Digital Newspaper for Tifton, Ga., and the Greater Tiftarea

IHeardIt@tiftongrapevine.com ~ 478-227-7126 ~ www.tiftongrapevine.com

To SUBSCRIBE, Click Here!

NOTE: Depending on your computer's settings, you may need to click the link at the bottom

of the edition to download its entirety.

Jimmy Carter, wearing an ABAC cap, poses with members of the ABAC Wildlife Society, who installed and maintain wood duck boxes on his land in Plains.

ABAC A PART OF JIMMY CARTER'S LIFE, LEGACY

Tifton Grapevine Staff Reports

Former President Jimmy Carter was laid to rest Thursday night next to wife Rosalynn in Plains, back where he lived and died, back where it all began.

A world traveler, Carter was never far from South Georgia. It was part of him; he carried it with him wherever he was, and Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton was a part of that.

“A lot of times when I am visiting a country like some of the places we have visited in Africa, I think of ABAC and all the things I learned about agriculture here,” Carter said when visiting the college in 2014.

As a young farmer, Carter took short courses at ABAC on pesticide use and fertilizers. He said he learned about laying out terraces and planting peanuts, and he brought other farmers down from his family farm to learn techniques.

“ABAC is one of my favorite educational institutions in all of the world,” he said during that appearance in the college’s Howard Auditorium in 2014. “ABAC has been a blessing to me and my family.”

In 2019, the ABAC Alumni Association voted him as an Honorary Alumnus because of his involvement and support of the college. 

“President Carter’s impact was felt around the world and right here at ABAC,” said Lynda Fisher, ABAC’s director of alumni and special events. “We were very fortunate to have a relationship with him throughout the years. He was an American icon, a worldwide ambassador for peace, and his impact will be felt for generations to come.”

In 1997, Dr. Doug Waid, an ABAC professor of wildlife and forestry, coordinated an effort with his students to install a series of wood duck boxes on Carter's land. Today, Dr. Vanessa Lane, an associate professor of wildlife ecology and management, continues to take students from her department to Plains to maintain those boxes.

“His service to his home state, his country, and the world speaks to a legacy of compassion and dedication. We are proud of his connection with ABAC and grateful for his recognition of the importance of our mission and its impact on young people in our region. While his passing deeply saddens us, we know the world is better because of his impact," said ABAC President Tracy Brundage.

WINTER STORM

TO HIT NORTH, CENTRAL GA; ONLY RAIN IN TIFTAREA

By FRANK SAYLES JR.

Tifton Grapevine

While Atlanta and North and Central Georgia brace for a major winter storm expected to bring snow, freezing rain, and icy roads, South Georgia will only see showers and more moderate weather, the National Weather Service says.

On Thursday, Gov. Brian P. Kemp declared a statewide state of emergency in preparation for the approaching storm. Up to four inches of snow is forecast for North Georgia and up to an inch in Metro Atlanta beginning Friday morning.

"I'm asking all Georgians to help (the Department of Transportation) do their jobs by limiting travel as much as possible in the coming days,” Kemp said. “Hazardous conditions, including ice and snow, can develop quickly and make travel very dangerous.

In the Tiftarea, there is a 30% chance of showers, mainly after 4 p.m., with a high near 57 degrees. Showers are forecast Friday night with a low temperature of 41 degrees, the National Weather Service said. Saturday is expected to be partly sunny with a high near 46 and a low near 29 degrees.

But in North Georgia, a wintry mix is expected to continue through Friday afternoon and evening before diminishing early Saturday with snow and/or ice accumulations possible as far south as Columbus and Macon.

The newly replaced second playground in Fulwood Park reopened Thursday. Four-year-old twins Abby and CJ Tucker, at right, try out the new equipment.

TIFTON REOPENS PLAYGROUND IN FULWOOD PARK AFTER MAKEOVER

By FRANK SAYLES JR.

Tifton Grapevine

The smaller second playground in Fulwood Park reopened for children on Thursday with new modern playground equipment.

On the heels of the new larger handicapped-accessible playground that opened in Fulwood Park early last year, the smaller playground on the south end of the park received a total makeover.

