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Archive for year: 2017
Groovin’: Disco Ball in Florence raises money to help three nonprofit groups
“FLORENCE, S.C. — The tunes of A Taste of Honey, Rose Royce, Van McCoy’s “Hustle” and other disco-era songs blasted through the Waters Building as people boogied to the grooves and enjoyed food from caterer Out of Left Field on Thursday.
The Disco Ball was a fundraiser by Leadership Florence t o support three nonprofit groups: SNAC, Help 4 Kids, and The Naomi Project .
Mark Spinazola said he had to come to the ball because he was born and raised in disco. In the words of the band Wild Cherry, Spinazola and his dance partner were “’dancin’ and singin’ and movin’ to the groovin’.”
Donna Baxley was on the dance floor throughout the ball. She said her friend invited her, and she went with coworkers.
“My favorite part of the night is the costumes,” Baxley said.
The men wore their ultra-white tuxedos, their afros and chains, while the women wore their jumpsuits, glittery shirts and short frocks.
The deejay turned the lights down, the strobe lights decorated the place as the deejay played the grooves of the disco era to bring out the nominees of the Best Dressed Disco Male and Best Dressed Disco Female. As the two dozen or so strutted around the dance floor, the audience members had to cheer loudly for the Best Dressed.
Kim Alejos and Shawn Hylan won the Best Dressed competition. Alejos received a $100 certificate from Pretty N’ Bliss, while Hylan won $100 from Butler’s Fine Men’s Clothing.
Besides the Best Dressed competition, there was a soul train line with dancers giving their best disco grooves as they traveled down the line.
Representatives from the different nonprofit groups talked about how the money raised by the Disco Ball will aid their organizations by purchasing food for the kids or protecting families in hardship.
Jensen Seear, president of Leadership Florence Class of 2017, said they sold about 400 tickets. Sponsors Assurant provided $5,000 to the event and ADP provided $2,500.
“We’re thankful for what was given,” Seear said. “We wanted $30,000, but I know with the silent auction and tickets at the door, we’ll probably get $35,000.”
He said the Leadership Florence class wanted to host an event that was lighthearted. He said the event is probably the only disco gala in the Pee Dee right now.
“I hope people came for a good time,” Seear said. “It a lighthearted great theme and it allows us to share awareness of the three nonprofits in a fun setting.”
SCNow Web Article – Groovin’: Disco Ball in Florence raises money to help three nonprofit groups
Fellows in Education Program Luncheon
By: Rebecca Cross, Morning News
“FLORENCE, S.C. – Twenty-three community and business leaders received certificates for completing the Fellows in Education Program during a luncheon at the Florence Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday.
The program was designed to give leaders a behind-the-scenes look into Florence School District One (FSD1) schools and is a joint program between FSD1, The School Foundation and the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce.
During the program, participants met eight times to tour schools and learn about student needs and the state and federal requirements placed on schools, teachers and administrators in FSD1.
Michele Pridgen, Assistant Manager of Administration at Honda of South Carolina, said that bringing together leaders from a variety of backgrounds contributed to the program’s effectiveness in the community.
“Developing an eclectic group in the program is really ingenious,” Pridgen said. “It allows you to go back to your perspective company and to represent what is going on in the education scene.”
Katie Wilcox who works in marketing and business development at Pee Dee Electric Cooperative said that she grew up attending FSD1 schools, but participating in the Fellows in Education Program positively exposed her to new schools and people.
“I was very impressed with the curriculum that they are teaching to the elementary kids,” Wilcox said. “Also, the teachers are doing the best they can with what they have.”
To commemorate the completion of the program, participants received a framed certificate as they were congratulated by FSD1 Superintendent Dr. Randy Bridges, Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce President Michael Miller and The School Foundation Executive Director Debbie Hyler.”
Four Florence restaurants to create menu for fundraising event
By: Jessica Imbimbo, Morning News
“FLORENCE, S.C. – Four Florence restaurants will unite to create one menu for the “Experience the Vision: An Evening to Savor” event on Wednesday, May 24, in downtown Florence.
“Experience the Vision” is a farm-to-table dinner and wine tasting with proceeds to benefit the American Red Cross. The funds raised from the event will help the Red Cross provide services to people affected by house fires and help provide potentially life-saving tools and information about home fire prevention and safety.
The outdoor event is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. featuring select wines from California winemaker Mac McDonald and a four-course meal provided by the executive chefs of Victors, Town Hall, King Jefe and Tracks Café. With the help of the Pee Dee Food Hub, the executive chefs will be creating various dishes using the freshest ingredients from local farmers.
