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Photo by Frank Sayles Jr.

The Tifton Veterans Museum contained photographs of local veterans and various historical items helping to tell the story of Tift countians who served in the military.

SHUTTERED TIFT VETERANS MUSEUM SEEKS NEW SITE

By BONNIE SAYLES

Tifton Grapevine

Tifton's downtown Veterans Museum, opened with much fanfare in 2019, has been closed for nine months and needs to find a place to relocate its extensive collection of local veteran memorabilia.

The volunteers who operated the museum have been told they have until the end of March to move the items out of the Atlantic Coast Line Station building in Tifton Gardens. Tifton's Downtown Development Authority (DDA) owns the building and plans to use the space for offices and other functions.

“We had 500 to 600 (framed) pictures on the wall,” said Danny Bailey, a local veteran who worked Fridays and Saturdays keeping the Veterans Museum open for free tours since it opened.

“All of that is on the floor.” As a veteran, Bailey said, “That upsets me.”

Chris Parrott and Jamie Cater purchased the adjoining Tifton Terminal Railroad Museum wooden building from the DDA, which included three rooms where some of the Veterans Museum items were displayed, a city official said.

On the Friday before Memorial Day last May, Bailey said he was given two days to remove pictures from the wall and move memorabilia because workers were coming in to install a fire wall. With the Memorial Day recognition program coming up, Bailey was then told he could leave everything in place until after Memorial Day.

“People usually come down to the museum after Jack Stone’s Memorial Day ceremony” across Main Street in the Jack Stone Veterans Park, Bailey said. He said that before the museum was closed, he put in 5,000 volunteer hours on Fridays and Saturdays, and visitors came from mostly outside Tifton, including Florida, to view the exhibits. 

Bailey said he and other volunteers are looking for a place to relocate the museum and exhibit the multitude of photos and other memorabilia that honor Tift County veterans.

“We have two Medal of Honor veterans in Tifton,” Bailey said. “Tifton just doesn’t care for its veterans.”

Greg Miller, vice commander of American Legion Post 21, told the Tifton Grapevine that "we have no other location to go to and will be forced to put all the veteran historical items in storage. Is this the way memories of veterans are treated?”

Temporarily, the museum's items will be moved to a storage unit. Bailey said American Legion Post 21 will pay part of the monthly storage fee.

When the Veterans Museum opened on Nov. 11, 2019, Chris Parrott was the Veterans Museum's president. When contacted Thursday, Parrott referred the Grapevine to Fran Kinchen-Moss, interim director of the Downtown Development Authority.

“It’s our understanding the vets and DDA are working on relocating their museum; not sure what their plans are but, as in the past, we fully support their efforts,” Parrott said.

Kinchen-Moss said that the space left in the former museum after the fire wall was installed is not large enough to display the memorabilia, and the building is just being used to store items. She said the DDA has been paying the utilities for the building.

“It’s basically a storage space,” Kinchen-Moss said. “The DDA will be using it. We have plans to use it as office space and as an area for cooling and support for the Farmers Market. We’re hoping to have a space where the community can have coffee and reading, a community space.”

She said DDA has been trying to help the veterans find a location for the memorabilia and has offered to help provide storage bins and to help pack and label them.

“We’re trying to clean it up and remodel and make it usable,” she said. “We’re doing all we can to help them.”

RHYTHM & RIBS FEST TO INCLUDE KIDS BBQ COMPETITION

Tifton Grapevine Staff Reports

A kids' barbecue cooking competition will be part of the Tifton Rhythm & Ribs BBQ Festival on Saturday, March 1, in Fulwood Park.

The Kids BBQ Competition, sponsored by Historic Downtown Tifton, is for participants between the ages of seven and 16.

“The Downtown Tifton Main Street program, in partnership with the City of Tifton, is proud to serve as the sponsor for this event. Seeing that the festival is held in our downtown and we welcome more than 15,000 to our community, we felt this was the perfect way to support the event,” said Main Street Manager Hillery Culpepper.

“We are excited to see the younger generation get involved with the festival ... and see their creativity come to life,” she said. 

