Archive for May 2019

Anderson County, S.C. – Anderson County Seniors may apply for produce vouchers as part of the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program June 5 – June 7, 2019. The Anderson County Senior Citizens Program and the Anderson County Farmers Market, in partnership with the South Carolina Department of Social Services and other state agencies, will issue vouchers to eligible senior citizens. The vouchers can be used to purchase produce at participating farmers markets through October 15, 2019. Each eligible person will receive $25 worth of coupons. Vouchers are issued on a first come first served basis until the supply is exhausted.

Individuals aged 60 or older, with a low monthly income, or who receive SSI or EBT benefits are eligible for these free coupons. Individuals must apply in person; provide proof of their identity, age and their Anderson County residency. Applicants must also meet household income eligibility limits. Information regarding the income of all household members is required to determine eligibility.

Individuals wishing to apply for homebound seniors must provide a statement from the senior granting permission to submit an application on their behalf. Proof of identity and proof of income for the homebound senior must be presented at time of application. 

The Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program’s goal is to supplement the diets of low-income seniors with fresh, nutritious produce while supporting South Carolina’s small farmers. South Carolina is one of several states that receive funds from the USDA to operate this program. Anderson County is proud to support and offer this program.

Application vouchers will be at the following locations; vouchers are available first come, first served.

June 5 at 8am: Iva Farmers Market

June 6 at 8am: Belton Farmers Market

June 7 at 8am: Anderson County Farmers Market

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Media Contact:         Kelly Jo Barnwell, Seniors Program Coordinator

864-231-2237, kbarnwell@andersoncountysc.org

Anderson, SC – Watercolor artist Jamie Hansen will showcase her latest work at the Anderson Area YMCA June 7th through August.  For every piece that is purchased, Jamie will donate thirty percent of the sales back to the organization’s annual campaign.  The YMCA uses those funds toward scholarships for individuals and families to enroll in programs such as swim lessons, youth sports, summer camps and general memberships.  

“We are delighted to have Jamie’s work on display at the YMCA this summer.” says Anne Tedder, Fund Development Director for the Anderson Area YMCA. “As a YMCA member, Jamie recognizes the importance of making our programs and services available to those in need. Her support of the annual campaign through the art exhibit will provide extra dollars to fund financial assistance. I encourage everyone to come see her wonderful works of art!”  

Jamie will showcase nearly thirty new paintings of musical instruments.  Inspired in part by her husband’s career in music education, Jamie creates brightly colored pianos, woodwinds and other instruments.  She is working towards painting every instrument in a symphony.

While Jamie’s work is showcased around the world, she is dedicated to the Anderson community.  Jamie shares her collections at local events downtown, the Anderson Arts Center and the Anderson Mall.  You can also find her pieces displayed at Bay 3 Gallery located within the Anderson Arts Center.  

“Jamie is not only successful as an artist, but also an entrepreneur.” said Kimberly Spears, Economic Development Director for the City of Anderson. “She has participated in a variety of programming and educational opportunities through the city in order to grow as a businesswoman. It is always exciting to see an artist channel their talent to create a viable business model in our community.”

Be sure to experience a watercolor world of art beginning June 7th through August at the Anderson Area YMCA.  The exhibition is open to the public. Even if you are a not a member of the YMCA, stop by the front desk to inquire about Jamie’s exhibition.  

You can also find Jamie’s work online at www.jamiehansenart.com.

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For immediate Release

From:  Alison Darby, 864-958-5264

Date:  May 20, 2019

Belton:  From Belton all the way to Senegal, a country in West Africa, hometown boy Cason Kirby has been serving the people there as part of the US Peace Corps.

After graduating from Clemson University with a degree in language and international trade, Cason has been stationed in West Africa since February of 2017.

“Part of my job as a volunteer, stated as the third goal in the mission statement of  the Peace Corps, is to help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans,” he stated. 

While visiting with family during the spring, he approached the Belton Area Museum Association to determine if a time and date could be set for him to meet that requirement.  

“Since I was a teenager, I’ve dreamed of being in the Peace Corps.  After teaching English in France for a year, the opportunity came about to live and work abroad and make a difference in the lives of the people of Africa,” Cason stated.

