Jamie McNeilis

Maysameh

Lance Armstrong and Summer Robinson

Home Instead Senior Care sponsors Santa program
This holiday season Home Instead Senior Care will once again distribute Christmas gifts to lonely and financially challenged seniors through its Be a Santa to a Senior program. Last year Home Instead distributed more than 900 gifts. People in the Lake Norman area can participate by buying gifts for seniors at local participating retailers. For complete information, contact Home Instead’s customer service representative, Stuart Madow, at 704-924-9909.

McNeilis receives staging accreditation
Jamie McNeilis with Centerpiece Home Staging LLC in Cornelius has received the designation of accredited staging professional.

Staged homes traditionally sell faster and/or for more money in today’s real estate market. For more information, visit www.centerpiecehomestaging.com.

DaisyDee arts, crafts show is Dec. 1
The third annual DaisyDee Christmas arts and craft show will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 1 at Cross Country Campground’s recreation center, located off N.C. 150 in Denver. This show, hosted by DaisyDee Art Studio, offers local artisans the opportunity to sell their handcrafted products, from homemade jams and jellies to handmade jewelry. Admission is free.

For more information, go to www.daisydeecrafts.com or call 828-308-6616.

Maysameh offers belly dance in Mooresville area
Maysameh, owner of Rhythmic Essence Belly Dance in Newton, is adding classes, workshops and performances in the Mooresville area.

She has been belly dancing for eight years and was named Belly Dancer of the Month for August 2007 by the Middle Eastern Dance Leaders Society.

She touts belly dance as a total body workout and an alternative to high-impact aerobics.

Maysameh teaches the basics and choreography to ancient interpretive (pharaonic dance), classic, folkloric and modern Egyptian-style belly dance.

To learn more about class offerings, visit www.rebellydance.com.

Real estate firm returns to basics
Lance Armstrong and Summer Robinson have opened Armstrong Robinson Realtors at 311 Williamson Road, Suite 104, in Mooresville.

Both previously worked for a national real estate firm. After 16 years of the corporate real estate world, they decided to return to the basics of real estate, focusing on the client.

Since opening the business, they have added six agents.

For more information, visit www.ArmstrongRobinson.com, or call 704-662-8429.

Pfeiffer to offer public safety MBA
Pfeiffer University will offer a master of business administration program for individuals who work in the field of public safety. The program will begin in February at Pfeiffer’s Lake Norman campus.

This expansion marks the first time the program will be offered at Lake Norman. Graduates gain experience and a better understanding of the administrative operations specific to their industry. Many who have earned the MBA degree offered to public safety professionals have advanced to become top administrators in their departments or have earned key positions at other agencies.

To enroll, students must be employed in the public safety profession as sworn officers, firefighters or medics. Students also must hold a bachelor’s degree earned at an accredited institution. For more information and to view a tentative schedule, visit www.pfeiffer.edu/info.

Long Island Marine receives honor
Long Island Marine of Catawba has won a top 10 dealer award for the Sunchaser brand of pontoon boats, the best-selling brand of pontoon boats in the Sylvan/Smoker family of products. Eb Pyle is the owner of Long Island Marine.

Italian café, market set for Davidson
Campania Café & Italian Gourmet Market is set to open in the old Ice House in Davidson’s South Main Street arts district in early 2008.

It will feature casual dining, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday.

The market will carry Italian specialty foods, olive oils, wines, cheeses, dried meats, pastas, coffees and gift baskets.

Chef Vincent DiGiorgio, the owner, has more than 15 years’ experience in the culinary field. He earned his degree from the Institute of Culinary Education in New York and has worked in restaurants in such areas as Rome and New York.

For more information, visit www.southmainsquare.com.

Countertop company receives award
Cadenza Granite & Marble has been named National Stone Fabricator of the Year by Stone World magazine. The trade publication presented the award to company owners and Huntersville residents Melissa and Ronald Hannah at the International Stone Expo in Las Vegas.

The annual award is given by a committee of stone industry veterans to one company in the United States that has excelled in project design, fabrication and installation.

Cadenza Granite & Marble operates from a state-of-the art production facility in Concord.

The company specializes in residential and commercial natural stone countertops in both new construction and remodel projects. For more information, visit www.cadenzagranite.com or call 704-788-2744.

New mom opens baby décor shop
New mom Cristina Swinney hardly missed a beat after her son, William, was born. Within a few months, she opened Lollipop Décor, a full-service baby and children’s furniture and decor boutique.

Before starting her business, Swinney worked for a national homebuilder, where she was a design consultant.

Lollipop Décor, located in a 1,500-square-foot space in at 21305 Catawba Ave. in downtown Cornelius, features furniture, bedding and many other products, such as strollers. For more information, call 704-987-2227.

Potters get permanent exhibit
Wooden Stone Gallery in Davidson has added permanent space for the Circle of Eight, a group of Charlotte-area potters.

The group includes Greg Scott, Adrienne Dellinger, Jennifer Mecca, Ron Philbeck, Amy Sanders, Sandy Singletary and Julie Wiggins. The Circle potters are members of Carolina Claymatters, Charlotte’s clay guild, which includes more than 100 members at different levels of training. The Circle formed out of the guild as a way to help patrons distinguish high-quality ceramic arts from the Charlotte area.

The exhibit at Wooden Stone is the first of its kind for the group. The members have shown their work temporarily in some spaces, but in the past galleries have carried only a few of the Circle potters’ works permanently.

Wooden Stone is at 445 S. Main St., Suite 200, in Davidson. For more information, call 704-892-1449, e-mail woodenstone@mac.com or visit www.woodenstonegallery.com.

Italian ice shop opens in Mooresville
Rita’s Water Ice has opened its 500th store in Mooresville.

The owners are Joe and Cynthia Gregory. The shop is at 591 River Highway (N.C. 150).

Rita’s Water Ice, which specializes in Italian ice, operates in 15 states. The chain also offers frozen custard and layered gelati.

For more information, call 704-664-RITA.

Corrected Web page address for Olsens

A Web address given in a Business Update item about Olsen General Dentistry in the November issue was incorrect. The address is www.olsendentistry.net.

Merchants plan family evening
Mooresville Gateway Business Park at I-77, exit 33, will hold a Jingle Bell Jam from 5 to 8 p.m. Dec. 8. Area businesses will spread holiday cheer with lots of family-friendly opportunities for shopping and fun, including a family scavenger hunt for door prizes, live holiday music, ballerinas and complimentary hot cocoa.

How to Submit
Business Update includes brief items on changes at companies in the lake area; for example, announcements of new businesses, special company events such as grand openings, and community endeavors such as free health clinics or seminars. Items should be one-time announcements rather than recurring events or new staff members. This will enable us to spotlight more people and businesses. We also like to use photos of the people involved. Send items to Business Update, Editor, Lake Norman Magazine, 400-B North Harbor Place, Davidson, NC 28036; fax to 704-896-0661, or e-mail LNMag@lakenormanmagazine.com. If you want photos returned, please enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope large enough to hold the photo and bearing sufficient postage.