On November 1, College Board released their 2nd annual AP (Advance Placement Program) District Honor Roll. The Honor roll recognized 367 U.S. and Canada public school districts that simultaneously achieved increases in access to AP® courses for a broader number of students and also maintained or improved the rate at which their AP students earned scores of 3 or higher on an AP Exam. The Second Annual AP Honor Roll is made up of only those school districts that are simultaneously expanding opportunity and improving performance.

The Fort Mill School District has achieved the AP Honor Roll for years 2011 and 2012. The Fort Mill School District is one of 2 South Carolina school districts that made the honor roll. Laurens County School District is the other South Carolina school district on the honor roll

College Board was founded in 1900 and is a not-for-profit membership organization committed to excellence and equity in education and connects students to college success and opportunity. College Board is well known for their SAT college entrance exam.

I saw a post on Toys For Joy’s Facebook wall today that they are in need of more toys. Toys For Joy is a Fort Mill SC Toy drive program by Kelly Lavallee. November 29th and 30th are registration days for recipients  to receive toys and Kelly’s post indicates she is seeing heavy registration of children needing  assistance for Christmas Toys this year.

The Toy distribution day is Sat., Dec. 10, 2011: 9-11am at LifePointe Christian Church on 2266 Deerfield Dr. Fort Mill, SC 29715.  On  the 10th, not only do parents receive the gifts for children, but parents and children also enjoy free food and refreshments! Kids enjoy a visit from the Chick-fil-A cow, bounce house fun, face painting, Christmas crafts and more!

Toys For Joy NEEDS Toy Sponsors and Volunteers for distribution day set up and the event. For more informtion go to Toys For Joy Website or email at ToysForJoyFM@yahoo.com.

The following are “Angel” pick up points and toy drop off points:

1. Chick-fil-A Baxter:
Address: 1600 Hwy 160, Fort Mill SC, 29708
Phone: (803) 578-4030 (Closed on Sundays)

2. Del Taco, Rock Hill:
Address: 2476 Cherry Rd., Rock Hill, SC
Phone: (803) 980-7151

3. Lifepointe Christian Church:
(Beside Knights’ Stadium in Fort Mill.)
Address: 2266 Deerfield Dr., Fort Mill, SC 29715
Phone:  (803) 802-8500

4. USA Tire and Auto Care:
Address: 100 Fort Mill Square.  Just off Doby’s Bridge Road/Tom Hall St.
Phone: (803) 548-2055

WCNC reporter Tony Burbeck’s story on Nov 15th, 2011 has confirmed our story back in September 2010  (Is Publix Grocery Coming To Fort Mill SC)  that Publix’s grocery will build a 49,000 sq ft store on the corner of Pleasant Rd and Gold Hill Rd in the Fort Mill Township near Tega Cay  SC (York County).

Publix also announced it will build a store on Hwy 521 near Dolby’s Bridge Rd in Indian Land in Lancaster County SC.  

With the new grocery stores opening in late 2012 or early 2013, comes approximately 100 jobs for each store. See Reporter Burbeck’s video story below.

Pendleton Village Shopping Center across form Baxter Village is seeing new life besides Lowes Home Improvement. Baxter Bunch Playhouse opened its doors on Monday 11/14/2011.

The Playhouse  leased 9,129 sq ft of retail space at the Pendleton Village Shopping Center, 1504 Carolina Place Dr,  next to Lowes Home Improvement on Hwy 160 and I 77 in Fort Mill SC. Their slogan is “Where Fun and Good Health Collide!” and offers programs like:

• Kid Fitness Classes
• Art Lessons
• Birthday Parties
• School field trips
• Healthy Living tips
• Adult/Teen fitness
• Childhood obesity initiative

They are open M-Thursday 10 to 7:30 Weekdays , 9 to 8 on Fridays and Saturdays, and Noon to 6 on Sundays.

Children 3-12 are $9.95

See their Facebook Page  and Twitter Post:

Baxter’s Bunch PlayhouseBaxter’s Bunch Playhouse is NOW OPEN! Come see us today from 10-7:30! 22 hours ago · 8 likes · 0 comments

Here is a  great reason to consider moving to Fort Mill SC. Continental Tire the Americas, LLC (CTA) has once again received an award from the Charlotte Business Journal as one of the “Best Places to Work” in the Charlotte area.

Just so you know, Fort Mill SC is just minutes south of Charlotte and considered part of the Charlotte Metro. Continental Tire moved its headquarters to Lancaster County SC (Near Fort Mill SC) in March of 2009. For more info, see our post about the Continental Tire HQ move. 

