Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023

Tifton, Georgia

GrapeNew
478-227-7126 ~ www.tiftongrapevine.com

UGA DOES IT AGAIN!

WINS CONSECUTIVE TITLE; TIFTONITES CHEER

UGA photo

UGA Football Coach Kirby Smart hoists the National Championship trophy Monday night after the Bulldogs defeat Texas Christian University, 65-7.

By FRANK SAYLES JR.

Tifton Grapevine

The University of Georgia Bulldogs routed Texas Christian University 65-7 Monday night, winning back-to-back College Football Playoff national championships.


The game played at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium was never in doubt. Several Tiftonites were in attendance, and many more were there in spirit, watching the game on TV.


UGA set a record for the most points in a Bowl Championship Series (BCS) or College Football Playoff (CFP) title game and also set a record for the largest margin of victory in a BCS or CFP title game.


Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett IV of Blackshear tied a College Football Playoff record with six touchdowns – four passing and two rushing. Georgia's offense had 615 total yards, and its defense held TCU to 36 rushing yards and forced three turnovers.


With the win, Georgia ends the season with a perfect 15-0 record. UGA is the first back-to-back champion in the CFP era, and the first to win back-to-back titles since Alabama in 2011 and 2012 in the BCS era.


If UGA makes it a three-peat next season winning the national championship again, the Dawgs will make history, as it has never been done in the Associated Press (AP) poll era, which dates to 1936. No team has ever won three straight titles in the AP poll, the coaches’ poll, the Bowl Championship Series or the College Football Playoff.

Photos by Bonnie Sayles

The City of Tifton replaced several burnt-out bulbs on light poles inside Fulwood Park this week, including the one at left near the spot where an assailant shot at a teacher in her car one evening in November.

Some of the lights replaced had been dark for several months.

COPS NAB TEENS FOR ARMED ROBBERY IN FULWOOD PARK

By FRANK SAYLES JR.

Tifton Grapevine

Tifton Police have arrested two teens on armed robbery charges after what police say was a drug deal gone wrong in Fulwood Park.


Quinnard Walker, 18, is charged with one count of armed robbery, and Jaylen M. Green, 17, is charged with one count of armed robbery and one count of possession of marijuana. Both are from Ty Ty and are being held in Tift County Jail, police said.


At approximately 11:20 p.m. Saturday, a Tifton Police officer was flagged down at 14th Street E. and Tift Avenue by Elijah Robinson, 18, of Tifton, who said he had been robbed at Fulwood Park.


Robinson told police that he was sitting in Fulwood Park talking to a friend when a white male wearing a black mask, black jacket, and jogging pants approached with what appeared to be an assault weapon and demanded money.


Police said Robinson was robbed of his iPhone, cash, and drugs.


Officers responded to the area and located the two suspects. Detectives determined that Robinson had planned to meet the two teens at Fulwood Park for a drug deal. The suspects had planned to rob Robinson there, police said.


A BB gun was used during the robbery, police said they ascertained.


Police said they are continuing to investigate the incident, and it does not appear to be connected to any previous incidents at the park. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Tifton Police Department Tip Line at 229-391-3991 or Detective Sgt. Sydney Saylor at 229-382-3132.


The Tifton Police Department said it has increased patrols in the Fulwood Park area “and will continue to do so to help prevent future incidents."


On Nov. 18, an assailant shot at a Tifton public school teacher at point-blank range when she refused to roll down her car window while sitting in her vehicle in Fulwood Park. The bullet missed striking the teacher by inches and went through the coat she was wearing.


Tifton city officials said later they are looking at adding more lighting and additional security cameras in Fulwood Park.


On Monday, the city was spotted replacing lights that had not been working around the interior of Fulwood Park, including the light above the spot where the teacher shooting incident occurred. The Tifton Grapevine last week had counted at least 15 light poles whose lights were dark in the interior of the park. Some had not been working for months.

Volunteers with Tifton Street Outreach include, from left, Renee Cannady, Leah Childers, Troy Madeau, Taylynn Duarte, Fran Keller, April Duarte, and Jeff Duarte, president.

TIFTON STREET OUTREACH OFFERS HELP, HOPE TO HOMELESS

By BONNIE SAYLES

Tifton Grapevine

Two friends wanting to do something last November to help homeless people in Tifton has grown into the Tifton Street Outreach serving meals to 25 people at 4 p.m. each Sunday in the Ride Share parking lot on U.S Highway 82 next to I-75. 


When the weather started turning cold in November, Tiftonites Renee Cannady and Leah Childers wanted to give coats and other clothing to the homeless living behind Tifton’s Chick-fil-A. They passed out flyers to the homeless people they saw, inviting them to meet them at the Ride Share the next Sunday. 


“That first week, nine people showed up,” Cannady told the Tifton Grapevine. “Now we prepare meals for 20 to 25 people.”


Jeff Duarte, a peer recovery coach for Oasis Recovery Community Organization, saw what the two women were doing and wanted to get involved.


“My wife and I used to drive to Thomasville every Sunday, where they have quite an outreach going on,” Duarte said. 


He asked if he could come with coffee and pumpkin pie the next Sunday. “I brought up the idea of feeding people. Calls just started coming in. Now we have meals planned for two weeks in advance.


“We haven’t had to beg for any help. It’s been amazing, a blessing. It’s a bigger blessing for us than the peers we are helping,” he said. 


