478-227-7126
OCT. 27, 2017
Tifton, Georgia
A Service
of
Sayles Unlimited
Marketing
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'TAKE ME HOME' TO
OCILLA'S
SWEET POTATO FESTIVAL
"Country Roads ... Take Me Home" -- that's the
theme of t
he 57th Annual Georgia Sweet Potato Festival this weekend hosted by the Ocilla-Irwin Chamber of Commerce.
The all-day festival Saturday in Ocilla includes a 5K and one-mile Tater Trot (beginning at 7 a.m.), an Arts and Crafts Fair (beginning at 9 a.m.), the Georgia Sweet Potato Festival Parade (11 a.m.), an antique vehicle show, a Gospel and Secular Bluegrass Concert in the Park and Wing Cook-off in Cumbee Park (2-7 p.m.).
This year's
festival is
dedicated to the memory of
Dusty Vassey, who
died unexpectedly last month from complications of
cancer.
Vassey,
raised in Irwinville,
was a locally known reporter for the OcilIa Star and a former journalist at The Tifton Gazette.
The Ocilla-Irwin Chamber hosts the Sweet Potato Festival on the last Saturday of October every year. The festival began in 1960 to promote Georgia sweet potatoes and recognize Georgia sweet potato growers.
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TRICK OR TREAT! HOW ABOUT
SOME ...
SWEDISH FISH?!
All Hallow's Eve, or
Halloween, is
Tuesday, and the
Tiftarea will see its share of ghosts, goblins, witches, Spidermen and princesses.
In
Downtown Tifton, merchants and the Main Street program will once again be participating in
trick or treating between
5 and 6 p.m. for costumed children aged
12 and under and accompanied by an
adult.
In
Downtown Ashburn, the downtown
celebration will be from 6-8:30 p.m. on Halloween.
Sylvester city officials recommend that trick-or-treaters only go house to house between
6:30 - 9 p.m. on
Tuesday.
And according to one
study, the
top selling candy in
Georgia for
Halloween is (drum roll, please)
"Swedish Fish."
According to the study, the
top selling
Halloween candy in
Florida is
Skittles. In
Alabama and
South Carolina, it is
candy corn.
The National Retail Federation
estimates
that shoppers will spend $2.7 billion on Halloween candy this year.
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Juvenile Judge Render Heard, left, with new CASA volunteers
Jo Garrick, Sharon Strangward, Debbie Scarborough, Kelly McCord and Kimberly Davis.
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CASA ADDS NEW VOLUNTEER ADVOCATES
Coastal Plain CASA recently had
five new
volunteers sworn in as
Court Appointed Special Advocates for children.
They are now ready to take a case where they will be advocating -- being a voice -- for a foster child or sibling group who may not be able to speak up for themselves.
With these newest
volunteers sworn in,
Coastal Plain CASA in
Tifton says it now has the
largest volunteer
team since
2010.
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Tifton city march participants, along with Mayor Julie Smith holding the trophy for raising the most money. |
WALKING A MILE 'IN HER SHOES'
MEN WEAR HIGH HEELS TO SUPPORT WOMEN, MARCH AGAINST ABUSE
More than
150 men squeezed into
high heels Tuesday to
"Walk a Mile in Her Shoes" -- a
men's march against
violence toward
women.
The event, held on the Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College campus, raised more than $4,000 for Tifton's
Ruth's Cottage and PattiCake House, a n
on-profit organization and temporary shelter whose mission is to end domestic and sexual violence, as well as child sexual and physical abuse.
The City of Tifton won the award for raising the most money during the event -- $2,018.10; members of the Tifton Police Department, Fire Department and the city manager participated in the high-heeled walk.
"Supporting Ruth's Cottage and the PattiCake House and what they mean and what they do for ladies and kids is just a blessing to have in our community, and we want to be able to support them in any way possible," Fire Chief Bobby Bennett told WALB-TV.
In photo at right,
Tim Cooper of the Tifton Fire Department tries on a pair of department-approved high heels.
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TIFTON'S BOWEN NAMED UGA McGILL FELLOW
Sara Katherine "S.K." Bowen of Tifton is among 12
undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Georgia who have been named McGill Fellows by the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.
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S.K. BOWEN |
Bowen, a
senior studying journalism and finance, is the daughter of William and Kelly Bowen.
The
students were selected by a faculty committee "for their s
trength in academics, practical experience and leadership," said
Diane Murray, public service faculty and director of the
McGill Program in Journalistic Courage
, who chaired the committee.
As
McGill Fellows, they will p
articipate in the McGill Symposium, which brings together students, faculty and leading journalists to consider what journalistic courage means and how it is exemplified by reporters and editors. The McGill Fellows will also
help select the ninth recipient of the McGill Medal, awarded annually to a U.S. journalist whose career has exemplified journalistic courage.
