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Sounds of the season will ring Dec. 7 at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College as the Department of Fine Arts presents its annual Holiday Music Christmas Celebration.

Dr. Jennifer Huang, fine arts department head, said the free concert, featuring students, faculty, and community musicians, will begin at 6:30 p.m. in Howard Auditorium. A selection of holiday prelude music will be performed by ABAC music ensembles beginning at 6:10 p.m.

“We are very excited for this concert,” Huang said. “This longstanding tradition is our gift to Tifton and the entire South Georgia region, and all of our performers are thrilled to ring in the season with song.”

Holiday favorites will include the "Nutcracker Overture Suite," "Feliz Navidad," both traditional and New Age classics, and a Christmas medley. Santa Claus will also appear as a special guest.

Source: Tifton Grapevine

 I know there are days that it is cold outside in the morning and feels like winter, however winter does not officially begin until December 21st.  I keep hearing from several sources that this will be a hard winter in every state, not just the northern states.  So what does winter have in store for Georgia?  Winter will be warmer and rainier than normal, with below-normal snowfall. The coldest periods will be in early January and early February. The best chances for snow will be in early January and early February. April and May will be drier than normal. Temperatures will be near normal in the south and below in the north. Summer will be slightly hotter than normal, on average, with above-normal rainfall. The hottest periods will be in early to mid-June, early August, and mid- to late August. Overall, September and October will be warmer and drier than normal. Watch for a tropical storm threat in early to mid-September.  Let’s see how close they will be on any of this.  With it mentioning snow, they surely cannot be talking about Sylvester. HA!  So many times during the winter we try to figure out things to do inside so that we don’t have to go out in the freezing cold weather.  You may be like me though; I often sit and wonder what can we do? While I was looking around on the internet at the almanac, I found a few good ideas.  I wanted to share them with you.  These are only a few but some you may really enjoy.  How about making a great big breakfast.  Time to step it up from the on-the-run breakfast you usually have and make some French toast, bacon, or eggs to enjoy. Or try something different, but easy, like skillet apple pancakes.  Everyone usually likes breakfast.  Me and my family love to eat breakfast for supper.  Another task for the winter is Redecorate!  How fun is that?  I love to rearrange things and make what I have look new again.  Moving things around in your home can be fun and refreshing if you are into decorating. Try hanging your pictures in different places, rearranging your furniture, or dreaming up new ideas online.  Sometimes even looking online will show you how to take things you have a put a different twist on them.  If you have children, they would love to rearrange and decorate their rooms too.  It gives you a great time to clean out things too!  I have started watching videos of ideas how to turn your dollar tree finds into great unique items.  I have even learned a few ideas using the videos for decorating at Christmas.  How does Pajama Day sound?… Sounds like a wonderful idea to me!  Just plan to stay in your PJ’s all day and enjoy the whole day.  There is no need to schedule appointments, go buy groceries, etc.  Just stay put and stay comfy should be the plan.  Another idea is great if you have children or grandchildren.  Turn your living room into a fort by using chairs and blankets to make a cozy hideout for the day.   Children love making forts and playing.   Here’s a good idea too… Movie and Popcorn Day.  That sounds like tons of fun.  There are great new movies to check out and popcorn is always a hit!  So, these are just a few things to do when it is too cold to go outside.  You can always add so many new ideas as well.  Stay warm this winter and have a blast! 

