Folks gather at Fulwood Park during last year’s Rhythm & Ribs BBQ Festival in Tifton. This weekend’s event is expected to be bigger with more entertainment, more vendors, and more barbecue.

ARE YA READY

FOR SOME

'RHYTHM & RIBS'?

TIFTON FESTIVAL KICKS OFF TONIGHT

By FRANK SAYLES JR.

Tifton Grapevine

The “party under the pines” kicks off tonight in Fulwood Park, officially beginning the 2023 Tifton Rhythm & Ribs BBQ Festival, which runs through Saturday night.

Tifton’s signature festival, which last year was showcased nationally on TV’s Food Network, attracts thousands of folks to hear top-notch live music, visit the more than 100 vendors from all over the South, and, of course, eat barbecue and other tasty foods.

A professional barbecue competition is sanctioned by the Georgia Barbecue Association as teams from all parts of Georgia and surrounding states are cooking at the park. Professional teams will be competing for the Grand Champion and Reserve Champion trophies, and $4,500 in prize money.

In the backyard, or amateur, competition, the Grand Champion and Reserve Champion will receive more than $1,500 and a trophy.

The Tifton Exchange Club is sponsoring a first this year – the People’s Choice Award. Festival attendees will get an opportunity to judge the competition BBQ. Stop by the Exchange Club booth near the concert stage to purchase a plate and vote for who you think should receive this year’s People’s Choice Award.

Sample plates will cost $15 and include one vote per plate. All proceeds benefit the Exchange Club of Tifton's community projects.

Also, a variety of food trucks and beverage stations will be available throughout the festival. Coolers are not permitted.

The Rhythm & Ribs Festival kicks off at 6 p.m. today, Friday, with entertainment by the Lloyd Carter Band at 6 p.m., followed by the Page Brothers at 8 p.m.

On the main stage Saturday beginning at 10 a.m. will be the Blue Holler Band, followed throughout the day by Naturally Southern, Tifton native Travis Pratt, Sweet Tea Trio, and the headliner: Drivin' N’ Cryin’ – the renowned Atlanta-based band celebrating its 35th anniversary.

Entertainment also continues on the community stage with Laura Wiley, Xpogo, Jon Morrison, and "The Matt Baldridge Show" with crazy karaoke, dance contests, and kids games such as Hot Potato and Musical Chairs!

Another first this year – the Rides & Ribs Car Show – will be from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. with approximately 200 cars in front of the park on Tift Avenue, which will be closed to traffic between Eighth and 12th streets.

ASHBURN POLICE FATALLY SHOOT SUSPECT WHO STOLE POLICE CAR, RAMS CARS

By FRANK SAYLES JR.

Tifton Grapevine

A burglary suspect was fatally shot Wednesday afternoon by an Ashburn police officer after the suspect led police on a chase, crashing into a police vehicle and then attempted to escape in another police car, ramming police vehicles where officers were standing, authorities said.

Daniel Ramone Scott, 25, died at Tift Regional Medical Center after being shot during the incident, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI).

Preliminary information indicates that the Sycamore Police Department was investigating a burglary and contacted Ashburn Police about a suspect heading that way in a vehicle, the GBI said.

Ashburn Police spotted the vehicle and attempted to conduct a traffic stop. The driver, later identified as Scott, refused to stop. During a pursuit, the suspect rammed an Ashburn officer’s vehicle on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Toombs Street in Ashburn, the GBI said. The officer sustained minor injuries when his vehicle was struck.

The suspect then got out of his vehicle, and officers attempted to arrest him. After a brief struggle, the suspect was taken into custody. The GBI said that Scott was placed in the back seat of a police truck to be taken to Turner County Jail. But at some point, the suspect got into to the vehicle’s front seat and attempted to drive off, ramming nearby police vehicles where officers were standing, the GBI reported.

Officers then shot at the vehicle, hitting Scott.

The GBI said it is investigating the shooting. The Ashburn Police Department requested an independent investigation.

The missing man’s truck is a 1999 Chevrolet 4x4.

SHERIFF’S OFFICE ASKS PUBLIC’S HELP IN FINDING MISSING TIFT COUNTY MAN

The Tift County Sheriff’s Office is seeking the public’s help in locating a Tift County man who has been missing for several days.

