Events Calendar

Join us for a sizzling celebration of flavor, fun, and fundraising at the annual Cribbs Kitchen Burger Cook-Off! This exciting event brings together local chefs, grilling enthusiasts, and community members in a friendly competition to create the ultimate burger, all while supporting children battling cancer.

This is our 9th year for the annual Cribbs Kitchen Burger Cook-Off and our biggest yet! With 17 teams prepared to show us what they’ve got, it’s an event you won’t want to miss. Come hungry and prepared to try all the teams’ delicious sliders so YOU can help choose the BEST burger in Spartanburg!

Presale tickets will be available on ChildrensCancerPartners.org starting on April 1.

Remember: all proceeds benefit children battling cancer and their families in our community through Children’s Cancer Partners of the Carolinas!

Follow us on Facebook @CribbsBurgerCookOff and Instagram: @BurgerCookOff

WHEN:
Saturday, May 4, 2024
12:00 pm – until the burgers sell out (~5 pm)

WHERE:
The Corner of W Main Street and Daniel Morgan Ave.
Downtown Spartanburg

Are show dogs and pet dogs happy? Tommy Tomlinson searches for a deeper understanding of the relationship between dogs and and humans. Discover his inside account of the Westminster Dog Show and his experience behind the scenes of more than one hundred competitions across the country. Tomlinson will be joined in conversation with author Bronwen Dickey, author of Pit Bull: The Battle over an American Icon. Join us at Hub City Bookshop on Tuesday, May 7th at 6 PM for this event perfect for any dog lover!

About the Book

From Pulitzer Prize finalist Tommy Tomlinson comes an inside account of the Westminster Dog Show that follows one dog on his quest to become a champion—and explores the bond between dogs and their people.

Tommy Tomlinson was watching a dog show on television a few years ago when he had a sudden thought: Are those dogs happy? How about pet dogs—are they happy? Those questions sparked a quest to venture inside the dog-show world, in search of a deeper understanding of the relationship between dogs and humans that has endured for thousands of years. Dogland shares his surprising, entertaining, and moving adventures.

Tomlinson spends three years on the road and goes behind the scenes at more than one hundred competitions across the country, from Midwestern fairgrounds to Madison Square Garden. Along the way he is licked, sniffed, and rubbed up against by dogs of nearly every size, shape, and breed. Like a real-life version of the classic mockumentary Best in Show, Dogland follows one champion show dog—a Samoyed named Striker—as well as his handler, Laura King, and his devoted entourage of breeders and owners as he competes in the 2022 Westminster Dog Show.

Striker’s whole career has been leading up to this moment. As Tomlinson writes, picking a top show dog is like drafting an NFL quarterback when they’re still in elementary school. Now Striker has made it to the Super Bowl. Tomlinson takes readers on the long road to glory, bringing the dog-show circuit to life as he witnesses teams scrambling from town to town in search of championship points and large, colorful ribbons. (Striker and his crew travel in a custom-built RV named after Betty White.)

Tomlinson’s limitless curiosity about people and dogs reaches far beyond the show tents and into the ordinary lives of dogs. We hear from experts who have discovered new insights into how dogs and humans formed their bond—and how that bond has changed over the centuries. We discover the fascinating origins of different dog breeds, learn about the elaborate breed standards that determine an ideal show dog, and consider the health issues that can arise in purebred dogs. We also meet dog lovers who applaud every dog, regardless of breed, simply for being themselves, such as WeRateDogs, the social media phenomenon with millions of followers, all for posts celebrating the day-to-day goofiness in most dog owners’ lives.

Engaging, charming, and insightful, Dogland is an irresistibly appealing read that invites us on a rollicking backstage tour through the rituals, tricks, and wonders of the dog-show world—and reveals what matters most for the happiness of dogs and dog lovers everywhere.

About the Author

Tommy Tomlinson is the author of The Elephant in the Room, a memoir about being overweight in America. He’s the host of the podcast SouthBound in partnership with WFAE, Charlotte’s NPR station. He has written for publications including Esquire, ESPN the Magazine, Sports Illustrated, Forbes, Garden & Gun, and many others. He spent twenty-three years as a reporter and local columnist for the Charlotte Observer, where he was a finalist for the 2005 Pulitzer Prize in commentary. His stories have been chosen twice for the Best American Sports Writing series (2012 and 2015) and he also appears in the anthology America’s Best Newspaper Writing. He teaches magazine writing at Wake Forest University and has taught at colleges, workshops, and conferences across the country. He also has a Substack called The Writing Shed. Tommy and his wife, Alix Felsing, live in Charlotte with Alix’s mom and a cat.

Conversation Partner

Bronwen Dickey is a journalist, science writer, and the author of Pit Bull: The Battle over an American Icon. In 2017, she was a finalist for the National Magazine Award in feature writing. She teaches journalism at Duke University.

Ages 18+ | Join us for a time of quiet reading and socialize (or not) with fellow readers. Refreshments provided.

