Scenes of the South

Hundreds of sports fans headed to Historic Grayson Stadium on February 25th to celebrate the highly-anticipated name revealing of the new Savannah minor league baseball team name. North Carolina based, Fans First Entertainment presented an exciting video highlighting their mission to "Entertain Always," followed by the announcement to the crowd that Savannah's new baseball team name will be "The Bananas," a name that was chosen over two finalists, "The Anchors" and "The Ports." Company President, Jared Orton, hopes to hit a home run with the name and believe tha it fits their brand of making baseball fun for fans off all ages. Opening night at Grayson is set for June 2nd where the Bananas will make their Hostess City debut. Photos by Tracy Scarpati with Cool Savannah Photography

More than sixty local business leaders packed the house at the Pirate's House Restaurant to attend the monthly Buy Local Savannah luncheon on February 26th, featuring special guest, Trey Cook, owner of Moore Industrial Supply. Mr. Cook spoke about his experiences as the former owner of Savannah Tire and what he learned in his tenure as head of the Savannah Chamber of Commerce, discussing some of the lessons he's learned along the way about growing a company brand and tips to competing as a local business in the Lowcountry. At the end of the meeting, members of the Buy Local board presented their Advocate of the Year award to South magazine publisher, Michael Brooks, and the Business of the Year award to Spectrum Printing and their local representative, Michelle Thompson. The Buy Local Savannah luncheon takes place on the fourth Thursday of each month with the next event scheduled for March 24th where the guest speaker will be Eddie DeLoach, who will speak about his first 90 days in office as Savannah's new mayor. Photos by Jason Smith with St. Julien Photography

The Rape Crisis Center of the Coastal Empire invited business and community members to attend their 2016 annual meeting on February 23rd, hosted at the Savannah Civic Center. This event is held to provide updates on the previous year's progress and success related to the programs and funding. In addition to the reports, leaders of the RCC use this time as an opportunity to honor volunteers, recognize staff and welcome new board members. A special presentation was held to award the prestigious Mary McAliser Service award to South magazine publisher, Michael Brooks, for his unwavering support and commitment to RCC fundraising events and promotion. Photos by Jason Smith with St. Julien Photography

More than four hundred members of the Savannah tourism community gathered at the International Trade and Convention Center on Hutchinson Island to attend the Tourism Awards Gala hosted by the Tourism and Leadership Council on February 18th. Now in its eighteenth year, this annual black tie affair pays tribute to the twenty-six thousand employees that make up the Hostess City's thriving hospitality industry and supports the students who are studying to join this exciting field. The Tourism and Leadership Council is the largest non-profit trade organization to represent tourism and to date, has awarded more than $65,000 in scholarship money to tourism and hospitality students over the years, with one hundred percent of its contributions going to the fund. Read more about the event an view a list of winners. Photos by Lindsey Clark with Lorien Studios

South Magazine and the Mansion on Forsyth Park hosted an evening of power networking, fundraising and five dollar martinis to benefit the Habersham Branch YMCA on February 17th. Attendees enjoyed learning about the YMCA's Annual Fundraising Campaign that raises money for programs and services that support children and families throughout the Coastal Empire including; after school childcare, Summer day camp, swimming lessons and YMCA memberships. Guests could participate in the evening's silent auction that included donations from 700 Drayton Restaurant and the Mansion, in addition to a 50/50 cash raffle where the prize was over one hundred dollars in cold hard cash. Martinis at the Mansion occurs on the third Wednesday of each month from 5:30 pm until 7:30 pm at with the next event taking place on March 16th featuring the American Diabetes Kiss a Pig Savannah Campaign. Photos by Lindsay Clark

Infinite Possibilities filled the air in the Landmark Historic District on Valentine's weekend as Savannah Art Walk participants hit the streets on February 13th to explore the more than thirty galleries and shops listed on the route. Sponsored by Tiffani Taylor Art Gallery and Heej Cung Arts, the second Saturday walk began at the Bohemian Hotel on the Savannah River for an opening reception with presentations by participating artists and following the reception, guests could take the self-guided tour on foot or by way of the free Old Savannah Tours Trolley that transported guests to various points on the map. A packed house arrived at the Andaz Hotel for the concluding reception to take their photos on the South magazine red carpet and register for the raffle drawing filled with amazing prizes. The next Savannah Art Walk will take place on March 12th and Tiffani Taylor will return from Paris to host the event on April 9th. Photos By Krystal Oblinger

Creative Approach Savannah and the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce hosted more than one hundred local business professionals and innovators on February 11th for a presentation about the Georgia delegation that will be attending the upcoming South By Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas in March. The guest speaker for the evening was Atlanta Chamber executive, Kate Atwood, who showed a special video that offered information to the crowd about various partnership opportunities that are available to businesses and the benefits of representing Savannah to the best in new innovative companies and established business leaders from the music and film industries. Photos by Tracy Scarpati