Formerly a playground with older wooden and plastic equipment, that smaller playground was demolished in November and now replaced with three slides, a higher play tower, a poured-rubber play surface for safety, and more items designed for children aged 5-12.

The new playground equipment included a shaded swing area and a larger shaded area. 

MARTIN L. KING JR. DAY BREAKFAST SET IN TIFTON

Tifton Grapevine Staff Reports

The Tifton organization PLIGHT Inc. (Proud Loving Individuals Giving A Hand To Teens) is once again hosting the Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast on Jan. 20, MLK Day, at the Tift County Recreation Department.

The event begins at 8 a.m. at 401 Victory Drive in Tifton. Tickets are $15 and are available from PLIGHT members, who include Travis S. Butler, Loretta Brown, Vivian Hightower, Garfield Rhaney, and Melissa Hughes, among others.

The guest speaker will be Tremayne J. Graydon, a Tift County High graduate who is a Christ-centered licensed professional counselor with more than 15 years of experience helping adolescents, adults, and couples manage challenges such as, depression, anxiety, interpersonal conflict, transition-related concerns, trauma, and grief.

Graydon also he has worked with families at behavioral health treatment facilities, residential group homes for adolescents and children, summer camps for youth with medical disabilities, and at homeless shelters.

He founded Recapture Life Counseling and Consulting in Peachtree City and serves as a therapist for Tiftarea Psychiatric and Counseling Services.  

Graydon also has served as manager of quality and compliance at Children’s Hospital of Atlanta along with Grady Health System. Additionally, he has served as director of risk management and performance improvement at RiverWoods Behavioral Health System. 

At his church, Grace Pointe Church in Peachtree City, he serves as a marriage ministry facilitator and a children’s ministry teacher.

The son of Wasdon and Veronica Graydon of Tifton, he received a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Georgia Southern University, and received a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling from Mercer University, graduating summa cum laude.

PCOM ADDRESSING RURAL SHORTAGE OF PHYSICIANS

By BONNIE SAYLES

Tifton Grapevine

Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) South Georgia is intentional about recruiting people to be physicians in rural and other underserved regions such as South Georgia, the Tifton Rotary Club was told Wednesday.

“There is a critical need in Georgia for physicians,” said PCOM South Georgia Dean Dr. Marla Golden. “There is a big desert of doctors” in the region, she said.

Medical schools are training a lot of doctors, she said, “but where do they go? They gravitate to cities.” 

PCOM is located on 31 acres in Moultrie with a 75,000-square-foot facility completed in August 2019. Golden said that the school receives 3,000 applications a year for 59 students accepted. The school encourages graduates to serve in rural areas that have severe physician shortages.

PCOM was founded in Philadelphia in 1899 and celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2024. The local graduates have a 100% match rate in being accepted to residencies in South Georgia.

The school offers the doctor of osteopathic medicine degree and the master of science in biomedical sciences degree.

Osteopathic medicine focuses on a more holistic view of health, Golden said, “and a comprehensive approach to a patient and everything about them in their lives that impacts their health and wellness – whether it’s the way they walk, how they sit, what they do for their job.”

Graduates have the degree D.O. rather than the allopathic degree of M.D. She said D.O.s have additional training in manipulating the musculoskeletal system.

Golden said that 142 of Georgia’s 159 counties are health-professional shortage areas, and less than 8% of the states’ physicians practice in rural areas. Overall, Georgia ranks in the bottom half of states for primary care and physician supply availability. 

PCOM South Georgia is working to alleviate this shortage of doctors in Georgia’s rural areas. 

“Studies show that physicians trained and educated in a region are more likely to remain in that region to practice medicine,” Golden said. 

INFORMATION MEETING SET FOR CHRISTIAN HOMESCHOOLING

Tifton Grapevine Staff Reports

Parents and others interested in Christian-based homeschooling may attend a meeting with "Classical Conversations" representatives at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 14, at Northside Baptist Church. 

