Authorities do not suspect foul play in the massive fire that destroyed the Tabernacle at the South Georgia Church of God Campground last week off Kell Road in Tift County.

While the state Office of Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner continues its probe into the blaze, investigators say they do not expect to find any foul play involved.

The tabernacle/sanctuary facility is a total loss. There were no injuries in the fire that began in the early afternoon.

Dr. Timothy M. Hill, presiding bishop and general overseer of the Church of God worldwide, visited the fire site last Friday and said the "prayers of Church of God people everywhere are with South Georgia Church of God and Bishop Gary and Lori Lewis. Many of us have history and heritage in the tabernacle that burned."

Hill said he has "seen the power of God move mightily in this place over and over again. However, as I stood on these grounds ... I was moved by the words found in Haggai 2:9: 'The future glory of this Temple will be greater than its past glory, says the Lord of Heaven’s armies, and in this place I will bring peace.'"

Church officials say they plan to rebuild. In the interim, many of the church activities have been relocated to the UGA Tifton Campus Conference Center.

Ingram Perry Medina, 45, of Tifton, has been arrested and charged with one count of cruelty to children in the first degree – a felony – involving an incident in a classroom at G.O. Bailey Elementary School, Tifton Police say.

Medina, a teacher, was booked into the Tift County Jail on April 13 and is free on $5,000 bond.

Police say that on Friday, April 8, the Tift County Division of Family and Children Services contacted the Tifton Police Department regarding possible child abuse in a classroom occurring about 2:48 p.m. April 6 at the school on Newton Drive.

Police launched an investigation into the allegations, and "probable cause was established, and a warrant was taken for Ms. Medina,” Tifton Police said in a statement.

If anybody has information about this investigation, they are asked to contact Tifton Police Lt. Chris Luckey at 229-392-2749. Anonymous tips may also be submitted by calling 229-391-3991. 

JARED ROSS DRAWS WINNING TICKET; OPTS FOR $10,000 INSTEAD OF TRIP TO TUSCANY

The Tifton Museum of Arts & Heritage officially became the Syd Blackmarr Arts Center on Thursday, marking the name change with its annual fundraising event – the “Tuscany or Ten Gala."

Three hundred tickets were sold for $125 each for a drawing to win the grand prize of a seven-day trip for four to Tuscany, Italy, or $10,000 cash. Jared Ross of Tifton (pictured at left) had the winning ticket and decided to take the cash rather than the trip.

Additional funds for the Arts Center were raised through a silent auction and through ticket holders, earlier eliminated in the drawing, who had the chance to bid on placing their ticket back into the final drawing for the trip.

"The Syd" is named for longtime Tifton and South Georgia arts advocate Syd Blackmarr.

Early voting begins Monday for the May 24 primary election in Georgia. Voters will choose their party’s candidates for the November general election.

In Tift County, registered voters may cast ballots early at the county Board of Elections Office at the corner of Fourth Street and Chesnutt Avenue between 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays-Fridays through May 20, and from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on Saturdays May 7 and 14.

On Election Day, May 24, voters will go to their own precincts to vote.

There are several races of interest on the ballot. Gov. Brian P. Kemp faces challengers David A. Perdue (the former U.S. senator), and Catherine Davis, Kandiss Taylor, and Tom Williams for the Republican nomination.

Locally, state Senate District 13 Sen. Carden H. Summers faces challengers Ed Perry (a former state senator) and George Woods of Tifton for the GOP nomination.

In Tift County Commission races, District 1 incumbent Donnie Hester faces James Edward Burroughs Jr. and Sharhonda Hunt-Sears. In District 6, incumbent County Commissioner Greg Wood is challenged by Rachael Price.

In the Republican U.S. Senate race, state Agriculture Commissioner Gary W. Black and former UGA football player Herschel Junior Walker are joined by Josh Clark, Kelvin King, Jonathan "Jon" McColumn, and Latham Saddler on the ballot.

In the Democratic primary, U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock faces Tamara Johnson-Shealey for the nomination.

For the GOP secretary of state nomination, incumbent Brad Raffensperger faces David C. Belle Isle, Jody Hice, and T.J. Hudson. Republican State School Superintendent Richard Woods of Tifton faces John D. Barge for the GOP nomination.

Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College's 944 acres of timberland at Willis Still, used for hands-on educational experiences, was dedicated Tuesday as ABAC’s John W. and Margaret Jones Langdale Forest.

"Students of the past, present, and future need to understand the sacrifice, investment, and gift of money, mind, and effort that has already been invested in the John W. and Margaret Jones Langdale Forest at Willis Still,” said Dr. David Bridges, ABAC president.

“This investment has been made in order to provide the best opportunity for hands-on, real-life experiences in the conservation and managed productivity of Georgia’s precious natural resources. The assets developed on this site will provide a comprehensive living classroom for students for years to come,” Bridges said.

With a barrel of resin and other turpentine-harvesting equipment in front of his microphone, Bridges pointed out the long history of the Langdale family with ABAC and the forest industry.

“The Langdale family is intricately woven into the fabric of ABAC,” Bridges said. “ABAC has had no greater friends or loyal supporters than the Langdale family. No president has ever enjoyed a closer and more supportive relationship than I have had with Johnny, Wesley, and Jim Langdale."

“ABAC’s ongoing relationship with the Langdale Co., the Harley Langdale Jr. Foundation, and members of the Langdale family is deep and wide. Therefore, it is only appropriate that we formally dedicate this important educational resource in the memory of John W. and Margaret Jones Langdale.”

The ABAC Foundation had purchased the timber land just off Willis Still Road in Tift County in 2018. Since then, students have used the forest for laboratory experiences in many of the programs in the School of Agriculture and Natural Resources including forestry, wildlife, and conservation law enforcement.

Visit us on Facebook and Instagram

The Georgia Council for the Arts is hosting a town-hall meeting in Tifton on Monday, May 2, to receive community input for the council’s five-year strategic plan.

The meeting will be at 1 p.m. Monday in the Syd Blackmarr Arts Center, formerly the Tifton Museum of Arts & Heritage in downtown Tifton.

“The world has changed dramatically from Georgia Council for the Arts’ last strategic plan, with developments in technology, education, and the realities of COVID-19 changing every industry, not least of which has been the performing arts,” said Tina Lilly, the council's executive director.

“Georgia’s creative economy is a larger percentage of state gross product than any other Southern state, and to ensure we’re taking into account as many of the aspects of the industry in our planning as possible we need a wide range of input – from artists and performers, to teachers and administrators, to government leaders and tourism professors, and beyond. All are welcome.”

As the state’s dedicated arts agency, the Georgia Council for the Arts, a division of the Ga. Department of Economic Development, supports the transformation of ideas produced in the state’s creative sectors into an economic and social reality and advances programs that build and strengthen the state's quality of life.

Several town hall meetings are being held around the state. For those unable to attend, virtual town hall meetings will be held at 10 a.m. June 21, and at 1 p.m. June 22. Registration details for the virtual meetings will be available soon at www.gaarts.org

Tift County's positive COVID-19 cases totaled 10 during the past two weeks, increasing from eight in the previous period, according to data from the state Department of Public Health (DPH).

There also was one additional death in Tift County during the past week.

The cases represent confirmed and probable results from both PCR and Antigen rapid tests. Tift County’s total positive cases represent 24 cases per 100,000 population, the measure used across the country to compare case rates among communities and states.

There was one confirmed case, and Tift's testing positivity rate for the period was 2.7%, the DPH reported.

Tift has seen a total of 6,285 cases with 164 related deaths, the DPH said.

The state recorded a total of 1,950,206 confirmed cases and 31,547 related deaths, the DPH said; the state has begun reporting COVID-19 data once a week on Wednesdays.

Horseman Press, the only undergraduate student-staffed teaching press in Georgia, will launch the new edition of Hallie Quinn Brown’s “Homespun Heroines and Other Women of Distinction” at 4 p.m. May 3 in Room 100 of Bowen Hall at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.

Dr. Rachael Price, Horseman Press advisor, said the book was originally published in 1926 and dedicated to women of color and their achievements.