Introducing Local Author Pop-up! Meet a local author at our bookshop on Saturday, ask them questions about their books and get your copy signed. A.C. Hobbs will be at Hub City Bookshop on May 11th from 11 AM – 1 PM showcasing her book Scythe and Pen — a dark fantasy novel set in the Jazz Age.

Join Hub City Bookshop in welcoming author Taylor Brown as he reads from and signs his newest book Rednecks. “Rednecks is a propulsive, character-driven tale that’s both a century old and blisteringly contemporary: a story of unexpected friendship, heroism in the face of injustice, and the power of love and community against all odds.” Meet us at the bookshop on Tuesday, May 14th at 6 PM.

This event is free and open to the public, registration on Eventbrite comes with a book and holds a reserved seat at the event.

RSVP

About the Book:

A historical drama based on the Battle of Blair Mountain, pitting a multi-ethnic army of 10,000 coal miners against mine owners, state militia, and the United States government in the largest labor uprising in American history.

Rednecks is a tour de force, big canvas historical novel that dramatizes the 1920 to 1921 events of the West Virginia Mine Wars―from the Matewan Massacre through the Battle of Blair Mountain, the largest armed conflict on American soil since the Civil War, when some one million rounds were fired, bombs were dropped on Appalachia, and the term “redneck” would come to have an unexpected origin story.

Brimming with the high stakes drama of America’s buried history, Rednecks tells a powerful story of rebellion against oppression. In a land where the coal companies use violence and intimidation to keep miners from organizing, “Doc Moo” Muhanna, a Lebanese-American doctor (inspired by the author’s own great-grandfather), toils amid the blood and injustice of the mining camps. When Frank Hugham, a Black World War One veteran and coal miner, takes dramatic steps to lead a miners’ revolt with a band of fellow veterans, Doc Moo risks his life and career to treat sick and wounded miners, while Frank’s grandmother, Beulah, fights her own battle to save her home and grandson. Real-life historical figures burn bright among the hills: the fiery Mother Jones, an Irish-born labor organizer once known as “The Most Dangerous Woman in America,” struggles to maintain the ear of the miners (“her boys”) amid the tide of rebellion, while the sharp-shooting police chief “Smilin” Sid Hatfield dares to stand up to the “gun thugs” of the coal companies, becoming a folk hero of the mine wars.

Award-winning novelist Taylor Brown brings to life one of the most compelling events in 20th century American history, reminding us of the hard-won origins of today’s unions. Rednecks is a propulsive, character-driven tale that’s both a century old and blisteringly contemporary: a story of unexpected friendship, heroism in the face of injustice, and the power of love and community against all odds.

About the Author

Taylor Brown is the recipient of the Montana Prize in Fiction, a three-time finalist for the Southern Book Prize, and was named the 2021 Georgia Author of the Year. His novels include Fallen Land, The River of Kings, Gods of Howl Mountain, Pride of Eden, and Wingwalkers. He lives in Savannah, Georgia.

Join us at Hub City Bookshop for an afternoon of books and conversations with Terah Shelton Harris on Wednesday, May 15th at 3 PM. Harris will be discussing her newest novel Long After We Are Gone — a searing portrait on the power of family and letting go of things that no longer serve you, exploring the burden of familial expectations, the detriment of miscommunication, and the lessons and legacies we pass on to our children.

Let us know you are coming and reserve a copy of the book at a 10% discount when you RSVP through Eventbrite!

About the Book

“DON’T LET THE WHITE MAN TAKE THE HOUSE.”

These are the last words King Solomon says to his son before he dies. Now all four Solomon siblings must return to North Carolina to save the Kingdom, their ancestral home and 200 acres of land, from a development company, who has their sights set on turning the valuable waterfront property into a luxury resort.

While fighting to save the Kingdom, the siblings must also save themselves from the secrets they’ve been holding onto. Junior, the oldest son and married to his wife for 11 years, is secretly in love with another man. Second son, Mance, can’t control his temper, which has landed him in prison more than once. CeCe, the oldest daughter and a lawyer in New York City, has embezzled thousands of dollars from her firm’s clients. Youngest daughter, Tokey, wonders why she doesn’t seem to fit into this family, which has left an aching hole in her heart that she tries to fill in harmful ways. As the Solomons come together to fight for the Kingdom, each of their façades begins to crumble and collide in unexpected ways.

Told in alternating viewpoints, Long After We Are Gone is a searing portrait on the power of family and letting go of things that no longer serve you, exploring the burden of familial expectations, the detriment of miscommunication, and the lessons and legacies we pass on to our children.

About the Author

Terah Shelton Harris is a librarian and freelance writer, who now writes upmarket fiction with bittersweet endings. As a freelancer, her work has appeared in consumer and trade magazines including Catapult, Women’s Health, Every Day with Rachael Ray, Backpacker, Minority Nurse, and more. One Summer in Savannah is her first novel.

Tech After Five connects the tech community. We invite IT Professionals, Startups, Entrepreneurs and their community of support to come together and make meaningful professional connections.

You may be looking for work or looking to hire. You might be looking for customers or prospects. You may need co-founders, partners or mentors. We’ve got you covered.

