APRIL 27, 2018
Tifton, Georgia
478-227-7126
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TUNE IN TONIGHT TO RELAY FOR LIFE
The
Tift County Relay for Life,
a fundraiser for the
American Cancer Society,
gets underway at
7 p.m. today
at the
E.B. Hamilton Sports
Complex.
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Diversified Enterprises holds a TV-themed fundraiser to 'Change the Channel on Cancer.' The "M*A*S*H Cancer" event raised $225 with this "Klinger" dress-up contest. From left are Diversified team members David Wilber, Danny Hoover and Darrin Wilson.
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This year's theme is "Change the Channel on Cancer." The opening ceremony/survivor lap is at 7 p.m., and the solemn luminaria ceremony is at 9 p.m. A variety of activities are scheduled in between and after the luminaria.
Anyone who has ever been
diagnosed with
cancer and their
caregivers are encouraged to join tonight's celebration. As the
survivors walk in the opening ceremony, other participants will cheer them on in a demonstration of
support and
celebration.
There are approximately 27 teams composed of businesses and organizations participating in this year's Relay. They have been holding fundraisers leading up to tonight's event, which continues through midnight.
The
Relay For Life of Tift County is a
community event where teams and individuals come together to honor, celebrate and raise funds and awareness in an effort to free the world from the pain and suffering of
cancer. Money raised will help the
American Cancer Society provide free information and support for people facing the
disease and will fund cancer
research for future generations.
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TIFT PLANS ACTIVITIES FOR
OLDER AMERICANS MONTH
May is Older Americans Month, and this year's theme is "Engage At Every Age."
Craig Sowell, T
ift County Older American Month chairman, said a variety of activities are planned throughout the month for local residents age
55 and older.
The George A. Wright Memorial Award Luncheon, the kickoff for the month, will be held at  First Baptist Church on Tuesday, May 1, at 11:30 a.m. Sponsored by Byrd Enterprises and others, the luncheon is given in honor of seniors celebrating "Springtime for the Young at Heart."
The
George A Wright Memorial Award is given to seniors who have contributed to their community.
Other
activities
this month include a Senior Fish Fry at noon May 9, sponsored by the City of Tifton, at the Leroy Rogers Senior Center; a Senior Picnic at 11:30 a.m. May 17, sponsored by the Tift County Recreation Department and the Jay Deason Fund, at the Tift County Recreation Gym; and events such as bingo, a butterbean auction, exercise classes, seminars on vision, on legal and financial
matters, and on natural habitats for bees.
For more information on Older Americans Month activities, call the Tift County Recreation Department at
229-382-3262 or the Leroy Rogers Senior Center at 229-391-3956.
The
Tift County Older American's Organizing Committee has been coordinating senior activities each May
for 40 years.
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CHAMBER OF COMMERCE HOSTS CANDIDATE FORUMS NEXT WEEK
The Tifton-Tift County Chamber of Commerce will host two political candidate forums next week at the Leroy Rogers Senior Center.
Candidates for
Tift County Commission and the
Board of Education in Districts 1, 3 and 5 will be featured on
Tuesday, May 1, at 5:30 p.m., while candidates in Districts 4 and 6 will speak on
Thursday, May 3, also at
5:30 p.m. The forums will only feature candidates who are participating in contested elections.
"Our Governmental Affairs Committee felt it was necessary to have the forum over
two nights because of the
large number of contested races and the number of candidates this year," said Chamber Vice President
Chris Beckham, who will moderate the events.
"And since the
County Commission and
Board of Education districts are the same, the committee also felt it would be more beneficial to the citizens in those districts if they could hear from all of their candidates on the same night."
The May 1 forum will include County Commission District 1 (incumbent Donnie Hester and Raymond Teal), District 3 (incumbent Robert Setters and Tony McBrayer) and Board of Education District 5 (Jarrett Haswell and Sam Wright).
The May 3 forum will include candidates from County Commission District 4 (incumbent Stan Stalnaker, Jonathan Cassell, Jamie Cater and Ronald Norman) and District 6 (incumbent Greg Wood and Lester Potts) as well as Board of Education District 4 (Richard Golden and Jamie Hill) and District 6 (Jimmy Cargle, Rusty Harrelson and Jo Windom.)
