Author: Submitted

Yearly, the Coffee County community comes together to raise money for Relay for Life to support the American Cancer Society. Teams are built through businesses, schools, churches, individuals, and organizations. Like so many team players, Coffee Regional developed a team, chaired by Wellness Center Director Danny McCarty, to help support the cause. In the past, Coffee Regional has held bake sales, T-shirt sales, flower sales, pageants, and drawings for all sorts of items. This year they took a different approach to their fundraising effort, a raffle. This was not just any typical raffle, but a raffle complete with a weekend…

Sisters Vicki Blau Pridemore and Lisa Hood cut the ribbon at Executive Lofts on Tuesday, May 5. The fully-furnished corporate rentals are beautifully decorated and feature high-speed internet, granite countertops, a fully-equipped kitchen with microwave, a security system in each unit, and flat-screen televisions. There are two-bedroom units that feature a lanai and one-bedroom loft style apartments are also available. Each of the master bedrooms has a Tempur-pedic queen size mattress. The units also have a washer/dryer in each unit and a patio/grill area. Weekly and monthly rentals are available. For more information or for special corporate pricing, contact…

Glenn Graham, age 58, of West Green, GA passed away on Tuesday, May 5, 2015, at his residence following an extended illness. Mr. Graham was born on August 18, 1956, in Wray, GA to the late J.P. Graham and Dorothy Courson Graham. Survivors include: his wife, Vicki Graham of West Green, GA; two sons, Michael Scott (Christy) Graham of West Green, GA and Brian Adam Graham of West Green, GA; three daughters, Kasey Ryan Moon, Kelly Niccole Moon Erica Dawn Crenshaw all of Douglas, GA; six brothers, Nolan Graham of Nicholls, GA, Jimmy Graham, of Ambrose, GA, Danny Graham of…

Dr. Robert Henry Peterson was born in Douglas, GA on Halloween, 1940. The grandson of Henry and Mary Ellen Vickers and son of Chester Peterson and Minnie Lee Sparks, he spent a wonderful childhood in Coffee County with his sister Mary Gail Gaddy and numerous cousins including Dr. Rodney Vickers, Jean Bowlin and Lonnie Pope. He attended both Coffee High School and South Georgia College and worked in the fields with his grandparents and in the tobacco warehouse in the summers. He will greatly miss this summer’s class reunion with a close-knit group of peers who have stayed in touch…

Eastside’s ‘Teacher of the Year’ for the 2015-2016 term is Mrs. Jill Griffis. Mrs. Griffis teaches special education in a self-contained setting serving grades 3-5. She has been in education for 14 years and is a graduate of Valdosta State University with a B.S. in Secondary Education – Social Science and a Master’s in Middle Grades Education. For several years, Mrs. Griffis has represented our school system and district at the state level as a representative for the Core Access Teachers for Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities initiative. She has also served as a mentor for new teachers throughout the…

Mrs. Viannah Carver Murray, age 90, of Nicholls passed away Monday morning, May 4, 2015, at the Baptist Village in Waycross, following an extended illness. She was born March 28, 1925 to the late Calvin Carver and the late Emma Davis Carver. Survivors include: 5 Daughters: Sandra Nelson of St. Simons, Ga., Pam Smith of Ambrose, Ga., Gail Murray, and Scarlett Griffin, both of Nicholls, Ga., and Denise Burkett of West Green, Ga.; 3 Sons: George Albert Murray of Forsyth, Ga., Terry Murray, and Chester Murray, both of Nicholls, Ga.; 1 Sister: Hazel Worth of Douglas, Ga.; Several Grandchildren, and…

Mrs. Florence Magdalene Varnedore, age 76 of Douglas, passed away Saturday, May 2, 2015 at her home following an extended illness. Mrs. Varnedore was born on October 30, 1938 to the late Carl Beasley and the late Odessa Carver Beasley. She is survived by her husband, David Virgil Varnedore of Douglas; one son, David ( Sharon) Varnedore and three daughters: Diane Spivey, Tammy (Brian) Whitley and Gail Oglesbee all of Douglas. The Varnedore family will received friends and loved ones on Saturday, May 2, 2015 from 6 to 9 p.m. at Sims Funeral Home. Funeral services were held Sunday, May…

Coffee County Sheriff’s Deputy Rodney Courson, Sr. finished his law enforcement career, which spanned over thirty years, when he officially retired last week. Courson retired from the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office on April 30, 2014. Sheriff Wooten and his staff honored him with a cake and presented Courson with a plaque thanking him for his loyalty, dedication and service to the citizens of Coffee County. Rodney Courson Sr. began his law enforcement career in Broxton 1979 with the Broxton Police Department. He left Broxton and went to work with the Douglas Police Department in 1980. Mr. Courson later left the…