Midlands offer a variety of family and community fun

With a calendar full of seasonal festivals and activities offered year-round, Columbia has plenty of appeal for those looking for family-friendly activities and a sense of community. Here are some of pastimes enjoyed by The State's newsroom staff.

Festivals & activities

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  Summer is the time to make a splash in pool, lake or stream

  Dwayne McLemore, who leads The State’s digital sports efforts, does not have a license for fishing or boating and is not an accomplished swimmer. Still, he knows that when you live in South Carolina, and especially Columbia, you have to know where you can go to cool off.
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  Carolina Stadium a good place to watch Gamecocks, unwind

  Reporter Sammy Fretwell is a baseball fan, who also likes rock and roll music, baseball, time on the beach, baseball, cold beer and 1960s TV Westerns. And baseball.
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  Midlands strawberries all the sweeter when you pick them yourself

  It’s usually too hot to be outside by the time April rolls around in Columbia, but that doesn’t stop The State’s online producer Anne-Kathryn Flanagan from taking her family to pick fresh, juicy strawberries from the Cottle Strawberry Farm.
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  Zoo, museum, parks make Columbia kid-friendly place to be

  Josh Kendall is a relative newcomer to Columbia. When the sports writer and his family moved here with two small children in 2010, they found a welcoming city with lots of amenities that made the transition easier for the kids.