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VAAP skfl¥ February is NATIONAL HEART 4 FEBRUARY 14 ¥ ¥ 4 ¥ Vol. 123 No. 6 net 4™ The Vidalia Advance Established 1901 The Lyons Progress Established 1894 Your Newspaper - Toombs, Montgomery & Wheeler County, Georgia See Healthlines Page 10A February 10, 2021 Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen. - Albert Einstein News BYTES Artists Call The city of Vidalia and the Downtown Vidalia Association are seeking artists and/ or artist-led teams to submit proposals for a mural to be installed on an exterior wall on West Meadows Street in downtown Vidalia. Renderings are due February 19. For more information contact the DVA at dvamainstreet@ vidaliaga.gov or call 912-537-8033. Art at Altama Museum First Responders Using Narcan to Save Lives By Deborah Clark Regional Editor dclarkadvance@gmail.com When a call came into the Toombs County 911 Center on December 16 reporting that a man had collapsed at a Lyons residence from a suspected drug overdose, a local policeman was the initial first responder to arrive on the scene. After assessing the situation and determining the victim was unresponsive and did not have a pulse, the officer administered Narcan, an opioid overdose re versing drug. The victim did not revive, however, until another of ficer arrived, and a second dose of the drug was administered to counteract the effects of the over dose. The patient survived and was taken by ambulance to the lo cal hospital. The Lyons policemen who responded to that call in Decem ber saved a life because they were carrying Narcan and they had re cently received training on how to administer the drug through a program sponsored by Leigh- Anne White & Company in Vi dalia called Toombs County Pre vention, Treatment, and Recovery (TC-PTR). In September, the center received a $ 1 million Rural Communities Opioid Response Program grant from the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy. The grant funded the formation of the TC-PTR to fight the opioid crisis in the county. Informing the community about the facts of Substance Use Disorder and determining what action can be taken to combat the opioid crisis are priorities of the local project which has brought together a consortium of commu nity resources to tackle the issue. One solution to the crisis is to pro vide to local first responders train ing in the use of opioid overdose reversing drugs. The first training session was held last October and sessions will continue on a quar terly basis. “Narcan is used to stop over dose in its tracks, yet very few first Please see Narcan page 2A section 01 Addiction / Substance Use Disorder NARCAN TRAINING - Counselor Elizabeth Hickman provides Nar can training to members of the Lyons and Vidalia Police Depart ments, the Toombs County Sheriff's Department, and paramed ics and EMTs from the Toombs-Montgomery Emergency Medical Services. In the most recent training session, also attending was a member of a local rehabilitation program that works toward helping males with Substance Use Disorder. Art from the collection of Cecil Smith is on display in the Meadows Gallery of the Altama Museum. Free and open to the public Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Contact: AltamaMuseum.org or FB@Altama Museum. COVID-19 Vaccine Update Toombs County: East Georgia Health Center is offering vaccinations on Thursday. For more information, call the hotline at 478-299-8444. The Georgia DPH is providing drive- through vaccinations (appointment required) in Treutlen, Wheeler and Montgomery Counties. For Treutlen, call 912- 529-4217; for Wheeler, call 912-568-7161; for Montgomery, call 478- 275-6570. To find vaccine in your area, go online to: dph. georgia.gov/locations/ covid-vaccination-site. IN THIS ISSUE Editorials Page 5A Obituaries Page 7A From the Record Page 9A Your Mind On Line Page 12A Sports Page 1 B SUBSCRIBE AND SAVE 30% OFF NEWSSTAND PRICES! Call 537-3131 for delivery! Brewton-Parker College Names Director of Nursing Brewton-Parker College (BPC) in Mount Vernon recent ly named Debbi Bryarly as its new Director of Nursing. Before joining BPC, Bryarly worked as an Assistant Professor of Nurs ing at Middle Georgia State Uni versity in Cochran. During these unique times, Bryarly believes nurs es are more in demand than ever before. “We need to prepare nurses with the skills, knowl edge, and faith that they need to cope with the stresses of times like these,” she Debbi Bryarly said. Bryarly feels that educators, especially those in nursing, are continuously finding new ways for effective teaching and balanc ing all the changes these times bring. “Being able to teach nursing students from a Biblical worldview is a fantastic privi lege,” she noted. As the Director of Nurs ing, Bryarly is most excited about seeing the first set of nursing students graduate from Please see BPC page 3A Two Montgomery County Men Charged in Drug Bust Firearms Confiscated in Mount Vernon Drug Bust Two Montgom ery County men were charged with drug and weapons posses sion after authorities executed a search war rant in Mount Vernon onJanuary 25. Donnie Ralph Powell was charged with pos session of methamphetamine Donnie Powell was with intent to distrib ute, sale of metham phetamine, and pos session of firearms during the commis sion of a crime. Jona than Allen Turner charged with possession of drug- Please see MoCo page 4A Deputy Sheriff Foils Suspects' Get-Away in Stolen Truck By Deborah Clark Regional Editor dclarkadvance@gmail.com An observant Wheel er County deputy sheriff foiled a get-away by two suspects in a stolen truck early Wednesday, Febru ary 3. Deputy Marquis Clark began pursuit of the suspects after he observed their suspicious behavior at a convenience store in Glenwood around 1:29 a.m. Clark’s report noted the driver of a Chevrolet Silverado missed the driveway at the Circle K at the corner of Georgia Highway 280 and State Route 19 and had to reposition to the truck to make the turn. “I sat in the parking lot across from Circle K and watched while Please see Suspects page 4A Daniel Walker COVID-19 Update Monday, February 8 ^ A Number of Confirmed Cases/Hospitalizations/ Deaths (Cumulative from March 2020) Toombs County. 2684/156/79 Montgomery County. 678/39/19 Treutlen County. 586/48/19 Wheeler County. 446/34/20 Meadows Regional Medical Center COVID-19 Patient Census Monday, February 8:16 C0VID patients in-house C0VID admissions over the last seven days, 2-1-21 to 2-7-21): 14 AGE HEALTHIER & LIVE HAPPIER Find out how you can start feeling better with Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy and SAVE $25 off your BioTE®visit with code BI025, until March 1, (912)367-4122 105 East Tollison Street, Suite C | Baxley, GA | 31513 Matt Hodges, FNP-BC # Appling Healthcare