New and Noteworthy

Out of the blue, without any fanfare, came my first digital issue of the Columbia Flier. Have they been doing this all along, or was that the first? Anyway, I love it. It makes my digital subscription worth more to me, because it adds a substantial chunk of the local news I'm really looking for.

A relatively new venture is the monthly newsletter from the Columbia Archives. Whether you are a long time resident, or new and wish you understood what all the fuss was about, the Columbia Archives is an invaluable resource to the community. I haven't visited them in their new home, and I should. Every time I talk to Archives Director Barbar Kellner I learn something fascinating. If you want to receive the Columbia Archives news, go here to sign up.

Events for today that may be of interest:

WBAL Concert for Kids at 1 pm and 7:30 pm, and their Holiday Shop from 2:00 til approximately 10:00.

Stevens Forest Nursery School Kids Holiday Shopping Fair, 9 am to 2 pm.

Saint Paul's Church Holiday Market, from 9 am to 1 pm.

Alternative Gift Fair at First Presbyterian Church of Howard County, 10 am to 4 pm. (Also tomorrow, check link for hours.)

PATH Action to Stand Against Islamophobia, 5 to 6:30 pm.

Second Chance Saloon "Cheers to 7 Years" seventh anniversary celebration, from 7 pm to close.

I have it on good authority that there will be a bake sale outside of Kendall Hardware today from 10 am to 2 pm to support the River Hill High School GSA. Further research shows that you and your pet may also be able to get your photo taken with Santa at the same location.

Finally, a shout out to all those participating in the Girls on the Run event today, and a very special HoCo Holler to members of the Teelin Dance troupe who are in Dallas, Texas today competing at the Southern Region Oireachtas.

Have a great weekend. It's shaping up to be a busy one.

Comments

Teacher Gifts

Today is the last day of school before the Winter Break. It’s a good time to remember the far-reaching nature of our public school system. You may not have children. You may have sent your children to independent schools. It matters not. You will be impacted one way or another. Yesterday I read a long thread on Facebook about several waves of illness in the schools right now. There’s influenza A and norovirus, I believe. And of course there’s COVID. Apparently in some individual schools the rate of illness is high enough for school admin to notify parents. When I was little the acceptable holiday gift for a teacher was one of those lovely floral handkerchief squares. (I don’t know what it was for male teachers. They were rare in my elementary years.) These days the range of teacher gifts is wider and I have fond memories of Target gift cards which I have written about before. I think it’s safe to say that giving one’s teacher Influenza, norovirus, or COVID is not the ideal holiday...

They Can Wait

This is not a typical Saturday post. That’s because, in my community, it’s not a typical Saturday. Oakland Mills High School, after years of deferred repair, needs massive renovation. It’s pretty simple: when you don’t fix a problem it gets bigger. The school system itself said the the OMHS school building was "no longer conducive to learning" back in 2018. 2018 . But Thursday the Boad of Education voted to push it out of the lineup of important projects which will be given the go-ahead to proceed soonest. In my opinion it’s a terrible decision and sets a dangerous precedent. To explain, here’s the advocacy letter I sent in support of Oakland Mills High School. I was rather proud of it. I am writing to ask you to proceed with needed renovation at Oakland Mills High School in the most timely and comprehensive manner humanly possible. I have read the letter sent to you by the Oakland Mills Community Association and I am in complete agreement. You are extremel...

Separate and Unequal

Remember “Separate but equal”? Remember how that really meant that Black schools languished in broken-down buildings without adequate heat or toilet facilities, with cast-off, ragged learning materials, underfunded and largely ignored? The Supreme Court struck that down in 1954. The evidence was clear that separate was not equal. Plessy v Ferguson had led to - - no, endorsed - - deeply unequal schooling and opportunities. We tend to think of Brown v Board as being purely about racial integration. It was not. It was about the logical consequences of segregation. And they were not, not, not equal. The ruling in 1954 didn’t transform public education for non-whites into a land of milk and honey by any means. But it articulated some essential truths in a way that made including everyone a legal precedent which could be relied upon and built upon. It was better than what came before it but it rested upon unsteady ground. It did not necessarily change the hearts or minds ...

Village Green/Town²

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