When it was cold on Christmas weekend, donations paid for hotel rooms for 24 recipients to stay Friday, Saturday ,and Sunday nights. Anyone wishing to get on the meal schedule may email Duarte at tarministries1974@gmail.com or donate via Venmo at the same email or Cash App at $tarministries1974. T.A.R. stands for Transformed And Renewed through Christ, from Romans 12:1,2.

 

“The goal is not to make them comfortable where they are, not to enable them (the homeless), but to just feed them in the meantime and offer them help if they want it,” Duarte said. He is able to provide them with a mobile shower on his trailer to help them be presentable for job interviews and housing appointments.

 

“I am working to network and gain as many contacts as possible for these people and give them another avenue” to take control of their lives, he said. “There are tons of resources I can point them to, such as housing and drug-abuse recovery.”

 

Pizza Hut in Adel donated 30 pan pizzas for Christmas dinner for the recipients, and Three Beards Barbecue in Tifton has provided smoked Boston butts. One anonymous donor purchased 30 steak dinners from Logan’s Steak House for New Year’s Day. Others have purchased gift cards from Chick-fil-A and Olive Garden for them. 


The Peanut Butter & Jesus ministry, led by Tift County Commission Chairman Tony McBrayer, has been giving 25 brown paper-bag sack lunches so the recipients will have something else to eat the next day. Some of the recipients say the Sunday meal is the only food they eat all week.  


Tony McBrayer has been a very, very helpful mentor to me in my first endeavor like this,” Duarte said. “I am blessed to have his help.”


Numerous people donated hygiene items, and the group put together backpacks for each person, each with socks, a hat, a scarf, and hygiene items. They set up at the Ride Share beginning at 3 p.m., and that’s when people bring items.

 

“People donate tents, sleeping bags, blankets,” Cannady said. About the homeless, she said, “We’re forming relationships. The more they trust us, the more we can help them.” She said people are donating dog food, treats and toys for those that have dogs.


“If we see anybody, we stop and give them a flyer” about the Sunday meals and giveaways, she said. 


Duarte’s goal is to start a midweek meal program. Also, he wants to get a house to be a “warming center” for homeless men and women to come and get in out of the weather and perhaps sleep for the night – “a place to fill out applications and help them excel in life,” he said.


“My wife experienced three to four years of homelessness in her teenage years,” Duarte said. “She knows what it’s like to feel alone and hopeless. People ask what they can do; they can give these people hope and love. These folks need some love.” 

GEORGIA STATE PATROL HANDLES

53 TIFT TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS IN DEC.

Troopers with the Georgia State Patrol (GSP) Post 13 in Tifton investigated 53 traffic accidents with 48 injuries in Tift County during December, the GSP says..


No fatalities were reported in any of the accidents.


During December, the troopers issued 376 traffic citations in Tift County, including 20 arrests for driving under the influence, 112 citations for speeding, 79 seatbelt violations, and 23 child-restraint violations.


Troopers also issued 339 warnings during the month.


"Post 13 Tifton troopers would like to encourage everyone to slow down, wear your seatbelt, and put your cell phones down while driving,” the GSP said.

JOURNEY CHURCH OF TIFTON TAKES OVER WTIF, OTHER RADIO STATIONS

By FRANK SAYLES JR.

Tifton Grapevine

Sterling Southern Land LLC of Chula has closed the deal to donate several local radio stations, including WTIF-AM and -FM, to Journey Church of Tifton.


Sterling Southern Land, owned by Danny Sterling, former president and CEO of PlantTel of Tifton, has donated WTIF (1340)WTIF-FM (107.5), and WFFM Ashburn (107.5), along with Tifton-licensed W260AT at 99.9 FM, which have all halted operations since July.


At that time, TruVista Communications formally acquired PlantTel – Plant Telephone Co. and Plant Telecommunications of Tifton.


The radio licenses were then transferred to Sterling Southern Land company, and a Federal Communications Commission filing noted that the stations would be divested to third parties before resuming operations.


The licenses now have been transferred to Journey Church of Tifton – Benjamin Rowland and Ricky Ziegler – and the stations moved to noncommercial status, according to insideradio.com, an industry information site.


Journey Church is located on Highway 125 North in Tifton.

THIS WEEKEND'S

YARD SALE


Estate/Moving Sale

Date: Saturday, January 14

Times: 8 a.m.-2 p.m.

2020 Hall Avenue, Tifton

____________________________________________________


TO ADVERTISE YOUR YARD SALE, 

CONTACT US at 

yardsales@tiftongrapevine.com 

or 478-227-7126

Fees are $1 per word, paid in advance

TIFTON GRAPEVINE'S CAT OF THE WEEK

Tabby is among the kittens awaiting a home at the Tift County Animal Shelter. To adopt Tabby and to see other pets available, visit the shelter between 1-6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, or call 229-382-PETS (7387).

Pets of the Week are sponsored by:
Branch's Veterinary Clinic
205 Belmont Ave., Tifton, 229-382-6055

NEW TRAIN BEGINS ROUND TRIPS BETWEEN

TIFTON AND VALDOSTA

~ JAN. 10, 1916

A new train, the No. 7, from Tifton to Valdosta over the Georgia Southern and Florida tracks, made its first round trip on Jan. 10, 1916. The No. 7’s schedule was to leave Tifton at 7 a.m., arrive in Valdosta at 9 a.m., then leave Valdosta at 5:15 p.m., returning to Tifton at 6:40 p.m.

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Frank Sayles Jr.
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Bonnie Sayles
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