On Thursday, May 30, at 7 PM, everyone is invited to hear about the Republic of Senegal, its people, customs, culture and challenges. Kirby will share his experiences and give a vivid account of service in a foreign country.  Visitors will also learn about the Peace Corps volunteer opportunities and ways to get involved.

The event is free to attend and will be a lead in to the next BAMA exhibit entitled Epidemics:  Diseases Gone Wild, which opens with a health fair on Sunday, June 23, from 3 – 5 PM.  

“Come join us for this informative and interesting presentation at the Historic Belton train depot,” stated BAMA executive director Abigail Burden.

What’s happening at the Bart Garrison Agricultural Museum of South Carolina? LOTS!!!! The museum, located in Pendleton, is now open to the public seven days a week. Hours are Sunday through Friday, 12 PM – 5 PM, and Saturday, 10 AM – 5 PM.

The month of June is full of educational events which are available to a wide range of ages. Story Time and More is June 6 and is designed for parents and their children ages 3 through 5 (all children are welcome). The reading program runs from 10 AM until 11:30 AM and costs $2 per participating child. Staff will read farm / food / animal themed books and then the children will participate in related activities.

 Museum staff is running 4 summer camps this year, each running 3 days, from 9 AM until 12 noon. Cost is $10 per day and camps are open to students ages 6 through 12 (age 5 OK if eligible sibling attending). Participants will be divided by age, and though the activities will be similar, they will be more advanced for the older children. Camp dates and themes are: June 17 through 19 (Native Americans); June 24 through 26 (Life in the 1800s); July 15 through 17 (STEAM); July 22 through 24 (Ecology/Environment).

A new monthly program, designed for students ages 10-16 (older are welcome) will begin on Saturday, June 22. The program runs from 10 AM until 12:30 PM and costs $6. The theme for June is Raising Backyard Rabbits.

The June adult education program will be held on Thursday, June 27 or Saturday, June 29. This month themes being covered are starting seeds indoors, seed saving, and vertical walls. The adult program runs from 10 AM until 12:30 PM and costs $8.

Persons interested in any of the museum’s June programs should contact ellen@crownofthecarolins.org or call 864-207-0705. With advanced reservations, the museum is also available for group tours, birthday parties, reunions, and meetings. The Agricultural Museum is located at 120 History Lane, Pendleton. It is off HWY. 76, between Pendleton and Clemson, directly across from Tri-County Technical College. Admission to the museum is free, though donations are greatly appreciated.

Anderson County, S.C. – An annual community event, Celebrate Anderson unites our County’s eleven cities and towns for a day of festivities that concludes with an evening of concerts and a patriotic fireworks celebration the Sunday before Labor Day.

The Celebrate-Fun-Zone, which includes large inflatables and activities brings together families and youth for a fun filled afternoon. “Celebrate-Fun-Zone gives our families and visitors a fun afternoon prior to the concerts, said Anderson County Administrator Rusty Burns. The Celebrate-Fun-Zone opens at 1 p.m. and closes at 5 p.m. to allow everyone time to gather in the amphitheater for a music filled evening.

Celebrate Anderson’s entertainment lineup begins with the TL Hanna Jazz Band, followed by country music singer and songwriter Canaan Smith, who will turn the stage over to award winning country music artist Joe Nichols to close out the night of concerts.

The evening of celebration concludes with a patriotic fireworks honoring our armed services and local first responders for their self-sacrificing service for others.

“Celebrate Anderson is a way of thanking our community, military and first-responders for making Anderson County the best place to live in South Carolina. We are very appreciative to the local businesses and industries for joining Anderson County in funding and hosting this free community event,” said Anderson County Council Chairman Tommy Dunn.

Invite everyone to grab their chairs, blankets, and picnic for an evening to remember on Sunday, September 1^st at 5:30 p.m. to ‘Celebrate Anderson’.

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Media Contact:       Rusty Burns, County Administrator

                                    864.844.5700 | rburns@andersoncountysc.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | May 7, 2019 | Anderson, S.C.| Visit Anderson is excited to announce the launch of their brand-new website or as we like to call it, we underwent a face lift! The website comes along with some of our new marketing collateral that makes it accessible to anyone with access to the internet. But don’t worry, it’s all still on www.visitanderson.com; so not too much has changed.

