THOMPSON, RUTLAND, TURNER, CAMPBELL, PURSER ALSO CITED
Roger Dill was named to the
Tifton-Tift County Chamber of Commerce's Wall of Fame during the organization's annual banquet
Thursday night at the
University of Georgia Tifton Campus Conference Center.
Also honored were Tift County Commission Chairman
Grady Thompson, who received the
Stafford Award;
Kim Rutland, chairperson of the Tift County Board of Education, who received the
Prince Businesswoman of the Year Award;
Fortson Turner, who received the
John Hunt Entrepreneur of the Year Award;
Maghan Campbell, who received the
J. Lamar
From left: Maghan Campbell, Lisa Purser, Grady Thompson, Roger Dill, Kim Rutland, Fortson Turner
Branch Award; and
Lisa Purser, who was named the Chamber's
Ambassador of the Year.
Dill, an
Irwin County native, is an engineer by trade. He spent 23 years with the
Ga. Department of Transportation and 21 more in the construction business. He has spent the past 15 years as a consultant in the transportation business, aiding Tift County's economic development efforts.
He has also served as the interim county manager, interim president of the Chamber of Commerce and served on the boards of the
ABAC Foundation, the
Tiftarea YMCA,
Springhill Country Club, the
Agrirama Authority, the
Tift County Recreation Department and spent 25 years as a high school football official.
Since
1974, the
Stafford Award has been given to a community leader who has contributed to local economic development. Thompson has been involved in agri-business for nearly
50 years in
Tift County and has earned a reputation as one of the most knowledgeable experts in the state on drilling and water conservation. He has twice served as chairman of the
Middle South Georgia Soil & Water Conservation District, is the three-time president of the
Georgia Drillers Association and is the chairman of the
Water Wells Standards Advisory Council for Georgia.
He has been
Tift County Commission chairman for
14 years, is on the board of
South Georgia Banking Co., and is a memberof the
Tifton Rotary Club. He has also been a member of the Chamber for 35 years and has served as a board member and past chairman of the Chamber's Agri-Business Committee.
The
Prince Business Woman of the Year award is given to an outstanding business woman who has demonstrated excellence in her profession while dedicating her time and talents in the community. Aside from her duties with the
Board of Education, Rutland is director of the UGA Tifton Campus Conference Center, which provides conference facilities and support for up to 450 events per year.
Rutland has previously served as a board member for the
Chamber of Commerce, the
Tift County Foundation for Educational Excellence, the
Tift County Public Library and the
United Way.
The
John Hunt Entrepreneur of the Year Award is given to an individual responsible for growing their business and jobs in Tift County.
Turner is co-owner of
Turner's Furniture, which has 10 stores in
South Georgia and
North Florida, and a distribution center in
Tifton which is expanding. He was the store manager of
Turner's Fine Furniture in Tifton before becoming owner of the company in
2003, guiding the company's growth to becoming the largest independent furniture retailer in
South Georgia.
The company has also received the
Cox Family Enterprise/Georgia Trend Award as the
Family Business of the Year in
2009 and celebrated its centennial in 2015.
The
J. Lamar Branch Award is given annually to a
"rookie" Chamber of Commerce member who best exhibits the leadership style personified by Branch. Campbell is marketing director for
South Georgia Banking Co. and is a graduate of UGA's Terry College of Business. She has been involved in community activities, including a stint as chair for the
Tift County American Cancer Society Relay for Life when it raised the most money per capita of any such event in the United States. She is also involved with ministries at
First Baptist Church.
Purser, sales manager at
Georgia Premier Services, became active with the
Chamber Ambassadors shortly after moving to Tifton a few years ago. The Ambassadors serve the Chamber at functions throughout the year, including ribbon cuttings, the golf tournament and membership meetings.
Purser is also a singer who performs locally.
Chamber of Commerce President
Brian Marlowe detailed the job-creation successes in
Tift County last year. He said more than
400 new jobs were created and noted the creation, expansion and relocation of several businesses and industries.
Last year's growth is a continuation of a trend, Marlowe said. Compared to five years ago when the local unemployment rate was more than 12 percent, the current rate has fallen to 5.3 percent.
