Fast Facts: Top Root Beer Brands

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Charles Hires would have a lot to feel flattered about. The success of his commercial root beer sales soon inspired competition. Here are some of the most notable root beer brands.

• A & W: In 1919, Roy Allen bought a root beer recipe and began marketing his beverage in Lodi, California. A year later, Allen partnered with Frank Wright to form A&W Root Beer. In 1924, Allen bought his partner out and obtained a trademark for the brand that is now the top-selling root beer in the world.

• Barq's: Barq's Root Beer debuted in 1898. It was the creation of Edward Barq, who along with his brother Gaston were the principals of the Barq's Brothers Bottling Company founded in the New Orleans French Quarter in 1890. The brand is still owned by the Barqs family but is currently manufactured and distributed by the Coca-Cola Company.

• Dad's: The recipe for Dad's Root Beer was created by Ely Klapman and Barney Berns in the basement of Klapman's Chicago-area home in the late 1930s. It was the first product to make use of the six-pack packaging format invented by the Atlanta Paper Company in the 1940s.

• Mug Root Beer: Mug Root Beer was originally marketed as “Belfast Root Beer” during the 1940s by the Belfast Beverage Company. The product name was later changed to Mug Old Fashioned Root Beer, which was then shortened to Mug Root Beer. Currently manufactured and distributed by PepsiCo, Mug's brand mascot is a bulldog named “Dog.”

• Boylan Bottling: William Boylan began bottling his Root beer after partnering with John W. Sturr, a local politician, in 1900. The partnership soon fizzled, but Boylan continued bottling his product until Prohibition in the 1920s when Boylan was primarily sold in unused beer barrels.

Florence County Parks and Recreation is providing handpicked adventures to hidden gem destinations for senior adults through The Vintage Travelers program. The senior program has been in operation since 1982. While they had a few trips scheduled in the program early on, it wasn't until 2004 that the travel program officially kicked off. Since then, their team has become excellent planners when it comes to accommodating senior citizens while traveling around the globe. The group travel setting is a place for individuals to make life-long memories with new and old friends.

Peggy Brown, local Florentine and travel buddy describes these trips, as “convenient!” She continues, “I love traveling with Florence County Parks and Recreation! I can pick a destination and get on the bus and go! I don’t have to stress or worry about booking a thing, everything is taken care of for me.” When you choose to travel with Florence County Parks and Recreation (FCPR), you can expect exceptional customer service, energetic and organized tour directors, and handpicked trips chosen by seniors.

Oh, the places you’ll go with The Vintage Travelers! Senior Program Assistant, Brittany Aleo, has worked with FCPR since 2021 and has had the opportunity to experience many of these trips alongside the senior adults. So far she has attended 18 extended tours and 28 day tours. When asked about an unforgettable moment, she says, “During our trip to the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas, we had a group of ten senior travelers ride the zip-line down Freemont Street in Las Vegas! It was such a fun experience and it goes to show that you’re never too old to step out of your comfort zone and experience new things.” Mr. And Mrs. Bondy, senior adult travelers added, “We love traveling with others our age and making new friends. Taking these trips pushes us out of our comfort zone and allows us to see destinations we wouldn’t normally visit.”

Over the past 20 years, the program has significantly grown. What started as day trips quickly followed to extended trips to Hawaii and China where at that time only seven people attended. Today, FCPR regularly offers 40 day trips and 13 extended trips per year with 40 to 80 participants on all trips.

FCPR Director, Nathan Dawsey, says “Our senior travel program is a great asset to Florence County Parks and Recreation and creates lifelong memories for the seniors in our community.”

Are you an adult senior looking to make new memories, new friends and travel the world? Then The Vintage Travelers is for you! Check out this list of upcoming events to see where your next destination will be!

• September 17-22, 2023: Niagara Falls

• October 2-9, 2023: Iceland: The Land of Fire & Ice

• January 7-12, 2024: Mexican Riviera

• February 6-8, 2024: St. Augustine, Jacksonville, & Amelia Island, FL

• March 14-22, 2024: Treasures of Ireland

• April 12-15, 2024: Washington, DC Cherry Blossom Festival

• July 19-27, 2024: Alpine Swiss Villages & Rails (Switzerland)

To view a full list of 2024 tours, visit www.florencecotravel.com or stop by The Leatherman Senior Center. To sign up for any trips, please call us at (843) 656-2450.

While we were in Michigan to see the Tulip Festival, we did a surprise trip to Lake Michigan so a few seniors could see it while we were in the state

"Want/Need"

Florence Library’s Morris Gallery Welcomes Colleen Crichter

The Doctor N. Lee Morris Gallery is currently displaying the exhibit “Want/Need” by artist Colleen Crichter. The exhibit runs through August 4, 2023.

The exhibit references consumer culture. In her artist statement she says “we are confronted by the things in every form and fashion available, in person, on your phone, on paper, through the radio waves. Via the influencers who teach you what you do not already possess. The things consume our everyday. We think we consume them, but aren’t they really consuming us?”

Colleen Crichter is a visual artist whose works focus on commodity culture, kitsch, and plastic things. Garden gnomes, unicorns, and dinosaurs are frequent subjects in her art. She earned her MFA in Painting from Savannah College of Art and Design in 2012. She lives and maintains a studio in Florence, SC. She had taught art foundations courses at Coker University, Coastal Carolina University, and Francis Marion University. She was the gallery coordinator for University Place Gallery for three years. Her work has been shown at the Southern, Redux Contemporary Art Gallery, Kai Lin Art, and 701 Center for Contemporary Art.