Friday, October 16, 2020
Tifton, Georgia
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COVID PATIENT LOAD AT HALF OF HEIGHT DURING SUMMER
AT TIFT REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER
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By FRANK SAYLES JR.
Tifton Grapevine
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Tift Regional Medical Center (TRMC) now has half the number of COVID-19 patients that it treated in the hospital at the height of the pandemic locally, and the current numbers are “manageable,” a Southwell official told the Tifton-Tift County Chamber of Commerce on Thursday.
“We’re not getting any better, but we’re not getting worse” regarding the current situation, said Chris Efaw, vice president of outreach and development for Southwell, the local health system that encompasses Tift Regional.
The hospital had 20 patients with COVID-19 as of Oct. 14, Efaw said. For about four weeks this past summer, TRMC had averaged 40 coronavirus patients daily, causing the hospital to divert some patients to hospitals around the region, even as far away as Chattanooga, Tenn.
Because TRMC is a regional facility, some COVID-19 patients have come from other counties.
Efaw noted that the White House Coronavirus Task Force recently cited Tift County as a “hot spot” for COVID-19, and he urged local residents to continue taking precautions, washing their hands and getting flu shots.
He said that 84 percent of people that Southwell has tested for COVID-19 have had negative test results. As of Thursday, Southwell reported a total of 2,296 total positive tests with 1,954 patients recovering. The hospital has had 102 patients who have died of coronavirus-related complications, but not all of them are Tift countians.
The Ga. Department of Public Health said Thursday that Tift has had a total of 60 deaths from COVID-19 and a total of 1,888 positive cases.
Efaw also gave Chamber members an update on projects and services at Southwell, He said the new emergency center and patient tower under construction at TRMC is expected to open in fall 2021. The hospital’s current emergency room sees a total of 50,000 patients but it was built to handle 20,000, Efaw said. The new ER center is being built for a capacity of 80,000 patients.
“This is going to be a real showcase for Tifton and Southwest Georgia,” Efaw said.
He said Southwell is Tift County’s largest employer with 2,600 employees. Taking into account all of its facilities, Southwell has a local economic impact of $607.3 million, Efaw said.
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BLUE DEVILS COME HOME!
TONIGHT'S HOMECOMING GAME IS SEASON'S FIRST
AT BRODIE FIELD
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By FRANK SAYLES JR.
Tifton Grapevine
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It's a real “homecoming” in every sense.
In this most unusual of football seasons, the Tift County High School Blue Devils finally come home to Brodie Field tonight to face the Lee County High Trojans in Tift’s first home game of the season.
This will also be Tift’s official Homecoming game, with kickoff at 7:30 p.m., and the crowning of the queen at halftime.
General admission tickets for $8 are available today (Friday) between 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at the high school's front office, and from 4-6 p.m. at the visitors side ticket booth at Brodie Field. After 6 p.m., tickets for $10 each will be available at all three stadium ticket booths.
Everyone entering the stadium will be required to have a mask, the school system says.
Fans may also watch tonight’s game live-streamed on YouTube; pregame streaming begins at 7 p.m. To watch, Click Here!
Lee County is expected to be a tough opponent. The Trojans have just risen to No. 1 in the Class AAAAAA rankings. Last Friday, Lee defeated Warner Robins, the No. 1 team in Class AAAAA.
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Craig Sowell of Tifton, left, receives the Hall of Fame Award from Craig Potter, 2020 GRPA president and athletic superintendent from Albany. |
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TIFT REC DIRECTOR CRAIG SOWELL RECEIVES GRPA HALL OF FAME AWARD |
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By FRANK SAYLES JR.
Tifton Grapevine
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Tift County Recreation Director Craig Sowell, at left in photo, has been named to the Georgia Recreation and Park Association (GRPA) Hall of Fame.
Sowell was presented the Hall of Fame Award at GRPA’s recent state conference. He has been with the county recreation department for 36 years and has been director since 1993.
He told the Tifton Grapevine that it's "very humbling to be included in the Georgia Recreation and Park Association Hall of Fame past recipients. With support of God, my family, county staff and employees, citizenry, along with other recreation professionals that cared enough to nurture me along the way, together this recognition was possible."
