFORE, DURING & AFTER THE SALE
380 Upper Ty Ty Road, Tifton, GA
MLS #: L125323A
Surrounded by nothing but nature,
beautiful 3 bedroom/3 bath home on
106.79 acres with pecan grove, pastures, creeks and streams.
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Dwana Coleman
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Call Us Today!
229-386-4222
It's a Great Time to Sell Your House. Call Us for Details!
Blue Skies & Sunshine Through Each & Every
Real Estate Transaction!
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