The Thermal Belt Friendship Council picnic will be held Saturday, June 4 at the Harmon Field Cabin and Pavilion from 4 – 8 p.m. Bring family and friends. All are welcome and there is no charge.

Each year as the news has spread through the community, increasing numbers of area residents have attended the picnic, each bringing a salad, entree, vegetable or dessert for seven people. The Friendship Council supplies hot dogs, buns, condiments and drinks. There will also be lively musical entertainment and a piñata for the kids. The Friendship Council anticipates an outstanding raffle because of generous donations from our Thermal Belt merchants and other friends.

Those who are new to the community may be interested in learning that the Friendship Council is a loosely-organized group of friends whose goal is to promote racial and ethnic diversity and harmony in the Thermal Belt. There is no formal membership and there are no dues. Friends meet on the second Tuesday of each month at Roseland Center in Tryon at 7 p.m. to plan community outreach and various events.

The Friendship Council sponsors three major events each year. The first is the commemoration for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. held in January at the Fine Arts Center in Tryon. The Friendship Council is already preparing for the January 2011 commemoration. Second is the annual picnic and third is Christmas caroling at a local nursing home with a potluck Christmas dinner following at Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in Tryon. Throughout the year, friends meet at a local restaurant to see and be seen enjoying lunch with one another.

Friendship Council Events are listed in the Bulletin’s Curb Reporter and all are welcome to attend. There is never a charge for any event.

Friendship Council maintains a telephone committee to call friends for special events. If you wish to be on the telephone list or to get further information, call 864-457-2426, or visit http://friendshipcouncil.homestead.com.

– article submitted by Lynnea Stadelmann