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SANFORD LIONS CLUB

The Sanford Lions Club celebrated the Christmas season with its annual Christmas Ladies Night Thursday, Dec. 12, with dinner and entertainment at the Lions Fairgrounds. President Richard Holshouser presided while Lion Mike Womble was program chairman.

More than 80 attended the event including club members, spouses and guests. A Christmas tree and festive table decorations including colorful poinsettias and Christmas cactuses brightened the commercial exhibit hall which serves as the Lions’ Den. The food committee prepared a table full of hors d’oeuvres enjoyed during a social period prior to the dinner and program. Tail Twister Bonita Cox set the spirit of the evening with some thoughtful observations on life and the season.

President Holshouser praised the work of Lions Bucky Phillips and Lindsay Jones for organizing the annual Christmas Cheer program for some 30 blind and visually impaired citizens of Lee County. Each recipient gets $100 in gift cards for food and gifts. Club members distribute the cards and are rewarded by the warm spirit of the season during their visits with the blind and visually impaired. Lions who are ill and some who are homebound were remembered with the club being asked to keep them in their prayers. Womble

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Folkmoot Festival Generates $9.2 million—Organization Releases Results of 2013 Economic Impact Survey

The results of an economic impact study conducted by Tom Tveidt of SYNEVA Economics demonstrate that Folkmoot USA had a $9.2 million impact on Western North Carolina in 2013. The firm conducts economic impact assessments for clients throughout the United States, and has most recently completed studies for UNC Asheville, the Boy Scouts of America’s National Scouting Center, and the Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport. Only overnight and outside day-trip visitors were included in Folkmoot’s study. “By tracking Festival spending as it moves through the local economy, we were able to measure the important role it plays in supporting jobs, adding income and generating tax revenues,” noted Mr. Tveidt.

This news comes at a positive time in the organization’s history. Folkmoot Executive Director Karen Babcock sees a great future for Folkmoot’s cultural exchange activities, “We are thrilled that our efforts to bring the world’s cultures to Western North Carolina have a positive economic impact on communities. The $9.2 million impact has far exceeded all expectations.”

After 30 years of focusing on the annual summer festival, Folkmoot is becoming a more sustainable organization with plans to offer year-round programs. The expanded cultural

Article source: http://www.mountainx.com/article/55049/Economic-impact-study-Folkmoot-Festival-generates-9.2-million If you need a cheap air ticket, hotel or rental car please visit http://www.airticket.com

Travel volume represents an increase of 48,500 total travelers compared to last year. An estimated 2,559,700, or 90.5 percent of total travelers, plan to drive to their destination. North Carolina travelers are expected to log an average trip of 965 miles from home, a significant increase from 765 miles last year.

Although she has no specific holiday tourism numbers, Beth Carden, executive director of the Hendersonville Visitors Center, said 2013 was “a spectacular year,” for tourism. “From January to October we’ve already had 120,000 people come to our Visitors Center, about 30,000 to 40,000 more than the year before. Many local retailers have told us their business is the best it’s been in years.”

Carden credits increased marketing efforts in major metropolitan areas, including Atlanta and Charleston, for bringing additional visitors to the area.

“We started a winter getaway card program, and we’ve gotten some good response that’s driving traffic between November and March. The getaway program is trying to provide a deal or added value to get people here and have them do their Christmas shopping here and stay overnight, maybe go to a concert, go shopping or have dinner,” she said.

Winter getaway cards are free at the Visitors

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