Former senator, mayor donates documents to Georgia College

MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — Documents, clothing and other items — bestowed recently to Georgia College — detail the lifetime achievements of a true trailblazer being honored in a special ceremony this week. The Honorable Floyd L. Griffin Jr. was the first African-American state senator to represent a majority-white, rural legislative district. He was also the first African-American mayor in Milledgeville and first African-American in modern times to run for lieutenant governor in Georgia. Griffin donated a collection of papers and personal items that span his 73 years — from early college days during the civil rights movement to the recent sale of Slater’s Funeral Home on Wayne Street, owned by his family for 50 years. He’s been a military pilot, senator, mayor, author and active community member. Griffin’s wife, Nathalie (Huffman) Griffin, lovingly collected each item, crafting multiple scrapbooks of memories. About two dozen boxes are filled with newspaper articles, a state resolution honoring Griffin’s service and photos from Vietnam. Griffin currently serves on the board of trustees at his alma mater, Tuskegee University in Alabama, and on the Georgia College Board of Visitors, a leadership group in the office of University Advancement. 

 

Therapy horses to visit Dowling Park library

DOWLING PARK, Fla. — The Jo Kennon Public Library will soon have some famous visitors. The Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses will be at the Dowling Park library on Wednesday at 10 a.m. for a literacy program. During the program, therapy horse Circus and his equine friends will be in attendance for a special reading and activities. The Gainesville-based non-profit charity visits more than 25,000 adults and children each year. Through its literacy program “Reading is Magic,” Gentle Carousel hopes to inspire young readers and bring books to life. According to the Gentle Carousel website, its horses “ease human suffering during times of natural emergencies, violence, traumatic events and loss with the assistance of highly trained horses, volunteers and the generosity of donors. “The horses also work with medical professionals in oncology units, intensive care units and with occupational, speech and physical therapists. As part of treatment teams, the horses support patients who have suffered strokes, traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries, amputations and burns.” Gentle Carousel is most famously home to Magic, the Little Hero Horse. Magic has been named one of history’s 10 most courageous animals by TIME magazine as well as the most heroic pet in America by AARP among other honors.

 

League of Women Voters to discuss school consolidation

DALTON, Ga. — The League of Women Voters of the Dalton Area holds a town hall meeting at noon Tuesday at the Western Sizzlin at 501 Legion Drive, Dalton. The moderator will be a League board member, and the subject will be feasibility of school system consolidation. The public is invited to this Dutch lunch. 

 

Tropical storm could bring flood threat 

VALDOSTA — The formation of a possible tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico later this week has thrown a monkeywrench into South Georgia’s forecasts for the week, meteorologists said. A low-pressure system hanging off the coast of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula Sunday was expected to move into the Gulf of Mexico Monday and Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service’s National Hurricane Center. As of Sunday, the NHC expected a 70 percent chance the system would develop into a tropical storm within 48 hours; that chance rises to 90 percent during five days. Computer models vary wildly on where the storm could go once it enters the Gulf, said both Ricardo Humphries, a meteorologist with the weather service’s Tallahassee, Fla., office, and Frank Strait, senior meteorologist with the private forecasting firm AccuWeather. Strait said AccuWeather’s best prediction sends the storm off toward the Texas or Mexico coasts but both meteorologists said the wide range of possible storm tracks range from the Florida Panhandle to Mexico. The weather service’s current forecast for South Georgia, even without a storm from the Gulf, calls for 50-60 percent storm chances during the week — “the usual afternoon activity,” Humphries said. A frontal system entering the region is bringing a good bit of moisture with it, Strait said, fueling the afternoon storms. In the event that the storm turns toward the Panhandle — and South Georgia — current forecasts could go out the window, Humphries said. “It’s very rare to see something so unpredictable,” he said. Both forecasters said South Georgia’s biggest problem would be long-duration heavy rainfall with flooding concerns. Strait said that, on average, two to four inches of rain could fall on the region, with localized spots getting much more as storms stall out. “These are likely to be slow-moving storms, lingering over one place for a while,” he said. Humphries said the storm’s unpredictability meant severe weather chances depend on where the storm winds up later in the week, while Strait said he didn’t expect widespread severe weather beyond isolated high wind events. High temperatures in the lower 90s Tuesday are expected to ease off into the mid-80s later in the week, according to the current weather service forecast.

 

Georgia Museum of Agriculture hosts fireworks, picnic July 3

TIFTON, Ga. – A spectacular fireworks display presented by Southern Sky Fireworks and a picnic will be held on July 3 at the Georgia Museum of Agriculture (GMA) and Historic Village at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. Gates will open for fireworks and the picnic at 7 p.m., and guests are encouraged to bring blankets and chairs to set up on the Opry Shelter Lawn.  Food vendors will be on hand for the event with a variety of tasty selections from funnel cakes to barbecue. Alcoholic beverages and pets are not permitted. Admission to the fireworks show will be $10 per passenger car seating up to eight people and $20 for larger vehicles.  This event is presented by the Georgia Museum of Agriculture at ABAC. Sponsors for the July 3 festivities include Hilton Garden Inn, Atlantic and Southern Equipment, Tifton Outreach Marketing Group, South Georgia Banking Company, SunTrust Bank, The Stafford Companies, Tift Regional Health Systems, and Tifton Tourism, Lasseter Equipment Group. The Country Store will be open from 9 a.m.–5 p.m. on July 3. The Museum, Historic Village and Gallery will be closed. Veterans and current members of the United States armed forces will be admitted at no charge with the presentation of a valid military service ID. The GMA will be closed on July 4 in observance of the national holiday.  For more information about the event on July 3, guests can contact the GMA Country Store at (229) 391-5205.

 

Moultrie Federated Guild gives to Southern Regional Tech

MOULTRIE, Ga. — On May 31, Southern Regional Technical College was presented with a check in the amount of $2,000 by the Moultrie Federated Guild. The funds will be used to provide scholarships to Colquitt County students and were raised in conjunction with the 60th Annual 2017 Antique Show, held at SRTC March 17–19. On hand for the presentation were SRTC President Craig Wentworth and Provost Jim Glass as well as the Federated Guild’s Elizabeth Herndon and 2017 Antique Show Chair Lesa Moser.  “We are incredibly grateful for all of our community partners, especially those who realize the value of technical education and the impact we have locally. The funds raised by this year’s 59^th Annual Antique Show will directly impact local students as they will be designated for scholarships specifically for individuals that reside in Colquitt County. We thank the Moultrie Federated Guild for their donation and look forward to continuing our long-standing relationship in the future,” Wentworth said.