Mast General Store Celebrates Friends’ Day on September 12

September 5, 2015

COLUMBIA, SC – The Dalai Lama observes: “Old friends pass away, new friends appear. It is just like the days. An old day passes, a new day arrives. The important thing is to make it meaningful: a meaningful friend – or a meaningful day.” There is much wisdom in his quote. On Saturday, September 12, the Mast Store in Columbia is celebrating Friends’ Day by hosting volunteers from the Palmetto Conservation Foundation.

Life is all about connections, and so is the main focus of the Palmetto Conservation Foundation. They are working on connecting the mountains to the sea, rural communities to cities, and connecting the dots of South Carolina’s unique history and culture. The Palmetto Trail will ultimately stretch over 500 miles and will make all of these connections and more, but perhaps one of the most important goals it will accomplish is a disconnection with technology, just for a moment or two, in order to take in the beauty of the state and to visit with a neighbor or a relative.

“Connecting the whole state in a meaningful way is a great goal,” said Fred Martin, president of the Mast Store. “The Palmetto Trail will make accessing nature, history, and culture as easy as walking out into your own backyard.”

Conceived in 1994, the vision for the Palmetto Conservation Foundation is to create the state’s largest bicycle and pedestrian project…a trail that connects the mountains of the Upstate with the sea along the Atlantic coastline. Currently, about 350 miles are open to the public along the 16 passages across the state. As a matter of fact, the volunteers in the Mast Store in Columbia will be spending a bit of time on the Capital City Passage of the Palmetto Trail during the Friends’ Day event, because the Palmetto Trail runs right down Main Street in Downtown Columbia.

The Ladies of the Palmetto Trail are hosting a Friends’ Day Hike beginning at 9 a.m. on September 12. Meet at the Palmetto Conservation Foundation office at 722 King Street to begin your adventure along the Capital City Passage. The hike is free for PCF members and $10 for others. To register, please e-mail Katherine Anderson at [email protected].

At the end of the day on Saturday, September 12, the Mast Store will make a donation of 10% of the day’s sales from the store in Columbia to provide meaningful support of the Palmetto Conservation Foundation.

 

To learn more about Friends’ Day, visit www.MastStore.com. For information about the Palmetto Conservation Foundation, drop by the Mast Store on September 12, or click on www.PalmettoConservation.org.