Asheville

Advocate Month September 1 - 30. Patagonia Footwear and Mast General Store will donate $10 to Appalachian Voices for each pair of Patagonia shoes you purchase.

While motorcycle camping is somewhat akin to car camping - in that you don’t actually have to physically carry all of your gear - it is also similar to backpacking in that the size and weight of your gear matters on several fronts. First, you can’t carry a huge cabin style tent and a cot on you bike. Instead, you need the type of gear that a backpacker carries ­­– light, small high-quality items that will stand up to the road and trail while keeping you comfortable in all types of weather.

The Dog Days of August are here, and that means that it’s time to get ready to head back to school. Throngs of parents and students (reluctantly) flock to local shopping venues searching for just the right clothes, pens, pencils, paper, notebooks, backpacks, lunch bags, calculators, dictionaries, calendars, etc. It is daunting at the variety in the marketplace and the number of special needs for today’s classes.

Bele Chere Festival, July 23-25, Fri. 12:00 noon -10:00 p.m., Sat. 10:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m., Sun 12:00 Noon - 6:00 p.m., Asheville, Downtown. Enjoy the largest street festival in the Southeast with live music, art & crafts, food, children’s area & rides. Don’t forget to come see us at the Mast General Store booth! 828-259-5800. For entertainment schedules more info click here.

Esschert Design began as a cottage industry in an actual cottage.  The Mosterd family began in a 15th century farmhouse named "Het Esschert" . At Mast General Store we offer a variety of Esschert Design garden products including the Canvas Garden Apron. As practical as it is attractive, the canvas tool apron from Esschert Design will protect your clothing and keep your tools right where you need them.

By Julie Shissler
Bird watching is full of surprises. Did you realize that chickadees are as fond of peanut butter as your four-year-old… and as prone to squabbling over it as toddlers are? Have you ever watched a cardinal feed a choice seed to his mate?  Listened to the joyous song of a sparrow after a rainstorm?

National Geographic explorer and photographer, Helen Thayer will share her adventures from her best selling book, Three Among the Wolves.
The sight of a wolf has instilled fear in man from the beginning of time. These often misunderstood creatures are both beautiful and fascinating. Thayer and her husband Bill traveled above the Arctic Circle to the Canadian Yukon territory where they lived within 100 feet of a wild wolf den. In addition to the book, Three Among the Wolves is a motivational program comprised of rare photography from their year-long study of the wolf family