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The ADVANCE, January 6, 2021 /Page 9A
Obituaries
Mrs. Annette Sharpe
Mrs. Annette Sharpe,
age 84, of Mt. Vernon,
died Tuesday afternoon,
December 29, 2020, at
Treutlen County Health
& Rehab after a brief ill
ness. She was a native and
lifelong resident of Mont
gomery County and retired
from Brewton-Parker Col
lege as a cashier. Mrs. An
nette is a member of Bear
Creek Baptist Church.
She was preceded in
death by her husband,
Houston Sharpe, Jr.; and
two grandsons, Derek
Sharpe and Ridge Holland.
She is survived by one
son, Jimmy “Pedro” Sharpe
(Brooke) of Tarrytown;
three daughters, Donna
Waller (Charles) of Mt.
Vernon, Laurie Holland
(Jonathan) of Mt. Vernon,
and Lisa Graham (Chad)
of Dublin; and one brother,
Bobby Moseley of Hazle-
hurst. Eight grandchildren,
Charlie, Matt, Terra, Ta
mara, Cameron, Mallory,
Dannielle, and Ashby; and
six great-grandchildren,
Karmin, Jordyn, Ivy, Bray-
lie, Kash, and Emily also
survive.
Graveside funeral
services for Mrs. Annette
Sharpe were held Thurs
day, December 31, 2020, at
11:00 a.m., at Mt. Vernon
Memorial Cemetery with
Reverend Owen Waters
officiating. Interment fol
lowed. The family received
friends for visitation at the
cemetery on Thursday,
December 31, 2020, from
10:00 a.m. until the hour of
service.
The family gathered at
Mrs. Annette Sharpe’s resi
dence.
FUNERAL SERVICE
Full Paid Obituary
Mrs. Barbara Flowers
Mrs. Barbara “Bob
bie” Flowers, age 78, of Ly
ons, died late Friday night,
January 1, 2021, at Mead
ows Regional Health of
Vidalia after a sudden ill
ness. She was a native and
lifelong resident of Lyons,
was a homemaker and was
a member of Hammond
Baptist Church.
“Bobbie” is preceded
in death by one son, Audie
Flowers in 1975; her hus
band, George Flowers in
2002; and three brothers
and one sister.
“Bobbie” is sur
vived by two sons, Rocky
(Mechelle) Flowers of
Lyons, Chris (Alexan
dra) Flowers of Kite; four
brothers, Herbert Burton
of Lyons, Ronnie Burton
of Powder Springs, Lamar
Burton of Deltona, FL,
Danny Burton of Valdo
sta; five sisters, Florence
Fountain of Vidalia, Faye
Hutto of Vidalia, Benita
Burton of Vidalia, Caro
lyn Burton of Forsyth,
and Elaine Burton of For
syth. Nine grandchildren,
Carla, Kristen, Makayla,
Keith, Tristen, Dilan,
Danielle, Manuel, and
Emily also survive.
Funeral Services for
Mrs. Barbara “Bobbie”
Flowers were held Tues
day, January 5, 2021,
at 2:00 p.m. at Toombs
County Funeral Home
of Lyons with Reverend
Glynn Russell and David
Lamb officiating. Inter
ment followed at Flowers
Cemetery. The family re
ceived friends for visita
tion on Monday, January
4, 2021, from 6:00 p.m.
until 8:00 p.m.
COUlyjiy
^^Veral HoN^
Full Paid Obituary
Mr. Gary McLendon, Sr.
Mr. Gary Hurshman
McLendon, Sr., age 78,
died on Friday, January 1,
2021, at Lake City Medi
cal Center in Lake City,
FL.
Mr. McLendon was
born in Dublin and grew
up in Jacksonville, FL,
where he was a graduate
of Ribault Senior High
School. He moved to
Shickshinny, PA, in 1969
and lived there for 36
years before moving to
Lake City, FL, in 2005. He
was a member of Sylva-
nia Lodge No. 354 F. & A
.M. and the Scottish Rite
Bodies. He was a mem
ber of the Vineyard Bap
tist Church in Lake City,
where he was an Elder. He
was preceded in death by
his father, Coney Hursh
man McLendon, and 1 sis
ter, Shelvia Jean Graham.