Sowell said that "numerous recreation directors in Tift County – Mr. Hamilton and Bobby Simpson – and across the state have had a profound impact on me during my tenure. ... We have a great community, and I am proud to be able to serve as the recreation director. Together, we can all still strive to make a difference each and every day."
Sowell is a graduate of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and Georgia Southern University. He serves as the GRPA's Administration/Leadership Network chairman.
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COUNTY JOINS CITY IN REQUIRING MASKS IN GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS |
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It's official – face masks are now required in all Tift County and City of Tifton government buildings.
The County Commission this week joined the city, which had passed its resolution in August, to require masks in county facilities. The county began discussing the issue a month ago and approved the resolution this past Monday. Its ordinance is in effect for the next three months.
Officials have noted that local mask ordinances were prohibited until Aug. 15 when Gov. Brian P. Kemp lifted his ban on local governments deciding the issue. Until then, Kemp “strongly encouraged” the use of masks or face coverings but had issued an executive order preventing local governments from issuing mandates more or less restrictive than the state's.
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FILL ‘ER UP!
Students at Charles Spencer Elementary School in Tifton are excited about the new water-bottle filling stations in the school.
The Tift County Board of Education has been converting water fountains into bottle filling stations in county schools for safety reasons.
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TIFT COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL
FISHING TEAM QUALIFIES FOR STATE TOURNAMENT
Tift County High School's fishing team recently placed high among other schools in competition.
Conner Peters (at left) and Colin Weeks placed seventh out of 110 high school boats.
Their placement qualifies them for the state tournament next summer.
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ABAC Ambassadors are, front row from left: Cydney Slapa, Raegan Clack, Kendall Prescott, and Gabi Ius; second row: Kira Buckner, Caroline Sullivan, Claire Ryland, and Charley Lollis; third row: Elijah Alford, Johnathon Strickland, Bryce Roland and Ava Jane Teasley. |
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Twelve students at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College have been selected to participate in one of the most prestigious organizations on campus, the ABAC Ambassadors.
Students serving as Ambassadors are: Ava Jane Teasley, a sophomore from Covington; Cydney Slapa, a sophomore from Deltona, Fla.; Charley Lollis, a sophomore from Perry; Elijah Alford, a freshman from Ashburn; Kira Buckner, a freshman from Conyers; and Gabi Ius, a senior from Clermont, Fla.
Other Ambassadors are: Claire Ryland, a senior from Tifton; Raegan Clack, a junior from Leesburg; Kendall Prescott, a sophomore from Lake Placid, Fla.; Bryce Roland, a sophomore from Perry; Caroline Sullivan, a sophomore from Tifton; and Johnathan Strickland, a junior from LaGrange.
Strickland serves as president; Lollis is vice president; Ius is secretary; and Teasley is the group's historian.
The Ambassadors assist the offices of the president, marketing and communications, and admissions by representing and promoting the college at a various events.
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HAVE SOME OLD TIRES? RECYCLE THEM ON NOV. 7 IN DOWNTOWN TIFTON |
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The City of Tifton and Keep Tift Beautiful will host free tire recycling from 8:30 a.m.-noon Saturday, Nov. 7, in the Cato Knight parking lot in downtown Tifton.
Residents may bring up to 10 used tires, up to 22 inches each, for recycling. No commercial or oversized equipment tires will be accepted. Participants will be required to unload their own tires. Work gloves and face masks are suggested.
The event is funded by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division's Local Scrap Tire Abatement Reimbursement (STAR) program. Proper disposal eliminates unsightly litter and prevents mosquitoes from breeding in the tires, the city says.
This is the third year the City of Tifton and Keep Tift Beautiful have held this amnesty event. For information, call 229-391-3937.
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UGA TIFTON PLANT PATHOLOGIST AMONG FACULTY EXCELLENCE AWARD RECIPIENTS |
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A world-renowned plant pathologist at the University of Georgia Tifton campus will be among those recognized Nov. 10 with a 2020 D.W. Brooks Faculty Award of Excellence, the highest honor bestowed by UGA's College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES).
Dr. Robert C Kemerait Jr. will receive the D.W. Brooks Faculty Award for Excellence in Global Programs. Kemerait has been a leader in USAID-funded projects to improve peanut production among small-scale farmers in Guyana, Haiti and the Philippines, and recently received a Fulbright award to work with faculty and farmers in the northern Philippines.