This new website design comes with updated colors and fonts to reflect what we do at Visit Anderson as well as being intuitive and user-friendly. It features a community calendar that is full of events for the next year that visitors and residents of the County can look at to find something that interests them. We feature local restaurants, shops, and lodging to fit anyone’s needs and cater to a visitor’s mindset.

This website is the key to community involvement, whether you’re looking for your next adventure, a place to rest your head, get your bellies full, or just relax; we, at Visit Anderson, are here to help you along the way.

The website has been brought in-house, with the partnership of Anderson County on the development, in order to make changes and adaptiveness easier on our end. Now, any user can submit their local business or event and, through the approval process, it will be public online within a few days. This will again encourage community involvement and engagement and allow people to feel like they have a part in visitor’s experience in our County.

We encourage everyone to check out our new website at www.VisitAnderson.com and see for yourself just what Anderson County has to offer you!

Quote:

“I am so excited about the launch of our new website at Visit Anderson. With a recent overhaul of our Destination Guide and additional marketing collateral, the new website was the final piece to the puzzle. I truly believe we have a full arsenal of materials in which to better market and promote Anderson County and Lake Hartwell. We could not have reached this place without the effort of a great team, and I want to thank Morgan Ford, Visit Anderson, and Leanne Cooper, Anderson County, for the countless hours and efforts that they put in to making this new website such a success.”

Neil Paul Executive Director, Visit Anderson

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MEDIA CONTACT:

Neil Paul, Executive Director

Visit Anderson

O. (864)716-3660 M. (864) 353-9819

neil@visitanderson.com

 WHAT: The FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament season will continue Saturday, May 11, with a T-H Marine FLW BFL Savannah River Division tournament on Lake Hartwell. Up to 400 boaters and co-anglers will be competing for top awards of up to $8,000 and $3,000 respectively in the one-day tournament.

WHEN:

Saturday, May 11, 2019

Takeoff: 6:30 a.m. EDT. Weigh-In: 3 p.m.

Green Pond Landing

470 Green Pond Road

Anderson, S.C.

Hosted by the Anderson Convention & Visitors Bureau

NOTES:

Lake Hartwell is set to host a fun day of bass fishing for Savannah River Division anglers entered in this mid-May tournament. When the circuit visited in May 2018, areas from the Tugaloo River down to the dam held the key fish for winner Kerry Partain. Partain targeted postspawn bass on shoals and points with a weightless Zoom Super Fluke, as well as bedding bass with a Texas-rigged Zoom Fluke Stick. Focusing on postspawn bass on points near spawning flats a drop-shot rig and a shaky-head jig up the Tugaloo and Seneca arms also did the trick for Partain. These patterns and more will likely be in play at next week’s tournament. Other anglers may be seen picking apart boat docks and submerged grass with ChatterBaits and spinnerbaits and jigs. Competitors will likely need to aim for a five-bass limit nearing17 pounds to secure top honors.

The 2019 BFL is a 24-division circuit devoted to weekend anglers, with 128 tournaments throughout the season, five qualifying events in each division. The top 45 boaters and co-anglers from each division, along with the five winners of the qualifying events, will advance to one of six regional tournaments where they are competing to finish in the top six, which then qualifies them for one of the longest-running championships in all of competitive bass fishing – the BFL All-American. The 2019 BFL All-American will be held May 30-June 1 at the Potomac River in Marbury, Maryland, and is hosted by the Charles County Department of Recreation, Parks and Tourism and the Commissioners of Charles County. Top performers in the BFL can move up to the Costa FLW Series or even the FLW Tour.

