By Cynthia Nelson
Greater Tabor City Chamber
Just like the snapping of our fingers, we are already mid-month of January 2026!
Our first event of this new year will be the 80th Annual Banquet to be held on Tuesday, February 17. Yes, you read that right — EIGHTY…80 years and counting.
The theme of the 80th Annual Banquet is “Today’s Youth – Tomorrow’s Leaders”. All of us need to guide our young adults as they prepare to enter the workforce. Most of can still envision our children playing with toy fire trucks, police cars or operating the fun little cash registers. Before we know it they will be driving the big fire trucks, on patrol in police cars, checking us out in the very real grocery store lines or other local businesses.
Save the date of Tuesday, Feb. 17. We hope you will join us in the banquet hall of the Todd House Wedding and Event Center at 6:30 p.m. The cost is $30 per person. Call 910.377.3012 to reserve your seat today.
We will share even more banquet details in our next column in two weeks.
Keep in mind that Valentine’s Day is only one month away. We know you will be shopping for the perfect gift, flowers, candy, and more! Please “ShopLocal” and always “TryTaborCityFirst” for all of your shopping needs. Many treasures are just waiting to be found behind the doors of our local businesses. “SupportLocal” and you just may be surprised by what you find.
Don’t forget that springtime gets closer as each winter day passes. The Annual Easter Egg Hunt will be held in late March with that date to be announced soon. We are excited about the Sixth Annual Spring Has Sprung Festival which will be held on Saturday, April 4, the first Saturday in April! We are counting on you to help us grow the Spring Has Sprung Festival Parade.
Why not show us your idea of celebrating our farmers in the spring by signing up to drive your tractor or other farming equipment in the parade. Kids and adults would love to see that. Come one! Let’s make it fun for everyone. Be creative!
As we mentioned in our last column, the United States of America will celebrate 250 years of independence this year. There will be magnificent celebrations held all around our nation and we will be joining that initiative as well. We plan to ramp up the Annual Columbus County Fireworks Celebration. 250 years y’all … Our nation will be celebrating its 250th birthday and we need your help!
The Columbus County Fourth of July Celebration which will once again be organized by your Greater Tabor City Chamber of Commerce. We will be reaching out to Tabor City and to the rest of our county for sponsorships to make the fireworks display of the Columbus County Fourth of July Celebration absolutely spectacular and to increase the entertainment and more.
Please be aware that the amount of sponsorships have pretty much remained the same as the cost of pyrotechnics continues to increase. That means in order to have more pyro to light up the sky we must increase sponsorships. This year we will reach out to more businesses and organizations throughout the county as we celebrate our 250th birthday. Hey, you don’t need to wait. We will accept sponsorships now! Every dollar donated helps!
We can always use more event volunteers. Please call us at 910.377.3012 if you are interested and willing to put in some time and effort. We work hard, but it is very rewarding. As with any organization, there may be criticism, but the “thank you for what you are doing for us” far outweighs those. We thank you all for both…that feedback helps us to grow and improve in our service to our community.
Should you wish to become a member of this Chamber of Commerce, please contact us by email at tccofc@yahoo.com or by phone at 910.377.3012 or 910.840.0292. We look forward to hearing from you.
Our days and hours of operation are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 9:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m.
Remember that we are “Stronger Together” and Today’s Youth will be Tomorrow’s Leaders.
