Lake City Community Planner for July 8

Safe Kids Florence

Safe Kids Florence, led by McLeod Health, will host two Safe Sitter courses for girls and boys ages 11 to 13 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday in the McLeod Medical Plaza Conference Center in Florence.

The class is $35 and includes class materials, a T-shirt, a certificate and lunch.

The plaza is located at 800 E. Cheves St. in Florence. To register, call McLeod Reservations and Scheduling at (843) 777-2005. Please register early, as space is limited.

Safe Kids asks that parents or guardians escort their children to the class in the morning in order to briefly provide them with important information.

Lake City golf invitational

The 36th Annual 2009 Lake City Country Club Scholarship Invitational will take place July 18 and 19 at the Lake City country Club. The format will be 36 holes stroke play. Six flights pre-flighted by handicap (must be verified or past performance). Entry fee is $130, which includes mandatory cart. Must be 18 years old to participate. Entry deadline is July 15 or when the first 144 paid entries are received. Entry subject to approval by Tournament Committee. For information, call (843) 374-3415 or (843) 373-1192.

‘Voyage to the Planets’

The Dooley Planetarium on the campus of Francis Marion University will present a program titled “Voyage to the Planets” at 3 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free.

The planetarium, on the second floor of the Cauthen Educational Media Center, will open its doors at 2:30 p.m., and no admittance will be allowed once viewing begins.

The next program, titled “Sky Watchers of Ancient Mexico,” will be presented July 26.

For additional information about the planetarium, call Planetarium Director Jeannette M. Myers at (843) 661-1441 or visit the planetarium’s Web site, at http://astro.fmarion.edu/planet/.

Rhodes reunion

The 63rd annual Joseph E. and Mary Beck Rhodes reunion will be Sunday at the Swift Creek Baptist Church, 413 N. Center Road, Hartsville. Registration will be at 12:15 p.m., a covered dish luncheon will be at 1 p.m., and a business meeting at 2 p.m. Plates, cups and ice will be furnished. For information, call (843) 332-2588.

FMU orientation

Francis Marion University will hold four orientation sessions this summer for new students who will begin classes at the university in the fall. Each new student is required to attend one of the sessions, scheduled for July 16 and 17 as well as for Aug. 6.

At orientation, new FMU students have the opportunity to register for classes, work with an academic adviser, have an FMU ID card made, meet current and incoming students, receive information on a variety of student services, and see the entire campus. For more information about orientation, call FMU’s Orientation Office at (843) 661-1563.

Fall semester classes begin Aug. 26. There is still time for students to apply and be accepted to the university for the fall 2009 semester. For application information, call the FMU Admissions Office at (843) 661-1231 or the university’s toll-free number, (800) 368-7551.

‘Road to Recovery’

The American Cancer Society ’s “Road to Recovery” program needs volunteers willing to drive patients to their cancer treatments. The first local training is scheduled for 1 p.m. July 15 at the Business Technolgy Center. To learn more about the program, call Denise Richbourg at (843) 685-9205 or e-mail . Day or night, call (800) ACS-2345 (227-2345).

Land-use Night School

The Florence County Planning Commission will hold a training session at 6:30 p.m. July 16 on the Land Use Element of the county’s comprehensive plan.

The session will be held in Room 803 of the Florence City-County Complex, at 180 N. Irby St. in Florence. It will include presentation of the plan, map review and public comments. All interested parties are invited to attend.

For more information, call the county planning department at (843) 676-8600.

SCDOT public comments

The South Carolina Department of Transportation is seeking comments from the public on the proposed 2010-15 Statewide Improvement Program (STIP). A copy of the proposal will be available for public review on the web at http://www.scdot.org/inside/public_comment.shtml; at Pee Dee Regional Council of Governments, 2319 Regional Road, Florence; and at SCDOT’s District 5 office, 3018 E. Palmetto Street, Florence. Comments will be accepted until July 15 and should be forwarded to Ron Patton, Director of Planning and Environmental at SCDOT, 955 Park Street, P.O. Box 191, Columbia 29202 or .

First Steps

Florence County First Steps will be taking pre-applications for Childcare Scholarships (ABC) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through July 16. For information, call (843) 629-0202.

FMU cabin tours

Francis Marion University will offer public tours of its hewn-timber cabins from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Visitors should enter the campus on Wallace Woods Road from U.S. 76/301.