Survivors include his
wife of 58 years, Bernice
Wolfe McLendon, Lake
City; their children, Gary
H. McLendon, Jr. (Kim
berly), Shickshinny, PA,
Kari Stephens (Scott),
Gainesville, FL, and Jenni
Bouchard (Gabe), St. Pe
tersburg, FL; his mother,
Mary Lou Perdue McLen
don Hall; 1 brother, Carl
McLendon (Sandra), Hill
iard, FL; 1 sister, Mary
Gail Seigfried (Larry),
Shickshinny, PA; grand
children, Madison Lynn
McLendon, Gary Mat
thew Edward McLendon,
Mya Stephens, and Olivia
Stephens; and numerous
nieces and nephews.
A graveside funeral
service was conducted on
Tuesday, January 5, 2021,
at 2:00 p.m., in Red Bluff
Cemetery, with Rev. Bo
Hammock officiating.
In lieu of flowers, me
morial contributions may
be made to The Vineyard
Church, P.O. Box 2191,
Lake City, FL 32056
Sammon Funeral
Home in Soperton was in
charge of arrangements.
Schools’ Focus on Literacy Moves Forward
By Rebekah Arnold
Contributing Writer
Literacy in Toombs
County is experiencing a
collaborative focus thanks
to the receipt of a grant
awarded in June to the Vi
dalia City School System.
Vidalia Assistant Su
perintendent Ginger Mor
ris presented updates about
the Literacy for Learn
ing, Living and Leading
in Georgia (L4GA) Grant
to the Board of Education
members at a recent meet
ing. This grant, $2.98 mil
lion to VCS over five years,
has already afforded the
opportunity for the system
to have two instructional
coaches. Morris said these
Coaches, Ranecci Hamp
ton at Sally D. Meadows
Elementary School and
Beth Wiggins at J.D. Dick
erson Elementary School,
are doing an excellent job
in increasing literacy at
their schools.
This is just the begin
ning of the opportunities
and the personnel who
will work together to build
and to carry out the pro
gram. There is a district
level L4GA Leadership
team and each school has
a literacy committee as re
quired by the grant.
Morris said, “Our
Federal Programs Direc
tor Tammy McFadden
handles the logistics on
the who, what, when and
where monies are spent in
the program to make sure
we are meeting federal
guidelines since it is a fed
eral program. Wendy Lum-
ley, the system’s L4GA
consultant, has worked
with previous grants such
as Race to the Top, Striving
Readers and DEAL Cen
ter. Her vast knowledge in
the literacy area ensures
our administration, in
structional facilitators, and
K-12 teachers are receiv
ing professional learning
Nitty
continued from page 6A
of our worrying may be
directly related to our busy
lives and because we’re all
acting like one-legged tap
dancers.
And while we’re
talking about one-legged
tap dancers, I think it’s
only appropriate that we
mention her most liberal
highness - former “First
Lady” Hillary Clinton.
Lately, she’s been running
around doing a lot of
“spinning” on her own,
which in the political
world is also known as the
deliberate broadcasting of
“untruths.”
Hillary, even though
she lost the election to
Donald Trump, has
commented now on
Trump’s second
appointment to the United
States Supreme Court.
She said she was afraid the
Administration was going
back to a 1950 state or
maybe a 1850 state. She’s
very worried about
overturning the 1973 Roe
v Wade decision that made
abortions legal. Since then
millions of babies have
been killed by doctors that
have violated their oath to
save lives and started
taking the lives of babies.
And the organization
known as Planned
Parenthood is right in the
middle of it, giving tons of
money to Liberal
Politicians that support
“abortion on demand.”
(e-mail: benniebo@aol.
com)
Ginger Morris
as well as coordinating the
birth to 5 outreaches with
in our system. Building the
administration ensures our
school improvement plans
align with L4GA and are
being implemented with
fidelity.”
Morris continued, “As
Assistant Superintendent,
I work with all parties to
ensure curriculum and in
struction is being imple
mented and our students
are being successful, both
virtually and face to face.”
During this first year
of the grant, planning and
first steps are being taken.
Community connections
and decisions on where to
place funds will be made
and communication with
students and parents is be
ing prepared for rollout in
the spring.
The updated school
system website and social
media platforms, man
aged by Communications
Director John Koon, is
being prepared to provide
access to literacy resources
for families to use at home.
Parents will be able to find
webinars, videos, and tools
for teaching reading to
their children.
With the L4GA re
sources, teachers have op
portunities to get profes
sional development with
world renowned reading
and writing specialists,
technology training and
tools, and data to monitor
progress. A lot of data is
provided by the instruc
tional programs so teach
ers can determine levels
of learning within small
groups. Pre-K teachers are
especially excited about
the ability to see progress
data for their young stu
dents.
