I would love if everyone would submit pictures of your favorite Christmas lights in Florence. I will post your picture and let people know where the best lights are to be found. I may even add a prize for the best photo.

For example: These are in Deerfield off Third Loop.

I am going to make a new category for Lost and Found Pets so that pet owners in Florence, SC and the pee dee can easily look to see if their missing animal is on here.

LOST:

I lost my 2 wonderful dogs yesterday, that I LOVE so much! They were last seen in the Forest Lake area. I have put up signs, called the humane society and posted an ad in the Florence Morning News.

It is a Yellow Female Lab and a Black Female Shephard/Corgi mix. I am giving a reward to whoever finds them. My number is 319-5364.

FOUND:
Also, reader Crystal found this pup and she can be reached at crystalhulseyATgmail.com. If this is your dog or you are interested in adopting him, please email her.

A side effect of writing the Flossip is that I pay attention to my surroundings more. I look around town for interesting pictures to take, businesses to visit, people to meet. I have learned that if I am going to spend money I want to spend it at local merchants first if possible.
I was out by Ebeneezer Baptist Church the other day and noticed there is a historical marker on site. Do you ever stop and read those? Did you know that Ebeneezer Baptist was founded in 1778? I don’t go to church there, and I did not know that. 1778! Thats amazing! Read this excerpt I found on this website:
The early settlers of the Pee Dee area were poverty stricken Protestants,and all of them were farmers. Some farmers also were in the timber, tar and/or turpentine business. They would cut pine trees, make a raft out of the pine logs, in Lynches River, float the raft down the Lynches River, thence into the big Pee Dee River and on the Big Pee Dee into Georgetown, S.C. where the logs, turpentine and tar was loaded onto sail ships in Winyah Bay. They would then
walk back to their homes in the Pee Dee area or possibly ride horseback or on a wagon train. The round trip would take several days (a week or more.) My great, great, great grandfather on my maternal side lived near Cartersville in what is now Florence County (then Darlington District) named Owen Lockhart, and he was
engaged in the timber, turpentine and tar business when not in Court about some debt he failed to pay, including a huge debt and mortgage over a 6,000 acre tract of land he bought on credit and tried to farm. He was also a carpenter, and built Ebenezer Baptist Church building under a contract in 1837-1838. (Then in Darlington District, now in Florence County.) Ebenezer Baptist Church was established in 1778, and it is one of the oldest churches in the Pee Dee.
(Another interesting fact is that the minister at Ebeneezer Baptist, David Wike, is a blogger and on twitter)

I turned down Industry Drive to do a U-turn after I left EBC. Right in front of me, a wild rabbit hopped and stopped to look at me. You never know what you will find when you go exploring in Flo-town.

(Yes, the last picture was at Redbone. Y’all are getting too good. The pictures are going to get tougher I think!)

While I don’t usually like to promote the goings on at the beach, I got an email from Betsy Langston that I could not resist:

Next Thursday, April 9th is the opening game of the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. It is also going to be Autism Awareness Night there. AAF and building Futures Clinic are selling special tickets for 25.00 as a fund raiser . This entitles the ticket holder to 2 hours of unlimited food and Pepsi products before the game and also they will be selling Draft beer for $1.00. We have 70 tickets to sell. A lot of people from Florence go to these games and I know would enjoy this. I hope you would post this in honor of Worldwide Autism Awareness Day.

Children from Florence attend The Building Futures Autism Clinic at Surfside so I definitely wanted to get the word out about an outstanding program that is trying to raise money to build there own facility. Right now, Surfside Presbyterian Church donates the entire upstairs of their building to the clinic for a temporary basis. This is an ABA therapy program for children up to age 6. There are only 2 of these clinics in the state and one of them is right here in our area. We are very fortunate.
Betsy Langston

Although there have been multiple delays, it appears the Lynches River Splash Park may finally be opening.

This park replaces the Lynches River Pool that was losing money, and will hopefully provide yet another fun and active place for young people (and their parents) in the Pee Dee to get outside and beat the heat!