Working for Peanuts

Tuesday, March 9, 2021

Tifton, Georgia

478-227-7126 ~ www.tiftongrapevine.com

PEANUTS IMPORTANT PART OF TIFTAREA

By FRANK SAYLES JR.

Tifton Grapevine

Consider the peanut.

It is part of our daily lives, especially here in South Georgia.

"Georgia grows over half of the U.S. peanut crop with a farm gate value of over $600 million. The economic impact of the Georgia peanut farmer to the state’s economy is about $2 billion to our local communities in South Georgia where peanuts grow," says Don Koehler, executive director of the Georgia Peanut Commission.

March is National Peanut Month, an observance to "celebrate the bounty of peanuts," Koehler tells the Tifton Grapevine. "Peanuts are heart healthy; they are high in protein; they have a positive influence on other health issues like Type 2 Diabetes and some types of cancer. Because of these and other factors, peanuts are considered a 'Superfood.'”

Armond Morris, a Tifton peanut farmer and chairman of the Georgia Peanut Commission. says that "peanuts are Georgia's official state crop, and the state boasts the largest share of peanut production in the U.S. at nearly 53 percent for the 2020 crop."

In honor of National Peanut Month and the impact of Georgia’s peanut industry, the General Assembly proclaimed March 1 as "Peanut Butter & Jelly Day" at the Georgia state capitol. As usual, the National Peanut Buying Points Association office based in Tifton – Tyron Spearman is the executive secretary – grilled PB&J sandwiches at the capitol last week.

"It was actually held across the street in what they call the Sloppy Floyd Building due to Covid," says Angela Elder in Spearman's office. "We did about 500 sandwiches, which is down from our normal, just due to the change in location."

During the event, the Georgia Peanut Commission and the Peanut Proud organization donated 10,080 jars of peanut butter to the Atlanta Community Food Bank.

Georgia is not only No. 1 in peanut production but also in peanut butter production. According to the General Assembly, the peanut industry supports the livelihoods of more than 150,000 Georgians.

The state has approximately 4,500 peanut farmers in 76 counties who harvested 800,000 acres of peanuts last year, yielding an average of 4,100 pounds per acre.

TIFTON COPS CHARGE MAN WITH MURDER

Matthew Vonard Howard, 24, of Tifton, has been arrested and charged with felony murder in the death of a woman with whom he shared a home, Tifton Police say.

The body of Laura Aguirre, 24, was found shortly after 5 p.m. Saturday in a shallow grave in her backyard in the 1300 block of Sussex Drive, police said. She had been reported missing Friday after she did not show up for work. Aguirre was last seen around 11 p.m. Thursday, March 4, at her residence.

Howard was arrested Saturday and is being held in the Tift County Jail.

Tifton Police detectives requested the assistance of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's (GBI) crime scene specialist to process the crime scene. Aguirre's body was transported to the GBI Crime Lab for an autopsy.

The investigation is still being conducted, and anyone with information is asked to call Tifton Police at 229-382-3132 or the Tip Line at 229-391-3991.

TIFT SEES 19 NEW COVID-19 CASES IN PAST TWO WEEKS

Tift County has seen 19 new cases of COVID-19 during the past two weeks, which is 47 per 100,000 population, the Ga. Department of Public Health (DPH) said Tuesday.

Also in the past two weeks, Tift has had a 3.2 percent testing positivity rate, the DPH reported. Since the pandemic began, Tift County has had a total of 3,369 cases and 92 related deaths of its residents, according to the DPH.

Georgia saw 1,064 new cases on Tuesday and 92 related deaths, the DPH said. Overall, the state has has reported 830,114 cases and 15,647 related deaths.

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ABAC VIRTUAL ARTS SERIES BEGINS ONLINE THURSDAY

Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College is kicking off its Spring Virtual Arts Series on Thursday on the ABAC website.

Presented by James C. and Jolene C. Bell, each virtual performance will be available for 24 hours at no charge to the viewer. The four performances in the series can be accessed at arts.abac.edu on the dates of the performances.

“This mini-series features a variety of artists, some of whom will be included in next year’s full season as a part of the ABAC Presents! Performing Arts Series and An Evening for ABAC,” said Arts Connection Director Wayne Jones. “With the onset of spring comes the promise of days ahead that we can all gather together again.”

The Spring Virtual Arts Series opens with the American Spiritual Ensemble performing “The Power of Spirituals” on March 11. Farewell Angelina will be featured on March 25, followed by TAKE3 on April 8, and Jaimee Paul and Leif Shires: Bonded on April 22.

The American Spiritual Ensemble is an acclaimed professional choral group composed of some of the finest classically trained singers in the music world.

Farewell Angelina is a country band with double violins and guitars. Ashley Gearing, Andrea Young, and Nicole Witt have toured as Farewell Angelina in the United States, Switzerland, Norway, Spain, France, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

TAKE3 is a trio that performs top pop hits, Americana, and classical favorites.

Jaimee Paul and Leif Shires, a married couple, is a jazz singer and trumpet player, respectively, with nationwide credits. They will perform numerous songs from James Bond films.

TIFTON HOSTING PEACH STATE

SHOW CHOIR INVITATIONAL

Some of the Southeast's best show choirs, representing 12 schools from Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee, will converge on Tifton this weekend for the annual Peach State Show Choir Invitational competition.

Although it is the fifth year of the event, it's the fourth actual competition as the pandemic put last year's Invitational on hold.

The event is Saturday, March 13, at the Tift County High School Performing Arts Center. Hosting are the Tift County Choral Department, Tift County's show choirs – Eighth Street Singing Company, Ladies Choice, Singers Incorporated, One Voice, and Tiftosterone – along with the Tift County Choral Parents Association.

