Carowinds has new general manager

Carowinds theme park has a new general manager, Brad Marcy.

Marcy and Mike Fehnel, last year’s general manager, switched jobs. Marcy was the general manager at Cedar Fair’s Dorney Park last year. Fehnel came to Carowinds from Dorney Park where he was general manager. Because of family reasons, Fehnel returned to Dorney Park and Marcy came south.

Education: Bachelor’s degree in education from California University of Pennsylvania.

First theme park job: part-time in 1996 as a game room attendance at Cedar Point theme park in Sandusky, Ohio.

First theme park memory: As child of about 4 or 5, Marcy said he would bug his grandmother and great-aunt for tickets to ride the cars at Kennywood theme park in West Mifflin, Pa. “I blew the horn incessantly,” he said.

First big ride: The Jack Rabbit wooden roller coaster at Kennywood. The coaster, built in 1920, is still in operation. It has a 70-foot drop and is most noted for its double dip following the lift hill. The double dip produces extended airtime that makes riders feel they are being thrown from the seat, and a feeling that the train leaves the track. “It was terrifying, but lots of fun,” he said.

What he wants Carowinds’ visitors to experience: “To have the best day of summer for the family.”

Business News

▪ The Friends of the York County Library recently named Faye Wyatt winner of its Joann W. McMaster Volunteer of the Year award for 2015.

The award is named in honor of Joann McMaster, who helped found the Friends of the York County Library organization in 1975 and served as its first president. This year marks the 40th anniversary for the Friends organization.

Wyatt has served as a Friends of the Library board member and volunteers on a weekly basis at the library. She has logged more than 400 volunteer hours in 2015. She has been a volunteer for more than five years.

The Friends also recognized nearly 100 volunteers, who donated over 3,600 hours on behalf of York County Libraries in 2015.　

▪ Erin Hultgren of Clover has been selected as a Jim Bernstein Community Health Leadership Fellow, a program that prepares people to work in and improve the health status of rural and underserved communities in North Carolina.

The fellowships last two years and involve projects in their communities that aim to achieve the program’s vision. It is run by the N.C. Foundation for Advanced Health Programs.

Hultgren is one of five fellows selected by the Foundation for terms that began in October and end in 2017. She is a program manager at Gaston Family Health Services, Inc., where she manages a grant-funded program, in addition to case management programs.

▪ Michelle Freeman has been named mortgage loan officer at the Rock Hill office of South State Bank. She has more than 20 years of experience in the financial industry, Freeman joined South State Bank in 2002 and worked as branch manager for the bank’s Eastside office before moving into the consumer and mortgage lending area. She has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Winthrop University.

▪ The Olde English District Tourism Commission recently honored Katherine and Bruce Brown, owners of Bloomsbury Bed & Breakfast, with its Betty Skeen Hospitality Employees of the Year. Their inn is ranked No. 12 out of 17,000 in the country. This is the first time a couple shared this award. They will compete with the winners from the state’s other ten tourism regions for the 2015 South Carolina Hospitality Employee of the Year.

George Bruce of Union was named the 2015 Carrie B. Dover Volunteer of the Year.

Chester State Park was named the 2015 Olde English District Attraction of the Year. Chester State Park offers a variety of ways to relax, from an 18-hole championship disc golf course to paddle boarding to nature walks.

This story was originally published December 19, 2015 at 6:24 PM with the headline "Carowinds has new general manager."