Village Green/Town²

  Are you a card-carrying Columbian? I am. No, we don’t have a CA membership. (We did buy a pool membership one summer but those have been discontinued.) But you can still have a Columbia Card if you live on assessed property and it’s rather useful during the summer.  Ask CA: What is the Columbia Card? As far as pool season goes, Columbia Cardholders get discounted rates and four guest passes per family for the 2023 season, which can be used at any CA pool Monday through Thursday (excluding holidays). All Columbia Cardholders also get free admission to CA’s outdoor pools on the second Sunday of each month: June 11, July 9 and August 13. I just learned that the Columbia Card is useful for other things as well. I’ll need to check that out. I was reminded that now is the time of year that I usually dig out my Columbia Card and put it in my wallet by a post from CA on Facebook. Hey #ColumbiaCard holders 🖐🏼. Mark your calendars! Second Sunday is around the corner, which means FRE...

  If you’re following the Columbia Conversation, on July 27th you saw the following photograph: Photo by @imiivo, courtesy of Columbia Association  When I looked at the photo in combination with the prompt, I had some conflict.  How has your definition of “community” changed? How has what you desire in a community changed? How does Columbia stack up in meeting those needs? My first thoughts were that, over the years,  I have come to find photos that prominently feature white Columbians to be troubling and off-putting. In this photo only one Black woman is truly recognizable and her face is partially obscured. This is only one photo, but it’s one of many shared by CA where white people are centered as the norm.  My definition of community has become one where adequate representation is essential. This photo made me uneasy because it appeared to perpetuate an unspoken Columbia credo: just enough diversity for white people to brag about, not enough to make them unc...

It was an occasion I just could not miss. The actual 50th Birthday of Columbia, the People Tree, and celebrating the  return of the Lakefront Carillon. Yes, they cut the cake during Lakefest, but Wednesday was The Actual Day. As my teen daughter and I walked from our car down to the Lakefront, she asked me what it was going to be like. Just for fun, we brainstormed what sort of Bingo card would be applicable. Here's what we came up with, and, to be clear, most of these were hers. (Rather Columbia-savvy, don't you think?) "A Mayor" "Columbia doesn't have a Mayor. How about the head of CA?" "Okay." Howard County Exec or someone from his office "That company." "Howard Hughes?" "Yeah." "Someone who's running for office and they want you to know who they are." "Vision" "Dream" "Rouse" "Diversity" "Pioneers" "Garden for people" Mo...

So: Clyde’s.  I’ve been going through old blog posts and sifting through my memories since yesterday, when the announcement came out. The Columbia component of Clyde’s restaurant group is to be no more. No Clyde’s down at the Lakefront, no Soundry.  I don’t have any personal nostalgia for Clyde’s. As I’ve said here before: But we don't really go down to the Lakefront all that often. It's a special occasion thing for us. It's where you celebrate a birthday or take folks from out of town. It just wasn’t in our price range to be a regular hang out. But clearly, for many, it was just that special place, and will be missed. In fact, the wait at Clyde’s used to be so long that a local quipped that what the Lakefront restaurant scene needed was simply another Clyde’s.  That was before the fits and starts of this newer go-round of Downtown development. Before the Howard Hughes Corporation tilted up the enormous bag of shiny new things that have come sliding out onto the landscape...

The Columbia 50th birthday festivities are drawing to a close. This Sunday brings the official farewell event from the Columbia Birthday folks: They'll be dedicating the Gail Holliday poster trees, located along Lake Kittamaqundi in the Kennedy Gardens. From Barbara Kellner of the Columbia Archives: On Sunday, Oct 1 starting at 5 pm there will be special celebration of Columbia's 50th.  Starting at the Kennedy Gardens, on the path around Lake Kittamaqundi, with a dedication of the newly-installed restored poster trees that once graced Wincopin Circle. The fete continues at the lakefront with performances by Chesapeake Shakespeare Company, Misako Ballet Company, Columbia Orchestra and Columbia's own Zach Brown.  Please join me as Columbia's celebration of the 50th birthday draws to a close. Weather for Sunday is likely to be mostly sunny, with a high of 70. Perfect weather for a walk around the Lake and some family fun at the Lakefront. It's all ...

