Roofer in Columbia, SC

This year’s theme for the Columbia Carillon Parade is Making Merry Memories, apt for all the various South Carolina communities staging parades this holiday season.

The Carillon parade on Sumter Street, begins at Bull and Gervais streets at 9:40 a.m. on Saturday. Rain or shine.

Some 125 entries, including floats, bands and performances will be featured in this, the 73rd year. It is Columbia’s biggest Christmas parade. Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott will be the grand marshal.

Organizers ask people to remember no cars are allowed to park along the parade route from Elmwood Avenue to Gervais street on Sumter Street.

Participants will need to park along Marion Street or Main Street. Click or tap here for more information.

Other area parades include:

Dec. 5, 6 p.m. — The Town of Lexington will stage a parade as part of its Dec 4-7 , a craft fair, carnival, movie night and tree lighting. The theme is “A Storybook Christmas.”

Dec. 6, 9 a.m. — The Town of Irmo will hold its first Christmas parade, beginning at Crossroads Intermediate School and wind its way down, concluding near the McDonald’s on St. Andrews Road.

Dec. 6, 6:30 p.m. Poinsettia Christmas Parade along Greenville’s Main Street from Augusta Street to North Street. The city has sponsored the parade for more than 75 years.

Greenville businessman and founder and chairman of Artisphere Henry Horowitz is the grand marshal.

Dec. 6 11 a.m. Piedmont Holly Jolly Christmas Parade — marching bands, ROTC units, pageant winners, dance groups, antique cars and trucks, Santa, and more.

Dec. 6 2 p.m. Mauldin Christmas Parade — The Greater Mauldin Chamber of Commerce will hold their annual parade starting at the Golden Strip Career Center, traveling down Holland Road and ending at BridgeWay.

Dec. 7 4 p.m. Orangeburg County Christmas Parade. The theme is Rockin’ the 80s. Organizers say Expect bright lights, bold colors, and plenty of retro holiday fun as the community comes together to kick off the Christmas season in style!

Dec. 7 3 p.m. Prosperity Christmas Parade — Floats, bands, clowns, and all the usual parade antics march down Main Street.

Dec. 7 2:30 p.m. Greenwood Christmas Parade — Floats, bands, clowns and more travel down Main Street - 2025 theme: “Christmas on the Lily Pad at Frog Level”

Dec. 7 2:30 p.m. Greer Christmas Parade — The Greer Christmas Parade route is 1.1 miles; beginning at Poinsett Street & Memorial Drive and ending at N. Main Street & Cunningham Drive.

Dec. 7 3 p.m. Simpsonville’s Christmas Parade Parade Route runs north to south along N.E. & S.E. Main Street through downtown Simpsonville.

Dec. 13 noon Greater Cayce West Columbia Chamber of Commerce Parade Day 1— festivities kick off at the North Pole at the Greater CWC Chamber Office, 1006 12th Street, featuring live entertainment, amusements, family activities, shopping, and more. Then after the 5:30 p.m. sunset see the Holiday Parade of Lights down 12th street to Meeting Street in West Columbia.

Dec. 13 10 a.m. Kershaw County Christmas Parade — More than 3,000 spectators turn out for the Kershaw County Christmas Parade which boasts fire trucks, floats, pageant winners, classic cars, dancing, music, Santa, and much, much more!

The parade will begin at the corner of Broad Street and Laurens in downtown Camden. It will proceed along Broad Street and end at the City Arena. This year’s theme is “Christmas Fun For Everyone.”

Dec. 21 2 p.m. Boykin Christmas Parade — bills itself as the “world’s most unique Christmas Parade.” Thousands flock to the tiny hamlet of Boykin to enjoy a country Christmas and see what means of transportation Santa will find. “You just never know what to expect at the Boykin Christmas Parade.”

This is a parade with a sense of humor. On their Facebook page they say “if you can decorate it, drive it, pull it, or pray it forward ... we want it in the parade! This is the year for wacky homemade floats, small-town spirit, redneck creativity.”

