TIFTON'S PINK MOTEL

NEW OWNERS PLAN A RETURN TO 'GLORY DAYS'

By FRANK SAYLES JR.

Tifton Grapevine

This year Tifton marks the 150th anniversary of the moment when a young entrepreneur from Connecticut named Henry H. Tift established a sawmill in a piney forest that eventually became the City of Tifton.

As Tifton and South Georgia grew through the years, Tifton became more than a bustling town; it became a stop on the main road for travelers heading to and from Florida.

U.S. Highway 41 was paved through South Georgia in the 1920s and became part of the Dixie Highway, a main North-South route. Numerous motels – "motor hotels" – and inns dotted the road, offering a brief respite to weary travelers.

And so that continued until the interstate highway supplanted Highway 41 as a main travel artery in the 1960s and '70s.

But in the 1940s, when a motel with cottages was built on 12th Street (Highway 41) in Tifton, it became a prime overnight location for everyday travelers, as well as for the famous and infamous, including heavyweight champ Jack Dempsey, gangster Al Capone, and the “Lone Ranger” along with his horse Silver, who was tied up in the back.

Today, that motel has become an iconic part of Tifton. It has appeared as a location in three movies. Architects say the motel’s style is unique and represents a bygone era.

Three years ago when the Tifton Historic Preservation Commission voted to allow the motel to be torn down for upscale townhomes, citizens came together in an effort to save the motel, and plans for the townhomes were abandoned.

Today, there are new owners – local businessmen Joe Pope and his sons Jordan and Josh Pope – working to preserve the Town Terrace, or, colloquially, the “Pink Motel.” 

“The Pope family is excited and proud to be part of Tifton’s history. We believe historic buildings are an extension of Tifton’s heritage,” said Joe Pope.

“We are appreciative of (former owners) Steve Rigdon, Buck Rigdon, Norman Hill, and Skip Hill for allowing us to continue this endeavor. Three rooms have been renovated to date, and we plan to continue renovations as rooms become vacant while keeping the integrity of the iconic ‘Pink Motel.’”

For more than 55 years, the motel was known as Van Gundy’s Motor Court and was owned and operated by the late Violet Van Gundy and her brother Jack. Violet was a former child star in Hollywood. She was “Baby Violet” for more than four years in the “Our Gang” series, which later became “The Little Rascals.”

As a teenager, she and her brother left Hollywood, converted to Christianity and formed Van Gundy’s Evangelist Team, joining Billy Graham’s Youth for Christ Ministry. The Van Gundys came to Tifton to preach at the United Methodist Church and were so popular that they asked to return for a week-long tent revival that went on for three weeks. 

The Van Gundys fell in love with Tifton and its people, and decided to make Tifton their home. Their motel became a part of Tifton life and was so popular with travelers that its restaurant, “Van Gundy's Coffee Shop,” which now serves as two apartments, featured a live broadcast at dinner each night with music and guest interviews.

"We opened with 'Highways are Happy Ways' and went around and asked the guests where they were from, where they were headed, and if they were staying in Tifton," Violet Van Gundy said in an interview a few years before her death in 2010.

The Pink Motel’s long-gone swimming pool, where, for a small fee one could swim all day, is still remembered fondly by many Tiftonites, as is the hospitality of Violet and Jack Van Gundy.

“We are so excited to have purchased this property and want to thank the previous owners for preserving this piece of history in Tifton,” said Joe Pope. “The ‘Pink Motel’ will be preserved for years to come. The plan is to bring it back to its glory days.”

JOBLESS RATE DROPS IN

TIFT COUNTY, ACROSS STATE

By FRANK SAYLES JR.

Tifton Grapevine

Georgia's July unemployment rate hit an all-time low of 2.8%, and the jobless rate also dropped in Tift County last month, according to data released Thursday from the Ga. Department of Labor (GDOL).

Tift County's unemployment rate was 2.7% in July, a decrease from June’s 3.0%. Tift's labor force numbered 21,256 for the month, the GDOL reported.

State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said that as the state's July unemployment rate hit an all-time low, Georgia's number of jobs continued to climb to 4,812,100. Jobs were up 12,500 over the month and up 214,300 from this time last year.

Georgia's unemployment rate was seven-tenths of a percent lower than the national July 2022 jobless rate of 3.5%.

In the Peach State, job gains were recorded in accommodations and food services; health care and social assistance; retail trade; professional, scientific, and technical services; arts, entertainment, and recreation; and wholesale trade.

