Venezuelan progressive metal guitarist Felix Martin “makes one of the most overwrought genres sound natural and digestible as ever, and through nothing more than ambitious-- but logical-- songwriting” (Sputnik Music) Martin (featuring Hedras) will be embarking on a national tour along with “progressive tech-metal master class”guitarist Sarah Longfield in celebration of the release of his new album, “Caracas!”
Please join us for one of the largest child-advocacy events in South Carolina—The 2019 Transformation Breakfast—which raises funds to support The Family Effect!
Each year, the Upstate’s most influential leaders come together in support of a common goal – to reduce addiction as a leading cause of family collapse and harm to children. When a community comes together to heal a family, we all get better.
We invite you to attend this year’s event to learn more about the important work being done for local children in crisis and hear first-hand about the collateral effects of substance use disorders and how they affect the community, including you as a resident and taxpayer.
Register today for this one-of-a-kind event!
Moviegoers can enjoy watching a variety of classic film favorites under the stars at the City of Greenville’s Fidelity Investments Moonlight Movies. The free series returns to Falls Park Wednesday evenings in May for a five-week run. The films begin at sundown, but moviegoers are invited to come early for prime viewing spots and to participate in movie-themed trivia. Food vendor Poppington’s Gourmet Popcorn will be on-site every Wednesday and food trucks will rotate throughout the season. Individuals consuming alcohol at the event must purchase a $1 wristband.
In the 1994 film, The Little Rascals, mischievous youngsters lead an anti-girl organization, and they pick their buddy to represent them in an all-important soapbox car rally.
Food vendors: Poppington’s Gourmet Popcorn & We Got the Beets
Moviegoers can enjoy watching a variety of classic film favorites under the stars at the City of Greenville’s Fidelity Investments Moonlight Movies. The free series returns to Falls Park Wednesday evenings in May for a five-week run. The films begin at sundown, but moviegoers are invited to come early for prime viewing spots and to participate in movie-themed trivia. Food vendor Poppington’s Gourmet Popcorn will be on-site every Wednesday and food trucks will rotate throughout the season. Individuals consuming alcohol at the event must purchase a $1 wristband.
In the classic film from 1939, Dorothy Gale is swept away from a farm in Kansas to a magical land of Oz in a tornado and embarks on a quest with her new friends to see the Wizard who can help her return home to Kansas and help her friends as well.
Food vendors: Poppington’s Gourmet Popcorn & One Love Fusion Foods
Join us to learn about and discuss the importance of housing for all! At the Housing Summit, we will share information about local housing data, the social and economic impacts of housing, and innovative strategies for facilitating inclusive growth in the housing market. Lunch will be provided. Be sure to check back for more information as we get closer to the day of the Summit!
Agenda at a Glance:
8:30am: Check-In
9am: Welcome
9:15am: The State of Housing in the City and County of Spartanburg: Using Data to Understand Local Housing Needs
9:45am: Panel on the Social and Economic Impacts of Housing
10:45am: Break
11am: Housing Strategies for Inclusive Growth
11:30am: Legislative Update
11:45am: Lunch (provided)
12:15pm: Trends in Market Demographics/Housing Supply, MarketNsight
12:45pm: Missing Middle Housing, Opticos Design
1:45: Closing Remarks
Highlights:
Trends in Market Demographics/Housing Supply
John Hunt from MarketNsight will present data illustrating how first-time home-buying millennials and down-sizing baby boomers are more than willing to give up home and lot size in exchange for living closer to amenities. The presentation will include local and national data, and how developers and home builders can use this data to develop competitive products that meet the needs of the community.
Missing Middle Housing
Tony Perez from Opticos Design, a nationally recognized architecture and urban design firm, will share about missing middle home types, which can help build “hidden density” that supports local businesses and public transportation. The presentation will cover benefits and challenges of this housing strategy.
Special thanks to the Spartanburg Housing Summit Planning Committee: City of Spartanburg, Upstate Forever, Spartanburg Housing Authority, SC Community Loan Fund, TD Bank, and United Way of the Piedmont.
