Newspaper Page Text
5tie Aiiuancg
The ADVANCE, January 27, 2021/Page 11A
Please submit photos and announcements by Thursday at 12 noon to
have your engagement or anniversary published.
PEOPLE
Sen. Blake Tillery Announces
Winners of Third Biennial Youth
Legislator Scholarship Competition
FIRST PLACE — L to R: Vidalia Heritage Academy Headmaster Jeff McCormick, First
Place Winner Lydia Sammons, Sen. Blake Tillery.
SECOND PLACE — L to R: Second Place Winner Jada Clements and Sen. Blake Tillery.
THIRD PLACE — L to R: Third Place Winner Carleigh Wardlaw and Sen, Blake Tillery.
Sen. Blake Tillery
(R - Vidalia) announced
the first, second and third
place winners of his Third
Biennial Youth Legislator
Scholarship Competition
for the students of the 19th
Senatorial District.
Middle and High
School students were asked
to submit an essay on one
of two prompts with the
purpose of inspiring youth
to get involved with the
state government process.
This year, the topics were
centralized around two
main themes: (a) how has
the COVID-19 pandemic
affected social interactions
and what do you hope to
see as we return to normal
conditions; or (b) what in-
centivizes you to build a life
and career in rural Georgia,
and what steps should the
state take to encourage
young individuals to stay
in these non-metropolitan
areas.
First Place
Miss Lydia Sammons
of Montgomery County
won the Grand Prize with
her essay on encouraging
students to remain or re
turn to rural areas. “I was
truly impressed with Ms.
Sammons’ submission as
it offered significant insight
on incentives that would
better motivate aspiring
young individuals like her
to remain in rural Georgia,”
said Sen. Tillery. “She had
some amazing ideas that I
believe will serve the future
of our community.”
For her efforts, Miss
Sammons was awarded
$250.00 and was given the
opportunity to select an in
structor who has impacted
her for an additional re
ward. She selected Mr. Jeff
McCormick, her dual-en
rollment History teacher,
to receive the additional
$150.00.
Lydia is a senior at Vi
dalia Heritage Academy
where she is a member of
the Harvard Model Con
gress team, the varsity
tennis team, and the track
and field teams. Outside
of school, Lydia works
at Chick-Fil-A of Vidalia
and is a member of Grace
Community Presbyterian
Church. Upon graduation,
Lydia is interested in study
ing Criminal Justice. She is
the daughter of Brent and
Katy Sammons of Mount
Vernon.
Second Place
Miss Jada Clements of
Toombs County won the
second place prize with her
essay regarding the societal
effects of the COVID-19
pandemic. In her essay, Jada
detailed manners by which
the pandemic impacted
social interaction and posi
tive memorable moments
of the quarantine. For her
efforts, Miss Clements was
awarded $150.00.
Jada is a sophomore at
Vidalia High School where
she is a member of the
highly acclaimed One Act
team. Upon graduation,
Jada intends to pursue a
degree in college. She is the
daughter of Kristian Cle
ments ofVidalia.
Third Place
Miss Carleigh Ward-
law of Toombs County
won the third place prize
with her essay regarding
the impacts of the CO-
VID-19 pandemic. In her
essay, Carleigh reflected
on the time spent in quar
antine and detailed the
importance of social inter
action, especially for young
individuals. For her efforts,
Miss Wardlaw was awarded
$100.00.
Carleigh is a junior
at Vidalia High School
where she is a member of
the basketball team. Upon
graduation, Carleigh wants
to attend college. She is
the daughter of Tony and
Stephanie Wardlaw of Vi
dalia
Sen. Blake Tillery serves as
Chairman of the Senate
Appropriations Committee.
Fie represents the 19th Senate
District, which includes
Appling, Jeff Davis, Long,
Montgomery, Telfair, Toombs,
Treutlen, Wayne, and Wheeler
counties and a portion of
Liberty and Tattnall counties.
Fie can be reached by email
at blake.tillery@senate.ga.
gov.
