"Elton John-Billy Joel" in Tifton

Sept. 19, 2017

Tifton, Georgia

478-227-7126

tiftongrapevine.com

THIS THURSDAY AT UGA TIFTON

DINNER/SHOW/DANCING BENEFITS LIBRARY FOUNDATION

"FACE2FACE: The Elton John/Billy Joel Tribute Show" comes to Tifton this Thursday, Sept 21, at the UGA Tifton Campus Conference Center, and dinner tickets must be purchased by 10 a.m. Wednesday.

Dinner & Show tickets are $80 and must be purchased today for Thursday's event, with dinner at 7 p.m., and the performers taking the stage at 8:15 p.m. Tickets are available at the Public Library on Love Avenue and online HERE.

Show-only tickets, at $50, will be available at the door Thursday night up to showtime.

Hosted by the non-profit Tifton-Tift County Public Library Foundation, the event is the foundation's only fundraiser of the year; all funds after expenses are used to provide children's programming, library programs and services for the public at the library.

The show includes two of the top tribute performers in the United States as they perform the many hits of Billy Joel and Elton John, such as "Piano Man," "Just the Way You Are," "Uptown Girl," "Bennie and the Jets," "Candle in the Wind," and "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me."

"There will also be dancing, which is always popular at our annual events," said Library Foundation President Frank Sayles Jr. "Last year we brought The Drifters to town, and they put on one of the best shows that Tifton has ever seen. We are looking forward to a great night of food and entertainment in Tifton."

TIFTON LOOKS AT SOUTHSIDE

REDEVELOPMENT

The City of Tifton along with consu ltant Bruce Green is hosting a Community Input & Redevelopment Strategy meeting for the Historic Phillipsburg and Unionville areas of the city.

The strategy meeting begins at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 21, at the Downtown Welcome Station on Main Street. Green formerly was one of the directors with the Georgia Department of Economic Development.

The meeting will include a discussion of the area located near Matt Wilson Elementary School and the area known as New Front . The city is seeking help and input as it looks at a community-wide collaboration for a redevelopment strategy.

NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH PROGRAMS

SUBJECT OF MONDAY MEETING

A community meeting to develop Neighborhood Watch Programs in Tifton's Historic District as well as in the neighborhood north of 20th Street will be held at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 25, at Tifton City Hall.

Tifton Police Capt. Steve Hyman will speak about establishing a Neighborhood Watch and what residents can do to help protect their neighborhoods.

Tifton City Councilman Frank Sayles Jr. is coordinating the meeting, which is a result of local citizens approaching city officials about the need for formal neighborhood watch programs in their areas.

Interested citizens are invited to attend.

TIFTAREA ACADEMY CHEERLEADERS

GREET YOUNGER STUDENTS

Tiftarea Academy Lower School students had a special surprise

Friday morning when the varsity cheerleaders greeted them in the

dropoff line at school.

Tiftarea's varsity football team defeated Terrell Academy in Dawson Friday night, 38-22, notching the Panthers' fourth win of the season.

GA BANKERS ASSOCIATION MARKS 125 YEARS

Joe Brannen, president & CEO of the Georgia Bankers Association (GBA), at left in photo, and Glenn Willis, at right, president of South Georgia Banking Co. in Tifton, commemorate the Georgia Bankers Association's 125th year.

The association recently had a celebration recognizing Georgia bankers. The audience heard GBA member bankers tell about how they got into banking and have benefitted from participating in the community of bankers.

Willis, GBA Group 2 director, led the meeting at Doublegate Country Club in Albany. More than 70 southwest regional banking leaders attended.

GBA's mission is to promote the welfare and usefulness of banking and the preservation of a sound banking system in Georgia.

To learn more, visit www.gabankers.com


Mark Abney, peanut entomologist on the UGA Tifton Campus, holds up a peanut plant while speaking at last year's Georgia Peanut Tour.

Tour Educates Public

About Peanut Production

As part of the Georgia Peanut Tour which begins today, the University of Georgia Peanut Team is educating attendees about peanut production.