"Georgia's jobs numbers continue to climb, reinforcing the state's position as one of the nation's best places to find employment,” Butler said.

"These all-time highs in multiple sectors demonstrate the employment opportunities the state is experiencing across the board."

July unemployment rates in Tiftarea counties were mixed. July versus the previous month's rates were: Turner, 4.1% vs. 4.6%; Worth, 2.7% vs. 3.3%; Irwin, 4.2% vs. 4.0%; Cook, 2.9% vs 3.3%; Berrien, 3.1% vs. 3.3%; and Ben Hill, 4.6% vs. 4.5%.

TOTAL COVID-19 CASES RISE IN TIFT BY 255 WITH

ANOTHER DEATH, DPH SAYS

Tift County's total COVID-19 cases have risen by 255 in the past two weeks, along with one additional death, according to the state Department of Public Health (DPH).

That number includes rapid tests and confirmed PCR tests. It represents only those results reported to the health department and do not include at-home testing.

Confirmed positive PCR results during the past two-week period totaled 60. There was also one additional related death reported in Tift County in the past week.

Tift County’s total positive cases represent 625 cases per 100,000 population, the measure used across the country to compare case rates among communities and states. Tift's testing positivity rate for the two-week period was 23.2%, the DPH said.

Tift has seen a total of 6,642 confirmed cases with 170 confirmed deaths, the DPH said.

The state has recorded a total of 2,199,929 confirmed cases and 32,868 related deaths, the DPH said. There were 24,664 more total cases reported in the past week and 133 additional deaths statewide. There also were 911 COVID-related hospitalizations in Georgia in the past week, the DPH reported.

The state reports COVID-19 data once a week.

TIFTON ARTS COUNCIL RECEIVES $12,000 GRANT

The Tifton Council for the Arts has been awarded a $12,000 grant by the Georgia Council for the Arts (GCA), an arm of the Ga. Department of Economic Development.

The Georgia Council for the Arts Bridge Grant will assist the Tifton Council for the Arts in making the arts available, affordable, and accessible to the community.  Funds will go toward the annual Celebrate Creativity Arts Festival, art exhibits, classes, and workshops for the next year.  

“With the help of GCA, local corporate sponsors, and loyal patrons we have been able to expand our mission and arts programing for the Tifton area,” said Joy Yost, executive director of the Tifton Council for the Arts.

“We are thrilled to receive this funding from the Georgia Council for the Arts for the third year in a row,” Yost said.

A total of 213 organizations were awarded 253 grants that provide more than $3.1 million in funding to arts organizations throughout the state. The Bridge Grant will provide operating support funding to 134 organizations; Project Grants will help fund 59 arts projects, and the Arts Education Program Grant will be distributed to 60 organizations. 

“The arts sector has proven its resilience over the last two years, and it has played a major role in restarting the economy through attracting tourism, bringing communities back together, and aiding classroom learning as we inspire the workforce of the future,” said Georgia Council for the Arts Executive Director Tina Lilly. 

“The 253 grants we have awarded will help cities and organizations bring more people back to work while enhancing the qualities that make Georgia so special.”

Student Sarah Exigonjo from the Democratic Republic of Congo, left, Rotarian Renata Elad, and student Kathryn Gunning from South Africa at the Tifton Rotary Club meeting Wednesday.

TIFTON ROTARY SPONSORS INTERNATIONAL STUDENT

By BONNIE SAYLES

Tifton Grapevine

After a three-year hiatus, the Tifton Rotary Club is once again sponsoring a college student from another country through the Georgia Rotary Student Program. 

Sarah Exigonjo from the Democratic Republic of Congo is attending Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, with sponsorship from the Tifton club through GRSP. She and another GRSP student attending ABAC, Kathryn Gunning from South Africa, attended Wednesday's Rotary Club meeting with Dr. Renata Elad, the dean of ABAC’s Stafford School of Business. 

Gunning is sponsored by the Bainbridge-Camilla-Pelham Rotary Club. Across Georgia, Rotary Clubs sponsor students recommended by a Rotary Club in their home country. Since 1946, Rotarians in Georgia have promoted world peace through understanding by offering scholarships to international students for one year of study in Georgia colleges and universities. 

Also at Wednesday’s Rotary Club meeting, Jason Bishoff, CEO with the Tiftarea YMCA, told the club that the local Y will celebrate 25 years in Tifton next year. Bishoff said that late Tifton businessman Lamar Jackson and the other founders of the Tiftarea YMCA put Christ first in everything they did and emphasized making a difference in the lives of kids.