 Jessa May’s Mom started a new holiday tradition last year. She wrapped 25 books to countdown to Christmas. Each day she will unwrap and read a book to Jessa May.  This is a great way to help your children read a thousand books before kindergarten.  At The Margaret Jones Public Library, they are there to help you reach this goal with your little ones.  The library recognizes the connection between reading to young children early, library use and educational success. The National Commission on Reading concluded that, “The single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children.”  The Margaret Jones Public Library is committed to instilling a love for reading in the very young child.  They provide a variety of children’s books in several different age-appropriate formats. For babies and toddlers, they have durable little board books. For preschoolers through third grade, they have picture books. Easy readers allow beginning readers to begin the formal process of reading and word recognition. The Margaret Jones Public Library also has Juvenile nonfiction and chapter books for grades 2nd through 8th. Kids have their very own card catalog at http://gapines.org/kpac . Only those 350,000-plus books, DVDs, CDs and other items that have been cataloged in PINES as children's materials will show up in search results.  Books & Bubbles is their story time for children ages zero to three and it is presented on Tuesday mornings at 10:30 am at the Margaret Jones Public Library. The group sing songs, use flannel stories and rhymes, and read books of course in this 20 minute story time. Then they have a time of play.  Pre-School Storytime is for children ages three to five and it is presented on Thursday mornings at 10 am. In this 60 minute story time they read books, sing songs, and create crafts all related to a theme.  During the summer months when school is out, the library offers the Summer Reading Program. Research has shown that reading over the summer break helps prevent students from losing ground and helps prepare them for the next school year. Participating in the library's Summer Reading Program is a great way to stop the "summer slide”. Each year there is a new theme. Check the library’s event calendar for more details.  Whether you need help locating a good book to read or information to complete a school project, we’re here to help.  Come by the Library to pick out some holiday books to share with your little ones. 

 Gingerbread House Day is a day that can be celebrated in a wide variety of fun ways and will be a day that children will really enjoy and always remember.  However, remember some of us adults love it too!  Celebrating National Gingerbread House Day involves creating a gingerbread house. But the best part is that once the house has been created it can be devoured!  And it will be yummy!  Gingerbread House Day should be a social event and be used as something that engages children and adults alike. Children and parents can make a gingerbread house together and then, later, the gingerbread houses can be eaten at a party especially laid on for the occasion. Alternatively, a giant gingerbread house can be created by several people, with guests invited to decorate it with icing, sugar or sweets.  Did you know that charities also benefit via Gingerbread House Day. Portions of a gingerbread house or mini gingerbread houses can be sold to raise funds for the charity which is used as a great fundraiser.  Larry and I love to build gingerbread houses because you don’t have to be perfect in building it and you can be as creative as you want or not creative at all.  We love to build the houses but then we love to eat some of it too!  Have fun building your gingerbread house today and be sure to post them on Facebook for everyone to see. 

 Thursday December 7th is National Cotton Candy Day!  Another day to celebrate…..AND I love these days to celebrate.  It is so much fun.  I even like to share it with others.  Do you like Cotton Candy?  I love it!  My favorite color is blue or the pink and blue mixed.  You can even buy buckets of Cotton Candy in the stores now. The Dollar Tree has small buckets of Cotton Candy that would be great for stocking stuffers or just as little gifts to drop off to friends.  My mother LOVES cotton candy so we make sure that we get her some often.  And again what a great item to add to the Christmas stockings this year.  We, at The Martin News, are hoping everyone is having a great holiday season. 

Longtime local Christmas project "Suitcases for Kids" has been rebranded as "Hope for Kids" Holiday Project, a way to make sure child victims of domestic violence have a great Christmas Day, says Melissa Wood, manager of the Patticake House and senior forensic interviewer.

Started in 2005, the program ensures that “at least one time in their little lives they’ve got a big old smile on their face on Christmas morning. We do that with the help of people like you in our community ... and with the wonderful help of Georgia State Patrol Post 13,” Wood told the Tifton Rotary Club on Wednesday.

Tifton is blessed to have programs helping disadvantaged children for Christmas, Wood said. The Hope for Children project is different.

“The way kids get on our list is, unfortunately, they have to have been abused. They have to have been neglected. They have to have been witnesses to severe domestic violence or stayed in our emergency violence shelter, Ruth’s Cottage,” Wood said.

She said the number of children to receive gifts through Hope for Children increased from 211 to 222 from Monday to Wednesday. The program will accept children all the way through Christmas Eve. “I know we’ll reach 250,” she said.