“If you would simply like to know more about classical Christian education or homeschooling in general, get to this meeting," said Kayla Y. Dunn, a homeschooling parent and member of Northside. “It was life changing for our family and countless other families, too.”

Classical Conversations (CC) is a PreK through 12th-grade classical Christian homeschooling program. CC has nearly 200,000 students enrolled in the U.S., Dunn said. The program is in more than 50 countries.

“With CC, your children will gain the skills to know how to learn anything, how to think instead of being told what to think, and most importantly they will obtain a Biblical worldview and a solid foundation of faith,” Dunn said.

Attendees may register at ClassicalConversations.com/Events.

NOMINATIONS OPEN FOR ROTARY ETHICS IN BUSINESS AWARD

Tifton Grapevine Staff Reports

Nominations are open for the Rotary Club of Tifton's Rotary Ethics in Business Award, honoring a business that operates fairly and ethically in Tift County.

Nominations must be received by Jan. 22. Rotarians will present the award during the Tifton-Tift County Chamber of Commerce's annual banquet Feb. 6.

Ethics and business are at the core of Rotary International, so it is fitting that the Rotary Club of Tifton established the Tifton Rotary Ethics in Business Award to recognize a local business that has demonstrated exceptional ethical behavior. 

The Tifton Rotary Club initiated the annual award in 2013 as part of the club's 75th anniversary celebration. Tifton Rotary Club board members selected the criteria for the award, which will go to a business physically located in Tifton or Tift County. 

The nominated business must have consistently demonstrated high ethical standards of honesty and integrity in dealing with employees, customers, and contractors while enhancing the economic well-being of the company and providing local jobs, opportunity and profits.

In addition, the business must have participated in activities beneficial to the community beyond the provision of economic benefits of the business and must adhere to fair and truthful business practice reflected in the Rotary 4-Way Test: "Of the things we think, say, and do: Is it the truth?; Is it fair to all concerned?; Will it build goodwill and better friendship?; and Will it be beneficial to all concerned?"

The nomination application is posted below and on the Tifton Rotary Club's Facebook page. It may be emailed to tiftonrotary@gmail.com or mailed to the Tifton Rotary Club, P.O. Box 1354, Tifton, Ga. 31793 (attn: Rotary Ethics in Business Award). 

They must be received by Jan. 22.

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

YOUR GUIDE

TO ACTIVITIES

THIS WEEKEND

IN THE GREATER TIFTAREA

Saturday, Jan. 11, is National Milk Day, honoring our very first food as babies which often remains a common source of nutrition throughout our lives. Jan. 11 is also an observation of the first time milk was delivered to homes inside sterilized glass bottles. It wasn't until 1878 before anybody thought to fill bottles with milk and seal them with waxed paper. By 1895, commercial pasteurizing machines for milk were introduced in the United States. In the early 20th century, the "milkman" delivering milk to homes in glass bottles became a ubiquitous part of society. But by the early 1960s, most milkmen had disappeared following a decline in demand because fresh milk was readily available in local markets.

SATURDAY, JAN. 11

• Second Saturday Mid-Winter Sale, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Downtown Tifton
• Kids Studio Saturday, 10 a.m.-Noon, Syd Blackmarr Arts Center, Tifton
• Tift County High Lady Devils basketball vs. Richmond Hill High girls, 2 p.m., Tift County High School, Tifton
• Tift County High Blue Devils basketball vs. Richmond Hill High Wildcats, 3:30 p.m., Tift County High School, Tifton

NOTE: The ABAC Stallions basketball doubleheader with Life University of Marietta, scheduled Saturday in ABAC's Gressette Gym, has been postponed because of the forecast for snow and icy road conditions in the Atlanta area this weekend. A rescheduled date will be announced.

YOUR YARD SALE

HERE

To Advertise Your Yard Sale, Contact:

IHeardIt@tiftongrapevine.com 

or 478-227-7126

Fees are $1 per word, paid in advance

Meet "Bonnie," a stunning German Shepherd with a heart as gentle as her gaze. This sweet girl is a true cuddle bug who adores being petted and snuggled. She’s loving, kind, and gets along well with other dogs – a perfect companion for any home. 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).