Adam Brown, the Y’s health, wellness, and development coordinator, announced that the Lamar Jackson Memorial Golf Tournament will be Oct. 24. Sponsorship levels are available. Platinum Level sponsors receive two free tickets to participate in the Tour de Tifton bicycle event, which is held each March. People come from nine different states for the bicycle event.

Bishoff said the Y’s Christmas dinner provides an event for 150 kids who wouldn’t receive gifts for Christmas otherwise. The Y is recruiting sponsors for the children right now.

The Y’s Polar Bear Plunge will also be held again on Jan. 1, in which representatives of nonprofit organizations are invited to raise money for their organizations and take a plunge on the pool slide. “It’s what the Y likes to do, bring people together, and bring things together in the community,” Bishoff said.

The YMCA provided 10,000 meals a week in the summer feeding program at First Baptist Church and Victory Baptist Church. And all Tift County second-graders are involved in a “Learn to Swim” program, in a partnership with Tift County Recreation Department to prevent drownings.  

Bishoff said 900 children participate in the youth sports program. This year, 150 to 200 children will be participating in YMCA after-school programs at Crossview Church, Traveler’s Rest Missionary Baptist Church, and at the city’s new Anthony Bateman Youth Development Center. Many area churches are involved in basketball programs with the Y. 

The Tiftarea YMCA has three fulltime employees and 45 part-time employees in the summer, including lifeguards.

“We’re involved in making a difference in kids’ lives,” Bishoff said. “Exercise is stress releasing, especially during this time with COVID.”

TIFTON BROTHERS WIN TENNIS TOURNEYS

The Hellman brothers of Tifton were big winners in the United States Tennis Association's "Summer Sizzler" Tournament last weekend in Valdosta.

Elijah and Joshua Hellman, in photo at left, won the 14 and under doubles tourney, and Isaiah Hellman, pictured at right, was the 10 and under singles champion.

ABAC PROMOTES ALAN KRAMER TO

ASSISTANT VP, DEAN OF STUDENTS

Dr. Alan Kramer has been named assistant vice president for student affairs and dean of students at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.

Kramer had been serving as acting dean of students, expanding his previous role of assistant dean and athletics director. ABAC will begin a search for a new athletics director soon.

“ABAC has been a blessing to me,” Kramer said. “It seems as if every seven or eight years, I have a chance to reinvent my role here, and I am looking forward to the challenge of this new position.”

Dr. Amy Willis, acting provost and vice president for academic affairs, said Kramer “has devoted the past 29 years of his career and life to ABAC and Tifton. His motto for achieving success at ABAC continues to be collaboration and communication. Dr. Kramer and his team will build on old traditions and create new beginnings to keep ABAC great and moving forward."

Kramer’s new duties cover student clubs and organizations, Greek life, campus recreation, housing and residence life, student conduct, and more.

A tenured assistant professor of health and physical education, Kramer became a highly accomplished coach. During his time at ABAC, he has coached both men’s and women’s tennis, rolling up 25 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region XVII titles and three national runner-up finishes in the national tournament. He has coached seven individual national champions.

Kramer has been inducted into the NJCAA Women’s Tennis Hall of Fame and has been named the Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Coach of the Year.

YOUR GUIDE TO ACTIVITIES THIS WEEKEND IN THE TIFTAREA

Today, Friday, Aug. 26, is Women's Equality Day, celebrating the adoption of the 19th amendment on Aug. 26, 1920, giving American women the right to vote. The day commemorates the

achievements of women’s rights activists. 

FRIDAY, AUG. 26

• Tiftarea Academy Panthers varsity football vs. Frederica Academy Knights, 7:30 p.m., Panther Pit, Chula
• Tift County High Blue Devils football @ Dutchtown High School Bulldogs, 7:30 p.m., Hampton

SATURDAY, AUG. 27

• Skate Day at the Park, 6 p.m., Fitzgerald Skate Park at Bogus Park, Fitzgerald
• Little River Paddle Tour, 6 p.m., Reed Bingham State Park, Adel

SUNDAY, AUG. 28

• Mini Golf Tournament, 10 a.m., Reed Bingham State Park, Adel

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

“Hank,” a happy pooch, is among the pets available for adoption at the Tift County Animal Shelter on Highway 125 South between 1-6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. For additional information, call 229-382-PETS (7387).