Outgoing Chamber Chairman Dr.
Joe West thanked board members, volunteers and staff for a productive year and handed the gavel to the 2016 Chairman
Morris Tankersley.
MONDAY IS VOTER REGISTRATION DEADLINE
If you want to cast a
ballot in
Georgia's upcoming
presidential primary, and you're not yet
registered to vote, then you have through
Monday to register.
If a
runoff is needed in the presidential primary, it will be held on
March 28.
There are candidates on Georgia's March 1 ballot who have dropped out of the race since qualifying on Dec. 1.
On the Democratic ballot are: Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Martin O'Malley and Michael Steinberg.
On the Republican ballot are: Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina, Chris Christie, Donald Trump, George Pataki, Jeb Bush, John Kasich, Lindsey Graham, Marco Rubio, Mike Huckabee, Rand Paul, Rick Santorum and Ted Cruz.
AREA SPEEDWAY CONVERTING TO DIRT TRACK
South Georgia Motorsports Park in Cecil, located between U.S. Highway 41 and Interstate 75 south of Adel, is
converting from an asphalt to a dirt track.
Officials say they will put 10 inches of Georgia clay on the track and remove the outer pit wall, making the track approximately 100 feet wide for racing. With the clay, an irrigation system will be installed to maintain the moisture level to keep the track from getting too dry and dusty during races.
The track is open this weekend: Today, Friday, Jan. 29, there are Test-n-Tune, Fun Runs and Grudge Racing from 6-10 p.m., and again from 1-6 p.m. on Saturday.
One year ago, Ozzy Moya, the owner of the Orlando Speedworld and the Lakeland, Fla., Dragstrip, bought the combination quarter-mile drag strip and half-mile paved track. In August 2015, the Ga. Department of Revenue had seized the facility when its previous owners owed $90,000 to the Department of Revenue.
South Georgia Motorsports Park has held races sanctioned by the National Hot Rod Association and by NASCAR.
SORORITY HELPS NEEDY STUDENTS
Members of Sigma Alpha Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. donate winter wraps (coats, hats, gloves and socks) along with book bags and school supplies to Tift County school social workers April Holmes and Michael Norman. The items will be given to needy children at the primary and elementary school levels.
UP, UP AND AWAY!
A crop duster from Thrush Aircraft left the UGA Tifton Campus' Vegetable Park this week after being on display for the Georgia Peanut Farm Show.
Watch this cool video, at right, of the plane's departure, filmed by Tiffany Wiggins.
UGA Tifton students this week have been celebrating the
University of Georgia's 231st birthday with
cupcakes. Established in
1785 as the first public land grant university,
UGA has become a highly regarded institution of research, extension and teaching around the world.
University of Georgia Tifton student ambassadors Christina Garner, left, and Megan Powell helped make cupcakes for the local celebration.
A SEEDY SATURDAY: ANNUAL PLANT AND SEED SWAP JAN. 30
Bring your excess plants and bulbs leftover from thinning garden beds, saved heirloom garden seeds and all matter of extra seeds to share with others interested in gardening on Saturday, Jan. 30 from 9:30- 10:30 a.m.
The annual Wiregrass Farmers Market plant and seed swap will be in the lobby of the Georgia Museum of Agriculture. Admission to the swap is free, and you are welcome to bring items to swap or come with nothing but your knowledge and questions -- and leave with a few plants.
No money is to change hands for any of the plants or seeds.
There will be a
local sharpener on hand, and participants in the swap are welcome to bring their favorite
gardening tool and have it
sharpened for free.
JoBeth Easters, market vendor and board member, will host an activity table where young and old can learn how to make seed tapes.
Saturday, Jan. 30, at the Rattlesnake Roundup grounds in Whigham, Ga.
The event features snake handling, arts and crafts, food vendors and more.
Gates open at 8 a.m., and admission is $2. Kids
activities include bounce houses, zip lines and slides.
Each year on the
last Saturday in
January, the
WhighamCommunity Club sponsors the Rattlesnake Roundup, which attracts approximately 20,000 visitors.
