Newspaper Page Text
nee
childhood
cancer
awareness
month
The Vidalia Advance Established 1901
The Lyons Progress Established 1894
Healthlines, page 11A
Vol. 123 No. 36
Your Newspaper - Toombs, Montgomery & Wheeler County, Georgia
September 8, 2021
Any kid will run any
errand for you, if you
ask at bedtime.
- Red Skelton
News
BYTES
Elections
Integrity Town
Hall
Senator Blake Tillery
invites the public to
attend an Elections
Integrity Town Hall
meeting on Tuesday,
September 14, at
12:30 p.m. at Chatters
Restaurant in Lyons.
RSVP at www.
blaketillery.com/
electionstownhall or call
912-537-3030. Lunch is
Dutch treat.
Patriots Day
Event Cancelled
The Downtown Vidalia
Association has
cancelled the Patriots
Day Walk and Memorial
Service scheduled for
Saturday, September 11
Altama Museum
Celebration
September 16
Altama Museum will
mark 40 years in the
community and the
second hundred years
of its headquarters, the
historic Brazell House,
with a front porch
celebration Thursday,
September 16, 5-7 p.m.
at the museum, 611
Jackson Street.
Meadows
Offering
Vaccinations
Memorial Health
Meadows Hospital is
operating a public
COVID vaccination
clinic. Call 912-535-SAFE
(7233) to schedule a
free vaccination.
COVID Testing
Underway
Free COVID testing is
available at a mobile
site on the campus
of Memorial Health
Meadows Hospital.
For more information,
visit the Georgia
Department of Health
website: www.sehdph.
org.
IN THIS ISSUE
Editorials Page 5A
Obituaries Page 7A
From the Record Page 10A
Your Mind On Line Page 10A
Sports Page 1 B
Free COVID-19 Testing Site
Set Up at Meadows Hospital
Photo by Daniel Ford
COVID TEST SITE — A free COVID-19 test site was set up on the campus of Memorial Health Mead
ows Hospital on September 1, and since that time an average of 40 to 60 persons per day have
been tested. Local health officials are encouraged by slight decreases in the number of COVID-
positive cases being treated.
By Deborah Clark
Regional Editor
and Makaylee Randolph
Staff Writer
Beginning last Wednesday, area
residents were being tested for CO-
VID-19 at a mobile clinics set up
on the campus of Memorial Health
Meadows Hospital in Vidalia.
Following its initiation on Sep
tember 1, an average of 40 to 60 per
sons per weekday are being tested,
said Dr. Karen McColl, Vice Presi
dent of Medical Affairs and Chief
Medical Officer at Meadows.
The free COVID-19 testing
is available through a partnership
with Georgia Department of Public
Health and contract provider LTS.
This testing will be available six days
a week (excluding Sunday). Hours
of operation are:
Monday/Wednesday/Friday: 8
a.m.-3 p.m.;
Tuesday/Thursday: 11 a.m.-6
p.m.; and Saturday: 8:30 a.m. -
12:30 p.m.
Registration is not required, but
it is recommended before arrival at
the testing site. For more informa
tion, DPH advised visiting its online
website at: https://www.sehdph.
org/covid-19/where-and-when-
can-i-receive-free-covid-19-testing/.
After experts pushed the pro
jected peak date for COVID cases
from August 27 to September 15,
local health officials believe they
now may be seeing a slight de
crease in the number of COV
ID cases. McColl reported that
last week Meadows was able
to extubate two patients being
treated for COVID, which had
not happened in the previous
two weeks. On the morning of
Tuesday, September 7, 21 pa
tients were on ventilators.
With 62 patients in the
hospital, 41 are COVID posi
tive. Of this number, two pa-
Please see COVID page 3A
“Make it, Move ir
Photo by Rebekah Arnold
THE LIBRARY IS A PLACE FOR MEETING — Charlene Dupree tutors
a group of students after school in the Children's Room of the Vi-
dalia-Toombs County Library. Public Libraries have areas where
patrons can be engaged in meetings, studying, internet use or
quiet reading,
Library Construction
Now on Fast Track
Combined Fund-Raising
Effort Exceeds Expectations
By Rebekah Arnold
Vidalia - Toombs County Library
Trustee
What was to be a three-
year construction project has
taken a fast track to a planned
ground breaking in December
of this year. The sooner-rather-
than-later renovation of the
Vidalia branch of the Ohoop-
ee Regional Library System
(ORLS) has ignited excite
ment throughout the commu
nity.
Please see Library page 4A
Fast-Track Education
Focused on
Manufacturing &
Logistics
By Deborah Clark
Regional Editor
dclarkadvance@gmail.com
Local businesses and edu
cators are linking up to offer a
fast-track pilot program that
could lead to future careers in
manufacturing and logistics for
area high school seniors.
The “Make It, Move It” pro
gram launched in early August
and ending in December is a
skills-based course led by area
companies that will offer a cer
tified manufacturing specialist
pathway.
Shelly Smith, CEO of the
Southeastern Early College
and Career Academy in Vidalia
where the program is being of
fered, noted, “We desperately
need it. Our community re
quires it.” She referenced the
national worker shortage and
the urgency in grooming young
Please see Make It page 3A
Photo by Daniel Ford
IN PERSON LEARNING — Students participating in the "Make It,
Move It" program got an up close look at an Air Evac Lifeteam
crew as one of the service's helicopters landed on the practice
field at Vidalia High School last Friday morning. The students are
part of a program sponsored by SECCA and area businesses that
aims to provide a fast-track to future employment through a certi
fication pathway,
SUBSCRIBE
AND SAVE
30% OFF
NEWSSTAND
PRICES!
Call 537-3131
lor delivery!
$45 WEIGHT LOSS MANAGEMENT
kiF Appling
every other month! Ask about our $25 weight loss injection!
Baxley Blackshear Vidalia
(912)367-4122 (912)705-4910 (912)705-4905
Healthcare