Dec. 13 6:30 p.m. Lights of Lugoff Christmas Parade — Sponsored by the Lugoff Optimist Club, this is a night time parade “that is magical for young and old,” organizers say.

Do you drive through southeast Columbia? You could soon run into new major construction, with a long-unchanged corner lot in a busy Columbia corridor now available for redevelopment.

Commercial real estate firm NAI Columbia wants someone to lease the 3.14 acre site at the corner of Rosewood Drive and Beltline Boulevard, currently occupied by a handful of businesses and homes. Specifically, NAI says a convenience store would be ideal for the site “as there is little to no competition in the immediate area.”

The busy intersection where the new development would come is something of a Columbia traffic sorter, giving drivers access to major thoroughfare roads that span the city: Take Rosewood Drive to Beltline Boulevard to get to Forest Acres. Take Rosewood a little further to Garners Ferry and get to Lower Richland. Take Rosewood Drive east and get to downtown Columbia.

Because of this, the intersection sees a lot of traffic. An average of 24,000 vehicles drive down Rosewood Boulevard each day. Another 10,000 each day travel the piece of Beltline Boulevard between Rosewood Drive and Devine Street. More than 8,000 cars a day take Beltline Boulevard to Rosewood Drive, and another nearly 19,000 cars take Rosewood Drive to Garners Ferry Road.

NAI Columbia hopes that traffic entices new business to the intersection, which is occupied now by a cell phone repair store, a body piercing shop, and several homes. The full 3.14 acre site is owned by a family trust for the Gaffos Family.

The State has contacted NAI Columbia for additional information, including what the plans are for the businesses already on the site.

What does the proposed development plan mean for you? Nothing yet. Right now, NAI Columbia is looking for interested parties, but there are no formal site plans for a convenience store project at that intersection as of now.

If a convenience store did set up on the site, it would join a string of similar shops on Rosewood Drive and Beltline Boulevard, as well as a Quick Trip 1.5 miles away near Fort Jackson.

COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — Leaders with the SC Research Authority held a press conference with Governor Henry McMaster on Wednesday to announce the opening of a new center for cybersecurity.

The new center will be housed within SCRA’s existing facility at 1000 Catawba Street in Columbia. A top goal will be to lead and implement the state’s 20 initiative cybersecurity strategic plan that was developed in 2024 (the plan followed a study that assessed SC’s cyber needs and challenges).

“When you look at the totality of that, SCRA’s role is to make sure that we are appropriately checking all of those boxes, making sure that everything that’s being done is efficient as possible, effective as possible, well resourced as possible,” says Brian Shea, who will lead the new center.

Initiatives include helping to improve cyber education within schools and universities statewide, strengthening workforce development, and strengthening defense partnerships.

The new center will also serve new cyber startups — giving them a place to turn to for much needed resources.

“We heard from over 400 business owners, military commanders, economic developers, cyber workers, entrepreneurs, and we heard their frustrations, their challenges. And one of the things we found is people don’t know where to turn. So it’s not that we need to build a bunch of new special operations centers, we need to help people know where to turn and give them uncomplicated easy-access guidance,” says Shea.

SCRA’s Interim President Bill Kirkland believes the new center will also make SC more competitive by attracting both cyber investments and cyber companies.

“My hope is as we start to roll out the plan, we’ll see more opportunities to invest, because it’s gonna create a pipeline of companies either here today, or moving to SC someday,” he says.

A teacher at Crayton Middle School was removed from the building in November. Students and parents don’t know why, and the school district won’t say.

Stephen Price, a mathematics teacher who also coached the Crayton’s wrestling team, was escorted from school premises on Nov. 17 during school hours, said Meagan Kerr, the parent of a Crayton student and member of the wrestling team. Kerr told The State that students were instructed to go into their classrooms, shut the doors and told to remain there while Price was escorted out.

Since then, the wrestling program at the Forest Acres school has been at a standstill.

In a Nov. 20 message, which was obtained by The State, Crayton Principal Angela Burns told parents and guardians that the school wanted to address questions regarding Price’s absence and encouraged families to reach out to her with questions.