There are no incumbents in any of the Board of Education races.
The primary elections will be held Tuesday, May 22, and early voting begins Monday, April 30. Any runoffs will be held on Tuesday, July 17.
This year, contested local races involve candidates in the same party so unless there is a write-in candidate during November's general election, the results of the primaries will determine who will hold each seat. The winners take office in January.
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ROTARY CLUB, TIFT COUNTY
The
Rotary Club of Tifton said a heartfelt
goodbye Wednesday to longtime Rotarian
Leon Benefield and his wife
Caroline.
The
retired professor and
former chair of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College's Division of Science and Mathematics, who began his
ABAC career in
1973, is
relocating to
Marietta to be near family.
Benefield is a past president of the Tifton Rotary Club and also served as a Rotary district governor.
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From left are Jeff Gibbs, Leon Benefield, Rotary President Shaundra Clark and Homer Day.
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During Wednesday's club meeting, Tift County Commissioner Melissa Hughes read a proclamation by the
Tift County Board of Commissioners declaring Wednesday, April 25, as Leon Benefield Day in Tift County.
Benefield is well known for growing a full beard and donning his Santa Claus suit for appearances all over town during the Christmas holidays.
Dr. Homer Day and Dr. Jeff Gibbs, Rotarians who both taught with Benefield at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, shared stories of their time together through the years. The room was decorated in orange and blue, and club members wore orange in honor of Benefield's alma mater, Auburn University.
Beau Byrd, national president of the
Auburn Alumni Association and son of
William Byrd of
Tifton, spoke on
Auburn University's history and alumni activities. The university was established in
1856, and currently has
225,000 alumni. Among them is
Tim Cook, CEO of
Apple. Ninety-three percent of
Auburn graduates say they would attend the university again,
Byrd said.
Benefield led the Rotary group in a
cheer of
"War Eagle!"
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TIFTAREA ACADEMY PANTHERS
BASEBALL TEAM WINS REGION 3-AAA
The Tiftarea Academy Panthers are region champs. They defeated Deerfield-Windsor, 19-7, Wednesday night to win the GISA Region 3-AAA championship. The Panthers have a final regular season game before they enter the state playoffs.
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LEGAL FOOD FRENZY COLLECTING DONATIONS FOR NEEDY CHILDREN
The
Tifton Legal Food Frenzy is sponsoring an event beginning at
noon Saturday in
Veterans Park in
Downtown Tifton.
There will be slides, games and face-painting for children, and pets available for adoption form the Tift County Animal Shelter. At
Tifton Gardens park across Main Street from Veterans Park will be an interactive music workshop at
4 p.m., followed by live music by
Daniel Parrish at
5 p.m., and
Sailing to Denver at
6:30 p.m.
The organizers,
Tift County's legal community, are accepting
non-perishable food items and
monetary donations to help address
child hunger in
Tifton and Tift County.
All
proceeds stay in
Tifton to
aid local children. Organizers say
67 percent of
Tifton children do not get enough
food assistance in the summer months. Donations, which are
tax deductible, may also made at the
State Bar Association office on
Second Street in Tifton,
The
7th Annual Georgia Legal Food Frenzy is a
statewide food and fund drive led by Georgia's
legal community. The 2018 competition is presented by the
Office of the Attorney General and the
Young Lawyers Division of the
State Bar of Georgia to benefit the
Georgia Food Bank Association.
More than
200 law firms and legal organizations are going head-to-head, seeing who can raise the most food and funds for their regional food bank. For every dollar raised, teams will earn four points, and for every pound of food raised they earn one point.
Last year's
competition raised a record
$329,000 and
19,000 pounds for
Georgia's food banks. With
each dollar donated, the food banks can distribute on average
$9 worth of
groceries into the community because they can leverage bulk purchasing, donor relationships and volunteers.
