COLUMBIA SPY

The National Watch and Clock Museum, 514 Poplar St., Columbia, has launched Blue Star Museums, a partnership with the National Endowment of the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense, and more than 1,800 museums across America. Free admission for active-duty military members (ID required) and their families (up to five) runs from Memorial Day, May 27 through Labor Day, September 2. Active-duty military include Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, and active-duty National Guard, and active-duty Reserve members. Enlisting Time, an exhibit of personal timepieces and stories of soldiers who have served their country over the last 250 years will be on display at the museum through August. Watches in the exhibit include George Washington's pocket watch, spy and author Ian Fleming's Rolex wristwatch used when he served in the Cold War, and many more. Blue Star Families is a national, nonprofit network of military families from all ranks and services, i...

There's a slight breeze blowing. Old Glory is waving from a front porch. It should be called the stars and strips because it is torn to shreds that waver and writhe. We have the right to fly the flag, burn it, wear it, whatever, but to display it like this is sloppy and lazy. Then again, maybe it's some sort of political statement. I'm listening to scanner radio on my phone. Voices from Oklahoma are coming across the ether. The news is tragic and heartbreaking, and I have to ask, "Where is God in all this?" The tornadoes carried his wrath, but what's he angry about? Why kill innocents? He would have done better to obliterate Wall Street or descend on Washington D.C. A few areas of Second Street still have old brick sidewalks, the bricks having been worn down by decades of foot traffic. If only we could extract their history. (What would it tell us?) They're a connection to the past.  Let's hope they're never paved over. The stench from th...

LANCASTERONLINE Glenn Banner, local author and retired teacher, will host a slideshow on historical events in and around Columbia and Wrightsville during the Millersville Area Historical Society meeting at 9 a.m. Saturday, June 8, in Millersville's Municipal Center, 100 Municipal Drive. MORE HERE: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/852158_Author-to-present-slideshow-on-historical-events-in-the-Columbia-Wrightsville-area.html

Recently uncovered information about Underground Railroad activity in Lancaster County will be brought to life on a July 20 field trip sponsored by the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society. Norma Grace and Ronald Strawbridge will lead an excursion to historic sites, complete with dramatic presentations and historical lessons. In Columbia the group will "meet" Robert Loney, whose family was among the first to be freed in the early 1800s and begin Columbia's free black community. Loney worked with Quaker abolitionist William Wright and ferried hundreds of escaping slaves across the Susquehanna and assisted with the work of Quaker activist William Wright. Historian Randolph Harris will talk about the role of Thaddeus Stevens and his housekeeper, Lydia Hamilton Smith, at the newly restored site of Stevens' office, now part of the Lancaster County Convention Center in Lancaster. Participants will then visit the Drumore Quaker Meetinghouse and see the homestea...

The National Watch and Clock Museum, 514 Poplar St., Columbia, will present an American Civil War Ball Saturday, June 22, from 6:30 to 10 p.m. The ball will celebrate the 150th anniversary of the burning of the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge and honor the fighting men and women presented in the museum's Enlisting Time exhibit. Attendees are encouraged, but not required, to wear period costume, whether they choose blue or gray. Music will be provided by the Gilmore Light Ensemble. The Victorian Dance Ensemble will assist those who want to learn the dances. The dance ensemble demonstrates and teaches dances of the mid-19th century. Punch, cash bar and hors d'oeuvres will be available throughout the evening. Tickets are $30 per couple or $20 for individuals. For tickets or more information, visit nawccstore.org or call 684-8261, extension 211. http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/851818_National-Watch-and-Clock-Museum-to-hold-Civil-War-Ball-June-22.html

LANCASTERONLINE Columbia School District officials approved a preliminary budget Thursday that would raise property taxes by 5.7 percent. The school board blamed underfunding of special education as a major cause for the tax hike and appealed to Columbia residents to write to Harrisburg to ask for fairer funding structures. To fund the $22,375,000 budget, residents in Columbia will need to pay a millage rate of 27.37 mills, an increase of 1.37 mills or $137 for a home valued at $100,000. MORE HERE: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/851921_Columbia-school-board-drafts-5-7--tax-hike.html

LANCASTERONLINE The Columbia United Veterans Council is inviting the public to its Memorial Day celebration at Columbia's Locust Street Park on Sunday, May 26, at 1 p.m., followed by a parade at 2:30 p.m. MORE HERE: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/851768_Columbia-prepares-for-Sunday-festivities--parade.html