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The Vidalia Advance Established 1901
The Lyons Progress Established 1894
VETERANS
NOV. 11
THANK YOU!
Vol. 124 No. 45
Your Newspaper - Toombs, Montgomery & Wheeler County, Georgia
November 9, 2022
The willingness of
America’s veterans to
sacrifice for our country
has earned them our
lasting gratitude.
- Jeff Miller
News
BYTES
Veterans Day
Parade
Veterans are invited
to attend a lunch at
Vidalia Community
Center at noon on
November 11. The lunch
follows a Veterans Day
Parade that begins at
Southeastern Technical
College at 10 a.m.
Fall Festival
Health Fair
A Fall Festival Health Fair
will be held at Brewton-
Parker College in Mount
Vernon on Saturday,
November 12, from 11
a.m. until 2 p.m. Health
checks and information
about community
support, insurance,
government assistance,
family support will be
provided. Contact:
tricountyfc@mail.com.
Good Samaritans Hailed
As Heroes in Fiery Crash
Submitted Photo
FIERY CRASH - An SUV burns following a one-vehicle crash on Georgia Highway 152 last
Thursday. A mother and her four children were pulled from the burning wreckage by good
Samaritans working with responding fire and rescue crews. All of the victims survived and
were taken to area medical facilities for treatment.
By Makaylee Randolph
Staff Writer
mrandolphadvance@gmail. com
Seven citizens who worked to res
cue a family from a fiery crash are being
hailed as heroes after an intense situation
in which three people were airlifted to a
medical facility last Thursday afternoon.
According to the Georgia State Pa
trol’s investigation of the accident, a
mother, Martha Lockley, 38, of Ailey,
was driving her SUV eastbound on Geor
gia Highway 152 with her four children
when she failed to maintain her lane and
left the roadway and traveled into the
north ditch around 0.3 mile from the
road’s intersection with Kelly Collins
Road. The car traveled 374 feet through
the ditch before striking a culvert with its
front end, vaulting, and overturning for
70 feet before coming to its final resting
point, upright and facing east.
Upon reaching the final resting point,
the vehicle caught fire, leaving the passen
gers injured and/or unconscious inside
the car. Many travelers saw the inferno
soon after the blaze began and rushed to
the aid of the crash victims.
Two of those passersby were pho
tographers Vicki Jay and Jesslyn Johnson,
who were traveling back to Vidalia from a
photo shoot in Statesboro. “We normally
do not even go that way home,” Johnson
Please see Crash page 5A
Vidalia Kiwanis
Poinsettia Sale
The Vidalia Kiwanis
Club is holding its
annual poinsettia
sale. Six-inch red
poinsettias 5-8 blooms)
are $15 and eight-
inch red poinsettias
(10-14 blooms) are
$25. Proceeds benefit
Kiwanis community
projects. Order deadline
is November 30. Pickup
is December 6 at the
Dixon building, City
Recreation Department.
To order, contact
vidaliakiwanis@gmail.
com or a Kiwanis
member.
Bridge Work
Scheduled
Bridge construction on
SR 4/US 1 over Altamaha
River at West River
Road (Appling County)
to George Hill Road
(Toombs County). Daily
lane closures underway,
Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.
to 6 p.m. Completion in
December.
Vidalia Veteran Takes
Honor Flight to Capital
By Makaylee Randolph
Staff Writer
mrandolphadvance@gmail. com
United States Army
veteran Jim Shepherd, of
Vidalia, spent 27 years
serving in the military
through a variety of com
mand and staff assign
ments, primarily in Air
borne and Special Forces,
before his retirement in
June 1990.
Of his military ex
periences, one of the
most significant events in
which the Colonel took
part was the Vietnam
War. Shepherd may not
have received the grati-
HONORING VETERANS - Retired United States Army Colonel Jim Shepherd said his
experience with the Middle Georgia Honor Flight made him feel as though his service
to the nation during the Vietnam War was worthwhile, as all participants in the Honor
Flight treated the veterans with immense gratitude and respect,
tude he deserved when
he came home from that
war, but on September
10, he received belated
honors for his service
as he participated in the
Middle Georgia Honor
Flight program.
“Coming home
from Vietnam in that
era, I did not get much
recognition for my ser
vice,” Shepherd said of
the widespread public
opposition of the war
and the lack of support
of veterans in that era. “It
really nullified what had
happened, but this hon-
Please see Shepherd
page 4A
IN THIS ISSUE
Editorials Page 6A
Obituaries Page 8A
From the Record Page 5A
Your Mind On Line Page 4A
Sports Page 1 B
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Authority Announces
Proposed Location
Of New Golf Course
By Makaylee Randolph
Staff Writer
mrandolphadvance@gmail. com
Members of the Sweet Onion
Golf Authority met in a called session
on Monday, October 31, to name of
ficers and discuss plans for the con
struction of the new golf course in
Vidalia.
“This is going to be a fun project
and something the community will
really enjoy. Thank you all for being
willing and enthusiastic to help be a
part of making this happen,” Mayor
Doug Roper commented at the open
ing of the meeting.
The members of the Authority
were sworn in by the Mayor, and the
following officers were elected: Chair
man Andy Woodruff, Vice Chairman
Jacob Woodfin, and Secretary Lisa
Please see Golf page 2A
As Diesel Shortage
looms, Gov. Kemp
Extends Gas Tax Break
By Deborah Clark
Regional Editor
dclarkadvance@gmail. com
Governor Brian P.
Kemp signed two execu
tive orders on November
4 extending the tempo
rary suspension of the
state motor fuel and lo
comotive fuel tax as well
as the supply chain state
of emergency. Both will
be effective through De
cember 11.
Georgians are still
facing 40-year high in
flation, and the recently
announced decision that
OPEC will decrease oil
production will further
exacerbate high gas pric
es — and the U.S. stra
tegic oil reserve is at its
lowest level since 1984.
'As another holi
day season and a loom
ing diesel shortage ap-
Please see Tax page 2A
