Bryce Roland, center, with the David and Kim Bridges Award presented Thursday by the ABAC Alumni Association. At left is Melissa Pierzchajlo, Alumni Association president; at right is ABAC President Dr. Tracy Brundage.

 ABAC AWARDS TOP BACHELOR’S GRAD

DAVID & KIM BRIDGES AWARD GOES TO PERRY STUDENT

By FRANK SAYLES JR.

Tifton Grapevine

Bryce Roland of Perry received the David and Kim Bridges Award during Thursday’s commencement ceremonies Thursday at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.

The award, named for former ABAC President David Bridges and his wife, recognizes the most outstanding student graduating with a bachelor's degree at the college.

The ABAC Alumni Association sponsors the award, presented for outstanding scholarship, leadership, and citizenship.

Roland, who received a degree in agricultural communications, was president of the Student Alumni Council, an ABAC Ambassador, treasurer of the Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow Club, among other roles. He was also a state officer for the Georgia FFA organization.

ABAC graduated nearly 400 students during two ceremonies Thursday at the school’s Gressette Gymnasium.

OCILLA HONORS 'SOUL MAN' THIS WEEKEND WITH PRATER FESTIVAL

By FRANK SAYLES JR.

Tifton Grapevine

This weekend, Ocilla once again honors its native son the late Dave Prater, the original “Soul Man,” with a multi-day festival.

The Prater Music Festival celebrates the legacy of Prater, one half of the Grammy-winning R&B duo Sam & Dave, who had such hits as “Soul Man” and “Hold On, I’m Comin’."

An Ocilla native, Prater grew up singing in his church’s choir. The Prater Festival opened Thursday night with a gospel sing. Today (Friday), the music continues with a block party featuring the Irwin County High School Jazz Band at 6:30 p.m., followed by Tifton’s Jerry Moss & the Southern Soul Band at 7 p.m.

All Prater Festival events are held on the grounds outside the old elementary school at 102 N. Alder St. in Ocilla. Folks are reminded to bring a lawn chair.

On Saturday, the festival gets into high gear beginning at 11 a.m. with DJ Roland Lott, arts & craft vendors, and a talent show from 1-3 p.m., and a Jazz Band Showcase. At 6 p.m., The Page Brothers Band takes the stage for an evening of music and dancing.

The festival is free to the public.

Sam & Dave were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. Prater had met Sam Moore in Miami and they formed Sam & Dave in 1961. They had several Top 10 hits in the late ‘60s, but disbanded in the ‘70s.

The duo briefly got back together for a series of concerts after the success of the John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd film "The Blues Brothers” in 1980, which featured some of Sam & Dave’s songs.

Prater died in April 1988 when the car he was driving went off Interstate 75 near Sycamore in Turner County and hit a tree. He was 50 years old.

For more information on the Prater Music Festival, Click Here!

TIFTON’S J.C. BELL CONVERTING BIOMASS TO FUEL ENTREPRENEUR PREVIOUSLY DEVELOPED

PB2 POWDERED PEANUT BUTTER

By BONNIE SAYLES

Tifton Grapevine

J.C. Bell, the Tifton entrepreneur who developed PB2 powdered peanut butter, presented his idea of converting biomass waste to fuel to the Tifton Rotary Club on Wednesday. 

Bell has developed a way for naturally occurring bacteria to turn waste into long-chain hydrocarbon molecules.

“What is hydrocarbon molecules?” Bell asked. “It’s gasoline, diesel, home-heating oil, and jet A (aircraft fuel). That’s what they’re made from. It is the liquid fuel that runs our economy.”

Even though many vehicles are switching to electric, Bell said, “right now, I don’t know of any electric tractors. We’re not going to fight any transition to electric vehicles. That’s up to everybody if they want to buy an electric vehicle.”

At the same time, he said, “we can make our hydrocarbon fuel, our gasoline, diesel, home-heating oil, and Jet A without it coming from the ground.”  

Eighty percent of everything that goes into a landfill is waste biomass, Bell said. “If you can turn that into fuel, you suddenly have a valuable product from waste.

“If a farmer can use waste to make the diesel that he needs for next year to plant the crop, till the crop, harvest the crop, think about how more economically viable it makes our farmers.” 

Bell said that he actually retrieved the bacteria that eats biomass from his cows, much to their displeasure. He explained that biomass is everything that grows.

“If you’re a farmer, you grow corn,” Bell said. “What is it you actually harvest? Little bitty kernels of corn. All the rest of that plant is waste biomass. If you cut your grass, waste biomass. If you cut a tree, waste biomass. Everything that grows becomes waste biomass.” 