CTA was recognized as the ninth best place to work in the greater Charlotte area. The award recognizes companies with benefits, policies and practices that are among the area’s best. The annual evaluation of the work environment is based on employee surveys, conducted by a third party. CTA was also ranked as the ninth Best Place to Work in the Large Business category by the Charlotte Business Journal in 2010.

So why is Continental Tire a great place to work? According to Continental Tire’s press release:

“Continental Tire the Americas is a great place to work because of our people,” said Jochen Etzel, Chief Executive Officer, CTA. “The fact that we have been recognized for this prestigious award two years in a row, and that this award is based on employee feedback, makes this recognition very special.”

“We’ve worked hard to create a work environment that values employees’ contributions and provides them with outstanding careers at Continental,” Etzel said. “In addition, our business continues to grow, and we are very excited about welcoming new employees to our headquarters over the next several years.”

CTA’s headquarters in Lancaster County is home to nearly 400 employees. The building opened in 2009. Due to the significant growth in the CTA business, Continental has been hiring additional employees at a steady pace.

On October 6, 2011, CTA announced an investment of more than $4 million to expand its Lancaster County, S.C. headquarters. The investment will provide for a 16,000 square foot addition to the headquarters location, bringing the total size of the building to 91,000 square feet. The investment also includes the creation of 80 new jobs over the next four years.

Last Tuesday night, the Fort Mill School Board voted to delay the opening of the new elementary school number 8 (Gold Hill Rd near Tega Cay) until 2014. See an earlier post about FM elementary school 8 planned to open 2o12.

The board also voted to move up the opening of the 9th elementary school near the Massey community on Doby’s Bridge Road to the same year 2014.

The Board’s sited reason for the open date changes are:

1. Cost saving advantages on construction and opening the 2 new schools at the same time.
2. Although there is an enrollment freeze at Gold Hill Elementary and and soon to be Orchard Park, there is still room at other Fort mill Elementary schools. The district wants to maximize the space at all schools and not open a new school before it is needed. Of course this means some new elementary students may have to go to a school that is in another part of town for a while. Fort Mill School District’s current elementary school facility capacity is 6,300. The district is currently at 5106 Students.
3. Redraw the district lines once for the simultaneous opening of the 2 new schools rather then twice in separate years.

Looking for Fall Festival Fun in the Fort Mill area? There are several Fall Festivals to take part in this weekend and next.

Ann Springs Close Greenway and Springs Farm Fall Festival & Corn Maze

Horse rides, hay rides, kids hay mazes, pedal carts, kayaking and canoeing, arts and crafts, and more

Oct 28 Fri 6-10PM, Oct 29 Saturday 10am-10pm, Oct 30 Sunday 1pm-6pm – Click for more info

Tega Cay Fall Festival

Bands, hay rides, arts and crafts on display, Kids zones (jump rides), food

Tega Cay Golf and Conference Center Oct 29 Saturday 10am-6pm Click for more info

Fort Mill Fall Festival

Trick or Treat down Main Street, music, costume contests and more.

Oct 31 Monday 5pm-7pm

Baxter Village 11th Annual Fall Festival & Market Day

Hay rides, moon bounces, slides, food, music, shopping, games, estimated 160 boths, and more

Nov 5th, Saturday 12pm-6pm

Update 11/14/11 – Tenders has closed

Here are some tweets about the closing…

PDQ Restaurant in Gray Stone Crossing Shopping Center in Tega Cay (Hwy 160 between Dam Rd and Stonecrest Blvd) has changed its name to Tenders Fresh Food. PDQ or now Tenders, opened last September 2010 with a fresh food concept and menu consisting of hand-breaded chicken tenders, chicken and turkey sandwiches (prepared grilled or crispy), hand-cut fresh fries, fresh squeezed lemonade, milkshakes and a variety of salads. See last years post What-is-the-pdq-fresh-food-fast-restaurant-in-tega-cay.

On A October 9 2011 press release, Tenders Fresh Food located in Cornelius, NC, is pleased to announce that its current sister location in Tega Cay, SC, will be taking on the same name and corporate culture dedicated to community service.

Why the name change? According to President of Operations Steve Erickson, Tenders had a difficult time branding itself and finding their identity as PDQ or “People Dedicated to Quality.”, “The problem was that people couldn’t figure out who we were. The local citizens confused PDQ with other restaurant concepts and our name was not indicative of what we specialize in.” This change, along with the emphasis on community contribution in the form of fundraising, full-service catering and providing healthy lunches to local schools, is what the Company believes will help them flourish.

