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Celebrate endings—for they precede new beginnings.” -Jonathan Huie News BYTES Legislative Luncheon The Greater Vidalia Chamber will host its annual Legisla tive Luncheon at 11:30 a.m. on Thurs day, January 4, at the First Baptist Church in Lyons. The event will fea ture addresses by State Senator Blake Tillery, State Repre sentative Leesa Hagan, and Geor gia Labor Commis sioner Bruce Thompson. Tickets are available for $45 each, and may be purchased by calling the Cham ber at (912) 537- 4466. Flu Vaccines Flu and Covid vac cines are available by walk-in or ap pointment at the Toombs County Health Department, located at 714 Northwest Broad Street in Lyons. Call 1 (855) 473-4374 for more information or hours. Free Phones Free Phones are available for Veterans on December 21, at 302 Hwy. 280E, Vidalia. Sponsors are DAV, Red Barn/ American Legion. IN THIS ISSUE Editorials Page 6A Your Mind On Line Page 8A Sports Page 1 B SUBSCRIBE AND SAVE 30% OFF NEWSSTAND IMV Call 537-3131 (or delivery! Builds Solid Foundation for Progress in the New Year By Makaylee Randolph Staff Writer mrandolphadvance@gmail.com The past year has witnessed a whirlwind of activity throughout the area — rang ing from a movie premiere, to unrest over tax assessments, to leadership changes, to major construction and development proj ects. While there were issues that continue to present challenges and are still being addressed, overall 2023 was a year of great achievement and growth in community re lations and development, academics, health care, and more that built a solid foundation for a new year of progress. Toombs County It was another year full of growth, change, and new sights, events, and even personnel in Vidalia and Lyons. Hollywood came to the county early in the year, as Blue Lightning, which starred Quinton Aaron of The Blind Side, pre miered at the historic Blue Marquee Theatre in Lyons. Aaron also became a familiar sight to those in Toombs County, as he remained in Vidalia for several months to record his very first album, which will be released at a later date. The Toombs County Courthouse con struction was completed, and offices are continuing to settle into the new facility. Also, the Vidalia City Hall moved complete ly into the Vidalia Municipal Annex, which Please see 2023 page 9A Toombs County Grand Jury Indicts 30 By Makaylee Randolph Staff Writer mrandolphadvance@gmail.com The Toombs County Grand Jury met on Monday, December 11, to discuss 30 bills of indictment, all of which were ruled true bills. These indicted individuals will now begin the process of entering their pleas of “guilty” or “not guilty” to the court to continue the formal trial and/or sentenc ing process. Airion Donquavious Johnson and Sharmesa Di anna Richards were both charged on counts of bur glary in the first degree and arson in the first degree for Please see Indictments page 5A Shooting Victim Found at Hospital Courtesy of the Vidalia Police Department Both the Vidalia Police Department (VPD) and Georgia Bureau of Investiga tion (GBI) are investigating a shooting which law en forcement were alerted to af ter a shooting victim arrived at the local emergency room. According to VPD, Sa- vahna Rashona Chamblee, 18, of Soperton, arrived at the Memorial Health Mead ows Hospital by private ve hicle at around 1:56 p.m. on Tuesday, December 19. Medical workers prompt ly alerted the authorities, who arrived and discov ered Chamblee was suffer ing from a single gunshot wound. Chamblee was flown out by AirEvac to the Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah for fur ther medical treatment and is continuing to receive care in that facility. The VPD contacted Please see Victim page 4A Artifact Returned To Its Proper Place Photo by Makaylee Randolph RETURNING A RELIC - Attorney Charles Andrew has displayed a his toric mirror from the old Governor's Mansion in his law office for sev eral years but is now returning the piece to its proper place. By Makaylee Randolph Staff Writer mrandolphadvance@gmail.com The historic location of the Law Offices of Reid Threlkeld and Charles Andrew will soon have a new owner and tenant, as local law yers Rizza and Daniel O’Connor have purchased the property to transform it into their home. Yet, as many of the historic relics in the building travel to other loca tions with Threlkeld and Andrew, one historic relic will return to its proper place. “Part of this is factual history and part of it is family lore,” An drew explained. “The factual histo ry of the mirror is that the Gover nor’s Mansion was in Milledgeville from around 1836-1864. Sherman started coming then, rampaging with his nasty horde burning all of the government buildings - county courthouses, Governor’s mansions, state capitols - all of that stuff in Georgia. Governor Please see Artifact page 5A