Community Action Council offers scholarship

MOULTRIE, Ga. — Southwest Georgia Community Action Council, Inc., has joined with the Georgia Community Action Association in announcing the availability of a $2,500 scholarship to be awarded on a statewide basis to a Georgia resident who is currently attending a post-secondary institution or has been accepted at such an educational institution. The individual must be income eligible in accordance with the Community Services Block Grant guidelines and be successfully judged a winner in an essay writing competition. The essay is to be titled “What the Community Action Movement Has Meant to My Community.” The Georgia Community Action Association is a professional association composed of 20 member agencies from across the state, one of which is Southwest Georgia Community Action Council, Inc., headquartered in Moultrie. The closing date for this scholarship noon May 31. For further information and essay guidelines, contact Ann Hires at (229) 985-3610.

 

Guild holds artist reception

DALTON, Ga. — The Creative Arts Guild’s May First Friday Exhibit Opening and Artist Reception is from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Friday at 520 W. Waugh St. Three new art exhibits will be featured. There will be light refreshments and live music. The Guild’s First Friday series is always free and open to the public and offers opportunities for all ages to come experience new and inspiring works of art. For more information, call (706) 278-0168 or visit www.creativeartsguild.org.

 

UGA-Tifton to host Bug Camp

TIFTON, Ga. — Tift County elementary school students who are buzzing with excitement to attend the University of Georgia Bug Camp are encouraged to apply. Registration for the camp ends this Friday, May 5. The camp, hosted by the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) Department of Entomology, will start Tuesday, May 30, and end on Friday, June 2. It will be held in the Nationally Environmentally Sound Production Agriculture Laboratory (NESPAL) Building on the UGA Tifton campus. Camp begins at 8:30 a.m. daily and ends at 3:30 p.m. Activities are geared toward elementary school students, but children ranging in age from kindergarten through middle school may attend. Children will take part in a series of activities and labs taught by CAES entomologists and students. Lessons will cover the good and bad effects of insects on the community, the spread of diseases by insects and ways in which insects pollinate crops. Campers will also collect insects. There have been several bug camps on the UGA Athens campus, but this is UGA-Tifton’s first. Registration for the camp is available at blog.caes.uga.edu/bugcamp/registration. Registration must be completed online. The cost to attend the camp is $130 and can be paid online or by mail. Checks should be made payable to “UGA” and mailed to University of Georgia, Department of Entomology, 120 Cedar Street, Biological Sciences Rm. 413, Athens, GA 30602. Discounts are available for families with multiple children attending Bug Camp and for UGA employees’ children.

 

Sharpe to conclude Friends of Music season

LIVE OAK, Fla. — The Friends of Music Concert Series will conclude its 2016-17 season with a concert by pianist Kevin Sharpe.  The concert will be at Covenant First Presbyterian Church, 421 White Avenue, Live Oak, at 7:30 pm, Friday.  Admission is free to the public and a reception will follow.  Sharpe is regarded as one of the country’s most accomplished concert pianists. After receiving his Bachelor of Music degree from Oberlin Conservatory of Music, he earned his Master and Doctorate degrees at Indiana University. Sharpe has received many awards. In 2006, he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship Grant to travel to Dublin, Ireland, in order to teach and perform at the Dublin Institute of Technology.  He was chosen by the State of Florida to receive a State Touring Grant; and in 1991, he was the top prize-winner in the Johann Sebastian Bach International Piano Competition in Washington, D. C. Sharpe maintains a busy performing schedule throughout the country. He is a member of  the “Ritz Chamber Players,” which is the premier chamber ensemble showcasing Afro-American musicians from all over the world. Recently Sharpe joined the group for its New York Debut in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Hall in performances of Prokofiev, Brahms, and a World premiere by composer Alvin Singleton. Currently Dr. Sharpe holds the position of Associate Professor of Piano and Chamber Music at the University of Florida where he is active as a soloist and chamber musician. He was the recipient of the College of Fine Arts “Teacher of the Year Award 2000.” Some of the comments made by critics after Sharpe’s performances in various venues include:  “precise touch,” “strong individual voice,” “magnificent,” “a thoughtful performer with an attractive ear for nuance and detail.” During Friday’s concert, Dr. Sharpe will perform pieces by Scarlatti, Mozart, and Prokofiev, as well as Two Spirituals for the Piano, and selections from “Children’s Songs.” He will close the program with “Rhapsody in Blue” arranged for piano solo by its composer George Gershwin.

 

Swamp fire still raging 

FARGO, Ga. — The West Mims Fire burning through the Okefnokeee Swamp has grown to almost 100,000 acres authorities said Sunday. The fire, started by a lightning strike, has grown from just more than 28,000 acres to 96,248 acres in about 10 days, according to information from the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. Almost 500 firefighters, along with an army of ground vehicles and an air fleet of firefighting helicopters, are battling the blaze. The worst smoke Sunday was expected to be between Valdosta and Waycross, with U.S. 84 affected. A slight shift in winds was expected to carry the worst of the smoke Monday in a more easterly direction, affecting Waycross and Folkston, said Byron Haire, public information officer with the Georgia Forestry Commission. “We did not expect a great deal of movement Sunday because