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A new scoreboard is installed this week in the south endzone at Brodie Field in preparation for the Tift Blue Devils football season, opening at home next Friday.

FOOTBALL IS BACK!

By FRANK SAYLES JR.

Tifton Grapevine

Are you ready for some football? The Blue Devils are.

Head Coach Jeff Littleton and his Tift County High Blue Devils are preparing for next week's season opener with a preseason scrimmage tonight in Quitman with Brooks County High.

The season schedule gets officially underway next Friday, Aug. 15, at home in Brodie Field against Griffin. Of the 10 regular-season games scheduled this year, six are home games for Tift County.

Just in time for the football season, a new scoreboard was installed this week in the south endzone at Brodie Field, replacing the previous board destroyed by a hurricane a few years ago.

The new scoreboard is a smaller unit featuring digital numbers only and can be operated independently from the main LED jumbotron at the north end of the field.

"Funding for the new board was approved as part of the FY25 (Fiscal Year 2025) amended budget this past spring. It was one of several items identified on a prioritized needs list, which also included scoreboard replacements for softball, baseball, and basketball at Tift County High School," said Dana R. Spurlin, chief of communications and community engagement for Tift County Schools.

She said the high school's athletic facilities are still using the original scoreboards that were installed when the current school building opened in 1998.

"The scoreboards for softball, baseball, and basketball are specialized LED boards requiring custom order and custom build. We anticipate the first of those scoreboards will be installed in the next month or so," Spurlin said.

Also this school year, Tift County athletics has gone completely cashless.That means all tickets for all athletic contests must be purchased electronically; no cash will be accepted at the gate. There is also a clear-bag policy in effect for everyone entering sporting events.

Here is this season's Blue Devils football schedule:

• Aug. 15: Griffin (home game at Brodie Filed)

• Aug. 22: Gadsden County (home)

• Aug. 29: Lee County (away)

• Sept. 5: Bainbridge (home)

• Sept. 12: Houston County (away)

• Sept. 26: Richmond Hill (home – homecoming)

• Oct. 3: Lowndes (away)

• Oct. 10: Colquitt County (away)

• Oct. 24: Valdosta (home)

• Oct. 31: Camden County (home – senior night)

REP. FORD DETAILS YEAR'S LEGISLATIVE HIGHLIGHTS

By BONNIE SAYLES

Tifton Grapevine

State Rep. Jaclyn Ford, R-Alapaha, shared a legislative update with the Tifton Rotary Club on Wednesday, along with describing elements of the 2025 state budget.

Ford just completed her first session of the Georgia Legislature, where she succeeded longtime Rep. Penny Houston. “I’ve learned a lot,” she said.

Her district encompasses much of Tift County along with portions of Berrien and Cook counties.

The General Assembly “got a lot done this year,” Ford said. “We put a lot of money in public safety this year. Our prisons were in dire need of repair. Fully funded K-12 education, early learning and literacy. We’re putting a lot more emphasis on literacy and getting our kids’ test scores up.” 

She noted that Georgia has a balanced budget. “If we don’t have the money, we don’t spend the money,” Ford said.

“Did y’all know that over 52% of our state budget is spent on education?” she asked. “We have the highest teacher pay in the Southeast. It took us awhile to get there, but we got here.”

In the 2025 budget, $13.6 billion goes to public school funding K-12, and $811 million was allocated to Hurricane Helene relief.

“It was very bad where I live,” she said. “We didn’t have power for 10 days. It was every day trying to meet needs.” Ford said people in Tift County sent generators, food trucks, ice, and ice trucks. “The outpouring of support from people in this region was so humbling. I’m so grateful.”

Regarding the budget, she said $750 million went to water infrastructure. “A lot of that is local grants to municipalities to improve their water systems,” Ford said, and $8.8 million went to maternal health programs.

Another $53 million was allocated to additional grants for school safety initiatives.

"That Apalachee shooting was a huge thing. We had a lot of people, parents from there at the Capitol. This is for safety for our children so that something like that doesn’t ever happen again,” Ford said.

Among bills approved this year is House Bill 111, which reduced the state income tax. She said it provides Georgia families and job creators with the largest state income tax cut in history. It went from 5.39% to 5.19% of income, Ford said. 