  This years ARTSites are going up around the County and the Howard County School System got one. Photos from HCPSS social media  Entitled “The Evening Blooms”, it is the work of Cathrin Hoskinson. Her work was also selected for ARTsites in 2014, when her piece “Sunbeam” was on display on the campus of Howard Community College near the Horowitz Center for the Performing Arts. You may recall that I made a startling discovery when learning about last year’s sculptors.  I’m looking forward to learning more about this year's selections and writing about them soon.  Another interesting discovery. Columbia’s Lakefront has a live cam. Welcome to Columbia, MD! EarthCam and @columbiaass have partnered to bring you live views from the banks of Lake Kittamaqundi. The lakefront is one of the most beautiful and beloved spaces in the Columbia community. Watch live: bit.ly/ 3R14DLj There’s some good news at River Hill High School. The RHHS Boosters Birthday Hawk is back, following...

I had a hankering to eat outdoors last night, so I convinced my family to go to the Tomato Palace. Eating at the lakefront is a pretty rare event for us. It just doesn't come up on a regular rotation of dining out choices. By the time we had picked up M. from youth group it was after seven, and a bit too chilly and breezy for eating outside. It was clear when we arrived that we weren't the only people who wanted to be by the lakefront. The Tomato Palace was full, and we had to wait a few minutes for a table. That's pretty good for a Sunday night, in my opinion. (But I am not an expert on the lakefront restaurants. Maybe they're busy every night?) We were seated next to a large party celebrating a family birthday. The gentleman appeared to be in his eighties. They were a happy bunch. I wondered if they had many years of family celebrations at the Tomato Palace. As we walked back to our car after the meal, and negotiated the narrow roads that lead back to Little Patux...

There seems to be a consensus that April Fools Day is canceled this year, and for good reason. Instead of tricks I’ll offer you some unthinkables: memories I have of local events that were full of lots and lots of people. We can’t even imagine those right now. I get uncomfortable when I look at snapshots of a few people standing close together. Crowds? The thought makes me shudder. Readers of this blog know I’m not much of an out and about sort of person, but it turns out I do have some very happy memories that involve, well, being out and about. Here are some of my favorites: When the musical group March Fourth came to town to perform at the Lakefront during the Columbia Festival of the Arts Lakefest Weekend Paul Simon at Merriweather Post Pavilion The Oakland Mills annual Cultural Arts Festival The dedication of the refurbished Lakefront Carillon  Waiting for the polls to open at Talbott Springs Elementary School on November 4, 2008 A memorable HoCo Blogs party at T...

  A reminder from the Columbia Association that today is a red-letter day: Lookin' cool at 55! Happy birthday Columbia, we couldn't be more excited about your future. #HappyBirthday #ColumbiaMD #ColumbiaAssociation #DowntownColumbiaLakefront It doesn’t seem that long ago that we were celebrating Columbia’s 50th does it? A lot has happened since then. I had a few thoughts as I looked at this photo. It is, of course, Columbia founder Jim Rouse’s statue at the Lakefront. It occurred to me that this close-up does him no favors. It reminded me of the times my mother would see someone famous, or someone she had known long ago and say, “My, he’s aged.”  Really, his “skin” is looking pretty terrible. Most of us wouldn’t look a whole lot better if photographed at this distance. It’s hardly flattering.  It made me wonder how Columbia itself would look in this kind of (metaphorical) closeup. Original buildings have aged, of course. Some are gone. New buildings have been pushing up t...

  This Saturday at Cradlerock Elementary brings the return of an annual event put on hold by the pandemic: It’s the Children's Consignment Sale run by the local nonprofit group CAMOM . The name stands for Columbia Area Mothers of Multiples (meaning twins, triplets, and higher order multiples.)  You don’t have to be the parent of multiples to come to the Consignment Sale,  however. Admission is free and the only stipulation is that you may not bring children in strollers because of space limitations at the event. (I am now having visions of tots and traffic jams and it’s not pretty.) So leave the strollers at home, but make sure to bring along cash, Visa or MasterCard  (minimum credit card charge is $25). I see on the flier that bags will be provided for shopping. From current President of CAMOM Beth Napoda: This is great way to buy good-quality clothes/items for multiple-aged children in a family, a one-stop shop. The club used to hold a children's consignment sale t...