Other award recipients will be:
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Phillip Edwards, a UGA Cooperative Extension county coordinator and Agriculture and Natural Resources agent in Irwin County, who will receive the D.W. Brooks Faculty Award for Excellence in Public Service Extension. Edwards has conducted 139 applied research trials resulting in more than 50 state and/or national presentations and posters.
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Tim Coolong, a professor in the Department of Horticulture, who will receive the D.W. Brooks Faculty Award for Excellence in Extension. Coolong primarily conducts vegetable field research but has worked on a broad variety of topics, such as germplasm evaluation food safety in vegetables and hemp production.
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Gregory Colson, an associate professor in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, who will receive the D.W. Brooks Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching. He has developed hands-on experiments and games for his classes to reinforce the material and give students a tangible experience to complement theory lessons.
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Esther van der Knaap, a professor in the Department of Horticulture and Institute of Plant Breeding, who will receive the D.W. Brooks Faculty Award for Excellence in Research. She has spent much of her career working to understand the genetic shifts that have occurred between ancestral, wild tomato varieties and modern, cultivated tomatoes.
The D.W. Brooks Lecture and Awards is named in memory of the late D.W. Brooks, founder of Gold Kist Inc. Brooks started Cotton States Mutual Insurance companies in 1941. An alumnus and CAES faculty member, Brooks advised seven U.S. presidents on farm and trade issues.
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Tifton’s Locally Owned Digital Newspaper |
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Your free subscription allows you to automatically receive our MidWeek and Weekender editions in your in-box, along with occasional sponsored editions.
To Contact Us, Call 478-227-7126
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TIFTON GRAPEVINE'S DOG OF THE WEEK |
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This happy fella is currently on stray hold at the Tift County Animal Shelter. If not reclaimed, will be available for adoption or rescue at the Animal Shelter, located at 278 Georgia Highway 125 S. It is open to the public for adoptions from 1-6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.
For more information, call 229-382-PETS (7387).
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Pets of the Week are sponsored by:
Branch’s Veterinary Clinic
205 Belmont Ave., Tifton, 229-382-6055
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CORONAVIRUS CLEARINGHOUSE
Important Phone Numbers & Web Sites
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• State of Georgia Hotline: 844-442-2681
• U.S. Centers for Disease Control: cdc.gov
• Tift Regional Medical Center / Southwell Hotline: 229-353-2819
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OCT. 7
The Rev. Willie Henry Dennard, 62, Tifton
Ramona Terry, 75, Sparks
Billy Gene Taylor, 61, Tifton
William Henry “Dub” Bostick, 85, Ocilla
OCT. 8
Kermit Malcolm “Mr. B.J.” Gentry Sr., 91, Sycamore
OCT. 9
Vivian Hemphill Womack, 87,
Chula
Christine McLean Young, 93, Fitzgerald
OCT. 10
The Rev. Jack William Perrin, 73, Waterloo
Henrietta Smith Heyerdahl, 93, Moultrie
James Curtis Day, 77,
Dadeville, Ala.
Dustin Grubbs, 49, Poulan
Wade Ellis Keen, 74, Abbeville
Carolyn Susan Powers, 67, Greensboro, Ala.
OCT. 11
The Rev. Donald "Terrell” Roberts, 79, Tifton
OCT. 12
Timothy Lee Thacker, 54, Tifton
James Edward McCant, 70, Tifton
Linda Moore Rowe, 71, Adel
Carl Grover Fulp Jr., 78, Nashville
Neil Manning Gaskins, 82,
Nashville
James R. “Pops" McCrimmon, 74, Fitzgerald
OCT. 13
Houston D. Brown, 66, Tifton
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OCT. 14
Betty Jean Morris Douglas, 88, Tifton
Alice Sandiford Hasty, 86, Tifton
Brenda Henderson Jennings, 67, Sylvester
Helen Beasley Anthony, 92, Fitzgerald
OCT. 15
Tommie Lee West, Ashburn
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Tifton Grapevine
e-published every Tuesday and Friday
Frank Sayles Jr.
Editor & Publisher
Bonnie Sayles
Managing Editor
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A Service of Sayles Unlimited Marketing LLC, Tifton, Georgia
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