Join us for a writing group held on the first Monday of each month for Hub City members and led by staff and local writers.
On June 3, author and USC Upstate professor Thomas McConnell will lead a session entitled "Writing and Paying Attention."
What distinguishes passable or tolerable writing from prose that excels? Partly it has to do with being alert to the pitfalls and promise of language. We'll examine particular passages from writers—famous and otherwise—who have a lot to teach us by example—for good or ill—about writing and paying attention.
This event is part of Upstate Writing Month. Look for other events on our calendar, or find them all here.
Hub City Bookshop will host an afternoon with James Beard Award-winning authors and culinary ambassadors Matt and Ted Lee to celebrate their new book, Hotbox: Inside Catering, The World’s Riskiest Business.
Tickets are $35 and include a signed hardback copy of the book, drinks (mimosas!), and canapés.
Matt Lee and Ted Lee take on the competitive, wild world of high-end catering, exposing the secrets of a food business few home cooks or restaurant chefs ever experience.
Hotbox reveals the real-life drama behind cavernous event spaces and soaring white tents, where cooking conditions have more in common with a mobile army hospital than a restaurant. Known for their modern take on Southern cooking, the Lee brothers steeped themselves in the catering business for four years, learning the culture from the inside-out. It’s a realm where you find eccentric characters, working in extreme conditions, who must produce magical events and instantly adapt when, for instance, the host’s toast runs a half-hour too long, a hail storm erupts, or a rolling rack of hundreds of ice cream desserts goes wheels-up.
Immerse yourself in the enchanting world of New York Times bestselling author Dorothea Benton Frank’s Carolina Lowcountry in this evocative tale that returns at long last to her beloved Sullivan’s Island.
Queen Bee is a classic Lowcountry Tale—warm, wise and hilarious, it roars with humanity and a drop of whodunit added for good measure by an unseen hand. In her twentieth novel, Dorothea Benton Frank brings us back to her beloved island with an unforgettable story where the Lowcountry magic of the natural world collides with the beat of the human heart. Dorothea Benton Frank was born and raised on Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina. She resides in the New York area and South Carolina with her husband. Dorothea Benton’s Frank most recent bestseller, Same Beach, Next Year debuted at #4 on the New York Times list, where it remained in the top ten for three weeks. A contemporary voice of the South, Dorothea Benton Frank is beloved from coast to coast, thanks to her bestsellers including, Same Beach, Next Year, All Summer Long, All the Single Ladies, The Hurricane Sisters, The Last Original Wife, Porch Lights, Folly Beach, Sullivans Island, and Plantation.
Ticket price includes a signed copy of the book.
A free concert in McKinney Park by Noah Guthrie! Noah was a finalist on America's Got Talent as well as an actor on the hit TV show Glee.
Spartanburg Library Headquarters will host author Kristy Woodson Harvey. The first 100 guests will receive a free copy of Harvey's latest novel!
What goes into writing a beach read? Hear from Kristy Woodson Harvey, author of the novels Dear Carolina, Slightly South of Simple, and The Secret to Southern Charm. Southern Living has included Harvey's books on their Most Anticipated Beach Reads list. This is your chance to get beach ready too--the first 100 who come to the event will receive a free copy of Harvey's latest novel, The Southern Side of Paradise! There will be a signing after the event.
Sometimes killing off our literary darlings is a necessity. Would Little Women be the same without Beth’s heart tending departure? Would Game of Thrones be as thrilling without the death of ....insert one of many, many names. It can be hard to do in your own creation, but if it advances your plot pick up the knife, the gun, the arsenic—or the pen. Author and professor Marilyn Reynolds discusses these themes and more in "Murder She Wrote: Why I Happily Kill My Characters."
This event is part of Upstate Writing Month (#UpWriMo) and is free and open to the public. Registration is recommended but not required. All those who preregister get a free gift! Look for other events on our calendar, or find them all here.
