Memorial Day 2013

Columbians showed their patriotism this Memorial Day by displaying American flags, specifically on the 800 block of Plane Street - and on the 100 block of South Sixth Street, as pictured above.

 Unfortunately, some folks did not obtain new flags and continued to fly worn ones that should have been disposed of in a dignified manner, as shown above at a local residence . . .

and here, in front of a local business.

Fanfare for the Common Man

A Fanfare for the Common Man Aaron Copland

(1900-1990)

Shortly after the beginning of World War II, Cincinnati Orchestra conductor Eugene 

Goosens requested patriotic fanfares from eighteen American composers for performance during 

the orchestra's 1942-43 concert season. Each concert opened with one of these fanfares designed, 

as Goosens envisioned, to boost morale for the war effort. Amongst the composers who 

answered Goosens’ call were notable American musicians like Morton Gould, Howard Hanson, 

Darius Milhaud, Walter Piston, Virgil Thomson, and Aaron Copland. Of the eighteen, the ten 

fanfares composed for brass and percussion alone were selected for publication.

Copland’s fanfare was performed for the first time on the March 14, 1943 concert. Along 

with the composition, each composer had been requested to supply his own title. Asked many 

years later about the selection of his title, Copland responded, “I sort of remember how I got the 

idea of writing A Fanfare for the Common Man – it was the common man, after all, who was 

doing all the dirty work in the war and the army. He deserved a fanfare.”

Open Records chief flunks Pa. charter schools

HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) -
The head of Pennsylvania's Office of Open Records gives charter schools failing grades when the subject is compliance with the Right-To-Know Law.

"The number one violators are charter schools," said Executive Director Terry Mutchler.

MORE HERE:
http://www.abc27.com/story/22399817/open-records-chief-flunks-pa-charter-schools

Columbia Native Dean Young Named 2014 Texas State Poet Laureate

KNOW
Dean Young, professor of English, is the 2014 Texas Poet Laureate, one of four posts held by Texas artists annually. The appointees for 2013 and 2014 were selected by a legislative-appointed committee for the exceptional quality of their work and for their outstanding commitment to the arts in Texas.

Recognized nationally as one of the most energetic, influential poets writing today, Young holds the William Livingston Chair of Poetry at the University of Texas-Austin. He has published 12 books of poetry and one volume of prose on the aesthetics of poetry. He has also received numerous awards and honors for his poetry, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Levinson Prize, the Colorado Poetry Prize, a Wallace E. Stegner Fellowship, the American Academy of Arts and Letters Literature Award and two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts. His poems are regularly selected for the Best American Poetry annual series.

MORE HERE:
http://www.utexas.edu/know/2013/04/26/dean-young-named-2014-texas-state-poet-laureate/

National Watch and Clock Museum - Free admission for active-duty military members

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, including guard and reserve, with a mission to support, connect, and empower military families.

In addition to morale and empowerment programs, Blue Star Families raises awareness of the challenges and strengths of military family life and works to make military life more sustainable through partnerships like Books on Bases, Operation Honor Corp, Blue Star Careers, and Blue Star Museums. Blue Star Families also works directly with the Department of Defense and senior members of local, state and federal government to focus on military family issues. Membership includes military spouses, children, and parents, as well as service members, veterans, and civilians who strongly support them.

From April through November, The National Watch and Clock Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. December through March hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. From Memorial Day through Labor Day the Museum is also open on Mondays.

Discounts are available to seniors, students, AAA members, and groups of 10 or more. Groups of 10 or more are encouraged to call ahead. For more program information, directions, or general Museum information, call 717-684-8261 or visit our website at www.museumoftime.org.

 
 
 

Random observations

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 the sewer plant is enough to make you retch. It hangs low in the air because of the humidity, as the breeze nudges it gently up towards the center of town.

A car with the windows down rides past blasting out rap. On the recording is a man ranting about something. He sounds angry and is talking really fast. Have you ever heard a tender love song done in rap? I doubt it's possible to do so.

Author to present slideshow on historical events in the Columbia-Wrightsville area

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