King Jefe will provide the second course, a fresh spinach salad with its own Mexican flair. The salad will feature field peas, Carolina Heritage Farms chorizo, agave-glazed onions, heirloom tomatoes and queso fresco. Town Hall is serving a Carolina Heritage Farms confit pork shoulder for the main course with Carolina Plantation baked grits, mushrooms, fingerling potatoes, roasted tomatoes and a sorghum glaze.
For the final course, Tracks Café is serving a decadent dessert featuring fresh strawberries from Willard Farms. Tracks Café is located in the HopeHealth building at 360 N. Irby St. Tracks chef Adam Silverman said he hopes the event will not only bring awareness to the Red Cross mission, but also bring attention to local farmers and restaurants in the Florence area.
“This is the first time that we’ve really been tied in with the downtown restaurants. Doing things like this is really big for us,” Silverman said. “Doing things like that is fun for me. It gives me creative outlets and its advertising for us.”
Cooper Thomas, executive chef at Victors, said being able to collaborate with other local chefs on this menu not only helps the individual businesses, but also helps the Florence downtown revitalization.
“It’s a win for everybody. It’ll be a great event.”
Tickets for the “Experience the Vision: An Evening to Savor” event are $100 each and can be purchased through Victors at Hotel Florence. Sponsorships for the event start at $500 and tickets are limited to the first 100 people.”
SCNow Web Article – Four Florence restaurants to create menu for fundraising event
Business of the Quarter: MiLadies 182
Congratulations to the Chamber and City of Florence‘s Business of the Quarter, MiLadies 182, led by Doris Lockhart, Starlee Alexander and Charlene Lowery! We were very honored to recognize MiLadies 182 during a meeting of Florence City Council and look forward to their continued efforts to help make Florence an even better place to live and do business.
Leadership Florence’s Disco Ball set for May 18
By: Katrina Moses, Morning News
“FLORENCE, S.C. — On May 18, an event at the Waters Building in downtown Florence will let people relive the disco era.
Leadership Florence will host the event and is encouraging everyone to wear disco attire. The best-dressed man will win a $100 gift card from Butler’s Fine Men’s Clothing, and the best-dressed woman will win a $100 gift card from Pretty N’ Bliss.
“We’re trying to encourage people to dress appropriately with the bellbottoms and afros,” said Celeste M. Kahn, who is doing marketing for the event.
“Leadership Florence had a class that focused on local nonprofits, and those three caught our attention,” Kahn said.
Kahn said disco theme music will be provided by a deejay. She said there will also be a silent auction at the event. Items on auction are fine jewelry, wines and spirit, art and sporting goods.
Leadership Florence assists participants in increasing their knowledge of the Greater Florence Area. The class meets once a month for nine months.
“We as a class voted on different themed events, and disco was more popular,” Kahn said. “We’ve been planning this since the end of 2016.”
People interested in attending can buy tickets through Eventbrite at eventbrite.com or purchase tickets at the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce.
The Disco Ball will start at 7 p.m. Tickets are $30 apiece or $50 for two tickets. The proceeds of the event will go to Naomi Project, Help 4 Kids, and SNAC.
The Naomi Project assists families that go through domestic violence. The organization provides housing, educational, financial, emotional, mental and spiritual support to families.
Help 4 Kids is a program that supplies food packs to elementary schools in Florence County to decrease the amount of kids who go home hungry. SNAC works to improve the conditions for homeless children and their families within Florence School District One. SNAC provides faith-based programs, counseling services, financial education classes and job assistance.”
SCNow Web Article – Leadership Florence’s Disco Ball set for May 18
First Heritage Credit holds grand opening in Florence
By: Jessica Imbimbo, Morning News
“FLORENCE, S.C. – First Heritage Credit, located at 960 Pamplico Highway, celebrated its grand opening Wednesday morning alongside members of the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce.
First Heritage Credit is a community-based lender that provides personal and consumer financing to local merchants for items such as furniture, appliances, electronics, ATVs and more. Founded in 1995, First Heritage Credit serves over 116,000 customers through more than 100 offices operating in Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, South Carolina and Alabama.
Chamber ambassadors joined First Heritage Credit staff members and administrators for a ribbon cutting and grand opening ceremony to congratulate and welcome them to the chamber. The company has two Florence locations. The second, on Woody Jones Boulevard, will host its own grand opening ceremony in the coming weeks.