The Kids Competition will feature the challenge dish of BBQ kebabs. Contestants must have a designated adult supervising them throughout the cooking process. There is no cost to enter the contest. Competitors will be divided into children ages seven-11 and ages 12-16.

Winners will receive a trophy and vie for the overall prize, the “Golden Skewer." Awards will be announced at 4 p.m. on festival day.

“We hope to see our young chefs return to this festival year after year and continue to compete; who knows, maybe one day we will see one of them open a BBQ restaurant in Downtown Tifton," Culpepper said.

To register for the Kids BBQ Competition, Click Here. The application deadline is Feb. 25.

The Rhythm & Ribs BBQ Festival is 10 a.m.-10 p.m. March 1 in Fulwood Park. The festival features a professional, backyard BBQ, and kids cooking competition, children’s games and activities, arts & crafts vendors, food vendors, and live entertainment.

Beth Lewis of the Chamber of Commerce's Business/Education Partnership Committee, from left, presents plaques to Bill Nguyen, Tift County High School's STAR Student; Kaycee Aultman, TCHS STAR Teacher; Thomas Holt, Tiftarea Academy's STAR Student; and Natalie Rippy, TA's Star Teacher.

TIFT CHAMBER OF COMMERCE HONORS STAR STUDENTS, TEACHERS

Tifton Grapevine Staff Reports

The Tifton-Tift County Chamber of Commerce recognized STAR students and teachers from both Tift County High School and Tiftarea Academy during the Chamber's membership meeting Thursday.

Phu "Bill" Nguyen is Tift County High School's STAR Student, and Kaycee Aultman is the TCHS STAR Teacher for 2025.

Thomas Holt has been named Tiftarea Academy's STAR Student, and Natalie Rippy is the school's STAR Teacher.

Southwell and Synovus bank helped sponsor the Chamber's recognition.

The Student Teacher Achievement Recognition (STAR) program honors Georgia's highest-achieving high school seniors and the teachers who have been most instrumental in their academic development.

The STAR Student is awarded to the graduating senior with the highest SAT or ACT score recorded in a single sitting.

ASHBURN'S 'BIG PEANUT' MARKS BIG BIRTHDAY

By FRANK SAYLES JR.

Tifton Grapevine

The famous World’s Largest Peanut monument in Ashburn is celebrating its 50th birthday.

The Ashburn-Turner County Chamber of Commerce said on social media that on Feb 15, 1975, "Turner County leaders got together to make a monument to the American farmer and chose our largest crop, the peanut, to honor them. Today, the state’s official peanut monument has had a rough few years after Hurricane Micheal and a facelift, but we think it looks better than ever!"

Ashburn's "Big Peanut," standing proudly along Interstate 75, is more than 40 feet high and surrounded by a golden crown proclaiming, "Georgia 1st in Peanuts." In 1998, the General Assembly designated the structure as an official state monument.

In 2018, Hurricane Michael knocked down the fiberglass peanut, which smashed onto the ground. When the pandemic later struck, efforts to refurbish the monument were further delayed.

Thanks to efforts throughout the Turner County community and beyond, since 2023 a new steel peanut now sits atop the monument's brick pedestal.

55th MS. ABAC CONTEST RETURNS WEDNESDAY

Tifton Grapevine Staff Reports

Nineteen contestants will compete in Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College’s 55th annual Ms. ABAC contest Feb. 26.

The event, which is sponsored by the ABAC Agripreneurs, begins at 7 p.m. in ABAC’s Howard Auditorium. Admission is $10, and advance ticket purchase is advised because of limited seating. Tickets may be purchased from any Agripreneurs officer in the Donaldson Dining Hall the week of the event.

“We are eager to celebrate the emerald anniversary of this ABAC tradition and look forward to the signature event each year,” said Dr. Audrey Luke-Morgan, associate professor of agribusiness and event director.

“While it requires a lot of planning and organizing, it also brings a lot of fun and excitement to the campus," she said. "The Agripreneurs’ members gain skills in event planning and execution. The contestants build self-confidence throughout each stage of the contest, from fundraising for a community cause to writing the essay to answering the final on-stage question. Above all, the event brings together all facets of campus to share our passion for ABAC.”