In "Writing Grants That Win: Secrets of Successful Grant Writing," George Williams, USC Upstate professor and incoming chair of the LLC department, teaches participants how to research and write effective grant applications for a wide variety of projects.
This event is part of Upstate Writing Month (#UpWriMo) and is free and open to the public. Registration is recommended but not required. All those who preregister get a free gift! Look for other events on our calendar, or find them all here.
During this panel discussion, members of the Editorial Staff for writersINC, the USC Upstate student literary journal, will share readings from their original work and conduct a roundtable talk on how they make difficult editorial choices. Presenters will share their “diet” scale of evaluation for the magazine, and take questions from the audience. Award winning student writers from the 2019 writersINC publication will also join the staff to discuss their experiences getting published. This session will be of special interest to high school students and teachers, as well as college-age writers and anyone curious about publishing a literary magazine generated by student work.
This event is part of Upstate Writing Month (#UpWriMo) and is free and open to the public. Registration is recommended but not required. All those who preregister get a free gift! Look for other events on our calendar, or find them all here.
Memoirist and essayist Cinelle Barnes discusses the why, how, when, what, who and for whom of the genre/form, and the pre-publication, publication, and post-publication realities of authoring a memoir, and how her time in South Carolina served as an impetus for writing Monsoon Mansion. After the talk, she will lead the group in a short writing exercise.
This event is part of Upstate Writing Month (#UpWriMo) and is free and open to the public. Registration is recommended but not required. All those who preregister get a free gift! Look for other events on our calendar, or find them all here.
Refreshments will be provided. Books will be available for purchase through representatives of Hub City Bookshop. A portion of proceeds benefits the USC Upstate LLC Student Awards Fund.
Author Michael Parker will visit Hub City Bookshop to discuss his new novel Praire Fever.
Set in the hardscrabble landscape of early 1900s Oklahoma, but timeless in its sensibility, Prairie Fever traces the intense dynamic between the Stewart sisters: the pragmatic Lorena and the chimerical Elise. The two are bound together not only by their isolation on the prairie but also by their deep emotional reliance on each other. That connection supersedes all else until the arrival of Gus McQueen.
When Gus arrives in Lone Wolf, Oklahoma, as a first time teacher, his inexperience is challenged by the wit and ingenuity of the Stewart sisters. Then one impulsive decision and a cataclysmic blizzard trap Elise and her horse on the prairie and forever change the balance of everything between the sisters, and with Gus McQueen. With honesty and poetic intensity and the deadpan humor of Paulette Jiles and Charles Portis, Parker reminds us of the consequences of our choices. Expansive and intimate, this novel tells the story of characters tested as much by life on the prairie as they are by their own churning hearts.
Join us for a special edition of Her Story on Wednesday, June 12. Author Deb Spera will visit the bookshop to talk about her new novel Call Your Daughter Home. There will be a wine reception from 5:30pm followed by a discussion and signing with the author at 6pm.
A stunning tour de force following three fierce, unforgettable Southern women in the years leading up to the Great Depression
It's 1924 South Carolina and the region is still recovering from the infamous boll weevil infestation that devastated the land and the economy. Gertrude, a mother of four, must make an unconscionable decision to save her daughters from starvation or die at the hands of an abusive husband. Retta is navigating a harsh world as a first-generation freed slave, still employed by the Coles, influential plantation proprietors who once owned her family. Annie is the matriarch of the Coles family and must come to terms with the terrible truth that has ripped her family apart.These three women seemingly have nothing in common, yet as they unite to stand up to the terrible injustices that have long plagued the small town, they find strength in the bond that ties women together. Told in the pitch-perfect voices of Gertrude, Retta and Annie, Call Your Daughter Home is an audacious, timeless story about the power of family, deep-buried secrets and the ferocity of motherhood.
Hub City Bookshop will host Kate Daniels who will be discussing and signing her new collection of poetry In the Months of My Son’s Recovery.
