Remembering Rosalynn Carter: Trailblazer

Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023

Tifton, Georgia

478-227-7126 ~ www.tiftongrapevine.com

Carter Center photo

Jason Carter greets his grandfather, former President Jimmy Carter, at Tuesday’s service at Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church at Emory University. Between them is the president's daughter, Amy. Presidents Bill Clinton and Joe Biden are at left.

A FIRST LADY

FOR THE AGES ROSALYNN CARTER REMEMBERED AS TRAILBLAZER

By FRANK SAYLES JR.

Tifton Grapevine

An advocate for the under-represented of the world, a former First Lady of the United States, a former First Lady of Georgia, and a proud daughter of Southwest Georgia, Rosalynn Carter's long life was celebrated Tuesday during a tribute service in Atlanta attended by her frail 99-year-old husband former President Jimmy Carter.

Mrs. Carter died Nov. 19 at age 96. During Tuesday's service at Emory University's Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church, she was remembered for her tireless devotion to the most vulnerable among us and as a pioneering First Lady.

“My grandmother doesn’t need a eulogy; her life was a sermon," said grandson Jason Carter.

Mrs. Carter was a lifelong advocate for mental health reform and was only the second First Lady (the first was Eleanor Roosevelt) to speak before Congress. She testified on behalf of the President’s Commission on Mental Health.

She established the first White House office for the First Lady's projects in the East Wing and worked toward what she called "a more caring society."

She later founded the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers at Georgia Southwestern State University. As co-founder of The Carter Center with her husband, she traveled the world working on behalf of those less fortunate.

“She was a rock for our family,” but she was also an “adventurer, a voyager, a mountain climber,” said Jason Carter. She traveled to 122 countries, learned to ski in her 60s, and climbed Mount Kilimanjaro.

Her grandson said her life was a “testament to the power of faith and love,” saying that his grandparents' 77-year marriage “inspired the world.”

In attendance at Tuesday's service were President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, former President Bill Clinton and former first ladies Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush, Michelle Obama, and Melania Trump.

Georgia native singer Trisha Yearwood and her husband, singer Garth Brooks, performed John Lennon's "Imagine" during the service.

On Wednesday morning, the funeral procession arrives at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains for a private ceremony with family and invited friends followed by a private burial at the Carter's residence in Plains.

Carter Center photos

Among those at Tuesday's tribute service were, from left, former First Ladies Melania Trump, Michelle Obama, Laura Bush, Hillary Clinton, former President Bill Clinton, First Lady Jill Biden, and President Joe Biden, seen during a light-hearted moment recalling Rosalynn Carter.

GSP REPORTS 23 DEATHS ON GA ROADS DURING HOLIDAY

By FRANK SAYLES JR.

Tifton Grapevine

The Thanksgiving holiday travel period was deadly on Georgia roads as 23 traffic deaths were reported, including an accident Thanksgiving day in Colquitt County in which five people died, according to the Georgia State Patrol (GSP).

Troopers investigated 12 fatal traffic crashes, and local law enforcement agencies investigated six fatal crashes during the holiday period which began at 6 p.m. Wednesday and ended at 11:59 p.m. Sunday, the GSP said.

At approximately 3 p.m. on Thanksgiving day, a white van and a Ram truck collided head-on along Highway 111 south of Bay Rockyford Road in Colquitt County. Five people in the van were killed upon impact, authorities said.

In addition to fatal crashes, troopers investigated more than 560 traffic crashes statewide, resulting in nearly 250 injuries. Troopers and Motor Carrier Compliance Division (MCCD) officers made more than 18,000 traffic stops, arrested more than 350 people for driving under the influence, issued nearly 800 seatbelt citations, issued almost 500 distracted citations, and issued more than 11,000 warnings, and more than 10,000 citations during the period.

The crash statistics are preliminary findings and may be updated, the GSP reported Tuesday.