"One in four children in Georgia are food insecure," said Attorney General Chris Carr. "Over 60 percent of those children are eligible for free or reduced lunches during the school year, but when they are home for the summer, their families often struggle to put enough food on the table. The Legal Food Frenzy is timed to help Georgia's regional food banks fulfill an increased demand during the summer, and we are grateful to Georgia's legal community for coming together to help us meet this need."
For
information, contact
Assistant District Attorney
Cameron S. Roberts of the Tifton Judicial District at
croberts@pacga.org,
229-
386-7943.
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OCILLA SETS DAVE PRATER FESTIVAL
TO REMEMBER 'SOUL MAN'
Ocilla will hold its 4th Annual Dave "Soul Man" Prater Music Festival on May 9-11.
In 2015, the City of Ocilla began honoring the late R&B music legend and Ocilla native Dave Prater of the duo Sam & Dave, known for such hits as "Soul Man" and "Hold On, I'm Comin'."
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DAVE PRATER
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This year's events
begin Wednesday, May 9, with a community church service at 6 p.m., at Mt. Olive AME Church. On Thursday,
May 10, a dinner at Irwin County High School includes the ceremony for the Dave Prater Music Scholarship winner. At last year's festival, three
Irwin County High seniors, interested in pursuing musical careers,
received
scholarships in Prater's name.
Festivities continue 6-10 p.m. Friday,
May 11, with a street dance and performances by the Irwin County High Jazz Band and by Jerry Moss and the Southern Soul Band.
For information and dinner tickets, contact Ocilla City Hall, 229-468-5141; or Ocilla-Irwin Chamber of Commerce, 229-468-9114.
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OMEGA SCHOOL HONORS TOP READERS
Omega Elementary's Readers of the Year gather for a photo along with Media Specialist Lacy Cargle, Principal Victoria Melton and Assistant Principal Jim Byers. The school's top readers include:
Kindergarten, Camelia Hendly; first grade, Dinicio Heavener; second grade, Tony Salazar; third grade, Ella Cargle; fourth grade, Walton Slaven; and fifth grade, Valeria Torres.
Students wrote an essay about what reading means to them along with teacher nominations attached. All essays were sent to the Tift County Reading Association committee for selection. Omega Elementary's winners will be honored at the Reader of the Year reception May 3.
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LIGHTNING' STRIKES:
Cody Mock, a wildlife major from Coolidge, and Kyle Parris, a wildlife major from Cleveland, captured the top prize in the "Lightning Talk" presentations during the recent Student Engagement Programs (STEPS) symposium at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. They
spoke on their  research on "Late Winter and Spring Roost Ecology of Rafinesque's Big-Eared Bat."
Hannah King, a biology major from Tifton, won first place in the symposium poster competition. ... LENDING A PRAYERFUL HAND: Family Promise of Tift Area is meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, May 14, at First Church of the Nazarene on N. Tift Avenue. The nonprofit group seeks to help homeless families with children achieve self-sustaining independence through an ecumenical, community-based response. The meeting is open to the public.
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20th CENTURY LIBRARY CLUB TO HOLD FASHION SHOW, COLLECT ITEMS SATURDAY FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE VICTIMS
The
GFWC Tifton 20th Century Library Club is hosting the third annual "Fashion with a Passion" fundraising
fashion show and dinner at 6 p.m.
Tuesday, May 8, at the
Leroy Rogers Senior Center in
Tifton.
The
fashion show features local women involved in community projects and raises money to
fund a
scholarship to
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, which the
club awards to a student.
The cost to attend is
$20. For
tickets, call
Shirene Daniell at 229-382-7525, or see Latasha Patrick at the
Leroy Rogers Senior Center.
The 20th Century Library Club is also participating in a statewide "GFWC Day of Service" from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. this Saturday, April 28, at the Walmart on U.S. Highway 82 to collect personal care items for Ruth's Cottage, local domestic violence shelter, and to raise awareness of the General Federation of Women's Clubs' national signature project -- domestic violence awareness and prevention.
Tifton Club members on Saturday will be greeting the public, sharing information about local resources for victims and collecting items for victims of all ages such as toilet paper, paper towels, trash bags, diapers, shampoo, body wash, deodorant, hair brushes, feminine hygiene products, razors, toothbrushes, toothpaste and gift cards.
