Year: 2018

Slave Dwelling Project to Visit Columbia and Lancaster

Events bring nationally-acclaimed program to Lancaster County for the first time, seek to share history of African-American slavery in Pennsylvania.

The Columbia (PA) Historic Preservation Society and the Ware Center of Millersville University are pleased to announce that they will host the Slave Dwelling Project in Columbia and Lancaster June 1 – 2. This marks the Slave Dwelling Project’s first official visit to Lancaster County as part of its programming.

Joseph McGill
The Slave Dwelling Project, headed by Joseph McGill, is dedicated to preserving surviving African American slave dwellings and seeks to change the narrative around the history of slavery in the United States. McGill will co-host the Lancaster County events, which are open to the public. “Since 2010, the Slave Dwelling Project has spent nights in slave dwellings in 19 states and the District of Columbia. We are proud that Lancaster will be added to the portfolio in 2018,” said McGill.

The two-day program kicks off on Friday, June 1, at 3 p.m. with a lecture by McGill in the Columbia Historic Preservation Society’s Banner Hall, followed by a tour of the new museum exhibit “Underground Railroad: Destination Columbia.” At 4:30 p.m., Chris Vera, president of the Columbia Historic Preservation Society, will lead a walking tour of abolitionist Columbia. The cost for these events is $20 per person. For reservations, call (717) 572-7149.

On Friday evening, June 1, McGill will spend the night with an invited group inside the Columbia Bank & Bridge Company Building, (currently Art Printing 131 Locust Street) which once housed African Americans seeking to escape slavery. High School and College Students welcome with parental written permission.

On Saturday morning, June 2, at 11:00 am, McGill will join Lancaster city council member Ismail Smith-Wade-El and other members of the Lancaster community for a public forum in Millersville University’s Ware Center. The 90-minute event will address the history of slavery in Lancaster and its present-day legacy. Admission is free. For more information call (717) 871- 7018.

At 2:00 pm on Saturday, June 2, McGill will accompany members of the African American Historical Society of South Central Pennsylvania, LancasterHistory.org, and others on a 90- minute walking tour of African American heritage sites in downtown Lancaster. The tour begins at the Lancaster City Visitor Center, 38 Penn Square, and covers 12 sites, including the grave of Thaddeus Stevens. The tour is open to the public; cost is $8 for adults, $7 for seniors (62 and older), $5 for college students, and $2 for youth (6-18). Children under 6 are free. For more information contact Randy Harris at (717) 808-2941 or Leroy Harris at (717) 224-7030.

The history of slavery and African American history in Lancaster County is not well known, and McGill’s visit provides a unique opportunity to share this story more broadly. Although Pennsylvania passed a gradual emancipation law in 1780, African Americans were not freed under the law until 1808, and many remained in bondage for years afterward. Meanwhile, African Americans fleeing slavery in the South were often imprisoned in the downtown Lancaster jail, and slave hunters regularly came to Lancaster County in search of runaways. Columbia and Lancaster were both sites of important Underground Railroad activity, and the city will soon install four permanent historical markers commemorating this history.

“Hosting the Slave Dwelling Project in Columbia and Lancaster gives us a wonderful chance to highlight the complicated history of enslaved people in Lancaster County, but beyond that, these programs will foster discussion, learning and hopefully a better understanding of this essential American story,” said Chris Vera, president of the Columbia Historic Preservation Society.

“It is our hope Mr. McGill’s visit and the Lancaster County Slave Dwelling events will serve as a catalyst to ignite interest around the unique African American history of Lancaster, and the importance of preserving the structures that tell that important story,” said Leroy Hopkins, president of the African American Historical Society of South Central Pennsylvania. “We believe these events will bring to life a history too often ignored.”

More information on The Slave Dwelling Project can be found at: slavedwellingproject.org.

About Town

Photos from around Columbia over the past week…
Last Tuesday, this oversized Amish buggy with many passengers traveled through town, along Route 462…

*****
 Another painted rock – That’s a big ‘un.

 Men at work under Columbia Crossing

 That’s one way to get it out the door.

 Spectator on the bridge

 Several trees along the shore were “strapped” to try to straighten them after they were bent by ice this past winter.

 “X” marks the spot.

 Down along Route 441 where all the commotion has been lately.

 Stone-faced?

 Jesus showing his ectopic heart

 Down in a hole on 441

 Some sort of metal tag along the railroad tracks


*****

We caught the second part of this Law Enforcement United “Road to Hope Memorial Bicycle Ride” on Route 462, on the way from Reading to Washington, D.C. 

