Thumbs Up! Feb. 26, 2018

One of the biggest days of the year will be here Saturday. The Snickers Marathon and Half Marathon will crank up at 7 a.m. The Mardi Gras Street Festival starts at 10 a.m. and will carry on all throughout the day, wrapping up at 6 p.m. Albany’s marathon is regarded as one of the top 10 qualifiers in the nation for the “big one,” the Boston Marathon. In 2017, the event brought 1,364 registered runners to the Good Life City. Volunteers are needed to help with everything from road marshals to working at the finish line. Residents along the marathon route are asked to park a chair in the yard and cheer the runners on as they pass by. Following the runs, bring the family downtown for the street festival. There will be multiple vendors, music, food and more. As always, marathon proceeds will benefit the Willson Hospice House, which thus far has received $215,000 from the event. Saturday will be a great opportunity to welcome visitors from all over the world and enjoy a family-oriented day of entertainment.

Located at Sparks in Cook County is a new business unlike anything Atlanta can attract. Grimmway Farms has come to South Georgia, representing a $5 million investment. The product that will be produced is carrots. From January through May, Grimmway Farms, the largest carrot producer in the world, will start with 500 acres of the tubers. Acreage is expected to increase and the now-open facility has the ability to handle 1,000 acres of production. Agriculture is truly the bread and butter of South Georgia, and this new company is an economic boost for everyone.

“Stop the Bleed Georgia” is a simple program. Trauma kits designed to do just what they say are being distributed to schools across the state. Schools receiving the kits are required to train a minimum of 10 staff members to use the items inside to slow or stop bleeding while awaiting emergency personnel to arrive. The Lee County Public Safety Department now has the trauma kits and will soon began training teachers and administrators on how to best use them. The state funds used to cover the cost, when minutes can save a life, is a wise use of taxpayer dollars. Here’s hoping most, or even all, of the trauma kits sit on the shelf and collect dust from a lack of need to use them.

Grants are available for just about anything, but writing a grant can be tedious and time consuming. Camyljah Giddens is a professional artist and a first year art teacher at Radium Springs Middle School. She took the time and made the effort to apply for a $1,000 grant from the Environmental & Agricultural Education Program. Her efforts have paid off. RSMS will soon be the home of a tower garden. Aside from the food students will grow, the curriculum includes design, business, physical science, engineering and technology. Teachers such as Giddens are far more valuable to their students than any textbook or electronic gadget and deserve a thumbs up now and again…here’s yours.

Although baseball season is just around the corner, football is on the minds of Westover Patriots and their supporters. Westover High School has landed a seriously enthusiastic football couch just in time for spring training. Former Georgia and Georgia Southern assistant coach Olten Downs will start work Thursday. Anthony Jordan, head of the Westover gridiron booster club, and Coach Olten are eager to get to work rallying students, parents, teachers, alumni and the entire Patriot community behind the team. While not in any rule book, most successful high school sports programs have the backing of an active booster club, as well a full stadiums for Friday night home games. Downs and Jordan have big plans and they involve more than just the scoreboard.