As the first hints of fall make their way to Tifton and football fever grips the population, we want to take a few minutes to recognize deserving Tiftarea residents with the coveted Peaches and Kudzu honors.

First, we’d like to send a bushel of peaches to Freedom Christian Fellowship for its leadership in organizing Thanksgiving food boxes for needy families. As Pastor William Arnold Jr., formerly the director of Brother Charlie’s Rescue Mission, noted, the need is especially pressing this year because of plant closings and the economy. The group will be packing the boxes beginning at 8:30 a.m. Nov. 22 at the Leroy Rogers Center, and volunteers and donations are needed. Each box is expected to cost about $10 to assemble and will contain a turkey or ham, vegetables and other items for a Thanksgiving meal. For more information, call Arnold at 238-0449.

Next, with Election Day fast approaching, we think the Georgia Council of the Blind deserves peaches for its upcoming event at which voting technologies for the visually impaired will be demonstrated. Large-print screens, digital readers and other devices are available to help the visually impaired vote with the privacy which most of us take for granted. Election officials will be on hand to answer questions at the meeting, planned for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Betty Jo Roach Community Center. Transportation is available by calling Denise Millette at 848-0486.

Speaking of voter registration, we send creeping tendrils of kudzu to the Omega officials who wouldn’t allow voter registration drive organizer Sarah Gibbs to register voters during the Pepper Festival last weekend. Gibbs and others who wanted to register voters were turned away by law enforcement and festival staffers — in violation of their civil rights which allow any American citizen to sign voters up in a non-partisan effort.

And finally, thoughts of the Pepper Festival bring to mind one of Tift County’s most successful vegetable farms. Peaches to Lewis Taylor Farms and owners Bill Brim and Ed Walker for winning the American Vegetable Grower’s 2008 Grower Achievement Award, given by American Vegetable Grower magazine to operations that serve as a role model for the industry. Congratulations to this vital part of the local economy.