Newspaper Page Text
Groundhog
Day Feb. 2
The Vidalia Advance Established 1901
nee
The Lyons Progress Established 1894
SALES FLYERS INSIDE!
iSAVE
1*245
i ON FAMOUS
BRANDS
(7j l
Vol. 123 No. 4
Your Newspaper - Toombs, Montgomery & Wheeler County, Georgia
January 27, 2021
I remind myself every
morning: Nothing I
say this day will teach
me anything. So if I’m
going to learn, I must
do it by listening.
-Larry King
News
BYTES
Applications
Accepted Through
January 28 For
"At Your Side"
Business Grant
Program
Applications for the "At
Your Side" Small Business
Grant Program are now
open. The program will
help brick-and-mortar
small businesses in
designated Main Street
districts as they work to
adapt to COVID-19 and
prepare for the next
phases of reopening
across the country, while
also helping to revitalize
and strengthen older
and historic commercial
corridors. Grants of $5K
- $ 1 OK will be awarded
on a competitive basis.
Applications will be
accepted through
Thursday, January 28 at
6:59 p.m. CST. Learn more
at mainstreet.org/brother.
Meeting on
Lighting at Partin
Park Set for
January 28
The City of Lyons will hold
a special called council
meeting on January
28 at 6 p.m. to discuss
the previously awarded
Recreation Field Lighting
Project at Partin Park. The
meeting will be held in
the Lyons City Hall at 161
NE Broad Street.
COVID-19
Vaccinations
Underway
Healthcare providers, first
responders and persons
aged 65 plus and their
caretakers are currently
eligible for COVID-19
vaccinations. For more
information, call the
Georgia COVID Hotline at
844-442-2681.
IN THIS ISSUE
Editorials Page 5A
Obituaries Page 7A
From the Record Page 10A
Your Mind On Line Page 2A
Sports Page 1 B
SUBSCRIBE
AND SAVE
30% OFF
NEWSSTAND
PRICES!
Call 537-3131
(or delivery!
The Road Ahead
10 Months after COVID Comes to Town
Business Owners Ponder Their Futures
By Deborah Clark
Regional Editor
dclarkadvance@gmail.com
Without doubt, the infusion of
federal dollars kept communities
afloat during the health pandemic in
2020, and financial experts project
that Georgia’s economy will remain
resilient in 2021.
Area real estate brokers celebrated
a stellar year in 2020. House construc
tion and property sales reached a new
zenith. Food service found a way to
keep going— through takeout and
delivery—but the hospitality industry
took a real hit and has not recovered.
Big box stores, considered essential,
boomed and sales tax soared. The
revenue raked in by liquor retailers
prompted one local official to quip
that taxes from liquor sales were hold
ing up the local economy. Munici
palities ended the year with positive
numbers—again because of federal
infusions. Banks reported a decline in
overdrafts and an increase in personal
savings accounts.
Now, with the second round of
the Payroll Protection Program under
way and the promise of more federal
Please see Road page 4A
ADAPTATION - Wes Wilkes, owner of Plardware Pizza in Lyons, re
invented his business to meet the challenge of COVID-19. For a
while, he operated a type of community market and offered
takeouts. Now that inside dining has returned, Wilkes' takeout
business has been eclipsed by indoor dining. With a spacious
venue, he has no trouble meeting health safety rules,
Strong
End to
2020
Continuing its
theme in a year of in-
congruent realities, De
cember 2020 delivered
Georgia unexpected
revenue news. Now half
way through FY 2021,
Georgia revenues are
exceeding budget by
over $700 million and
personal income tax
and sales tax, Georgia’s
revenue drivers, con
tinue to grow through
the pandemic. Motor
fuel revenues also in
creased slightly, signal
ing increased movement
of people and goods.
While ample uncer
tainty remains, let’s en
joy one of the few good
things 2020 brought us,
a strong state revenue
position while it lasts!
— Senator Blake Til
lery, 19-Vidalia, Senate
Appropriations Chair,
and Senator Chuck Huf-
stetler, 52-Rome, in the
January 13 Sensights.
COVID-19 Update
Monday, January 25
Number of Confirmed Cases/Hospitalizations/ Deaths
(Cumulative from March 2020)
Toombs County. 2575/151/69
Montgomery County. 652/38/15
Treutlen County. 543/44/16
Wheeler County. 429/33/19
Meadows Regional Medical Center
COVID-19 Patient Census
Monday, January 25:21
COVID patients in-house
COVID admissions over the last seven
days, 1-18-21 to 1-25-21): 12
Two Businesswomen Seeking
Election to Vidalia City Council
By Deborah Clark
Regional Editor
dclarkadvance@gmail.com
Focal businesswom
en Jennifer Evans and
Carmela Spikes-Williams
have announced their
candidacy for
the Ward 2
seat on the
Vidalia City
Council pre
viously filled
by Gregory
Johnson.
Johnson
vacated the
seat in order
to seek elec
tion as Vi
dalia Mayor.
Johnson was
defeated by
Doug Roper
in the No
vember 3
General Elec
tion.
Qualify
ing for the post
was held January 11 and
12. The election is sched
uled for March 16.
Carmela
Spikes-Williams
Jennifer Evans
As a 1991 graduate
of Vidalia Comprehen
sive High School, Evans
furthered her education
at Georgia College and
State University. Upon
her college graduation in
1995, she returned home
to become a
small busi
ness owner of
Vidalia’s lo
cal favorite,
Brown’s Jew
elry. In 2003,
Evans transi
tioned into a
corporate role
as the Human
Resources
Manager of
DOT Foods,
Inc, and re
cently became
its’ Transpor
tation Man
ager in Opera
tions.
As the
HR manager,
Evans was the
forerunner responsible
Please see Candidates
page 3A
Downtown Vidalia Expands
Morris Family Shares Tradition
Of Investing in the Community
By Andrea Towns
Contributing Writer
Allen Morris comes
from a family committed
to investing in this com
munity. His great-great-
grandfather, Cannie Swain
Meadows, was a member
of the Georgia House of
Representatives. It was
Meadows’s nephew who
donated the land for the old
Meadows Regional Hos
pital on Maple Drive. His
other great-great-grand-
father, Benjamin Stewart
Calhoun, was one of the
original benefactors for
Brewton Parker College,
and his portrait hangs in
the school’s library to this
day. Morris continues his
family’s legacy.
In 2015, Allen Mor
ris transformed what was
an old gas station on East
1st Street in Vidalia into a
Farmers Insurance Agency.
In 2019, the renovated sta-
Please see Downtown page
12A
GROWING DOWNTOWN VIDALIA - On January
21, 2021, Farmers Insurance, Edward Jones Invest
ment Company, J. Leigh Hair Studio and Geor
gia Peach boutique celebrated their collective
grand opening. Above, Allen Morris, of Farmers
Insurance, stands outside his office with Agent
Producer Elizabeth Whitson. The Farmers office is
the centerpiece of a commercial development
at the corner of 1st and Jackson Street.
# Appling
Healthcare
Weight Loss
& Wellness
Weight loss visits starting at $45, every other month!
1702A Meadows Lane | Vidalia, GA | 30474 | (912)705-4905