Tonight, from seven to nine, there will be music in the woods--Symphony Woods. The Columbia Orchestra will be presenting a free Pops concert at the Chrysalis  . This event is a part of the Columbia 50th Birthday celebration. If you've been hearing a lot about the Chrysalis, but haven't seen it yet--well, now's the time. Bring your blankets and camp chairs and experience live music in the park. Here is some helpful info on park ing. There's a great article in The Business Monthly on Inner Arbor Trust CEO Nina Basu. Take a look here . There's a wealth of information about what's up next for the Chrysalis and how the plan for the entire park is moving forward. There's another event going on downtown tonight, perhaps less publicized. At 5:30 pm, Columbia Association is marking the 50th Birthday of the People Tree, while also celebrating the return of the Lakefront bells. Have you seen/heard them yet? I took a walk around the lake yesterday and finally got t...

  Last night as I looked at posts on Facebook from happy friends at Lakefest, I realized I hadn’t really written a darn thing about it. My apologies. On the other hand, there has been so much online promotion I feel sure that most people know by now. This picture made me smile:  Long-time Columbia residents are familiar with these statues at the Lakefront. Often referred to as simply “the Rouse Brothers”, the statue by William Duffy is called “Dealings.” From the Columbia Association website: “Dealings,” a bronze life-size sculpture by William Duffy, portrays James Rouse, founder of Columbia and The Rouse Company, and his brother Willard, who served as executive vice president. It is the only sculptural representation of James Rouse in the city he created and was installed in July 2002 by CA in honor of Columbia’s 35th birthday. James Rouse died in 1996; the statue reminds people of his vision for a better city for all people. “Dealings” was originally commissioned in 1986 by ...

I caught the tail end of a conversation on Facebook that included a tidbit that I wasn't entirely enthusiastic about. The writer said that the Tomato Palace would be closing, to be transformed into a music venue. Have any of you out there heard this? I must admit that my family prefers the Tomato Palace over Clyde's, possibly because it is more affordable. It's a more family-friendly venue, in my opinion. In addition, it has a more open feel to me. Even after the renovation, Clyde's still feels rather packed-in and scrunched up, somehow. That certainly hasn't affected its popularity, however. But we don't really go down to the Lakefront all that often. It's a special occasion thing for us. It's where you celebrate a birthday or take folks from out of town. So I don't feel any kind of outrage or betrayal at the thought of change there. A bit disappointed, maybe. It's true that Columbia doesn't have a music venue like The Hamilton or the Birch...

The bells are back. The Columbia Association is still putting a few finishing touches to the new installation.  Since the Lakefront bell tower is one of those iconic structures of Columbia song and story, I wanted to go and have a look at this for myself. As luck would have it, I bumped into David Greisman, who was there taking photos. (This is his picture.) Greisman, who is  Senior Manager, Media Relations and Communications at Columbia Association, is a hometown boy with memories aplenty of a Columbia childhood. He remembers sitting under the old bell tower reading comic books. (Was there once a comic book store at the Mall?) It looks as though the new bell tower, dubbed a "bell tree" will be gated off. Sorry, no more comic book lounging. I don't think that's why it will be gated, though.  "You know, sometimes people used to climb it..." his voice trailed off, a bit of a twinkle in his eye.  As you may already know, the old bell towe...

                                          A chrysalis is still. And yet it is alive. Glistening, silent. Holding mysteries: beauty yet unseen. The Chrysalis in Merriweather Park is still, and green, and silent amidst the trees in Symphony Woods. From afar it is a sculpture, a work of art that seems to grow from the earth like its natural surroundings. As one approaches it arches upward, like a cathedral. It is holy. It is playful. It is welcoming. There is nothing in Columbia like it. The Chrysalis will forever transform Columbia by changing how we engage with the Symphony Woods land around Merriweather. It will host performances of varying sizes and gatherings of all kinds. Some will take place directly under its outstretched arches. Some will spread out into the surrounding landscape--picnics on quilts, children dancing on the lawn. This shared community spa...