Tort reform was a major issue during the legislative session and was pushed heavily by the governor's office. Senate Bill 68, known as Georgia's Tort Reform Bill, is a comprehensive piece of legislation focused on revising various aspects of civil practice, including evidentiary matters, damages, and liability in tort actions. It aims to limit lawsuits, reduce litigation costs, and bring more fairness to personal injury trials.

Ford said a lot of insurance companies are leaving the state because of lawsuits.

Also approved was the Fentanyl Eradication and Removal Act, increasing penalties for fentanyl traffickers so they get harsher punishment, Ford said. 

HB 340, the Distraction-free Education Act, requires Georgia public schools to adopt policies regulating K-8th students’ use of personal electronic devices during the school day. Some school systems, such as Tift County, have already implemented the policies through the 12th grade. 

Another law, SB 1, the Riley Gaines Act, prohibits biological males from participating in girls’ sports. “We don’t have a big problem with that down here, but they have a problem with that in metro areas,” Ford said.

Looking ahead for 2026, Ford said she was the only freshman legislator to get on a Blue Ribbon Study Committee; she is on one for insurance rates. “This is to investigate why our insurance rates are going up so much,” she said.

Other Blue Ribbon committees are for election procedures; medical marijuana and hemp policies; student attendance in Pre-K through 12; access to medicine in underserved areas; reducing and prioritizing mandates on public school administrations; and more.

“Study committees are starting now,” she said. “I’m starting mine in two weeks, so we’re working all the time.”

A NEWSPAPER BY ANY NAME

As a lifelong newspaperman, I have worked at several newspapers across the Southeast. I found that no matter what city or state in which I found myself, no matter if the newspaper was large or small, they all shared many things in common, and one of them was they had a nickname that local readers bestowed upon them.

Usually, the nicknames were not all that flattering.

I once worked for both The News and Courier and The Evening Post in Charleston, S.C. Some readers referred to them as “The Newsless Courier” and “The Evening Compost.”

My old paper the Bluefield (W.Va.) Daily Telegraph was often called “The Daily Tell-a-Lie.” In South Carolina, I was the editor of the Florence Morning News, christened by some readers as the “Morning Snooze.”

When I worked up in North Georgia in Dalton, my newspaper, The Daily Citizen-News, was sometimes called the “The Citizen-Snooze.” During my stint with The Valdosta Daily Times, I heard it called “The Valdosta Daily Crimes,” probably because of all the local crime reporting we did.

Even when I first arrived in Tifton at The Tifton Gazette, a former city official called it “The ‘Tifton Gaze-At ' – because you just gaze at it.”

And in my hometown of Norfolk, Va., The Virginian-Pilot, where both my father and grandfather had worked, was sometimes referred to as “The  Virginian Pile-It-On.”

Through the years, I have also heard the sometimes colorful nicknames of papers in other cities, such as “The Atlanta Journal-Constipation,” “The Charlotte Disturber,” “The San Francisco Comical,” and “The Chicago Scum-Times.”

I once heard that one shouldn’t get into newspapers if he wanted to be liked, and that there is no honor in one’s own town. However, that isn’t necessarily true.

When I arrived in Tifton years ago, I decided that this is a unique place because it has a monument to a newspaperman, something seldom seen. At the corner of Tift Avenue and Eighth Street next to Fulwood Park is a monument to John L. Herring, who was the editor of The Tifton Gazette for 26 years until his death in 1923. From his editor’s office, Herring helped promote and steer the fledgling City of Tifton along with his good friend, Tifton founder Henry H. Tift.

I realized that Tifton is a town that cares about its local news, and I’m thankful to still have a role in delivering news to The Friendly City and its environs. The format has changed through the years – I still miss a daily, local, printed newspaper – but digital news is quicker and much, much easier to disseminate. 

So, thank you Tifton for continuing to embrace the Tifton Grapevine, and no, you won’t hurt my feelings if you ever refer to it as the “Tifton Grape-whine.”

Frank Sayles Jr. is editor and publisher of the Tifton Grapevine and is an award-winning, third-generation newspaperman.

UGA photo

UGA’s new products from research include two disease-resistant peanut cultivars – developed by Dr. Bill Branch of the Tifton campus – that have been credited with saving the southeastern U.S. peanut.

UGA RANKS NO. 1 IN RESEARCH PRODUCTS BROUGHT TO MARKET

Tifton Grapevine Staff Reports

For the third consecutive year, the University of Georgia ranked No. 1 among U.S. universities for the number of commercial products brought to market by industry partners based on university research, according to an annual national survey.

