AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Downtown Soul City is helping get Augusta businesses into the holiday spirit.

The Soul City Spectacular is a holiday decorating competition between 26 businesses downtown.

“Well, it lines up with Downtown Soul City’s mission which is really to get downtown businesses to cooperate and work together for the betterment of the community,” said John Porter, director of Downtown Soul City. “We had a ton of people decide to participate as businesses and do the decorations and put on some fun festive holiday cheer with a little bit of friendly competition.

A panel of judges will be voting on the most creative, most colorful, most elegant and best overall.

Downtown Soul City will announce the winner of the decorating competition on Friday.

They say your job is to head downtown, see the sights, and cast your ballot for the popular vote category before Friday.

Copyright 2024 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – This afternoon, Augusta University hosted its Healthy Grandparents Program at the Julian Smith Casino, this time with a Christmas party.

This year’s Healthy Grandparents event focused on helping them around the holidays.

The 26th annual Christmas party supports grandparents and great-grandparents who are raising their grandchildren in homes without their parents.

We caught up with the coordinator on why this event is so important.

“It’s important because these grandparents are stepping into some very tough situations,” says Mike Patton, program coordinator for the Healthy Grandparents Program. “Where the parents of the children are either unable or unwilling to take care of them for a variety of reasons. Without these grandparents stepping in, a lot of these kids would probably end up in foster care. So, these grandparents kind of put their lives on hold. Make untold sacrifices for their grandchildren. And provide them with the stability and permanency that they need.”

He says it all comes down to helping support these grandparents in achieving stability for the children.

Copyright 2024 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) -Richmond County deputies were at the scene of a car accident just after 10 p.m. near Roger Bagby Auto Services Sunday night.

News 12 crews on scene said the eastbound lanes of Wrightsboro Road is block off and it is unclear when the road will reopen.

Due to visibility issues, News 12 crews could not confirm how many vehicles were involved.

The westbound lanes are still open and you should use caution in the area.

We have reached out to the sheriff’s office for more information on the accident.

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