Today, ice cream lovers, we have good news. A new ice cream parlor will open in downtown Newberry in early April.

Bruce and Kevin Clamp, father and son, will open The Corner Scoop at the corner of Main and College streets with 32 flavors of ice cream, shakes, floats and sundaes. They’ll be open Thursdays through Sundays and for special request kids’ parties on Mondays and Wednesdays.

On Main Street where Carolina Collectibles was located, several businesses will move in over the next couple of months.

For St. Patrick’s Day, downtown is the place to be as the popular Irish Fling festival will be celebrated Friday night. Six restaurants and bars will have live music or a DJ, and our outstanding restaurants will offer food and drink specials.

Kicking it off from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. will be a free Leprechaun Scavenger Hunt with the finding of seven leprechauns at our retailers making one eligible for the prize drawings.

Other upcoming events include the Great American Clean-up with Keep Newberry County Beautiful on March 25, Pork in the Park on April 22, Relay for Life on May 13, A Taste of Newberry on May 19 and March of Dimes on May 20.

In city projects, groundbreaking was held last week for the new tennis center in the Oakland neighborhood. When completed in the fall, we expect the tennis center to be an exciting addition to Newberry with first-class courts, programs for children and adults and tournaments that will attract local and out-of-town players.

Finally, here’s a story that makes us proud. The City of Newberry was honored to recently receive the 2016 Silver Palmetto Award from the SC Department of Disabilities and Special Needs for the South Carolina city that made the most outstanding contributions to people with disabilities the previous year.

Among the contributions cited was Police Lt. Randy Malloy leading an annual cookout and celebration for the special needs community and the police department with 250 people attending in 2016. The city’s commitment to make our parks more inclusive for children with disabilities was praised, such as PRT director Scott Sawyer adding inclusive swings at Marion Davis Park and forming an advisory committee of special needs professionals and parents.

The Newberry County Disabilities and Special Needs Agency on Nance Street does an outstanding job. In addition they make outreach opportunities available, and Newberry County citizens respond. For example, director Bob Jones said after The Newberry Observer published an article about Disabilities and Special Needs holding a formal dance and the need for formal dresses, Bob said they were overwhelmed by the response from the community.

In the nominating letter for Newberry, Bob gave many examples of community involvement with the special needs community. He wrote this about the funeral of Bo Coffey of Newberry.

“Recently, one of our friends passed. He was well known in the community and loved by all. He was a fixture at Newberry College and was on a first name basis with coaches and players. He seldom missed a game. At the conclusion of his service, Newberry College students lined the entire route from Wiles Chapel to Bo’s beloved golf cart for his last ride to the cemetery with a police escort. And yes, the sirens were blazing. It was a display of respect and community. It was Newberry.”

Foster Senn Contributing Columnist
https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/web1_Foster-Senn.jpgFoster Senn Contributing Columnist

Foster Senn is the mayor of the City of Newberry.