Bobby Darvin Spires, 67, was last seen wearing dark blue pants and a white or gray shirt. He is possibly driving a white, 1999 Chevrolet 4x4 single cab pickup truck with Georgia tag PGI3817.

The truck has a silver toolbox with a “Liquid Death” sticker facing the rear of the truck. There is a crack in the windshield on the passenger side and a tan bobble head dog on the passenger side dashboard.

Anyone with information is asked to notify Tift County Sheriff’s investigator Luke Jordan at 229-388-6021.

Enjoy an evening of romantic popular music

while supporting the ABAC Fine Arts Department.

Tickets are on sale now at www.abac.edu/cabaret.

Brian Ponder, left, a Tift County farmer, with Michael Crowder, NACD past president, at the awards ceremony in New Orleans.

OMEGA FARMER RECEIVES NATIONAL CONSERVATION RECOGNITION

STAFF REPORTS

Brian Ponder, co-owner of Pond-O-Gold Farms and Brian & Ken Ponder Farms in Omega, has been named the 2022 Friend of Conservation by the National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) for his contributions to natural resource conservation. 

He was recently honored at the NACD annual meeting in New Orleans.

Ponder is a fourth-generation farmer from Tift County. He still lives on the original farm that his great-grandfather began in 1884 with 96 acres. The farm has been in the family for 138 years and now has 3,000 acres of peanuts, cotton, corn, watermelons, pecans, and pine timber. 

The NACD said Ponder’s farm embodies a "commitment to conservation," including reduction of water usage and erosion control through strip tillage. His father stressed conservation in the 1970s and instilled those practices in Brian and his brother Ken.

Their dad always said, "If you take care of this land, it will take care of you." 

Ponder said he and his brother were the first farmers ever to strip till cotton into cover crops in Tift and Colquitt counties. 

Soil health, conserving water, and reducing diesel emissions are some of the factors that go into the management of their farm. All peanuts and cotton on the farm are strip-tilled into cover crops, which reduces soil disturbance and erosion. Additionally, they are working towards getting all cover crops in without any tillage. 

Ponder installs terraces and waterways to reduce erosion and has helped other local farmers with installing them. All of their irrigation systems have drop-nozzle technology, regulators, are low pressure, and almost all have been converted from diesel pumping systems to electricity. The measures reduce water usage and improve efficiency, he NACD said. 

Ponder also uses organic matters for fertilizers, such as chicken litter and gin trash. 

Last fall, Ponder was named the Georgia Association of Conservation Districts’ 2022 Conservationist of the Year.

TIFT COUNTY UNVEILS LOGO

Tift County Manager Jim Carter (pictured at left) and other county officials unveiled the county’s new logo Wednesday at the Charles Kent County Administration Building.

The modern logo aims to honor the county’s past while moving into the future.

LITERACY PARTNERSHIP

Andrea McLemore, executive director of Literacy Volunteers of Tifton-Tift County, is all smiles in the Anthony G. Bateman Youth Center’s Adult Literacy Classroom as she receives three used desktop computers on loan from the Tifton-Tift County Public Library. 

The computers will aid learning during adult classes at the center.

TIFT LITERACY VOLUNTEERS RECEIVING GRANT TO SERVE UNDERPRIVILEGED RESIDENTS

By BONNIE SAYLES

Tifton Grapevine

Literacy Volunteers of Tifton-Tift County was notified Wednesday that it is receiving a $3,000 Literacy Opportunity Fund grant for Chromebooks and other technology to be used to serve underprivileged residents. 

Also, the Tifton-Tift County Public Library loaned three desktop computers to the nonprofit agency for use in the Adult Literacy Classroom at the city’s Bateman Youth Center.

“What an exciting way to kick off National Reading Month,” exclaimed Andrea McLemore, Literacy Volunteers executive director. 

The Literacy Opportunity Fund offers grants to nonprofit organizations that provide literacy services directly to students. This new fund aims to meet the needs of literacy organizations of all types and sizes so that they may efficiently provide services.

Literacy Volunteers is a member of ProLiteracy, which promotes the idea “Teach an adult to read. Inspire the world to change.”