  Here are two local celebrations of Juneteenth that are happening today. Details are at the links: At the Lakefront  in Columbia. At  Caroll Baldwin Hall  in Savage. The observation of Juneteenth as a federal holiday is very new. President Biden signed it into law in 2021. The historical truth it rests upon is not new. It’s about slavery, period. The people who are experts in understanding that history are Black Americans. That can be uncomfortable for white people who are accustomed to feeling that pretty much everything centers around what we understand. This year I’ve been actively looking for responses to Juneteenth that don’t come from people like me. This one made me realize what happens when the corporate world gets ahold of a concept that’s just too raw for them to articulate: Maybe making Juneteenth a federal holiday was a mistake. Because what is this? - - Morgan Jerkins, Writer, Editor, Professor at Columbia University  “In observance of Juneteenth,...

This morning while hunting through HoCoTimes for topics I discovered what looks to be an ongoing column about Ellicott City by Janet Kusterer entitled "Mostly Mainstreet". The August 12th post is a folksy mix of commentary on the new staircase , a suggestion to run a contest to name the parking lots, news on markets, music, the celebration of Wilhelmina Oldfield's 102nd birthday, and more. I love it. (Perhaps I see myself in it a little bit?) So, where's the Columbia version of this? Is there a "Largely Lakefront" column that I've been missing? Surely we've got plenty of small-town news fit for print in the New American City. I think we deserve our own local storyteller with an eye to the smaller, more human stories, don't you? If a Columbia equivalent to "Mostly Mainstreet" already exists, please let me know. Or, if it once existed and met an untimely end, I'd love to know why.   ***** Today Howard County teachers and staff...

I’m working on a longer piece. It’s not ready yet. Boy, do I ever hate that feeling on a Monday morning. Yesterday I took my daughter out for her first behind the wheel driving lesson. I was very grateful for the peace and quiet of the Oakland Mills Middle School parking lot. It would have been perfect except for the rather large man buzzing by on a really tiny motorcycle. What’s up with that? Also yesterday: was told off on two separate occasions by two different men for having “motives” or an “agenda” when, in fact, they did not know me or my thoughts from a hole in the ground. Twice in one day seems excessive, but perhaps I wish too much from conversations on Facebook. Close races seem to abound this year, and not just in Howard County. If you’d like to learn more about John Olszewski, who holds a nine vote lead in the Baltimore County Executive Race, you can listen to his interview on the Elevate Maryland podcast . Community blogger and expert on growing and eating loca...

  We were out relatively late celebrating an important family birthday last night, so I’m a bit slow getting going this morning. A shoutout to the good folks at Cured for a lovely evening.  This weekend you have some good choices for getting out and about. Pop-up market at Frank’s: They are donating the proceeds from the vendor registration fees to Columbia Community Care and will have a bin onsite for non perishable food donations as well. The Holiday Craft Fair returns to Historic Oakland. Admission is free but they are doing registration through Eventbrite. Get free tickets here . Over at Freetown Farm the Community Ecology Institute is presenting a Watershed Care Fair  on Saturday from 2 to 4 pm: Join us at Freetown Farm to learn about how we can all steward the health of our local watersheds. You will be able to walk through our brand-new swale and bioretention pond areas, made possible by grants from the Chesapeake Bay Trust, to "follow the raindrop" on how commun...

My teen daughter and I were driving home on Little Patuxent Parkway yesterday after the dance party at the Chrysalis. As we passed the site of the former Copeland’s Restaurant , she mentioned that she wished they would do something with that space. “What do you think they should do with it?” She had two thoughts. One was a restaurant with a creepy, haunted New Orleans vibe. But she reckoned that would only be popular around Halloween. The other was some kind of retro restaurant where you could eat dinner and watch old movies. It was important to to her that the old building be significant to the rebirth of the place. As for me, I have always assumed that the site would be razed and new owners would start from scratch. Unless someone wants to do a brand new version of Copeland’s I think that the present architecture is too confining for other restaurant “concepts”. We’ve had such a rush of new restaurant openings recently that I can hardly imagine that we need another one. B...