AC repair inSavannah, GA

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) – Every February, for years, the Hostess City rolls out the red carpet for a diverse group of carefully selected authors, both well-known and emerging, during the Savannah Book Festival.

For this year’s event, Mickie McNamara, assistant director of the Savannah Book Festival, said attendees can expect something different this year.

“Yes, this year with 51 authors presenting 46 different titles, we have more authors than ever before.”

McNamara said the selection process is guided by an Author Selection Committee, comprised of board members and non-board members.

“Representatives on the committee include a retired CEO of Simon & Schuster, the owner of a local independent bookstore, a SCAD writing professor, a program director from the DEEP Center, a Sales Executive from a New York publishing firm, and several prolific readers,” she added. “We develop an extensive list of books for consideration using three different methods.”

Jack Carr will deliver the Savannah Book Festival’s Opening Address at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 16th at the Lucas Theater.

Jack Carr is a #1 New York Times best-selling author and former Navy Seal. He is the author of “The Terminal List,” “True Believer,” “Savage Son,” “The Devil’s Hand,” and “In the Blood.”

His debut novel, “The Terminal List,” was adapted into a series starring Chris Pratt.

Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child will deliver the Keynote Address on Friday, Feb. 17 at 6 p.m. at the Lucas Theater.

Preston and Child are the coauthors of dozens of bestselling novels, including a series featuring FBI Agent Pendergast. Their collaboration on the thriller “Relic,” was a bestselling book and #1 box office film. Two of their works were named in an NPR reader poll as among the 100 greatest thrillers of all time.

David Maraniss will provide the Closing Address on Sunday, Feb. 19 at 2 p.m. at the Lucas Theater.

Maraniss is an associate editor at The Washington Post and a visiting professor at Vanderbilt University. He has won two Pulitzer Prizes for journalism and was a finalist three other times.

Among his bestselling books are biographies of Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Roerto Clementa and Vince Lombardi.

Now in its 16th year, the Savannah Book Festival is one of the nation’s leading invitation-only book festivals. The festival celebrates nationally recognized and local authors for their contributions to literacy, ideas and imagination.

The annual spring descent to Telfair Square happens this week as the 2023 Savannah Book Festival (SBF) welcomes authors and book lovers to a weekend of literature appreciation.

Kicking off Thursday with "In the Blood" author Jack Carr followed by a keynote address from "The Cabinet of Dr. Leng" authors Preston & Child, the festival comes to a fever pitch on Saturday with the annual Festival Saturday event in Telfair Square with a variety of authors speaking at venues around the square and book singings happening throughout.

In her first year in the executive director post, Tara Setter is thrilled to finally get to festival weekend, calling the process up to this point a "Herculean task" that she, the SBF staff and board of directors have made work seamlessly.

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"I call it a labor of love," she said. "Because our community is so appreciative of what we do in helping to spread arts and culture in our community. A love of reading, the art of writing and the process of civil conversation is really what drives us and it really is an honor to be able to pull it off, but the people enjoy what we do."

Setter sat down with the Savannah Morning News to speak to this year's festival, her first year in the executive director's post and the work being done by Savannah Book Festival's education and community outreach programs.

The interview has been edited for clarity and length.

SMN: It's your first year in the executive director chair. You've been with SBF since 2019, but what was it like to take over the lead role this year?

Tara Setter: "It was very overwhelming, but I will give credit to my predecessor. I was hired by a gal by the name of Kim Bockius-Suwyn, and she came in and created an enormous amount of structure to the book festival and created a wonderful pathway for us to follow.

"It's been wonderful because there was an incredible foundation laid and how this book festival is run, and how it grew up to 10,000 people, we probably won't look to grow the book festival any larger than it currently is; what we will do from here on is work to continuously improve the quality of the program. We think we're a great sized program for Savannah, we are an incredibly well-respected book festival in the industry; we are one of the highest-regarded invitation-only book festivals by publishers, and by writers, and one of the things that gives us that shining reputation is the experience that the authors have while they're here. They will tell you that it's just incredible opportunity."

SMN: Festival Saturday generally stands out for locals, and I'm sure authors as well. What have y'all heard from authors and publishers about that experience?

