FLORENCE RESTAURANT WEEK 2015 NOMINATION PHASEFlorence Main StreetFlorence, AL – March 25 – Between April 1 and April 24, Florence Main Street wants you to nominate your favorite charity for the opportunity to win a $5,000 check. Last year during Florence Restaurant Week, Presenting Sponsor McDaniel Window & Door owner Mike McDaniel presented the $5000 winning charity check to SafePlace, Inc and he’s looking forward to making another charity very happy this year.“Presenting the $5000 check to SafePlace was not only an honor, but a privilege for myself and staff. It was exciting to see our local businesses thriving, while our community came together to raise awareness for so many wonderful charities. McDaniel Window & Door is excited to be the Presenting Sponsor again for 2015 Florence Restaurant Week, and I personally challenge all our local businesses to get involved and support this great event,” said owner, Mike McDaniel.Selected from the community’s nominations, five charities will be placed on a ballot for guests dining at participating restaurants during Florence Restaurant Week in May. Tuesday, April 1 through Friday, April 24th, nominate your favorite charity and tell us why they deserve this prize. (To be considered, a charity must be a designated 501c(3) organization with the state of Alabama and have an office in the Shoals.) The three most nominated charities will automatically be included on the ballot, and Florence Main Street will choose two wild-card charities based on input from our Presenting Sponsor, number of nominations, impact on our community, and other factors. SafePlace of the Shoals will be excluded from this years’ nomination phase because they were the winners of Florence Restaurant Week 2014.You can nominate your favorite charity four ways. Florence Main Street will have a poll on our Facebook page, on McDaniel Window & Door’s Facebook page, and on our website (www.dineoutflorence.com) or you can mail in your nomination. If you choose to mail in a nomination please include these items:Your First and Last NameYour Email addressName of CharityWhy you are nominating the charity?Name of Executive Director at the charity.Contact info for the charity. (Address & Phone Number)Then, from May 8-16, Florence Main Street will host Florence Restaurant Week 2015. Ballots will be available at participating restaurants. Every time you eat at a participating restaurant during Florence Restaurant Week, you will have the opportunity to vote for one of our five local charities. Every time you eat, you get to vote! Florence Restaurant Week is not only a showcase of our best local eateries, but it will also help to shine the light on some of our best local charities. The charity with the most votes at the end of the week will walk away with a check for $5,000 that will be used to do good work right here in the Shoals.Mark your calendars now for FLORENCE RESTAURANT WEEK–May 8-16, 2015! And please, help us do good where it counts by nominating YOUR favorite charity today!Participating Restaurants: Bookmarks Coffee Shop (inside the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library), Sperry’s, Wildwood Tavern, The Pie Factory, Singin’ River Brewery, Rivertown Coffee Company, Flobama Music Hall, Odette, Imagine That Bakery & Café, Legends Steakhouse, On the Rocks, Trowbridges, City Hardware, Ricatoni’s Italian Grill and more.Make sure to join the Facebook event and invite your friends to follow along with all things about Restaurant Week. Click here!Florence Main Street, a non-profit 501(c)3 organization dedicated of working with business owners, community leaders, and residents toward the common goal of revitalizing Downtown Florence culturally and economically. For more information about us or any of these efforts, please contact Florence Main Street at 256-760-9648 or info@florencemainstreet.org ###
Economic Development Specialist Visits Florence
Main Street Alabama hosted a nationally recognized market strategist, Todd Barman, in Florence Alabama this week. After meeting with representatives from the Chamber of Commerce, City of Florence, and economic development professionals, Barman will conduct a market analysis to showcase existing and new market expansion opportunities in downtown Florence. The study was requested by Florence Main Street’s Executive Director, Teryl Shields, as a tool to further develop their downtown.With more than 20 years of experience in the development field and more than 16 years firsthand Main Street experience, Barman’s expertise in market analysis is widely recognized. As a national leader, Todd convenes discussion groups on ways to better approach market analysis and help communities put economic restructuring principles into practice more effectively. Todd is known throughout the United States and into Canada for his work in downtown development planning and refining Main Street’s asset-based economic development strategies. His areas of expertise include capacity building and evaluation of local Main Street programs, organizational and community planning, entrepreneurship, targeted market research, and commercial district market position.Mary Helmer, State Coordinator of Main Street Alabama, stated “we are pleased to bring this nationally recognized expert to Florence and sponsor the work he is doing for one of our designated communities. A complete market study is one of the many items available to Main Street designated communities in our tiered program of services. Such studies, paired with professional development, help bolster community efforts and position Main Street programs for success.”Main Street Alabama focuses on bringing jobs, dollars and people back to Alabama’s historic communities. Economic development is at the heart of our efforts to revitalize downtowns and neighborhood commercial districts.
2014 Historic Downtown Florence Calendars
For many years, the Design Committee of Florence Main Street has published an annual calendar devoted to various aspects of historic downtown Florence.Some calendars highlighted historic commercial buildings; many focused on historic private residences, while at least one centered around historic houses of worship.The handsome 2014 calendar is entitled simply “Historic Downtown Florence.” It includes structures such as Wesleyn Hall on the UNA campus (built in 1855) and the recently-constructed law office of John Harris on South Court Street which is an excellent example of sensitive infill architecture. Also featured are beautiful stained glass windows at First Presbyterian Church and Ferdinand Sannoner’s 1852 map of Florence done in granite and embedded in the sidewalk at the intersection of Court and Tennessee Streets. All photographs are the work of local photographer Glenn Bevis.So, for just $5.00 a person receives an artistic calendar with 13 beautiful black-and-white photographs and a written history of each of the 13. It easily becomes a keepsake or a gift to a special friend or family member. The purchase of 50 or more reduces the price per copy to $3.00The 2014 calendar is available at the Kennedy Douglass Center for the Arts, 217 E. Tuscaloosa Street or contact Executive Director Teryl Shields by phone at 256-760-9648 or by email at: tshields@florencemainstreet.org .2014 Calendar Press Release