In fiscal year 2024, UGA industry partners and start-ups developed 69 new products from research, a university record. The products span a range of industries including poultry vaccines, biodegradable plastics, virtual reality tools for disaster preparedness, biomedical research tools, and new plant varieties of turfgrass, blueberries, wheats — and peanuts, developed by newly elected National Academy of Inventors Fellow Dr. Bill Branch of UGA's Tifton campus.

“Being ranked among the top two universities for a decade is compelling recognition of the impactful research conducted by UGA faculty, staff, and students, our robust industry partnerships and the university’s productive commercialization program,” said Derek Eberhart, associate vice president for research and executive director of Innovation Gateway.

“Moving research discoveries from our labs and fields to the market improves lives and drives economic impact as part of UGA’s land-grant mission.”

TIFT HEALTH DEPARTMENT OFFERING 'BACK-TO-SCHOOL' VACCINES

Tifton Grapevine Staff Reports

For parents who need their children to get the required back-to-school vaccines, the Tift County Health Department is hosting a Vaccine Catch-Up Clinic.

The clinic will be conducted from 3-6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 14, at the Tift County Health Department, 305 E. 12th St. No appointments are needed, and walk-ins are welcome.

The charge for the vaccines will vary depending upon the vaccine and an individual’s insurance coverage, with self-pay options for those without insurance.

Health officials will be offering all of the required vaccines for Georgia students:

• Diphtheria
• Tetanus, & Acellular Pertussis (DTap)
• Haemophilus influenzae type B (HIB)
• Polio (IPV)
• Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR)
• Hepatitis B (Hep B)
• Hepatitis A (Hep A)
• Chickenpox (Varicella)
• Tetanus, Diphtheria, & Acellular Pertussis (Tdap)
• Meningococcal Conjugate (MCV4)
• Human Papillomavirus Vaccine
• Meningococcal Booster (MCV4)
• Meningococcal B Vaccine (Men B)

Call 229-386-8373 for more information.

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YOUR GUIDE

TO ACTIVITIES

THIS WEEKEND

IN THE GREATER TIFTAREA

Today, Aug. 8, is National Dollar Day, marking the date when the U.S. monetary system was established in 1786. The first dollar coin, the "Flowing Hair Dollar" depicting a bust of Miss Liberty, was minted n 1794. The first paper dollar wasn't printed until 1862 during President Abraham Lincoln’s Administration and depicted Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase. In 1869, George Washington first appeared on the $1 bill, where he remains today.

FRIDAY, AUG. 8

• Seniors Famers Market, applicants must be age 60 or older & meet income requirements; those 55-59 living in senior housing & meeting income guidelines also qualify, 9:30-1 p.m., Leroy Rogers Senior Center, 315 W. Second St., Tifton,

• "Sounds of Simon & Garfunkel," live concert tribute, 7 p.m., Tift Theatre for the Performing Arts, Downtown Tifton

• Tift County High Blue Devils football scrimmage @ Brooks County High Trojans, 7:30 p.m., Quitman

SATURDAY, AUG. 9

• 36th Annual Run For Love 5K/1-Mile, benefitting Tift County cross country teams, 8 a.m., Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College's Red Hill Athletic Complex, Perimeter Drive, Tifton

• Downtown Tifton's Second Saturday, store-wide sales, sip & stroll, All Day, Downtown Tifton

• Super Saturday, free art class: monoprint of nature, Noon-1 p.m., The Studio, Fitzgerald-Ben Hill Arts Council, 115 W. Pine St., Fitzgerald

• Back to School Bash, DJ music, bounce houses, face painting, water slides, prizes, giveaways, 3-6 p.m., Anthony G. Bateman Youth Center, 511 17th St. W., Tifton

SUNDAY, AUG. 10

• "Candid Moments: Picture This!" photography exhibit opening reception, 2-4 p.m., Syd Blackmarr Arts Center, Love Avenue, Tifton

• Kraken Pro Wrestling Fan Appreciation Night, 4 p.m., Chino & Letty’s Place, 102 W. Third St., Tifton

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"Wally" stands at attention, hoping he will be noticed by someone who needs a strong and loyal dog. Wally will make a good addition to any home. Come visit him 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).

Tifton Grapevine

e-published every Tuesday and Friday

Frank Sayles Jr.

Editor & Publisher

Bonnie Sayles

Managing Editor

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