Newspaper Page Text
Vol. 127 No. 4 Your Newspaper - Toombs, Montgomery & Wheeler County, Georgia 75$ January 24, 2024
Happiness is
good health and
a bad memory.
-Ingrid Bergman
News
BYTES
Tales From
the Altamaha
Auditions
The annual Tales From
the Altamaha folk
play will host auditions
for this year's
production at the Blue
Marquee Theatre in
Lyons at 6 p.m. nightly
on January 29-30. All
those interested in
performing in the
production are
invited. For more
information, call Lyons
Main Street at (912)
526-6445.
Together, A
Portrait of
Americans
The Altama Museum
of Art & History will
feature a gallery of
paintings by David
Salerno available for
viewing until February
23. These paintings
detail both the similar
and unique
experiences of being
an American. For
more information, call
the museum at (912)
537- 1911.
Prescription
Drug Takeback
Program
Expired and/or
unused prescriptions
may be properly
disposed of through
the medication
disposal box, which is
located in the lobby
of the Vidalia Police
Department. This
disposal is available
24 hours a day and 7
days a week for easy
access. For more
information, visit the
City of Vidalia
website.
IN THIS ISSUE
Editorials Page 6A
Obituaries Page 8A
From the Record Page 5A
Your Mind On Line Page 2A
Sports Page 1 B
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Walking In Their Shoes:
Local business man learns the struggles of being homeless
WALKING THE STREETS - During his time of living on the streets
to raise money for the homeless veterans, Junior Elkhatib not
only raised over $20,000, but learned the reality of the struggles
which the local homeless people face,
By Makaylee Randolph
Staff Writer
mrandolphadvance@gmail.com
When local entrepreneur
Junior Elkhatib decided to live
on the streets for a week to raise
money for homeless veterans, he
had no idea what the days would
club -Statesboro Blues Chapter.
Their mission is every year in Jan
uary they do a food drive. They
used to do a campout, but its
become a one-day food drive for
the homeless veterans from Sa
vannah down to South Georgia,”
he explained. “[My business]
“They’re regular human beings, they all
have stories and are just like everyone
else. It’s just like they say - we are all one
paycheck away from being in their shoes.”
- Junior Elkhatib
bring. Yet, by walking in their
shoes, he learned the real strug
gles of the homeless population.
The idea of spending a week
living on the streets came as a way
to increase the amount of money
raised in his annual fundraising
campaign for the homeless vet
erans. “We have a United States
Military Veterans motorcycle
Leather, Love, and Freedom has
helped them for quite a few years.
We used to do collections for
them, but noticed that the trail
ers were getting more and more
empty when Covid hit.”
He continued, “They weren’t
quite getting as many collections,
and a lot of these homeless veter-
Please see Junior page 10A
MoCo Superintendent Resigns
By Makaylee Randolph
Staff Writer
mrandolphadvance@gmail. com
The Montgomery County
School System is currently ac
cepting applications for a new
superintendent, after current
Superintendent Stan Rentz an
nounced his resignation at the
regular meeting of the Board of
Education on Tuesday, January
16.
Rentz read the board a letter
sharing his fondness of his time
within the school system, which
he had written in preparation for
the announcement. The letter
read:
“Dear Chairman [Henry]
Price and the members of the
Montgomery County Board of
Education,
After much thought, prayer,
preparation, and conversation
with my family, I’ve made the
decision to submit my resigna-
Please see MoCo page 1OA
Mitchell Joins the
Toombs County
Development Authority
Photo By Makaylee Randolph
PASSING THE TORCH - The Toombs County Development Authority
celebrated the past service of Garrett Wilcox and welcomed the
new service of Ricky Mitchell during the Authority's first meeting of
2024. L to R: Garrett Wilcox, Toombs County Development Authority
Chairman Tim Truxel, Ricky Mitchell.
By Makaylee Randolph
Staff Writer
mrandolphadvance@gmail. com
The Toombs County Devel
opment Authority bade farewell
to a longtime member and wel
comed a new one at the Author
ity’s first regular meeting of the
year on Thursday, January 18.
During the meeting, Ricky
Mitchell officially began his new
Please see TCDA page 12A
Area Names STAR
Students & Teachers
WHEELER COUNTY STARS - Wheeler County High School
STAR Student Molly Bridges (left) and STAR Teacher Don
nie Horton (right) were announced by the program
sponsors on Thursday, January 18.
By Makaylee Randolph
Staff Writer
mrandolphadvance@gmail.com
Excitement was elec
tric throughout the senior
classes within the area high
schools last week, as each
school named their STAR
Student and Teacher award
ees.
The Student Teacher
Achievement Recognition
(STAR) awards are admin
istered and promoted by the
Professional Association of
Georgia Educators (PAGE)
and the PAGE Foundation.
Since its creation, the STAR
program has honored nearly
Please see STAR page 11A