The moving poems in this collection take us on a journey through illness, grief, and the disappointment of unexpected jolts in life. With bold descriptions of medical processes, intense love, and the sometimes overwhelming feeling of despair buffeted by hope, Kate Daniels offers thoughts on how to navigate a world we didn't choose.
Hub City Bookshop will host New York Timesbestselling author Mary Alice Monroe for a 12 p.m. luncheon Monday, June 18, at the Piedmont Club.
Ticket price includes lunch and a signed hardback copy of Monroe's newest book, The Summer Guests (which takes place in Tryon!).
The Summer Guests is a heartwarming and evocative novel about the bonds and new beginnings that are born from natural disasters and how, even during the worst of circumstances—or perhaps because of them—we discover what is most important in life.
Late August is a beautiful time on the Southern coast—the peach trees are ripe, the ocean is warm, and the sweet tea is icy. A perfect time to enjoy the rocking chairs on the porch. But beneath the calm surface bubbles a threat: it’s also peak hurricane season.
On June 20 at 7pm, former Congressman Trey Gowdy will visit Hub City Bookshop to discuss his book Unified: How An Unlikely Friendship Gives Us Hope For a Divided Country. There will be a signing after the talk.
In a divided country desperate for unity, two sons of South Carolina show how different races, life experiences, and pathways can lead to a deep friendship--even in a state that was rocked to its core by the 2015 Charleston church shooting.
Tim Scott, an African-American US senator, and Trey Gowdy, a white US congressman, won't allow racial lines to divide them. They work together, eat meals together, campaign together, and make decisions together. Yet in the fall of 2010--as two brand-new members of the US House of Representatives--they did not even know each other. Their story as politicians and friends began the moment they met and is a model for others seeking true reconciliation.
In Unified, Senator Scott and Congressman Gowdy, through honesty and vulnerability, inspire others to evaluate their own stories, clean the slate, and extend a hand of friendship that can change your churches, communities, and the world.
How does a writer translate personal experience and research into effective memoir or personal essay? In this talk, Tessa Fontaine will read from her memoir, The Electric Woman: A Memoir in Death-Defying Acts, and discuss putting personal experience and research down on the page—techniques useful for a writer in any genre.
Books will be available for purchase through representatives of Hub City Bookshop.
This event is part of Upstate Writing Month (#UpWriMo) and is free and open to the public. Registration is recommended but not required. All those who preregister get a free gift! Look for other events on our calendar, or find them all here.
"We can never have enough of nature," said Thoreau, a sentiment that rings especially true for writers, whether we see nature as an inspirational muse or a political platform. This class offers students an introduction to the variety of genres inspired by nature, place, wildlife, wilderness adventure, and environmentalism. Through nature-themed field writing exercises, participants will hone their observation skills and reflect on the value of the natural world as metaphor and reality. We will explore ecofiction, ecopoetry, the nature essay, nature journaling, as well as consider the special problems and opportunities eco-writers encounter. Participants can expect personalized feedback from the instructor and classmates in the workshop session. This class will take place outdoors, so dress for comfort and movement. The workshop includes a brief walk through the Hatcher Garden and Woodland Preserve. Journals and pens will be provided, but you may also bring your own.
This event is part of Upstate Writing Month (#UpWriMo) and is free and open to the public. Registration is recommended but not required. All those who preregister get a free gift! Look for other events on our calendar, or find them all here.
In western music we have only 8 notes and 12 semitones. This means much of popular music is recycled and recast. In this workshop, Wayne Robbins will demonstrate methods of breaking down familiar songs by chords, structure, and lyrics, in order to put them back together as new, original ones.
This event is part of Upstate Writing Month (#UpWriMo) and is free and open to the public. Registration is recommended but not required. All those who preregister get a free gift! Look for other events on our calendar, or find them all here.
Directed by Roger Sorkin, The Burden tells the story of America's dependence on fossil fuels as the greatest long-term national security threat, and how the U.S. military is leading the way on renewables. At the intersection of national security and energy, the U.S. military is leading the way in saving our skins with renewable energy.