Contestants compete in casual and evening wear, and will be judged on a written essay and interview with judges.

Students competing this year are: Khali Duncan from Tifton; Aleigha Jane Stephens from Dublin; Evelyn Carreno from Fitzgerald; Grace Salinas from Brunswick; Anslee James from Sylvester; Gracie Banato from Warner Robins; Octavia Bushey from Ellijay; Railey Hughes from Lakeland; Madison Jones from Bonaire; Jaylee Canaday from Gainesville; Vera Katherine Tyre from Alma; Brooklyn Bowen from Gainesville; Lydia Hill from Marshallville; Emily Bolen from Butler; Nashra Layla from Tifton; Janie Elizabeth Turner from Metter; Brianna Payne from Lincoln, Ala.; JillAnne Maybie from Sycamore; and Mia McGurl from Jacksonville, Fla.

DAR CHAPTER PRESENTS STATE FLAG FOR GEORGIA DAY

Tifton's Tallassee Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) recently presented a Georgia state flag to the City of Tifton.

The DAR presented the state flag to the City of Tifton's Department of Community Development in honor of Georgia Day on Feb. 12.

The DAR promotes historic preservation and encourages active participation in educational and patriotic endeavors.

NATIVE PLANT SYMPOSIUM COMING TO TIFTON ON MARCH 19

Tifton Grapevine Staff Reports

The South Georgia Native Plant and Wildflower Symposium will be held in Tifton on March 19.

The Coastal Plain Chapter of Georgia Native Plant Society in partnership with Camellia District of The Garden Clubs of Georgia Inc. is sponsoring the symposium from 8:30 a.m.-3:45 p.m. at the Georgia Museum of Agriculture.

The program includes educational presentations on "Ferns of South Georgia," "Creating a Beautiful Landscape while Conserving Natural Resources," "Connect to Protect: A Call to Action from a Conservation Botanist," and "Feathers & Flora." A native plant sale will also be available.

Attendees will learn what native plants are, why they are crucial to the environment, and how to incorporate them into yards and gardens. Registration is $50 including lunch. Student registration is $25. Register at www.sgnpws.org

For more information, email cpcgnps@gmail.com

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YOUR GUIDE

TO ACTIVITIES

THIS WEEKEND

IN THE GREATER TIFTAREA

Saturday, Feb. 22, is National Margarita Day. The earliest occurrence of the famed cocktail was said to be in 1938 by Carlos “Danny” Herrera, who made it in his Baja, Calif., restaurant. Supposedly, he created it for a famous customer, Marjorie King, who was a renowned dancer in Broadway's “Ziegfeld Follies.” However, Francisco “Pancho” Morales, a bartender in Mexico, is said to mix the first margarita in 1942 in Juárez, Mexico. And then, Margarita Sames, a Dallas socialite, said she created the drink in her vacation home for her guests in Acapulco, Mexico, in 1948. But Jose Cuervo of the famous tequila brand claimed he was already running ad campaigns for the drink in 1945. And, of course, the drink became even more popular after Jimmy Buffett's song "Margaritaville" in 1977. Now, where is that lost shaker of salt....

SATURDAY, FEB. 22

• Adel's First Great Bowls of Fire Chili Cook-off, 10 a.m., Main Street, Adel
• 29th Annual Miss Georgia Pine Pageant, 2 p.m., Tift Theatre for the Performing Arts, Downtown Tifton
• 15th Annual Great Bowls of Fire Chili Cook Off, 2-6 p.m., Connie's Children's Park, Downtown Nashville
• Chili Jam: The Afterburner Concert, free concert with Carver Partin, Eli Winders, and Max Woolery, Milltown Hall, 7-10 p.m., Milltown Hall, Nashville
• An Evening for ABAC, dinner and casino games, 7 p.m., UGA Tifton Campus Conference Center, Tifton
• Casino Night at The Pillars, fundraiser for Dorminy Medical Center Foundation, 7 p.m., 105 E. Roanoke Drive, Fitzgerald

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Valentine's Day may be over, but "Rosie Wren" is still looking for her Valentine to rescue her. Who needs roses when you have Rosie? Come visit her and see other pets available for adoption at 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).