CA: Pools, Parks, Pathways and PARTY

“Pools, parks, pathways.” It’s a sort of colloquial shorthand for the what Columbia Association does. If you live here long enough you begin to realize that’s far too simple a definition.

We’re entering a season where CA shines as a facilitator of all things Lakefront. Today they’ll be hosting Juneteenth festivities beginning at 2 pm.

Music by DJ G-Money
Line dancing with April "Dancing Diva" Williams
Performances by B. Funk Dance Company
Black-owned food trucks
Kids activities
Vendor village
Special appearance by Kyaira

I don’t know if it has been like this in years past, but Lakefest comes twenty four hours later - - probably less, if you count clean up for one event and set up for the other. Wowza. That’s a whole lot of logistics.

Lakefest used to be wholly a production of the Columbia Festival of the Arts. It now appears to be a cooperative venture between several groups, CA being a part of the mix. If you haven’t ever been, I’d recommend giving it a try. It feels good to experience Columbia as a “happening”, in full-on party mode.

Lakefest is a three-day celebration and there’s honestly so much happening that you should go to the dedicated website to get a sense of what’s on offer.

Columbia Festival of the Arts Lakefest

When attending events at the Lakefront, I always find myself weighing two things. Will it be too hot to leave the house? Will it be chucking down rain? So here’s your weather report for the next few days.

One more variable you’ll need to sort out: parking.

Directions & Parking: Free parking (including Accessible Parking) available nearby at the Wincopin Circle parking garages. Visitors can also park at the Sterrett Place surface lot located at 5575 Sterrett Place, Columbia, Maryland 21044. PLEASE DO NOT PARK AT WHOLE FOODS MARKET.

Or, if you like maps:

If you look carefully at the central area, it seems to me that the fountain is magically sprinkling the people on the grassy hill and - - possibly - - spinning like a carousel. I think that would be fabulous. I always did have an overactive imagination.

There are plenty of other things going on HoCoLocally this weekend, including another Juneteenth celebration on Saturday at the Harriet Tubman Cultural Center. You’ll definitely have plenty of choices.

Here it is Thursday morning and I’m already kicking off the weekend. It must be summer.

Village Green/Town² Comments

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...

Columbia Chance Connection

Last night, as my husband and I were about to sit down to dinner, our front door swung open and a cheery voice announced, “I’m ba—ack!” We weren’t expecting anyone. Clearly the only people who’d walk right in to our house would be one of our offspring. I had my reading glasses on so I wasn’t seeing too clearly. It seemed too tall for our youngest, but we knew our eldest was at work. I took off my glasses to see a friendly but confused face scanning our living room. When her gaze landed on us we all had a sudden realization. We didn’t know eachother. “Oh I’m so sorry! I’m in the wrong house! My daughter just moved in and she needed hooks for the kitchen so I ran out to get them.” She waved the package. “All these houses look the same and I don’t know the neighborhood yet. I thought this was my daughter’s house.” We were all getting a bit giggly. “That’s okay. For a quick second we thought you were our daughter,” said my husband. I told her our names and said she should defin...

Village Green/Town²

Search This Blog