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Special Needs Ballet Film Wins Award in Beaufort

Our next guest followed and filmed five adult, special-needs ballet students through a year of dancing and living which brought to viewers of the film often unheard voices, a perspective frequently overlooked, and to the film director a filmmaking award.

Mike Switzer interviews Sarah Shoemaker, director of “Invitation to the Dance”, named the best documentary feature at this year’s Beaufort International Film Festival. She is also the executive director International Ballet.

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After almost 20 years, Mike Switzer retired from Wells Fargo Securities in 2001 as Senior Vice President/Investment Officer and Certified Portfolio Manager. In 1999, he and his wife, Maggie, purchased and operated for eight years the Baskin Robbins ice cream store on Forest Drive in Columbia. They grew the store from a bottom-tier operation in the Baskin Robbins franchise system to one in the top 5% nationwide within three years, tripling sales along the way. While operating the ice cream store, Mike and Maggie received patents for a portable ice cream sink and fold-down sneezeguard they invented and in 2002 started Magnolia Carts, an ice cream cart manufacturing company, which they sold in 2013.