A large crowd of friends, alumni, staff, students, family, and state officials came together Thursday night to honor Dr. David Bridges, who is retiring as president of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College after 16 years.

Bridges, 63, is the longest-serving president in ABAC history, the longest-serving president among the 26 colleges and universities in the University System of Georgia, and the only ABAC president who was once a student at the Tifton college.

Bridges at ABAC "has changed lives, which is really what education is all about," said Sonny Perdue, the former governor, former U.S. agriculture secretary, and now chancellor of the University System of Georgia.

"This is a unique educational institution with the bonds it has with students and the community," Perdue told the audience. He noted that it will be difficult to fill Bridges position but pledged that the best possible candidate will be chosen.

Bridges son, Rees Bridges, said his father exemplifies four qualities, which other speakers had touched upon: A work ethic, dedication, sacrifice, and principles.

When David Bridges took the lectern, he said that “We – and I say ‘we’ – have achieved a great deal in the past 16 years. ... The get-it-done attitude of this institution has got it done."

During Bridges' tenure, ABAC transitioned from a two-year to a four-year college, has seen $100 million in state funding for campus improvements and new facilities, the ABAC Foundation has seen its assets more than double, and $1 million in student scholarships will now be offered, among other accomplishments.

"We stayed focused," Bridges said, to "serve students in a way that they could not get served somewhere else,” and at as low a cost as possible. "We have increased the value of an ABAC diploma."

His mission, he said, has been to prepare ABAC for future success. Bridges issued a challenge to those who come along next to always consider what is best for students, to always strive for excellence, and to remain focused and not be swayed by temporary sentiments of the moment: "Just because everybody is doing it doesn’t make it right," he said.

Regarding his own future, Bridges noted, "I may be gone, but I sure ain't done."

Tift County is one of the hot spots in Georgia seeing an increase in overdoses from illegal drugs laced with fentanyl, says state health officials.

While overdoses have surged lately across the state, Tift is seeing a higher overdose cluster than anywhere below Atlanta.

"South Health District has received notification from our Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) Drug Surveillance Unit counterparts regarding a statewide increase in overdoses over the last several weeks, particularly affecting Tift and Lowndes counties as far as our district is concerned," said Jen Wingertsahn, DPH opioid prevention specialist in Valdosta.

"Most Tift patients mentioned the use of cocaine/crack cocaine, meth, or taking pills thought to be Percocet, and one Lowndes patient mentioned the use of a 'blue pill.' After thorough review of medical records, it has been determined that the drug supply used was most likely contaminated with fentanyl."

Wingertsahn said that fentanyl is "extremely dangerous" and a dose as small as 1-2 grains of salt can cause a fatal overdose. "This is a serious public health threat."

“We have seen an increase in calls referencing possible overdoses, but it’s hard for us to relate them to drugs laced with fentanyl,” said Tifton Police Chief Steve Hyman.

"The people in most of these situations don’t even want to admit to the use of drugs, and normally there aren't any drugs on the scene when we arrive."

The Tift County Sheriff's Office said that law enforcement is not always called to the scene of an overdose and referred questions to local health officials. Tift Regional Medical Center and Southwell officials did not respond to several queries.

During the past two months, at least 66 emergency room visits in the state involved the use of cocaine, methamphetamines, counterfeit pills, or other drugs likely containing fentanyl, the DPH said.

Fentanyl is a dangerous synthetic opioid that is more powerful than morphine. The DPH said that fentanyl-related overdose deaths have been increasing in Georgia since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. During May 1, 2020 – April 30, 2021, compared to the previous 12-month period, fentanyl-involved overdose deaths increased 106.2% in the state.

Nelly Miles of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation told Georgia Health News that the GBI is seeing “a significant increase’’ in fentanyl, as well as a rise in overdose clusters, opioid-related deaths, and seizures of fentanyl.

