Grady Thompson, former Tift County Commission chairman, was named to the Tifton-Tift County Chamber of Commerce's Wall of Fame at the annual Chamber banquet Thursday night.

The Wall of Fame award is given to a community leader who has made significant contributions to Tifton and Tift County. Thompson, in addition to being a successful business owner, has served on local, state, and industry boards, including the Chamber of Commerce board. He served as chairman of the Tift County Board of Commissioners for 16 years during a period of growth for Tift County.

In addition to Thompson, the Chamber honored several other individuals with awards:

At the conclusion of the banquet, outgoing Chamber Board Chairman Dereck Sumner passed the gavel to incoming Board Chair Jared Ross of South Georgia Banking Co.

While Georgia records an all-time low unemployment rate for December of 2.6%, dropping two tenths of a point from November, Tift County's jobless rate in December rose by that amount.

In data released Thursday by the Ga. Department of Labor, Tift had a 2.0% unemployment rate last month, up slightly from November's record low of 1.8%. Tift County's labor force also declined by 129 month to month. The labor force is the number of people eligible to work in the county.

But Tift's labor force is 304 people higher than a year ago when the county’s jobless rate was 4.9%.

State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Georgia is leading the nation as one of the top 10 states for lowest unemployment rates as well as the lowest unemployment rate among the top 10 most populated states.

"Making critical decisions early in the pandemic has allowed us to get Georgians back to work quicker and allow business owners to provide the goods and services Georgia needed for our economy to rapidly recover," Butler said.

"We are grateful for leadership that limited restrictions on businesses and avoided the steep job losses seen in other states."

Also during December, all counties in the Tiftarea showed slight jobless increases: Turner County, 3.5% (up from 3.3%); Worth, 2.5% (up from 2.3%); Irwin, 2.9% (up from 2.6%); Cook, 2.2% (up from 1.9%); Berrien, 2.4% (up from 2.1%); and Ben Hill, 3.3%, (up from 2.9%).

POSITIVE CASES INCLUDE PCR & RAPID ANTIGEN TESTS

During the past two weeks, Tift County has recorded a total of 1,682 confirmed and probable new cases of COVID-19, according to data Thursday from the state Department of Public Health (DPH).

Of those total cases, 492 were confirmed and the remainder were positive rapid Antigen test results, the DPH said. Tift County’s total probable cases represent 2,915 cases per 100,000 population, the measure used across the country to compare case rates among communities and states.

Tift also has seen 194 confirmed cases in the past week, and three additional COVID-related deaths. There have been a total of 6,039 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Tift County with 147 related deaths.

During the past two weeks, Tift has posted a 41% testing positivity rate, the DPH reported.

On Thursday, the state reported 22,568 new confirmed and probable cases across Georgia with 93 additional deaths and 646 new related hospitalizations. The state has recorded a total of 1,808,462 confirmed cases and 27,375 related deaths, the DPH said.

Get ready for real winter weather this weekend in South Georgia. A hard freeze is coming Friday and Saturday evenings with wind chills making it feel like the teens overnight, says the National Weather Service.

A cold front will be pushing through the area Friday night into Saturday with a drastic drop in temperatures. The Weather Service expects temperatures to fall to the mid to upper 20s by Saturday morning. But with the northwest winds of 10-15 mph and occasionally gusting up to 25 mph, temperatures will feel like the upper teens.

By Saturday afternoon, the area will warm to the mid 40s, but the wind will still play a factor, making the air feel like the upper 30s, the Weather Service says. The weather will be even colder Saturday night into Sunday with lows in the low to mid 20s and wind chills in the mid teens.

People are reminded to wrap exterior pipes and leave water dripping in faucets to avoid frozen pipes, to bring pets inside an enclosed space at night, and to check on elderly residents. Space heaters should be used properly, avoiding contact with flammable materials.

The good news is that the bitter cold won't last long because temperatures are expected to rise into the mid 50s Sunday afternoon with lows in the upper 30s Sunday night, highs Monday in the mid 60s, and temperatures in the 70s by Wednesday afternoon.

An exhibition entitled “A Farm Story” involving a collaboration among an artist, her mentor, and ABAC Curator Polly Huff opens Feb. 1 at the Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College's Georgia Museum of Agriculture.

The exhibition by Mary VanLandingham and Steven S. Walker will be on display unti April 30, with an opportunity to meet the artists at 10 a.m.-1 p.m. April 2. 

VanLandingham is a South Georgia traditional painter specializing in the natural world. While pursuing a bachelor’s degree in fine arts at Valdosta State University, she took an immediate liking to oil paints. She has participated in exhibitions across the United States and works from her South Georgia studio in Nashville. 

Walker, VanLandingham’s collaborator and mentor, has created art for corporations and private collectors for more than 20 years. He has a bachelor’s of fine arts with a concentration in illustration from Virginia Commonwealth University, and his master’s degree in fine arts is from Marywood University.