At the roundup,
professional snake handlers demonstrate the milking of snake venom from an Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake.
The Rattlesnake Round-Up Grounds are located at267 E. Broad Ave. (U.S. Highway 84) in Whigham.
For information, contact the Cairo-Grady County Chamber of Commerce at 229-377-3663.
ANNETTE RIGDON SWAN ART EXHIBIT OPENS
The Georgia Museum of Agriculture Gallery in partnership with Tiftarea Artisans has opened a retrospective exhibit honoring local artist Annette Rigdon Swan.
Swan has had a prolific artistic career, producing hundreds of pieces of art scattered across the South in collections, exhibits, and private collectors' homes. Traditionally trained in oils, her favorite subject is people. She considers herself an Impressionist.
Even at the age of 96, she is still active in the Tifton arts community, hosting artist groups on Tuesdays. She has retired her oils for the most part and now favors pastels and watercolors.
The exhibit will be included in the GMA's daily admission ticket and free with a current GMA Season Pass. The exhibit remains on display until Feb. 27.
26th Annual Tift County Forestry and Pine Seedling
Scholarship Pageant
February 20, 2016
Tift Theatre for the Performing Arts
Tifton, Georgia
Dianne Dominy, Director
"Promoting the Forestry Industry for Tift County"
Reigning Tift County Forestry Queens
Madison Thornhill - Miss
McKenzie Warren - Teen
Shelby Hicks - Junior
Summer Miller - Little
Breana Jimenez - Tiny
Morgan Hicks - Teeny
Sutton Lovett - Baby
Taylor Jones - Hospitality
Winners will represent Tift County at the 77th annual
Miss Georgia Forestry Pageant held each year in Tifton!
AGE DIVISIONS:
BABY MISS AGES BIRTH TO 23 MONTHS
TEENY MISS AGES 2 TO 3 YEARS
TINY MISS AGES 4 TO 6 YEARS
LITTLE MISS AGES 7 TO 9 YEARS
JUNIOR MISS AGES 10 TO 12 YEARS
TEEN MISS AGES 13 TO 16 YEARS
MISS AGES 17 TO 24 YEARS
PRIZES: CUSTOM CROWN AND CROWNING PIN, FLOWERS, GIFTS, TROPHIES, SILVER ENGRAVED TRAY, CUSTOM EMBROIDERED SASH, SAVINGS BONDS AND CASH SCHOLARSHIPS
Entry fee paid to the State Georgia Forestry Pageant in Tifton / Open to all surrounding counties!
For more information or to enter call 229-386-2681 or 229-238-2851
Or pick up applications at Annie's Place Gift Shoppe, 1019 Love Ave., Tifton
'RALLY FOR READING' AIDS SUMMER READING PROGRAM
Ricki Reader and Mike Brumby are ready to 'rally.'
The Tift County Foundation for Educational Excellence and Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College once again will hold a "Rally for Reading" tennis event.
The event is from
1:30-4:30 p.m. Feb. 7at ABAC's Red Hill Tennis Center and pairs individuals with the ABAC men's and women's tennis teams for an afternoon of
"fun doubles."
About
$5,200 has been raised at the
event during the past two years for the education foundation's summer reading program.
Entry fee is a $100 donation to the education foundation and is limited to the first 36 participants. One may also sponsor an ABAC tennis player for the event; sponsorships will benefit the ABAC tennis teams.
For information, call Mike Brumby at 229-382-7515.
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GUITAR-FLUTE DUO PERFORM TUESDAY, FEB. 2
The
First Tuesday Concert Series on
Feb. 2 features
"A Night with Duo Allant" at 7 p.m. in the Chapel of All Faiths at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. The concert is free.
Classical guitarist Francois Fowler and flutist Kathryn Thomas Umble
make up Duo Allant. They are recognized for a high level of musicianship and artistry. Fowler is a former faculty member in the ABAC music department. This will be his third performance with the First Tuesday Series. Umble is an assistant professor of flute at Youngstown State University and has served on the faculties of Bowling Green State University and Grove City College.