Schools will compete in four divisions: Middle School, Unisex, Small Mixed, and Championship, with each division including a performance by one of Tift County’s own show choirs.

One Voice, Tift County’s middle school show choir, will kick things off with a 9 a.m. performance. The next local show choir to perform will be Tift County High's Ladies’ Choice at 10:30 a.m. Tiftosterone, the newest addition to the Tift County family of show choirs, an all-male group from TCHS. will take the stage with “Ghostbusters” at 1:30 p.m. The day wraps up with a performance of “Amelia Earheart: Into the Unknown” at 9 p.m. by Eighth Street Singing Company.

The Tift County Choral Department said it is "excited to be able to present these performances by our local show choirs as the Covid shutdowns have prevented us from performing these shows publicly until now. We will be limiting audience seating all day due to ongoing Covid procedures. However, we anticipate having enough capacity to allow Tiftarea residents an opportunity to enjoy these performances Saturday as admission is open to anyone."

Admission is $15 for adults, $5 for students and children age three and under are free for the entire day. Seating will be first-come, first-served.

The community will have another opportunity to see the Tift County show choirs in action at the Show Choir Showcase on Tuesday, March 16. Because the audience is limited to 250, the Tift show choirs will perform two shows: One at 5:30 p.m. and the other at 7:15 p.m. Admission is $7 at the door with no reserved seating.

Rotarian Marion Curry, left, distributes dictionaries to Omega Elementary School. Principal Jim Byers accepts the books for the students.

TIFTON ROTARY DISTRIBUTES DICTIONARIES TO THIRD-GRADERS

Members of the Rotary Club of Tifton recently distributed dictionaries to third-grade students in Tift County schools. Local Rotarians have long been advocates of developing the skills of young people.

Among other activities, the Rotary Club is also promoting its Young Authors Initiative that will allow some Tift County youths to become published authors.

The Rotary Club and the Tift County Foundation for Educational Excellence will publish a book of selected writings by Tift County youth in grades ninth through 12th. Students may generate an original story of up to 3,000 words in any genre. All submissions should be in Microsoft Word format and emailed, by April 19, to: tiftonwrites@gmail.com

Rotarians continue to meet at noon each Wednesday via Zoom.

Rotarian Wayne Roe distributes dictionaries recently to Jennifer Howell at Matt Wilson Elementary and to Dr. Jamie Dawson at G.O. Bailey Elementary School.

SGBC GIVES TO UGCLife CHURCH CENTER

South Georgia Banking Co. (SGBC) recently presented UGCLife Church with a $500 donation toward the development of the H3 Center to be built on 22 acres off Golden Road. Through the fundraiser, "200K Steps to Hope," Pastor Todd Garner set the goal of walking 100 miles through Irwin, Turner, Worth, Colquitt, Cook, Berrien, and Tift counties to raise awareness and funds for the H3 Center. Pictured from left are Missy Ponder, SGBC customer service representative; Garner of UGCLife; and Sam McCard, SGBC president.

KIWANIS CLUB AIDING LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS

The Kiwanis Club of Tifton presented donations supporting local organizations at the club's March 4 meeting. In photo at left, Mandy Brooks with the Tift Regional Medical Center Foundation receives a check from Kiwanis President Jane Justice. At right, Justice presents a check to David Haire with the 4-H SharpShooters team.

TIFTON-TIFT COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE RIBBON CUTTING

Flow-Rite Plumbing

Tifton

March 3

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR POLICY:

Letters must address local issues only. All letters are subject to editing for brevity, for libelous statements and for egregious language.

Include your name, phone number and address for verification purposes. Email letters to: IHeardIt@tiftongrapevine.com

COVID-19 VACCINATION NUMBERS IN PERSPECTIVE

To the Editor: With the expansion of Georgia COVID-19 vaccinations to groups including K-12 teachers, we think it is important to try and put our current vaccination numbers (as of 3/1/2021) in perspective for the public and specifically for Tift County.

Vaccine distribution across Georgia is likely better than you realize. Georgia has fully vaccinated 775,265 individuals (7.3 percent) and has partially vaccinated another 498,061 (4.7 percent). In Tift County, the numbers are staggeringly better: 6,843 individuals (16.87 percent) have been fully vaccinated with another 2,938 (7.25 percent) partially vaccinated. These numbers sum to shots-in-the-arms of 1,273,326 (12 percent) and 9,781 (24.1 percent) individuals throughout Georgia and Tift County respectively.

To the read the rest of the letter by

Garret Pierzchajlo and Dr. Richard Pierzchajlo, Click Here!

TIFTON GRAPEVINE'S CAT OF THE WEEK

Spunky, a one-year-old male cat, is available for adoption at the Tift County Animal Shelter. To adopt or to see other pets available, visit the Animal Shelter from 1-6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, or call 229-382-PETS (7387).

Pets of the Week are sponsored by:

Branch's Veterinary Clinic

205 Belmont Ave., Tifton, 229-382-6055

TIFTONITE RETURNS FROM

FDR INAUGURAL PARADE ON PONY

– MARCH 10, 1933

Toby Cook of Tifton returned March 10, 1933, from the March 4 Inaugural Parade in Washington, D.C., for President Franklin D. Roosevelt's inauguration. Cook made the 800-mile journey back and forth on his pony and headed the Georgia delegation in the parade down Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the new president. Newspapers throughout the nation carried photos of Cook on his pony, and he did several radio interviews en route to Washington.