Setter: "We do have a little bit of research that says about 30% of the people that are at the festival are tourists that have come to the city specifically for the book festival. And anecdotally, I'll run across people every weekend in the square, that will tell me, 'I'm from New York City, I've been coming for five years, it's a great book festival.' So that atmosphere that we have built around Telfair Square, creating that festival atmosphere with the food trucks, and the book sale tents and the author signing.

SMN: I'm sure the walkability of the day also plays a factor into people really responding to Festival Saturday.

Setter: "It's a beautiful layout for a book festival. Thanks to our sponsors, we're able to bring 43 nationally-recognized award winning authors this year (that are) free to our community. And to your point, you just walk in, and sit down, I liken it to the Smithsonian expense experience in the National Mall. I mean, there's nothing better on a beautiful Sunday to walk down the National Mall, you pop into the art gallery, and there's a symphony playing in there. I really do equate this with that because we've got Pulitzer Prize-winning authors, we have debut authors, and you can just walk in an experience (and catch) an incredible conversation with an author.

"(Now), one of the complaints we get (each year) is, 'I want to get my book signed and when I'm getting my book signed, I'm missing out on the next presentation because the clock just doesn't work that way.' But actually, this year, we're trying something new. E, Shaver, Bookseller has offered a concierge service so if an attendee really wants to get that book signed, but isn't as isn't as interested in the interaction with the author, they can go through E. Shaver, Bookseller, and they will get the book signed for them, so they don't miss out on another session."

SMN: SBF at Schools is continuing this year. What is that experience like for authors to get that one-on-one time with the children?

Setter: "The authors will say that it was their favorite part of the festival. The author's excitement coming out of there is just palpable. For example, last year, we had a gentleman by the name of Douglas Wolk, who wrote a book called 'All the Marvels.' He apparently is one of the few people on this planet that has read all 27,000 Marvel Comics, and then wrote a book about it, and it's interconnectivity to the world. But to have this gentleman walk into a classroom with the kids and engage with (them) about what (his) career is; I'm making a living off of writing books about comic books. It's just an incredible experience and the one-on-one time that they get to talk with the kids and see the spark in the kids as they're talking about the process of writing, and the process of researching a book.

"We frequently have authors reach out to us and say, 'Hey, I'll come back next year and do just the SBF at Schools. You don't even have to have me at the festival. It was such a wonderful experience.'"

SMN: You're also expanding that to First City Pride Center and Hunter Army Airfield this year. What can folks expect with those events?

Setter: "We're really excited this year about expanding it into the community. Usually, it's exclusively the schools, but we were fortunate enough this year to have the opportunity to have two of our military writers, one fiction and one nonfiction, going out to hunter to the Ranger Battalion, and then two of our authors, going out to the First City Pride Center to speak with those communities. So that's sort of a goal for us going forward is how can we bring it more into the community in addition to the schools."

The Savannah Book Festival starts on Thursday and runs through Sunday. For more information, and tickets to the headline events, visit savannahbookfestival.org.

SAVANNAH, Ga. —

Valentine's Day is quickly approaching and like many other businesses, candy and flower shops are feeling the impacts of inflation.

"The inflation has really cut into our cost of goods," Savannah Candy Kitchen Owner, Rhett Strickland said.

He added that prices are up for all ingredients.

"Dry ice, half-and-half, butter, packaging, anything along those lines. The average is 7-14% up quarterly. We’ve gone up 50% in our cost of goods in the last two years since COVID started," Strickland said.

With chocolate constantly turning, Savannah’s Candy Kitchen is preparing for one of the biggest days of the year. While the shop is paying more for its supplies, customers won’t see an increase in prices.

"The customers are also feeling this. Savannah Candy Kitchen is feeling this but everyone at home is also feeling it. Our goal has always been to make sure everyone has a good experience here. We’re going to keep those margins on our end as close as we can until something happens that we can’t make it," Strickland said.

Candy and flowers tend to go hand and hand for Valentine’s Day.

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John Davis Florist shop manager Connie Ross said it’s the busiest day of the year for the flower shop.

"It's always best to get your order in early. Come on and get your orders in before the 14th. Especially these guys that tend to forget,” Ross said.

Ross says like Savannah Candy Kitchen, John Davis Florist is struggling with inflation.

