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Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025

Tifton, Georgia

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Theresa Jewell Bowden, an animal science major from Americus, receives the David and Kim Bridges Award during ABAC’s fall commencement exercises.

ABAC GRADUATES 250 IN FALL COMMENCEMENT

Tifton Grapevine Staff Reports

Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College celebrated 250 graduates during its fall commencement ceremonies Thursday.

ABAC President Tracy Brundage reminded graduates that they are ready for their next step: “Embrace this moment fully, and when doubt whispers that you’re not ready for what’s ahead, silence it with this truth – you’ve earned your place here, and you have everything it takes to succeed.”

Featured speaker for the ceremony was Bárbara Rivera Holmes, state labor commissioner.

“Bring your whole, authentic self to whatever you do. Take the risks that scare you. Find your people and hold onto them. Nobody does this alone,” Holmes said.

Theresa Jewell Bowden, an animal science major from Americus, received the David and Kim Bridges Award, which honors a bachelor’s degree graduate who demonstrates scholarship, leadership, and citizenship.

Bowden graduated summa cum laude and was a fixture on the president’s and dean’s lists during her college career. She recently completed a summer internship at Philema Animal Hospital in Leesburg, getting hands-on experience across small animal, large animal, and wildlife care.

Bowden has been involved in a variety of clubs and activities, including the Pre-Vet Club and the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. She served in multiple leadership roles while at ABAC, including Cattle Classic Committee chairman. In that role, she oversaw event scheduling, promoted activities through social media, and secured financial support through sponsorships and fundraising efforts. The initiatives helped fund a scholarship awarded during the Cattle Classic.

Student Government Association President Jenna Williams concluded the ceremony, thanking graduates for their impact on the ABAC community.

“You proved that the true spirit of ABAC is not in its buildings or titles; it’s in the people who bring this place to life,” Williams said. “You may be leaving this campus, but the way you made people feel will walk these halls forever.”

TIFTON ARTS DIRECTOR BRUCE GREEN RETIRING

By FRANK SAYLES JR.

Tifton Grapevine

The executive director of the Tifton Council for the Arts (TCA) is retiring, the council's executive board announced.

Bruce A. Green is leaving the post after nearly two years. The board said Green has decided to retire in order to pursue personal interests, including gardening and the restoration of historic cottages.

"During his tenure, his leadership, vision, and commitment to the arts strengthened the organization, expanded its reach, and left a lasting positive impact on both TCA and the broader community," the board said in a statement. "To ensure continuity during the leadership transition, Georgia Smith will serve as interim director, supporting ongoing operations and programming."

A public retirement reception honoring Green is scheduled 5-7 p.m Jan. 8 at the Atlantic Coastline Community Depot.

Before becoming arts director, Green served as Urban Redevelopment Agency director for the City of Tifton. Before that, he was interim manager for the Tifton Downtown Development Authority and Main Street.

Green had previously served as Main Street manager for Tifton during the 1980s, coordinating a successful revitalization program during an eight-year period. That eventually led to Tifton being recognized as one of the Best Small Towns in America.

He then became director of the Downtown Development office with the Georgia Municipal Association in Atlanta. From there, he served as the director of communications, research, and rural development for the Georgia Department of Community Affairs in Atlanta. Green later created a consulting company, Bruce Green & Associates.

Before eventually returning to Tifton, Green served as director of tourism product development with the Georgia Department of Economic Development, where he worked with communities, private corporations, and non-profits across the state to increase investment in and development of new tourism products.

In 2013, the Ga. Department of Economic Development honored Green with the Tom Kilgore Lifetime Achievement Award for exemplifying outstanding lifetime commitment to tourism.

A Valdosta native, Green, at age 25, served as a Remerton city councilman in Lowndes County.

'YES, VIRGINIA, THERE IS A SANTA CLAUS'

Tifton Grapevine Staff Reports

During the fall of 1897, eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of New York's Sun newspaper. A quick response was printed as an unsigned editorial – the work of veteran newsman Francis Pharcellus Church.

His response has since become history's most reprinted newspaper editorial, appearing in part or whole in dozens of languages in books, movies, in other editorials, and on posters and stamps.

The message is as relevant today as it was 128 years ago.

Reprinted below is the simple query to the newspaper, and the response for the ages:

__________________________________________________

DEAR EDITOR:

I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, 'If you see it in THE SUN it's so.'

Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?

VIRGINIA O'HANLON

115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET

--------------------------------

VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see.

Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart.

Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

FORMER TIFTON BANKER RETIRING

Tifton Grapevine Staff Reports

After more than four decades in the banking industry, Cal McMillan is retiring as senior vice president & commercial banker at Flint Community Bank.

McMillan previously worked in banking in Tifton and has served as chairman of the Tifton-Tift County Chamber of Commerce.

He joined Flint Community Bank six and a half years ago. During McMillan's 42-year career, Cal served communities across Southwest Georgia, including Albany, Tifton, Macon, and Fort Valley.

Before joining Flint, McMillan held key leadership roles at Ameris Bank, First Community Bank, Synovus, BankSouth, First South Bank, and several other institutions in the region.

McMillan, at right In photo, receives a Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizing his impact on community banking, from John McNair, president & CEO of the Community Bankers Association of Georgia.

TIFTON-TIFT COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE RIBBON CUTTING

Paulk Vineyards Tifton Tasting Room

201 E. 5th St., Tifton

Dec. 16

TIFTON GRAPEVINE'S CATS OF THE WEEK

"Puz," a male at left, and Tinkerbell, a female at right, came to the animal shelter together as tiny kittens after being found in a barn with their siblings and their mama, who sadly had died. These two little fighters have grown strong and healthy, and at just 3 months old, they are now ready for forever homes of their own. Come visit them and see other pets available for adoption between 1-6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays at the Tift County Animal Shelter on Highway 125 South, or call 229-382-PETS (7387).

BURGLARS STRIKE TIFTON JEWELRY STORE

~ DEC. 23, 1951

Several watches were stolen after the north show window of Echols Jewelry on Love Avenue was broken into at about 5:30 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 23, 1951. Tifton Police said they ascertained the time because an officer had passed by the window at 5:15 a.m. and it was undisturbed. Other jewelry in the window was not touched, police said.

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