The local Literacy Volunteers is currently partnering with Tift County UGA Extension to present a free five-part series entitled “Prioritizing your Mental Health for a Better 2023” to be held on Tuesdays in the Adult Classroom at the Bateman Youth Center, 511 W. 17th St., across from Matt Wilson School. 

The sessions at 10 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 7, will be “Using Your Money to Accomplish Your Goals.” Money is one of the greatest sources of stress for most adults.

This session is not about how to make more money, but to use where you are to start accomplishing financial goals. Light refreshments provided. 

Subsequent sessions are “How to Eat the Rainbow” on March 14; “Powerful Parenting,” March 21; and a GED information session on March 28.

For information, call Literacy Volunteers, 229-391-2527, and leave a message, or email tiftlv@gmail.com.

BROTHER CHARLIE’S HOMELESS MISSION: ACCOUNTABILITY, RESPONSIBILITY, RELIGION

By BONNIE SAYLES

Tifton Grapevine

The primary focus of Brother Charlie’s Mission in Tifton is more than to alleviate the physical conditions of homelessness among its residents, director Mark Stone told the Tifton Rotary Club on Wednesday: “We seek to introduce, encourage, and support a relationship with Jesus.”

“We focus on those who are seeking to exit or end their homelessness,” Stone said. “With that there comes a lot of rules, a lot of expectation. That is necessary in a dorm setting with 20 to 30, but it is also necessary for things to work outside of a shelter. We try to help people take the right steps to get a job, get income, and seek housing, and most importantly to find Jesus.” 

Brother Charlie’s is a homeless shelter for men established in 1979. “We have 24 current residents living at the shelter. We can house up to 40,” Stone said. 

“Our work and efforts to end homelessness go beyond our shelter. We are part of a community support through our thrift stores. We offer affordable household items, things that are donated, not only to generate money for our shelter, but also to provide something affordable to families in Tifton and Fitzgerald.”

Also, the staff of Brother Charlie’s provided support to the group that started the women’s homeless shelter a few years ago, “The House of Hope.”

Stone has been at Brother Charlie's for 20 years. “It’s been rewarding,” he said, “always interesting, challenging.” 

Brother Charlie’s provides shelter, essential services, hot showers, clothing, and three meals daily to homeless residents. Also, the program provides chapel, Bible study, even oil painting classes, and classes in New Testament Greek.

We’re currently working on an outdoorsy type class, fishing, walk a hiking trail,” he said. “We’re not all things to all people. We can’t help everyone.”

Stone said that “we tend to think of a homeless person to fit a certain stereotype, and that’s usually not the case. Homeless people are as diverse as all of us sitting here.

“There are those that are homeless and really don’t want to be and are doing what they need to do to find housing,” he said. “And then there are those that choose to be homeless, and there is not a whole lot you can do because of a person’s own avoidance of the responsibility that is necessary to not be homeless.” 

Residents must be 18 or older, have a photo ID, and pass a drug test, and a criminal background check. The length of time residents stay varies. Some stay less than a week; others, a year or two.

One of the mission’s core beliefs is work. “If you work hard and live right, you can make it.” Residents get up at 6 a.m. and do chores.

“I strongly believe in accountability and responsibility,” Stone said.

TIFTAREA ACADEMY'S LADY PANTHERS PLAY FOR STATE BASKETBALL TITLE

STAFF REPORTS

Tiftarea Academy’s Lady Panthers basketball team faces Deerfield-Windsor’s Lady Knights today (Friday) for the state championship in Macon.

The teams face off at 6 p.m. at Mercer University in Macon for the Georgia Independent Athletic Association state AAA title.

The Lady Panthers made it to the state championship game by defeating Southland Academy, 41-37, in the semifinals. Deerfield-Windsor of Albany beat Lakeview Academy to advance.

Tiftarea Academy has declared today as "Blue and Gold Day'' to support the team and will have a "send off" for the girls in front of the school at 1:30 p.m.

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Tifton Mayor Julie Smith reads to students Wednesday at J.T. Reddick Elementary School on Read Across America Day.