This is a free screening, but please RSVP using the ticket link provided here, or email Ben@cvsc.org.
Downtown Music on Main Summer Series LIVE from the patio of Main Street Junction!!
The best of the best, local artists will entertain you with multiple genres of music over the course of the summer months! Kicking us off on June 6 is Quest!
Come join us for our 33rd Annual Greek Festival at our beautiful Greek Orthodox Cathedral where we'll be having our delicious traditional Greek foods you look forward too ALL year long, Greek dancing, amazing vendors & SO much more!!! Follow us on instagram, facebook & twitter @GREEKFORADAY for all the newest updates & behind the scenes fun before our Festival & during!!! We can't wait to see you!
If you are trying to determine your website ROI, Google Analytics is the first place you need to go. This class is for those who already have Google Analytics set up but aren't sure how to get the most of its reporting features.
We will cover:
Seats are limited, advance RSVP is required.
Mark Tebalt is a singer/songwriter who lives with his wife and two daughters in Inman, SC. A popular performer at venues all over Spartanburg, SC, and beyond, his work focuses on writing and performing songs that contain colorful narratives and characters. His workshop will include a discussion of the fundamentals of songwriting and a few group exercises that will help guide the creative process of building a song.
This event is part of Upstate Writing Month (#UpWriMo). Look for other events on our calendar, or find them all at http://www.uscupstate.edu/upwrimo.
Award-winning screenwriter and producer of The Group and Charlesvoix Street, LaTracey McDowell leads this screenwriting workshop. Screenplays are the starting points for all films and are an essential guideline for the director in bringing a story to life. This workshop will introduce you to the basic elements and key concepts behind a professional screenplay. Additionally, you will learn the techniques for generating ideas, the drafting process, the traditional three-act structure, dialogue, characterization, and screenplay formatting. By the end of the workshop, you will understand key concepts necessary to write an effective screenplay and will be fluent in the language used to discuss this encompassing art form.
This event is part of Upstate Writing Month (#UpWriMo). Look for other events on our calendar, or find them all at http://www.uscupstate.edu/upwrimo
An interesting or exotic taste can trigger memories and inspire creativity, and what tastes better than a delicious beer? Brock Adams, award-winning author of Ember, has teamed with Growler Haus to pair an inspiring flight of beers with an interactive writing exercise. Drink, write, and see where the flavors will take you.
Books will be available for purchase through representatives of Hub City Bookshop.
This event is part of Upstate Writing Month (#UpWriMo). Look for other events on our calendar, or find them all at http://www.uscupstate.edu/upwrimo
Jill Criswell, author of the young adult fantasy novel Beasts of the Frozen Sun, will read from her work and discuss how she developed the Celtic- and Viking-inspired world she writes about. She'll offer tips for creating realistic fantasy worlds, including landscapes, cultures, religions, and languages. After Q&A, aspiring writers will have time to write and workshop their own ideas for fantasy worlds.
This event is part of Upstate Writing Month (#UpWriMo). Look for other events on our calendar, or find them all at http://www.uscupstate.edu/upwrimo.
Readers of historical fiction know that a novel must be based in sound, accurate details of the time and place involved if it's to be convincing. Most importantly, they recognize that a novel sinks or swims by virtue of the authenticity of the characters' voices, whether shared through a first- or third-person narrator. Participants are welcome to attend one or both parts of this two-part workshop.
From 5-5:50, Award-winning novelist and playwright, Susan Rivers, author of The Second Mrs. Hockaday, will share her writing. Q&A and book signing to follow.
Books will be available for purchase through representatives of Hub City Bookshop.
This event is part of Upstate Writing Month (#UpWriMo). Look for other events on our calendar, or find them all at http://www.uscupstate.edu/upwrimo.
