Fluor Field is turning into a back-to-school block party on Friday, with the Greenville Drive and WYFF News 4 teaming up to host a supply drive and family bash before the ballclub takes on the Hudson Valley Renegades. Fans are being asked to bring school supplies for the effort, dubbed Stuff the Bus, with a Greenville County school bus parked on site at Fluor Field to collect the donations.
The timing is no accident. WYFF 4 is partnering with the Greenville Drive and TD for the back-to-school bash, according to WYFF News 4 president and general manager Blake Bridges, who added that the school supply drive helps local families heading into the new academic year. The pregame festivities kick off at 5 p.m. at District 356, the pedestrian plaza outside the ballpark, ahead of the Greenville Drive's game against Hudson Valley.
The bash itself sounds like a small-scale fair: a photo booth, free haircuts for kids, concessions and player autographs are all part of the lineup, per the station's report. Organizers have also planned music, inflatables, face painting, balloon art and magic to round out the pregame scene, and the baseball game itself will feature kid-friendly activities once first pitch arrives.
A Corporate Assist for Local Classrooms
TD Bank donated 1,000 backpacks to the drive, giving families a head start on supplies before the first bell rings. The bank is one of Greenville County's largest employers, with between 1,001 and 2,500 regional workers and a major corporate campus in the city, according to the Greenville Area Development Corporation. Ben Hicks said the back-to-school bash supports Greenville students and families, according to the same station account.
The WYFF News 4 morning team will participate in pregame activities on the field, and the full WYFF News 4 team plans to attend WYFF 4 Night at the Drive, with the station broadcasting the event live from Fluor Field. Jenni Williams is credited as the article's author, and Bridges is identified as the station's president and general manager.
Why Friday, Specifically
The date lines up with South Carolina's annual Tax Free Weekend, which runs from Friday, August 7 through Sunday, August 9, and exempts back-to-school items like school supplies, backpacks, clothing and computers from state and local sales taxes with no price limits, according to the South Carolina Department of Revenue. Greenville County Schools, the largest public school district in the state, is also preparing for the new academic year.
That urgency carries extra weight given enrollment trends. Greenville County Schools ranks among the 50 largest districts nationwide, but its student count slipped from 78,115 in August 2024 to below 77,000 by late 2025, a decline the Post and Courier attributes to charter schools and homeschooling, reduced international migration and a slightly lower number of school-aged children. Community drives like Friday's carry more weight for the families who remain in the public system. According to Greenville County Schools' Greer High School portfolio, current enrollment at Greer High School is 1,307 students, illustrating the scale of schools serving Greenville County families.
Fenway on Field Street
District 356 itself doubles as a nod to Greenville baseball history. The plaza was built through a $2.5 million partnership between the Greenville Drive and the City of Greenville and takes its name from Shoeless Joe Jackson's .356 lifetime major league batting average, according to the Greenville Journal. The Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum sits across from Fluor Field at 356 Field Street.
Fluor Field itself opened in 2006 as a 6,700-seat replica of Boston's Fenway Park, complete with a 30-foot Greenville Monster wall and a manual scoreboard in left field. The Greenville Drive, the Boston Red Sox's High-A South Atlantic League affiliate, relocated to Greenville from Columbia in 2005 before the ballpark opened the following year. Friday's opponent, the Hudson Valley Renegades, gives the pregame family fun a faint big-league rivalry undercurrent.
The school calendar's ripple effects extend beyond the ballpark. Greenville County election officials previously consolidated and moved polling locations for an August 11 U.S. Senate Special Republican Primary, as Hoodline reported, after the primary date landed on the first day of school and removed public school buildings from the available polling place inventory.