His company Waste to Fuel LLC, had a signed contract during President George W. Bush’s administration to build biomass-to fuel-units for Fort Stewart to provide fuel for the war in Afghanistan.

With a change in administrations, the contract was voided.

Now, Bell is looking for private citizens to fund the research for major universities to develop the units which farmers and other interested individuals can use to convert waste to fuel. He said he needs about 1 million people donating the cost of a cup of coffee to a Patreon.com account supporting Waste to Fuel LLC. 

“Our very next step is to start signing research contracts with appropriate universities that already are in genetic research,” Bell said. Currently, the bacteria can refine 700 pounds of hydrocarbon per dry ton of biowaste. 

“We are not going to commercialize the technology,” he said. “There are a lot of big companies out there, John Deere, Monsanto, Bayer,” that may be interested in developing the technology. Bell has the patent for the genetic manipulation of the bacteria. 

“I don’t think it will be but a couple years, and it will be ready for commercializing,” he said.

Bell is accustomed to inventing products that have a worldwide application. PB2 powdered peanut butter is headquartered in the Tift County Industrial Park, where all the products are manufactured.

“It is in 96% of the nation’s grocery stores, and we ship to 60 countries,” Bell said.

ADEL MARKS SPRING WITH DAYLILY FESTIVAL

Tifton Grapevine Staff Reports

Adel’s 17th Annual Daylily Festival is Saturday in the Cook County city.

Events begin at 8 a.m. with the Daylily 5K Run at the Cook County livestock pavilion on North Elm Street. The festival then gets underway 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at The Depot in downtown Adel.

The festival includes live music and other entertainment, food and specialty vendors, arts and crafts, a Kids Zone, a fashion show, live plants, and of course, daylilies.

Live entertainment includes Zach Lambert, the Sweetwater Creek Band, and the South Georgia Dance Company.

For information: www.adelcookchamber.org, 229-896-2281. 

POSTAL WORKERS COLLECTING FOOD TO 'STAMP OUT HUNGER'

By BONNIE SAYLES

Tifton Grapevine

Tift County letter carriers are joining the National Association of Letter Carriers’ (NALC) 31st annual nationwide "Stamp Out Hunger" food drive on Saturday.

Residents are encouraged to put non-perishable food items beside their mailboxes in bags or boxes before the mail carrier arrives Saturday. 

“Please check the dates on your items,” said Pat McKinnon, executive director of the United Way of South Central Georgia. “No expired food!”

She is coordinating the local volunteer effort to collect the food items from the carriers to be distributed to the following agencies: the Salvation Army of Tifton, the Tiftarea Soup Kitchen, the Tiftarea Food Bank, Coastal Plains of Tifton, Bridging The Gap Community Center, and the Mell Baptist Association. 

Since 1993, the letter carriers’ Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive has been the United States’ largest one-day food drive, held annually on the second Saturday in May. Every year, letter carriers collect tens of millions of pounds of food that help those in need.

More than 34 million Americans, including nine million children, experience food insecurity and rely on food donations, according to the NALC. 

"Every year, the food drive provides a unique opportunity for us all to come together with a common goal to give back to those who are struggling to feed their families,” said Brian L. Renfroe, NALC president.

The food donated locally goes to local food banks. 

The Stamp Out Hunger food drive was canceled in 2020 and 2021 because of the pandemic, and was restarted in 2022. 

“Participating is easy,” Renfroe said. “Simply leave a bag of nonperishable food next to your mailbox on Saturday, May 13, and your letter carrier will handle the rest. Together, we can stamp out hunger in America.”

Tift County Commission Chairman Tony McBrayer, right, presents Danny Hoover with a letter of support in establishing a board for disability and aging independence.

DISABILITY & AGING BOARD BEING CREATED

Tifton Grapevine Staff Reports

A Tifton-Tift County Disability and Aging Board for Independence is being established to promote and enhance the quality of life for people with disabilities.

The nine-member board will be filled by volunteers: three members of the community from the aging population, three with intellectual/physical/developmental disabilities, and three from professional fields serving the aging or disabled population, said Danny Hoover of Diversified Enterprises.

Tony McBrayer, Tift County Commission chairman, on Monday presented Hoover a letter of support in forming the disability and aging board. 

"The Tift County Board of Commissioners supports your efforts in the formation of the Tifton-Tift County Disability and Aging Board for Independence. We certainly understand the importance of your mission to promote and enhance the quality of life for people with disabilities,” McBrayer wrote in the letter.

