JUNE 27, 2017
Tifton, Georgia
478-227-7126
tiftongrapevine.com
|
LEN LASTINGER PRIMARY
WINS NATIONAL VOTE
SCHOOL'S VIDEO GETS $20,000 GRANT FOR PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT
Tifton's Len Lastinger Primary School on Monday was one of five schools nationwide to win a $20,000 grant for new
playground
equipment.
![](https://imgssl.constantcontact.com/letters/images/sys/S.gif) |
|
![](https://imgssl.constantcontact.com/letters/images/sys/S.gif) |
Len Lastinger Primary School's video is a big winner. |
The school's
"Are You Smarter Than a Len Lastinger Bee?" video was one of
five highest vote-getters on
Facebook.
Len Lastinger's video had been selected as a
finalist from approximately
140 video entries in the nationwide
"Let's Play" video contest. The final five winners were determined by
online votes.
The grant is part of "Let's Play," an init
iative by
Dr Pepper Snapple and the national non-profit KaBOOM! The goal is
provide kids and families with the tools, places and inspiration to make active play a daily priority.
"This (win) is
incredible for not only
Len Lastinger but also
Tifton and
Tift County," said
Debby Monfort, a Lastinger
PTO board member.
"Moving forward, we will begin creating a plan for the north-end playground from feedback we received during two focus group sessions held in November 2016 with students and parents, and January 2017 with teachers," Monfort said.
"This will be a playground created by the students, parents and faculty. Their ideas; their dreams. The focus groups challenged its participants to reconsider how they thought about play."
Richard Fisher, Len Lastinger Primary's principal, said everyone at the school is excited. "Our PTO worked very hard. Things will move fast on this the next two months."
Monfort added that "t
o make our dream playground a reality, we will still need our community. This grant is a 'Build It Yourself' grant wherein community/school volunteers will physically build the playground directed by members of KaBOOM! and playground company installation professionals. More details about our Community Build Day will come over the next months.
"
We are so excited and cannot say thank you enough to all who voted for LLP!"
|
ANTIQUE AUTOS GET BIG
RECEPTION ON MAIN STREET
Nearly
120 antique vehicles stopped in
Tifton for the night
Saturday during
"The Great Race" --
a national antique, vintage
and collector car competitive, controlled-speed endurance
road rally
on public highways.
The race began in Jacksonville, Fla., and came to Tifton's Main Street, stopping to meet
residents
and show them the restored vehicles. Race participants were feted with a dinner at Tifton City Hall and given Tifton gift bags.
Participants had only good things to say about their stop in the Friendly City; among them: "The town has really rolled out the red carpet for us, and the fun is just beginning;" "What a great venue and a great crowd here in Tifton, Ga.;" "Cool little town;" "Thanks, Tifton, Ga., for a lovely time."
The race resumed Sunday morning as the vehicles left Tifton. TheGreat Race ends in Traverse
City, Mich., on July 2.
It is not a test of top speed, but a test of a driver/navigator team's ability to follow precise course instructions and the car's (and team's) ability to endure on a cross-country trip.
The course instructions require the competing teams to drive at or below the posted speed limits at all times.
|
From left are Ann Rosenthal, Georgia Alliance YMCA's lobbyist from Atlanta; state Sen. Greg Kirk, R-Americus; Darian Peavy, Tiftarea YMCA's CEO; Felecia Jackson, Tiftarea YMCA's Food for Thought coordinator; and state Rep. Clay Pirkle, R-Ashburn.
STATE OFFICIALS VISIT YMCA, FEEDING SITES
State and local officials came to Tifton on Monday and visited local summer feeding sites for children and toured the Tiftarea YMCA's main facility, its Hunt Park campus and its Summer Camp.
The
Georgia Alliance YMCAs are focusing on an
anti-hunger initiative and are spreading the word to
legislators.
|
6005 Westlake Drive
Tifton, GA 31794
New Price: $339,000
Beautiful brick waterfront home at Forest Lakes Subdivision at the end of a quiet
street. 4 Bedrooms/3 Baths with
over 3,200 square feet. Many windows for views
of the lake.
Open floor plan, Media room, Vaulted ceilings, Granite
countertops,
Plantation
shutters, Hardwood, and Ceramic tile floors. An additional 1,100-square-
foot building with
screened porch that could be used as a man cave/shop, guest
house,
or for
entertainment! Including an additional 2-car garage, full bath, and
built-in cabinets.