"We have definitely seen increases in the cost of flowers and of course gas being higher. Delivery fees have gone up just a hair. Our prices for flowers, we’re trying to maintain them as much as we can and still give the customers value," Ross said.

Value was important to John Davis himself. While he and Stan Strickland of Savannah Candy Kitchen are no longer with us, their legacies live on.

"As John’s tradition goes, ‘buy flowers,’" Ross said.

Both Savannah Candy Kitchen and John Davis Florist will be open on Valentine's Day.

The Savannah Bananas’ days of operating from the bowels of Grayson Stadium are over.

The professional baseball franchise recently purchased office and warehouse space located across Bee Road from the historic ballpark. Fans First Entertainment, the Bananas’ parent company founded by Jesse and Emily Cole, bought the longtime home of Georgia Furniture & Interiors at the corner of Bee Road and Kerry Street last October.

The Coles paid $1,289,200 for the 20,000-square-foot building, according to Chatham County property records.

The Bananas are currently using the property’s warehouse space for the merchandising and fulfillment end of the business. Plans call for renovating the two-floor showroom area of the building into offices. The company employs a 40-person staff that currently works out of approximately 1,500 square feet of space tucked underneath the Grayson grandstands along the first base line.

“Where we are in Grayson was not built for that,” Jesse Cole said. “Buying a building, especially one across the street from the ballpark, was a great opportunity.”

How did the Coles discover the property was for sale?

A chance encounter tipped the Coles to the property’s availability - Emily Cole was shopping in the store last year when she struck up a conversation with the owner, Donna Ball, who mentioned an interest in selling.

Ball’s family had owned the building since 1973 and operated Georgia Furniture & Interiors there until March 2020. Ball reopened the space as an antique, vintage, and makers market under the name Merchants on Bee in October 2020.

More on Merchants on Bee:Savannah's antique market and second-hand stores are a home for niche collectors

Cole’s shopping trip led to further discussion between the Bananas and Ball about purchasing the building. Merchants on Bee closed in September 2022, just weeks before the deal to sell the property was completed on Oct. 5.

Jesse Cole said the purchase further affirms Fans First’s commitment to Savannah. The Bananas open their 2023 Banana Ball World Tour next weekend in West Palm Beach, Florida. The team plays its first home game of the new season on Feb. 25 at Grayson Stadium.

Meetings in Savannah offer memorable experiences through ETHOS' vision of purposeful planning for meaningful results.

SAVANNAH, Ga., February 10, 2023 (Newswire.com) - ETHOS Event Collective, a growing destination and event management firm with offices across the country, has officially opened a new location in Savannah, Georgia. The ETHOS team hopes to play a critical role in bridging the gap between meeting and incentive planners and Savannah's offerings.

The expansion to Georgia allows ETHOS to work with existing relationships and resources within the city while developing destination offerings that grow the local economy and create opportunities for hotel, supplier and client partners. These relationships and resources help to enhance the quality of event experiences while simultaneously retaining a true sense of Savannah's meaningful past. Attendees can relax and maximize their time away in the city that has been a stalwart of American tradition since its formation in 1788.

Having established itself as a mainstay of experiential adventure, this expansion is nothing new to the ETHOS team. The ETHOS creative methodology and strategic boots-on-the-ground philosophy are why ETHOS has been able to host remarkable events in cities such as Las Vegas, San Francisco, Chicago, Miami, and Orlando, as well as many others.

The ETHOS Event Collective creative process and operational excellence have already produced meaningful connections, experiences, and results for its clients. Businesses that have partnered with ETHOS have already attributed increased employee retention, sales, and brand loyalty to ETHOS-managed events, and local tourism experts have begun to notice the positive impact the events have had on the local Savannah community.

"The Savannah office will continue to serve our mission of purposeful planning with meaningful results," said Maura O'Donnell, ETHOS Business Development Manager. "We have been able to make a significant impact in cities where ETHOS has already been established. With the newly opened Savannah office full-steam ahead, we are ready to enhance our offerings in the southern region of the U.S."

Learn more about ETHOS Event Collective and its new office in Savannah, Georgia, by visiting https://www.ethoseventcollective.com.

About ETHOS Event Collective

Source: ETHOS Event Collective

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