The Noveaux Honkies! (Seriously, how awesome is that name?)

Florence After Five is tomorrow night July 30, 2010. Florence After Five welcomes home local talent Rebecca Dawkins and her band, The Nouveaux Honkies as they kick off a month long tour starting right here in Florence with two shows and extending up the coast and into the northeastern US. You should really listen to their music even if you can’t come by clicking this site. (You can also listen so you can sing along tomorrow night.) I am currently listening to “Your Twin.” I love their sound– it is a nice combination of country, blues, and rock.

This month’s concert sponsor is Pee Dee Electric Cooperative. Darlington Motor Speedway will be hosting a drawing for two tickets to the Too Tough to Tame 200 coming August 14th.

The After Party will be at Apple Annies after Florence After Five for another dose of the Nouveaux Honkies along with various craft and/or import beer giveaways and specials by Crown Beverages.

(Special thanks to Tim Norwood and Victor’s Bistro for another successful season thus far.)

(I am Flossip and I have a deep love for writing in parentheses. You can follow me on twitter for even more information. )

Another Pecan Festival has come and gone, and I think this festival is going to be a long term success! As you know, I think Florence has been woefully lacking in the festival department prior to the Pecan Festival. How can we be a southern town without a festival? Despair no more… we finally can rightfully claim our status as a southern city. Now we just need a “Miss Pecan”…

Anyway. The festival was a blast. I got there early in the morning and did not leave until late at night… after the last band (The Okaysions). I really wanted to hear Drink Small on Sunday, but honestly my feet were just refusing to walk me anywhere else.

First, I have to thank this woman:

I have no idea who you are, but you are absolutely the Flossip’s favorite person. Why? I was standing behind you and saw that you had printed out the Pecan Festival schedule FROM MY WEBSITE. I felt… famous! So, thank you for reading. (Thanks to ALL of you that read, but especially my new friend.)

About 12:30 you may have noticed a strange phenomenon. Central United Methodist Church was actually LIFTED UP by the Masterworks Choir. Amazing!

I was not sure that I would be moved by the music, and I was so wrong. The songs were uplifting and beautiful. It actually felt strange to walk outside and smell funnel cakes and…

KETTLE CORN!!! (See how quickly I can change direction?)

Y’all. I have this friend that doesn’t believe in the sweet/salty combination. Personally, I think that Clay Smith’s Lowcountry Kettle Corn  is being served as an appetizer in heaven. It is just that good. (They sell it at the New York Butcher Shoppe as well).

I was getting tired then, so I checked out the Blues Breezeway.

This guy was awesome. You could tell all the kids were exhausted (I was kid free for once)… and he totally got them involved in the show. He would scream chicken, they would scream chicken… great fun (and the beer truck was right there as well).

There was a TON of food.
I found the people that make the fried strawberries… but they forgot the strawberries! They were SO nice and so apologetic… apparently I was not the only one that asked. He did promise me that they will have them next year…. sigh. Good things come to those that wait, right? (I confess I asked him where he will be in the next few months… desperate much?)

I also saw some great local artists that had some fabulous Christmas gifts. We have some really talented people in this area!

I KNOW that I saw many of you at the Pecan Festival… especially my best friend above. Next time you see me in my glasses and blue hat be sure to wave! (Perhaps I need to have a float in the Christmas festival. Who has a spare fence I can use?) I really can’t tell you how awesome it was to see downtown as it is meant to be– brimming with people, laughter, and places to eat. Hopefully this will transfer over to everyday downtown at some point!

2009 South Carolina Pecan Festival Entertainment Schedule

Stage 1:     First Reliance Bank Stage

10:00 a      Wilson High School ROTC & Band

Invocation

Welcome

10:30 a      Florence Men’s Choral Society

11:30 a      Anisha Green (10 yr. old opera singer)

12:00 n      Kelly’s Fine Arts & The KFA Dance Company

12:30 a      Flowtown Band (Rock)

1:30 p       E-Z Street (Beach)

2:30 p       Pantasia (Steel Drums)

3:30 p       School of Dance Arts

4:00 p       Clay Brown & Band (R/B & Beach)

5:30 p       The O’Kaysions (Beach)

Stage 2:     (Blues Bash) First Bank Stage

10:30 a      Matt Walsh Band

12:00 n      Charlie Sayles & the Blues Disciples, featuring Tony Fazio

1:30  p      Bill Lupkin & The Chicago Blues Coalition

3:30  p      Daddy Mack Blues Band

4:30  p      Studebaker John & The Hawks

Stage 3:     Crown Beverages Stage

10:30 a      Nuevo Guadalajara (Mariachi)

11:30 a      Lady Di & Company (Jazz)

12:30 p      23-19 (Rock)

1:30  p      Free Spirit (R/B & Beach)

2:30  p      David Wayne (Country)

3:30  p      Uncle Buddah & DJ J. Watts (Urban Hip-Hop)

4:30  p      The Woody’s (Rock/Beach)

Stage 4:     Hope Health Stage

10:30 a      Vocal Reunion (Southern Gospel)

11:30 a      Three Day Funk (Rock)

12:30 a      TOS Band (Jazz, R/B, Beach)

1:30  p      Borrowed Time (Bluegrass)

2:30  p      Sensational Brown Brothers (Gospel)

3:30  p      William Taylor (Classic Pop)

4:30  p      Barry Brown (Country)

Stage 5:     (Blues Bash-Acoustic Alley) BTC – Business Technology Stage

11:45 a      Shrimp City Slim

1:00  p      Juke Joint Johnny & Drew Baldwin

2:15  p      Freddie Vanderford & Brandon Turner

3:30  p      Cotton Blue

4:30  p      Jeff Norwood

On August 3, 2009, the City of Florence will have a Grand Opening for their new downtown police substation. The Grand Opening will be from 5:00-7:30 p.m. The Ribbon Cutting will be at 5:00 p.m.