This year's tour continues through Thursday, Sept. 21, and is based in Albany.

"The Georgia Peanut Tour is an educational tour for non-agricultural clientele. It allows manufacturers an opportunity to bring in people who work on, sell or promote peanut products, but don't know much about the production of peanuts," said Scott Monfort, UGA Cooperative Extension peanut agronomist in Tifton.

The tour begins with a seminar, "Hot Topics on Peanuts," from 3-5 p.m. today, Tuesday, at Merry Acres Inn in Albany. UGA Peanut Team members Monfort and Scott Tubbs, UGA Center for Food Safety Director Francisco Diez-Gonzalez and UGA Department Food Science and Technology Assistant Professor Anand Mohan are among those speaking.

The tour will visit local producers' fields in Smithville and Leesburg on Wednesday to learn about peanut harvesting and examine crop conditions.

The tour will also travel to Plains on Wednesday to visit the home of President Jimmy Carter. Attendees will hear from Carter, who was a peanut farmer before he became the nation's 39th president. Other Wednesday stops include UGA's Southwest Georgia Research and Education Center and the Georgia Seed Development Facility , both in Plains , and the Smithville Peanut Buying Point in Smithville .

On Thursday, the tour concludes with a visit to the National Peanut Research Laboratory in Dawson. There, UGA Cooperative Extension county agents will demonstrate the blasting process, used to determine a peanut's maturity level. The tour will also visit JLA USA, a food testing and consulting office in Albany.

"The people who buy our peanuts and put them in their products, whether you're talking about a Snickers bar or M&M's, may be stationed all over the country and may not be familiar with how we grow the peanuts that they're buying," said Glen Harris, a UGA Extension soils and fertility specialist and chairman of this year's Georgia Peanut Tour committee. "On this tour, they really get a broad understanding of what it takes to produce a peanut, how to determine if it's ready to be picked and how we ultimately harvest them."

For information, contact Hannah Jones at the Georgia Peanut Commission at hannah@gapeanuts.com or 229-386-3475.

TRUCK & TRACTOR PULL SEPT. 21-23

Trucks and tractors of all shapes and sizes will rev their engines and roar down the track Sept. 21-23 at the AET Truck and Tractor Pull sponsored by the Agricultural Engineering Technology Club at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.

On Sept. 21, ABAC students and the community can participate in the amateur night beginning at 7 p.m. Participants may enter their vehicles in the event for fee. Gates will open at 6 p.m.

On Sept. 22-23, the Southern Pullers Association will provide the show featuring professional pullers. On Sept. 22, gates will open at 6 p.m., and pulling will start at 7 p.m. On Sept. 23, the gates open at 5 p.m., and pulling will start at 6 p.m.

For information, contact AET club advisors Ray Lundy at rlundy@abac.edu or Todd Hicks at thicks@abac.edu

Saturday, September 30

10 a.m. - 10 p.m.

Fulwood Park in Tifton

Free Admission

Traditional foods, nonstop performances from The Howard Center Stage, Street Dance with Quique Fuentes from Atlanta Radio Rumba & non-stop singers from BB&T stage (south side of park); Children's Area with rides and face painting; Arts, Educational and Health Exhibits

Sponsors

Platinum

The Howard Women's Health Center

BB&T

Gold

Tifton-Tift Tourism Association

Tift Regional Medical Center

Tenneson Nissan

Tifton Aluminum

Bronze

Quality Produce

Ameris Bank

In-Kind

City of Tifton

Tifton Police Department

Tift County Recreation Department

Carr, Riggs & Ingram, LLC

Tifton-Tift County Public Library

TCHS STUDENTS HELP WITH GLEANING GRAPES

The marketing and agriculture classes at Tift County HIgh School recently participated in a gleaning activity sponsored by the Society of St. Andrews.

The gleaning network consists of volunteers who save produce that is not harvested and use it to feed hungry people across Georgia.

Mike Beeman, TCHS marketing teacher, connected with St. Andrews arranging for the students to glean more than 300 pounds of muscadine grapes for those in need around Tift County.