Tift County graduating seniors visited their former elementary schools on Tuesday and walked the halls, congratulated by the schools’ current students. In the photo above, seniors are honored at G.O. Bailey Elementary School.

 BLUE DEVIL GRADUATION

TIFT COUNTY HIGH TO GRADUATE 496 ON SATURDAY

By FRANK SAYLES JR.

Tifton Grapevine

Early Saturday morning, 496 members of Tift County High School’s Class of 2023 will gather in their caps and gowns on Brodie Field, cheered on by family and friends.

The processional of graduates will begin at 7:45 a.m. as the graduation ceremony gets underway.

Gates at Brodie Field open at 7 a.m. Saturday; all parents and visitors are asked to be seated in the stands by 7:30 a.m. There is handicapped parking on both the visitors' side and on the home side of the stadium.

For those who cannot attend, the ceremony will be live-streamed here.

The class valedictorian is Neel Patel; the salutatorian is Gwyneth Conner; and the STAR student is Jozef Abantao.

Among the accomplishments of the TCHS Class of ’23 is a first in Georgia: A senior dual-enrolled at Southern Regional Technical College (SRTC) is the first dual-enrolled high school student in the state to earn his CDL (commercial driver’s license).

Eli Watts, who graduates TCHS on Saturday at Brodie Field, was also enrolled in SRTC’s commercial truck driving program, which he recently completed and passed the state CDL exam. He has already applied for his first job as a commercial driver.

Eli Watts, at center, is a graduating TCHS senior who is the first dual-enrolled high school student in the state to earn his CDL. Celebrating Eli's completing and passing the CDL exam are representatives of both Tift County High and Southern Regional Technical College, including college President Jim Glass, Tift Schools Superintendent Adam Hathaway and TCHS Principal Chad Stone.

UGA photos

UGA-Tifton Professor Glen C. Rains holds the control panel to the 'Little Red Rover,' a multipurpose robotic tool used for planting, weed and pest management, and more. The robotic arm’s prototype camera is monitoring a small cotton plant (see inset at upper right).

UGA RECEIVES

$4 MILLION TO DESIGN FARM OF FUTURE IN TIFTON

Source: UGA College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences

Researchers at the University of Georgia's College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) have been awarded nearly $4 million to develop a climate-smart “4-D Farm.”

The award comes from from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) as part of its investment in regional innovations for climate-smart agriculture and forestry.

Led by principal investigator Glen Rains in Tifton, the project involves an interdisciplinary team across CAES, including researchers in sustainable precision agriculture, data science, livestock management, grass and forage management, crop production, UGA Extension and education programming, and autonomous and intelligent rover research and development.

Two sub awards were given to Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and Clemson University. The project also includes a contracted social economist from Kansas State University.

The long-term goal of the 4-D Farm is to develop climate-smart production systems leveraging renewable energy, automation, intelligence, and human capital to meet the required food and fiber needs of a burgeoning world population.

Executed across multiple sites in Georgia, the 4-D Farm will feature a 90-acre Demonstrating Applied Technology in Agriculture (DATA) farm on the ABAC campus in Tifton.

With roughly half the acreage under a center-pivot irrigation system, researchers will rotate what is in the field to test various systems.

“We’ll start by adopting things we already know and then adapting them, whether it is precision planting and irrigation or UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles), said Rains, a professor in the CAES Department of Entomology.

"It’ll be a challenge, but we hope to be able to show what type of management programs pay off if producers want to integrate precision ag into their farming.”

Multiple emerging technology and data sites will be located on UGA research farms and a Data Management and Analysis Center will be housed on the UGA Tifton campus at the Future Farmstead Carriage House. The center will allow researchers to share real-time data collection, which could be a game changer for farmers.

“The goal is to be able to collect data and make in-season decisions on irrigation, fertilizer, and growth regulators to make a better crop that same year,” Rains said.

“Traditionally we haven’t been able to do much until yield is determined at the end of the growing season, then we make changes for the following year. Providing better, real-time information to reduce risk and increase knowledge is doable with advanced data analytics.”

Michael Toews, professor and assistant dean of UGA Tifton, is proud to have the project based on the Tifton campus.

“This project leverages a wide breadth of scientific expertise to develop climate-smart technologies and solutions that are cementing UGA Tifton’s legacy as the destination for applied research, Extension, and instruction programs,” Toews said.

Photo by Frank Sayles Jr.

State Reps. Penny Houston, from left, Clay Pirkle, and state Sen. Carden Summers update members of the Tifton-Tift County Chamber of Commerce on Thursday.

AREA LAWMAKERS DISCUSS LEGISLATION TRANSGENDER BILL WAS CONTROVERSIAL

By BONNIE SAYLES

Tifton Grapevine

Among bills recently passed by the Georgia Legislature and signed into law was SB 140, the Transgender Bill, which prohibits anyone under 18 from having sex-change surgeries, members of the local Legislative Delegation told the Tifton-Tift County Chamber of Commerce members Thursday.