“In the crime lab alone, the lab has seen an 80% increase of fentanyl results in the last year,’’ Miles said. “We’ve also seen a disturbing trend of samples called ‘purple heroin/purp’ that contains heroin and fentanyl.”

Tiftarea counties report no major damages from powerful storms that spawned tornado warnings Wednesday night into Thursday morning. The most damage was seen at some vacant chicken houses in Turner County.

As the storms rumbled through southern Tift County, tornado warnings were issued for the Omega area late Wednesday, but Tift County Emergency Management Director Joey Fowler said Thursday that "we did not have anything major reported.

"We did have a few trees and power lines down. After the storm passed, we rode the southern portion of the city and county from (Highway) 82 south and did not find any significant damage," Fowler told the Tifton Grapevine.

The storms did destroy one chicken house and damaged several others at a poultry farm in Turner County, according to the Turner County Emergency Management Agency. No chickens were in the houses at the time, and no injuries were reported.

Several hundred residents in Tift and Turner counties were temporarily out of electrical power late Wednesday and early Thursday as the storms passed through the area.

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Tift County's positive COVID-19 cases dropped to 14 during the past two weeks from a total of 21, according to data Thursday from the state Department of Public Health (DPH).

The cases represent confirmed and probable results from both PCR and Antigen rapid tests. Tift County’s total positive cases represent 34 cases per 100,000 population, the measure used across the country to compare case rates among communities and states.

Confirmed cases were nine, and Tift's testing positivity rate for the period was 4.8%, the DPH reported. An additional two confirmed cases and no related deaths were reported in the past week among Tift County residents.

Tift has seen a total of 6,285 cases with 163 related deaths, the DPH said.

On Thursday, the state reported 582 new confirmed and probable cases across Georgia with 27 additional deaths and 81 new related hospitalizations. The state has recorded a total of 1,940,907 confirmed cases and 31,268 related deaths, the DPH said.

Trucks and tractors of all shapes and sizes are revving their engines and roaring down the track this weekend at the AET Truck and Tractor Pull sponsored by the Agricultural Engineering Technology Club at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. 

Gates open at 6 p.m. today (Friday) and Saturday, with the action underway at 7 p.m.

During the event, trucks and tractors pull a weighted sled down a dirt track on the ABAC campus. The weight moves toward the front of the sled as the vehicle pulls it down the track, making it more difficult to pull. Trucks and tractors are divided into weight classes. ABAC has two pulling tractors, Altered Allis and Cracker Jack.

The Southern Pullers Association will feature professional pullers. Admission is $15 for adults; $10 for children 6-10 years of age; $10 for students with an ABAC I.D.; and free for children five and under. Trackside parking is $50 and includes one admission ticket.

For information, contact AET club advisors Ray Lundy at rlundy@abac.edu or Todd Hicks at thicks@abac.edu

Tift County High School Blue Devil Players will present Rodgers & Hammerstein’s "Cinderella," complete with a full, authentic Cinderella carriage, in four performances April 21-24, at the TCHS Performing Arts Center.

Drama student Joshua Boyer Jr., co-director of the production with drama teacher Jake Alley, told the Tifton Rotary Club on Wednesday that a cast of more than 40 students will be waltzing, singing, and performing during the production.  

Even more students will be behind the scenes, he said, doing sound, lighting, and moving props. The Career and Technical Education department is building the carriage with metal and wood to “look nice” on the stage. 

“We have put so much work into this,” Boyer said. “How many props we’ve built, how many dances we’ve learned, how many songs we’ve practiced. We are doing a lot of things we’ve never done before.”

The students are part of one of the most professional theater programs in the South, Alley said. Students Michal Gregus, who plays Prince Topher, and Madeline Perrin, who plays Cinderella, sang “Ten Minutes Ago,” giving Rotary Club members a taste of the music in the production. 

Holly Dunston, who won first place in female solo in the state literary competition, will be the fairy godmother in "Cinderella." She sang “Think of Me” from "Phantom of the Opera" for the Rotarians.