“This book is the first biographical encyclopedia of African-American women written by African-American women,” Price said. “Organized chronologically by the year of each heroine’s birth, this volume tells the stories of 58 trailblazing black women, from well-known luminaries such as Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman, to abolitionists, authors, teachers, businesswomen, and many others whose names have been left out of the history books.”

Price and Dr. Elizabeth Medley will speak briefly at the book launch about Brown, the volume’s original editor and co-author, and several of the women featured in the original volume.

This new edition was designed, typeset, and proofread by students in Price’s publishing class.

MANA Nutrition in Fitzgerald is sending nearly 1 million packages of its peanut-based nutrition supplement to Ukraine in an initial shipment. Three thousand cases of the supplement will soon leave soon by air. 

The nutrition supplements usually go by ship, which is often slow.  The air shipment is a response to the urgent need by people in the war zones cut off from normal food supplies. The Samaritan’s Purse organization will be the “boots on the ground” doing the actual distribution.

Officials say it is one of the largest shipments of humanitarian supply rations in history and the largest ever by a private company in partnership with Samaritans Purse.

“This is not our typical package. It has more peanut paste, along with added protein, oil and other vitamins mix. It’s about half the size of our regular packs and contains 275 calories. It’s intended to supplement other food staples which are in a very short supply in many parts of the country.” said Fitzgerald Plant Manager Allen Galbraith.

He said the Fitzgerald plant will be adding a large amount of production capacity. MANA will break ground next month on an additional 30,000-square-foot facility that will produce 300 million pounds annually, compared to the 30 million today. Plans include adding a blanching facility.

MANA is a ready-to-use therapeutic food composed of peanut paste, milk, and a special mix of vitamins and minerals. Carefully formulated to meet a child’s basic nutritional needs, MANA is designed to give the world’s most at-risk kids the boost they need to return to good health.

Nine children died from violence in the Tiftarea during 2020-2021, and “we have never had those kinds of numbers in the 23 years I’ve been a resident of Tifton,” Cindy Evers, CEO of the newly formed Alliance for Children, told the Tifton Rotary Club on Wednesday.

“We have a problem in our area with child abuse and neglect. These are our children. Children are worth the investment,” she said. “It’s getting worse, and we can’t look the other way. We’ve got to do something collaboratively.” 

The idea for Alliance came about when Evers saw a child being taken into foster care, and the child’s mother removed the child’s eyeglasses, saying, “I bought these. If you want her to have some, you buy them.” It was a nine-week wait for Medicaid to pay for eyeglasses, and the child had CRCT testing coming up in school. 

“Wait is a four-letter word for me,” Evers said.

She went to her church's Benevolence Fund and was given the money to help the child. “That child walked out with the coolest glasses.That was the idea for Alliance for Children.”

After Evers’ husband, the Rev. Fred Evers, pastor of Northside Baptist Church, died in 2020, Evers said, “I knew I wanted to do something to make a difference. I can’t fix children in Atlanta or New York, but I can help children here.”

The organization's website is www.alliance4childrenga.org, and its phone number is 229-392-2387.

The Tift Area Ministerial Association will again sponsor the Tifton National Day of Prayer event.

The Tifton National Day of Prayer will be observed from 12:10-12:50 p.m. Thursday, May 5, at the Veteran’s Park amphitheater in Downtown Tifton.

Ministerial Association President Tom Hocutt said the presenting of the colors will be by the Junior ROTC from Tift County High School, the singing of the National Anthem by Dr. Susan Roe, and prayers by pastors of the Tift Area Ministerial Association, who will pray for local, state, and national government, schools, businesses, medical workers, farmers, and the Ukraine situation.

The National Day of Prayer is an annual day of observance held on the first Thursday of May, designated by the United States Congress, when people are asked "to turn to God in prayer and meditation."

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.

To Contact Us, Call 478-227-7126

Today, Friday, April 29, is National Arbor Day, a day when people are encouraged to plant trees. The first Arbor Day occurred in 1872 in Nebraska.

"Daisy" is a playful female available for adoption or rescue at the Tift County Animal Shelter on Highway 125 South between 1-6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. For additional information, call 229-382-PETS (7387).

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

A Service of Sayles Unlimited Marketing LLC, Tifton, Georgia