Chamber Currents
PLANS WELL UNDERWAY FOR 'ROUND THE 4TH
The folks at the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce are well on their way in planning for our annual ‘Round The Fourth festival. Presented this year by Pepsi Cola Bottling Company of Conway and co-sponsored by HTC and the parent company of Myrtle Beach Building Supply/Independent Builders/Bridge Towne Real Estate, ‘Round The Fourth has been well thought out and there will be no rain, no rain, no rain! For those of you new to the area, the festival is divided into three main stage areas, which we refer to as Area I, the Family area at Riverfront Park; Area II, the beach music area underneath the bridge; and Area III, on the lawn of the historic courthouse.
I know what you’re thinking: “How does that staff of four pull that off?” Volunteers. Volunteers. Volunteers. Without them, we wouldn’t be able to handle the planning, implementation and staging of this festival that dominates downtown. It takes everyone to make it work and this article is devoted to those people!
First of all, a tremendous amount of thanks should be poured onto Jimmy Day, our Vice President of Community Affairs and also owner of Day Trucking. He and his committee oversee ‘Round The Fourth, as well as our Reverse Raffle and Christmas Parade. He spends more hours at the Chamber than he does at home and for that, we say thank you, not only to Jimmy, but to his wife, Sandra!
Area Chairmen have been named for each stage area. This year, Sheila Graham, Lynn Moore and Christy Pegram will chair our Family Area. In their Kids Construction Zone, children can enjoy the Centex Homes Future Builders Contest hosted by Centex Homes staff and a jello jump coordinated by Qantum Radio and some famed folks from Coastal Carolina University. They’ll also be able to participate in a Kids’ Casting event hosted by the Bass Masters. Older kids can cruise on over to the City of Conway Teen Cool Zone along Second Avenue and mix and mingle with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans staff who’ll be organizing an obstacle course, as well as a speed pitch game.
Chairing Area II are Angie and Mark Taylor of Service Master Disaster Restoration Solutions. Irby Koon will oversee the area’s Arts & Crafts Show and Clayton Mauldin will once again handle the Business Expo. We’re putting Deputy Treasurer Angie Jones to work with our Food Vendors, and some of Conway National Bank’s finest, Angela Allen and Amy Bryant will oversee our souvenir booths. Let’s not forget Tracy Vereen’s hard work staffing the beverage tents and Amy Hyman’s dedication to oversee the all day shift changes. And of course, don’t forget to stop by and say hello to our fine sponsor Pepsi and all the Pepsi staff, including Robbie Jones and Beth Hughes, who work our Pepsi booths like champs. They not only serve, but serve with a smile! Remember to say, “Pepsi, please!”
Area III will be manned by Kent Bitting, who has put his brother-in-law, Scott Sayre, to work overseeing the area’s beverage tents. Sandy Davis is in charge of the souvenir booths and Reggie Davis will help our food vendors with set up.
Our steering committee is made up of Julie Snowden who’ll oversee the event’s signage; Eleanor Justice who arranges for accommodations for our visiting bands; Billy Sawyer and Chris Jones who coordinate our Bass Tournament; Marcella Toth who chairs our USTA sanctioned Tennis Tournament; Steve Robertson who writes and publishes our festival supplement; Philip Sellers who creates our event brochure; Dave Bosky who creates our RoundTheFourth.com website; Janet Carter who coordinates the day’s change funds, Greg Richardson who serves as our city contact, as well as handles our festival radios; Greg Hyman who oversees our golf carts during the event and Russell Graham for making sure they get here; Brady Norris and his staff who keep county grounds neat and tidy; Timmy Williams, Reggie Jenerette and staff who make sure everything runs smoothly; Scott Hyman who ensures our bands are on stage and sound as they should; Deborah Norman who helps us with our event equipment orders; Melissa Downs High and the Leadership Conway group who will man the Carolina Southern Railroad Train Rides; our Chamber President Alicia Harper who organizes our Tribute To America segment; and last but not least our City of Conway Police Chief Reggie Gosnell, Captain Randall Graham and Horry County Sheriff Philip Thompson who will keep us all safe and sound during the event. If I’ve left anyone out, just know we appreciate you! We appreciate you! We appreciate you! With your help and oversight, we’re all looking forward to yet another successful Round The Fourth festival!
