OCILLA SWEARS IN NEW MAYOR

MELVIN D. HARPER II CITY'S FIRST BLACK MAYOR

By FRANK SAYLES JR.

Tifton Grapevine

Ocilla's new mayor was sworn in Sunday.

Melvin D. Harper II was recently elected over three other candidates to fill the seat of the late Horace Hudgins, who died in July.

Harper becomes the Irwin County seat's first black mayor. He is the senior pastor of Rehoboth Fellowship Church in Ocilla.

Harper said he is focused on business and economic development, and is "dedicated to addressing the concerns of our community, and I promise to remain deeply connected to every corner of Ocilla."

In a statement following his election, Harper said, "I firmly believe that with the guidance of our faith and the strength of our unity, we can achieve greatness together. I do not take this leadership role lightly, and I will continue to work tirelessly for the betterment of our community. ... Together, we will build a brighter, more prosperous future for Ocilla."

FOUR FACE MURDER CHARGES IN FITZGERALD

By FRANK SAYLES JR.

Tifton Grapevine

Four people are in custody on charges connected to a shooting death Sunday in Fitzgerald, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) said Thursday.

Two Fitzgerald 17-year-olds – Shannon Demond Belmer Jr. and Anthony McCray – were arrested Wednesday. Two adults already in custody on other Fitzgerald Police charges will be served warrants today, the GBI said.

They are all charged with murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, terroristic threats, and a charge relating to the Georgia Street Terrorism Prevention Act, authorities said.

The GBI is conducting a homicide investigation into the death of Markevios D. Jenkins, 31, of Fitzgerald.

According to preliminary information, at approximately 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Fitzgerald Police responded to a shots fired call at 600 East Sultana Drive. When officers arrived, they found a white Kia stopped at a stop sign. Officers discovered Jenkins unresponsive in the driver's seat with gunshot wounds, the GBI said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Fitzgerald Police Department at 229-426-5000 or the GBI Regional Investigative Office in Perry at 478-987-4545. Once the investigation is complete, the case file will be given to the Cordele Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.

TIFT SHERIFF'S OFFICE DRUG BUST NETS ARREST, 12 POUNDS OF POT, FIREARM

Tifton Grapevine Staff Reports

Tift County Sheriff's Office investigators arrested a Tifton man Wednesday and seized more than 12 pounds of marijuana, THC vapes, and gummies.

Coby Milton, 26, of 604 Bellview Circle is charged with trafficking marijuana, two counts of possession with intent to distribute schedule 1 drugs, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, three counts of possession with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of school grounds, and three counts of possession with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a housing project.   

Based on tips from the community and an independent investigation, Sheriff's Office investigators established probable cause for search warrants at a residence on Bellview Circle. The Tift County Sheriff's Office High-risk Entry Apprehension Team served the warrant leading to Milton's arrest and the recovery of firearms and drugs.

Anyone with information may submit it to the Tift County Sheriff's Office online at www.tiftsheriff.org or by downloading the Tift County Sheriff's Office mobile app.  

LEN LASTINGER ELEMENTARY RENOVATIONS CONTINUE

Tifton Grapevine Staff Reports

Tift County Schools officials toured the ongoing renovation project at Len Lastinger Elementary School this week.

Renovation and expansion of the cafeteria was completed at the beginning of the school year. This included tearing down the old kitchen and rebuilding one that is larger with modern and upgraded equipment.

A new office area and media center are being built on the front of the school. The office area will be completed in the next few weeks while the media center is expected to be finished by Thanksgiving.

Classroom renovations throughout the building include painting, new ceiling tiles, new flooring, new windows, mill work, and storage cabinets. Final completion of the project is expected in May, officials said.

TEAMS MAY STILL REGISTER FOR LITERACY GROUP'S TRIVIA NIGHT

Tifton Grapevine Staff Reports

There is still time to sign up a trivia team for the 23rd annual Howard Center Carnival of Knowledge to benefit Literacy Volunteers of Tifton-Tift County, to be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 10, at Southern Regional Technical College, Tifton Campus Conference Center. 

Observers are welcome to attend, and attendees from the audience may be invited to represent sponsored teams with no players. 

The Howard Center has donated $5,000 to sponsor the event, and many of the company’s employees will participate. For the first time, Prince Automotive is sponsoring the cash award to the first-place winning team. 

Chick-fil-A and Olive Garden are donating dinner for participants; South Georgia Banking Co. is sponsoring the beverage table; and the Tifton Junior Women’s Club is sponsoring desserts. 

