NOV. 18, 2016
Tifton, Georgia
478-227-7126
tiftongrapevine.com
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Colandra Copeland is overwhelmed by the news that she is receiving an Excellence in Teaching Award. She was "tapped" in her classroom at Eighth Street Middle School.
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TEACHERS OF EXCELLENCE
EDUCATION FOUNDATION TAPS RECIPIENTS
A
dozen Tift County public school teachers were tapped this week as
recipients of the
2016 Excellence in Teaching Award by the
Tift County Foundation for Educational Excellence.
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Molly Turner, right, gets a hug from foundation board member Tammy Griffin at Charles Spencer Elementary.
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Foundation representatives, school officials and recipients' family members surprised the teachers with the honor at their schools. Students in the classrooms joined in to congratulate their teachers.
The recipients tapped on Tuesday are:
Patti Dean, kindergarten, Annie Belle Clark Primary;
Stephanie Kimbrell, second grade, Len Lastinger Primary;
Tanesha Dotson, first grade, Omega School;
Lauren Duncan, ILC coach, Omega School;
Molly Turner, special education, Charles Spencer Elementary;
Kisha Rowe, social studies, J.T. Reddick School;
Colandra Copeland, ELA, Eighth Street Middle School;
Sherrye Chambers, science, Tift County High Northeast Campus;
Chanon Collins, 11th & 12th grade AP, Language and Literature, Tift County High;
Jeremy M
oore, AP & honors physics,
Tift County High.
Two other recipients of the award were not at school during the "tapping" and will benotified today of their recognition.
The teachers are
nominated by a student, parent, peer or administrator.
In February, the Rotary Club of Tifton will honor the recipients with an awards banquet, and the Foundation for Educational Excellence with present the teachers with an honorarium.
This is the
26th year that the foundation has been recognizing
teachers of excellence in
Tift County public schools.
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Lauren Duncan is surrounded by well-wishers at Omega School.
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EX-TIFTONITE
RE-ELECTED
TO CONGRESS
DINA TITUS REPRESENTS LAS VEGAS
 Local U.S. Rep.
Austin Scott is
one of two congressman in Washington from
Tifton;
Democrat Dina Titus, a former Tift County High cheerleader, has been re-elected to Nevada's 1st Congressional District.
Titus, who grew up in Tifton, easily won her election last week with
62 percent of the vote.
Currently in her third term in the U.S. House of Representatives, Titus' district encompasses the Las Vegas Strip and downtown area.
She previously served in the Nevada State Senate for 20 years and also taught American and Nevada government classes for more than 30 years at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
In 2007, she came
within four percentage points of being elected Nevada's first female governor.
In a previous interview, Titus told this writer that her Tifton upbringing serves her well in Nevada politics. "Growing up in a small town where you know people" taught her to work with all types of folks, she said, "because you'll see them at dinner or around town."
Titus is a graduate of the College of William and Mary, holds a master's degree from the University of Georgia and earned her doctorate at Florida State University.
Her late father, Joe Titus, had once run for Tifton City Council, and her uncle, Theo Titus of Thomasville, served in the Georgia House of Representatives for many years.
~ Frank Sayles Jr., Tifton Grapevine
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Thursday, November 24
BJ's at Springhill is OPEN to the PUBLIC!
A fabulous Thanksgiving Day menu will include:
Roasted turkey, cornbread dressing, mashed potatoes, baked ham, sweet potato soufflé, baby butter beans, cream corn, macaroni and cheese, roast beef, rice pilaf, green beans, asparagus, Celebration salad, broccoli salad, pasta salad, 24-hour fruit salad, pimento cheese, crackers and croissants, marinated vegetable salad, rolls, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, caramel cake, coconut cake, mile-high chocolate pie, 12-layer chocolate cake, and much more. Tea and coffee are included.
$12 per person. Children 5 and under are free.
Hours: 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
Reservations are suggested, and walk-ins are
welcome.
Text BJ at
229-392-2913 for reservations
and for takeout orders.
Happy Thanksgiving from our team
to you
and your family!
"Where Everyone is Welcome!"
5 E. Springhill Road, Tifton
229-382-2913
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ABAC ENROLLMENT GROWS AGAIN
Official statistics from the
University System of Georgia (USG) show that
enrollment at
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College has
increased for the third time in four years.
Recently released USG figures show that
ABAC recorded an enrollment of
3,475 students this fall, representing a
2.4 per cent increase from the 2015 number of 3,393. Fall 2016 enrollment in the 29 colleges and universities in the USG totaled 321,551
students, an increase of 1.1 percent above fall 2015.