The two musicians' repertoire spans more than 400 years of music from Brazil, Japan, Canada, United States, Great Britain, Argentina and France. Recent performances by the duo include stops at Penn State University's Esber Hall, the Dayton Classical Guitar Society, the Pittsburgh Music Academy, the Faculty Artist Series at Youngstown State University, and the Ohio Cultural Alliance and Defiance Community Cultural Council Chamber Music Series.
The First Tuesday series, now in its 14th year, features regional professional artists on the first Tuesdays of five months during the year. Dr. Susan Roe, director of music for the School of Liberal Arts, is the First Tuesday program director. For more information, contact Roe at [email protected]
The Kiwanis Club of Tifton will be awarding the second annual Kiwanis Arts Citizen of the Year Award this year. The club is seeking nominations, which may be sent to the Kiwanis Club of Tifton, Attn: Showcase Committee, P. O. Box 1848, Tifton, GA 31793 or emailed to [email protected] and received by Feb. 17.
The Kiwanis Club is also sponsoring its annual Art and Music Showcase, which allows students the opportunity to demonstrate their talents in a competitive atmosphere. This year, the showcase will be March 11 at 6 p.m. at the Tift County High School Performing Arts Center.
Contestants must be in grades 4 through 12 and students of a Tift County public, private or home school. Applications for the show are due by March 2. At the state level of competition in Albany on April, 30, a total of $15,000 in educational scholarships will be awarded to winners in the ninth through 12th grade levels.
For information, call Tom Shoup at 382-7153 or 388-2142.
Plant & Seed Swap, 9:30-10:30 a.m., Ga. Museum of Agriculture, Tifton
JAN. 21
Billy Elbert "Goose" Connell, 69, Tifton
Mary L. Luke, 89, Tifton
Kimberly Crapse, 52, Hahira
Jeffery Oyer, 45, Wray
JAN. 22
Emory LaVerne Peters, 73, Eldorado
Barbara Thompson Erskine, 80, Tifton
Danny Silas "Rocky" Hutto Sr., 62, Fitzgerald
Sara Elizabeth Timmons Kruse, 92, Columbus
JAN. 23
William Lee "Billy" Wood, 82, Fayetteville
Irma Littleton Rodenberger, 78, Albany
JAN. 24
John Henry Folsom, 85, Adel
Beverly Lynn Adams Gibbs, 56, Adel
JAN. 25
James "Bat Saw" Couson 69, Tifton
JAN. 26
Alan Crews Griffin, 60, Tifton
Rayford Morton Odom, 88, Nashville
Bessie Jane Evers Wells Nelson, 86, Fitzgerald
John Michael Morgan, 69, Harriman, Tenn.
Grace Hunter Hudson, 87, Irwin County
Bobby Lee Blaine, 74, Ashburn
JAN. 27
Tracy Suggs, 65, Ashburn
John E. Bodin, 79, Ben Hill County
Joe Glenn Richardson, 62, Adel
JAN. 28
Khorsand (Kaine) Bondari, 76, Tifton
Carolyn McCrary Lawson, 83, Sylvester
SERVING YOU WITH PROFESSIONALISM
BEFORE, DURING & AFTER THE SALE
$319,500
14084 North 125 State Road, Tifton, GA
MLS #:R125542A
Awesome home on 19 +/- acres located in Berrien County with 4,236 square feet of living space that includes 2 dens, living area, kitchen, formal dining, informal dining, 4 bedrooms, a sun room and a game room. Remodeled kitchen with granite countertops, new cabinets, appliances, large bar, breakfast, formal dining/living room. Den with large fireplace, 2 bedrooms 1 bath downstairs. Upstairs is Master Suite with custom-filed bathroom, sunroom overlooking pastures and pond, Den and a pool room over the carport. Upstairs you have your own private deck for sunning or just watching the deer, horses, chicken and ducks -- a homeowner's delight. Also located are adequate barns for storing hay, a separate tack barn for all your saddles and bridles. Just minutes from Tifton, Nashville or Valdosta. This home is a must see!
Board of Education, Rutland
