On Saturday, a Charlotte icon returned to the city’s skyline and marked the beginning of Charlotte’s Historic Preservation Month.

The JFG Special Coffee shines brightly again, now atop the VBGB Beer Hall & Garden at the North Carolina Music Factory.

The NC Music Factory was a natural fit for the 40-year-old sign because the area is made up of historic buildings that have been converted into venues for producing and enjoying music.

The JFG Coffee sign used to perch along I-277, near Bank of America Stadium. It was removed in 2009 with the hope of finding a new home and funding for its restoration. The mission to save the sign helped to spark a new campaign called Save Our Signs, which aims to preserve other vintage signs around the Queen City.

Another historic landmark benefiting from the emphasis on preservation is Reid’s Fine Foods. It’s sign at the Myers Park location was also relit over the weekend.

Tonight marks the kick off of Charlotte’s biggest summer happy hour – Alive After Five. This weekly celebration allows corporate America to roll out from their cubicles, crawl down their concrete towers, and indulge in post-office beverages, laughs and feel good music. Not particularly kid-friendly, unless you want ‘you-have-a-baby-in-a-bar’ stares, this outdoor festivity has increased in popularity over the past several years, especially among young adults.

During the month of April and to help celebrate its 10th anniversary, AA5 will warm up its concert series at Wachovia Plaza on Tryon Street. This is where the excitement began back in 2001 and has since grown massively in reputation and size. Beginning May 5, the party will relocate to its latest three-story home of the EpiCentre, a newly instated icon of Uptown, only a few blocks over on College Street. The party will remain at this self-proclaimed Mecca of social gathering for the remainder of the summer.

Though the drink specials are anything but ‘special’, the bands are anything but spectacular, and cash is king at this weekly event, it’s a wonderful place to unwind with coworkers and friends. Also, if Thursday is the new Friday, it’s good to note that the AA5 wrist band offers admission into any designated after party bar sans a cover charge.

If it rains? No worries, the EpiCentre location has instituted a new “When it Rains, We Pour” promotion by purchasing two large tents and promising discounted drink specials during inclement weather. (Wachovia Plaza better hope for a dry April.)

The festivities begin at 5pm tonight and host Liquid Pleasure, a North Carolina-based band versed with an upbeat R&B and Motown vibe that has proven to be an AA5 favorite.

For more information or a list of performances at both the Wachovia Plaza and the EpiCentre, please check out their website.

The AA5 season spans every Thursday afternoon at 5pm from April 7th to September 15th in Uptown.

Contributed by Keri Lynch

Each year Addison Whitney participates in GRACE (Giving Relief and Care to our Elderly), a charitable initiative funded entirely by donations from employees. Donations help support senior citizens in our local community.

We recently visited Sardis Oaks Nursing Home to see the newly updated beauty salon our donation helped fund. The salon was given a fresh coat of paint and new cabinets and mirrors were put in.

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For our December Helping Hands event, AW chose to sponsor the Christmas Village Toy Store at the request of one of our visual designers. It is a suggestion that many AW employees embraced, as the excitement of children at Christmas far outweighs our own as adults.

The inspiration came in 2006 for The Christmas Village Toy Store, a collaborative effort among several area churches that is designed to empower and develop at-risk urban communities in Charlotte. The store itself preserves and promotes joy and dignity at Christmas by engaging a free market system, allowing shoppers to pay a discounted price for desired items rather than be forced to accept “charity.”

Both those who donate toys or volunteer their time and shoppers who purchase toys contribute to store profits that are reinvested into the local community through educational grants and scholarships. Because of this, even the shoppers at the Toy Store are “paying it forward” into their own communities.

Addison Whitney was able to donate several boxes and bags full of toys for children ranging in age from infant to teenager. There were dolls, mp3 players, blocks, books, bath accessories and much more. In addition to donating toys, several employees, along with their friends or spouses, volunteered their time to helping the Toy Store prepare and run the shopping events. We were represented as toy pricers and parking lot attendants.

We would like to say thank you to Warehouse 242 and the other Charlotte-area churches who are part of the Christmas Village Toy Store for allowing us the opportunity to give to such an amazing organization. We look forward to being part of the initiative in the future, whether as individuals or as a company.