Interconnected

You may have heard that Wegmans had filed the paperwork to reapply for that license to open a liquor store and then thought better of it. The continuing saga of Wegmans, that upstairs space, and Howard County regulations fascinates me. As far as I am concerned it is worthy of a multi-part Frank Hecker analysis.

That space at Wegmans cries out for a multitude of creative uses. One such use was the Columbia Association's World Language Café. From David Greisman,

Columbia Association’s (CA) World Languages Café began in early 2013 as a way to provide great evenings of conversations and culture in more than a dozen different languages. Now, as the popular program approaches its third anniversary, the World Languages Café will start 2016 by moving to a different location and a different day of the week.

So, no liquor store at Wegmans, and no World Languages Café either. Okay...

I haven't been brave enough to attend one of the Café events. Have you? I'm not sure how far I could get on rusty high school French and Spanish. If you are interested in seeing what it's like, they're now going to be held at the East Columbia Branch Library in Owen Brown.

The World Languages Café will meet on the fourth Tuesday of the month at the 50+ Center at East Columbia Library, 6600 Cradlerock Way in Owen Brown. Upcoming sessions will be on Jan. 26, Feb. 23, March 22, April 26, May 24 and June 28. All sessions are scheduled from 7 to 9 p.m.

But wait, there's more. I recently learned that the East Columbia Branch is going to be closing for renovations beginning in July and won't reopen to the public until March, 2017. My immediate response: augh! That's my branch! Change is hard. It's really silly to be upset, when you consider how close most of the other branches are. (And I still haven't made the trek to Glenwood, a whole 17 miles away...)

Now here's a thought. Imagine how lovely it would be to temporarily relocate the East Columbia branch to Wegmans. There's nothing really going on upstairs...