There will be music and you can view art installations by Metamorphosis Art Collective. I am pretty fascinated that Mr. Melshus Davis, of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, will be there. Activities will be in the park adjacent to the building.

To all of you that have been saying “There is nothing to do in Florence”– here is something fun, free, and helps you meet the people keeping you safe at night. What more could you ask for?

(PDF available here.)

Downtown Florence has earned National Accreditation according to an article published by SCNow.

“We congratulate this year’s nationally accredited Main Street programs for meeting our established performance standards,” Doug Loescher, director of the National Trust Main Street Center, said. “Rebuilding a district’s economic health and maintaining that success requires broad-based community involvement and support, as well as establishing a strong organization that is committed to long-term success.”

The revitalization efforts of Florence Downtown Development Corp. were recently evaluated by the agency and found to meet its stringent standards for accreditation.

I really am excited about a reenergized downtown. Towns with strong downtown areas are a lot of fun, and it is so nice to be able to walk from shop to shop. It is not an easy process, and I know it will take time and effort. Events like Florence after Five are hopefully just the start to a lot of focused energy.

Grumpiness was abundant at my house this morning. Usually Saturdays stretch out like a road of abundant possibilities during the summer, but today is different. I told the little Flossips that we had ERRANDS to do, and was met with a chorus of shrieks and whines.
“BUT MOMMMMMM. ERRANDS ARE BORRRINGGGG.”

Sigh. Of course they are boring, even I get bored doing errands. However, today they are a must. I enticed the children with a promise of a breakfast of silver dollar pancakes with an extra dollop of syrup.

The Venus was packed, but there was a table for three open and ready in the non-smoking room. The kids drew pretty pictures on take out bags and we had a hearty helping of cholesterol laden goodness to fortify us for a day of errands. (I could not help but smile as I enjoyed a daytime Venus with my children as I compared it to my visits late night when I was home from college. I followed the same drill on those trips home: Apple Annies until closing and then late night dining at the Venus.)

Venus Pancake House:
471 W Palmetto St
Florence, SC 29501-4424
(843) 669-9977

This Friday, June 5, is the second Florence after Five! If you missed the first one, you really should try to make this one. (Come on, please get out of the box and do something fun and different!) There is free admission and lots of people had their kids at the last one, so it is fun for the whole family!
I saw our fabulous City Workers out getting the Plaza ready this morning. (Across from Central United Methodist Church on Irby Street.)

The Band Villanova will be playing. Check out their Myspace and listen to their music before Friday, you will definitely enjoy seeing them live.

The fun starts at 5:30 and keeps going until 7:30. There will be a great crowd with a lot of fun people. The rain location is the FDTC parking deck on Cheves Street.

(Click here for a printable PDF Brochure)

1. Florence After Five presents the very first night of the concert series (note to self: Have not gotten a sitter yet.) (Also, Downtown people, please work on your website.)

2. Saturday is the Black Creek Kayak Festival! (Kudos on the website by the way.) I am REALLY excited about taking the kids and Mr. Flossip to this event. Kayaking black creek is one of the things I always think would be fun, but never can figure out quite how to do it. It doesn’t help that I once had a traumatic experience involving a canoe and a river.

3. Peter Pan will still be going on at the Florence Little Theater. Here is a nice review in the Morning News. (When you click that link, you really should think about subscribing to the paper, or at least clicking their ads to help support the people that work hard to bring you all of this information.)

4. The March of Dimes March for Babies will be Saturday May 2, 2009. This is the March of Dimes huge fundraising push to help infants born too soon or sick (or both).
Florence Rail Trail
2437 Willwood Drive
Walk Distance: 4 miles
Registration Time: 8:30AM
Start Time: 9:00 AM

5. “Its time to Laugh” will be at the Civic Center on Friday,, May 1, 2009 8:00pm and
Saturday – 6:00pm and 8:30pm.
It’s Time 2 Laugh Christian Comedy Tour II presented by No Joke Entertainment featuring Minister of Comedy, Akintunde (as seen on TBN, BET, The Word Network, Showtime At The Apollo). Also appearing live is Christian Comedian, Corie Johnson (BET and “God Aint No Joke) along with Radio Personality and Host, Tony Gee from WPDT 105.1. Get ready to laugh on May 1st and 2nd!

6. The Florence Phantoms will be playing Reading on Friday night, May 1, 2009 at 7:30 PM. venue:Florence Civic Center address:3300 West Radio Drive Florence, SC 29501

What else is happening this weekend? Where will YOU be!?

I am SO Excited about this fun new concert series that Florence is going to offer! Live Music, Food and drink, FREE admission! The series will be the First Friday of every month– May 1, June 5, July 3, August 7, September 4. It will be held at the Plaza across from Central United Methodist Church.

When I lived in Columbia, we went to the Concerts at the Park at Finlay Park. There was always a great turn out, and a a ton of fun.

The band on May 1 will be the Woody’s.

(Presented by: City of Florence, Florence Downtown Development Corporation, Crown Beverages, Roche, First Reliance, Harrington Vision Center, somebody that has a D for a logo, Pepsi; and Sponsored by Victor’s Bistro and Garden Room.)

I was sad to read the article that Dixon Drug Store has closed after 62 years of business. When I first moved back to Florence, the Dixon’s wrote me a letter welcoming me back to town and congratulating me on my new job. That letter meant a lot to me, and I have never forgotten how it made me feel like a member of the professional community.

I hope the Dixon’s have a wonderful retirement, they will be missed downtown!