Month: February 2017

Susquehanna Blue Smoke says goodbye – but not totally

Ron and Sue Worby of Susquehanna Blue Smoke Barbeque

To Our Customers, Supporters, Family and Friends:

It is with a heavy heart that after almost 3 years of great food, wonderful people, fun times, hard work, ups and downs. The owners of Susquehanna Blue Smoke Barbeque, LLC. We, (Ron and Sue) have decided it’s time to move on to life’s next adventure. This has been a very difficult and emotional decision and we are so sad to say goodbye for now, but with a drastic decline in customer activity, the decline in community support, the demands of our full–time employment, family needs, cancellation of revenue driving events in town that had been cancelled due to weather, and was part of the operating business plan that for years has floated the business and many other business through the tough times of winter has put us in a financial quandary and has us take a mind set to get back to basics, redevelop, re-gear, redirect, and start a new path for Susquehanna Blue Smoke Barbeque, its services and products.

Susquehanna Blue Smoke Barbeque at Columbia Market House has given so many a place to feel at home. It was the site of Market Day!, Special Events, Sunday brunch with friends, and many other completely routine and sometimes totally extraordinary moments. Susquehanna Blue Smoke Barbeque tried to be the friend you knew would be there when you needed them, was comforting, and was a welcoming & smiling face. Susquehanna Blue Smoke Barbeque was home at Market and we love to feed ya!

SBS BBQ is greater than the sum of its parts. To make a list of the regular customers would be a book of immense size. Thank you to ALL of our customers. We loved taking care of you, and thank you for taking care of us too. The spirit of SBS BBQ is something we all can keep alive by maintaining the connections of the people we met and grew to love while at Market. There are no words that clearly express the love and gratitude we feel for our family and friends that worked so hard to keep the vision alive. Restaurant work is not easy. It takes commitment, thick skin, and a really good sense of humor. It is so rare to find such a dedicated, hardworking, and friendly people anywhere. Friends became family, family became closer, and the family grew. We took care of each other. We are so grateful for the love and tremendous efforts. We wish everyone the best of luck in whatever path they choose in their future and look forward to lifelong friendships with you.

Deep gratitude and credit goes to Sue for seeing a vision and being that support, drive to push forward, and to being the test subject for many of the dishes that have come to be comfort food on the menu. The flavors you have helped create have made the taste buds dance and put a smile on the face of our customers from ear to ear!

Thank you Sue for the heart, body and soul you poured into SBS BBQ.

Columbia has something special – a warm and welcoming community, support for individuality, a comfortable place to nurture one’s dreams, dedicated small business owners and a safe neighborhood for families to grow. It has truly been an honor to live and serve here. We sincerely hope the strong sense of community in Columbia continues and thrives forever.

Susquehanna’s last day will be Sunday, February 26th. Please come see us over the next few weeks to get a last few Q meals, share stories, and say goodbye but so long.

Thank you for the wonderful years, Columbia. We will miss you tremendously. As they say, when one door closes, another opens. Stay tuned for what’s next!

We will continue to offer catering, taking orders for pick up and will be selling our products online as well as other locations and events.
Thank you once again for your support.

— Ron and Sue Worby, Owners

Year End Report 2016 – Lancaster County Wide Communications

Lancaster County Wide Communications has published its 2016 Year End Report, which can be accessed HERE.

The following statistics have been gleaned from the report, according to the Columbia Borough Fire Department Station 80 Facebook page:

  • Station 80 – 794 – Busiest Volunteer Single Station
  • Squad Co.(Engine 801) – 307 – 4th Busiest Volunteer Engine Co.
  • Wagon(Engine 802) – 311 – 3rd Busiest Volunteer Engine Co.
  • Ladder(Truck 80) – 288 – 2nd Busiest Volunteer Truck Co.
  • Rescue 80 – 310 – Busiest Volunteer Rescue Co.

About Town

Recent pics from about town . . .

 Gone . . .
 replaced by Cooper’s Comics & Collectibles . . .

 due to open on March 1 at Fifth and Locust.

 Vape at Goose Vapes on North Fourth.

 Liberty on Locust
Two Mr. Libertys because we have twice the liberty in Trump’s America.
Don’t we?

 And as the internet has told us, snakes can’t really do that.

A banner that overstayed its welcome

 A tree grows in Avenue H.

 Work continues at the former Long’s Funeral Home at Ninth & Chestnut.

 Yep, he really parked there.

 Well, that’s one way to get the drywall in.

 Park properly!

 A bird in hand is worth a whole bunch in the bush.

At the old chip factory at Second and Locust

State lawmakers devised a system of policing their own ethics under a cloak of secrecy

There’s this: a system of ethics oversight that might as well take place in the deepest, darkest recesses of the august Capitol building in Harrisburg. (If a lawmaker has an ethical misstep and none of his constituents sees or hears about it, did it really happen?)
MORE:
http://lancasteronline.com/opinion/editorials/state-lawmakers-devised-a-system-of-policing-their-own-ethics/article_2a6d823c-ea54-11e6-beab-d3bedfc45c94.html

School agreement saves Columbia $300K; state dollars vanish

School Superintendent Dr. Robert Hollister provided an interim report on the Columbia-Elanco shared services agreement at February’s School Board Committee of the Whole meeting. Hollister estimated savings to Columbia School District at about $300,000 for the current school year, based on savings on salaries and tech services, waivers of various fees, and donated time.

As part of the cost breakdown, Hollister noted that Columbia taxpayers would have paid $185,000 for a superintendent this year rather than the current $165,000 under the agreement. He also said that although the district is still partially funding a business manager, it would ordinarily have spent about $115,000 instead of the $70,000 for business services under the contract with Elanco. Hollister estimated a total of about $90,000 in salary savings for all services.

He said Elanco provided additional pieces of technology to Columbia at no cost and noted that salary savings for tech team services was $31,685. He said that technology is where large amounts of money add up.

Hollister listed additional savings with other fees that were waived: $2,000 for an E-Rate consultant and $3,400 for Agenda Manager (for board meeting agendas). He said the real savings were with E-Rate funds reaching back to the 2015-16 school year to the tune of $88,734.59, adding that it was money Columbia should have been trying to get but never did previously. [According to Wikipedia, “E-Rate is the commonly used name for the Schools and Libraries Program of the Universal Service Fund, which is administered by the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) under the direction of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The program provides discounts to assist schools and libraries in the United States to obtain affordable telecommunications and Internet access.”]

Hollister said the district will not be getting state dollars originally expected for the shared services agreement. [A $250,000 grant was to be made available for the two districts to pilot the agreement.] “I was told very specifically that money is not coming, so we’re on our own,” he said.

Despite challenges and distractions during the first half of the school year – replacing the high school principal, dealing with a student situation that concerned the board and required a lot of time, and attempting to resolve a personnel situation in the business office – progress has been made on many different fronts, according to Hollister. He hopes to get direct feedback on the agreement from teachers and administrators towards the end of the year.

Hollister also said both districts soon need to begin having a conversation on whether the agreement should continue for next year or be dissolved, but said the agreement has been positive for Columbia. “I think we have been successful given some of the challenges so far,” he noted.

Several board directors expressed their gratitude to Elanco for the agreement, but Director Janet Schwert cautioned, “We also need to take into consideration the help or the lack of help that we are going to be getting from the state. We have already been forewarned that the budget process is not going to go well with the state.” Schwert alluded to property tax reform that would help property owners but hurt the school district, making it difficult for the school to budget. “Keep in mind that we are doing this for our kids,” she said.

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