News Around the Lake

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Compiled by Renee Roberson

Former Huntersville mayor Jill Swain remembered by community

Huntersville resident Jill Swain, age 61, passed away unexpectedly after a brief illness on April 28. Swain was elected to Huntersville’s town board in 1999, served four two-year terms as a commissioner, and then was elected mayor in 2007. She most recently served as the executive director of the Huntersville Regional Chamber of Commerce. Her obituary noted Jill Swain with son Zack and that while Swain is “remembered as daughter Sydney. a wonderful leader and ultimate connector, she will most be remembered for the positive impact she had on her community and everyone she met. She radiated a joy that would light up any room and she deeply loved her friends and family. She truly made the world a better place.” Swain’s survivors include her son Zack Swain, daughter Sydney Swain, and sister Joelyn Shea. For anyone wanting to make a memorial in Swain’s honor, her family asks that you consider Caterpillar Ministries, Angels and Sparrows, or your local humane society.

Photo courtesy of Sydney Swain/Facebook

Downtown Mooresville names 2021 Main Street Champions

The Mooresville Downtown Commission (MDC) has announced that Paul and Kristin Thompson, owners of Broad Street Place, have been named Downtown Mooresville’s 2021 Main Street Champions. The MDC works to stimulate economic development within the context of historic preservation across the state. In 2019, the couple bought Kristin and Paul Thompson.the building where DeLuxe Ice Cream was founded by the Mooresville Ice Cream Company in 1924. For decades the building had been used only for manufacturing, a few upper floor offices, and the long-standing Mooresville Ice Cream Parlor. The rest of the building was vacant. The Thompsons renovated almost all of the 21,000 square feet, creating six new retail spaces plus eight new upper floor apartments, bringing not only new vitality to Broad Street, but adding crucially needed residential spaces in downtown. Currently, all the retail spaces are leased to local, female entrepreneurs who

chose to share their unique businesses with the community, and the Mooresville Ice Cream corner shop remains intact.

Cadence Mooresville’s certified wildlife habitat

Senior living community Cadence Mooresville recently received certification from the National Wildlife Federation to be a certified wildlife habitat. The community’s garden club planted flowers and butterfly bushes, and added a beehive pollinator to help support the pollination of the gardens and continue efforts to save the bees. They also placed nest supporters along the fences to encourage birds to build their nests in the community trees and bird houses, and “grew” caterpillars in both the Assisted Living and Memory Care neighborhoods. In order to become a certified habitat, one must provide food that can be eaten by wildlife, water, shelter, a place for wildlife to raise their young, and engage in susTop: Residents Nell Bowles and Glenda Moore. tainable practices to ensure soil, air, and Bottom” Cadence Mooreswater stay healthy and clean. ville is now a certified wildlife habitat.

Photos courtesy of Cadence Mooresville

Cornelius residents expand operations on Funny Bus Comedy Tours in Charlotte

The award-winning Funny Bus Comedy Tours, a local comedy bus tour in Charlotte, has expanded operations, adding daily weekday tours to entertain out-of-town guests and locals of Charlotte. Cornelius residents Kevin Anderson and Lisa Schnurr started the tours in 2015. The 40-passenger bus takes guests through up and coming neighborhoods surround Charlotte, such as historic South End, Plaza Midwood, the NoDa Art District, and all through uptown. Tours were running seven days a week in 2019, but by March 2020 all operations shut down. The Funny Bus reopened it’s doors in late 2020 on weekends, following state health and safety guidelines. The bus resumed seven days a week in early May. Time’s Money Magazine named the Funny Bus the “Best Comedy Tour in North Carolina” in 2018 and it was awarded “Best Comedy Tour by the Discovery Channel in the national “Official Best of Awards” in 2016. To learn more, visit www.funybus.net.

Kevin Anderson and Lisa Schnurr

Courtesy of Funny Bus Comedy Tours