Tift students awarded city scholarship

TIFTON — Two Tift County High School students were given a gift by the City of Tifton, thanking them for their dedication to their academics and their community and encouraging them to keep up the good work.

Kaleb Dela Cerna and Blake Chambless were honored at a recent Tifton City Council meeting with the James E. Dove Memorial Scholarship for their academic achievement and service to their community.

The scholarship, which has been offered by the city since 2002, is in honor of James Dove, the first natural gas superintendent of Tifton, who was vital in bringing the gas system to the community.

Applicants for the scholarship are asked to write an essay on a given prompt and are reviewed by City Manager Pete Pyrzenksi, Jeff West, regional manager of ESG, and other city staff and judged on both academic achievement and community involvement.

West distributed the scholarships to the students at the meeting, though Chambless was unable to attend.

Dela Cerna expressed his gratitude to City Council, announcing his intent to funnel the funds toward pursuing finance, first at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College for two years, then at the University of Georgia.

Earnest Dove, the son of James Dove, also thanked the city for continuing to honor his father with the scholarship.

City Council members thanked Dove for the work his father performed for the community and wished Dela Cerna the best of luck in pursuing his education.