"We further understand that this newly created board will advise the county on issues pertaining to the disability community, which could include equal access to programs, housing, facilities, and services." 

Anyone interested in joining the board may notify Danny Hoover at dehoover@de-empowers.org

From left are TRMC Chief Nursing Officer Tonia Garrett, Daisy Award recipient and nurse Alana Durrance, and Southwell President/CEO Christopher Dorman.

TRMC NURSE GETS DAISY AWARD

Tift Regional Medical Center (TRMC) recently honored Alana Durrance with the Daisy Award for Extraordinary Nurses.

The award, given to Durrance during National Nurses’ Week, is part of the Daisy Foundation's program to recognize extraordinary efforts from nurses. 

Durrance has worked in TRMC’s obstetrical unit for more than year. A co-worker nominated her for empathy and warmth she demonstrated to a patient who suffered from the loss of a newborn from fetal demise. 

“Alana exemplified so much compassion by dressing the baby, getting footprints as a keepsake, explaining the process for transporting the baby to the funeral home, and doing other things to help the parents as they grieved,” said Tonia Garrett, chief nursing officer.

Julie Williams, TRMC perinatal services director, said Durrance has proven multiple times that she was a top candidate for the Daisy Award.  

“Thank you, Alana, for being an extraordinary, dedicated, valuable, and very much appreciated nurse,” Williams said. 

As part of the recognition, Durrance’s entire department was treated to a special celebration.

To Subscribe, Click Here!

Your free subscription allows you to receive our MidWeek and Weekender editions in your in-box, along with occasional Sponsored Editions.

Your subscription is free because of the support of local advertisers.

Please support the businesses and organizations who make this possible.

To Contact Us, Call 478-227-7126

COVID-19 data released from the

Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) as of May 10:

TOTAL TIFT COUNTY CASES: 6,930 ..................................... TOTAL TIFT DEATHS: 176

CONFIRMED TIFT CASES - 2 weeks: 15 ................................... DEATHS - Past week: 0

TIFT POSITIVITY RATE - 2 weeks: 4.9% ........ CONFIRMED & SUSPECTED CASES: 39

TIFT CONFIRMED & SUSPECTED CASES - 2 weeks, per 100K population: 96 _______________________________________________________________

GEORGIA TOTAL CASES: 2,362,831...................................TOTAL GA DEATHS: 35,376

GA CONFIRMED & SUSPECTED CASES - 1 week: 1,858

GA DEATHS - 1 week: 14.................................. ......GA HOSPITALIZATIONS - 1 week: 181

YOUR GUIDE TO ACTIVITIES THIS WEEKEND IN THE TIFTAREA

Sunday, May 14, is Mother’s Day, a day set aside to honor your mother. President Woodrow Wilson in 1914 declared Mother’s Day to be the second Sunday each May. By the 1920s, Hallmark was already selling Mother’s Day cards. Sunday is also National Buttermilk Biscuit Day, so make your mom some biscuits – or at least buy her some for breakfast or lunch!

FRIDAY, MAY 12

• Antiques, Fine Art & Design Week: Opening Reception, 5-7 p.m., Syd Blackmarr Arts Center, Tifton
• Tiftarea Academy Graduation, 6 p.m., First Baptist Church, Tifton
• Mother-Son Luau, 6 p.m., Leroy Rogers Center, Tifton
• Prater Music Festival Block Party, 6:30 p.m., 102 N. Alder St., Ocilla
• “From King to Country” starring Jordan Poole, 7:30-9:30 p.m., Train Depot, Sylvester

SATURDAY, MAY 13

• Wiregrass Farmers Market, 9 a.m.-noon, Ga. Museum of Agriculture, Tifton
• Adel Daylily Festival, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Downtown Adel
• Antiques, Fine Art & Design Week: Designing Your Best Bridal Registry, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Annie’s Place, Love Avenue, Tifton
• Downtown Tifton Second Saturday, 10:30 a.m., Downtown Tifton
• Prater Music Festival, 11 a.m., 102 N. Alder St., Ocilla
• Antiques, Fine Art & Design Week: Blue and White in the Garden, 6 p.m., Southern Pickers, Main Street, Tifton

SUNDAY, MAY 14

• Mother’s Day

ADVERTISE

YOUR

YARD SALE HERE!

TO ADVERTISE YOUR

RESIDENTIAL YARD SALE,

CONTACT US at 

yardsales@tiftongrapevine.com 

or 478-227-7126

Fees are $1 per word, paid in advance

“Benjamin Button” is dressed and ready for a good home. To adopt Benjamin 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.