“While we understand that you may have concerns please know that we are unable to share specific details due to privacy laws that protect all employees,” Burns wrote. “What we can assure you is that we are committed to maintaining a safe and productive learning environment for your children. ... we have measures in place to ensure students receive the support they need.”

Burns said that instruction would continue as planned.

“We appreciate your understanding and cooperation in avoiding speculation or spreading rumors, as this can be harmful and inaccurate,” Burns wrote.

Price is still listed as a faculty member on the middle school’s website. He could not be reached for comment.

Wrestling practice was abruptly canceled, Kerr said, and parents and students are “completely in the dark,” with little information about the future of the wrestling programs. It’s led to safety concerns among families, and rumors among students, she said.

“Right now the lack of information is causing a lot of confusion and speculation,” Kerr wrote in an email to Burns on Nov. 20.

A spokesperson for Richland School District 1 declined to answer a reporter’s questions about the nature of Price’s removal, the status of his employment or if any disciplinary action was taken.

“The situation at Crayton involves a confidential personnel matter, which is being addressed,” Karen York said in a statement. “Yes, there may be some rumors and misinformation about the situation but, as I noted, this involves a confidential personnel matter so we cannot discuss any possible disciplinary actions or other details.”

York said wrestling practices were canceled because the program is without a coach, though the principal is continuing to explore options and is hopeful wrestling will be able to resume.

Kerr said that parents volunteered to coach the team, but were told they were not allowed to do so.

The wrestling team has three meets in the next two weeks that they will not be able to attend, Kerr said.

COLUMBIA — A new pizza restaurant is coming to Columbia’s Main Street, inspired by a popular weekly special.

Black Dog Pizza is set to open the first week of January at 1649 Main St. in the former location of popular dance bar The Woody. The bar announced in September that it would be leaving the building the following month and looking for a new place to call home.

The new restaurant taking over the Main Street spot is inspired by its upstairs neighbors, Hendrix, a restaurant and rooftop bar that became popular for weekly pizza nights. Black Dog Pizza is from the Hendrix ownership team, which also leads Jake’s and No Name Deli.

Co-owner Jon Sears said the new restaurant’s pizza will be similar to the version that became popular at Hendrix, but made with a new $50,000 oven that will make them “much better and much more consistent.”

“I think our pizza is going to be the best in town,” Sears said. “Columbia is not really a pizza haven in terms of a bunch of good pizza spots, so it seems like we could be on the higher end of things.”

Hendrix’s current sous chef, Joseph Lytle, will be taking the lead in the kitchen at Black Dog Pizza with plans to serve up his Neo-Neapolitan style pizza, Sears said. This kind of pizza is an American version of the traditional Neapolitan pizza that is cooked at a lower temperature for a longer time, allowing for a crispier crust.

While Sears said a menu hasn’t been finalized yet, the restaurant plans to serve both slices and full pizzas, the later of which will likely cost a little over $20 for a specialty pie.

Sears said the Black Dog Pizza name and logo is also special as it resembles Sears’ dog, a black lab, that passed away in the summer and calls back to the popular college bar Pavlov’s, which shared the same dog logo.

Sears hopes Black Dog Pizza will become a neighborhood bar and restaurant where people can stop by without having to worry about dressing up.

“It’s not stuffy. It’s going to be somewhere chill,” Sears said. “You can go hang out and watch a game and eat some good pizza.”

Black Dog Pizza is set to open the first or second week of January and will be open Tuesday through Saturday for both lunch and dinner. Those interested in applying for a position at the restaurant can reach out at info@blackdogpizzasc.com.

Future for The Woody

Co-owner of The Woody Jennifer Windham told Free Times that she is in the early steps of securing a new building for the dance bar.

Since The Woody closed after Halloween, Windham has made a few posts on social media reflecting on the business and asking for support as they work on finding a new location. Windham said she was overwhelmed with the amount of engagement and kind words.

“We definitely have support for the community. We appreciate that so much,” Windham said. “Because Lord knows, this is not the easiest time.”

Windham said she has all intentions of relocating and continuing the legacy of her father, the late Woody Windham.