Friday, June 9, 2023

Tifton, Georgia

GrapeNew

Tifton Mayor Julie B. Smith presents the renamed street sign to Dr. Homer Day at Monday night’s City Council workshop. Day’s wife Caroline is at right.

 CITY HONORS HOMER DAY WITH STREET NAME

By FRANK SAYLES JR.

Tifton Grapevine

Tifton City Council on Monday recognized Dr. Homer A. Day for his 30 years of service on the Tifton Housing Authority board, naming a section of Dixie Avenue in his honor.


Dixie Avenue between Fourth and Sixth streets, where some of the public housing units are located near Brodie Field, has been named Dr. Homer Day Avenue.


A city proclamation noted that Day has been “a faithful community leader."


Mayor Julie B. Smith said Day has “done so much for this community. He is a true community leader; he has a true heart. ... We appreciate you so very much."


Day was surprised by the naming of the street, and said, “I do not deserve this, but I am going to relish it."


In addition to his longtime service on the Housing Authority, Day serves on the Tift County Development Authority and spent 30 years on the professional staff at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, where he was named the college’s interim president in 2000.


Day has also served as treasurer for PLIGHT Inc., chaired the Board of Deacons at Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church, and has served as president of the Rotary Club of Tifton. He has also been named to the Tifton-Tift County Chamber of Commerce’s Wall of Fame.

18-YEAR-OLD CHARGED IN SHOOTING DEATH OF OCILLA MAN

Tifton Grapevine Staff Reports

An Ocilla man has been arrested and charged in the shooting death Wednesday of another Ocilla man, authorities say.


Halique Jordan Jr., 18, of Ocilla is charged with felony murder, malice murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during commission of a crime, authorities say.


Robert Wilcox, 26, was found at approximately 6:15 p.m. Wednesday lying in a yard in the 400 block of North Roosevelt Street in Ocilla, police say. Wilcox had been shot and was found to have died.


The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) arrested Jordan in connection with the death on Thursday in Cordele.


The GBI is continuing its investigation.

Saturday, June 10:

Baby and Teeny at 3 p.m. / Tiny, Little, and Junior at 7 p.m.

Sunday, June 11:

3 p.m. – Teen, Miss, and Ms. 

Performing Arts Center at Tift County High School

FITZGERALD GETTING GRANT TO FIGHT VIOLENT CRIME

By FRANK SAYLES JR.

Tifton Grapevine

The City of Fitzgerald is getting a $249,403 state grant to address an increase in violent crime. The grant is among $83.5 million in public safety grants that Gov. Brian P. Kemp announced Thursday.


The grant to the Fitzgerald Police Department is for implementation of a multistep project designed to address recent crime increases in the Ben Hill County city. 


"Public safety has always been a top priority of my administration and will continue to be, said Kemp. "With the increase in violent crime seen in communities across the country, including here in our state, we're sending reinforcements to keep hard-working Georgians and their neighborhoods safe.


"From tackling staffing needs to deploying new equipment and technology, these funds are being invested so that our brave first responders have the resources they need to fight back against dangerous criminals,” the governor said.


The Fitzgerald grant is one of 118 public-safety projects to be funded across the state.

BRIDGE OF TIFTAREA STARTING CAPITAL CAMPAIGN

By BONNIE SAYLES

Tifton Grapevine

Speaking to the Tifton Rotary Club on Wednesday, Christy Day, executive director of The Bridge of Tiftarea, announced the beginning of a capital campaign for the 11-year-old organization.


The campaign, called The Hope Sponsorship Campaign, will run through the summer. 


The Bridge of Tiftarea is a three-pronged ministry, she said. One area is the Training Center located on Third Street. “We teach things like job skills, budget, finance, life skills to women,” Day said. “That’s open to any women in the public that needs it.”

 

Secondly, the Bird’s Nest Thrift Store on Commerce Way is where people may obtain low-cost clothing and household items. Thirdly, the House of Hope Shelter is for homeless women and children. 


The capital campaign visualizes an idea called the Rule of 25's. If one person gave $25 a month for a year, it would provide $300 annually, Day said. If 25 members of a church or civic group gave $300 a year, it would equal $7,500 a year. If 25 churches or organizations had 25 members giving at that level, it would equal $187,500, and would meet the financial requirements of the House of Hope.

 

Day said Tift County has 41,200 people, and “if a little less than 600 did that, our budget would be covered.”


For one person (woman or child) to come through the program costs $3,520, based on an average of 50 women or children served. The current total budget is $176,000.


“Our prayer is that you look at this and join hands with us to sponsor these women and these children that come through the shelter,” Day said. “Not only do you help this woman get back on her feet, she becomes a productive member of society. It’s such a blessing to be a part of the journey.”


The Bridge of Tiftarea’s motto, she said, is, “Our job is not to judge; our job is not figure out if someone deserves something. Our job is to lift the fallen, restore the broken, and heal the hurting.


“Our goal as a ministry is to help these women become more independent and self-sustaining so we can break that cycle of homelessness and teach them new skills so they can better take care of themselves and their children,” Day said.


The Bridge of Tiftarea has served 215 women and 66 children since March 2017. To continue to serve, she said, “We need your help, both as volunteers and as donors. This is how we effect change in our community, our world, by locking arms and fighting for their futures and their souls.”

