Whine in the Woods?

If you live in Columbia/HoCo long enough you will come to understand that there are certain annual events that locals believe are theirs by right.  I’m not saying that they are merely liked or beloved or generally accepted traditions. I’m saying that many local believe that these things are owed them. 

Woe be unto you if you try to tinker with them or somehow get in the way.

These things? You could probably name them yourself.

• Fireworks at the Lakefront
• The Poinsettia Tree at the Mall
• Symphony of Lights
• Wine in the Woods

At the risk of sounding sacrilegious, you would think from seeing the way some folks talk- - and behave - - that these things were ordained by God. I used to think it was a bit silly. Now there are days when I find it almost alarming. 

Perhaps it is because Columbia is a relatively new place. We don’t have hundreds of years of history anchoring our community. On the one hand, Rouse wanted to do something entirely new when he created Columbia. On the other hand his longings for that new place grew out of memories of a small-town childhood.  Small towns need traditions, and celebrations, and things to look forward to year after year.

Back in Easton, Maryland, the place of Rouse’s boyhood, they may have had ladies’ sewing circles and gentleman who sat outside the country store chatting about local happenings. We have social media and boy, is it ever ugly. 

 

So: here we are in 2024 and something is going to be different about Wine in the Woods and people are MAD.  Everyone’s an armchair analyst. 

I’m not. 

I’ve read as many news articles as I could find and they tell the basics. If there’s an “inside story” I don’t have it. Sure, it would be fun - - from a curiosity standpoint - - but, I don’t truly have a need to know. 

My deeper need would be to understand why we are so gol-dang inflexible here in the New American City. Wasn’t Columbia created in a spirit of trying new things? Change was good, right? Now we act like we are old and cranky and one small fracture will fell us. 

If a change to Wine in the Woods is the end if the world then boy, are we ever in trouble. It might be a good thing, it might not. But the annual reenactment of a festival created expressly for the purpose of drinking alcohol in the heat is not owed to us. It is not a public good like schools and libraries. 

It’s not a need. It’s a want, a “nice to have.” If you have wonderful memories of it I am glad for you. I’d love to hear them. If you have rants - - well, there’s other places on the internet to share them. 

Village Green/Town² Comments