Trivia master David Holmes will conduct the competition, and teams of four to six players will compete against each other simultaneously throughout the event, answering trivia questions. The team sponsorship fee is a donation of $200 to benefit Literacy Volunteers. 

As in the past, anyone may sign up to play on sponsored teams by contacting Literacy Volunteers at  tiftlv@gmail.com calling 229-391-2527. Monday is the deadline to reserve a team. 

First-, second-, and third-place teams will receive prizes.

Support of this event allows Literacy Volunteers to recruit and train tutors to work with individuals wanting to improve their reading, writing, math, and English speaking abilities. 



Literacy Volunteers also provides transportation to qualified students attending GED classes at Southern Regional Technical College.

EDUCATION FOUNDATION HONORS BRUMBYS FOR

DECADES OF SERVICE

Tifton Grapevine Staff Reports

The Tift County Foundation for Educational Excellence (TCFEE) honored Moppy and Mike Brumby Thursday night for their more than three decades of service to the foundation. Mike recently retired as the foundation's first executive director, and Moppy retired as foundation secretary.

During the foundation's annual Surf and Turf Dinner at the UGA Blackshank Pavilion, the TCFEE board announced that it is instituting an annual Brumby Leadership Award to be presented to a community leader.

TIFT TO 'LIGHT UP' IN SUPPORT OF LOCAL YOUTH

By BONNIE SAYLES

Tifton Grapevine

Tift County organizations are once again asked to “Go Light Up Your World” with luminaries all over Tift County from 7-8:30 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 18, to show support for local youth. 

Local faith-based organizations, businesses, churches, clubs, and neighborhoods are invited by the Tift County Commission on Children and Youth (TCCCY) to use luminaries along their streets to light up Tift County.

Participants may request registration forms to include their locations by calling or emailing Lillie McEntyre at 229-388-1000 or tc3y@friendlycity.net.

Southern Office Products is providing white bags for all participants. Early registration will ensure participants have use of a sign for the event, as they are first-come, first-served. The event has been held annually in Tift County since 2014. 

The TCCCY is a nonprofit collaborative that works to improve the conditions for children, families, and communities by aiding the community in addressing challenges that face children and their families.

“We recognize that the best way to reach the masses is to enlist faith-based organizations and other youth-serving agencies to help us with our mission to keep our kids safe by identifying caring locations and providing positive activities for youth,” said Lillie McEntyre, TCCCY executive director.

“Our hope is that many locations in Tift County will come together to show that our community cares about and supports the well-being of our youth,” McEntyre said. “Our vision is that everywhere you go in Tift County, you will see the light and recognize how unified we are as a community in our efforts to do what is best for our children to ensure that they live in a safe and caring environment.”

Participants are asked to share their luminary photos on Facebook using the hashtag #lightyourworldtift23. 

Pete Moore, Landon Maxwell, Gary Simmons, and Don Jones at First Products.

SPOTLIGHTING EMPLOYERS WHO HIRE WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES

Tifton Grapevine Staff Reports

The U.S. Department of Labor has declared October as National Disability Employment Awareness Month, and Diversified Enterprises is spotlighting Tift County employers who hire people with disabilities.

First Products has employed Gary Simmons for more than 18 years. He has developed invaluable social roles in the community through the employment and through the relationships he has built. Simmons' boss has taught him how to drive, taken him into his home/family life, and they have a real friendship.

“Gary never comes in with a bad attitude,” said his supervisor Pete Moore. Simmons is said to brighten the day of staffers at First Products.

AREA ROTARY CLUBS JOIN TO HELP END POLIO WORLDWIDE

Tifton Grapevine Staff Reports

Four area Rotary Clubs are joining in a first-ever fundraiser, "Pints and Pinot to End Polio" to be held at 7 p.m., Thursday, Oct 26, at Horsecreek Winery in Sparks. 

The Nashville-Berrien Rotary Club, Tifton Rotary Club, North Valdosta Rotary Club, and Valdosta Rotary Club are all selling $40 tickets to the denim-and-pearls themed event, which will include a silent and a live auction.

Call or text Tifton Rotary President Bonnie Sayles at 229-848-2366 or Membership Chair Frank Sayles Jr. at 229-848-7043 to purchase tickets.

World Polio Day is Oct. 24, a time for Rotary members, public health advocates, and all who want a world free from polio to come together, recognize the progress in the fight to end polio, and talk about the actions needed to end it worldwide. 

