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On Saturday, Sept. 13, the Mast General Store will partner
with the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation to salute and support
the Blue Ridge Parkway.
The day will be a friend-raising event for the Foundation, which
was established to enhance park visitors’ experiences and
have lasting value.
“The Blue Ridge Parkway is undoubtedly a special place,”
said Fred Martin, vice president of the Mast General Store. “With
so many of our guests and employees sharing an affinity for the
park, it is important that we do what we can to ensure its there
for enjoyment in the future.”
According to Houck Medford, executive director of the Blue Ridge
Parkway Foundation, “The foundation doesn’t fund the
general operations of the Parkway; it provides the icing on the
cake – those aspects that add to the quality of the visitors’
experience.”
Some of those “icing-on-the-cake” projects include restrooms
at Bass Lake on the Moses Cone Estate and improvements to the
craft demonstration area at the Folk Art Center in Asheville.
The foundation also sponsors the Parks as Classrooms program,
which promotes the Parkway as a learning laboratory to acquaint
children with the concept of national parks and how they and their
families can be stewards of these resources.
Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation Day grew out of the partnership
between the foundation and the Mast Store.
“This is much more than a business relationship” Martin
said. “We are forging a partnership that is focused on the
future, building a new generation who will enjoy and care for
the Parkway and all it represents as we enjoy and care for it
now. We cannot just assume that children will grow up to understand
the value of this very special place. Our decision to form this
partnership honors the past but is very much focused on the future.”
Representatives from the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation will be
on hand at the Mast Store locations in the High Country, Waynesville,
Hendersonville and Asheville on Sept. 13 to share with guests
the activities they are undertaking to preserve the character
of the Blue Ridge Parkway.
The Friends of the Reedy River, an organization that supports
the efforts to revitalize the Reedy River, will be at the Mast
Store in Greenville, S.C. The Mast Store in Knoxville will host
the Friends of the Smokies, a support group for the Great Smoky
Mountain National Park. The Mast General Store will donate 10
percent of sales on that Saturday to these organizations. For
more information on the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation and its
activities, visit www.brpfoundation.org.
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