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Tifton's Locally Owned Electronic Newspaper!
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478-227-7126
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YOUR WEEKEND
.
..at a Glance
FRIDAY, APRIL 27
-
Cities Week Concert (Corey Sumner, Thomas Merrit, The Grapevine Band), 6-10 p.m., Main Street, Sylvester
- Tift County Relay for Life, 7 p.m., E.B. Hamilton Recreation Complex, Tifton
- BIG Little River Paddle Race, 8 a.m., Reed Bingham State Park, Adel
- Wiregrass Farmers Market, 9 a.m.-Noon, Ga. Museum of Agriculture, Tifton
- Healthy Kids Day, 10 a.m.-Noon, Tiftarea YMCA, Tifton
- 20th Century Library Club Day of Service, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Walmart, Tifton
- Kids at Art: Blue Dog, 10 a.m., Museum of Arts & Heritage, Tifton
- Tifton Legal Food Frenzy, Noon, Veterans Park, Downtown Tifton
- Legal Food Frenzy Free Concerts (Music Workshop, Daniel Parrish, Sailing to Denver), 4-7:30 p.m., Tifton Gardens stage, Downtown Tifton
- Church in the Park (Awaken Church), 5-7 p.m., concert stage in Fulwood Park, Tifton
- International Food Festival, 6-8 p.m., Our Divine Saviour Catholic Church, Tifton
- Veterans Memorial Park Gospel Sing, 7 p.m., Tift Theatre for the Performing Arts, Tifton
SUNDAY, APRIL 29
-
Operation Sock Drop, 4-6
p.m., E.B. Hamilton
Recreation
Complex, Tifton
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APRIL 19
William Evans Lott, 71, Ty Ty
Hollie Faith Mullis, 17, Tifton
Edith Moore Parker, 97, Palm Beach Gardens Fla., formerly of Tifton
APRIL 20
Lewis "Slim" Corbin, 74, Tifton
Winfred Arthur Tucker, 76, Fitzgerald
Wilda E. Goldinger, 85, Justin, Texas
APRIL 21
Mary Ann Hand York, 83, Rebecca
Donnie Edward Hasty, 83, Tifton
Heywood Apperson, 84, Sylvester
Bennie M. Powell, 98, Sylvester
Betty L. Avera Patten, 93, Lenox
Bobbie J. Anglon, 83, Fitzgerald
Betty Nell Whitley, 78, Ocilla
Wayne E. Blue, 81, Sycamore
APRIL 22
G. Pait Willis, 78, Ty Ty
William "Glen" McBrayer, 86, Tifton
James Perleman McWaters, 71, Enigma
Bubber Davis, 66, Fitzgerald
Harlin B. Calhoun Jr., 61, Conyers
John Culpepper, 88, Sylvester
Larry K. Dalrymple, 55, Ashburn
Norma Israel Denham, 86, Sycamore
Mary C. Bennett, 82, Valdosta
Ray W. Reed, 83, St. Marys
APRIL 23
Jamey Richard Sanders, 35, Tifton
James Larry Winter, 74, Tifton
Edna Anna Greene Pless, 96, Tifton
Bettie Jean Cantrell Burkhead, 76, Omega
APRIL 24
Melissa Brown Hanson, 38, Enigma
Ralph Eugene Stracke, 90, Albany
APRIL 25
Ouida "Faye" Lewis Cadwell, 73, Tifton
Allan Geoffrey Nelson, 63, Nashville
Jessie Deborah Phillips, 69, Nashville
James Edward Nichols, 42, Fitzgerald
William F. "Mac" McCann, 73,
Ashburn
Reyna Rivera, 34,
Adel
APRIL 26
Betty Radney, 88, Morven
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318 East 30th St., Tifton, GA
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128494
This 1,350-square-foot home has 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, new updated tile shower,
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FRANK SAYLES JR.
Editor & Publisher
iheardit@tiftongrapevine.com
A Service of Sayles Unlimited Marketing LLC
478-227-7126
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