There is a wealth of
resources in the L4GA
program for students, their
families, instructors and
school administrations to
tap into as a whole team
approach in increasing lit
eracy. The Toombs Coun
ty Schools also received
the grant, and there will
be collaborative efforts
between the two systems
as the program moves for
ward.
Morris is enthusiastic.
"We are excited to receive
the L4GA grant and the
opportunity it will afford
our students and staff. It is
the first grant that truly ad
dresses children from birth
to graduation! The excite
ment in working with our
community leaders, as well
as different community en
tities such as the hospital,
daycare, medical offices,
etc., will allow a focus on
helping our children to
become literate. Our staff
will receive training from
some of the most world-
renowned experts in the
world in literacy. Active
involvement from parents
and the community will
change our children's fu
ture and the future of this
community!”
Morris said, “We can
dream for a better tomor
row for all children and the
L4GA will go a long way
in seeing our dreams come
true!"
More information
about Georgia’s L4GA
method of improving lit
eracy can be found at
https://www.gadoe.
org/Curriculum-Instruc-
tion-and-Assessment/L4/
Pages/defaultaspx
Joondeph
continued from page 5A
rises significantly. Yet if he
died with a positive CO-
VID test, he would almost
certainly be classified as a
COVID death, at least in
the US, his medical prob
lems deemed secondary.
I am not anti-vaccine
and not denying the seri
ousness of COVID, par
ticularly in the more vul
nerable populations. I am
only pointing out the
shifting goalposts in how
this viral illness is and has
been treated, with politics
trumping science.
This is more than just
a few examples of media
creating rather than re
porting the news, to fur
ther their political agenda.
There are real life conse
quences to inaccurate or
sensationalized reporting.
In Los Angeles
County, where COVID
rules and lockdowns ap
pear as fickle as the
weather, 20 to 40 percent
of medical frontline work
ers offered the vaccine
have refused it, in some
neighboring counties, 50
percent saying no thanks.
Perhaps after almost a
year of the medical ex
perts like Drs. Birx and
Fauci constantly changing
the rules and guidelines,
and the media weaponiz-
ing all COVID news as a
means of hurting the or
ange man whom they
loathe, people are under
standably skeptical.
The consequence is a
longer pathway to herd
immunity, the only way to
get rid of the ongoing re
strictions, either through
natural infection or vacci
nation.
Moving the goalposts
mid-game, shifting the cri
teria for death with CO
VID and death from vac
cine adds to mistrust in
anything the government
recommends. Expect to
see more of this sharp dis
tinction between how
COVID and vaccine
deaths are reported and
subsequent puzzlement as
to why many are in no
hurry to be vaccinated.
Brian C Joondeph, MD, is
a physician and freelance
writer. Follow him on
Facebook, Linkedln, Twitter,
Parler, and QuodVerum.
Guest
continued from page 6A
salons, liquors stores and
shopping malls. The court
ordered action against
Newsom’s restrictions.
Bans were lifted, and
Californians flocked to
worship this Christmas in
churches across the state.
All this against a back
ground of hostility to eco
nomic freedom in Califor
nia that has been driving
households and busi
nesses out of the state.
According to Census
Bureau data compiled by
American Enterprise In
stitute economist Mark
Perry, California ranked
No. 5 in the nation in 2019
in net departures from the
state of households and
businesses.
The highest individ
ual tax rate in California,
as Perry shows, was 13.3%,
compared with a 3.5% av
erage in states with top in
flows of households and
businesses. The top cor
porate tax rate in Califor
nia was 8.84%, compared
with 4.1% in states with
top inflows. Average un
employment in California
was 4.1%, and employ
ment growth was 1.5%,
compared with 3.4% and
2.1%, respectively, in
states with highest in
flows.
Perry compares U-
Haul rental rates for states
where people are leaving
to states where people are
arriving. As would be ex
pected, states with the
highest departures have
the highest U-Haul rates.
In November 2020, U-
Haul rental from Los An
geles to Houston was
$4,907. From Houston to
Los Angeles, it was $1,784.
From San Francisco to
Dallas, the U-Haul rate
was $5,290, and from Dal
las to San Francisco, it was
$1,655.
Perhaps all this augurs
a new conservative wave,
just as the Proposition 13
tax revolt in California in
1978 would be followed
two years later with the
election of Ronald Rea
gan.
Maybe Georgia voters
will pay heed to lessons
learned in California and
Georgia will stay red in
the January Senate runoff
elections.
Star Parker is president of
the Center for Urban Renewal
and Education and host of
the new weekly television
show "Cure America with
Star Parker."
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