Ten Tift County public school teachers were "tapped” Thursday as recipients of the Excellence in Teaching Award by the Tift County Foundation for Educational Excellence.  

Foundation representatives, school officials, and recipients' family members surprised the educators with the honor at their schools. The teachers are nominated by a student, parent, peer, or administrator.

Those named Thursday are: Samantha Walker (Annie Belle Clark Elementary), Billy King (Eighth Street Middle), Erin Bean (G.O. Bailey Elementary), Caroline Bostick (J.T. Reddick Elementary), Dawn Starling (Len Lastinger Elementary), Jessica Padgett (Matt Wilson Elementary), Regina Rogers (Northeast Middle), Kim Simmons (Northside Elementary), Beth Thompson (Omega Elementary), and Matthew Blankenship (Tift County High).

Each teacher was presented with a certificate and will be honored at a future banquet sponsored by the Rotary Club of Tifton.

This is the 31st consecutive year that the Tift County Foundation for Educational Excellence (TCFEE) has "tapped" exceptional teachers in recognition of their outstanding performance in the classroom.

In the three decades that the Foundation has been recognizing teachers of excellence in Tift County public schools, nearly 320 educators have been honored.

To see photos of all the teachers tapped on Thursday, Click Here!

Tifton Police have arrested two men and charged them in connection with a recent burglary at Tifton's First Baptist Church, says Police Chief Steve Hyman.

Clinton Jacob Baker, 23, and James Edward Howell, 36, both of Tifton, are charged with the church burglary, with possession of a drug-related object, with possession of tools for the commission of a crime, and with loitering.

Tifton Police spotted the pair loitering in the downtown area at 2:41 a.m. Wednesday. They were initially arrested on the lesser charges, and the burglary charge was added following further investigation by Tifton police detectives, Hyman said.

In recent weeks, several businesses in Downtown Tifton have been burglarized.

"With the recently reported increase in thefts in the area, we have increased patrol, and investigators are actively working to apprehend persons or persons involved in the recent burglaries in the downtown area," Hyman said. "The investigation is ongoing, and no other details will be released at this time."

If anybody has information about this case or other recent thefts, they are asked to contact the Tifton Police Department Tip Line at 229-391-3991 or leave a message with Tifton Police Detective Lt. Chris Luckey at 229-382-3132.

Tift County's positive COVID-19 cases continue to drop, totaling 26 during the past two weeks, according to data Thursday from the state Department of Public Health (DPH).

The total positive cases represent confirmed and probable results from both PCR and Antigen rapid tests. Tift County’s total positive cases represent 64 cases per 100,000 population, the measure used across the country to compare case rates among communities and states.

Confirmed cases were 13, and Tift's testing positivity rate for the period was 6.2%, the DPH reported. An additional five confirmed cases and one related death were reported in the past week among Tift County residents.

Tift has seen a total of 6,266 cases with 163 related deaths, the DPH said.

On Thursday, the state reported 1,306 new confirmed and probable cases across Georgia with 94 additional deaths and 142 new related hospitalizations. The state has recorded a total of 1,917,820 confirmed cases and 30,345 related deaths, the DPH said.

Retired Urban Development Director Bruce Green told about the founding of Tifton in 1872, 150 years ago this year, at the Tifton Rotary Club on Wednesday. 

“It’s hard to believe it’s been 150 years since that young sea captain from Connecticut came down to this area and bought about 43,000 acres from his uncle Nelson, who founded the city of Albany, and from Asa, who lived in Key West,” Green said, speaking of Henry Harding Tift.

The land would eventually become "Tift’s Town," which is what it is was called before it became Tifton.

Tift “commenced to build a sawmill to harvest the yellow pine timber that was everywhere,” Green said. He described a photo on the front page of The Tifton Gazette in 1896 with a lone pine tree in the distance, with a story saying, “There’s nothing left.” Trees the size of the round tables in the room were harvested. 

“They were old-growth pine trees, and the wood was so valuable,” Green said. “A lot of Great Britain was built by the pine that was harvested in Tifton and shipped out of Darien, Ga. We get furniture back to the United States that is pine furniture that was grown in Tift County in the 1800s.”

