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

Hundreds of people helped kick off this year’s Florence After Five season starting at 5:30 p.m. Guests could indulge in food and beverages from vendors including Dolce Vita, The Library, Victors and Wholly Smokin’. This year the stage is now at the south end of Dargan Street allowing for more space and for the food vendors to be closer to the action. Host and emcee Dan E. Lockemy said he is especially excited about the new dance floor added to the front of the stage that will help get the Friday crowd going.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” Lockemy said. “I get to host a lot of beach music events and that’s what we spotlight here. It gives people not only from Florence but from the Pee Dee to come and enjoy what we have to offer in downtown Florence.”

At 6 p.m., The Pizazz Band took the stage to entertain with soulful, funky sounds featuring rock, beach, top 40 and country hits. The Pizazz Band is the first of seven bands to perform during this year’s Florence After Five season. The entertainment continued at 8:30 p.m. with the musical stylings of Tastes Like Chicken during the Florence After Five after-party.

New to the event this year was a Kids Fun Zone sponsored by the Florence Recreation Department where children and their families enjoyed an evening of games and prizes. Another addition to the Florence After Five festivities was a Pecan Cook-Off sponsored by the Florence Convention and Visitors Bureau.

“There no kid that’s going to leave with some sort of prize,” Buchanan said. “We think every kid will leave the zone happy.”

The next Florence After Five is set for Friday, May 26, featuring the band Second Nature. The event is free and open to the public. For more information about Florence After Five events, contact the Florence Downtown Development Corporation at 843-665-2047.”

Zoës Kitchen features a variety of Mediterranean cuisine highlighting not only Grecian food, but also food from other countries including Spain, Italy and Tunisia. Guests can choose from appetizers, salads, and entrees including classic chicken or steak kabobs, pita sandwiches or hummus plates. The fast-casual restaurant also offers vegan and vegetarian options.

Each item is prepared with lean proteins, fresh fruits and vegetables, olive oil and fresh herbs. With no microwaves and no fryers, Zoës Kitchen staff members prepare each food from scratch. Regional operator Keith Beaulieu said Zoës Kitchen will offer a fresh, healthy food option not readily available in to Florence residents.

“It definitely struck me as there not being something that we offer in this area,” Beaulieu said. “The balance of the healthy lifestyle as well as our hospitality and the food, I didn’t see anybody else doing that over here so that really spoke to me as to why we needed to be in Florence.”

Along with its dine-in services, Zoës Kitchen also offers take-out and catering options. Beaulieu said a large percentage of their business is driven through catering so he expects the Florence location to have a high volume of catering requests, especially with the continued development of downtown.

“This is an up-and-coming area,” Beaulieu said. “Having a district down there with so many options that we can cater to was definitely a good option for us to be here. I’m excited about this town.”

Fresh, Mediterranean-inspired food isn’t the only priority for Zoës Kitchen, according to Beaulieu. Establishing a new business also means creating more jobs for the local community and Beaulieu said Zoës Kitchen makes sure that not only the customers are satisfied but also the staff members are too.

James Blease is the general manager of the Zoës Kitchen in Florence and he has 15 years of experience. Blease said the core values of the company are what drew him to apply for the position and said Zoës’ mission to put people first sets it apart from the other restaurants he has worked in the past.

“The whole culturel and vibe here is totally different,” Blease said. “We’re going to bring a lot of things to Florence that people aren’t going to be used to. People are going to be amazed at the level of service we have.”

“We’re Mediterranean with Southern hospitality.”

Zoës Kitchen is hiring for all positions. Those interested in applying can visit careers.zoeskitchen.com.”

SCNow Web Article – New Florence restaurant to offer ‘Mediterranean with Southern hospitality’