Mason B. Hardy has been named Columbia Rotary Club’s 103rd president. He joined the club in 2006, previously having been a member of the Newberry, S.C. Club and Sumter, S.C. Club.
The Rotarian spirit runs deep in his family. Accompanying his wife Michelle in attendance during Hardy’s transition meeting was his father Archibald Hardy III (a former S.C. state house representative) who was a member of the Columbia Rotary Club from the 1980s until he retired around 2008.
Hardy’s uncle Edmund Heyward “Beaver” Hardy was a charter member of the Columbia East Rotary Club and served as its second president. And his brother Archibald “Chip” Hardy IV, who was a charter member and served as the third president of the Vista Nights Rotary Club, was also a member of the Columbia Capital Club and is now a member of the Camden, S.C. Club.
Hardy’s great grandfather, Edmund Rhett Heyward, was a charter member of the Columbia Rotary Club as its secretary/ treasurer in 1916 and then served as its fourth president in 1920. Edmund worked for W.B. Guimarin & Co., a full-service mechanical contractor started in Columbia in the early 1900s. Edmund, the owner’s former banker and bookkeeper, bought the company in 1937. The company is currently under its fourth generation of Heyward family ownership (cousins) and is known for being a value-driven workplace that gives back to its community.
Mason says he is excited to follow in his esteemed great grandfather’s footsteps, as he becomes Columbia Rotary Club’s 103rd president exactly 100 years later.
Mason stated, “I am honored and humbled by the opportunity to serve as president of this great club. I look forward to growing its membership with more people who love to learn about and serve the community and world we live in.” He is excited for the club’s Bocce Ball Bash Tournament to benefit S.C. Special Olympics; the food packing event for those in need; Salvation Army Bell Ringing; book and coat drives; and hopefully, a few club socials in the future.
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