Larry Mixson, vice president of First Heritage Credit, said the business has opened 10 new offices since the start of the year and he is happy to have two locations serving local residents.
“We’re super excited,” Mixson said. “We’re going to be all over South Carolina and we looking forward to a great relationship in the Florence area.”
Vicki McLeod, district manager for First Heritage, oversees the Florence offices as well as three other surrounding locations. McLeod said both she and the three-person staff at First Heritage are looking forward to not only helping the Florence community but also being an active member of the chamber.
For more information about First Heritage Credit, visit 1stheritagecredit.com.”
SCNow Web Article – First Heritage Credit holds grand opening in Florence
BluFish IT Solutions joins Florence Chamber
By: Jessica Imbimbo, Morning News
“LORENCE, S.C. – BluFish IT Solutions Inc. became a member of the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday afternoon following a ribbon cutting held at the chamber office in downtown Florence.
BluFish IT Solutions is a computer networking company located at 908 S. Parker Drive that offers an array of services including network consultation, management, maintenance and security. The company also offers off-site and remote backups, web design services, mobile app development, infrastructure upgrades and hardware repairs.
Bryan Smith, co-founder of BluFish IT Solutions, said the company opened for business in August 2016 and has provided 24-hour services to a wide range of clients from medical and dentist offices to engineering and printing industries.
“Our main goal was to solve the issue for small-to-medium-sized businesses hiring an on-site IT staff,” Smith said. “We virtualize that at less than half of the cost. We really pride ourselves on saving people money.”
Smith, along with his family members and fellow co-founder Bryan Wollan, shook hands with chamber ambassadors during the ribbon cutting ceremony. Smith said BluFish’s becoming a chamber member will allow the company to continue to grow and provide connections with other local businesses.
“There’s a lot of influential business members and organizations that are a part of this group,” Smith said. “It’s just a really nice opportunity to meet with some of the more influential members of the community.”
SCNow Web Article – BluFish IT Solutions joins Florence Chamber
Junior Leadership Florence County graduates 2017 class
“FLORENCE, S.C. – More than 20 high school students from Florence County spent the last year gaining leadership skills and an increased awareness of the community through the Junior Leadership Florence County 4-H Program.
A commencement ceremony was held Thursday afternoon at the Francis Marion University Frank B. Lee Nursing Building. Students received certificates for their participation in the leadership program.
Over the course of the school year, the students attended monthly sessions that focused on leadership skills, successful team work, health care, community awareness, business and industry, agriculture, natural resources, history, art and education, according to the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce.
“I feel blessed to have had the experience of meeting new people and being exposed to new environments,” said Junior Leadership Florence County participant Jordan Snipes. “This exciting 4-H leadership opportunity has brought together high school sophomores and juniors from 10 public and private schools from across Florence County.”
Snipes, a sophomore at Florence Christian School, said that although the group of participants was diverse, they formed a great team and look forward to making a difference in their communities.
Francis Marion University President Fred Carter gave the keynote address at Thursday’s ceremony. He offered five tips to the students for their future: Use the Junior Leadership Florence County experience to broaden their perspective, seize opportunities, develop a network, cultivate and sustain new friendships and read.
“The network that you develop here, and the network that you’ll carry with you into your college years will be critically important to you,” Carter said. “You don’t know how important that is now, but you’ll come to understand in your 20s, and 30s and 40s that the networks that you establish now will sustain the perspectives that you maintain throughout the rest of your life.”
Grayson Jeffords, a student at Trinity-Byrnes Collegiate School, said it was very interesting to get to grow and meet people from other schools that she would not normally meet.
“And it (the leadership program) made me raise my awareness of Florence County and just see all of the job opportunities that are available,” Jeffords said.
Erin Lassiter, also a Trinity-Byrnes student, said she loved the experience.
“I thought it was a great experience to get to know more about Florence and just get to meet a lot of new people,” Lassiter said. “We traveled around Florence County and got different aspects of what our community needed and what it was made of.”
The presenting sponsors for this year’s program were Clemson Cooperative Extension, the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce and Francis Marion University.”
SCNow Web Article – Junior Leadership Florence County graduates 2017 class
Florence Chamber host “Noon Tunes” & The Janis Project
The Florence Chamber was proud to host ‘Noon Tunes’, a live concert performed by Karen Hertzog as a part of Play Me I’m Yours project. The piano was painted by local artist Gina Dyess.
The Janis Project by Frank Hyder also found a temporary home at the Chamber this week. Sponsored by several local businesses, The Janis Project will be at the Chamber until May 6th.
