Columbia's Hometown Hero banners return

 

Borough worker Chuck Wallick hangs a Hometown Hero banner on North 2nd Street Friday afternoon. 

It's that time of year, and Hometown Hero banners are going up around town again.

The current batch, from an order that closed in January, will bring the total to over 660. The banners honor Columbia's military veterans and active-duty personnel. 

On Friday afternoon, Columbia Spy caught up with Bob Smith and Chuck Wallick hanging a banner on North 2nd Street. Bob, who leads the project, notes there's a small challenge this year: PPL is in the process of replacing utility poles around town. That means that banners already hung on poles slated for replacement must be removed, and then rehung on the new poles. PPL has plans to replace several poles this year and routinely notify the borough of which ones will be replaced. “They call Jake [Graham, Columbia's public works manager] and give him the numbers of the poles they're replacing,” Bob says.

Bob Smith gets components from the work truck. 

Bob, who's been with the project for almost three years, says he's winding down his participation and that this year will be his last. He's thankful that the borough embraced the initiative from the beginning. “I'd like to thank borough workers and others for all their help on this project,” he said.