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ril 22, 2021
The Vidalia Advance Established 1901
The Lyons Progress Established 1894
The sweetest time
of the year!
Inside this week
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Vol. 123 No, 16
Your Newspaper - Toombs, Montgomery & Wheeler County, Georgia
April 21, 2021
Rep. Greg Morris Resigns from Legislature,
Gov. Kemp to Set Date for Special Election
By Deborah Clark
Regional Editor
dclarkadvance@gmail.com
District 156 Rep. Greg Morris of
Vidalia submitted a letter of resigna
tion from his seat in the State House of
Representatives to the Georgia Secre
tary of State’s Office on Tuesday April
13. The resignation follows his election
to the State Board of Transportation as
a representative of the 12th Congres
sional District.
Morris was elected to his new
post on March 24 by members of the
General Assembly whose areas of rep
resentation are wholly or partially in
Georgia’s 12th Congressional District.
Morris served as District 156 Repre
sentative until the end of the Legisla
tive session, at which time his election
was certified by the Speaker of the
House David Ralston and Lt. Gov.
GeoffDuncan.
In accordance with Georgia
Code, Governor Brian Kemp will set
the qualifying period and the date for a
special election to fill Morris’s vacancy.
According to the Code, these dates are
to be no sooner than 30 days and no
FAREWELL SPEECH - District 156 Representative Greg
Morris of Vidalia bids farewell to the Georgia House
of Representatives in a speech near the end of the
Legislative session in March. He was elected to serve
on the State Transportation Board on March 24 and
submitted a letter of resignation from the House to
the Secretary of State's office last week. Governor
Brian Kemp will announce dates for qualifying and a
special election to fill Morris's seat for the remainder
of his term.
more than 60 days following Morris’s
resignation.
Morris was elected to his 11th
term in the House in 2020. This term
ends on the second Monday in Janu
ary, 2022.
The State Transportation Board
is composed of 14 members, one for
each Congressional District. The Dis
trict which Morris represents includes
counties in east central and east
southern Georgia and is comprised
of Appling, Bulloch, Burke, Can
dler, Coffee, Columbia, Effingham,
Emanuel, Evans, Jeff Davis, Jenkins,
Laurens, Montgomery, Richmond,
Screven, Tattnall, Toombs, Treutlen
and, Wheeler counties. It also in
cludes parts of Columbia and Effing
ham counties.
Morris replaces State Transporta
tion Board Member Don Grantham,
who served on the Board for nine
years. Grantham recently stepped
down after being appointed by Gover
nor Kemp to the board of the Georgia
Ports Authority. Morris will serve out
the remainder Grantham’s term that
expires in 2024.
Please see Morris page 3A
Investigate Runaway,
The stoic masters
remind us to not worry
about the future, it is not
here yet, don’t dwell on
the past for it is gone,
instead, focus on the
moment at hand and be
thankful. Life is short
and we waste too much
of our time worrying
about things that are out
of our control or never
come to pass.
- Mike Calhoun
News
BYTES
Street Closings
During Festival
Several streets will be
closed and traffic will be
rerouted during the Vidalia
Onion Festival this week.
See page 4A for details.
Ribbon Cutting
and Renaming
Event
The public is invited to
attend a Faison Park
Ribbon Cutting and Ben
Mitchell Avenue Renaming
Ceremony at Vincent
Faison Sr. Park Pavilion in
Lyons on April 24 at 3 p.m.
Vaccine Site
Authorities
By Deborah Clark
Regional Editor
dclarkadvance@gmail.com
The connection between
a runaway youth and the theft
of a truck in Vidalia last week is
still underdetermined. The two
incidents occurred within close
proximity to one another and
within the same approximate
time frame, but as of yet there
is no definitive evidence to link
them, local authorities said.
Meanwhile, investigations con
tinue the search for the 16-year-
old boy who was reported miss
ing from a Vidalia group home
on April 13.
“At this time, we do not have
the evidence to connect the ju-
Truck Theft
venile to the theft of the truck,”
said Captain Jordan Kight with
the Toombs County Sheriff’s
Department. “He is being sought
as a missing juvenile.”
Please see Theft page 4A
Mt. Moriah Baptist Church,
1855 Sawmill Road, Ailey,
will host a COVID-19
vaccination site for East
Georgia Plealthcare on
Saturday, April 24, from 10
a.m. until 2 p.m. For more
information, contact Rev.
Vivian Hill at 912-293-3672
or Juliet Walker at 912-245-
8597.
Earth Day
Appreciation
Recycle your outdated
electronics in honor of
Earth Day on Thursday,
April 22, from 11 a.m.-
3 p.m. at Chick-fil-A in
Vidalia. The event is
sponsored by Chick-fil-A,
Sikes Brothers and The
Advance. All participants
will receive a free Sunjoy
drink from Chick-fil-A.
IN THIS ISSUE
Editorials Page 5A
Obituaries Page 7A
From the Record Page 8A
Your Mind On Line Page 12A
Sports Page 1 B
Evans Takes Oath of Office
For Vidalia City Council
Service to Others Recognized
Photo by Rebekah Arnold
VIDALIA CITY COUNCIL ADDS NEW MEMBER - Jennifer
Evans, recently elected as Ward 2 council member,
receives the oath of office from Probate Judge Tina
S. Lindsey at the April Council meeting.
By Rebekah Arnold
Contributing Writer
An oath of office, rec
ognition, and teamwork
packed the agenda of
the Vidalia City Council
meeting on April 12.
The first order of
business was the admin
istration of the oath of of
fice for Jennifer Evans, a
recently elected Council
member for Ward 2, who
will fill the unexpired
Please see VCC page 3A
State School Superintendent Honors
Montgomery's Harold Quarterman
Georgia
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Haro
Photo by Deborah Clark
JOB WELL DONE - State School Superintendent Richard Woods congratulates
Harold Quarterman, lead custodian at Montgomery County Schools and one
of two state winners of Georgia's inaugural RISE award, Quarterman was hon
ored during "Harold Quarterman Day" last Thursday on the MCS campus in
Mount Vernon, Superintendent Woods, Matt Donaldson, State Board of Edu
cation member, and several local dignitaries attended the event honoring
Quarterman.
By Deborah Clark
Regional Editor
dclarkadvance@gmail.com
State School Superintendent
Richard Woods visited Montgom
ery County last Thursday to recog
nize School System employee Har
old Quarterman. The Montgomery
County Middle/High School lead
custodian was named as one of Geor
gia’s two RISE Award recipients and
recently traveled to the State Capitol
where he was honored in person by
Governor Brian Kemp.
The award, which honors clas
sified school employees, was an
nounced in November 2020 by Gov
ernor Kemp. Quarterman and Officer
Lee Peck, the School Safety/Resource
Please see Quarterman page 2A
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