TIFTON'S ARTS IN BLACK FESTIVAL RETURNS

KICKOFF TONIGHT DOWNTOWN; SATURDAY AT FULWOOD PARK

By BONNIE SAYLES

Tifton Grapevine

Tifton’s Arts in Black Festival, a celebration of African American heritage and art, kicks off at 6 p.m. today with "Music Under the Stars" with D.J. music by the G-Man, Garfield Rhaney, in the Myon Courtyard at Donatello’s and Savor the Flavor, 224 Main St. 

The festival continues at 1 p.m. Saturday at Fulwood Park and concludes at 10 p.m. The event celebrates the arts with music, live entertainment, information booths, arts and crafts, and food trucks. 

For the children, there will be a rides in a Kids Zone and a pet petting area. Live music includes “The Mood Doctors,” Harold E. Thomas and Jerry Moss with “Music Solution,” Ray Ray, and Dub Shack.

The Arts in Black Festival was first held in February 1986 on the J.T. Reddick school campus. The festival offers area residents of different cultural backgrounds the opportunity to experience African American culture and traditions through performances, exhibits, workshops, and foods.

ABAC TO GRADUATE NEARLY 400

Tifton Grapevine Staff Reports

Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper of Ocilla will address nearly 400 graduates during two commencement ceremonies at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College on Thursday, May 11.

The ceremonies will be held at the school’s Gressette Gymnasium.

The 10 a.m. ceremony will include graduates from the School of Nursing and Health Sciences, and the School of Arts and Sciences. The 3 p.m. event includes graduates from the School of Agriculture and Natural Resources and the Stafford School of Business.

A total of 166 graduates are scheduled to participate in the morning ceremony, while 175 more are expected to be a part of the afternoon graduation. The total of 397 is a 20% increase from the number of graduates in last year’s spring ceremonies.

“This is always the most special day of the year,” said President Tracy Brundage. “It is exciting to me that at ABAC these graduates received a fantastic education at an affordable price. We know they are ready for whatever their next step will be. They’ve worked hard for this achievement, and we can’t wait to celebrate with them.”

Harper, an Ocilla native, is an ABAC alumnus who previously was a state senator. He serves on the ABAC Foundation Board of Trustees.

ARTS GALA MOST PROFITABLE EVER

By BONNIE SAYLES

Tifton Grapevine

Last week's annual Arts Gala was a huge success despite the rainy evening, Tifton Council for the Arts Executive Director Joy Yost tells the Tifton Grapevine. 

“It was the most profitable Gala we’ve had,” Yost said. “More than 200 people attended, even with the weather.” 

Chelsea Webster, with her husband, Cole, was the grand prize winner in the reverse raffle. The Websters have a choice of a five-night stay in Turks and Caicos with $5,000, or a total of $10,000 cash.

According to the Arts Council website, the Gala “raised over $65,000 to make the arts available, affordable, and accessible to all!  We appreciate you all so much!”

A “fire sale” of leftover silent auction items ends at noon today. Visit and bid here.

The next exhibit at the Syd Blackmarr Center for the Arts is “Art We Love” from May 12-21. This exhibit features artwork from Tifton Council for the Arts board members’ private collections along with selected pieces from the City of Tifton’s Citizen Art Collection, currently housed in City Hall.

The Citizen Art Collection is made up of city purchase awards from the Love Affair and, more recently, Celebrate Creativity. 

The opening reception is 5-7 p.m., Friday, May 12. Exhibit hours are 4-7 p.m., Thursday and Fridays, and 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Saturday and Sunday. The exhibit and opening reception are free of charge.

The exhibit is presented as part of the Art and Design Week hosted by the Tifton Merchants Association.

Tickets to the entire Antiques, Fine Art and Design Week events are $20 and may be purchased at the following locations: The Syd Blackmarr Arts Center (during exhibit hours), Glenn Hendricks Interiors, Bula’s Antiques, Simply Stated, Vintage 41, Southern Pickers, Savor the Flavor, Fifth Street Interiors, Annie’s Place, and Carey’s Antiques.

