IT’S BEGINNING TO LOOK LIKE CHRISTMAS!

TIFTAREA COMMUNITIES PLAN FESTIVITIES

By BONNIE SAYLES

Tifton Grapevine

Christmas lights, parades, music, and a host of holiday activities are scheduled this weekend in the Tiftarea.

With a theme of “Decade the Halls” in a nod to Tifton’s 150th anniversary, the 2022 Tifton Christmas Parade will start at Magnolia Avenue and Second Street at 5 p.m. Saturday and proceed east toward Love Avenue, where it will turn left and end at Love and Eighth Street.

Floats, cars, and other units will be judged on their depiction of the theme, which could range from a Victorian Christmas to the “Rockin' '80s.”

After the parade, festivities will continue downtown with the reimagined “Tinsel in Tifton” event, about 6:30-10 p.m. The lighting of the Christmas tree over Tifton City Hall will take place at 7 p.m. Streets downtown will be closed for walking about, enjoying the experiences, and shopping the many vendors and local businesses.

“It’s a fun night of experiences for the whole family,” according to Rosalie Reeder and Angela Elder with the Tifton-Tift County Tourism Association. 

“We are excited about the new experiences!” Reeder said. “The Leftovers (band) are going to be a huge hit on First Street. The hot-air balloon ride behind the library is going to light up that area, and the circus performers will be walking the streets."

Other experiences include “Snowzilla” snow tubing, a Ninja climbing wall, a carousel, a Ferris wheel, live reindeer and llamas in Christmas sweaters, music groups, beauty queens, and food trucks. 

“I would like to encourage everyone to not only support our event but also support and shop local that evening,” said Abbey McLaren, Tifton downtown development director.

Earlier in the day Saturday, from 1-3 p.m. the Tifton-Tift County Public Library is hosting photos by appointment with Santa at the Syd Blackmarr Center for the Arts. Call the library at 229-386-7148 to get on the appointment list. This event includes free Santa photos, crafts, gift wrapping, and more.

Among other events going on in the Tiftarea: 

• Adel held its Christmas Parade Thursday night and will hold its "Mingle & Jingle” event downtown at 4-7 p.m. today, Friday, Dec. 2. On Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Adel will hold a "Snow Day at the Depot."

• Reed Bingham State Park in Adel will have a movie night with “The Grinch” at 6-8 p.m., Saturday, at the Beach Pavilion; $5 to park. 

• The "Sylvester Sip & Stroll" will be at 5-7 p.m. today. Sylvester’s Christmas Parade will be at 6 p.m. Saturday, followed by the Christmas Tree lighting at the Depot. 

• Ocilla-Irwin County is hosting a "Christmas in Cumbee Park" at 6 p.m. today, Friday. Attendees should bring a toy or $5 for Sheriff Cody Youghn’s Operation Toy Drive. The event includes pictures with Santa and Mrs. Claus, train rides, bouncy houses and slide, pony rides, games, and hot dogs.

• Nashville has a full weekend of activities, including, today: Hay rides, a train ride with Mrs. Claus, and the community tree lighting tonight at 7 p.m. On Saturday, among activities in downtown Nashville are a “winter wonderland” with “snow," and on Monday, Nashville holds its Christmas Parade at 7 p.m.

• Ashburn and Turner County will have its Christmas Parade next weekend, Dec. 10.

• "Fitzgerald's Christmas Coming Home” event was held Thursday night, along with the Christmas Parade in Downtown Fitzgerald.

U.S. SENATE PROBE FINDS HEALTH-CARE ABUSES AT IRWIN DETENTION CENTER U.S. STILL USES OTHER PRIVATE FACILITIES

FOR MIGRANT DETAINEES

Staff Reports

The federal government continues to use private, for-profit migrant detention facilities around the country despite vowing to halt their usage, even after a blistering congressional report about abuses at the Irwin County Detention Center in Ocilla, according to The Washington Post.

The government has stopped using the Irwin County facility to house migrants but still has about 4 in 5 detainees in private facilities overseen by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the newspaper said.

A U.S. Senate panel chaired by Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., recently highlighted results of an 18-month investigation of off-site health care for migrants at the Ocilla facility.

"It is the bipartisan finding of the subcommittee that female detainees in (Ocilla) Georgia were subjected by a DHS-contracted doctor to excessive, invasive, and often unnecessary gynecological surgeries and procedures, with repeated failures to obtain informed medical consent," Ossoff said.

"This is an extraordinarily disturbing finding, and, in my view, represents a catastrophic failure to respect basic human rights."

