Friday, Jan. 7, 2022
Tifton, Georgia
GrapeNew
COVID CASES SURGE; TRMC AT 'PURPLE,'
MASKS REQUIRED IN CITY BUILDINGS
TIFT SEES 200 CONFIRMED CASES IN SIX DAYS
By FRANK SAYLES JR.
Tifton Grapevine
COVID-19 cases are continuing to rise dramatically in Tift County and statewide as the omicron variant spreads, prompting Southwell health system and Tift Regional Medical Center to move to "purple status" effective today, prohibiting visitors in most instances.

The COVID rise has also moved Tifton City Council to reimpose a mask mandate inside all city-owned buildings and facilities.

And the amount of new cases across Georgia is overwhelming the state Department of Public Health's (DPH) reporting system, which was unable to give updated data for counties on Thursday, but issued a press release with new statewide figures.

Between Wednesday and Thursday in Georgia, the DPH reported 23,813 new confirmed and probable cases, 72 new confirmed and probable-related deaths, and 203 new hospitalizations.

Although Thursday's data for Tift County wasn’t reported, Wednesday's DPH figures show 200 new confirmed cases in six days. The data also showed 252 (617 per 100,000 population) confirmed cases within two weeks in Tift, and 591 (1,447 cases per 100,000) confirmed and probable cases in two weeks when Antigen results are added.

Tift's test positivity rate in the past two weeks is at 29.2%, the DPH said. As of Wednesday, Tift County recorded 5,165 total confirmed cases and 142 related deaths.

On Thursday afternoon, Southwell announced updated visitor restrictions for Tift Regional Medical Center (TRMC), Southwell Medical, and all of its clinics and departments "due to the recent increase in COVID-19 cases in our area."

TRMC said that as of Tuesday, the hospital had 26 COVID patients, two of them in the ICU and one on a ventilator. Of its hospitalized COVID-19 patients, 16 were unvaccinated and 10 were vaccinated.

The rise in cases caused Tifton City Council to call a special meeting Wednesday evening to reimpose its mask requirement for city facilities. City Manager Pete Pyrzenski and city attorney Rob Wilmot recommended the move out of an "abundance of caution" to protect both city employees and the public.

The DPH's South Health District said Thursday that within three weeks, the seven-day case increase for its 10 counties (Tift, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brooks, Cook, Echols, Irwin, Lanier, Lowndes, and Turner) has risen more than 20-fold.

"The seven-day case increase for Dec. 16, 2021, was 116 for our 10 counties; the seven-day case increase as of Jan. 6, 2022, is 2,381," the DPH said.

“We know that vaccines help decrease your chance of serious illness and hospitalization,” said District Health Director Dr. William Grow. “We are more than one year out from the release of the first COVID vaccines. For those who were hesitant, now is the time. Vaccination is our best tool to overcome this virus.”

Currently, 53% of Georgians are fully vaccinated, and the number is lower in South Health District counties. Rates of those who are fully vaccinated by county as of Jan. 6 are: Turner – 51%, Brooks – 45%, Tift – 41%, Cook – 39%, Ben Hill – 38%, Irwin – 38%, Lowndes – 37%, Berrien – 32%, Echols – 32%, and Lanier – 27%.
Tifton's Centennial Executive Committee in 1972, which planned Tifton's 100th anniversary. Front row, from left: Martha Berger, Mary Nola Jackson, Brenda Hogan, and Josie Clyatt. Back row, from left: Floyd Jackson, Royce Bishop, Wayne Matthews, Sonny Hamilton, Tyron Spearman, Charles Kent, Carl Willis, Billy Carmichael, Harris Vance, and Sonny Burt. Spearman is also helping to plan the 150th celebration.
THIS YEAR MARKS TIFTON'S 150th ANNIVERSARY;
YEAR-LONG CELEBRATION BEING PLANNED
By FRANK SAYLES JR.
Tifton Grapevine
In July 1872, Henry Harding Tift purchased nearly 5,000 acres east of Albany for $10,000 from his uncles Nelson and Asa F. Tift, who had owned the land since 1860 but had done nothing with it.

H.H. Tift bought the virgin pine forest to use as a site for a sawmill. As his mill took shape and brought workers and families to the site, some began calling the area "Tift's Town." When the city was incorporated in 1890, the logical name of the city was Tifton.

This year, 2022, marks the 150th anniversary of the founding of the village that became Tifton. A committee has been formed to plan the year-long celebration of the sesquicentennial.