The bill bans surgery for minors “above or below,” said Sen. Carden Summers, R-Cordele, who sponsored the legislation. It forbids those under 18 from using sex hormones or remaining on puberty blockers.

“These surgeries are 100% irreversible,” he said. Children cannot vote, drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes, or drive. They don’t have the maturity to make a decision about their bodies that will last the rest of their lives, Summers explained. 

“I’ve had daggers in my back for 10 weeks” after advocating for the controversial bill in Atlanta, he said. 

Another gender bill now in committee states that anyone who is in charge of a child 16 or under, such as a teacher, cannot talk to a child about race or gender without parental approval. Summers said people who support this bill should be as vocal as those opposing it, such as the "500-600 people daily screaming their heads off in the halls” of the state Capitol.

Another bill that passed and was signed into law, SB 62, orders municipalities to enforce their ban on homeless street camping. Cities need to help the homeless find a safe place to spend the night, Summers said. Also, according to the bill, no government can move a homeless person from one community to another except for medical issues. 



A third component of the bill includes an audit of all federal, state, and local funds for the homeless. “Some of these agencies have no clue where the monies are going,” Summers said. The Department of Community Affairs is supposed to get the funding to the counties that serve the homeless.

Ninety percent of homeless have mental issues, he said. Rep. Penny Houston, R-Nashville, concurred that homelessness got worse when the state was forced to close mental institutions such as the one in Thomasville.

Concerning economic development, Summers said, “I’m all in. With our new Commissioner of Agriculture Tyler Harper from Ocilla, we’re pushing for rural Georgia. I believe broadband is the key to the future of rural Georgia.”

It’s the ninth consecutive year that Georgia has been deemed the No. 1 state in the nation to do business in, Summers said. However, rural counties need improved water and sewer systems and better broadband Internet service.

He mentioned the state returning tax money to citizens because of a state surplus. “We gave back $2 billion this year,” Summers said, “returning money that was over budget.” 

Houston noted that 14 bills that both houses passed were vetoed by the governor. 

“It’s frustrating, aggravating to have bills be vetoed that we’ve worked so hard on in committee and to get them approved in the House and Senate,” Summers said. 

For instance, Houston said that Tift County Schools' nutrition officer Vanessa Hayes spoke to her and other legislators about hunger in Tift County. “Because of her, $6.3 million was in the budget for school lunches, passing the House and Senate,” but it was cut out of the budget by the governor, Houston said.

Rep. Clay Pirkle, R-Ashburn, discussed HB 28, the Georgia Online Automatic Renewal Transparency Act. “This says that it should be as easy to stop an order online as it is to sign up for one,” he said. 

Pirkle also said that the state has banned the video app TikTok from state equipment. The app is owned by China, where the most egregious hacking comes, Pirkle said.

Another bill still in committee would ban any foreign adversaries from owning agricultural land. “It’s a national security matter,” Pirkle said. If an enemy country stopped food production by even 5%, the worldwide impact would be catastrophic, he said.  

The Tifton-Tift County Library gets Matt Wilson Elementary students ready for the ‘magic of summer reading’ with a glow party this week along with a magic unicorn.

SUMMER READING PROGRAM:

LETS ‘GLOW' AND READ,

TIFT LIBRARY SAYS

By FRANK SAYLES JR.

Tifton Grapevine

Tifton-Tift County Public Library’s outreach team had a “glow party’ at Matt Wilson Elementary School this week, getting kids pumped up for the magic of summer reading.

Thus far, the library has registered more than 500 people for summer reading, encompassing all ages.

The library’s Summer Reading Kickoff Party is scheduled for 7-9 p.m. on Saturday, June 3; it will be an outdoor glow party in Downtown Tifton.

Be prepared to light up the night during the "Ready, Set, GLOW" summer reading launch party at the library and wrapping around to Library Lane.

Events planned include Karaoke, a wild ride down the Unicorn Slide, painting on a giant community canvas, and making a special craft with the Tifton Council for the Arts.

Popcorn, cotton candy, and slushies will be available. And don’t forget keep your eye out for the magic unicorn.

LITERACY VOLUNTEERS ADDS PROGRAMMING AT CITY’S BATEMAN CENTER

By BONNIE SAYLES

Tifton Grapevine

Literacy Volunteers of Tifton-Tift County (LV) has kicked off 2023 with new programming at Tifton’s Anthony Bateman Youth Center, LV Executive Director Andrea McLemore told the Tifton Rotary Club on Wednesday.

“We are really excited about it, and we love being a part of it with an Adult Literacy classroom,” McLemore said. “We hold office hours there, and one of our board members does tutoring in the afternoons for community members.”

Another board member teaches an English language class there from 2-4 p.m. Saturdays. 

“One of our newest board members is Roxie Price from the UGA Tifton’s Family and Consumer Science,” McLemore said. “That has been a great partnership. We pulled her in and used her knowledge and connections, and she has helped us reach a broader community. We market those programs, and she puts them on for us.” 