For more information on Antiques, Fine Art and Design Week, Click Here.

KTB NAMES THIS MONTH’S ‘BEAUTY SPOTS'

Tifton Grapevine Staff Reports

Tifton-Tift County Keep Tift Beautiful board members have selected the “Beauty Spots of the Month” for May.

The residential Beauty Spot is the Statham home at 4264 Forest Lake Drive (pictured above).

The commercial Beauty Spot of the Month is Veazey Insurance at 1012 Love Ave., Tifton.

Owen Wright tells Tifton Rotarians that he and his team find old abandoned houses and restore them to what they were but with 21st century amenities.

BRINGING OLD HOUSES 'BACK TO FUTURE'

By BONNIE SAYLES

Tifton Grapevine

Owen Wright with Relic Pine Enterprises of Turner County told the Tifton Rotary Club he is looking for old abandoned houses from the 1850s through the 1950s for rehabilitation to “bring the past back to the future."

“Those old houses, they mean something,” he said. “You used to see these houses sitting on the edge of the roads or sitting back in the fields. You’d see two or three on every dirt road out in the country.”

The energy embodied in the homes represent the energy used to saw the wood in the forest, mill it, and build the house, and the folks who lived in it – “That’s all embodied energy,” he said. “So, when we let these houses deteriorate, we’re actually wasting energy.”

Now, he said, he is working with the landowners “to do something with these houses.” He has a team that will look under the house to see about its structural integrity and see if they can “get them up in the air and get them out of harm’s way” and move them where they can be used as a home again.

People downsizing often are looking for something with integrity or a little bit of personality, he said. Wright said he is looking to restore specific houses with 60-80% structural and visual integrity intact.

“They may be weathered on the outside where the veneer has worn away,” Wright said, but his team of architectural historians and concept designers can make them into a home with all the needs of the 21st century.

TIFT COMMISSIONER REAPPOINTED TO STATE COUNTIES BOARD

Tifton Grapevine Staff Reports

Tift County District 2 Commissioner Melissa Hughes has been reappointed to serve on the Association County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG or Georgia’s County Association) Board of Managers.

Hughes has just completed her year-long term as president of the state’s county association. She now serves as immediate past president on the board.

Gov. Brian P. Kemp swore in Hughes and the rest of the 2023-2024 Board of Managers during a recent luncheon at the ACCG Annual Conference in Savannah.

“Elected by their peers each spring, the ACCG Board of Managers is a group of dynamic leaders that serve as decision makers on behalf of our organization,” said Executive Director Dave Wills.

“I would like to congratulate our newly installed board and look forward to working alongside them to continue the work of advancing Georgia’s counties."

TIFTON-TIFT COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE RIBBON CUTTING

Georgia Kitchen Designs

1337 U.S. Highway 82 E.

April 28

Pictured from left are Kylei Cutts, scholarship winner; Melinda Moore, SGBC chief operating officer; Maghan Campbell, SGBC marketing director and scholarship coordinator; and Gavin Young, scholarship winner.

2 STUDENTS RECEIVE MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP FROM SOUTH GA BANKING CO.

Tifton Grapevine Staff Reports

Two area students, Kylei Cutts of Tifton and Gavin Young of Sumner, have been selected as the 2023 local recipients of the Julian and Jan Hester Memorial Scholarship from South Georgia Banking Co. 

Both students submitted applications noting their academic achievements and accolades, community involvement, and an essay on the role of community banking. The students will each receive a $500 cash scholarship from SGBC, and their applications have been submitted for consideration of four Hester Memorial $1,000 scholarships chosen by the Community Banking Association.

Kylei Cutts, a senior at Tift County High School and dual-enrolled at South Georgia Technical College and daughter of SGBC employee Chris Cutts, plans to attend Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College this fall.

In high school, she has been involved as DECA president, BETA club member, active in FFA, and the National Honors Society, and has played tennis and volleyball. In the community she participates in her church’s youth group, Meals on Wheels, Special Olympics, and Young Life, among others. At the age of 11, Kylei founded “Choose Kindness Everyday” to bring awareness to homeless animals and raise money for the local animal shelter, where she has volunteered for seven years. To date, she has donated more than $6,500 to the cause.