The investigation focused on treatment provided by gynecologist Dr. Mahendra Amin to women detained in Irwin County under the oversight of ICE officials in the Department of Homeland Security.

The investigation found that two hysterectomies that Amin performed appeared to be medically necessary, but that detainees appeared to have been subject to excessive, invasive, and often unnecessary gynecological procedures.

"I can’t think of much of anything worse than this — unnecessary surgeries performed on prisoners," Ossoff said.

AREA PREP FOOTBALL TEAMS IN SEMIFINALS TONIGHT

Staff Reports

Two area football teams are in the Georgia High School Association state playoffs semifinals today – Fitzgerald and Irwin County.

The Fitzgerald High Purple Hurricane has a home contest against Fellowship Christian at 7:30 p.m.

The Purple Hurricane, the defending Class AA state champion, has won the Region 1 championship and has playoff wins over Central of Macon, 41-0; Putnam County, 28-20; and Rockmart, 21-14 in overtime.

In Class A Division I, the Irwin County Indians are at home at 7:30 p.m. against Swainsboro. The Indians won the Region 1 championship and has playoff wins over Jefferson County, 42-6; Heard County, 55-0; and Mt. Pisgah Christian, 42-14. The Indians are seeking their fourth state championship, last winning the Class A Public School state championship in 2020.

Over Mt. Pisgah Christian last week, Irwin County quarterback Cody Soliday completed 11 of 18 passes for 189 yards and two touchdowns in the 42-14 win.

FITZGERALD AMONG THOSE RECEIVING HOAX CALLS ABOUT SCHOOL SHOOTERS

By FRANK SAYLES JR.

Tifton Grapevine

Schools in Fitzgerald and Valdosta were among approximately a dozen across Georgia that were subjects of false calls to authorities about active shooters on Wednesday.

The calls were all found to be hoaxes, but prompted school lockdowns and anxiety among students, staff, and parents.

"The FBI is actively investigating these acts of domestic terrorism, and we will continue to diligently work with them to see these culprits are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” said Gov. Brian P. Kemp.

“The FBI is aware of the numerous swatting incidents wherein a report of an active shooter at a school is made. FBI agents across Georgia are working alongside our law enforcement partners in identifying the source of the hoax threats,” the FBI said in a statement.

Interim Superintendent Dawn Clements of the Ben Hill County School District said that the Fitzgerald Police Department received one of the false calls about Ben Hill Middle School in Fitzgerald.

"We placed our schools on a lockdown until the Ben Hill County Sheriff's Department and the Fitzgerald Police Department assessed the validity of the threat. After a thorough search of Ben Hill Middle School, we were given the all clear to return to normal operations,” Clements said in a statement.

No such calls were received in Ashburn and Turner County, but "out of an abundance of caution, all Turner County Schools were put in a soft lockdown as the reports were first coming in," the school system said. Tift County did not report any calls.

Multiple other cities and counties around the state reported that they received false calls Wednesday about active shooters in their schools. Macon and Savannah authorities were among those receiving the false calls.

Gina Purvis, left, with Kathy Moreno celebrate on the porch of Dr. Ray and Kathy Moreno on Tenth Street.

CHRISTMAS PORCH & LOFT TOUR GETS TIFTONITES IN HOLIDAY MOOD

Scores of folks attended the Christmas Porch and Loft Tour Thursday night, sponsored by the Tifton Merchants Association.

Five porches of historic homes and three downtown lofts were decorated for visitors to view.

At left is the porch of the Camellia House on North College Avenue.

Photos by Frank Sayles Jr.

EARLY VOTING ENDS TODAY

IN RUNOFF ELECTION

By FRANK SAYLES JR.

Tifton Grapevvine

Early voting ends today for next Tuesday’s U.S. Senate runoff election between incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker.

In Tift County, advance voting is available from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. today at the Tift County Board of Elections Office, 222 Chesnutt Ave.

After today, polls reopen on election day, Tuesday, from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Voters will need to cast ballots at their home precincts on election day.

In Tift County, as of early Thursday early, 2,573 voters – or 10.5% of registered voters – had cast ballots, according to the Georgia secretary of state’s office.

Statewide as of Thursday morning, 1.4 million Georgians had voted in the runoff election, which is 16.3% of registered voters, the secretary of state’s office reported.

Tifton Fire Chief Bobby Bennett, left, and Lt. Kiefer Daughtry at the Rotary Club.