Readers of historical fiction know that a novel must be based in sound, accurate details of the time and place involved if it's to be convincing. Most importantly, they recognize that a novel sinks or swims by virtue of the authenticity of the characters' voices, whether shared through a first- or third-person narrator. Participants are welcome to attend one or both parts of this two-part workshop.
Part II: From 6-7:30, Award-winning novelist and playwright, Susan Rivers will lead a hands-on workshop in which she shares her methods for creating compelling and believable voices from the past--methods she employed while writing her Civil War-era novel, The Second Mrs. Hockaday (Algonquin Books, 2017), as well as her early 20th-century milltown novel, Troublefield (forthcoming by Algonquin). These techniques involve intensive research digs for primary source material, such as letters, newspaper stories, inquest reports, memoirs, journals, diaries, and oral histories.
Bring a character profile with you if you are currently working on an historical novel set in a specific period of time in a particular region. And don't forget your notebooks!
Books will be available for purchase through representatives of Hub City Bookshop.
This event is part of Upstate Writing Month (#UpWriMo). Look for other events on our calendar, or find them all at http://www.uscupstate.edu/upwrimo.
Innovative ideas are driving our economy and transforming businesses in amazing ways. i4Series and Upstate SC Alliance invite you to hear success stories and learn about resources that are available to help keep your business relevant in an innovation economy.
Panelists Include:
Elizabeth Feather, Director of Research & Strategic Initiatives
Upstate SC Alliance
Jill Sorensen, Director of Entrepreneurial Programs
South Carolina Research Authority
Chase Kasper, Director of Business Development
Clemson University Research Foundation
Allen Roberson will talk about:
1. The C. A. Huey Collection & The Civil War
2. Colin J. McRae Archival Collection
Pick A Farm Fresh School Gardening Workshop this Summer!
Grow your school garden program this summer- attend a School Gardening for SC Educators summer workshop sponsored by SC Farm to School!
Workshop participants will receive:
Special guest, Laura Corder, Director of the Office of Innovation for the State Department of Commerce, will introduce Scribble, the South Carolina Innovation Hub that lists entrepreneur resources and events. Here is a link to the Scribble launch announcement and an article in the Greenville CEO newsletter.
We will cover the following items:
This is an important meeting to attend and bring your colleagues. The workgroups are launching, the State has a potential resource for us to consider and plans for an even more robust Global Entrepreneurship Week will be developed.
If you have questions, please feel free to contact Erin at ehouzts@bellsouth.net.
Join us on Thursday, June 6th from 7:30 – 9:00 AM at The Bleckley Station for Toast 'n Topics. We will be hearing from Pamela Evette, Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina" Make your reservation now.
Join the City of Spartanburg, our City Parks & Recreation team, and the Northside Community at the Fairground basketball courts on Saturday, May 25th, for a “Celebration of Sport.”
This FREE, family-friendly community event and court dedication will have food, games, entertainment, and giveaways from 10am-3pm. At noon, enjoy a complimentary lunch from Cribbs Catering, music from 96.3 “The Block," and the court dedication ceremony with remarks from Councilwoman Erica Brown.
There will be Youth Skills Competitions (ages 8-17) from 10am-12pm and 1pm-3pm, and Adult Open Run basketball (18+) from 10am-3pm. Participation is "first come, first served."
Let's celebrate strawberry season with a day full of festivities and strawberry-centric menu items! We'll have strawberry specials in the cafe, grocery, and at Swamp Pizza, all day long! Face painting 12 noon to 4 pm; Live music from Kelly Jo 5:30 to 8 pm!
Register today! Don't miss the one day of the year when you get to run (or walk) on the runway. Join us on Memorial Day weekend at the Greenville Downtown Airport. 7th Annual Take Flight 5K will be held on Saturday, May 25th, 2019 and money raised will go to help construct a parking lot for Runway Park!
We'll start by honoring our veterans with a Memorial Day Ceremony,
followed by a true test of speed for runners. This is the flattest 5K in the Upstate!
T-shirts, awards and fun door prizes will be given out.