This is the 11th class of McGill Fellows. For nearly 40 years, the McGill Lecture has brought significant figures in journalism to UGA in honor of Ralph McGill's courage as an editor. McGill, while editor and publisher of The Atlanta Constitution, was regarded as the "conscience of the South," using the newspaper's editorial pages to challenge segregation in the 1950s and 1960s. McGill was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 1958 for "long, courageous and effective leadership."
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NORTHEAST STUDENTS
NAVIGATE 'TEEN MAZE'
Approximately 650 ninth-grade students at Tift County High's Northeast Campus participated this week in the annual "Teen Maze."
In the Maze, students are faced with making "real-life decisions" on their way to graduation. They "experience" some of the consequences of making bad choices and how those decisions can derail future plans.
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'YES' GROUP MEETS IN TIFTON
Last weekend, the Ga. Department of Human Services' Youth Empowerment Series, or "YES," met in Tifton with a group of students. Guest speakers Rhonda John, Mary Ann Griffin, Hope Hodges, Sonya Carlisle, Ishmael Rouse and Myia Miller helped YES participants plan for their future by encouraging them to declare their own destiny.
Participants created mission statements describing their long-term goals and brainstormed ways to have an impact on their communities. YES is an opportunity for high school students to become agents of change.
The
Youth Empowerment Series is an
outreach program that seeks to develop a generation of
young people who are
engaged in the needs of their
communities and are equipped to educate and recruit others to help DHS build "
Stronger Families for a
Stronger Georgia."
If you're interested in applying for YES next year, Click Here! or contact
Deshane.Velasquez@dhs.ga.gov
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'GREATER TUNA'
COMES TO
ABAC
STAGE
The Baldwin Players at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College is presenting the play "Greater Tuna" at 7 p.m. tonight (Friday) and Saturday in Howard Auditorium.
Tickets are $10 for the public and free to ABAC faculty, staff and students.
The performers include, at front, Cady Ray as Jody; sitting at table,
Amanda Zehner as Pearl; standing, from left,
Hannah Moseley as Bertha, and Jannah Zinker as Stanley.
Dr. Brian Ray is the director of the Baldwin Players.
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CRAZY SOCKS FOR RED RIBBON WEEK
Among Red Ribbon Week activities at
Charles Spencer Elementary School this week was
"Crazy Socks Day." Other actives included
"Hat Day" and
"Unity Day."
This week marks Red Ribbon Week across the nation, during which students learn about the dangers of drug abuse and drug trafficking.
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'GO LIGHT UP YOUR WORLD' EVENT SHOWS UNITY
Luminaries were lit at more than
70 sites around
Tift County on
Wednesday night in support of l
ocal youth.
The
"Go Light Up Your World"
event was coordinated by the Tift County Commission on Children and Youth to showcase the community's commitment
to ensure that Tift County youth have a safe and caring environment.
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YOUR WEEKEND
.
..at a Glance
- Haunted Theatre! Return to the Madness!, 6:30 p.m., Tift Theatre for the Performing Arts, Tifton
- "Greater Tuna," 7 p.m., Howard Auditorium, ABAC
- Tiftarea Academy Panthers football playoff @ Frederica Academy Knights, 7:30 p.m., St. Simons Island
- Trick or Treat in the Village, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Ga. Museum of Agriculture & Historic Village, Tifton
- Georgia Sweet Potato Festival, 9 a.m., various locations, Ocilla
- Wiregrass Farmers Market, 9 a.m.-Noon, Ga. Museum of Agriculture, Tifton
- Unionville Strong unity cookout, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., 607 Short St., Tifton
- Trunk or Treat, 5:30 p.m., BAM family Fun Center, Virginia Avenue, Tifton
-
Haunted Theatre! Return to the Madness!,
6:30 p.m.,
Tift Theatre for the Performing Arts, Tifton
- "Greater Tuna," 7 p.m., Howard Auditorium, ABAC
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Haunted Theatre! Return to the Madness!, 6:30 p.m., Tift Theatre for the Performing Arts, Tifton
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OCT. 20
Dorothy "Dot" Patricia Bell Bennett Jordan, 98, Tifton
Nathan Martin, 69, Ashburn
OCT. 21
Juliette "Judy" Rich Simpson, 73, Tifton
Ltc. John Dee Hughes, 84, Macon
OCT. 22
Warren Donald "Buster" Sellers, 97, Fitzgerald
Douglas E. Wiggins, 79, Irwin County
Janice Robinson, 73, Pavo
OCT. 23
Carrol B. Simpson, 77, Tifton
Bertie "Cloise" Hancock Peters, Lenox
Betty Sexton, 70, Lenox
OCT. 24
Kacey Stracke, 30, Ludowici
OCT. 25
Jimmie Junior Mitchell, 88, Tifton
Gene Lewis, 84, Fitzgerald
OCT. 26
Ann Whitesides Malone Good, 83, Destin, Fla.
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A Service of
Sayles Unlimited Marketing
FRANK SAYLES JR.
Editor and Publisher
478-227-7126
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