Newspaper Page Text
Vol. 123 No. 25
Your Newspaper - Toombs, Montgomery & Wheeler County, Georgia
June 23, 2021
®ij t
Early Voting
Starts
JUNE 28
The Vidalia Advance Established 1901
Inside this week
The Lyons Progress Established 1894
It tt
I have to have things
my own way to keep
me in my youth.
- Supertramp
News
BYTES
Runoff Early
Voting
The run-off election
for House District 156
is set for Tuesday,
July 13. Early voting
is scheduled June 28
through July 9, Monday
through Friday, 8:30
a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
at the Toombs and
Montgomery County
Board of Elections
offices. Saturday voting
is set for July 3, 9:00
a.m. to 5:00 p.m. No
voting on July 5. On
Election Day July 13,
voting will be held at
the county precincts
7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Lions Club Eye
Screenings
As a part of the 15th
Annual Independence
Day Celebration in
Alamo on Saturday,
June 26, the Alamo
Lions Club, as a joint
project with the Lyons
Lions Club, will be
doing eye screenings
at the Wheeler
County Chamber of
Commerce office in
downtown Alamo. The
free screenings are
scheduled from 3:00 to
5:00 p.m. and 6:00 to
8:00 p.m.
Back to School
Supply Drive
School supplies are
being collected for
Wheeler and Treutlen
County schools through
June 30. Drop-offsites
are Alamo City Hall and
Subway in Soperton.
For more information
call 478-697-3782.
IN THIS ISSUE
Editorials Page 5A
Obituaries Page 7A
From the Record Page 8A
Your Mind On Line Page 2A
Sports Page 1 B
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Voters in House District 156 Going
Bach to the Polls for July 13 Runoff
By Deborah Clark
Regional Editor
dclarkadvance@gmail.com
Voters in House District
156, including Toombs and
Montgomery counties, will be
returning to the polls in a runoff
election to determine who will
represent them in the Georgia
Legislature. The runoff election
will be Tuesday, July 13.
Republican Candidates Lee-
sa Hagan of Vidalia and Wally
Sapp of Baxley received more
votes than the lone Democratic
candidate in that race, Wright
Gres of Appling County, but nei
ther Hagan nor Sapp obtained
more than half of the total vote.
The winner of the July run
off election will represent their
district during this year’s redis
tricting proceedings and next
year’s legislative session before
facing the voters again — pos
sibly with dramatically changed
boundaries. Currently, House
District 156 includes Montgom
ery and Toombs counties and
portions of Appling and Jeff Da
vis counties.
The House seat was left va
cant when Greg Morris resigned
from office earlier this year. Mor
ris, a Vidalia Republican, was
Leesa Hagan
elected to the State Transporta
tion Board.
Hagan, an online consult
ing firm owner, and Sapp, a car
dealer, came within 1 percentage
Wally Sapp
point of each other, but neither
received a majority of the nearly
5,000 votes cast to avoid a run-
Please see Runoff page 2A
Meadows Hospital
Names New CEO
Memorial Health
Meadows Hospital has
named Matt Hasbrouck
as its new chief executive
officer. Hasbrouck will
assume his new duties on
July 5.
Hasbrouck is no
stranger to the area. He
has been the Chief Op
erating Officer at Memo
rial Health University
Medical Center in Savan
nah since February 2018,
when they transitioned
to HCA Healthcare. He
also served as the COO of
Fairview Park Hospital in
Dublin.
Hasbrouck’s leader-
Matt Hasbrouck
ship is responsible for
driving numerous suc
cesses in Savannah, in
cluding:
• Completion of
Please see Meadows
page 4A
Alamo Slates 15th
Annual Salute to the
Nation’s Birthday
FESTIVAL ENTERTAINMENT - Headlining the list of per
formers who will be enterfaining at Alamo's annual
Independence Day event on Saturday are Hank Byrd
and the Borderline Band from Atlanta. The festival
opens at 2 p.m. and culminates with a fireworks show
at dusk.
One of the biggest
fireworks shows in the
area is planned in Alamo
on Saturday, June 26, as
the community begins
to come together to cel
ebrate the nation’s 245th
birthday.
Arts and crafts, mu
sic, a carnival with rides
for adults and children,
a car and tractor show,
Please see Alamo page
2A
Elected Officials Encouraging
Voters to Turn Out for Runoff
Photo by Daniel Ford
ENCOURAGE VOTER PARTICIPATION - Local officials gathered on the steps
of the historic sanctuary of First Baptist Church in Vidalia early Monday as a
show of support for Leesa Hagan, center bottom row of photo, candidate
for House District 156. Hagan will face off with Wally Sapp of Baxley in a runoff
election for the House seat, Urging citizens to turn out for the July 13 runoff
are, from left, second row, Willis NeSmith, Mayor of Lyons, Doug Roper, Mayor
of Vidalia, Jennifer Evans, Vidalia City Council member, Raymond Turner, Vi
dalia Mayor Pro-Tern; third row, Darriel Nobles, Wendell Dixon, and Tommy
Rollins, Toombs County Commissioners, and Bob Dixon, Vidalia City Coun
cil member; fourth row, David Sikes, Toombs County Commission Chairman,
Cecil Thompson and Lloyd Mobley, Vidalia City Council members, and Al
fred Cason, Toombs County Commissioner,
A razor-thin margin separated
voting results on June 15 for two Re
publicans vying for the House Dis
trict 156 seat, and local officials who
are concerned about Toombs Coun
ty’s low participation in that race are
urging citizens to get out and vote in
the Tuesday, July 13 runoff.
In June 15 balloting, Internet
Marketing Executive Leesa Hagan of
Please see Vote page 2A
Montgomery Commission Hears Proposal
For Athletic Programs "Teamwork"
By Makaylee Randolph
Contributing Writer
A new partnership between
Brewton-Parker College and the
Montgomery County Recreation De
partment could facilitate the sharing
of facilities and personnel for com
munity athletic programs. New Rec
reation Department Director Kendall
Bennamon presented the proposal
for the partnership during the June 14
meeting of the Montgomery County
Commission.
Bennamon advocated using BPC
umpires, referees, scoreboards, and
Please see MoCo page 4A
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105 East Tollison Street, Suite C | Baxley, GA 31513 | Phone:(912)705-4900 | Fax:(912)705-2905
