Tuesday, July 19, 2016
Monday, July 18, 2016
Junk Drawers
Columbia Spy is privileged to publish several articles by Columbia native Mike Clark, the second of which appears here, with permission of the author. The essays were previously published inThe Globe Leader and 50-plus Senior News and will continue to be reprinted in the Spy over the next few weeks.
"Junk Drawers"
by Mike Clark
I have difficulty finding certain objects around the house. It has less to do with a failing memory than with the countless number of places where I could have put those objects after I used them last. It takes some time to sort through all the possibilities.
If you remember my column called "My Workshop," you are familiar with my struggles in organization and neatness.
The other day I was looking for a tiny screwdriver (I have several) to fix one of my grandchildren's toys. Before I started walking in circles and looking in the same places more than once, which is my usual routine, my wife suggested that I look in my junk drawer.
"Gee, which one?" I asked. That's right: I have more than one junk drawer. And who else but me should know better about going directly to a junk drawer when I need things that I could not find anywhere else?
After all, I am the creator of junk drawers. My wife should never have to suggest it.
I'm of the impression, based on no scientific evidence whatsoever, that we all have junk drawers—special places where we keep small items that we will use, or even think we will use, in the future.
I'm talking about little items that might include mini-tools, hooks and fasteners, pins and springs, strings and short lengths of rope, wires, cords, watch parts, favorite writing instruments that will probably never write again, and sometimes small boxes and containers that might someday hold a sentimental souvenir.
The list of potentially purposeful items is endless. Take your own inventory when you get the time.
We keep these things in drawers because there is not always a good, specific place for them; they cannot be hung on a pegboard with larger tools and gadgets.
And among the functional junk that is useful by itself, there are random parts and pieces that might not be functional alone, but added to other parts and pieces, we can create new things.
Look at some of the great art created from junk. OK, that's mostly created from much larger junk than we can keep in our drawers, but you get my point.
The immutable truth is, the day after we get rid of anything in our closet cache of junk is the day we will need it. So, if I think there's even a remote chance that I might need a piece, a part, or a tiny tool someday, it goes right to one of my junk drawers until that day rolls around.
And, unbelievably, there were many times when I have found a use for something weird in my depository of miscellaneous junk.
I just don't ever want to be that person in the middle of a fix-it job who says, "I wish I still had that nifty little tool or that doohickey I threw away yesterday." You know what I mean, right?
I finally found the screwdriver I needed to fix my grandchild's toy. But I found it in a junk drawer that had not been opened for a long time.
And in that drawer I found a recipe for Maryland crab cakes; two miniature bungee cords; a compass for orienteering, which I never used; a battered watch that my sister bought for me at Christmas in 1964 (it will never again keep time); two pairs of bronzed baby shoes; romantic cards and notes that my wife and I had exchanged over the years; a small wooden box that my kids bought for me at a school Christmas bazaar many years ago (it has DAD stenciled on the lid); a few stray wedding pictures; and some old photographs of the mountain cabin we once owned.
Underneath some of the other mementos and memorabilia, I found my dad's Army Air Corps discharge paper (he was a military policeman) and the leather wallet that he had in his trousers the night he fell into a deep coma in January 1963; it was a coma from which he never escaped.
The wallet contained his Social Security card, driver's license, title transfer from a 1948 Pontiac to a 1954 Ford station wagon, a couple of social club membership cards, a ticket for the first annual Loyal Order of Moose chicken barbecue, a business card for the company from which he purchased my mom's memorial stone seven months earlier, and pictures of my brother, my sister, and me.
I thought about the meaning of the things I discovered in that so-called junk drawer. So I removed the junk and made a keepsake drawer.
Mike Clark writes a regular column for The Globe Leader newspaper in New Wilmington, Pa. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in organizational behavior/applied psychology from Albright College. Mike lives outside Columbia, Pa., and can be contacted at mikemac429@aol.com.
First wedding at Columbia Crossing
We were wrong.
On March 28, 2015, Renata McClair and Geoff Broome were married there by Mayor Leo Lutz.
The ceremony is shown here:
The ceremony is shown here:
Sunday, July 17, 2016
New exterminator in town looks to help residents
Bugs bugging you? Pests pesting you? If so, Steve Shetter wants you to know there's help available. Shetter is the owner of TES - Total Exterminating Systems - which recently set up shop in Columbia.
The TES staff has a combined 35 plus years of experience in the exterminating field, and Shetter himself has done the job for 27 years.
Operating from an office at 30A North Fourth Street, TES offers a full range of exterminating services to rid properties of bugs, mice, and other vermin in commercial and residential settings.
"One of our mission statements is, 'Do the right thing all the time,'" Shetter said recently.
He said he is willing to work with property owners and renters who might not have a lot of money. "If there are people that are in true need here in Columbia and they're willing to work with me, then I'm going to be willing to work with them." Shetter asks that those with pest problems first launder and bag their clothes and strip the beds before he treats the area.
Shetter has noticed that some residents take affected mattresses outside and place them on the sidewalk. He said that those who do so should cut them as well as any upholstered furniture to discourage others from using them and spreading any possible infestation.
In fact, Shetter said it's usually not necessary to need to get rid of affected mattresses. Although he sometimes makes such a recommendation, he often encases mattresses and box springs in plastic to keep insects from entering or leaving the furniture. Some furniture can also be treated chemically.
TES can take care of about 40 different types of insects, as well as rodents and other pests. "We take care of anything pest control-wise," Shetter said. TES also offers preventative programs with monthly or quarterly treatments.
Shetter and his technician Mike Hughson have found Columbians to be friendly and welcoming and look forward to helping where they can. "We love being here in Columbia," Shetter said.
Mattress encasements can eliminate the need to get rid of infested mattresses and box springs.
Columbia Borough to keep public notices, legal ads in LNP
Columbia Borough will continue to publish public notices and legal ads in LNP, the newspaper with the widest circulation in the county, rather than shift them to a smaller, regional weekly business publication, officials said.
Saturday, July 16, 2016
First wedding at Columbia Crossing
On Saturday night, a crowd of 86 people attended the first wedding ever held at Columbia Crossing.
No mention of Director job on ELANCO agenda
Shown above is the agenda for ELANCO's upcoming board meeting this Monday night. Go HERE to link to the agenda on their website.
The agenda for the upcoming Eastern Lancaster County School Board of Directors Meeting for July 18, 2016 makes no mention of a Director of District Operations position. The position is part of a deal recently approved by ELANCO and the Columbia Borough School Board. The job posting stated a deadline of "June 30, 2016 or until successful candidate is selected."
According to LNP, Columbia School Board President Tom Strickler stated his intention to apply for the position and has recused himself when the job was discussed at meetings.
Since Strickler's resignation includes an effective date of July 18, 2016 at 11:59 p.m., it has been widely speculated that July 18 would be ELANCO's decision date to appoint a candidate to the position. In theory at least, if Strickler were denied the position, he would still have time to rescind his resignation from the Columbia board.
An informed source tells Columbia Spy that ELANCO could hold an executive session before its regular board meeting in which the position and candidate(s) could be added to the agenda. The board could then vote on an appointment on Monday night.
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