A fulltime artist, Walker has been included in local and national juried competitions. He was a part of a statewide traveling exhibition with the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

“Steven and Mary paint vibrant scenes depicting the most stunning images we often connect with farming,” Huff said. “With Steven’s influences clearly visible in Mary’s work, hanging their works together in the gallery for this exhibition will be my pleasure.”

Ben Hill County 4-H’ers Liam Jay, Ashley Braddy, Lauren Wixson and Timothy Lord recently returned as national champions from the Consumer Decision Making Contest in Denver, Colo.

The Ben Hill County 4-H team won first place in the overall contest, and Wixson earned the title of High Individual. The team was coached to victory by Laura Lee Williams, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension 4-H agent for Ben Hill County.

The Consumer Decision Making Contest is part of the Western National Roundup and correlates with Georgia 4-H’s consumer judging contests. At the national level, the event includes product placement classes, verbal reason delivery, and group-think scenarios.

The Ben Hill County team earned numerous individual awards during the national contest. Lauren Wixson received High Individual Placing, High Individual Reasons and High Overall Individual; Liam Jay, third High Individual Placing, second High Individual Reasons, and second High Individual Overall; and Timothy Lord, fifth High Individual Placing, third High Individual Reasons, and third High Individual Overall.

Laura Lee Williams received ribbons in recognition for coaching High Overall Team Placing, High Overall Team Reasons, second Group Think team, and High Team Overall.

The team will be recognized at the Georgia General Assembly during 4-H Day at the Capitol on Feb. 9.

Eighth Street Middle School's (ESMS) Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) students placed high in recent region competition.

Forty-nine ESMS students competed in 23 events, and the school's FBLA had 20 first-place finishes, 10 second-place finishes, 10 third-place finishes, five fourth-placed finishes, and four fifth-place finishes.

“Now we move on to prepare for state competition, which is a whole new level. Our students performed very well last year, placing third in the Chapter Sweepstakes,” said Laural Mullen, ESMS middle-level adviser.

Students will test and compete for state honors in February.

ESMS students placing in regional competition were:

Krish Patel – Business Concepts

James Fresh and Mitchell Kunes – Business Ethics

Kennedy Merwin – Business Etiquette

Ashton Brown and Lachlan Evans – Critical Thinking

German Meza – Digital Citizenship

Kaitlyn Graves – Elevator Speech

Ashton Brown – Employability Skills

Lachlan Evans – Exploring Economics

Tucker Moore – Exploring Technology

Claire Martin – FBLA Concepts and FBLA Mission and Pledge

Ilianna Cleveland – Financial Literacy

Case Kelly – Interpersonal Communication

Addilyn Pate – Introduction to Business Communication

Josiah Johnson – Leadership

Mazie Werner – Learning Strategies

Olivia Davis, Blakeley Mears, and Madison Schwartz – Marketing Mix Challenge

Kennedy Merwin – Public Speaking

Braylon Samuel – Running an Effective Meeting

Alisha Golson – Social Media Concepts

The Kiwanis Club of Tifton, at its lunch meeting Thursday, presented a check to the Tifton-Tift County Public Library Foundation, which aids the local library with children's programming, digital access for patrons, and acquisition of materials.

In the photo, Barbara Wilber of the Kiwanis Club, at center, stands with Tina O’Day, at left, and Sandy Hester, at right, of the Coastal Plain Regional Library System, which is headquartered in Tifton.

Two critically acclaimed guitarists will perform for the First Tuesday concert series at 7 p.m. Feb. 1, at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.

Francois Fowler and Christopher Mrofchak will showcase pieces from 250 years of global music history in ABAC’s Howard Auditorium. Fowler teaches at Youngstown State University in Ohio; Mrofchak is based out of Tallahassee, Fla.

Dr. Susan Roe, head of the ABAC Fine Arts Department, created the First Tuesday concert series in 2002. There is no charge for admission.

Bridal & Gift Gallery

The Southern Regional Technical College (SRTC) Foundation this week received $140,000 from Goodwill to support students with unmet financial needs.

Goodwill Southern Rivers recently announced its investment of $1 million in technical education across its 50-county service area. Goodwill divided the award among several area technical colleges, including SRTC.

The new Goodwill Gap Fund Scholarship will help to lower financial barriers associated with college attendance. It represents one of the first initiatives implemented after Goodwill received a $10 million donation from novelist and philanthropist McKenzie Scott.

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Saturday, Jan. 28, is National Blueberry Pancake Day, a great time to make some flapjacks filled with blueberries, which are rich in antioxidants and are one of the native North American fruits still eaten today. In recent years, blueberries have become a popular crop in Georgia and are also grown right here in Tift County.

"Jenni" is available for adoption or rescue. She is a gorgeous girl who can't wait to snuggle and play at her new home. She is available for adoption at the Tift County Animal Shelter on Highway 125 South between 1-6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. For more information, call 229-382-PETS (7387).

205 Belmont Ave., Tifton, 229-382-6055  

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