During the 100th anniversary 50 years ago, the planners grew whiskers and sideburns and donned old-fashioned garb, among them a young Tyron Spearman. This year, Spearman is again involved in the planning, but whiskers and sideburns are not required.

Among activities being planned are a kickoff reception on Feb. 3, a community kickoff Feb. 4 at the Tift Theatre as the theater's first movie, "Pennies From Heaven" from 1936 starring Bing Crosby, is once again shown for an audience.

In late April, a Farm to Table Dinner is being planned with locally grown foods and products, and the big Community Birthday Party will be on July 1 with fireworks.

Among other events being considered are lectures about Tifton's history, possible tours and exhibits, and other activities.

A sesquicentennial logo is being crafted, and a dedicated website and social media pages are being created.

The committee is seeking ideas and participation from the community; email Angela Elder at spearmanagency@friendlycity.net
TIFT ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME ADDING TUCKER, BATEMAN
The 2021-2022 induction ceremony for the Tift County Athletic Hall of Fame will be held 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 8, in Tift County High's Performing Arts Center.

Among this year's inductees is the late Coach Fred Tucker, who died at age 96 in 2019. A coach for seven decades, Tucker had coached football, basketball, and track, and played several sports at Tifton High School.

A lifelong proponent of exercise, Tucker was honored with the Tift County Foundation for Educational Excellence's Fred Tucker Physical Fitness Chair. He was previously inducted in the Tift Athletic Hall of Fame along with the 1954 Tifton basketball team, which he coached.
Another inductee this year is the late coach Anthony Bateman, receiving the Meritorious Service Award. Bateman, 52, died in 2019 of a sudden, unexpected heart attack.

Coach Bateman, or "Bate," was an assistant football, basketball and track coach. He had been part of the Tift County coaching staff since 1991, but Bateman was a Blue Devil all his life. He was part of the Class of 1986 at Tift County High School.

Other Hall of Fame inductees on Saturday will be Ricky Holt, who was an All-State defensive lineman on Coach Gene Brodie's Tift County teams in the late 1970s; Lindy Dorminy Bengston, a star swimmer on Tift teams in the early 1990s; Emmett Smith, a star on the Blue Devils basketball teams in the mid 1980s when Tift returned to state tournament action; Tadric Jackson, who graduated from TCHS in 2014, was a star basketball player who had stellar seasons at Georgia Tech, and was also a starting quarterback for the Blue Devils football team.

Also being inducted are: Garland Ingram, who played football at the former Wilson High School in the late 1960s and is credited with gaining 589 yards of total offense in a single game; Brian Jackson, an all-region baseball player for TCHS in the late '90s and a top player at Middle Georgia College and Georgia Tech; Gwen Cottle Spurlin, a star girls basketball player in the mid 1950s averaging 57 points a game; and two teams – Tift County's 2006-2007 football team with its 12-2 record, and the 2011 girls golf state championship team.
ASSISTANT BLUE DEVILS COACH HEADING BACK TO MICHIGAN FOR HEADING COACHING POSITION
By FRANK SAYLES JR.
Tifton Grapevine
Tift County High Assistant Football Coach Cody Kater is returning to Michigan to become head coach at a high school in Muskegon.

Kater spent the past season as quarterbacks coach and director of offensive implementation for the Blue Devils.

He came to Tifton last year from Montague, Mich., where he spent six seasons as an assistant football coach and offensive coordinator. His team there had a perfect 12-0 season in 2020 and won a state championship.

Kater came to Tifton to work with Blue Devils Head Coach Noel Dean, a fellow Michigander. Kater told CatchMark SportsNet in Michigan that his Tift County experience helped him learn about a "systematic, intentional, and organized approach" to developing a football program.

His new position at Reeths-Puffer High School in Muskegon, Mich., will be his first head coaching job.
TIFTON
2012 Pineview Ave., Tifton, Ga 31793
SRTC FOUNDATION AWARDS MORE THAN $50,000 IN SCHOLARSHIPS
For the 2022 spring semester, which began Thursday, the Southern Regional Technical College (SRTC) Foundation awarded scholarships totaling $50,250 to 79 students.

The funds assist students with education-related costs such as tuition, fees, books, and classroom and lab supplies.

Among students who were awarded scholarships were: Amber Esco of Chula; Emily Boyd of Nashville; Amanda Saunders of Omega; Shanna Entrekin and Staisha Howard of Sumner; Paige Willis and Tyler Goodwin of Sylvester; Patricia Drawdy of Ty Ty; Cindy Cranford, Amelia Hillmon, Tamessha Thomas, Ashlynn Howard, Citlaly Maldonado, Hannah Walker, Abigail Hall, and Brenda Morales Núñez of Tifton.