"It looks as if the enrollment from
Florida, South Carolina and Alabama has pushed us past last year," ABAC President
David Bridges said.
"ABAC is a destination college for most of those students since the majority of them are enrolled in bachelor's degree programs in agriculture. I think our
neighbor waivers certainly played a role in those students' decisions to attend ABAC."
The USG in
2015 began allowing some colleges to
waive out-of-state tuition for students from
bordering states. ABAC used its neighbor waivers as an incentive, resulting in 259 out-of-state students, up from 203 in 2015. The college attracted students from 21 states, 26 countries and 154 of Georgia's 159 counties during the fall term.
The ABAC
out-of-state enrollment is
second highest among the 11 state colleges in the USG. The number of students from other countries also increased at ABAC from 33 to 49 this semester, representing the fourth highest among state colleges.
The USG report shows that ABAC is
53.1 per cent female. At 46.9 per cent, ABAC has the highest male population of any state college. The
average age of ABAC students is
21.1 years.
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NATIVE AMERICAN PROGRAM COMES TO AGRICULTURE MUSEUM SATURDAY
The
Iron Horse Singers and Dancers
will offer a program of
native American Indian
songs and dances from
9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday Nov. 19,
at the
Georgia Museum of Agriculture and Historic Village
at
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College
.
GoNativeNow, a
Native American tour company, will be back for a fifth visit to the museum. The company travels the United States conducting reenactments, providing demonstrations, hosting campouts and spotlighting
The Iron Horse Singers and Dancers, who perform in native American regalia.
Museum visitors during the event may explore native American culture through viewing GoNativeNow's encampment. They will see a comparison between Eastern and Western tribes from both the male and female perspective. Little Big Mountain and Laura Alcorn will take guests on a journey through time from primitive lifestyles through the 1880s.
For information, contact the museum at
229-391-5205.
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Dec. 3, Downtown Tifton
Parade ~ 5 p.m.
Join Us for Downtown Tifton
Christmas Open House
5 p.m.~9 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 1
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Dunn, left, receives Ambassador award from
Chamber Chairman Morris Tankersley.
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DUNN NAMED
CHAMBER'S
AMBASSADOR
OF MONTH
Ronnie Dunn, a Tifton-Tift County Chamber of Commerce Ambassador, was honored as the Ambassador of the Month for October at the annual ambassador's luncheon recently.
Dunn was also honored as the top fundraiser of the chamber's annual golf tournament, also held in October.
He is a local Realtor and a longtime chamber volunteer.
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CHAMBER'S YOUTH LEADERSHIP CLASS BEGINS PROGRAM
Members of the
Tifton-Tift County Chamber of Commerce's 2016-2017
TAL:K (Tomorrow's Aspiring Leaders: Kids) Leadership class attended its kickoff luncheon recently at
Colquitt EMC.
The class is comprised of
eighth graders from
Eighth Street Middle School and
Tiftarea Academy and will participate in a variety of community service projects during the school year. The program's sponsors are
South Georgia Bank, Tift Regional Health Systems, Colquitt EMC, Georgia Power Co. and Heatcraft.
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STUDENTS WIN GEOGRAPHY DECATHLON
The Tifton Optimist Club and the Tift County Foundation for Educational Excellence co-sponsored the annual Geography Decathlon for local high school students on Tuesday night, Nov. 15, at the Tifton-Tift County Public Library.
This academic competition requires students to take a written qualifying exam testing their knowledge in 10 categories of geography. The 12 students achieving the highest exam scores then compete in a quiz bowl-style competition for monetary scholarship prizes.
This year's winners and their teachers are, from left in photo: Coach Jon Koran, Wyatt Thompson (2nd Place), and Ethan McBrayer (1st Place), all from Tiftarea Academy; and Jake Moore (3rd Place) and Dr. Shelley Fandel from Tift County High School.
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"Best-Selling Truck for 39 Straight Years"
511 West 7th Street
(229) 382-1300
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STATE JOBLESS RATE RISES SLIGHTLY
The Georgia Department of Labor announced Thursday that the state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5.2 percent in October, up one-tenth of a percentage point from 5.1 percent in September.
The jobless rate in individual counties has not yet been released for October. In
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BUTLER
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September, Tift County's unemployment rate was 5.5 percent.
Georgia's jobless rate "increased slightly as our labor force grew by 27,795 as more job-seekers began looking for work in October," said state Labor Commissioner Mark Butler.
