Amanda York, a teacher at Charles Spencer Elementary, is among the educators honored for Excellence in Teaching. At left are Tift County Assistant Superintendents Kevin Dobard and Mickey Weldon, York, Wanda Veazey and Laura Cutts representing the Tift County Foundation for Educational Excellence, and Principal Paul Nelson.

TIFTON’S

TOP TEACHERS

EDUCATION FOUNDATION TAPS EDUCATORS

FOR 'EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING'

By FRANK SAYLES JR.

Tifton Grapevine

Ten Tift County public school teachers were "tapped” this week as recipients of the Excellence in Teaching Award by the Tift County Foundation for Educational Excellence.  

Foundation representatives, school officials, and recipients' family members surprised the educators with the honor at their schools.

The teachers honored are: Paige Bennett - Omega Elementary; Robin Lasseter - Omega Elementary; Amy Lever - J T Reddick Elementary; Amanda York - Charles Spencer Elementary; Jessica Walls - Charles Spencer Elementary; Jennifer Alexander - Tift County High School; Peter Pinnow - Tift County High School; Harlie Foremes - Annie Belle Clark Elementary; Lacey Donahoo - Northeast Middle School; and Martine Rousey - Northeast Middle School.

The teachers are nominated by a student, parent, peer or administrator. Each teacher will be honored at a banquet held at a later date sponsored by the Rotary Club of Tifton.

This is the 31th straight year that the Tift County Foundation for Educational Excellence (TCFEE) has ‘tapped’ exceptional teachers in recognition of their outstanding performance in the classroom.

More than 300 educators have been honored since the Foundation began recognizing teachers of excellence  in Tift County public schools.

AMY LEVER

HARLIE FOREMES

JESSICA WALLS

LACEY DONAHOO

JENNIFER ALEXANDER

MARTINE ROUSEY

PETER PINNOW

ROBIN LASSETER

PAIGE BENNETT

Liz Carson Keith and Bruce Green Thursday night after unveiling Tifton’s ‘Lost Painting’ by Keith’s great-grandmother Florence Willingham Pickard.

TIFTON’S 'LOST PAINTING’ RESTORED, EXHIBITED ONCE AGAIN

By BONNIE SAYLES

Tifton Grapevine

A roomful of Tiftonites erupted in applause Thursday night when the “Lost Painting of Tifton,” was unveiled at the Syd Blackmarr Arts Center.

A work by early Tifton artist Florence Willingham Pickard, the painting of a ship in a wave-tossed sea, had been forgotten and in disrepair for decades, and was recently restored to its original splendor as part of the year-long celebration of Tifton’s sesquicentennial.

“It’s 140 years old!” exclaimed an audience member.

Local historian Bruce Green recalled how in 1995, he discovered the painting, painted and signed by Pickard with the year 1883, in the basement of the old 1916 Union Depot in Tifton. It was in serious need of restoration. Green said he rolled it up and forgot about it, rediscovering it recently when moving back to Tifton from Atlanta.

Green and Liz Carson Keith (Pickard’s great-granddaughter) gave a presentation Tuesday about Flora Pickard, showing the covers of three books she authored, several pieces of her artwork, her letters, and an obituary from a newspaper in Chattanooga, where she and her husband lived when he was a Baptist minister. 

Keith revealed a picture of a bronze plaque purchased from Wesleyan University by someone she became acquainted with through social media. Green discussed plans to reproduce the plaque, which has Pickard’s name across the bottom.

“She belongs to us; she was an influential author and painter in the early beginnings of this town,” Green said.

He noted that there was no frame with the “lost painting," which he called “a sea in tempest.” 

“We’ll have the frame made of longleaf heart-pine wood. That’s masculine,” Green said. “We’ll have the oldest pine we can find.”

The painting will be on tour, he said, on display at the Syd Center for the Arts, at the Tift House at the Georgia Museum of Agriculture, and then at Tifton City Hall for a while.   

The artist's husband, William Lowndes Pickard, was president of Mercer University from 1914-1918. One of her paintings, “Choosing the Crown,” is at Mercer.

Flora Pickard, a native of Smyrna, S.C., was a sister of Bessie Willingham Tift, who was the wife of Tifton’s founder Capt. Henry H. Tift. Pickard often visited with her sister in Tifton, later relocating here.