Tech After Five is not like other networking events. We work particularly hard to make sure we get the right people in the room and then make sure it’s easy for you to find each other. Sign up using the right ticket type for you. We will then follow up with custom emails that let you know who you can expect to meet. We will print custom badges for the event that make it easy for you to find the people you are looking for.

We know that networking can be hard. We try to make it as easy as possible for you to meet the right people. We know that when smart people come together we can make things happen. We hope you will join us and become part of our community.

The Peanut Butter and Jelly Kids Fun Run is back for a 7th year! Organized by YMCA of Greenville volunteers as a part of the Y’s Togetherhood Initiative, this initiative allows Y members to collectively give back to the Travelers Rest community.

This event will support the North Greenville Crisis Ministry. Each summer, hundreds of kids are not in school for lunch and there is a huge need for easily prepared meals for these children. One large need is for jars of peanut butter and jelly.

One jar of peanut butter and one jar of jelly per participant OR any two items of the following: canned soup, spaghetti sauce, condiments, toiletries.

COMIC CON

There was nothing like the elementary school book fair – the smell of new books in the air, the rush of racing your friends to find the next installment of your favorite series, and, if you were lucky, the crinkle of money from Mom in your pocket.

Life felt so much easier back then, didn’t it? Don’t you find yourself wishing from time to time that you could just go back?

You can – but we’re doing it grown-up style.

Don’t miss our Boozy Book Fair at New Groove Artisan Brewery (4078 Hwy 9 Boiling Springs, SC 29316) on Sunday, May 19th from 1-3pm!

We will have STICKERS!!! as well as books for everyone and every interest:

-Geeks and Gamers

-Myths and Fairy Tales

-Gothic and Ghastly

-Happy Endings

-Romantasy

-Read the Rainbow

-Bookclub Picks

-Celebrate the South

-Nonfiction

-Whodunnits & Thrillers

…and much much more!

This event is FREE and open to the public, so bring your friends! Be sure to RSVP so we have the booze + books ready – we can’t wait to see you there.

Learn about the life of Norman Maclean, author of A River Runs Through It and Other Stories, from one of his pupils and long-time friend Rebecca McCarthy. McCarthy paints an intimate portrait of Maclean as a teacher, author, and friend. McCarthy will be in conversation with John Lane. Meet with us and Rebecca McCarthy at Hub City Bookshop on Thursday, May 23rd at 6 PM.

This event is free and open to the public, registration on Eventbrite comes with a book and holds a reserved seat at the event.

RSVP

About the Book

A River Runs Through It and Other Stories turned Norman Maclean into a late-in-life literary phenomenon and then a household name after the success of the Hollywood film based on the title story. Yet fewer know of Maclean’s lifelong struggles to reconcile very different parts of himself: the revered teacher and writer in the intellectual hub of Chicago and the Montana man compelled by the wildness and traumas of his home state and family, including the tragic Mann Gulch fire and the murder of his brother.

Rebecca McCarthy’s intimate portrait of Maclean draws on her long friendship with the author from the time she became a student at the University of Chicago through the rest of his life. Irrepressible as a teacher, Maclean shared guidance, advice, campus and city rambles, and loyal friendship with generations of students. Behind the scenes, he honed an art as meditative and patient as his approach to fly fishing. McCarthy’s experiences intertwine with stories from friends, family, colleagues, and others to detail an incredibly rich life that seemed destined to remain divided―until the creation of his classic American story.

About the Author

Rebecca McCarthy spent twenty-one years as an award-winning reporter at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Her work has been published in the New York Times, American Scholar, Fast Company, and other venues. Her book, Norman Maclean: A Life of Letters and Rivers is based on her long friendship with the author from the time she became a student at the University of Chicago through the rest of his life.

Conversation Partner

John Lane is Emeritus Professor of Environmental Studies at Wofford College and was founding director of the college’s Goodall Environmental Studies Center. He is the author of a dozen books of poetry and prose, Coyote Settles the South was one of four finalists for the John Burroughs Medal and was named by the Burroughs Society one of the year’s “Nature Books of Uncommon Merit.” As an environmentalist in 2013 Lane was named Upstate Forever’s “Clean Water Champion,” and “Water Conservationist of the Year” by The South Carolina Wildlife Federation. In 2014 he was inducted into the SC Academy of Authors. He, with his wife Betsy Teter, is one of the co-founders of Spartanburg’s Hub City Writers Project, a non-profit organization with a mission to cultivate readers and nurture writers.

We will discuss markets, software, strategies, and any topics of interest to traders.

School’s letting out and it’s time to stock up on books for all your summer plans: the beach, the lake, plane trips, road trips, camping, or just a lazy day by the pool.

We have you covered with a book fair that’s fun for both kids and adults. Join us INDOORS at Magnetic South Brewery, home of great beer, great food, and even arcade games!

There was nothing like the elementary school book fair – the smell of new books in the air, the rush of racing your friends to find the next installment of your favorite series, and, if you were lucky, the crinkle of money from Mom in your pocket.

Life felt so much easier back then, didn’t it? Don’t you find yourself wishing from time to time that you could just go back?

You can – but now we’re doing it grown-up style.