GA STATE FALLS TO ODU AS EX-TIFTON RESIDENT SCORES GAME-WINNER

By FRANK SAYLES JR.

Tifton Grapevine

A former Tifton resident, whose grandparents live in Tifton, scored the game-winning touchdown Saturday for Old Dominion University as the ODU Monarchs beat the Georgia State University Panthers 25-24 in the final two seconds, a win that was called "miraculous."

Grant Wilson, Old Dominion's starting quarterback, is a grandson of Denny and Betty Sommers of Tifton. Denny Sommers said that Grant "lived in Tifton several years ago. He was on scholarship at Fordham" University and transferred to ODU this year.

Grant is a son of Shelley Sommers Wilson, who attended Tift County High School.

"Down 21-0 at halftime, and seemingly out of the game late in the fourth quarter, the Monarchs staged an improbable rally and defeated Georgia State, 25-24, Saturday evening" in Norfolk, Va., reported ODU writer Harry Minium.

The Virginian-Pilot of Norfolk said it was a miraculous victory.

"Trailing 24-19 with two seconds left, the Monarchs came out of a timeout to face fourth-and-goal at the 2 with the entire season on the line," the newspaper wrote.

"Wilson took the snap, paused for a beat, and darted across the left side of the line for the game-winner. ODU’s players stormed the darkened field, fireworks went off above the field house, and the announcement that ODU was bowl-bound echoed through the surrounding Larchmont neighborhood."

ODU will learn its bowl destination Sunday on ESPN.

The tense final moments of the Georgia State game had Grant Wilson looking skyward, the newspaper reported.

“I was just in prayer,” he said. “I was just praying and asking God to just let miracles happen, let His plan work, and it did. It was just so awesome to see how everything unfolded.”

Wilson was the backup quarterback at Fordham last season. In two years at Fordham, he completed 10 of 13 passes for 93 yards and two touchdowns.

At his Yorktown, Va., high school, Wilson was a two-time district offensive player of the year, a two-time first-team All-Conference quarterback and offensive player of the year, and completed 179 of 264 passes for 2,632 yards and 24 touchdowns during his senior year.

TY TY MAN NAMED

TIFT FARMER OF YEAR

Tifton Grapevine Staff Reports

Ross Parrish, a third-generation farmer from Ty Ty, was named the 2023 Tift County Farmer of the Year during the recent annual Agriculture Appreciation Dinner.

The event is sponsored by Lasseter Tractor Co., and hosted by the Tifton-Tift County Chamber of Commerce.

Posing with Parrish in the above photo are UGA Extension Agent Justin Hand at left and Tifton Chamber President Melody Cowart.

TIFTAREA ACADEMY STUDENTS COLLECT 709 BOXES FOR OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD

Tifton Grapevine Staff Reports

Tiftarea Academy students have collected 709 shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child.

The boxes filled with toys, school supplies, and hygiene items will be distributed across the globe to children through Samaritan’s Purse.

Since 1993, more than 209 million children in more than 170 countries and territories have received an Operation Christmas Child shoebox.

TIFTON GRAPEVINE'S CAT OF THE WEEK

"Macy Gray" is a cute kitty seeking a good home. Come visit her at the Tift County Animal Shelter and see other pets available for adoption between 1-6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays at the shelter on Highway 125 South, or call 229-382-PETS (7387).

SITE SELECTED FOR NEW TIFTON SCHOOL

~ NOV. 26, 1905

At a special meeting of Tifton City Council on Monday, Nov. 26, 1905, a site was selected for a new school building to be constructed in the block at Park Avenue and Fourth Street. Capt. H.H. Tift agreed to sell the block to the city for $2,500 and specified that it was for public purposes only. The red brick building opened in January 1907 – initially housing all grades until the high school was built in 1917 – and was named the first Annie Belle Clark School in 1943 until the building was condemned in 1960. Today, Tifton's Post Office sits on the site.