Poliomyelitis is a highly infectious disease that most commonly affects children under the age of five. Most know it as poliovirus, spread person to person, typically through contaminated water. It can attack the nervous system, and in some instances lead to paralysis. Although there is no cure, there is a safe and effective vaccine which Rotary and its partners use to immunize more than 2.5 billion children worldwide.

Rotary has been working to eradicate polio for more than 35 years, and the international organization has made progress. As a founding partner of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, Rotary Clubs have helped to reduced polio cases by more than 99.9% since 1988. 

Polio currently remains endemic in only two countries: Afghanistan and Pakistan. If all eradication efforts stopped, within 10 years polio could paralyze as many as 200,000 children annually, according to EndPolio.org.

VEGA QUARTET PERFORMING AT ABAC

Tifton Grapevine Staff Reports

The Vega Quartet will perform on Oct. 12 as part of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College’s ABAC Presents! Performing Arts Series.

The group is the quartet-in-residence at Emory University and is cultivating a new generation of chamber music lovers through performances and community engagement.

The quartet's major performing projects at Emory have included performing the complete cycle of Beethoven quartets, as well as pairing Bach’s complete works for solo violin, viola, and cello with the six Bartók quartets. They have also developed a series of “Jazz Meets Classics” programs, joining the two genres.

“They’re a really amazing quartet,” said Wayne Jones, Arts Connection director. “We’re thrilled to have them back. This is their second time performing at ABAC for the ABAC Presents! Series.”

Tickets are available at www.artsatabac.com/abac-presents or at 229-391-4895. Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for youths. All ABAC Presents! performances are held in ABAC's Howard Auditorium beginning at 7 p.m.

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COVID-19 data released from the 

Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) as of Oct. 4:

TOTAL TIFT COUNTY CASES: 7,118 ....................................... TOTAL TIFT DEATHS: 181

CONFIRMED TIFT CASES - 2 weeks: 17 ....................................... DEATHS - Past week: 0

CONFIRMED & SUSPECTED CASES: 45

TIFT CONFIRMED & SUSPECTED CASES - 2 weeks, per 100K population: 110 

_______________________________________________________________

GEORGIA TOTAL CASES: 2,400,043

GEORGIA CONFIRMED & SUSPECTED CASES - Past week: 3,462

TOTAL GA DEATHS: 35,732 ..................................................... GA DEATHS - Past week: 30 

YOUR GUIDE

TO ACTIVITIES

THIS WEEKEND

IN THE TIFTAREA

Saturday, Oct. 7, is World Cotton Day, celebrating the world’s most important natural fiber. Cotton isn’t just a commodity but a product affecting 28.67 million growers and millions of families worldwide. Almost nothing from the product is wasted; it is used in animal feed, cosmetics, edible oils, fuel, textiles, and much more. Cotton was an ingredient in the first light bulb, the telegraph, the Wright brothers' plane, and the first automobile tires. Georgia was the first colony to produce cotton commercially, first planting it near Savannah in 1734.

In 1793, school teacher Eli Whitney invented and patented the cotton gin. The first major textile mill was built in 1811 near Washington, Ga. Georgia ranks third nationally in cotton production and acres planted. Cotton-related professions provide 53,000 jobs in Georgia, and cotton's overall impact exceeds $3 billion.

FRIDAY, OCT. 6

• National Propane Day Celebration, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Conger LP Gas, Tifton, Sylvester, Vidalia, Moultrie
• First Friday Concert with Laura Wiley, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., Tifton Gardens, Downtown Tifton
• ABAC AET Truck & Tractor Pull, 6 p.m., ABAC tractor pull arena, Tifton
• Tift County High Blue Devils football @ Thomas County Central High Yellow Jackets, 7:30 p.m., Thomasville

SATURDAY, OCT. 7

• Wiregrass Farmers Market, 9 a.m.-noon, Georgia Museum of Agriculture, Tifton
• ABAC AET Truck & Tractor Pull, 6 p.m., ABAC tractor pull arena, Tifton
• Matt Stone as Elvis, 8 p.m., Tift Theatre for the Performing Arts, Tifton

ADVERTISE YOUR

YARD SALE HERE!

TO ADVERTISE YOUR RESIDENTIAL YARD SALE,

CONTACT US at 

IHeardIt@tiftongrapevine.com 

or 478-227-7126

Fees are $1 per word, paid in advance

Meet "Gibson." He didn’t have it so well in his previous life and is learning what kindness feels like. This sweet guy is ready for a special home as the animal shelter is so scary for him. Come see Gibson and 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).