Morales Núñez received the prestigious Hill-Harrell Scholarship; she was SRTC's 2021 Adult Education Student of the Year. Morales Núñez has since completed her high school equivalency, earned her GED, and continued at SRTC as a full-time college student with a goal of eventually earning her master’s degree in psychology.

“This institution has given me the opportunity to not only obtain my high school diploma through the Adult Education program, but also the opportunity to move forward with my college studies," she said. "The study of the human mind is something that called my attention for some years, but the pandemic that occurred last year deepened my interest in this area."
ATLANTIC CITY BOYS COMING TO THE TIFT
The Atlantic City Boys, bringing songs from such acts as the Beach Boys and Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, are coming to the Tift Theatre for the Performing Arts on Jan. 20 for the ABAC at the Tift concert series.

The concert kicks off at 7:30 p.m. in downtown Tifton. The four singers in the Atlantic City Boys have performed in venues in such places as Las Vegas and Walt Disney World.

The ABAC at the Tift series presents original artists and tribute bands representing some of the top performers of rock and roll, soul, and rhythm and blues.

Tickets may be purchased online at arts.abac.edu or by calling 229-391-4895.
NEW CITY COUNCILMEN TAKE OFFICE
During Wednesday's specially called Tifton City Council meeting, newly elected members Lester L. Cromer Jr. and Denny "Josh" Reynolds officially took office. In the photo, City Attorney Rob Wilmot, left, administers the oath of office to Cromer, right. Seated at the top of the photo is Reynolds, at left, beside Mayor Julie B. Smith.
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YOUR GUIDE TO ACTIVITIES THIS WEEKEND IN THE TIFTAREA

Today, Friday, Jan. 7, is Orthodox Christmas Day, celebrated every Jan. 7. Christmas was originally celebrated 13 days after Dec. 25 in the Julian calendar — a much older calendar used before the current Gregorian one. Some orthodox Christians still observe the day by going to church and observing traditions such as burning frankincense to commemorate the Wise Men’s gifts to baby Jesus.
FRIDAY, JAN. 7
  • Gospel Music Fest, 7 p.m., UGA Tifton Campus Conference Center, Tifton

SATURDAY, JAN. 8
  • Gospel Music Fest, 11 a.m., UGA Tifton Campus Conference Center, Tifton
  • "Bloody Knuckles & Small Paychecks" exhibit, 5-7 p.m., Plough Gallery, Tifton
TIFTON GRAPEVINE'S DOG OF THE WEEK
“Bocephus," a male pooch, is available for adoption at the Tift County Animal Shelter on Highway 125 South between 1-6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. For more information, call 229-382-PETS (7387).
Pets of the Week are sponsored by:
Branch’s Veterinary Clinic
205 Belmont Ave., Tifton, 229-382-6055  
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DECEMBER 30
Larry Narred, 73, Poulan
Virginia Lynn “Jenny” Stewart, 61, Nashville
Nana Ann Whitley, 89, Tifton
Steven Eugene “Steve” Bacon, 60, Nashville
Wilson Smith, 81, Willacoochee
Virginia Lynn “Jenny” Stewart, 61, Nashville
Stanley Leroy Combee, 61, Fitzgerald
Steven Alan Stone, 61, Nashville

DECEMBER 31
Mark Edward Youngblood, 67, Chula
Ira Loddie Shealy, 73, Nashville
Shirley Ann Murphy, 78, Ashburn
David W. Giles, 66, Ashburn

JANUARY 1
William Elzie Register, 95, Tifton
Tomigene Grantham Kent, 85, Fitzgerald
Lillie Jean Foster 68, Tifton
Nancy Louise Young, 82, Sylvester

JANUARY 2
James T. Ray, 61, Fitzgerald
Michael A. Studivant, 52, Tifton

JANUARY 3
Frances Y. Merritt, 83, Fitzgerald

JANUARY 4
Alvin “Neal” Adcock III, 68, Tifton
LeRoy Lovett, 80, West Berrien community
Alyssa Nicole Marshall, 39, Fitzgerald
JANUARY 5
Marissa Lynne Rowe Purvis, 36, Irwin County
Marie Delarosa, 49, Adel, formerly of Tifton
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Tifton Grapevine
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Frank Sayles Jr.
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