Congaree River and the River Alliance Now Featured on
The AT&T Real Yellow Pages Cover

More than 418,000 directories to be distributed to Columbia, Lexington and Chapin
Area Residents and Businesses

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Jan. 18, 2007 –The Congaree river, one of the three rivers that borders Cayce, Columbia and West Columbia is featured on the 2007-08 edition of the AT& T Real Yellow Pages. The Gervais Street Bridge, also featured on the cover, links the Lexington and Richland side of the river and the Three Rivers Greenway.  The Three Rivers Greenway project, started in 1996 through the efforts of the nonprofit River Alliance partnership, is supported by the three cities noted above. Delivery of the area’s leading yellow pages directory begins this month and will continue for approximately the next four weeks. More than 418,000 copies of the directory will be delivered to area homes and businesses.  

 "The River Alliance as a public/private partnership has unlocked the potential of our three rivers. The public access to the region’s rivers has provided both recreational benefit to thousands of residents and ever expanding economic growth," said Martha Scott Smith, State Director AT&T-South Carolina Operations, and Secretary of the River Alliance.

 ADVISORY:  AT&T will unveil the new directory cover Thursday, Jan. 18, 2007 at 11 a.m. at the West Columbia Riverwalk Amphitheater.  In the event of inclement weather, the unveiling will be held at the BellSouth building on Williams St.  Other attendees include Mayors Bob Coble, Avery Wilkerson, and Bobby Horton. Contact Geah Pressgrove at (803) 771-6106 for more information. 

 Daily, hundreds of area residents and visitors enjoy the recreational value of the rivers and their unique wildlife habitats. In an area once neglected and inaccessible, the Three Rivers Greenway now provides eight miles of park along its riverfront pathways complete with ranger patrols, scenic overlooks and emergency call boxes.  Concerts, plays and community events add to the lively variety of activities regularly held at the park. All of the paths, including restroom facilities, are ADA handicapped accessible.

 “The dream for the Three Rivers Greenway is to create a 14 mile linear park opening the rivers to all our citizens,” says Mike Dawson Chief Executive Officer for the River Alliance.  “The Three Rivers Greenway continues to strive to bring the rivers back into the daily lives of South Carolina residents.”

 “For more than a decade, the River Alliance has been working with the Midlands cities to create access to the region’s rivers,” said West Columbia Mayor Bobby Horton.  “The success of the Three Rivers Greenway in our city has been overwhelming and has become an economic engine for residential development on the west bank of the Congaree. In the coming years we hope to extend the West Columbia portion up to the Lexington Medical Center from the Saluda River.”

 The directory cover photograph was taken by Columbia native W. Thomas Smith Jr. “It is indeed an honor to have my photograph chosen by The Real Yellow Pages and the River Alliance,” says author-journalist W. Thomas Smith Jr., the contributing photographer. “The photograph – and its being on the cover – has special personal significance, because of my family’s multi-generational connection to the great state of South Carolina and my late father’s love of our city. He would have been exceedingly proud.”

The front section of the directory includes the award-winning Community Information Pages with access provided by the Greenway map, information about the Greater Columbia-Lexington area, local schools and government offices, public transportation, area sports, area museums and attractions, weather and emergency planning and other important local information.

For those who let their fingers do the clicking, the AT&T online Yellow Pages is available at YELLOWPAGES.COM. The site offers consumers access to comprehensive local business information, the latest business listings, city guides, maps and driving directions. In addition, YELLOWPAGES.COM advertisers receive exposure on Switchboard, AOL Yellow Pages, Yahoo!^® Yellow Pages, Yahoo! Local and AnyWho.com — all leading Yellow Pages sites.

 About AT&T

AT&T is a premier communications holding company in the United States and worldwide, with operating subsidiaries providing services under the AT&T brand. AT&T is the recognized world leader in providing IP-based communications services to business and the U.S. leader in providing wireless, high speed internet access, local and long distance voice, and directory publishing and advertising services. As part of its “three screen” integration strategy, AT&T is expanding video entertainment offerings to include such next-generation television services as AT&T U-verse^SM TV. Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at www.att.com 

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