ASHBURN COUNCIL MEMBER RE-ELECTED BY ONE VOTE

Andrea Pierce was recently re-elected to her third term on Ashburn City Council – by one vote.

Initially, on election night, it appeared she had lost. But mail-in ballots and later, provisional ballots, put her ahead when the results were ultimately certified.

“I had to wait on five more provisional ballots. It was a long wait, and I found out that I won the election by the grace of God,” Pierce told WALB-TV.

Also during the Nov. 8 election, Turner County voters approved a referendum allowing bottled liquor to be sold in the county. The City of Ashburn, the county seat, said it is determining whether or not the approval includes sales within the city.

___________________________

TIFTON HOLDS

‘OLD-FASHIONED'

FALL FEST

The Tifton Merchants Association sponsored an Old-Fashioned Fall Festival last Saturday in Downtown Tifton.

The event included live music, cake walks, cornhole, face painting, putt-putt golf, vendors, and food trucks.

___________________________

Winners of the Geography Decathlon are, front row from left, Reid Phillips, third-place; Tim Nolin, first place; and Maxwell Reed, second place. Behind them are organizers of the event, from left: Mike Brumby, Joseph Knoll, Anwar, Bret Wagenhorst, Renata Elad, Laura Cutts, and Keri Jones.

STUDENTS COMPETE IN

GEOGRAPHY DECATHLON

In celebration of Geography Awareness Week, the Tift County Foundation of Educational Excellence sponsored the annual Geography Decathlon on Tuesday night at the Tifton-Tift County Public Library.

The geography competition among students from Tiftarea Academy and Tift County High School resulted in Tim Nolin winning first place; Maxwell Reed, notching second place; and Reid Phillips at third place.

WALK THIS WAY ... FOR COOKIES!

Peace Lutheran Church in Tifton will have its annual holiday Cookie Walk from  9 a.m.-noon this Saturday, Nov. 19. 

The event features prepackaged cookies in four-count packs, homemade cakes, breads, assorted sweets, and homemade German pastries.

All proceeds from the Cookie Walk will be used to provide military phone calls through the USO Operation Call Home and will aid the LCMS Florida-Georgia District Disaster Relief Fund to help those areas suffering from the effects of Hurricane Ian in September. 

Peace Lutheran Church is located at 604 Tennessee Drive in Tifton.

Weekly COVID-19 data released from the

Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) as of Nov. 16:

TOTAL TIFT COUNTY CASES: 6,731 ...................................... TOTAL DEATHS: 172

CONFIRMED TIFT CASES - 2 weeks: 4 ................................... DEATHS - Past week: 1

TIFT POSITIVITY RATE - 2 weeks: 2.3% ........ CONFIRMED & SUSPECTED CASES: 33

TIFT CONFIRMED & SUSPECTED CASES - 2 weeks, per 100K population: 81

_______________________________________________________________

GEORGIA TOTAL CASES: 2,258,328 .......................................TOTAL GA DEATHS: 33,975

GA CONFIRMED & SUSPECTED CASES - 1 week: 4,305

GA DEATHS - 1 week: 77..........................................GA HOSPITALIZATIONS - 1 week: 453

YOUR GUIDE TO ACTIVITIES THIS WEEKEND IN THE TIFTAREA

Today, Friday, Nov. 18, is Apple Cider Day, a time to celebrate this seasonal autumn drink. When pilgrims first came to America, many drank cider instead of water because the water was unsafe and had harmful bacteria. Cider was very popular in the 19th century and was even advertised as a cure for gout.

FRIDAY, NOV. 18

• Tifton Junior Woman’s Club 'Glow Run' 5K & 1-Mile, 6 p.m., Northside Baptist Church, Tifton
• Lean-Ox Festival: Bootleg Stereo in concert, 7-10 p.m., Downtown Lenox

SATURDAY, NOV. 19

• Lean-Ox Festival, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Downtown Lenox
• Wiregrass Farmers Market’s ‘Holiday Market,' 9 a.m.-Noon, Ga. Museum of Agriculture, Tifton
• Cane Grinding & Syrup Making, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Ga. Museum of Agriculture, Tifton
• Cookie Walk, 9 a.m.-Noon., Peace Lutheran Church, Tifton

SUNDAY, NOV. 20

• TiftArea Ministerial Association’s Community Thanksgiving Service, 6 p.m., First Baptist Church chapel, Tifton

PROMOTE 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

“Clooney,” a friendly male pooch, 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).