Newspaper Page Text
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The ADVANCE, December 29,2021 /Page 4B
Photo by Carroll Williams
Rileigh Robinson hit a 3-run home run to put VHS in the
lead in the third inning of the Indians rematch with Bre
men.
HERlThGS
WEfi/TAEf
The Vidalia Heritage Academy Eagles football team are the GAPPS Division 1A State Champions.
Review
continued from page 3B
the Patriots of Habersham
School out of Savannah.
The Eagles had been a
scrappy team all year long
but were outmatched in the
Championship as they fell in
both games of the double
header on Friday in the best-
of-three series.
The Eagles finished the
season with a record of 15-7
as the State Runners-up.
VHS All Sports
For the 7th time in the
last 8 years, Vidalia High
School was awarded the Re
gion 2AA All-Sports Cham
pionship Trophy. Winning
the Championship Trophy
that many times is an ac
complishment on its own
but winning the award this
year held a special place
among the Vidalia Athletes,
Coaches, and Staff. For the
first time in the award’s his
tory, the trophy now bears
the name of Vidalia’s long
time Athletic Director and
Head Girls Basketball
Coach, Chunk Reid.
Vidalia teams were able
to win 10 of the 20 Region
Championships in Region
2AA, and current VHS Ath
letic Director Tommy Dai
ley said that is a standard
that reaches far and wide.
“Our athletes and the par
ents of our athletes put a lot
of faith into how we were
doing things, which enabled
us to push them to reach
their potential and that in
evitably made our athletic
programs successful.”
Summer Champions
Several youth baseball
and softball teams from both
the Lyons Recreation De
partment and the Vidalia
Recreation Department had
great runs in the as they
claimed District Champion
ships.
From LRD the 8U girls
brought home the title from
the tournament at Effing
ham County. The lOUboys
won their title at the tourna
ment that was held at Partin
Park. And the 10U girls also
won the District Tourna
ment that was held at Partin
Park.
The VRD 8U boys
picked up their District
Championship in Effing
ham County. The 12U boys
won the tournament that
was also held in Effingham
County. The VRD 12U girls
won their District title just
down the road at Partin
Park.
At the GRPA State
Tournament the LRD lOu
Girls brought home the
State Championship.
Lyons took out Wayne
County in the Champion
ship in a very high scoring
contest. LRD won the game
24-23 to earn their title.
The LRD 14U girls also
won the State Champion
ship.
Lyons face Coffee
County in the Champion
ship. Coffee won the first
game, 4-3, to force a second
game. But in that second
game the girls from Partin
Park took a 7-2 win to claim
the title.
VRD Swim
& Coach Hilton
The Vidalia Recreation
Department Swim Team
had a great showing at the
GRPA B State Swim Meet in
Fort Oglethorpe on July 16
and 17. Fourteen swimmers
competed in the meet with
numerous swimmers mak
ing it to the finals and bring
ing home awards.
This year, the team also
had several state champions.
Lake Wright brought home
a state championship in the
13-14 boys 50-yard breast
stroke with a time of 34.26.
The 15-18-year-old mixed
relay team were state cham
pions, bringing home 1st
place in the 200-yard free
style relay with a time of
1:40.48, just shy of the cur
rent state record of 1:39.44.
This team consisted of Con
ley Brown, Reece Brown,
Jackson Crawley, and Au
tumn Harris. In the 15-18
men’s division, Jackson
Crawley also earned state
championship titles in both
the 50-yard freestyle, with a
time of 22.90, and in the
100-yard freestyle with a
time of 50.40.
For 29 years, Rob Hil
ton has coached the VRD
Swim Team and under his
tenure, more than 28 State
Champions have been
crowned. This year, he was
assisted in coaching by his
former swimmers Cole Reg
ister and Jessica Gordon.
Coach Hilton announced
that this was his final year
coaching the Vidalia Recre
ation Department Swim
Team. His many years of ser
vice to this sport have been
greatly appreciated and the
community and swimmers
are thankful for all that he
has given.
VHS Softball
It was another great
year for the Vidalia High
School Indians softball team
as they made another run at
a State Championship. They
again made it to Columbus
for the State Championship
Tournament and battled
their way to a State Runner-
up finish.
Earlier in the season the
VHS pitching staff had a
week to remember as three
different pitchers threw no
hitters over three straight
games. All three pitchers,
Tymber Harris, Bailey Hol
land, and Madison Starr
threw no-hitters as the Indi
ans defeated Bacon County,
Islands, and East Laurens.
The Indians also
brought home the Region
Championship as they fin
ished the year with a Region
record of 14-1, with their
only loss coming to rival Jeff
Davis early in the season.
VHS moved into the
State Playoffs. They swept
Josey and Elbert County to
punch their ticket to Colum
bus. In Columbus they
dropped their first-round
game to Bremen but came
back through the losers’
bracket with wins over
Union County, Jeff Davis,
Bremen, and Dade County
to earn their spot in the State
Championship Game.
In the Championship
they took on defending
PUBLIC NOTICE
DRIVES, the titles and registration system will be
upgraded over the New Year's weekend. Georgia
Department of Revenue and County Tag Offices'
for Motor Vehicle Operations including in person,
online, and kiosk services will be unavailable
beginning Thursday (12-30-2021) at 7 P.M. through
Monday (01/03/2022). The system should be up
and running Tuesday, January 04, 2022.
Toombs County Tax Commissioner's Office
100 Courthouse Square Suite 21
Lyons, GA 30436
State Champion Heard
County. Vidalia gave it their
all but fell short in a 10-6
loss.
The Indians overall hit an
astounding 10 home runs
during their six games in the
State Championship Tour
nament.
