SALISBURY — Donna’s Dancers Studio has moved to a new location at 129-B W. Corriher Ave. near Catawba College.
Owned by Donna Weinhold-Cesario, the studio will house a waiting room, dancewear store, two dance rooms, a kitchen and workroom and large bathroom.
The store will focus on dance shoes, leotards, tights, T-shirts, tote bags and other items. Shoes will be available the week after they are ordered.
Cesario will teach beginner, intermediate and advanced classes. Marianna Stout, a dance student for 16 years and dance major at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, will teach advanced and intermediate students.
Stout choreographed “Barbie Dreamland Ballet” and “The Wizard of Oz Ballet,” both performed at Catawba College in 2011 and 2012, as well as award-winning contemporary, jazz and hip-hop routines. Stout has been a student at the Broadway Dance Center in New York City every year since she was eight.
Veronica Niebuhr will teach master ballet classes. Niebuhr has been a principle ballerina with the Boston Ballet, Moscow Ballet Children’s Choreographer and N.C. Dance Theatre.
“We feel so fortunate to have Ms. Niebuhr as part of our staff this year,” Cesario said.
Kristy McSwain will teach gymnastics and acrobatics. McSwain has been a gymnastics student for more than 12 years and has taught at American Stars Gymnastics.
The new studio will offer additional classes, including adult ballroom, adult shag, cardio dance, master ballet and rock and roll babies for two-year-old girls and boys to introduce them to music, dance, acrobatics and learning skills to prepare them for regular classes at age 3.
Open house and shoe fitting is set for 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the new studio. Refreshments will be served.
Restaurant group gives Rowan Helping Ministries grant
SALISBURY — Rowan Helping Ministries has received a $2,000 grant as part of the inaugural Restaurant Community Grant Program from the Darden Foundation, the charitable arm of Darden Restaurants Inc.
The Restaurant Community Grant Program is a local grants program intended to help support nonprofit organizations in communities Darden and its restaurant brands serve. Restaurants within the Darden family — including Red Lobster, Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse — are helping to award more than $1.7 million in local grants to nearly 900 nonprofit organizations nationwide.
The Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse restaurants, located on Klumac Road, have been supporting partners of Rowan Helping Ministries since they opened in Salisbury by providing food donations weekly.
“When we learned about the Restaurant Community Grants Program opportunity, I immediately contacted Rowan Helping Ministries and encouraged them to apply,” said Russ Garland, general manager of Olive Garden.
“We were excited to provide another level of involvement and support for Rowan Helping Ministries beyond our food donations,” said Chris Foote, managing partner of LongHorn Steakhouse.
Rowan Helping Ministries serves an average of 160 people daily, with the number reaching 200 people near the end of the month as families on fixed incomes begin to run out of money and food.
“We appreciate the Darden Foundation and our local Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse restaurants for their commitment to Rowan Helping Ministries and our community,” said Kyna Foster, executive director of Rowan Helping Ministries.
Rowan Helping Ministries, 226 N. Long St., operates an overnight shelter, soup kitchen, food pantry, clothing center, crisis assistance with rent and utilities and transitional housing for individuals and single parents with young children.
Chamber begins 21st year of Leadership Rowan program
SALISBURY — Rowan County Chamber of Commerce has kicked off the 21st year of the countywide leadership development program, Leadership Rowan.
The 25-member class was introduced recently at a reception and dinner at the Country Club of Salisbury.
Class members for 2012-13 are Jacqueline Bostic (D’vine Concepts A-Z), Alisha Byrd (Livingstone College), Donnie Cauley (Food Lion), Rory Collins (city of Salisbury), Nathan Currie (Rowan-Salisbury Schools), Michael DeBetta (Home Instead Senior Care), Leigh Ellington (Sharp Transit), Keith Garbrick (Pease Engineering & Architecture), Anthony Girelli (Walser Technology Group), Tiffany Largie (Paper Trail Solutions), Lydia Larios (town of Granite Quarry), Natasha Lipscomb (Rowan-Cabarrus Community College), Nick Means (F&M Bank), Judith Pennington (Hefner VA Medical Center) and Marla Rayfield (Community One Bank).
Also in the program are Don Sedgley (Rowan Regional Medical Center), Milena Sifuentes (city of Salisbury), Keona Simon-Kabore (Rowan Helping Ministries), Davedda Smith, (Hefner VA Medical Center), Eddie Smith (Habitat for Humanity), Tricia Staggers (Rowan-Cabarrus Community College), Mike Walsh (Trinity Oaks), Theo Wilkerson (BB&T) and Dustin Wilson (Chick-fil-A).
Class members went on a two-day retreat Aug. 10-12. Participants will attend a full-day session each month, September through May, to enhance their leadership skills and knowledge of Rowan County.
The program is designed to prepare people to assume leadership roles in the county and to enhance the abilities of existing leaders. People who complete the program are expected to volunteer their time and talents for community service.
“This program has proven itself many times over,” said Greg Edds, Chamber chairman. “Graduates of Leadership Rowan can be seen serving in positions of leadership all over Rowan County. We look forward to another great class.”
Members of the Leadership Rowan Steering Committee are Jeff Jones (Food Lion), Myra Heard (city of Salisbury), Amy Milenberg (VA Medical Center), Sherry Smith (Rowan Helping Ministries) and Tyler Weant (Elium Exterminator Co).
Bonded Logistics opens facility in Concord
CONCORD — Bonded Logistics, a warehouse service provider, has started operations at 411 International Drive in Concord and offers 127,000 square feet of distribution space.
Bonded Logistics plans to grow to 20 employees at the new facility.
“This company represents a targeted sector for Cabarrus County,” said Liz Poole, Cabarrus County Commission Chair. “We look forward to working with Bonded Logistics and to continued success.”
Infrastructure improvements currently under construction, such as the widening of Interstate-85 will enhance the area’s transportation system, Concord Mayor Scott Padgett said.
“Concord continues to be a premier location for distribution companies,” Padgett said.
The Concord distribution center is the second facility Bonded Logistics has opened in the past nine months.
Michael Williams, an 11-year veteran of Bonded Logistics, has been promoted to facility manager. He will be responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the Concord site.
Bonded Logistics now has operations in North Carolina, South Carolina and California.
“These additions have expanded our geographic footprint and market reach. They have also allowed us an opportunity to expand our offerings and value added services,” said Mark Andrews, vice president of sales.
Salisbury native in Million Dollar Advocates
NEW ORLEANS — The Million Dollar Advocates Forum announces that attorney David W. Oestreicher II, originally of Salisbury and now of New Orleans, has been certified as a member.
Membership is limited to trial lawyers who have won million-dollar and multi-million-dollar verdicts, awards and settlements. The organization was founded in 1993, and there are roughly 4,000 members throughout the country.
Fewer than 1 percent of U.S. lawyers are members.
Forum membership acknowledges excellence in advocacy and provides members with a national network of experienced colleagues for professional referral and information exchange in major cases.
Members must have acted as principal counsel in at least one case in which their client has received a verdict, award or settlement in the amount of $1 million or more.
Oestreicher is a graduate of Tulane Law School and Harvard Law School and specializes in general litigation and complex business litigation.
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