It was a night of spectacular pageantry Saturday night at Southeastern Technical College as the Queens to reign over the 44th Vidalia Onion Festival were crowned in the annual scholarship pageant sponsored by the Vidalia Chapter of the American Business Women’s Association.
Zayna Taylor will wear the crown as the Miss Vidalia Onion
“I’m just so excited,” Taylor said after crowning. “I’m looking forward to learning more about my community and the Vidalia Onion as I serve my year as Miss Vidalia Onion.”
Peyton Zimmer will represent the Vidalia Onion as the Teen Miss Vidalia Onion.
“I’m excited about serving with my Sister Queens like Zayna throughout this year, and I can’t wait to see what it brings.”
Seven girls in each of the categories vied for their awards with sportswear and evening gown competitions, as well as each contestant being asked individuals onstage impromptu questions.
Saturday morning, the younger girls had their pageants. Crowned Vidalia Onion Queens were Baby Miss Renleigh Hendrix; Teeny Miss Millie Ree Thomas; Tiny Miss Madelynn Olivia Braddy; Little Miss Saya Watson; and Young Miss Chloe Lee Morris.
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As part of their ongoing efforts to improve system reliability, Altamaha EMC we will be performing maintenance in the Kibbee area on Tuesday, April 13 and Wednesday, April 14. This maintenance will require scheduled power outages both days. We will keep the outage times as brief as possible, but each outage could last up to 3 hours.
The outage scheduled for Tuesday, April 13 will begin at 1:00 PM. The areas affected will be from Big Al's Store down Wilson Road to Hwy 292 including Conaway McDonald Rd and Joe Hilton Rd.
The outage scheduled for Wednesday, April 14 will begin at 8:00 AM. The areas affected will be from the Hwy 29/Braddy Road intersection south to Sawmill Road. This will include Old Dairy Rd and portions of Old Kibbee Rd, Eddie Clyde Rd, and Morris Rd.
Altamaha EMC wants to thank their members for their patience. Please call our office if you have any questions.
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Debra Brown opens the door to her new home.
Six formerly blighted homes on 5th Avenue in Vidalia are getting facelifts, and thanks to the contributions and hard work of some dedicated men, some veterans and women of domestic violence are getting a chance at being first-time owners.
Wednesday morning, Vidalia Mayor Doug Roper was onsite of the first home to be offered and said the project was a joint effort of the Urban Revitalization Group and the City of Vidalia.
“This is a new opportunity for some deserving people,” Mayor Roper said. “For the first time, some of them can now become homeowners.”
Debra Brown is the owner of the first house and could barely contain her enthusiasm at being a homeowner rather than a renter for the first time in her life.
“I’m so excited!” she declared. “I just can’t believe it.”
Leo Peebles, Rodney Williams, and James McLendon are part of the Urban Revitalization Group and six homes will be remodeled to form the Roy Lee Williams Complex. Peebles said, “These homes are for veterans and women who’ve been victims of domestic violence. They will be affordable, handicapped accessible. These are the first six, but we plan on doing more.”
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The City of Lyons has approved the annexation of a piece of property owned by Southern Mark Industry, LLC, and to pay just over $107,000 to extend sewage to an industrial project on H.D. Wright Road. Even though McLendon Enterprises was not the low bidder for the sewer project, the local company was awarded the bid due to the time restraints and the need to have the project completed by June 1st. City Councilman Ivy Toole, who is employed by McLendon Enterprises, abstained for voting.
The facility will focus on the packaging of produce for distribution, and invest over $4 million into the community and provide 40 new employment opportunities.
Unrelated to the project, the City of Lyons is going on the water rates. A public hearing was held prior to Tuesday night’s meeting regarding the increase and while some city residents had expressed verbally their objection, no one presented anything in writing according to the City Manager. The most current water rates were set in 2015, and Hall says the city cannot continue to cover water and sewer operating costs based on needed maintenance and unfunded mandates required by state and federal governments.
A resolution approved Tuesday night also notes that the Council realizes the need to promote water conservation, and studies show the best way is to do that is through tiered water and sewer rates.
The new rates will become effective immediately and will remain in effect until 2024 unless amended by the City Council.
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When an officer of the law exhibits heroic actions but doesn’t want to draw attention to himself, that’s truly worthy of the badge. Such was the case of Detective Sergeant Andrew Britton in October 2019. Simply by performing his job, he earned recognition by the new District Attorney Tripp Fitzner. At the Lyons City Council meeting Tuesday night, Lyons Police Chief Wesley Walker presented Sgt. Britton with a framed letter of appreciation from the District Attorney.
Sgt. Britton was assigned the missing person case involving Brandon Colson. With much diligence, he was able to gather the information that led to the discovery of Colson’s body in a makeshift grave in the Ponderosa Community, resulting in the arrests of Israel Williams and Hollis Bryant.
Last week, Williams went to trial and was found guilty. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Bryant pled in late 2019 and was given a sentence of life with the possibility of parole.
Sgt. Britton modestly accepted the letter from the District Attorney but was quick to include his fellow officer Lt. Wayne Waldon and the Lyons Police Department for being a big part of the investigation that helped put the perpetrators in prison. He also thanked Chief Walker for his support and for allowing him to do his job effectively to serve the citizens of Lyons.
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