TIFT STUDENTS OBSERVE NATIONAL

READ ACROSS AMERICA DAY

Tift County school students celebrated National Read Across America Day on Wednesday, the birthday of children's book author Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss.

Among the fun activities were face paintings, Dr. Seuss character costumes, group readings, and even outdoor slides.

In honor of the day, Tifton Mayor Julie B. Smith read "Georgia Caroline Visits City Hall” on Wednesday morning to third- and fourth-graders at J.T. Reddick Elementary School in Tifton.

SOUTHWELL ADEL GETS PATIENT EXPERIENCE AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

Southwell Medical in Adel has been named a 2022 Human Experience (HX) Guardian of Excellence Award winner by Press Ganey, a global leader in healthcare experience solutions and services. 

The award is part of annual rankings of the top hospitals and health systems in the country, based patient experience. As an award winner, Southwell Medical is in the top 5% of healthcare providers in delivering patient experience in the past year. Specifically, Southwell Medical is recognized for top patient experience based on feedback from patients using Southwell's ambulatory surgery services.

The ambulatory surgery center at Southwell Medical offers 17 pre- and post-operative rooms, three operating rooms, two procedure rooms, and a separate entrance for surgical patients.

EASTERSEALS GOLF TOURNAMENT SET MARCH 11

The Tifton Easterseals Golf Tournament is coming on Saturday, March 11, at Springhill Country Club in Tifton.

All proceeds will benefit the Tifton Easterseals Day Center. The cost is $75 per player and $300 per team. Registration begins at 8 a.m. the day of the tournament.

For information, contact Casey Betts at 229-391-0740.

AMERIS BANK DONATES TO RURAL HOSPITALS

Ameris Bank has donated more than $2 million to 15 rural hospitals through the Georgia HEART Hospital Program, including Tift Regional Medical Center in Tifton, Irwin County Hospital in Ocilla, and Phoebe Worth Medical Center in Sylvester.

"Ameris has been committed to donating through the Georgia HEART program, as we believe in supporting rural hospitals and the communities they serve," said Ameris Bank CEO Palmer Proctor.

The Georgia HEART Hospital Program partners with the Georgia Rural Hospital Tax Credit initiative to increase funding to rural and critical access hospitals.

Weekly COVID-19 data released from the

Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) as of March 1:

TOTAL TIFT COUNTY CASES: 6,881 ..................................... TOTAL TIFT DEATHS: 176

CONFIRMED TIFT CASES - 2 weeks: 14 ................................... DEATHS - Past week: 2

TIFT POSITIVITY RATE - 2 weeks: 6.5% ........ CONFIRMED & SUSPECTED CASES: 42

TIFT CONFIRMED & SUSPECTED CASES - 2 weeks, per 100K population: 103

_______________________________________________________________

GEORGIA TOTAL CASES: 2,347,890......................................TOTAL GA DEATHS: 35,068

GA CONFIRMED & SUSPECTED CASES - 1 week: 4,422

GA DEATHS - 1 week: 69................................... ......GA HOSPITALIZATIONS - 1 week: 338

YOUR GUIDE TO ACTIVITIES THIS WEEKEND IN THE TIFTAREA

Today, Friday, March 3, is World Wildlife Day. The United Nations established the day to raise awareness of the world’s wild animals and plants, and to encourage conservation of natural habitats.

FRIDAY, MARCH 3

• Rhythm & Ribs BBQ Festival Kickoff Party, 6-10 p.m., Fulwood Park, Tifton
• Tiftarea Academy Lady Panthers state basketball championship vs. Deerfield-Windsor Lady Knights, 6 p.m., Mercer University, Macon

SATURDAY, MARCH 4

• Rhythm & Ribs BBQ Festival, 10 a.m.-10 p.m., Fulwood Park, Tifton

ADVERTISE YOUR

YARD SALE HERE

TO ADVERTISE YOUR

RESIDENTIAL YARD SALE,

CONTACT US at 

yardsales@tiftongrapevine.com 

or 478-227-7126

Fees are $1 per word, paid in advance

“Baby” was rescued by the Tift County Animal Shelter and has received medical attention. Baby is among the pets available for adoption at the Shelter on Highway 125 South, open between 1-6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. For additional information, call 229-382-PETS (7387).