Must see to appreciate!
|
ABAC's BRIDGES COMPLETES 11th YEAR;
GA's LONGEST-SERVING CURRENT PRESIDENT
Dr.
David Bridges became the
10th president in the history of
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College on
July 1, 2006; now he has completed
11 years as president and is the
longest-serving president in the
University System of Georgia.
"I can't honestly tell you that being the longest-serving president gets you anything," Bridges, 59, said with a chuckle. "I have seen a lot in these 11 years. It's a lot different that it was when I started. From a management standpoint, everybody and
|
![](https://imgssl.constantcontact.com/letters/images/sys/S.gif) |
BRIDGES
|
![](https://imgssl.constantcontact.com/letters/images/sys/S.gif) |
his brother regulates you and tells you how to do your job.
That makes leading the college difficult. I spend more time on management because of the complexity of the job."
Bridges reflected that "t
he day (
Jan. 7, 2008)
we offered our first bachelor's degree classes was my best day ever at ABAC. We have done a lot, renovating the front of campus, opening the Freedom Gallery and a lot of other highlights. All those things were great but getting the bachelor's degrees was transformational."
Well over half of ABAC's 3,475 students are now seeking bachelor's degrees. That's at a college that offered only associate degrees for 75 years.
Because of consolidation, the University System has shrunk from 35 institutions in 2006 to 28 today. Not one of the presidents that Bridges sat across the table from in meetings in 2006 is still president at that college or university in the system in 2017.
"You have to be a lot more creative as the president today," Bridges said. "There's a lot more chaos in the higher education environment. In the early '90s, our college was more firmly established. We knew who we were and what we did. We were a two-year college that offered classes for the first two years of a four-year degree.
"Now ABAC is a four-year college, and we must figure out how to thrive. We must be unique, and ABAC is unique. We are not the same as everybody else. We don't want to be."
Bridges pointed toward a "mission of excellence" as the key to ABAC's success, being the only college or university south of Macon to register an enrollment increase in three of the past four years.
"That's the funny thing about it: We didn't focus on enrollment. We focused on excellence. The enrollment went up because of that. You must have programs of excellence that you can sell," Bridges said.
"We are a boutique, not a Walmart. Now, there's nothing wrong with Walmart. In fact, we have Walmart prices. But we have an L.L. Bean product."
|
|
TIFTON CITY
COUNCIL
MEMBERS
ATTEND
MUNICIPAL
TRAINING
CLASSES
Tifton City Councilman
Johnny Terrell
brought the
Tifton city flag
to
Savannah
this past
weekend
for the
Georgia Municipal Association
's annual convention at the
Savannah
International Trade & Convention Center.
Tifton City Council members met with municipal officials from across the
state
and attended classes on such topics as public
safety
, downtown
development
, open
meetings
, municipal
tort reform
, and
revenue and finance.
|
WHICH WAY TO ROSWELL?
We're not sure if this is a case of an
"illegal alien," but an officer who stopped a speeding driver
Sunday north of Atlanta snapped a photo of an
unusual passenger.
The Al
pharetta Department of Public Safety (DPS) posted photos of the incident Sunday night on social media: A full-sized alien figure was strapped in the speeding vehicle's passenger seat.
According to
Alpharetta DPS, a motorcycle officer pulled over a man for speeding on
Georgia route 400 about halfway between
Alpharetta and Roswell.
"Umm, the things you see during everyday patrol," the DPS noted on Facebook, using hashtags #ET,
The driver was issued a warning for speeding. There was no word about why the alien was in the car and if they were, in fact, heading to Roswell.
Photo by Alpharetta Department of Public Safety
|
|
TIFT COUNTY HIGH CLASS OF '77 PLANS REUNION
The
Tift County High School Class of 1977
is attempting to make contact with classmates for a 40
th
year class reunion.
The reunion is being planned for Oct. 13 and 14.
Organizers say that contact information is needed for many former classmates. They ask the community to send names, addresses and e-mails to
[email protected]
or call 229-339-1959 if anyone knows of TCHS graduates from 1977.
|
SERVING
YOU WITH PROFESSIONALISM
BEFORE, DURING & AFTER THE SALE
Blue Skies &
Sunshine
Through
Each & Every
Real Estate
Transaction!
|
|
FRANK SAYLES JR.
Editor & Publisher
A Service of
Sayles Unlimited Marketing
Tifton, Ga.
Tifton Grapevine is brought to you free of charge.
Please support our
advertisers who make this possible.
478-227-7126
|
|
|
|
|