Tenders in Tega Cay offers employee appreciation discounts for other great local Companies, frequently do fundraising nights for local schools, charities and churches, and offer healthier catering options including: grilled tenders, raw vegetables, salads and fruits.

Congratulations goes out to the the Fort Mill High School Marching Band for a job well done. The FMHS Band On Saturday October 15, won every award that they could in Akron Ohio including the winner and Regional BOA Champion.

The Oct 15th 2011 Akron Bands Of America completion consisted of 22 bands competing from 8 states. This is the first time the Fort Mill Band has won 1st place at the  BOA Regional Championship. The previous highest finish was 2nd place. 

The Fort Mill HS Band buses arrived back in Fort Mill Sunday evening as were greeted by an escorted by the local fire and police department.  At the FMHS school, parents and supporters gathered to cheer on the students for their achievement. Read more at the bands website at bands-of-america-akron-regional-results.

Fort Mill School District Central Office is moving next Spring 2012. A new construction notice sign was installed Wednesday signalling the start of the interior construction process for the new Fort Mill School District Central Office.

The new offices will be located at 2229 Deerfield Drive in the same development area (Gold Hill Commons) as the current Knights baseball stadium.

View Larger Map

The are two exiting “shell” office buildings with a combine square footage of  34,000 on 2.92 acres. The FMSD purchased the buildings May 2011 for approx 3.380 million (per York County online tax info). The construction work will be primarily focused on the interior of the office buildings with a hope to move in during the Spring break period next spring.

From York County SC Online GIS

Next to the new central office, work should begin in about a month on a new school bus transportation facility to house and maintain approx 150 school buses.  Read the Jan 2011 FMSD press release with information on these 2 land acquisition projects and a new  Middle School next to Pleasant Knoll Elementary School.  FMSD-News-Release-January-2011-Land-Acquisition

A certified letter was mailed by DHEC to all 3 Fort Mill hospital applicants today. The letter said,

“It is the decision of this Department that a Certificate of Need be issued to Carolinas Medical Center –Fort Mill for the construction of a 64 bed general acute care hospital to be located in York County SC.”

The letter went on to say CMC has best met all of the criteria in the community need documentation.

My question is, is this their final answer?

If you remember, DHEC awarded the Fort Mill Hospital need to Piedmont Medical Center in 2006. See my Jan 2008 post about the hospital war.  Two-New-Hospitals-In-Fort-Mill?  Both CMC and Presbyterian Hospital appealed the decision and last year DHEC reopened the Certificate of Need process for a second time with a different decision announced today.

The DHEC decision becomes final 15 days after the notice period. If the decision is not appealed again, CMS will begin plans to build new 64 bed hospital on 20 acres in the southwest corner of 1-77 and Sutton road exit 83.

More details at the DHEC site

Good news for parent. School summer is officially over August 17, 2011. The Fort Mill School District starts back to school Wednesday 17th. The 2011-2012 has been finalized and you can download it here =>2011-2012 FMSD final approved Feb 15 2011.

Many of the elementary meet the teacher and middle school open houses are Monday August 15. The new Banks Trail Middle school is official open this year. Banks trail has a slightly different open house schedule see at Fort Mill School.

If your kids are taking the bus, the district has a bus transpartation page at Bus Information.

We wish all of the Fort Mill Students a successful and rewarding 2011-2012 school year!

Good news for the Fort Mill Township, Red Ventures plans to hire 500 people before the end of 2011. The Fort Mill SC based Red Ventures is holding a Sales Job Fair  Thursday, August 18th, 10am – 1pm & 6pm – 7pm at thier headquarters at 1101 521 Corporate Center Drive Fort Mill, SC 29707.

Red Ventures is anticipating a large turn out so time slots have been set up in which you can register for via their website at www.redventures.com/events.Although The August 18th Job Fair is centered on filling sales positions, Red Ventures plans to hire across all areas of the company in the next several months.See open positions in Fort Mill at www.redventures.com/careers-corp

Red Ventures is a direct marketing company who specialize in marrying online marketing, telephone sales, and designing technology infrastructure to support their marketing efforts for clients.

Wednesday May 4th 2011 is the official kick off of this years South Carolina Strawberry Festival in Fort Mill. There are 4 days worth of events in Fort Mill. Below is the schedule of planned events:

Wednesday May 4, 2011 – South Carolina Strawberry Festival GOLF TOURNAMENT. Registration begins at 8AM – Shotgun start at 9:30AM then Buffet lunch, award presentation.

