Year: 2016

3 birds with one stone – All in a day's work

Columbia River Park and Columbia Crossing were shut down today – and here’s why:
Paving
Traffic lights
Barricades
Rholan Paving paved the lower section of Walnut Street, from the railroad tracks to the cul-de-sac, while Norfolk Southern and PennDOT worked on synchronizing traffic lights and barricades. Barricades have occasionally malfunctioned, lowering and lifting randomly. When they descend, traffic lights turn red in all four directions and stay that way, until the barricades lift and stabilize. Traffic lights also turn red in all directions when a train passes and the barricades operate properly. The situation has often caused confusion and chaos with impatient motorists who ignore the lights and drive through. Two sets of lights for traffic exiting the park reportedly change to red too quickly.
Today’s attempts at improvement are shown in the photos below:

Hundreds brave the weather in search of the perfect brew

About 500 participants braved the heat and humidity to sample beer from 24 different brewers at the Rivertown Hops beer fest in Columbia on Saturday. Brewers and food trucks lined Locust Street from Second to Fifth in downtown Columbia from 12 to 4 p.m.

Live entertainment included Mississippi blues group Anthony “Big A” Sherrod & the Cornlickers and the nationally known group Ton-Taun.

The event was sponsored by the Susquehanna Valley Chamber of Commerce.

Council President Kelly Murphy and Councilman Cle Berntheizel attended to show their support for downtown Columbia.

 24 brewers set up shop on Locust Street Saturday afternoon.

Tree commission concerned about grate proposal

A painted and installed tree well grate

Last month, Columbia Borough Council discussed purchasing decorative tree well grates for the town. The proposal was for 25 sets of cast iron grates to be purchased from Sahd Salvage at a cost of $50 per set and to have Garage Boyz Powder Coating coat them with a black semi-gloss paint at a cost of $50 per set, bringing the total cost to $2,500. The grates were originally priced st $100 each, but Sahd’s is offering them to the borough at half price. Brand new grates can cost several hundred dollars. After much discussion, the item was tabled until the Shade Tree Commission could address it.

Tree well grates to be coated

At its July 12, 2016 meeting, the Columbia Borough Shade Tree Commission noted that the grates would be used on the 300 block of Locust Street and around the market house as a trial but expressed concern about a size mismatch: The grates are 3′ x 3′ but the Locust Street tree pits are 3′ x 5′. According to council members and residents present, bricking in at the edges to compensate would limit water absorption into tree pits and would create other issues detrimental to tree maintenance.

The item appears on the draft agenda for the August 8, 2016 borough council meeting.

Bluesman Big A rocks Kettle Works with wild and crazy performance

Hailing from Clarksdale, Mississippi, Anthony “Big A” Sherrod and the Cornlickers electrified the crowd with a rousing performance Saturday night on the second floor of Columbia Kettle Works.  Playing to a capacity audience, frontman Sherrod sang, played, danced, and worked the crowd, talking to guests as he wound his way through the gathering – all while riffing on his red Telecaster guitar. At times, listeners got up and “cut the rug” to rollicking blues rhythms from the Mississippi delta, as stellar showman Sherrod danced along with them. During an extended finale number, the band invited revelers onto the stage area to dance and mingle with musicians, until the room was completely infused with good vibes.

Create Columbia sponsored the concert, Union Station Grill provided food and drinks, and Bill Collister, owner of Columbia Kettle Works, allowed use of the second floor without charge.
Sherrod invited Columbia Spy to follow him with a camera as he worked the crowd, and so we did – as seen in the videos below!

Frontman Anthony “Big A” Sherrod creating good vibes

Dance lesson, then onto the floor and through the crowd

Belting out the blues

Bobby Gentilo on guitar

A birthday tribute to Christina Smith of Columbia Kettle Works

Birthday song

Havin’ a party
Kettle Works owner Bill Collister and Big A