Price has presented such programs at the Bateman Center as financial literacy and powerful parenting. Literacy Volunteers also has hosted a GED information session there with Carolyn West, transitions coordinator for Southern Regional Technical College adult education. 

Literacy Volunteers is a Certified Literate Community Program, part of a statewide network of nonprofits that support adult literacy programs at technical colleges. 

LV provides tutoring services to anyone in the community, specifically students enrolled in the free GED classes at SRTC, Tifton.

“We work with any adult, 16 years plus, who is not currently enrolled in traditional high school setting,” McLemore said. “We have a list of tutors that we draw from and set them up. 



“It’s a flexible community organization. Anybody that wants to tutor, you come and have a meeting with me, and I’ll train you,” McLemore said. One of the newest tutors is Richard Miller, a retired English professor from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.

An English language student, who has been working with tutors Paul and Mary Teeter at a Salvation Army classroom in Tifton for more than a year, is about to earn her citizenship.

Literacy Volunteers, through donations and fundraisers, also provides transportation to GED students to and from adult education classes at SRTC's Tifton campus.

“We provide assistance to anyone that doesn’t have consistent, reliable transportation, which can be a struggle for some people. We set it up, make the arrangements and pay for it,” McLemore said. 

“We’ve given over 500 rides to nine students since January. We’ve provided tutoring to 22 individuals since January.” 

Literacy Volunteers also provides GED test scholarships for students enrolled in SRTC adult education. The organization has received a $1,500 grant from Truist Bank for GED test fees, a $1,000 marketing grant from L4GA (Learning for Georgia), and a $3,000 grant from ProLiteracy for technology to equip the Bateman adult classroom. ProLiteracy is an international partnership organization for the local Literacy Volunteers. 

“We’re also looking to do some two-generation reading projects, where we connect parents and students” to get adults reading with their children, McLemore said. She works with the Tift County Commission on Children and Youth on Get Georgia Reading initiatives.

TIFTON MAYOR JOINS CITY LEADERS FROM ACROSS U.S. AT CAPITOL

Tifton Mayor Julie B. Smith, in her role as president of the Georgia Municipal Association, joined other municipal league presidents and directors on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., this week to advocate for cities. In the photo, Smith is second from right in the front row. The National League of Cities organized the gathering for city leaders across the United States.

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TIFT COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION NAMES

CHIEF ACADEMIC OFFICER

FOR SCHOOL SYSTEM

The Tift County Board of Education has appointed Jennifer Howell as the school system’s chief academic officer beginning in 2023-2024 school year.

Howell has been in Tift County her entire career as a teacher, instructional coach, assistant principal, and currently is the principal at Matt Wilson Elementary.

She is pictured with Tift County Schools Superintendent Adam Hathaway.

COVID-19 data released from the

Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) as of May 17:

TOTAL TIFT COUNTY CASES: 6,934 ..................................... TOTAL TIFT DEATHS: 176

CONFIRMED TIFT CASES - 2 weeks: 13 ................................... DEATHS - Past week: 0

CONFIRMED & SUSPECTED CASES: 32

TIFT CONFIRMED & SUSPECTED CASES - 2 weeks, per 100K population: 78 _______________________________________________________________

GEORGIA TOTAL CASES: 2,363,649.

GEORGIA CONFIRMED & SUSPECTED CASES - 1 week: 1,787

TOTAL GA DEATHS: 35,392 ....................................................... GA DEATHS - 1 week: 16

YOUR GUIDE TO ACTIVITIES THIS WEEKEND IN THE TIFTAREA

Saturday, May 20, is U.S. Armed Forces Day, conceived by President Harry S. Truman and established in 1949. The day celebrates all five branches of the United States military: the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and the Coast Guard.

FRIDAY, MAY 19

• Antiques, Fine Art & Design Week: Fine Antiques Auction, 7 p.m., Vintage 41 Auction House, E. Fifth Street, Tifton

SATURDAY, MAY 20

• Tift County High School Class of ’23 Graduation, 7:45 a.m., Brodie Field, Tifton
• Wiregrass Farmers Market, 9 a.m.-noon, Ga. Museum of Agriculture, Tifton
• Antiques, Fine Art & Design Week: Restoring an Heirloom, 10 a.m., Bula’s Antiques, Main Street, Tifton
• Antiques, Fine Art & Design Week: Incorporating Antiques in Interior Design, 2 p.m., Fifth Street Interiors, Tifton
• Amphibian Night Walk, 8:30 p.m., Gaskins Forest Education Center, Alapaha

SUNDAY, MAY 21

• Antiques, Fine Art & Design Week: Sunday Garden Stroll, 2-5 p.m., Gardens on Murray Avenue and 10th Street, 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

“Zipper” is a friendly guy and is ready for a good home. To adopt Zipper and to see other pets available for adoption, visit 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).