THIS AND THAT: Life is made much better with friends

Winter, spring, summer or fall
All you have to do is call
And I’ll be there
You’ve got a friend
— from “You’ve Got a Friend” by Carole King

With faith, family and friends as three of the cornerstones of life, the importance of friends cannot be overemphasized.

Most everyone needs friends to connect with in good times and in times of trouble. Friends are there to support us, to laugh with us to dry our tears. They are essential for our happiness. But people are not the only ones who need friends.

Sometimes there are organizations that need a hand, that need friends. Aiken has at least three of those.

The Aiken County Historical Museum, the Aiken County Public Library as well as Hopelands Gardens and Rye Patch are all publicly owned and get annual funding from county and city budgets. But the tax money that goes into keeping the three entities operating provides only part of what is needed for their continuing service to the community.

That is where friends come in — or perhaps we should say Friends with a capital F.

All three of these organizations have a Friends group — Friends of the Aiken County Historical Museum, Friends of the Aiken County Public Library and Friends of Hopelands and Rye Patch. Each is distinct and separate from the others and uses private funds to enhance their missions.

The Friends of the Aiken County Historical Museum was established “to provide programs, lectures, and presentations to the community in order to increase knowledge of Aiken County, South Carolina history.” With lecture series about the city and the people who have made this their home, listeners get a chance to learn about the city and its nearly two-century history.

According to the organization’s website, upcoming on Aug. 11 is a talk by local historian Linda Johnson titled “Up in Flames: How Aiken Tries to Burn Itself Down.” If that doesn’t get one’s interest fired up, what would?

Friends of the Aiken County Public Library has been busy in supporting the library for the past 52 years. Within the past few years these Friends raised money “to reconfigure the library into an up-to-date, well-designed library befitting the education and cultural needs of modern-day Aiken.” If you have any doubt about that, just pay a visit to the facility on Chesterfield Street.

The Friends of Hopelands and Rye Patch work diligently to maintain and upgrade the 16-acre entity behind a serpentine brick wall on Whiskey Road. Its mission is to work with the city to “raise funds for the preservation, improvement, and use of the properties so they can be enjoyed by Aiken’s residents and visitors consistent with the donors’ written wishes that Hopelands be a quiet, peaceful garden of excellence … .”

Over the years it has been supportive of the summer concert series performed at the Roland H. Windham Performing Arts Stage as well as Storytime at the Gardens and other educational programs that acquaint community members with the Gardens and Rye Patch. These Friends also work to maintain the complex and provide new features throughout.

It is impressive that people in this community have given of their time, energy and financial resources to become friends to these Friends. It should also be noted that the museum, library and gardens all have historical significance to the city.

The museum is located in Banksia, a large former home located on Newberry Street enveloped by a serpentine wall. The library is housed in what was originally the Aiken Institute, a building that served as a public school for nearly a century. Hopelands is the site of a Winter Colony home, and Rye Patch, a 19th-century structure, was built as a bed and breakfast.

Yes, friends are important and not just to us as individuals. These three important assets to Aiken have benefited from their own group of Friends as have other significant treasures within our community. And Friends can use all the friends they can get. If you are interested in one of these or any other local organization, find out how you can become a friend to a Friend.