North Charleston Christmas Festival and Parade

Saturday, December 1 from 4:00 pm to 9:00 pm around Park Circle with the Christmas Parade beginning at 6:00 pm. The Christmas Festival includes a Holiday Market with children’s activities, craft vendors, food vendors, and live musical performances on three stages. The Christmas Parade begins at the corner of Montague and Mixson Avenues, proceeds down Montague, around Park Circle, and returns to Mixson Avenue.

Immediately following the Christmas Parade, Mayor R. Keith Summey and Santa Claus will light the City’s Christmas tree located outside the front entrance of the Felix C. Davis Community Center.

Christmas Festival Schedule

3:00 pm	Police will close traffic circle to vehicular traffic
4:00 - 5:30 pm	Children activities (jump castles, petting zoo, carriage rides)
4:00 - 6:00 pm	Performances prior to parade
6:00 - 7:00 pm	Parade / Mayor’s Tree Lighting
7:00 - 9:00 pm	Performances on all stages
9:00 pm	Road opens for traffic

A map displaying each event and the parade route.

Performers at Christmas Festival 
Happy Feet Dancers
Leonard School of Music Jazz Band
Chilenia Jamison aka Nina Ross
Caley Crew - Soloist
Lowcountry Voices Ensemble
Ashley Gospel Singers
Michael Brown & F.O.C.U.S.

Christmas lights and displays shine at Park Circle and on the eight exterior islands nightly from the beginning of December until New Years Day.

South Carolina Small Business-Lender Match Maker Event

The South Carolina Dept. of Commerce, in partnership with area Chambers of Commerce and other ally groups, is facilitating a Lender Matchmaker Event in North Charleston on Thursday, November 29th. 

The purpose of the event is to give small businesses access to financing resources. The morning session will include area lenders talking about what they are looking for, what makes a good quality application, pitfalls, etc. Followed by a Peer to Peer session in which companies that have successfully obtained financing explain how they did it, and the key ingredients behind their success. Lunch will be followed by a speed-dating session, where potential borrowers sign up for meetings with multiple lenders and funding resources to advance their financing options.

Click Here To Register

If you have any questions, please feel free to call or email me, or Greg Davis, gdavis@sccommerce.com, 803-737-0601.

Accreditation Assessment Team Invites Public Comment

A team of assessors from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA) will arrive November 4th, 2012, to examine all aspects of the North Charleston Police Department’s policies and procedures, management, operations, and support services.

Verification by the team that the North Charleston Police Department meets the Commission’s state-of-the-art standards is part of a voluntary process to gain accreditation. Chief Zumalt describes the Commission as, “a highly-prized recognition of law enforcement professional excellence.” Zumalt adds that in order to gain accredited status, the department had to comply with 480 standards that were recognized as the top police practices in the nation.

Captain Joyce Smith, the Accreditation Manager for the North Charleston Police Department, said the assessment team is comprised of law enforcement practitioners from similarly sized, but out of state agencies. The assessors will review written materials, interview individuals and officers, and visit sites where compliance can be witnessed. The assessors are:

Team Leader: Deputy Chief Michael Webb (Abington Township Police Department) - Pennsylvania
Team Member: Laura Saunders (Burlington Police Department) – North Carolina

Once the Commission’s assessors complete their review of the agency, they report back to the full Commission, which will then decide if the agency is to receive accredited status. Accreditation is for three years, during which time the agency must submit annual reports attesting continued compliance with those standards under which they were initially accredited.

As part of the on-site assessment, the public and agency employees are invited to offer comments on the department’s services and performance at a Public Information Session on Monday, November 5th, 2012, at 6:00 PM. The session will be held in the Montague Room, 2nd Floor at North Charleston City Hall, located at 2500 City Hall Lane, North Charleston, SC.

If for some reason an individual cannot speak at the Public Information Session, but would like to provide comments to the assessment team, he/she may do so by telephone. The public may call (843) 740-2819 on Monday, November 5th, between the hours of 2:00 PM and 4:00 PM.

Telephone comments, as well as those made at the Public Information Session, are limited to ten minutes and must address the department’s ability to comply with the CALEA standards. A copy of the standards is available at the North Charleston Police Department.

Anyone wishing to submit written comments about the North Charleston Police Department’s ability to comply with the standards of accreditation may send them to:

CALEA
13575 Heathcote Blvd., Suite 320
Gainesville, VA 20155

Anyone requesting standards or additional information may contact the Police Department’s Accreditation Manager, Captain Joyce Smith, at 740-2838.