Month: June 2016

Ghost sign brought back to life

Columbia Spy has been spying on the progress of a painting project at Bootleg Antiques on Bridge Street recently. Newly applied paint has revived a “ghost sign,” a faded indicator of a faded industry, in this case, the Superior Laundry Machinery Company. (Go HERE for links to the company’s history.) Various stages of the repainting are shown below.
Kudos to Bootleg for bringing back a bit of Columbia’s history.

Racist graffiti rears its ugly head

Columbia Spy recently received reader-submitted photos taken at the rear of a property in the 300 block of Avenue H, showing a piece of plywood with a spray-painted racial slur and two boys allegedly trying to damage it. The plywood appears to block a building entrance. A source tells the Spy that the graffiti was previously reported to the borough code office.

The entire area at the rear of this building is in disrepair and is an eyesore, clearly visible to patrons exiting Burning Bridge Antiques’ parking lot.

Victorian era building gets dutiful makeover

Columbia’s Cle Berntheizel at his Victorian era building at 22 South Second Street.

Cle Berntheizel has a special affinity for his building at 22 South Second Street. He believes it represents a significant piece of Columbia history and therefore feels a particular responsibility for its upkeep. Recently, under his direction, the building – part of Columbia’s Historic District – underwent an extensive exterior re-painting by Dave Knapp (and some interior painting as well).

According to Berntheizel, his grandfather, Lt. Colonel Cleon N. Berntheizel, helped found the American Legion and established the first Columbia post there on the second floor in 1918.  Berntheizel and Columbia’s General Edward C. Shannon founded the organization in Paris right after World War I. The Detwiler family, then-owners of the building (as well as the First National Bank just up the block), rented it to the legion for a dollar a year. (Years later, the organization moved to the former Strickler home at 329 Chestnut, where it’s still located.)

The building encompasses a century and a half of Columbia history, having housed the Boston Five & Dime in 1870, and it may have been the office of the original Columbia Spy newspaper. More recently, it was used as a bicycle showcase by Western Auto.

Today, the building, newly painted, houses Berntheizel’s Garth Gallery & Custom Frame Shop and the second-floor Cafe Garth and represents the newest phase of the building’s history.

A recent photo of the building, before painting.

And after.

How's Ricki the bear doing?

Ricki was moved in February 2015 after living most of her life at Jim Mack’s Ice Cream in Hellam Township. The impetus for the move was a petition and a public-nuisance civil suit, filed by several local residents, who said Ricki was not receiving proper care.
The bear drew national attention, including comedian-actor Ricky Gervais 

Trash truck overturns on Route 30

Cleanup is currently underway in the westbound lane of Route 30 for an overturned tractor-trailer carrying trash. The vehicle overturned when it failed to negotiate a turn from the on-ramp onto Route 30 from Route 441. The incident occurred shortly after 2 p.m. The trailer spilled trash onto the road and snarled traffic. Fire police have detoured traffic onto Route 462 at the Prospect Road exit.