Week 7 is the last reporting week for this year's Fall Foliage Primer. As we close the books on the fall color season, Knoxville is just now hitting its peak, as is Greenville. They will enjoy color for a little while longer. Asheville, Waynesville, and Hendersonville are a little past their high color line. There are some pockets of color that will sneak up on you. The Valle Crucis and Boone area are at the beginning of stick season, but that isn't stopping some of the oaks from showing off their true colors. Check the report for some ideas on scenic drives and fun events. Remember, November 11 is Veterans Day.

There’s a decided chill to the temperatures, so Winter is just around the corner. Mast Store is helping Share the Warmth in all its communities by holding a coat collection now through November 30. Columbia Sportswear, Mast Store’s vendor partner, is making a donation of new coats, jackets, and fleeces to keep the chill away, too.

It's Week 6 of the Fall Foliage Primer, and peak colors are in our sights in Waynesville, Asheville, and Hendersonville. We're betting that Greenville and Knoxville are getting ready to hit the mark in just a little bit. The Boone and Valle Crucis area has passed its peak color, but there are splashes here and there that are surprising. In all areas, the hiking and views are great this time of year and there are bazaars and other events that warrant a visit. Read on...

Week 5 of the Fall Foliage Primer is seeing more color in all locations. Yep, hard to believe! Asheville, Waynesville, and Hendersonville are stretching to reach peak color in the near term.  The Boone and Valle Crucis areas have some substantial leaf loss, but reds, oranges, and yellows are still popping up and are pretty prominent (particularly in the lower elevations). Greenville and Knoxville are still waiting for lots of color, but it is appearing slowly. All areas have lots of fun events in store including ghost walks, pumpkin carving, and beautiful hikes.

If you could do one thing that would help a child do better in school, have a better outlook on life, and be better able to fight disease, would you do it? Having enough to eat helps with all three of those situations and more. That’s why Mast Store, Merrell Footwear, and food security agencies in Mast Store's home communities are partnering again from October 25-November 7 to provide Food for Kids.

A good cleanup in the fall is well worth your while for a healthy, vital garden next spring. Get started by pulling up vegetable plants such as tomatoes, squashes, peas, and beans. Compost the disease-free ones; put sickly or blighted ones on the burn pile or discard away from the garden. Pull up and put away garden stakes and tomato cages.  Don’t forget to clean up dead or declining annuals... and remember marigolds, calendulas and zinnias are easy to grow next year, from the seeds you save.

Week four is filled with special events, festivals, and fall color. Asheville, Waynesville, and Hendersonville are stretching toward their peak color, while Knoxville and Greenville are still a ways off.  In Valle Crucis and Boone, the color is here and there, with some spots being past peak and others still waiting to begin their final act. Overall, the weather for being outside and enjoying whatever is around the bend is going to be just about perfect everywhere!

Week three of the primer is seeing a lot more color appearing in the higher and middle elevations. In some reporting locations, the color change really sped up over the weekend. This week is filled with festivals and special events to truly get out and take part in the color change.

Local historian John Preston Arthur wrote, “There’s a dreamy spell that hangs over this little valley.” That spell is further magnified during the month of October. With eye-popping visuals – think brightly-colored leaves, cattle quietly grazing in pastures, orange pumpkins peering out from amongst their leafy vines – the curvy road that brings you from Boone or Banner Elk is like a portal that slows time to a more relaxing, almost lazy, pace. To take in all of the activities we’re recommending for this 24 hours, you won’t be able to tarry long.

When Our State magazine started looking for a partner for its 2017 Made in NC contest, Mast General Store seemed like a natural fit. “They believe in many of the same things we do,” said Lisa Cooper, president of Mast General Store.

Week two of the Fall Foliage Primer is here, but a lot more color is not. Higher elevations around Graveyard Fields or Grandfather Mountain have more color, but in general we are seeing some reds and yellows hanging around with the getting-ready-to-get-started greens. While the leaves an event in themselves, there are many more happenings in our communities that our reporters hope to help you discover.

It's the first report of the fall foliage season. As is to be expected, the most prevalent color is green, but in all reporting areas there is some fall color beginning to show itself. It might be in the blooming of goldenrod and asters or it might be in the sourwoods and dogwoods beginning to show their true colors. Read the full report to get ideas on activites to enjoy during your visit.

If you subscribe to Mast Store’s Almost Monthly E-mail, you are well acquainted with Francine. She’s corresponded with folks for more than 16 years – almost since the invention of e-mail. Her fans have shared many accomplishments, concerns, and questions over the years. In this week’s blog, Francine answers some questions from her website “Ask Francine” opportunity. Let’s see what she has to say.

The Palmetto Trail, a project of the Palmetto Conservation Foundation (PCF), begins in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains at Wahalla and stretches across the state of South Carolina to the Low Country near Charleston. On September 9, the Mast Store in Columbia is hosting volunteers from the PCF and will donate 10% of the day’s sales to help this group’s continuing efforts to conserve South Carolina’s natural and cultural resources and to promote active outdoor recreation on the Palmetto Trail.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited unit in the National Park Service. On September 9, the Mast Store in Knoxville is hosting volunteers from the Friends of the Smokies (FOTS) and will donate 10% of the day’s sales to help this group’s continuing efforts to preserve and protect this important, beautiful, and biologically diverse park.