Students from the Visual Arts Department at the Savannah Arts Academy hosted three sold out runway shows, bringing audiences to their feet in applause as they presented the 8th Annual Junk 2 Funk Fashion Show. This year's Intergalactic theme inspired more than a dozen designers to create a variety of out-of-this-world wearable art looks made out of recycled trash ranging from funky and fun to intricate and elegant. Winning categories included, Best of Show, Best Use of Materials, Best Styling, Most Fashion Forward and Most Ready to Wear. Photos by Tracy Scarpati

The Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary returned to the Lucas and Trustees Theaters for the last weekend in January to host their ever-popular Ocean Film Festival, featuring more than a dozen ocean-focused movies throughout the two day event. In addition to the film screenings, competitions and talkbacks, the festival hosted a special military appreciation reception in Reynolds Square on Saturday to honor service members, first responders and their families. The team from veteran owned and operated, Service Brewing Company, was on hand in the square pouring out their patriotic spirit and delicious brews and guests had the opportunity to meet SCAD Professor and Filmmaker, Kevin McCarey, who held a special book signing of his book titled, "Ocean's Apart." Photos by Tracey Scarpati

Friends from around the Savannah business and tourism community arrived to the Starland District on January 26th to celebrate the grand opening of the city's newest, locally-owned phone company, Coastal Voice. Guests in attendance at the French-themed affair enjoyed live music performed by Reid Richmond while dining on the delicious food prepared on site by Lori Collins with Savannah Coffee Roasters in addition to craft beer provided by Moon River Brewing Company. Scott West with Savannahvipevents.com hosted the event along with Coastal Voice owner, Oliver Jouffrault, who said a few word about their services before thanking the crowd for bringing two cans of food to support America's Second Harvest Food Bank. Photos by Michael Scarpati

The Hilton DeSoto welcomed a large gathering of brides-to-be to their ballroom on January 24th to experience the I Do Wedding Expo...A Southern Experience, presented by D.Vine Events and Radius Media Group. This unique event offered couples an exclusive opportunity to receive one-on-one advice from a distinguished group of wedding industry leaders while browsing through high-end collections and discovering unique and trendy resources for their big day. A panel of experienced professional wedding planners were available during the expo's breakout session to take questions by brides that covered the entire spectrum of wedding preparations. Ticket Sales to the event were tax deductible and proceeds from sales went to benefit Brides Against Breast Cancer, a national charitable organization that contributes to programs for cancer patients and their families Photos by Tracy Scarpati

The Andaz Savannah hosted a full house of guests on January 21st as they welcomed Artists-in-Residence, Jor Smith Michel, Shanon Fidler and Parker Stewart to the hotel's Salon event on January 21st. Those in attendance engaged with the artists individually, while enjoying locally inspired cuisine prepared by Chef Lauren Teague and her culinary team at the 22 Square Restaurant. The January Salon was the first for Andaz's new General Manager, Sid Ramani, who took over the reigns at the beginning of the year. Photos by Tracy Scarpati

An exclusive list of clients, associates and friends made the journey to the penthouse office of the Manger Building on Johnson Square to attend a special open house for Bowen Law Group on January 21st. Guests at the event were seen admiring the commanding views from the tenth floor, while mingling and mixing with some of the city's most important and high profile people. Bowen Law Group's founding attorney, Charles Bowen, was recently named Business Advocate of the Year and is the 2016 Chairman for the Savannah Kiss A Pig competition to benefit the American Diabetes Association of Southeast Georgia. Photos by Tracy Scarpati

The 2016 Telluride Mountainfilm Festival on Tour in Savannah kicked off at the Trustees' Theater on January 20th with the local premier of the film Racing Extinction, by Academy Award-Winning director, Louie Psihoyos. Preceding the film, enlarged projections of endangered and indigenous wildlife was projected onto the Savannah College of Art and Design Library across from the Theater on Broughton Street and guests had the opportunity to meet race car driver and environmental activist, Leilani Munter. The Festival continues on January 22nd and 23rd with a weekend celebration full of special film screenings, coffee talks, presentations and special guests. The Telluride Mountainfilm on Tour in Savannah is a nonprofit film festival designed to educate and inspire audiences about critical issues that impact our society and everyday lives. Photos by Krystal Oblinger

