Newspaper Page Text
The ADVANCE, December 6, 2023/Page 2A
(Eift Aiiuancg
East Georgia State College to
Celebrate Fall Commencement
God’s Storehouse Gives
Thanksgiving Dinners To
Over 1,000 in Community
Courtesy of EGSC
East Georgia State
College (EGSC) will hold
its Fall Commencement
Ceremony Friday De
cember 8, at 3 p.m., in the
Luck F. Gambrell Building
Auditorium on the EGSC
Swainsboro campus. Fami
ly and friends of the gradu
ates and community mem
bers are invited to attend
the special event.
Salma Cueva, who will
graduate during the cere
mony will present the Re
flection during the event.
Desmal Purcell, professor
at EGSC, will deliver the
commencement address.
Salma Cueva moved
to the United States at the
age of five when her moth
er, Johanna, married her
stepfather, Ashley Gay. She
attended Emanuel County
Institute before enroll
ing at EGSC. Cueva will
graduate during the cer
emony with her liberal arts
degree. She plans to attend
the University of Georgia
in the Spring and major in
Biology. Cueva’s goal is to
become a physician’s assis
tant or a doctor.
Desmal Purcell is an
artist, traveler and profes
sor of art who has been
a part of the EGSC com
munity since 2004. On
his father’s side, Purcell
is the fifth generation to
walk the lands of a family
farm in Stillmore, Geor
gia. On his mother’s side,
he is a second-generation
Swedish immigrant. This
rich family tapestry has
led to a belief in place, the
power of community and
the necessity to examine
the strong narratives that
help to tell the stories that
define our personal and
shared identities. A con
nection to the Emanuel
County community and
the college is not happen
stance. Purcell has a rich
family history with EGSC
as well. Neil Kalmanson,
Professor Emeritus of
Art, taught both Purcell’s
grandfather and father at
the Swainsboro campus.
This makes Purcell a third-
generation member of the
Salma Cueva
EGSC family.
Before joining EGSC
as a professor of art, Pur
cell was co-director/co
founder of Gallery A.D.
in Savannah, Georgia,
co- owner of dkArts in
Statesboro, Georgia, and
was a co-founding mem
ber of the arts advocacy
group Stillmoreroots. The
group’s annual exhibition,
Art in the Woods, was held
on the family farm in Still-
more on a managed Pine
Forest and promoted inter
active art experiences, col
laborations, and conversa
tions. Purcell is currently
the gallery director of the
Kalmanson Gallery, East
Georgia State College Art
Gallery, the EGSC Gradu
ate Gallery, the EGSC
Library exhibition space,
and founder of the Long-
shot Gallery (an alterna
tive venue in Stillmore,
Georgia). He serves as fac
ulty advisor to the EGSC
Desmal Purcell
Art Club and is co- advi
sor with Dr. Alan Brasher
to the Outdoor Rec Club.
In addition to teaching,
he serves the campus and
regional community on a
range of committees that
aim to enhance access to
arts and education.
Purcell regularly ex
hibits his artworks both
nationally and internation
ally. He is passionate about
the power of art to unite
communities. He believes
strongly in promoting a
consistent commitment to
collaboration and commu
nication. Purcell lives in
Stillmore, Georgia, in the
home of his great aunt and
uncle, Mary and Bud War
ren, with his wife, Amber,
their children, and many
pets.
EGSC encourages the
community to join the col
lege to help celebrate the
Fall Class of 2023.
Courtesy of God's
Storehouse
On Wednesday, No
vember 22, God’s Store
house resumed its com
munity Thanksgiving
Dinner giveaway. They
were forced to skip a year
because the Storehouse
had to relocate to a tem
porary facility at New Life
Church ofVidalia at 2200
Center Drive. The prepara
tion for the meal was made
even more challenging be
cause the kitchen in the
new Storehouse is a small
galley style kitchen. They
brought their convection
oven with them and pur
chased many freezers for
storage, so they decided to
go ahead with the meal.
It all began one morn
ing back in early Octo
ber when the small staff
of God’s Storehouse and
some volunteers went to
Randy Deloach's farm and
gleaned his fields to fill a
pickup truck with sweet
potatoes. Every potato
had to be peeled, boiled,
and smashed. This later
became the foundation for
60 full-length deep pans of
sweet potato souffle.
Next, came the bak
ing of 125 turkeys in a
conventional oven that
cooked 8 turkeys at a
time. Sam Paige of Cop
per Construction, Inc. do
nated thousands of dollars
for the turkeys, the pans,
many ingredients, and 60
cakes. Sam, Tammy and
their staff were so helpful.
They took a list of needs
provided by the Store
house and go out and pur
chase and deliver many of
the items on that list.
Then the staff baked
tray after tray of cornbread
that became 60 pans of
dressing. Ashley Crump
and the children of J.D.