Phone calls to the domestic violence helpline can come at any time, including Christmas Eve.

“That happens every year,” Wood said. “We work on Christmas Eve to make sure these children will have a smile on Christmas morning, at least.”

The program serves the four counties in the Tift Judicial Circuit: Tift, Turner, Irwin, and Worth. The Hope for Kids program compares their list of children with Toys for Tots, the YMCA, and school social workers' lists to reduce duplication.

Businesses may sponsor a child or a family to purchase gifts on a list, but donations are used to “even out” the gifts so that one child in a family isn’t receiving more than a sibling.

Donations may be made online here or checks may be sent to Ruth’s Cottage with a memo to go to Hope for Kids.

The Patticake House is a children's advocacy center where forensic interviews of children can be conducted in a child-friendly environment. Ruth's Cottage is a domestic violence prevention program and emergency shelter.

Source: Tifton Grapevine

The Georgia Peanut Commission hosted a photo contest throughout 2023 to fill the pages of the 2024 Georgia Peanut Calendar, “Across the Field, Through the Seasons.” Peanut farmers and industry representatives from across Georgia were encouraged to submit their best, high-resolution photo from the farm for a chance to feature the photo in the 2024 calendar.

Nearly 50 entries were submitted from across the peanut belt and only 12 were selected as a monthly feature. Photos were selected based on quality, originality and diversity in the field. Winners are as follows:

Winners

January: Jason Houston, Miller County

February: Wyatt Mathis, Berrien County

March: Allie Randell, Coffee County

April: Janet Myers, Cook County

May: Francie Cotton, Terrell County

June: Diana Sandoval, Randolph County
 

July: Allie Randell, Atkinson County

August: Janie Merritt, Coffee County

September: Megan Odom, Early County

October: Caitlyn Jackson, Randolph County

November: Carla Nix, Grady County

December: Kathleen Odom, Early County

Photo submissions will also be used in promotional materials produced by GPC throughout the year. To obtain a copy of the 2024 Georgia Peanut Calendar, stop by the GPC office located at 445 Fulwood Blvd. Tifton, Georgia, 31794. For more information on GPC programs and to view the winning photos, visit www.gapeanuts.com. 

Two Tifton residents were among 12 Southern Regional Technical College (SRTC) respiratory care graduates who were recently honored during a pinning ceremony.

Morgan Strenth and Alexandria Turner, both of Tifton, completed two semesters of prerequisite coursework as well as four semesters of occupational courses, including a series of clinical rotations at local hospitals.

In addition to the pinning ceremony, the students are eligible to participate in SRTC’s Dec. 6 commencement ceremony on the Bainbridge campus.

Upon successful completion of programmatic self-assessment examinations (SAE), the students will be eligible to sit for National Board for Respiratory Care (NBRC) credentialing exams to obtain the registered respiratory therapist (RRT) credential.

In the photo are Morgan Strenth (bottom) and Alexandria Turner (top).

Source: Tifton Grapevine

 Look how adorable these are?  This is a great idea whether you are giving out goodies from your business or giving them out at school to your children’s friends.  Simply bag the powdered doughnuts in a small cellophane bag and close the end.  Cut out a snowman hat and add it to the top of the bag of doughnuts.  Add a red ribbon for his scarf and draw on the snowman’s face and his buttons.  It will be so cute and who doesn’t like doughnuts?  Most children do and even most adults do too so this would even be a great idea for your girlfriends!  What great ideas for simple goodies to give away this Christmas.  Merry Christmas from The Martin News. 

Expect gasoline and diesel fuel prices to rise soon: Georgia's motor fuel taxes returned Thursday as Gov. Brian P. Kemp’s state suspension of the taxes expired.

Kemp had suspended collection of the state taxes of 31.2 cents per gallon of gasoline and 35 cents per gallon of diesel declaring it an emergency. The governor had authority to do so while the General Assembly was out of session. But the Legislature is now in a special session to redraw legislative districts, and lawmakers would have to approve a gas tax rollback.

