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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 SUBSCRIBE AND SAVE 30% OFF NEWSSTAND PRICES! Call 537-3131 (or delivery! 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 Groundbreaking treatment for Metabolic failure including diabetes (Tl, T2 & Pre) Neuropathy Diminished | Energy Restored | Weight Controlled | Medications Reduced | Erectile Function Restored | Amputations Prevented | Blood Sugar Controlled Mood and Sleep Improved | Wounds Healed | Hair and Nail Growth | Dementia Mitigated | Alzheimer's Alleviated | Stroke Recovery Accelerated | Fatty Liver Reduced 105 East Tollison Street, Suite C | Baxley, GA 31513 | Phone:(912)705-4900 | Fax:(912)705-2905