Garrett and Sharon
Jarrell of Metter announce
the engagement and forth
coming marriage of their
daughter, Kylie Ann Jarrell,
to Blake Leon Horton of
Metter, son of Melanie
Coxwell ofVidalia.
The bride-elect is the
maternal granddaughter of
Dean and Annie Jean
Crooms of Metter. Her pa
ternal grandparents are
Wanda Finnerty of Metter
and the late Randall Jarrell,
and Shirley Sikes of Met
ter.
Miss Jarrell attended
Southeastern Technical
College and is currently
employed with State Farm
By Dave Williams
Bureau Chief
Capitol Beat News Service
When it comes to eco
nomic development, rural
Georgia is punching above
its weight.
More than half of the
16,000 jobs created in
Georgia during the first
half of this fiscal year and
more than half of $6 billion
in new investment have
gone to communities out
side metro Atlanta.
But more needs to be
done, Gov. Brian Kemp
declared Jan. 14 in his an
nual State of the State ad
dress. That’s why Kemp’s
new budget proposals are
putting a major focus on
rural Georgia, with nearly
$40 million earmarked to
establish a Rural Innova
tion Fund and $30 million
to continue building high
speed broadband connec
tivity in rural areas.
“We know that we can
land major investments
and job creation in rural
communities throughout
Georgia,” the governor told
a joint session of the Gen
eral Assembly. “But we also
know that will not happen
if we don’t invest heavily
in the infrastructure and
resources necessary to en
courage that growth.”
In an exclusive inter
view with Capitol Beat
News Service, Kemp said
the idea for a Rural Innova
tion Fund came during the
past year as he and his ad
visors thought about ways
to safely reopen Georgia’s
in Metter as an insurance
agent.
The groom-elect is the
maternal grandson of An
gela Askew of Uvalda. He
is the great-grandson of
Cornelia Ford of Uvalda
and the late Earnie Ford.
Mr. Horton is a gradu
ate of Coastal Pines of
Waycross with a Forestry
degree. He is currently em
ployed with Davis Heating
and Air in Metter.
The wedding is
planned for Saturday,
March 6, 2021, at 5:00
p.m., at The Gathering
Place of Lyons. All friends
and relatives are invited to
attend.
economy in the midst of
the coronavirus pandemic.
The state Department
of Community Affairs
provides loans and grants
to help cities and coun
ties across rural Georgia
acquire land and build in
frastructure that will help
them attract new business
es or expand existing com
panies.
But Kemp said he
wanted something new
and different.
“Having a pot of mon
ey separate from what the
Department of Commu
nity Affairs normally does
gives us some alternatives,”
he said. “This will free up
some money we can be
flexible with.”
Kemp said the state
tends to get involved with
the larger economic de
velopment projects, while
smaller businesses don’t
get on its radar screen. He
said the Rural Innovation
Fund will look to help local
governments make those
smaller projects a reality.
Generating even a few
jobs in a rural community
can make a big difference,
Kemp said.
“Five jobs here, 10
there, you do that multiple
times ... and the state has
given hope and opportu
nity to a [rural] part of the
state,” he said.
Kemp said one of the
tasks of the Rural Strike
Team he formed in 2019
will be to identify business
es that could use the Rural
Please see Rural page 12A
PLEASE
RECYCLE
S IAD& KM s ° iu,ion - p°9 e i2A
Fun By The
Numbers
Like puzzles?
Then you’ll love
sudoku. This
mind-bending
puzzle will have
you hooked from
the moment you
square off, so
sharpen your
pencil and put
your sudoku
savvy to the test!
Level: Intermediate
Flere’s How It Works:
Sudoku puzzles are formatted as a 9x9 grid, broken down into nine
3x3 boxes. To solve a sudoku, the numbers 1 through 9 must fill each
row, column and box. Each number can appear only once in each row,
column and box. You can figure out the order in which the numbers will
appear by using the numeric clues already provided in the boxes. The
more numbers you name, the easier it gets to solve the puzzle!
1
7
4
9
5
3
8
7
9
2
7
4
2
3
5
0
7
4
1
6
9
1
2
9
6
Kemp Focusing Budget
Proposals on Rural
Georgia Economy