The cabins were built around 1836 by slaves who then occupied them. Only two of the original eight cabins are still standing. In 1974, these two remaining cabins were placed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1980, nine acres of land were donated to FMU as a permanent site for their location.

The cabins are open to the public from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month. To see the cabins at other times, make an appointment with Karl McAlister at (843) 661-1311.

More information about the cabins is available at http://www.fmarion.edu/academics/generalinformationandtour1 or by sending an e-mail to .

Divergent learning conference

The Francis Marion University School of Education Graduate School will hold the second Annual Conference for Advocacy for the Non-traditional and Divergent Learner (CANDL) on July 24 in the Lee Nursing Building on the FMU campus.

The theme of the half-day conference is “Illuminating the Strengths of the Non-Traditional and Divergent Learner.”

The conference will begin with registration and a continental breakfast from 8:30 to 8:50 a.m. It will open with Stephen Taylor, founder of the divergent learning concept, as the keynote speaker. Taylor has recently published two books, “Round Kids, Square Schools: The 20th Anniversary Portrait of the Divergent Learner” and “Round Kids, Square System: Opening the Door to the Cultural Belonging for the Divergent Learner.”

Following the keynote address will be three concurrent sessions. These sessions will be 40 minutes each. Closing remarks and door prizes will follow these sessions.

To register, complete a registration form and send with check or money order for $25 made payable to: Cashier’s Office, Francis Marion University, P.O. Box 100547, Florence, SC 29501-0547. Certificates will be issued for renewal credit.

Exchange students

High school student exchange program AFS is seeking families in our community to host high school students for an academic year or six months.
Students arrive in August.

All kinds of families can host — two-parent households with young children or teenagers, single-parent families, families with adopted children, and foster parents, as well as couples and single people who do not have children or who have grown children.

One of the most important characteristics of a host family is being eager and excited to share your life and activities while providing the same kind of care, support, and comfort as you would to your own child or family members.

AFS students come from more than 40 countries and represent many different cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. Local AFS volunteers enroll students in high school and support students and their families to help both gain the most from their experience.

In addition to host families, AFS needs people who are interested in becoming volunteer liaisons to work locally with families and their hosted students. Anyone interested in learning more about hosting or volunteering with AFS should visit http://www.afsusa.org/hostfamily or call (800) 876-2377.

AFS Intercultural Programs/USA is a nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization. The mission of AFS is to work toward a more just and peaceful world by providing international and intercultural learning experiences to individuals, families, schools, and communities through a global volunteer partnership.

FMU offers Women’s Soccer Team Camp

The Francis Marion University women’s soccer program will hold a residential Team Camp, July 28 through Aug. 1 on the FMU campus for high school girl’s teams. The cost is $350 per player, with a minimum of 14 players per team.  The cost includes meals and housing. Pre-registration by team is required.

For details, contact FMU head women’s soccer coach Joel Person at (843) 661-1244 or .

FMU baseball showcases

The Francis Marion University baseball program will hold Summer Showcases for high-school-age players on Aug. 6 from 12:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Registration will begin at noon, and the cost is $50 per date.

The pro-style workout will be held on FMU’s Cormell Field and will include 60-yard dash, outfield and infield defensive work and arm strength, batting practice, bullpen session and a scrimmage.

There will be an optional campus tour leaving from the field at 10 a.m. for those interested.

A registration form is posted on the Francis Marion baseball Web site (http://www.fmupatriots.com), or you can call (843) 661-4624 for information.

Walk-up registration will also be available.

Farmers market

The Lake City Farmers Market will hold the following scheduled activities:

• First Saturday of every month — yard sales
• Second and fourth Saturday of every month — bake sales
• Third Saturday of every month — barter days

If you are a nonprofit organization or group and need to do a fundraiser, please contact the National Bean Market Museum office to participate in any of the above activities. If you participate in the yard sales for profit, a $5 fee is required for joining the yard sale group.

On barter days, there is no charge for the public to bring items to the market to trade with others who participate (the farmers market is not included in barter days). 

For more information, call Sherri Moore at (843) 374-1500.

ScienceSouth Summer Camp

ScienceSouth’s Summer Camp for Kids will offer five weeks of fun hands-on, minds-on science at the ScienceSouth Pavilion at Freedom Florence. Each week of camp is themed to a specific area of science and will run from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. The cost for one week of camp is $175 per child. Visit http://www.sciencesouth.org to book your child’s space or call (843) 679-5353, ext. 313, or e-mail with any questions regarding summer camp.