Thursday May 5, 2011 – South Carolina Strawberry Festival PAGEANT, 7-9PM, Teen Division (13-18), Miss Division (19-29), Mrs. Division (Married, 21-56).

Friday May 6, 2011 – South Carolina Strawberry FESTIVAL at Walter Y. Elisha Park is 6-11PM The Strawberry JaM! which includes:

• Bands – See Band Line Up
• Food & Beverage Vendors
• Arts & Crafts Vendors
• Rock Hill Coca-Cola Bottling Company Kids Zone and more!
• Meet the Strawberry Queens

Saturday – May 7, 2011

5K Run – Anne Springs Close Greenway Gerald T. Parks Memorial Foundation 5K starts 8AM, 5K Walk/Run to benefit Dorn VA Medical Hospital.

South Carolina Strawberry FESTIVAL at Walter Y. Elisha Park, 11AM-9PM The Strawberry Jam!

• Bands – See Band Line Up
• Food & Beverage Vendors
• Arts & Crafts Vendors
• Rock Hill Coca-Cola Bottling Company Kids Zone
• Piedmont Medical Center Healthy Hometown
• Meet & greet with The Strawberry Queens
• Recipe Contest
• Ice Cream Eating Contests
• Strawberry Pie Eating Contests
• Petting Zoo
• Hay Rides
• Pig Races
• Car Show 10 am – 5 pm at Calhoun Street Park
• Fireworks @ 8:45PM

And to help raise money for Fort Mill Middle School Sports, The boosters are having a Corn Hole Tournament both Friday and Saturday. See their website to register http://www.fortmillathletics.org/fundraisers/corn-hole-tournament/

Last Thursday March 24th, 2011, Toronto based Mood Media announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Muzak Holdings LLC (“Muzak”), a privately-held company based in Fort Mill SC, for 345 million.

Muzak, which started in 1934 playing phonograph records for hotels and restaurants, currently delivers its product to subscribers over satellite radio. Muzak relocated to Fort Mill SC in 2000 from Seattle. The company filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February 2009 and then successfully emerged from bankruptcy last year after restructuring its debt.

Mood Media uses an Internet-based delivery system and operates an international in-store media and music retail business with an extensive geographic footprint and a broad client base including several multinational blue chip organizations.

So will Mood Media shut down the Fort Mill Headquarters after the acquisition is estimated to be approved in the 2nd quarter? Lorne Abony, CEO & Chairman of Mood Media Corporation, said:

“Over the past five years, Mood Media has transformed the in-store media industry by offering unparalleled innovation and convenience to our customers across the world. We now have the opportunity to extend this legacy to a world-recognized brand and create a truly global leader with U.S. headquarters in the Charlotte area.”

The Mood Media Press Release further said:

“Mood Media intends to maintain a significant presence in the Charlotte, North Carolina area, with its U.S. headquarters in Fort Mill, South Carolina.”

The comments seem to be positive for Fort Mill based Muzak employees. Time will tell how many jobs will actually remain in Fort Mill after the acquisition transition.

The CENTURY 21 ®of the Carolinas Spring Rally and Awards Event was held this last week in Charleston, SC. Century 21® Realtors® and Brokers from both North And South Carolina attended the awards conference. The real estate agents at Century 21® First Choice office, owned and operated by Pete Hall based in Fort Mill SC, received many awards for their outstanding customer service and home sales in 2010.

Pictured above left to right – Alex Dewey, Barbara Ferguson, Linda Hall, Carmen Miller, Laura Pogue, Andrea Wells

The Century 21® First Choice Award Recipients are:

• Century21 ® First Choice Company: Gold Medallion Office and Quality Service Pinnacle Award
• Linda Hall: Centurion Team Award, President’s Award, Quality Service Pinnacle Award
• Carmen Miller: Centurion Award, President’s Award, Quality Service Pinnacle Award
• Laura Pogue: Master’s Diamond Award, Quality Service Award,
• Kellye Coltharp: Master’s Ruby Award, Quality Service Award
• Alex Dewey: Master’s Ruby Award, Quality Service Pinnacle Award

CENTURY 21® First Choice has served the Fort Mill SC area real estate needs for over 30 years and provides one of the most comprehensive residential brokerage services anywhere and is affiliated with the market-leading Century 21® Real Estate LLC.

Century21 ® First Choice is Fort Mill’s number one real estate company as far as market share (home sold) and voted best real estate company in Fort Mill by a Fort Mill Times Survey. For more information, contact a real estate professional at CENTURY 21® First Choice. www.fortmillsc.com.