VHS finished the year
as the State Runner-up in
AA and with a record of 32-
7. The Indians will lose sev
eral players off this year’s
team. Those graduating are
Bailey Holland, Rileigh
Robinson, Jesslyn Collins,
Alii Taufinann, Logan Men
ard, Janna Hyers, and Matlin
Mead.
VHS Cheer
The Indian Competi
tion Cheerleaders put every
thing together at the right
time in their season this year.
They had placed well at sev
eral competitions during the
season.
VHS hosted the Region
Championships, and with a
solid performance, they
claimed the title. It was the
fourth Region Champion
ship for VHS over the past
eight seasons. That also had
the Indians ranked as they
#3 team in the state in AA.
They then took the trip
to Macon to compete at the
Centreplex for the State
Championship. They had
another great showing but
came up just Vi point be
hind Bleckley County for
the title.
“I couldn’t be prouder
of our team,” said Vidalia
Head Coach Ann Michele
Toole. “In this sport you
have 2min 30sec to maxi
mize your opportunities to
fully execute and they did an
amazing job in their final
performance of the season.
It was a tight run in the top
three of 2A, with a mere
.5-point separation and a
three-way tie determined by
officials.” Toole added.
VHA Football
The Vidalia Heritage
Academy Eagles played their
first varsity season during
the 2017-18 school year,
they didn’t win a game. This
season, just five years later,
well, they not only went
10-1 on the year, but brought
home their first GAPPS 1A
State Championship, and
they did so in dominating
fashion.
The Eagles of VHA av
eraged over 50 points a
game this season on their
way to that title. On Friday,
November 26, they traveled
to Cumming to take on the
Warriors of Horizon Chris
tian Academy for the State
Championship. Horizon
were also the defending
State Champions and were
averaging over 40 points a
game this season. The game
was played on the Astroturf
field at Pinecrest Academy,
also in Cumming.
The Eagles were in con
trol of this game throughout
as they held a 46-28 lead at
halftime. They took the win
66-36 over the Warriors.
VHA got an incredible
performance from Ethan
Sikes with 296 yards and 5
touchdowns on just 11 car
ries, Josiah Smith added 238
yards on 16 carries with 2
touchdowns, Ledger Curl
had 30 yards and James
Hutcheson ran for just 12
yards, but had several plays
called back on penalties. Jo
siah Smith also threw for
109 yards and 2 touchdowns
as the Eagles had 661 total
yards of offense in the game.
John Smith caught 3 passes
for 97 yards and 2 touch
downs.
Mason Beacham, James
Hutcheson, and Josiah
Smith are the three seniors
on this team, and all have
been key players on both
sides of the ball for this State
Championship team.
Recap
As you can see, it was
and great year for local
sports. So many of our stu
dent-athletes had outstand
ing years with lots of teams
and individuals winning Re
gion, Area, District, and
State Championships.
The coaches across all
the schools continue to do
an incredible job not only in
training these kids in the
sports that they play, but
also in shaping them to be
better people as they grow
up.
The local support has
been amazing as always,
from the community to the
school staffs and faculty. Let
us all continue to support
everything that leads to the
betterment of the local
youth across all sports and
activities in the new year.
CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION DETERMINATION
Water Meter Replacement
City of Vidalia
Toombs County, Georgia
DW2022005
The Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) has conducted a review of the above subject
project in accordance with the State’s Environmental Review Process (SERP) for Drinking Water State
Revolving Fund (DWSRF) projects. The EPD has determined that this project is eligible for a categorical
exclusion. Accordingly, the EPD is exempting the project from further substantive environmental review
requirements under Georgia’s SERP.
The proposed project involves replacement of water meters throughout the City’s water distribution
system. The project also involves installation of the backflow preventers (BFPs) at the meter locations
that are not currently equipped with a backflow prevention device.
This project is eligible for a Categorical Exclusion because it meets the following specific criteria,
outlined in the DWSRF SERP: Installation of new or replacement of existing backflow prevention
devices and/or meters at existing customers service connections; Furthermore:
• The project will not require issuance of a new or modification of an existing ground water or
surface water withdrawal permit;
• The project is not known or expected to have a significant adverse effect on the quality of the
human environment, either individually, cumulatively over time, or in conjunction with other
Federal, State, local or private actions;
• The project is not known or expected to directly or indirectly have a significant adverse effect on:
or threatened species; or environmentally important natural resource areas, such as floodplains,
wetlands, important farmlands or aquifer recharge areas; and cultural resource areas, such as
archaeological and historic sites; habitats of endangered species;
• The action is cost-effective and is not expected to cause significant public controversy.
This determination shall become effective after thirty (30) days following its distribution by EPD and can
be revoked if significant adverse information is made available. The documentation to support this
decision is on file with the Georgia Environmental Protection Division and is available for public scrutiny
upon request. A copy of the proposed project documentation is also available for review at the City Hall
in Vidalia, Georgia.
All interested agencies, groups and persons supporting or disagreeing with this decision are invited to
submit written comments, within thirty (30) days of the publish date of this notice to:
Georgia Environmental Protection Division
ATTN: Asmita Patel, Environmental Engineer
Drinking Water Program
2 Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive, SE, Suite 1362 East
Atlanta, Georgia 30334-9000
After evaluating the comments received, EPD will make a final decision regarding approval of the
project planning documents. No administrative action will be taken on the project for thirty (30)
calendar days after publication of this Notice in a local newspaper that serves the City of Vidalia
area.
Publish Date: 12/14/2021
Manny Patel, Program Manager
Drinking Water Program
Georgia Environmental Protection Division
