Friday, July 24, 2020
Tifton, Georgia
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CITY & COUNTY
ROLLBACK MILLAGE
TIFTON ALSO OK'S STREET RESURFACINGS
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The
Tifton City Council
and
Tift County Commission
, during their respective meetings on
Monday
, both approved a slight
tax millage rollback
for the new fiscal year.
The
city’s millage rate
is declining to
9.726
from
9.731
; the
county's rate
is being lowered to
12.161
from
12.167
.
Last week, the
Tift County Board of Education
also rolled back its millage rate to
16.932
from
16.940.
All of the local government entities said their finances are in good shape going into the fiscal year, which began
July 1
. They said the situation is a reflection of growth within the city and county.
Also on Monday,
Tifton City Council
approved
$530,835.33
for
street resurfacing
work.
Among them:
Lakeview Drive
from 44th Street to the dead end;
Lee Avenue
from 22nd Street to 24th Street;
46th Street
from Lakeview to Carmichael drives;
28th Street
from Tift Avenue to Goff Street;
Murray Avenue
from Fulwood Road to Willingham Street;
King
Street
from Baldwin Drive to Fulwood Boulevard;
Carolina Drive
from 8th Street to Fulwood Boulevard;
Georgia Drive
from Tennessee to Magnolia drives;
26th Street
from Ridge to Wilson avenues, and from Murray Avenue to Emory Drive;
Lindsey Street
from Goff Street to Tyson Avenue;
16th Street
from Love to Park avenues;
Ferrylake Road
from Goff Street to Belmont Avenue;
Davis Avenue
from 6th to 8th streets;
10th Street
from Wilson to Murray avenues;
Timmons Avenue
from U.S. Highway 82 to Magnolia Drive;
Victory Drive
from 2nd to 3rd streets;
Central Avenue
from Highway 82 to 17th Street;
13th Street
from Central to Ridge avenues; and
Tift Avenue
from 2nd Street to Highway 82.
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STATE LEAVES SCHOOL OPENINGS TO LOCALITIES
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By FRANK SAYLES JR.
Tifton Grapevine
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Despite reports that the state would recommend public schools open later because of the surging coronavirus
pandemic
, the
Georgia Board of Education
on
Thursday
did not address the issue at its meeting, leaving the decision up to local school districts.
Valarie Wilson
, Georgia School Boards Association executive director, told the
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
that any statewide push to delay school “flies in the face” of local control; local leaders know their communities best, she said.
Tift County
plans to open schools in person on
Aug. 7
, allowing parents an option for at-home online instruction.
Turner
and
Worth
counties are also opening
Aug. 7
;
Irwin County
opens on
Aug. 4
;
Lowndes County
is opening
Aug. 14
.
"I wish there was a
playbook
,” Tift County Schools Superintendent
Adam Hathaway
told the
Tifton Grapevine
. "I know that I’m going to be
second-guessed
a hundred times."
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Hathaway
said that “we want to be
sympathetic
and
empathetic
to everyone’s situation,” and that at-home instruction may work for some families because of their individual circumstances.
"Everybody’s
circumstances
are different,” the superintendent said. "We just need to
care
about each other,” and not be critical of whatever decision a family makes regarding physical or online instruction.
He noted that he has children in the
Tift County School System
and that his wife also teaches in the school system.
"We are trying to do what is
best
for the kids,”
Hathaway
added.
State School Superintendent
Richard Woods
, who is a longtime
Tifton
resident, said this week that the "role of the
Georgia Department of Education
is to support the course of action decided upon by local school districts so that we can work together to ensure a successful outcome for students.
"Whatever the start of school looks like, no one can guarantee a start without
hiccups
or
challenges
, but I can guarantee we will do everything possible to ensure our students are
safe
and
learning
," Woods said.
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GEORGIA SEES 4,286 NEW CASES
OF COVID-19 IN ONE DAY
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A total of
4,286
new confirmed cases of
COVID-19
was reported in the state between
Wednesday
and
Thursday
, the Ga. Department of Public Health (DPH) reported.
There were also
25
additional deaths and
431
new coronavirus-related hospitalizations during those
24
hours, the DPH said. New daily cases have
doubled
and hospitalizations have
tripled
during the past month in Georgia.
Total confirmed cases now are
156,588
in the state since the pandemic began, with
3,360
coronavirus-related deaths and
16,353
total hospitalizations.
As of Thursday,
Tift County
had a total of
1,104
confirmed cases,
32
deaths and a total
151
hospitalizations.
In the Tiftarea,
Worth County
had
389
cases and
23
deaths;
Cook
County,
312
cases and
five
deaths;
Ben Hill
,
286
cases and
one
death;
Berrien
,
212
cases and
zero
deaths;
Turner
,
204
cases and
18
deaths; and
Irwin
,
122
cases and
one
death, according to the DPH.
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'HALLELUJAH!'