The performances will be at 6 p.m. nightly. Tickets may be purchased at the door, cash or check only. Adults are $10, and students, $5. For more information, email tchs_drama@tiftschools.com

Walter Louis Stephens of Tifton received the Master Agriculturalist Award from the ABAC Alumni Association at the Homecoming awards luncheon last week at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.

Stephens attended ABAC in 1959. He now works with Rancho San Antonio, which is involved in timber, pine straw, and perennial peanut hay, and in wetland mitigation banking.

Stephens gives back to ABAC by financially supporting several scholarships; he is a member of the ABAC President’s Club. He has supported the Jessie Lee Stephens Scholarship and the Patricia M. Hunt Stephens & Pamela Hunt Scholarship.

“One of the highlights of Homecoming every year is the opportunity to celebrate outstanding ABAC alumni,” said Dr. Deidre Martin, chief advancement officer.

After attending ABAC, Stephens graduated from the University of Georgia with a bachelor of science and arts degree in animal sciences, and a master of arts in journalism.

Stephens has been involved in numerous organizations throughout the years. He was a member of the Georgia Cattlemen’s Association, the Rotary Club, and a member of the Sun Trust Bank Board of Directors. He is the author of the book, “Of Trees, Cows, and Other Nonsense.”

Stephens and his wife, Patricia, have raised a family, cattle, and trees, and have lived on farms in Georgia, Oregon, and New Zealand.

The Tift County Council on Child Abuse is hosting its annual Pinwheel Ceremony at 10 a.m. today to bring awareness to abused and neglected children in Tift County.

Pinwheels are placed into the ground representing a report of neglect or child abuse in the county last year. The ceremony will be outside the Tift County Recreation Department's special programs building near the swimming pool at 202 Baldwin Drive.

The county Child Abuse Council has been holding the ceremony annually since 2002 to mark Child Abuse Prevention and Awareness Month.

The Tift County Blue Devils soccer team is once again Region 1-7A champions for the second consecutive year.

Tift defeated Camden County 2-1 on Wednesday in Kingsland and finishes the regular season tonight as Camden comes to Tifton.

The Blue Devils are undefeated in region play and have an overall record of 13-1-1 this season.

Northeast Middle School students who participated in the Junior Tome Book Club this year recently visited the University of North Georgia's Gainesville Campus to attend TomeCon, thanks to The Howard Center and the Tift County Foundation for Educational Excellence.

Students participated in sessions about the novel-writing process, taught by the authors of books that the students were reading.

Students learned different techniques for drawing characters in graphic novels, learned the importance of creating three-dimensional villains to support their main characters, and experienced real-life snakes as fodder for new writing.

Young Adult author Alan Gratz was the keynote speaker, talking about his writing process and the new books he has coming out soon.

Marcus & Millichap, a commercial real estate brokerage firm specializing in investment sales, financing, research and advisory services, has announced that Cypress Suites, a 108-unit apartment complex in Tifton, has sold for $11,207,142.

“Cypress Suites ... has seen a tremendous rise of out-of-state investor interest, particularly from the Northeast," said John Edward Brigel, first vice president investments in Marcus & Millichap’s Tampa office.

"The property asking (price) was $11.15 million, and after a three-day period on the market it sold about $50,000 more than the asking price,” he said.

The 6.50-acre property at 68 Richards Drive was built in 1998 and renovated in 2020, and has one- and two-bedroom apartments. Marcus & Millichap listed the property on behalf of the seller, Cypress Enterprises LLC. The New York buyer was not disclosed.

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This Sunday, April 10, is Palm Sunday, an important day in the history of Christianity. Palm Sunday marks Jesus’ victorious entry into Jerusalem riding a donkey and being welcomed with palm fronds, palms being considered signs of peace and victory. 

"Peewee," a super-sweet female pooch, is 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).

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

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