Click to to read about 2009 award recipients

Fort Mill continues to see more new growth with another recent construction start near Highway 160 and Dave Gibson Blvd. The land that is in the process of being cleared behind the South Carolina Bank and Trust is for a preschool called Ivybrook Academy.

The new Ivybrook Academy in Fort Mill will be the 2nd campus for Ivybrook Academy, also found on the internet as LearningLinksAcademy.com. The first location is in Weddington NC and has been operation since August 2007. The Academy’s spokesperson Drew McWilliams said they picked Fort Mill for their new location

because of the highly regarded public schools in the area which matches that of our current early childhood education programs”.

Ivybrook Academy is a half-day preschool offering 6 different programs:

Mother’s Morning Out, Explorer, Investigator, Inventor, PreKindergarten, and Transitional Kindergarten. The Academy promotes their facilities are “Eco Healthy ” and  “expertly designed to provide the optimal learning environment for your child”.

The Fort Mill Ivybrook Academy facility is estimated to be completed by August 1, 2011. Just in time for the 2011-2012 school year. Read more about Ivybrook Academy at their website.

The results from a recent Fort Mill Times survey voted Century 21® First Choice as The Best Real Estate Company in Fort Mill !

CENTURY 21® First Choice has been serving the Fort Mill Township under the direction of President and Owner Pete Hall for over thirty years. Their know to provide the community with the most comprehensive residential brokerage service. Their service includes buying, selling, renting, property management, REO/foreclosure services and more. The Century 21® First Choice award winning team of agents have the necessary training, experience, and tools to serve our communities real estate needs.

Just as important as great customer service, the Century 21® First Choice agents and staff are well known for their community service including many donation projects for school supplies, clothing, and food, to name a few.

Congratulations to the Century21® First Choice Staff for outstanding service which include:

• Peter W. Hall,
• Becky Shugart
• Jodi Boone-Baird,
• Kellye Coltharp
• Cydni Crain
• Alex Dewey
• Melanie Dewey
• Kim Efird
• Shannon Evans
• Barbara Ferguson
• Linda Hall
• Debra Hayes
• Sandy Hynes
• Sue Kost
• Ann Lyman
• Bindu Mathew
• Carmen Miller
• Laura Pogue
• Deborah Storin
• Jessica Sullivan
• Debbie Sue Taylor
• Kelli Voss
• Andrea Wells

Read more about the Century21® First Choice agents and staff at www.fortmillsc.com.

As reported in September, The Fort Mill Care Center (many call it the Fort Mill Food Bank) has been struggling to keep up with demand. Here is a update on their October progress:

October had 46 “NEW” CLIENTS (FAMILIES &/OR INDIVIDUALS) making a total of 353 for the year.

The FMCC  gave food to 353 family units in October  or 1,115 people.

FMCC gave out over 27,000 LBS of Food in October……

The FMCC paid out  $14,000 for utilities and $3200 for prescriptions.

The FMCC is  now paying for a number of new items like  diapers, hygiene products, and meat.  Food is coming in rapidly but it going out almost as fast as it comes in. The center estimates it will have to raise approx $50,000 in cash or cut back that amount to make ends meet between now and next April.

The Care Center is currently collecting food items for the Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners: turkeys, whole chickens, stuffing, rice, instant potatoes, pie crust mix and cranberry sauce.

If you would like to help the Fort Mill Care Center with cash donations,  food donations or want to see their upcoming events, please visit their website www.fortmillcarecenter.org.

The Fort Mill Care Center is running low on cash and resources. The following is an update and message from Judy at the Fort Mill Care Center.

The  Fort Mill Care Center is running low on funds and is in need of the following items for the food pantry:

• rice
• oatmeal
• grits
• cereal
• mac & cheese.

September was the Center’s annual Dental hygiene month and they gave new toothbrush’s out to 786 people during the month along with toothpaste for each of the families.

The Care Center had approximately 150 NEW clients (families) over the past three months.    They are signing up families for Christmas now and anyone wanting to be a Christmas sponsor,  either individually or as a group should contact the Center.

Upcoming food drives:

The Girl Scouts will be collecting food for the Care Center on October 23rd.

The Boy Scouts will be collecting food for the Care Center on November 6th.

IF THE SCOUTS ARE NOT COLLECTING IN YOUR AND YOU WISH TO MAKE A  DONATION —- ALL DONATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED ON BOTH DAYS AT THE  CENTER FROM 9:30 TO 12:OO O’CLOCK.

www.fortmillcarecenter.org