VINCENT KEESEE PUBLISHES BOOK OF HIS PAINTINGS
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By BONNIE SAYLES
Tifton Grapevine
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Upon completion of a
compilation
of his
life’s work
, longtime
Tifton
artist and former ABAC art professor
Vincent A. Keesee
said he was surprised to see how much he was inspired by his
religious faith
.
“I had no idea I was so interested in
religion,”
Keesee said after reviewing his work spanning
67 years.
He and his wife,
Marianna
, began collecting photos of Keesee’s many paintings in
May 2019
. With the help of Drs.
Charles
and
Eloise Styer
and their son
David
, they have just
published
a beautiful
coffee-table art book
that contains his body of work from
1952-2019
.
The book was ready to go to press and needed a
title
. “I said, ‘
Hallelujah
, it’s done!’”
Keesee
told the
Tifton Grapevine
.
Thinking of the many
church scenes
in the book, influenced by the
Pentecostal
church his mother took him to as a child, the title dawned on him:
“Hallelujah, A Lifetime of Paintings by Vincent A. Keesee.”
Keesee is a
realist
artist, influenced by a group of artists known as
“
regionalists,"
those who paint the scenes of life around them in the area in which they live. He wrote his post-graduate thesis about three regionalist artists in the Midwest –
Thomas Hart Benton, John
Steuart Curry
and
Grant Wood
.
American Regionalism
includes paintings, murals, lithographs, and illustrations depicting realistic scenes of
rural
and
small-town America
.
After working in graphic art and design in
Lynchburg, Va.
, and
Atlanta
, Keesee decided that fine art was where he wanted to be; he earned a master’s degree in fine art and a doctorate in art criticism from the
University of Georgia
. He began teaching art at
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College
in Tifton and retired in
1995
.
The
book
contains
225
colored prints, ranging from a portrait of his sister at age 12 in
1952
and other family members to depictions of families around the kitchen table, on the farm, and in church. Life in the South has never been more joyously and realistically depicted.
Signed
and
numbered editions
of the book are available for purchase from the Keesees
by calling
229-382-0627
or
229-392-6050,
or emailing
[email protected]
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STAFF CELEBRATES
DR. DON ROBERTS’
40 YEARS IN TIFTON
The staff at
South Georgia Medicine & Tifton Endoscopy Center
recently surprised Dr.
Don W. Roberts
with a party celebrating his
40
years of practice in
Tifton
.
Roberts started working in Tifton on
July 1, 1980
, and was instrumental in forming the
Endoscopy Unit
at
Tift Regional Medical Center
.
A Tifton native,
Roberts
was the first physician to perform
colonoscopies
and
ERCP’s
(endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography) in Tifton.
Gastroenterology
soon became the sole focus of his practice.
“I have been truly blessed to care for families in this area for many years,"
Roberts
said. "I look forward to several more.”
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FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH PLANS
'AROUND THE BLOCK PARTY'
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First Baptist Church of Tifton
is sponsoring an "Around the Block Party"
beginning at
4 p.m.
Sunday, Aug. 2
, for students
preparing
for school.
Volunteers will be distributing
school supplies
and a
bagged meal
as people remain in their cars and drive through the church parking lot. Senior Pastor
Wayne Roe
is overseeing preparation of
1,000
bags of school supplies to distribute, along with just as many individually bagged meals.
Cars will enter the church
’
s
Fourth Street
parking lot from the west and move through the lot until receiving their bags and exiting onto
Sixth Street
. Church members will assist folks and offer encouragement as local students prepare to begin the school year.
All recommended
COVID-19 protocols
will be observed; the event will continue until all supplies have been distributed.
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AFTER 50 YEARS IN BANKING, McGRIFF RETIRES FROM SOUTH GA BANKING CO.
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Dale McGriff
of
Tifton
has retired from
South Georgia Banking Co.
(SGBC) after
50
years in the banking industry.
McGriff,
executive vice president
and chief risk officer, previously served as the bank’s chief credit officer and was responsible for overseeing policy and loan administration for all seven of the bank’s branches.
He began his career with
C&S Bank
in Tifton in
1970
, moving to
SGBC
in
1992
. A long-time member of the Georgia Bankers Association, he served as chairman of its Credit Committee as well as on the Board of Trustees of the Southeastern School of Consumer Credit and the Southeastern School of Commercial Lending.
McGriff
was selected by Fidelity Information Services to represent community banks on their Senior Management Strategic Planning Advisory Committee. He is a past president of the Tifton-Tift County Chamber of Commerce and the Tifton Kiwanis Club, a past member of the Tifton-Tift County Airport Authority and a member of the Tifton Rotary Club.
A graduate of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, Valdosta State College, and the Georgia Banking School in Athens, McGriff also served in the Georgia Air National Guard.
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TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW THROUGHOUT JULY!