Dickerson did a food drive
to collect the Jiffy Corn-
bread Muffin mix and cans
of cranberry. The dressing
ingredients were mixed
with the cornbread and
baked at Vidalia Corner
stone Church’s kitchen the
night before the dinner
giveaway.
Dot. Foods Inc. stored
the turkeys for them as
they could only cook 24
a day. Dot Foods Inc. do
nated the green beans,
mashed potatoes, dinner
rolls, and butter. They also
made a significant finan
cial donation and several
of their employees volun
teered to help serve the
meal after delivering cases
of food as a part of their
Neighbor-to-Neighbor
program. They are such a
blessing to this commu
nity.
It was a community
affair. Sally Meadows and
J.R. Tripp schools also
did canned-good drives.
Sally Meadows heated
up the turkey trays the
morning of the event. Bo
Herndon offered finan
cial support and donated
30 pounds of pecans for
the sweet potato souffle’
topping. Volunteers and
donations flowed in from
churches and the private
sector. Drivers were rac
ing around town deliver
ing plates to those with
out means to get to the
Storehouse. There were so
many people pitching in.
Their names and organiza
tions are too numerous to
mention here.
The outcome was
God Storehouse’s most
successful Thanksgiving
to date. They distributed
1,809 Thanksgiving din
ners with turkey, sweet
potato souffle, dressing,
mashed potatoes, green
beans, cranberry, dinner
roll, and a slice of cake.
Director Tina M. Hous
er wanted to personally
thank her staff of Betty,
David, John, Wanda, and
Bob who had been there
with her through it all.
The event was intend
ed to give to those who
simply needed food or
were not going to a tradi
tional Thanksgiving meal
with their families. It was
intended to give everyone
in our community some
thing to be thankful for
and to bring glory to God.
It is evident from the out
pouring of personal and
corporate sacrifice that
He is at work in our com
munity. Praise and Honor
and Glory to Him forever!
Miss Tina wanted to ex
tend heartfelt thanks and
a Merry Christmas to all
that were involved with
this compassionate event.
ODDS 8 ends
Children's
Choir—
The Toombs
County Children's
Choir will present
Annie Kids at
Toombs County
High School on De
cember 8 at 7:00
p.m. and Decem
ber 9 at 3:00 p.m.
Tickets are $5.00
and will be avail
able at the door.
Everyone is in
vited to attend.
SUDOKU Solu,lon ’ pa9e 12A
Fun By The
Numbers
Like puzzles?
Then you’ll love
sudoku. This
mind-bending
puzzle will have
you hooked from
the moment you
square off, so
sharpen your
pencil and put
your sudoku
savvy to the test!
Level: Intermediate
Here’s How It Works:
Sudoku puzzles are formatted as a 9x9 grid, broken down into nine
3x3 boxes. To solve a sudoku, the numbers 1 through 9 must fill each
row, column and box. Each number can appear only once in each row,
column and box. You can figure out the order in which the numbers will
appear by using the numeric clues already provided in the boxes. The
more numbers you name, the easier it gets to solve the puzzle!
6
7
8
3
1
0
4
0
8
2
8
5
7
3
9
7
9
4
2
7
9
5
8
1
30
Minute
CAGE RENTALS
GAME ROOM & CONCESSION
Birthday Party
Rentals Available!
Indoor Baseball &
Softball batting facility
with HitTrax training
The Cagez
4-8 p.m.
912-386-1444
702 MAPLE DR., VIDALIA, GA
Stocking Staffers
High School Sports Apparel
Key Chains-LicensePlates
Monogramming • Bible Covers
Custom Embroidery • T-Shirts
(Screen efDigital Print)
Engraved Signs • Plagues
milk and
cookies
3
Donuts.
Wake up to fresh donuts
every morning from
Bill's Donuts.
Sign & Stamp
Solutions
133 SE Main St., Vidalia • 912-537-3347
www.signandstampsolutions.com
^ Bill's Donuts
302 East 1st Street
Vidalia, GA 30474
For your convenience, use our DRIVE-THRU
Follow us on Facebook Bills Donuts - Vidalia
(912) 537-2253
Family Tradition Since 1972
W0s ffl
MRaK^IIjs— [
ColcFbutside 1
ForServiceCallOurOfficeat537-1943
209 Green Street, Vidalia
B Patrior Gas (' (j
9 r2.537-1943
US DOT 1419736 GA
iyierrviChristmas
Get Your Tanks
Filled For the
and Save
Gas Cookers,
Heaters and
Fish Fryers
make great
Christmas
Gifts
Thanks for all the
support from our
loyal customers,
you all are the best!
We welcome any
NEW CUSTOMERS
that want to be a
part of the Patriot
Gas Family.