When Deborah Smith came to Newberry in the mid-1990s to re-open the Newberry Opera House, the Opera House had been closed for 40 years and downtown Newberry was struggling. As the executive director, Deborah took the dreams and ideas for the Opera House and led the effort that turned it into one of America’s best historic theaters and a great economic catalyst for our area.
Deborah is retiring in the fall. To celebrate her remarkable work in Newberry, a reception in her honor will be held Sunday, August 23 from 3 p.m. until 5 p.m. at Memorial Park. The public is invited. The Opera House Foundation and Guild are hosting the reception, and I’m declaring it “Deborah Smith Day” in Newberry.
The new Opera House executive director will be Molly Fortune, formerly of the Fox Theater in Atlanta. Molly is energetic and impressive. She starts in September.
In local economic news the county unemployment rate in June was 6 percent, which is the sixth best in the state. The number of people working in the county has grown with approximately 800 more people working this year compared to last year, according to the state employment office. That’s an impressive number. In addition, people are eating in local restaurants and staying in local hotels as the city’s hospitality and accommodations tax revenue is up 10 percent this year.
In new business openings, the Palms Meat and Seafood Market opened on Wilson Road recently with an impressive selection. My tip: get the chipotle pimento cheese. Delicious. The Palms restaurant reopened last week after making some nice renovations.
At the Newberry Plaza, Badcock Furniture plans to open a store beside Anytime Fitness. Next Friday, South State Bank takes over the branch of Bank of America. South State has a very good reputation.
Downtown, Ruby’s Boutique opened at 1414 Main St. and construction is underway for Pour Richard’s bar. The former Pour Richard’s location, Main at Nance, is available for rentals and functions.
Thank you for continuing to support downtown, especially the many entrepreneurs we have.
At the city’s water plant on the Saluda River, construction has started on a new clear well, a vital part of the water process. That will be complete in the spring. Design work on other infrastructure projects is taking place, including for the replacement of some old water and sewer lines. A broken, large water line recently on Evans St. and the subsequent street closure is an example of some of the problems we have and that we aim to fix.
Our police department received Tuesday its three-year accreditation for the sixth consecutive time, the longest period for any police department in the state. And in a recent study, Newberry was named fourth safest city in South Carolina. Our fire department received two significant grants recently that will help our city.
There are a number of activities coming up, such as a free outdoor movie, Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, downtown Friday night. The Opera House season starts August 27 with the return of hometown country-sensation A Thousand Horses.
We get a local taste of the 2016 national election process with visits by Rick Santorum on Sept. 2 and Mike Huckabee on Sept. 22 to the Opera House. Newberry has a good reputation for attendance at political rallies to it’s expected more candidates will visit Newberry before the primary.
Newberry College students return this month, which brings much excitement for our community.
Finally, we congratulate our Chapin-Newberry American Legion baseball team on their undefeated season, state championship and Southeastern championship. It’s the first time a Newberry-based team has ever won the American Legion state championship. We’re very proud. We wish them much success at the national championship in Shelby, N.C., this weekend.