Tift Goes to State

MARCH 10, 2017

Tifton, Georgia

478-227-7126

tiftongrapevine.com

TIFT PLAYS FOR STATE TITLE

TCHS vs. NORCROSS ON SATURDAY

Tift County High School is going for its third state basketball championship on Saturday when Tift faces Norcross High at 8 p.m. at Georgia Tech.

The Class 7A championship pits the Blue Devils vs. the Blue Devils --- both high schools have the same mascot name.

Tift County High School (28-2) has won the state basketball title in 2014 and in 1996. Norcross High (26-5) has won the state title five times, most recently in 2013.

WTIF radio will be broadcasting the game live. Also, the game will be streamed live over the Internet at NFHSNetwork.com/GHSA but it will cost: A 30-day subscription for $9.95 is required for an all-access, unlimited viewing pass on any device for all events, any sport and any member state association.

COOK COUNTY, TRHS

TO REPLACE ADEL HOSPITAL

The Cook County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Monday night, March 6, for a memo of understanding providing $9.2 million for a new $35 million Cook Medical Center replacement.


Cook County commissioners vote for new hospital at Monday's meeting.

The City of Adel will provide $2 million, and the Hospital Authority of Tift County will provide the remainder of the funding. Cook Medical Center is part of Tift Regional Health System (TRHS).

The vote came after Cook County commissioners heard moving testimonials from TRHS administration officials, Cook Medical Center employees, medical staff physicians, patients and community supporters who crowded the meeting room.

Just weeks ago, Cook Medical Center's emergency room operation was consolidated with Tift Regional Medical Center. With the ER closing in Adel, some Cook County residents feared the hospital itself would eventually close.

"Thanks to all TRHS employees and members of the community who attended and showed their support," Tift Regional posted on its web site. "Your efforts have helped lead the way for a new future at Cook Medical Center."

GA RANKS 29th IN WELL-BEING

AMONG METROS, ATLANTA RANKS 83rd OUT OF 189

Georgia ranks 29th in the nation in well-being, according to a recent report by Gallup-Healthways.

Hawaii has the highest well-being in the nation, reaching the top spot for the sixth time since Gallup and Healthways began tracking well-being in 2008. Alaska finished in the top two for the third consecutive year, while Colorado finished in the top 10 for the ninth straight year and joins Hawaii as the only two

states to earn the distinction.

West Virginia and Kentucky residents have the lowest and second-lowest well-being, respectively, for the eighth consecutive year.

Florida ranks 11th in well-being; South Carolina, 27th; Mississippi, 41st; Louisiana, 43rd; and Alabama, 44th out of the 50 states.

The state data are based on more than 177,000 interviews with adults across all 50 states, conducted from January to December 2016. The states with the lowest well-being are found in the South and the industrial Midwest.

Among 189 large communities, Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island in Florida remains the top U.S. metro community for overall well-being , according to the Gallup-Healthways rankings.

Barnstable Town, Mass., and Santa Cruz-Watsonville, Calif., ranked second- and third-highest in metro communities, respectively.

Atlanta ranked 83rd out of the 189 communities; Columbus, 68th; and Savannah, 182nd. In Florida, Jacksonville ranked 64th and Tallahassee, 120th.

Illustrator Michael White talks about art with Charles Spencer Elementary students.

EDUCATION FOUNDATION FUNDS

SCHOOL EVENT, MATERIALS

Children's book illustrator Michael White recently met with students at Charles Spencer Elementary School and conducted a creative art class.

The visit was made possible by a $1,000 grant through the Syd Blackmarr Arts Chair endowment of the Tift County Foundation for Educational Excellence.

White, a well-known artist who has illustrated several books for children's author Carmen Deedy, asked

students to bring paper and pencil to his interactive presentations. He showed them how to draw and then drew with them, asking for story and picture ideas.

White gave the students positive feedback on their drawings and talked about being an illustrator and the number of drawings he had to do just to get enough illustrations for a 32-page picture book.

The Education Foundation also recently awarded a $250 grant to G.O. Bailey Primary School for Spanish materials for learning enrichment, funded through the Foundation's Virginia Short Lindskog Foreign Language Chair.

In photo at left, G.O. Bailey students use new Spanish materials.

MORE THAN 20 SINGING GROUPS COMPETE AT

PEACH STATE SHOW CHOIR INVITATIONAL

TODAY, SATURDAY AT TIFT COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL

The inaugural Peach State Show Choir Invitational is today and Saturday, March 11, at the Tift County High School's Performing Arts Center.

The Peach State Invitational brings together more than 20 show choirs from Georgia, Florida and Alabama for competition. Tonight, Friday, features two middle school groups competing and one high school group in the Festival (non-competitive) Division.

Tift's middle school group, One Voice, has its exhibition performance at 6:30 p.m. today with the other groups to follow. Admission for Friday is $7.

Saturday's competition runs all day with 20 competitive singing groups along with Tift County's three high school groups -- Ladies Choice, Ninth Harmony and the Eighth Street Singing Company -- performing their exhibition shows.