State law allowed the governor to extend or let the suspension expire each month. From March 2022 to this past January, Kemp had the suspension in effect. He restarted the suspension in September when gas prices began increasing.

Kemp said the tax relief helped Georgians deal with inflation. The gas tax rollback has cost the state approximately $180 million per month, according to government estimates.

This week, the American Automobile Association (AAA) reported that the average price of unleaded gasoline in Georgia was $2.79 a gallon, the third-lowest lowest in the nation behind Texas and Mississippi. The national average is $3.25 per gallon.

Georgia's reinstatement of state fuel taxes are not expected to be seen at the pumps immediately; the price will rise as current gasoline inventory is depleted.

Source: TIfton Grapevine

Commission to fill posts in Districts One and Three
Macon, GA (Nov. 28, 2023) - Nomination meetings to fill two positions on the Georgia Peanut Commission (GPC) Board of Directors will be held during simultaneous meetings on Dec. 13 at 2 p.m. in Colquitt and Swainsboro. The Georgia Farm Bureau Federation will conduct the meetings to fill terms, which expire Dec. 31 in the GPC Commission’s Districts One and Three.

The GPC District One nomination meeting will be held at 2 p.m. at the Miller County Farm Bureau Office at 314 East Bremond Street in Colquitt, Georgia, 39837. Tim Burch of Baker County is the incumbent in this district. Counties in District One include: Baker, Calhoun, Decatur, Dougherty, Early, Grady, Miller, Mitchell and Seminole.

The District Three nomination meeting will be held at 2 p.m. at the Emanuel County Farm Bureau office at 320 Lambs Bridge Road in Swainsboro, Georgia, 30401. Joe Boddiford of Screven County is the incumbent in this district. Counties in District Three include: Appling, Bacon, Bryan, Bulloch, Burke, Candler, Effingham, Emanuel, Evans, Glascock, Jeff Davis, Jefferson, Jenkins, Johnson, Montgomery, Pierce, Richmond, Screven, Tattnall, Toombs, Treutlen, Washington and Wayne.

“Georgia Farm Bureau encourages peanut growers in these districts to attend the meeting for their district and participate in the nomination process for these Georgia Peanut Commission positions,” says Georgia Farm Bureau President Tom McCall. “The Georgia Peanut Commission plays an important role in promoting Georgia peanuts by supporting research that addresses production issues growers face, educating producers about peanut industry issues, and promoting the nutritional benefits of eating peanuts to consumers.”

The Georgia peanut production area is divided into five districts based on acreage distribution and geographical location with one board member representing each district. Each nominee must produce peanuts and live within the district for which he/she is nominated.

Any producer living in the district may be nominated or make nominations at the meeting. Incumbents are eligible for renomination. If more than one person is nominated, an election will be conducted by mail ballot. Commission by-laws state that a person must receive a majority of the votes cast for a position in order to be elected to the commission board.

If only one person qualifies for the position, no election is required, and the nominated person automatically becomes a member of the commission board. Commission members serve terms of three years. If multiple people are nominated for a GPC seat, then the current director will continue to serve until the election is completed.

To learn more about the GPC, please visit www.gapeanuts.com.

About Georgia Farm Bureau

Founded in 1937, Georgia Farm Bureau is the state’s largest general farm organization. The organization has 158 county offices, and its volunteer members actively participate in activities that promote agriculture awareness to their non-farming neighbors. Visit www.gfb.org to learn more about GFB.

About Georgia Peanut Commission

The Georgia Peanut Commission was established in 1961 under the state’s Commodities Promotion Act. Today, the commission represents Georgia’s 4,500 peanut farmers and conducts programs in the areas of promotion, research and education. To learn more, visit gapeanuts.com or follow @gapeanuts on Facebook, Instagram or X, formerly known as Twitter.