TIFTON CITY HOMEOWNERS WILL SEE BENEFIT FROM INSURANCE RATING, FIRE CHIEF SAYS

By BONNIE SAYLES

Tifton Grapevine

Residents served by the City of Tifton Fire Department will benefit from the Class 2 Insurance Service Office (ISO) rating the department recently received, Chief Bobby Bennett told the Tifton Rotary Club on Wednesday. 

“I’m very proud of our fire department. I’m proud of how far we’ve come from when I started ‘til now,” said Bennett, who has been with the department for 30 years of service.

“Times are getting more challenging, and we have to come up with different ways to do everything in our power to make sure that the citizens of Tifton are protected.” 

The Class 2 ISO rating wasn’t easy to get, and city residents should be proud of it, Bennett said. The rating results in lower insurance rates for homeowners in the city.

He said the shift structure of the TFD is unique and was once one of only five departments in the nation in which firefighters work 48 hours (two days) on and 96 hours (four days) off.

“I still get calls two or three times a month asking how it works,” Bennett said.

The department has 11 staff working each shift including nine part-time firefighters at three fire stations. “We are fully staffed,” he said.

Every person working in the department, including the fire administrator, is a firefighter. Six of the firefighters are female, Bennett said.

The department has 40 firefighters, 31 of whom are trained EMTs and are able to provide backup to the county emergency services. Twelve employees have associates or bachelor’s degrees, including Lt. Kiefer Daughtry, who is about to be promoted to training chief in January. 

They complete 13,500 hours of training per year. Three firefighters are fire inspectors. 

The chief said they usually respond to 1,000 to 1,100 calls per year.

He said the city fire department has a mutual-aid agreement with the Tift County Fire Department to back up each other.

“We work side-by-side and hand-in-hand with the county fire department,” Bennett said. “I talk with (Tift County) Chief Fowler weekly if not daily.”

Weekly COVID-19 data released from the

Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) as of Nov. 30:

TOTAL TIFT COUNTY CASES: 6,735 ...................................... TOTAL DEATHS: 172

CONFIRMED TIFT CASES - 2 weeks: 5 ................................... DEATHS - Past week: 0

TIFT POSITIVITY RATE - 2 weeks: 2.7% ........ CONFIRMED & SUSPECTED CASES: 37

TIFT CONFIRMED & SUSPECTED CASES - 2 weeks, per 100K population: 91

_______________________________________________________________

GEORGIA TOTAL CASES: 2,265,728......................................TOTAL GA DEATHS: 34,072

GA CONFIRMED & SUSPECTED CASES - 1 week: 6,725

GA DEATHS - 1 week: 32..........................................GA HOSPITALIZATIONS - 1 week: 378

YOUR GUIDE TO ACTIVITIES THIS WEEKEND IN THE TIFTAREA

This Sunday, Dec. 4, is National Cookie Day. The first “sandwich” cookie was Hydrox, debuting in 1908, four years before Oreos. The Hydrox name was derived from the hydrogen and oxygen elements within the water molecule. Oreos, with a more popular sweeter filling, were an imitation of Hydrox. But Hydrox cookies still have their fans around the country.

FRIDAY, DEC. 2

• "Sylvester Sip & Stroll," 5-7 p.m., Downtown Sylvester
• Christmas in the Pines Lighted Trail, 6 p.m., Georgia Veterans Memorial State Park, Cordele
• "Christmas in Cumbee Park," 6 p.m., Ocilla
• Irwin County High Indians football vs. Swainsboro High Tigers, 7:30 p.m., Buddy Nobles Stadium, Ocilla
• Fitzgerald High Purple Hurricane vs. Fellowship Christian Paladins, 7:30 p.m., Jaycee Stadium, Fitzgerald



SATURDAY, DEC. 3

• Santa at The Syd, 1-3 p.m., Syd Blackmarr Arts Center, Love Avenue, Tifton
• Tifton Christmas Parade, 5 p.m., Downtown Tifton
• Sylvester Christmas Parade, 6 p.m., Downtown Sylvester
• Tinsel in Tifton festival, 6:30-10 p.m., Downtown Tifton

ADVERTISE YOUR

YARD SALE HERE!

TO ADVERTISE YOUR YARD SALE,

CONTACT US at 

yardsales@tiftongrapevine.com 

or 478-227-7126

Fees are $1 per word, paid in advance

“Fritz” the dog is among the pets available for adoption at the Tift County Animal Shelter. Visit him and other pets available at the shelter on Highway 125 South between 1-6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. For additional information, call 229-382-PETS (7387).

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