FOLKS COME OUT TO 'GLOW' WITH LIBRARY AT SUMMER READING KICKOFF

Tifton Grapevine Staff Reports

About 400 men, women, and children – and at least one unicorn" – came to a "Glow Party Saturday night on Library Lane to help the Tifton-Tift County Public Library kick off its Summer Reading Program.


Bruce Green with the Tifton Merchants Association spun cotton candy, and library staff led participants in games and art projects. Members of the Tifton Arts Council helped children paint glow jars.


A full calendar of activities may be found on the library’s Facebook page. Mother Goose Meemaws book reading will be at 11 a.m. Saturday in the children’s library section. 

Joe Pope, YMCA board member and Tift Regional Medical Center Foundation vice chair, from left, with Jason Bishoff, Tiftarea YMCA CEO; and Mandy Brooks, TRMC Foundation executive director.

TRMC FOUNDATION CONTRIBUTES TO TIFTAREA YMCA SUMMER FEEDING PROGRAM


The Tift Regional Medical Center (TRMC) Foundation recently donated $15,000 to the Tiftarea YMCA in Tifton.


“These funds will be used to provide nourishment for the Tiftarea YMCA’s after-school and summer feeding program,” said Mandy Brooks, executive director/CEO of the TRMC Foundation.


“The program begins with daily devotions, nutrition, time for tutoring, homework, and outdoor enrichment activities and games. Speaking engagements from community leaders are encouraged, as it allows the children to learn about different professions in our area."


The summer feeding sites will serve more than 2,000 meals per week. The program has added two extra locations for a total of five sites this year.

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COVID-19 data released from the

Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) as of June 7:


TOTAL TIFT COUNTY CASES: 6,941 ..................................... TOTAL TIFT DEATHS: 177

CONFIRMED TIFT CASES - 2 weeks: 7 ....................................... DEATHS - Past week: 0

CONFIRMED & SUSPECTED CASES: 23

TIFT CONFIRMED & SUSPECTED CASES - 2 weeks, per 100K population: 56

_______________________________________________________________


GEORGIA TOTAL CASES: 2,365,569.

GEORGIA CONFIRMED & SUSPECTED CASES - 1 week: 1,564

TOTAL GA DEATHS: 35,426 ....................................................... GA DEATHS - 1 week: 8

YOUR GUIDE TO ACTIVITIES THIS WEEKEND IN THE TIFTAREA


Saturday, June 10, is National Iced Tea Day. While tea has been around forever, iced tea is said to have burst onto the scene at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. Because of the very hot weather at the fair, tea plantation owner and merchant Richard Blechynden is said to have ditched his hot tea beverages and began selling chilled tea drinks. They were an instant hit.

FRIDAY, JUNE 9

  • Bigfoot, Ghosts, Aliens, & the Paranormal Presentation, 7 p.m., multi-purpose room, Tifton-Tift County Public Library, Tifton


SATURDAY, JUNE 10

  • Wiregrass Farmers Market, 9 a.m.-noon, Ga. Museum of Agriculture, Tifton
  • Tifton’s Second Saturday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Downtown Tifton
  • Memorial Golf Tournament, 10:30 a.m., Spring Hill Country Club, Tifton
  • Mother Goose Meemaws Book Reading, 11 a.m., Tifton-Tift County Public Library, Tifton
  • 84th Annual Miss Georgia Forestry Pageant, 3 & 7 p.m., TCHS Performing Arts Center, Tifton


SUNDAY, JUNE 11

  • 84th Annual Miss Georgia Forestry Pageant, 3 p.m., TCHS Performing Arts Center, Tifton

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TIFTON GRAPEVINE'S DOG OF THE WEEK

“Moose,” a happy boy, is ready for his new home. To adopt Moose 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).

Pets of the Week are sponsored by:
Branch’s Veterinary Clinic
205 Belmont Ave., Tifton, 229-382-6055  
candle-flames-banner.jpg

MAY 30

George Wilkes, 82, Tifton

Virginia Puckett Hughes, 98, Fitzgerald

Lynda Anne Davis, 78, Danville, formerly of Fitzgerald


MAY 31

Russell Luke, 86, Enigma

Gary Lee Brewer, 56, Tifton


JUNE 1

Latrelle Crosby, 83, Nashville

Geraldine Yancey, 77, Adel


JUNE 2

Beth Decker, 80, Nashville

Leannah Mapes Ulmer, 96, Ray City

Bernice June White Womack, 72, Lands Crossing Community

John Carlton “Carl” Harris Jr., 62, Sycamore


JUNE 3

Delora Jean Ashmore Hall, 91, Tifton

Louis Goff, 70, Adel


JUNE 4  

Betty Jane Gahagan Dunn, 82, Tifton

Romania Marie Ingram Reeves, 90, Irwin County


JUNE 5

Jesse Jasper Holder, 94, Cobb County

Andrea Susan Griner, 55, Nashville

Chuck Willis, 58, Tifton


JUNE 6

Patricia "Pat" Geiger, 76, Adel


JUNE 7

Breman Dean Rudeseal, 60, Alapaha

Gary Cooksey, 75, Adel, formerly of Berrien County

JUNE 8

Dale Arthur Tronnes Jr. 60, Ty Ty

Walden Lee Fountain, 36, Fitzgerald

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Tifton Grapevine
e-published every Tuesday and Friday

Frank Sayles Jr.
Editor & Publisher
Bonnie Sayles
Managing Editor
A Service of Sayles Unlimited Marketing LLC, Tifton, Georgia
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