TIFTON NATIVE CAITLIN CARMICHAEL FILMING ANOTHER HOLLYWOOD MOVIE, WHILE JOSH DUHAMEL FILM, SHOT IN TIFTON & VALDOSTA, TO BE RELEASED IN FALL

The latest of several movies filmed in Tifton in recent years, "Bandit" starring Josh Duhamel, is set for release this fall. Meanwhile, the Friendly City is currently represented in Hollywood as Tifton native Caitlin Carmichael is shooting her latest film for the big screen in Los Angeles.

Carmichael tells the Tifton Grapevine that she is currently filming "Skill House," also starring Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, TikTok star Bryce Hall, and Neal McDonough of the History Channel's "Project Blue Book" and the "Yellowstone" TV series.

"Skill House" is a horror film exploring the dark side of social media and social-influencer culture.

Carmichael had a featured role in last year's "Midnight in the Switchgrass" with Bruce Willis and Megan Fox, was in an episode of "NCIS: Los Angeles" earlier this year, and last year completed her 51-episode starring role in the TV series "Dwight in Shining Armor."

Although she just turned 18, Carmichael is a TV and film veteran with more than 70 credits who has been performing before the camera since she was three years old. She has acted in such films as "Life Itself," "Epiphany," "300: Rise of an Empire," Wheelman," "A Mermaid's Tale," "A Country Christmas," and "Wiener Dog Nationals."

Carmichael also has been in such TV shows and mini-series as "Bag of Bones," "The Mick," "Young Sheldon," "Deputy," "The Good Doctor," "Z Nation," "Criminal Minds," "CSI: Miami," "Dexter," "Law and Order: LA,” "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," "Hot in Cleveland," "iCarly," and "Doc McStuffins."

In "Skill House," she is being reunited with several people working in the production. When she was five years old, Carmichael worked for the film's writer/director Josh Stolberg on his first movie, "Conception;" she worked for "Skill House" producer Amy Kim for three seasons on “Chosen” for Sony’s Crackle when she was eight; she worked with the second assistant director Jason “Kentucky” Roberts on "Criminal Minds" when she was four years old; and worked with the same stunt coordinator on last year's "Midnight in the Switchgrass."

Carmichael graduated high school at age 14 as valedictorian and is a student at UCLA.

Authorities remained tight-lipped Thursday concerning a man’s body discovered Wednesday in a ditch along U.S. Highway 82, east of Davis Avenue in Tifton.

The body was found at approximately 5 p.m. Wednesday and appeared to be a white male in his 30s, authorities said. Tifton Police said they could not release any information Thursday and noted that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating the matter.

The GBI released no further details Thursday. Authorities would not say if foul play is suspected.

Tifton's Rhythm & Ribs BBQ Festival gets national publicity Monday night when the Food Network showcases the Tifton barbecue competition on its new series "BBQ USA."

Tifton will be the sole focus of Monday's one-hour episode, which premieres at 9 p.m., Monday, July 18. According to the Food Network's schedule, the Tifton episode will be re-broadcast at 9 a.m. Friday, July 22, and again at 1 p.m. Saturday, July 23.

The show will also be streaming on Discovery+.

Michael Symon, Food Network star chef, award-winning restaurant owner, and New York Times best-selling author, attended Tifton's Rhythm & Ribs Festival during March and will highlight the festival's BBQ competition.

Tift County's total COVID-19 cases have risen by 239 in the past two weeks – 76 more than the previous period – 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 PCR tests during the two-week period totaled 52. There was one additional related death reported in Tift County.

Tift County’s total positive cases represent 585 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%; the rate for the previous reporting period was 18.9%, the DPH said.

Tift has seen a total of 6,433 cases with 165 confirmed deaths, the DPH said.

The state has recorded a total of 2,085,040 confirmed cases and 32,203 related deaths, the DPH said. That number represents 19,097 more confirmed cases in the past week and 78 additional deaths. The state reports COVID-19 data once a week.

Tyron Spearman and Angela Elder with the Tifton-Tift County Tourism Association shared with the Tifton Rotary Club members Wednesday the many activities coming soon to Tifton. 

Tourism funds come from hotel/motel taxes and are used to promote Tifton and present local activities that bring visitors.

“We’re planning the Holiday Tour of Homes to come back this year to coincide with the (city's) 150^th anniversary, featuring a home from each decade,” Elder said, “and we’re developing a new driving tour of Tifton that will look at how things were and how they are now.” 