Gavin Young, a Worth County High senior, honor graduate, and dual-enrolled student at Southern Regional Technical College, plans to attend the University of Georgia in the fall to pursue degrees in graphic design and ag business.

Gavin is active in STEM club, serving as project leader and creating hands-on learning kits for younger children to explore science and robotics. He was captain of the Robotics Team which designed and built a robot for competition and won multiple awards. He has participated in SkillsUSA and is an award-winning welder. He will graduate with three Career Technical and Ag Education pathways completed: Audio, Video, Technology & Film, and two welding pathways. He served in the math league, FFA, and FBLA. Gavin was part of the Colony Leadership Academy and works on his father’s farm.

TIFTON-TIFT COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE RIBBON CUTTING

Traditions Health Hospice Care

126 South Access Road, Chula

May 3

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To Contact Us, Call 478-227-7126

COVID-19 data released from the

Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) as of May 3:

TOTAL TIFT COUNTY CASES: 6,924 ..................................... TOTAL TIFT DEATHS: 176

CONFIRMED TIFT CASES - 2 weeks: 14 ................................... DEATHS - Past week: 0

TIFT POSITIVITY RATE - 2 weeks: 7.0% ........ CONFIRMED & SUSPECTED CASES: 41

TIFT CONFIRMED & SUSPECTED CASES - 2 weeks, per 100K population: 100

_______________________________________________________________

GEORGIA TOTAL CASES: 2,361,800...................................TOTAL GA DEATHS: 35,362

GA CONFIRMED & SUSPECTED CASES - 1 week: 2,082

GA DEATHS - 1 week: 18.................................. ......GA HOSPITALIZATIONS - 1 week: 171

YOUR GUIDE TO ACTIVITIES THIS WEEKEND IN THE TIFTAREA

Today, May 5, is Cinco de Mayo. It is not Mexican Independence Day, as some think, but it is an important day in Mexican history. The day was declared a national holiday in Mexico in 1862 when a force of Mexicans, outnumbered 2-1, repelled the French army marching toward the capital to overthrow the Mexican president. The Battle of Puebla victory rallied the resistance and aided Mexico’s alliance with the U.S., ultimately causing Napoleon III to withdraw his French forces. It was believed at the time that France was about to aid the Confederacy in the U.S. Civil War, but any such plans were scuttled after the U.S-Mexico alliance was strengthened.

FRIDAY, MAY 5

• Arts in Black Festival Kickoff, 6-10 p.m., Donatello's, Myon courtyard, Downtown Tifton

SATURDAY, MAY 6

• Wiregrass Farmers Market, 9 a.m.-noon, Ga. Museum of Agriculture, Tifton
• Arts in Black Festival, 1-10 p.m., Fulwood Park, Tifton

THIS WEEKEND'S

YARD SALE

Yard Sale in the country

on Saturday, May 6,

starting at 7:00 a.m.

It's a short ride, but worth the drive.

Items for camping, grilling, cooking, crafting, and more.

2359 Brookfield Lenox Road.

TO ADVERTISE YOUR

RESIDENTIAL YARD SALE,

CONTACT US at 

yardsales@tiftongrapevine.com 

or 478-227-7126

Fees are $1 per word, paid in advance

“Big Mac” is all ready for a good home. To adopt Big Mac and to see other pets available for adoption, visit the Tift County Animal Shelter on Highway 125 South, open between 1-6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. For additional information, call 229-382-PETS (7387).

CELEBRATION OF LIFE FOR JACY HILL CLARK

Friends of Marianne Hill are holding a “Celebration of Life” for her daughter Jacy Hill Clark, who passed away last summer.

The Celebration of Life will be at 11 a.m. May 13 at First United Methodist Church’s Social Hall in Tifton. The mix and mingle will be informal; some of Jacy’s classmates from the Class of 1974 will be reminiscing about their time together in school.

 All who knew Jacy are invited to attend.