"Since some new jobseekers won't land a job immediately, they are counted as unemployed, which can result in a rate increase. But, our employers continue to create jobs, so there are a lot of good opportunities for work."
The labor force consists of people who are employed and those actively searching for a job. In October, it increased to 4,945,950. The number of employed grew by 21,473 to 4,691,161, while the number of unemployed increased by 6,322 to 254,789. The labor force has grown by 161,527 since the first of this year.
The number of jobs increased by 6,700, or 0.2 percent, to 4,410,300 in October. Most of the gains came in professional and business services, 4,400; financial activities, 1,800; information services, 1,700; and education and health services, 1,000. The gains were offset somewhat by losses in leisure and hospitality, 1,600, and other services, 1,100.
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TAKE A COOKIE WALK FOR BOSTON BUTTS
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Want a
Boston Butt?
Literacy Volunteers of Tifton-Tift County has
Boston Butts available for donations of
$25 during the
Cookie Walk,
9 a.m. to noon, this
Saturday, Nov. 19,
at Peace Lutheran Church, 604 Tennessee Drive in Tifton.
November is
Family Literacy Month, and donations for the
Boston Butts enable Literacy Volunteers to
help adults improve their
reading, writing and math skills, and, ultimately, their quality of life.
For information, call
229-391-2527.
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Tifton's Locally Owned Electronic Newspaper!
It's Free!
e-published every Tuesday & Friday / to Advertise, call
478-227-7126
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YOUR WEEKEND
.
..at a Glance
FRIDAY, NOV. 18
SATURDAY, NOV. 19
- TA Turkey Trot & Family Fun Day, 8-11 a.m., Tiftarea Academy, Chula
- Cookie Walk, 9 a.m.-Noon, Peace Lutheran Church, Tennessee Drive, Tifton
- Native American Experience, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Ga. Museum of Agriculture & Historic Village, Tifton
- Holiday Market - Wiregrass Farmers Market, 3-7 p.m., Ga. Museum of Agriculture's Peanut Museum, Tifton
SUNDAY, NOV. 20
- The Christmas Tree Farm opens, 1 p.m., Chula-Brookfield Road, Chula
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NOV. 10
Clara Belle Hayes Cribb, 91, Willacoochee
Shirley Dees Eason, 82, Leesburg
NOV. 11
William Shelton "Billy" Stone, 54, Nashville
Dora "Bernice" Andrews Fender, 94, Forest, Va.
Tony Donald Lewis Spires, 68, Lenox
Janice Jarrell Cumbie, 70, Leesburg
Mary Sue Bussell, 57, Branson West, Mo.
Richard Erin Gray, 31, Houston, Texas
NOV. 12
Jason Strickland, 42, Sylvester
Reuben M. McCranie Jr., 81, Adel
Samuel Lee Richardson Sr., Ashburn
Stephen Jerome Evans, 58, Albany
Linda Gail Gillis, 70, Ray City
Samuel W. "Sam" Lokey, 42, Fitzgerald
Jean Ann Remington, 68, Ray City
NOV. 13
James Monroe Watson Jr., 55,
Enigma
Cliff Boutwell, 42, Dallas
NOV. 14
Ann Duckworth, 78, Poulan
George G. Goodwin, 74, Sylvester
Dillard Dewey Ensley Jr., 77, Sparks
Jewell Watson Eldridge, 86, Fitzgerald
Mary Lou Wright, 88, Valdosta
Era S. Addison, 83, Jacksonville, Fla.
NOV. 15
Opal "Pat" Elizabeth Owens Gibbs, 86, Tifton
Clyde Pete Hollingsworth, 73, Doerun
Myrtle Lee Warren, 95, Rochelle
NOV. 16
Bobby Lassiter, 80, Tifton
Clinton Franklin Downs Sr., 77, Fitzgerald
NOV. 17
Tommy "Pittman" Barfield, 85, Tifton
Kenny Wood, 60, Ray City
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SERVING
YOU WITH PROFESSIONALISM
BEFORE, DURING & AFTER THE SALE
115 Cypress Ridge Road, Tifton, GA
MLS #126656
NEW LISTING:
1,761 square feet with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, screened porch.
Visit Us Online:
It's a Great Time to Sell Your Home!
Call Us for Details!
Call us TODAY!
229-386-4222
Blue Skies &
Sunshine
Through
Each & Every
Real Estate
Transaction!
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www.tiftongrapevine.com
FRANK SAYLES JR.
Editor & Publisher
iheardit@tiftongrapevine.com
A Service of Sayles Unlimited Marketing LLC
478-227-7126
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