An excited crowd arrived to Casimir's Lounge on January 20th to attend the monthly Martinis at the Mansion event, presented by South magazine and the Mansion on Forsyth Park. The non-profit host for the January event was the American Traditions Competition, an organization established to provide a forum for showcasing tomorrow's vocal talent an superstars. Attendees to the event could purchase raffle tickets as a part of the evening's fundraiser for the opportunity to win prizes donated by I Do Weddng Expo and Armstrong University's Piano in the Arts Series, along with gift certificate's to 700 Drayton Restaurant and tickets to a few of the upcoming ATC competition concerts in February. A special performance by ATC Gold Medal Winner, Kim Palote, topped off the night as guests engaged with friends and sipped on delicious five dollar martini specials from the bar. Photos by Tracy Scarpati

Sports Fans from around the Southeast arrived to the Savannah Civic Center on January 16th and 17th to cheer on their favorite team at the 18th Annual Savannah Tire Hockey Classic. This collegiate hockey tournament features six of the South's most exciting hockey programs including, University of Georgia, Georgia Tech, University of Florida and Florida State. In addition to the matches in the ring, ticket holders could participate in the Chuck-A-Puck competition for a chance to win prizes with proceeds from the sales going to benefit the American Diabetes Association's annual Kiss-A-Pig Campaign. After all of the teams had competed in the championship round on Saturday night, it was ultimately FSU who took home the coveted Thrasher Cup for the second consecutive year. Photos by Tracy Scarpati

Members of the Savannah Downtown Business Association gathered at the Charles H. Morris Center on January 13th to attend the first SDBA luncheon of 2016. Guest speaker for the January event was newly elected Mayor, Eddie DeLoach, who gave his first State of the Union address to the organization and outlined the administration's goals for the first one hundred days in office Photos by Tracy Scarpati

Savannah brides-to-be and local residents gathered together to celebrate the two year anniversary of Savannah's trendiest wedding boutique, Ivory + Beau, on Sunday, January 10th. Attendees enjoyed a lovely afternoon of refreshments while browsing the amazing selection of wedding gowns and bridal party merchandise in addition to the remodeling updates of the Southside location. Photos by Lindsey Clark

An exclusive list of Savannah guests were invited to Vic's on the River on January 9th to attend a private party to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the restaurant. Considered to be one of Savannah's finest downtown establishments, Vic's was the brainchild of Savannah native, Dr. Vic and long-time local restaurateur, Bill Hall, who opened the popular restaurant on River Street in 2006. Attendees could be found exchanging memories of their favorite moments from the past decade, while enjoying a live musical performance by guitarist, Sasha Ochoa and dining on samples of the food that they have come to know and love. Photos by Lindsey Clark

An excited crowd of enthusiastic guests packed the house at Rocks on the Roof Bar inside of the Bohemian Hotel Riverfront on December 9th to enjoy the opening reception of the the Savannah Art Walk. After enjoying the complimentary wine and red carpet photos participants could venture off to walk to the various locations on the tour or hop on board the free Old Savannah Tours trolley to be dropped off and picked up at the various stops. At 8pm, guests were welcomed to the evening's final reception at the Andaz Hotel, where those who were able to visit ten galleries or more could be selected to win a variety of prizes including, one-year subscriptions to South magazine, exclusive SAW artist prints and custom gift boxes by area merchants. The Savannah Art Walk is presented by the Tiffani Taylor Gallery and Heej Chung Art & Designs and takes place on the second Saturday of each month with the next event taking place on February 13th. Photos by Krystal Oblinger

Local residents, business leaders and community members arrived to the Savannah Civic Center to witness the inauguration of the new Savannah Mayor and his fellow City Council members on Tuesday, January 5th. Hundreds of guests were in attendance at the special ceremony inside of the Johnny Mercer Theater, where the newly elected, Eddie DeLoach was sworn in as the sixty-sixth Mayor of Savannah in addition to nine members of the City Council. Religious leaders of all faiths were represented and offered a prayer for the city and Master of Ceremonies, Sonny Dixon, entertained the audience with his Southern humor as he announced the activities throughout the evening. Photos by Tracy Scarpati

The Hostess City of the South pulled out all the stops for New Year's Eve 2015 and South magazine was on the Scene in the Historic District to capture a few of Savannah's top events. Jazz'd Tapas Bar went back in time to the speakeasy days of prohibition at their NYE Roaring Twenties party featuring, tapas, party favors and live music performed by Danielle Hicks and the Ohm Eight Resistance. The best views of the evening could be found at Top Deck Bar with the Talmadge Bridge serving as the evening's backdrop and the guests on board the Savannah Riverboat Cruises were able to admire River Street from the best vantage point in the city as they sailed up and down the Savannah River. City Market was also popular destination for the evening, offering a festive outdoor celebration with live music and opportunities to bar hop throughout the many locations that line the streets. Although the Up th Cup Celebration and Fireworks planned on the Savannah Waterfront were postponed, tourists and local residents alike had a blast as they ushered in the year 2016. Photos by Tracy Scarpati