The first group goes on stage at 9 a.m. Saturday, and those tickets are $10. Groups will compete throughout the day and into the evening. Available will be event T-shirts, programs and food at the concession stands.

GSU PROF TO SPEAK ON TOLERANCE

Dr. Andrew Cohen will discuss the "Philosophical Foundations of Tolerance" in a public lecture at 7:15 p.m. March 24 in Howard Auditorium at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.

Open to the community, the lecture by the associate professor of philosophy at Georgia State University addresses the central ideas presented in his book, "Toleration."

Cohen's presentation is one of the cornerstones of an ABAC student conference focused on freedom of speech, press, religion and assembly. During the student conference, scholars from Emory University, the University of Georgia and Georgia State University will join members of ABAC's rural studies faculty to guide students through an exploration of the philosophical, political and legal principles that underlie rights enumerated in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

"It's incredibly timely," said Dr. Jay Baldwin, who chairs the faculty committee planning the conference.

"From Muslim bans to gay wedding cakes, from flag-waving to flag-burning, trigger warnings, hate speech, protests and the de-platforming of speakers, safe spaces, fake news, speech codes, and America's first Twitter president, all these concern questions regarding speech, religion, press, and association. The relevance of the First Amendment to our contemporary moment has never been more acute."

For information, contact Baldwin at jbaldwin@abac.edu or at 229-391-4975.

TIFTON-TIFT COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE RIBBON CUTTINGS

Country Financial

206 North Central Ave., Tifton

March 7

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Southwest Georgia Living Magazine

Covering Southwest Georgia

March 7

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Paxen

301 S. Tift Ave., Tifton

(Inside the Georgia Department of Labor )

March 9

TIFT COUNTY BB TEAM WINS STATE

Tift County's Team RED BB Team recently won the State VFW BB Rifle Match. In the photo, from left, are Coach Tracy Homer, Haley Brannen, Donnie Jensen, Bryson Reade, Will McCranie, Alyssa "Roo Roo" Dotson, Zoey Brill, Jacob Stevens and Coach David Haire.

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UGA TIFTON CAMPUS HOSTING POULTRY MEETING

The 2017 Deep South Poultry Conference is coming to the UGA Tifton Campus Conference Center beginning at 8 a.m. Wednesday, March 22.

The conference has become a well-established and important meeting for the Georgia poultry industry. Three sessions consisting of general, broiler and breeder are scheduled.

Moderators will be Dr. Claudia Brinkley and Dr. Bruce Webster, both with UGA Poultry Science.

For information, call 706-542-1371.

FIRST UNITED METHODIST HOSTING CONCERT WITH PRIZE-WINNING MUSICIAN

Dr. Monica Harper Dekle, a prize-winning, nationally recognized musician, will give an organ concert at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 19 at Tifton First United Methodist Church.


DEKLE

The concert, in the church sanctuary, will showcase the church's recently refurbished p ipe organ.

Dekle is director of music and organist for Wesley Monumental United Methodist Church in Savannah. She was appointed chorusmaster of the Savannah Philharmonic Chorus in July 2014.

At Wesley she provides organ music for weekly services and directs the Chancel Choir, Youth Choir and Children's choirs. Under her direction, the Chancel Choir has grown to 50 members and was invited to sing at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris in Summer 2013. They have since been invited to sing concerts across the Southeastern United States as well at Cologne Cathedral and St. Thomas Church, Leipzig.

40 GOSPEL ARTISTS COMING TO TIFTON

The Southeastern Southern Gospel Music Conference is meeting Friday and Saturday, April 7-8, at the UGA Tifton Campus Conference Center in Tifton.

The event includes up to 40 Gospel music artists and daily concerts at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. that are free, with love offerings accepted.

On Friday, April 7, the featured performers include Great Day along with Ricky Atkinson and Compassion Reunion. On Saturday, April 8, featured performers include the Omega Quartet and The Steeles.

For information, call 229-886-8043.

LOCAL STORE GETS 'MOBBED'

Tifton-Tift County Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors and staff surprised Plantation 59 Apparel owner Kristen Hall with a Cash Mob on Tuesday afternoon.

Each visiting "mobber" had the opportunity to shop throughout the store as a show of support for local businesses. The Chamber of Commerce plans surprise Cash Mobs throughout the year.

Plantation 59 is located at 135 South Virginia Ave. in Tifton.

YOUR WEEKEND

. ..at a Glance

FRIDAY, MARCH 10

Peach State Show Choir Invitational, 6:30 p.m., Tift County High Performing Arts Center, Tifton
"The Little Foxes" play, 7 p.m., Peanut Museum, Ga. Museum of Agriculture, Tifton

SATURDAY, MARCH 11

Community Care Day, 9 a.m.-Noon, Tift County Recreation Department, Tifton
Peach State Show Choir Invitational, 9 a.m., Tift County Performing Arts Center, Tifton
"The Little Foxes" play, 7 p.m., Peanut Museum, Ga. Museum of Agriculture, Tifton