Fireworks and a birthday celebration will mark the sesquicentennial on July 1, with a Tifton Rock the Block event, said Tifton Downtown Development Director Abbey McLaren. That date is also the birthday of founder Tift’s great grandson, Mike Brumby, director of the Tift County Foundation for Educational Excellence. Another of Tift’s relatives, Catherine Tift Porter, will also turn 100 years old in July. 

As part of the sesquicentennial events, McLaren announced that a Wiregrass Ball will be held May 14 at the Georgia Museum of Agriculture with “farm-to-table" food.

She said anyone with photos or stories about Tifton's past should send them to tifton150@gmail.com

“We want to remember where we come from,” Green said. “The legacy that the Tifts left us is a part of our cultural inheritance.”

The Tifton Grapevine this week has received several comments from readers claiming that the Tift County recycling convenience center on Pecan Street is only open to Golden Environmental customers.

County Manager Jim Carter tells the Grapevine that that is not the case and that the recycling center is open to all residents of Tift County. If anyone has questions or concerns, Carter said they may call the county administration office at 229-386-7850.

The City of Tifton is moving toward suspending curbside recycling collection next month and is looking at possibly opening a recycling collection center within the city. In the interim, the city suggested that residents may utilize the county recycling center.

The convenience center on Pecan Street is just off South Central Avenue behind the Community Center.

Joe Pope of Century 21 Smith Branch & Pope was honored with the Butch Davis YMCA Legacy Award on Thursday night.

The award was presented to Pope, at left in photo, by Mike Davis during the Tiftarea YMCA Butch Davis Appreciation Dinner at Tifton First Baptist Church's Ministry Center. Pope was a member of the Tiftarea YMCA's first board of directors nearly 25 years ago and has remained active with the Y through the years.

The award is in honor of longtime Tiftarea YMCA board member and tireless supporter Butch Davis, who died in January 2021.

YMCA representatives reminded the audience that the Tiftarea YMCA is more than a gym, and is community-oriented, offering youth sports and programs in a positive, Christian atmosphere.

The Georgia Forestry Pageant and Educational Association (GFPEA) is accepting contestants to represent Tift County at the 83rd Annual Miss Georgia Forestry Scholarship Pageant scheduled June 25-26 in Tifton. 

Age divisions are: "Baby Miss," ages birth to 23 months; "Teeny Miss," ages 2 to 3 years; "Tiny Miss," ages 4 to 6 years; "Little Miss," ages 7 to 9 years; "Junior Miss," ages 10 to 12; "Teen Miss," ages 13 to 16; “Miss," ages 17 to 24; and “Ms."

The Georgia Forestry Pageant is the oldest scholarship pageant in the state, celebrating 83 years, and is among the largest providers of prizes and scholarships. The forestry queens promote the forestry industry for Georgia.

Applications may be picked up at Annie's Place on Love Avenue. For information, email tiftforestry@yahoo.com or call 229-386-2681 or 229-238-2851.

A $40,000 contribution from ClicRtechnologies to the ABAC Foundation ensures that new technology will continue to benefit students in the School of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.

With the donation, a ClicRweight Bovine Solution System will be used at Beef Unit #2 at ABAC’s J.G. Woodroof Farm. ClicRtechnologies began its partnership with ABAC last year with its first donation of $40,000.

Dr. Mark Kistler, dean of the School of Agriculture and Natural Resources, said the ClicRweight system allows students to obtain valuable data for the management and operation of ABAC's beef unit.

“As we build our database, the information gathered will be utilized by our academic programs in not only animal science and livestock production, but also agribusiness and agricultural technology and systems management. Being able to have our students see and use the latest in technology will help them to have the knowledge and skills they need for future employment,” Kistler said.

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Saturday, March 12, is National Girl Scout Day. Part of Girl Scout Week, National Girl Scout Day commemorates the anniversary of the first Girl Scout meeting in 1912, organized by Juliette “Daisy” Gordon Low in Savannah; this is the 110th anniversary of the organization.

SUNDAY, MARCH 13 (Daylight Saving Time Begins)

"Ruby," a female pooch, is available for adoption at the Tift County Animal Shelter on Highway 125 South between 1-6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. For more information, call 229-382-PETS (7387).

205 Belmont Ave., Tifton, 229-382-6055  

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