Among local upcoming events are the state swim meet coming July 21-23, and a huge football tournament bringing 600 kids and their families July 29-30, Spearman said.

Tifton’s Rhythm and Ribs BBQ Festival is scheduled for March 3-4, Elder noted. This years' festival was the largest yet, bringing more than 20,000 people to Tifton, she said. More vendors are coming next year.

The UGA Tifton Campus Conference Center is a huge draw, Spearman said, and the is to be hosted there again this year and next. "From Columbus to Savannah, nobody has a place like we do,” Spearman said of the conference center.

Among local attractions are Downtown Tifton, You-Pick Farms, the Disc Golf Course at Fulwood Park, and, of course, the Georgia Museum of Agriculture, Spearman said.

The Museum of Agriculture is a large draw, and new billboards will promote its Country Store and playground area, which will be expanded and a new rubber matting added. 

There also will be a new kids’ playground area at E.B. Hamilton Park for younger children to use while their older siblings are participating in sports on the ballfields. About $200,000 in tourism funds are earmarked for that playground area, Spearman said. 

State tourism officials have named the region Scenic Southwest Georgia, and Elder said, “We are going to develop a trail called 'Sipping Southwest Georgia.'” It will include not just wineries and breweries, but also any local coffee shop or eatery that has a specialty drink. 

Spearman and Elder noted that Tifton has 16 hotels with 1,309 rooms. The city has 100-plus restaurants, and more than 40 are local.

Tourism’s economic impact on the area includes $128.5 million in total visitor spending in 2020. State and local tax revenues collected in 2020 was $9.6 million. The taxes amount to an average savings of $636 per household, they said. 

The Tifton Tourism office and store is located at 148 Ridge Ave., and sells Tifton T-shirts, including the new 150th anniversary commemorative shirt, and "Think Tifton" cups, mugs, tumblers, caps, magnets, key chains, and more.

Hundreds of children and their family members circled through the Tift County Recreation Department gym on Thursday, visiting 35 vendors and gathering school supplies in the annual Community Resource Fair and Back-to-School Supply Giveaway.

The event was sponsored by the Tift County Commission on Children and Youth. 

Keep Tift Beautiful's residential Beauty Spot of the Month has been awarded to Pastor Robert and Joyce Howard for their property at 30 Pecan St. in Tifton. Mrs. Howard is pictured above in her garden.

Retired Army Col. Ralph Puckett Jr., the Tifton native who last year received the Congressional Medal of Honor from the president, has sent the thank-you note above to the citizens of Tifton.

Puckett, 95, who resides in Columbus, was recently honored in Tifton with a key to the city, with Victory Drive being named in his honor, and with July 1 designated as Ralph Pucket Day in Tifton.

"No matter where I live, Tifton will always be my home," Puckett wrote. "It is comforting to me to know that long after I am gone that Tifton continues to promote the values that made our country great."

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A reception for Dr. Tracy Brundage, the incoming president of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, will be from 4-6 p.m. Aug. 4 in Tift Hall on the ABAC campus. The reception is open to the community.

Brundage, president at Keystone (Pa.) College, takes office Aug. 1 as the 11th president in ABAC's 114-year history.

“I am very excited and look forward to working with the entire ABAC community,” Brundage said. “ABAC has a long and distinguished history of educational service in Georgia, and I am proud to have a chance to be a part of that legacy."

She succeeds Dr. David Bridges, who retires July 31.

A group of Tift Countians gathered early Thursday at the Tift County Courthouse to join Georgians across the state to simultaneously read different sections of the Bible, resulting in the entire Bible being read.

The Bible-reading endeavor has spread to areas across the world, organizers say.

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This Sunday, July 17, is National Ice Cream Day, first proclaimed by President Reagan in 1984. The International Dairy Foods Association says July is the biggest month of ice cream consumption and that Americans eat more than 20 pounds each annually. The top flavor in the U.S.? Chocolate, followed by Cookies 'n Cream, and Vanilla. Strawberry is fourth, and Chocolate Chip, fifth.

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"Sugar," a happy female pooch, is the longest resident at the Tift County Animal Shelter and is more than ready for a forever home. Visit Sugar at the shelter on Highway 125 South between 1-6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. For additional information, call 229-382-PETS (7387).

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

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