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TIFT CHAMBER’S MARLOWE NAMED TO
STATE ASSOCIATION BOARD
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Brian Marlowe
, executive director of the
Tifton-Tift County Chamber of Commerce
, has been elected to the
Georgia Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives
(GACCE)
Board of Directors
for 2020-21.
Marlowe represents
Region 11
on the board. Representing
Region 10
is
Tommie Beth Willis
of the
Moultrie-Colquitt County Chamber of Commerce.
The 2020-21 Executive Committee and Board of Directors began their term
July 1
. GACCE is the professional society of chamber executives and staff. Its mission is to educate, engage and empower chamber professionals.
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TIFTON BAR ASSOC. WINS REGIONAL AWARD
IN GEORGIA LEGAL FOOD FRENZY
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The
Tifton Bar Association
won the regional award for organizations supporting
Second Harvest Food Bank
during the recent
Georgia Legal Food Frenzy
.
The
ninth
annual competition was the latest in the yearly two-week event created in partnership with the state attorney general, the State Bar and its Young Lawyers Division, and the Georgia Food Bank Association.
The food and funds raised by the legal profession stay local and benefit the
regional food
bank
that serves their own community.
This year’s competition among attorneys and their staffs translated to a record-breaking total of
3.3 million
meals provided by the legal community across the state. A total of
222
legal organizations, representing more than
17,000
members, participated in this year’s Legal Food Frenzy to assist the
Georgia Food Bank Association
and its regional food banks.
The competition has raised the equivalent of
12.2 million
meals during its existence.
“More than
60
percent of kids in Georgia are eligible for free or reduced meals during the school year. For some of them, this is their only reliable meal, so you can imagine how their families struggle during the summer months when their kids are home without this resource. I am incredibly proud of the
Georgia legal community
for rising to the occasion and ensuring the food banks are sufficiently stocked to meet this need," said state Attorney General
Chris Carr
.
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Tifton’s Locally Owned Digital Newspaper
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Your free subscription allows you to automatically receive our MidWeek and Weekender editions in your in-box, along with occasional sponsored editions.
To Contact Us, Call
478-227-7126
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TIFTON GRAPEVINE'S PET OF THE WEEK
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"Queenie"
is available for adoption or rescue at the
Tift County Animal Shelter
.
The shelter, located at 278 Georgia Highway 125 S., in Tifton, is open to the public for adoptions from
1-6 p.m. Mondays
through
Fridays
.
For
more
information
,
call
229-382-PETS (7387).
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Pets of the Week are sponsored by:
Branch’s Veterinary Clinic
205 Belmont Ave., Tifton, 229-382-6055
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CORONAVIRUS CLEARINGHOUSE
Important Phone Numbers & Web Sites
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JULY 16
Martiel Rowell Dillard, 81,
Tifton
Ronald "Ron" Register, 69,
Sylvester
Jerry “Babe” Lynn Hopwood, 79,
Tifton
Linda S. Clements, 63,
Tifton
Jerry Hiram Griner, 83,
Nashville
Judith Marie "Judie" Rowland, 74,
Alapaha
William J. “Bill” Smith Jr., 82,
Fitzgerald
Delma Wilkerson, 93,
Rebecca
Betty Wiggins Moore, 73,
Sycamore
Willie Charles Chaney, 78,
Tifton
Quinvetz De'Adrian Cross, 1,
Albany
JULY 17
Elizabeth Story "Beth" Mullis, 78,
Sylvester
Jamie Dukes Werho, 55,
Tifton
Jennie Brewer Jones, 70,
Sparks
JULY 18
Sandra Ogletree Bishop, 70,
Tifton
Fausto Pineda Gutierrez, 77,
Tifton
Rebecca Howell Bruner, 46,
Tifton
Willie Mae Turner, 74,
Tifton
P.B. Phillips Jr, 89,
Nashville
Coatus Lee Morehead Jr., 91,
Athens
Charlie Durham Jr., 61,
Tifton
Donald B. Miles, 86,
Fitzgerald
JULY 19
Consuelo “Chelo” Duque De Barron, 45,
Tifton
Glenn Allen Dunn, 84,
Fitzgerald
Willis Edward Griffin, 88,
Ben Hill County
Monica Hunter Causey, 59,
Ocilla
JULY 20
Kenneth J. Frey, 99,
Fitzgerald
John Christopher "Chris" Martin, 70,
Clarkesville
JULY 21
Tommy Jo Walker Sr., 60,
Tifton
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JULY 22
Joseph "Joey" Weaver Jr., 50,
Sylvester
Thuyet Quang Nguyen, 75,
Tifton
Kelley Hamby, 49,
Tifton
JULY 23
William "Bill" Clarence Murray, 81,
Fitzgerald
Grace Collins,
Sylvester
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Tifton Grapevine
e-published every Tuesday and Friday
Frank Sayles Jr.
Editor & Publisher
Bonnie Sayles
Managing Editor
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A Service of
Sayles Unlimited Marketing LLC
,
Tifton, Georgia
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