For complete details and updated information visit FLWFishing.com. For regular updates, photos, tournament news and more, follow the T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League on FLW’s social media outlets at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

About FLW

FLW is the world’s largest tournament-fishing organization, providing anglers of all skill levels the opportunity to compete for millions in prize money in 2019 across five tournament circuits. Headquartered in Benton, Kentucky, with offices in Minneapolis, FLW and their partners conduct more than 290 bass-fishing tournaments annually around the world, including the United States, Canada, China, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, Portugal, South Africa and Spain. FLW tournament fishing can be seen on the Emmy-nominated “FLW” television show while FLW Bass Fishing magazine delivers cutting-edge tips from top pros. For more information visit FLWFishing.com and follow FLW at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

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Media Contact:    

Neil Paul, Executive Director

Visit Anderson

1. (864) 716-3660 M. (864) 353-9819

neil@visitanderson.com

WHAT: Denver Downs Farms is opening up their huge event space to host Corey Smith in concert, along with artists Brian Fuller and Tiffany Ashton. Corey Smith has sold over one million concert tickets. Food from The Smoking Pig BBQ, Boulevard Peanuts, and Poultry in Motion (wings) will be available for purchase, as well as Bud Light brand beers and Sangria.  While children are welcome, the children’s activities at the farm will not be open.

WHEN: Friday, May 3, 2019

SCHEDULE:

·     3pm Parking lot open

·     5pm Gates open

·     6:30pm Brian Fuller

·     7:30pm Tiffany Ashton

·     9pm Corey Smith

WHERE: Denver Downs Farm, 1515 Denver Road, Anderson, SC

QUOTE: “Corey Smith’s reputation precedes him as we had heard about his amazing concerts throughout the Southeast,” said Catherine Garrison Davis, Special Events coordinator and co-owner of Denver Downs.  “We really wanted to bring him to the community here in the Upstate and are thrilled to have the opportunity to host him at Denver Downs.”

About Denver Downs Farm

Denver Downs Farm is widely known as a landmark on Hwy 76 (the Clemson exit off of I85) and for their Fall Festival.  Last fall, Denver Downs Farm’s 10-acre Corn Maze was recognized by USA Today as the Top 10 Mazes in the Country and was voted 2nd by readers. The 150- year-old, family-owned, working farm has expanded in recent years to include year-round activities including include Drive-In Movies, Easter Egg Hunt, Spring Music Festival, Spring Break Fun Week, private parties and corporate events.

CONTACT:  Catherine Garrison Davis, 843-297-0140

BIOS:

Corey Smith

Corey Smith, the fan-made man, has sold over 1 million concert tickets, 1.5 million digital singles and over 220,000 albums. Corey Smith has amassed an unfailingly devout fan base, not only in his native Southeast region, but all around the nation, simply by telling it the way it is. He has released 10 albums—including 2011’s Top 20 release The Broken Record. Corey has written every word on every album himself and he produced 9 out of 10 of the records. In Summer 2015, Corey teamed up with producer Keith Stegall (Alan Jackson, Zac Brown Band) for his album, “While the Gettin’ Is Good,” which was released on Sugar Hill Records. Smith’s concerts, which were documented on his last live record, Live in Chattanooga, regularly sell out, with audiences singing along to such fan favorites as the coming-of-age anthem “Twenty-One,” the nostalgic time warp “If I Could Do It Again” and the group hug “I Love Everyone.” Corey consistently tours, hitting around 120 dates per year and has begun releasing singles from his upcoming project, the Great Wide Underground.

Tiffany Ashton

Multi- award winning country singer songwriter and Nashville Universe’s current “Rising Star”, TIFFANY ASHTON rang in 2019 performing Opryland Resort’s New Year’s Eve with Brandi Cyrus. Followed by being featured on the Opry’s radio station and attending the GRAMMY Awards as a voting member of the Recording Academy. With 2019 off to a hot start, Tiffany Ashton is on the move – “I Like It”, the lead single from her upcoming project, released in March and already has tens of thousands of streams.  She has been busy in Nashville as a part of CMT’s Mentorship Program, and is preparing to be featured on the French TV station M6 in July. With more than 100 tour dates since 2016, the Georgia born and Carolina raised singer oozes sweet southern charm that’s laced with Hollywood glam as she delivers her heartfelt, authentic lyrics that are mostly penned from the artist’s own experiences. Tiffany’s energy packed live performances are filled with rocking originals, covers, and unforgettable moments.  It’s an event you don’t want to miss!

Brian Fuller

Brian Fuller grew up in a small town in south Georgia. He took an interest in music at a young age. Learning the piano at just six years old and picked up the guitar at seven, he knew playing music was what he wanted to be doing. Brian played his first live show when he was 14 and has been hooked ever since. Currently living in Nashville, TN, Brian Fuller spends his time either writing or on the road preforming.