According to their website:

“We are a group of Law Enforcement, Survivors, and Civilian supporters who have made it our mission to honor the fallen and remember the survivors.”

*****

 Hard at work

 Out for a walk

 Out for a swim

More swimmers

 Upcoming

 Wildflowers

 A traffic-calming device along North 3rd

Incident Response Unit 1 at Columbia Crossing

 Another traffic-calming device

 That “porta-potty” is still there on South 3rd.

 Flagpoles at the plaza – The dedication ceremony is May 26.

 More “upcomings”

 Stirrin’ up some dust

 Work on Heritage Drive continues.

 Waiting for another of those mile-long trains to pass

 A blast from the past?

 This old wagon was sitting at Tollbooth Antiques.

It was apparently made by The Columbia Wagon Company (which was later a tobacco warehouse and is now Wagon Werks Apartments).
*****
A reader submitted these two old photos of residents collecting beer at Shawnee Creek after the Feds chopped open barrels at the former Columbia Brewing Company during prohibition. The beer flowed down the street to the creek.
*****

 Here’s another upcoming event.

 They’re digging up 9th Street now.

 Checking one of our “50” surveillance cameras

 Heads up!

 Raising the flag

 Outside Dairy Queen…
“You scream, I scream, we all scream…etc.”

 Mobile storage on the 500 block of Manor

 Down on the farm, the borough farm, that is, where all the yard waste bags end up

 Children at play

 The first block of Locust…We’re told the owner of a cottage there made an agreement with the borough in which he would maintain the grounds in exchange for being permitted to erect a fence. (The area beyond the fence is still public, though.) We believe the fence should be removed.

 These WRONG WAY signs recently appeared at the bottom of Perry Street. A source told us that a tractor-trailer driver recently took his rig up Perry the WRONG WAY, because he was probably confused by the construction detours along Route 441.

 This is illegal. The outside refrigerator is an “attractive nuisance.”

 475 Locust, soon to be a gallery and apartments

 Always remember: There’s no “I” in “ROOFNG.”

 A reader submitted this photo of a new shop on the 300 block of Locust.

So, we took a closer look.

A reader submitted this photo of a legally parked truck at the municipal building.
*****
Police officer Dan Bell and Wilson Affeld put together this display at the police station in memory of those who served in the Armed Forces…

*****
And last but not least: blossoms.

Republicans debate, Democrats rally before upcoming primary (photo highlights)

“Sitting on a sofa on a Sunday afternoon
Going to the candidates’ debate
Laugh about it, shout about it
When you’ve got to choose
Every way you look at this you lose”
(“Mrs. Robinson” by Paul Simon)
It’s spring, and politics is in the air. May 15th’s primary election will decide the candidate from each party, who will then run against each other in the fall. The winner will rule over the newly formed 11th Congressional District, which includes Lancaster County and southern York County.
The Republicans 
On Monday night, April 30, the two Republican candidates, incumbent Congressman Lloyd Smucker and challenger Chet Beiler, squared off for a debate at Columbia High School. The event was sponsored by LNP.
Citizens filed into the auditorium. Although the event was open to the general public and not just Columbians, the room was less than half full during the debate.

At the meeting’s outset, Barbara Hough Roda (left), media liaison for LNP and Lancaster Online, told the audience that no photos or recordings of the forum would be permitted. (Columbia Spy took photos and audio-recorded the meeting.) Her directive was surprising, considering LNP purports to back freedom of the press. Roda was joined at the moderators’ table by Kevin Schreiber (center), president and CEO of the York County Economic Alliance, and Tom Baldrige, president and CEO of the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

U.S. Representative Lloyd Smucker laid out Republican talking points.
A little later, an apparently aggrieved audience member approached the candidates – unexpectedly and loudly – before being escorted back to his seat.
Beiler assured the man he would discuss the issue with him afterwards. During the debate, Beiler also accused Smucker of dodging constituents, a charge Smucker denied.
Beiler held up several examples of negative mailings attacking him and asked Smucker what he knew about them. Smucker denied knowledge of the mailings, eliciting groans from the audience.
Asked if he condemned the mailings, Smucker sidestepped and did not answer the question directly. The candidates also argued over who is more conservative.
Smucker said he voted in line with President Trump 96% of the time and that he has an A+ rating from the NRA. He also said Trump “has the chance of being one of the great presidents in the history of our country.”

After the debate, Smucker took advantage of a photo-op with students…
… as did Beiler.
Beiler also consented to a photograph at Columbia Spy‘s request. We were unable to catch up with Smucker.
After the debate, local political activist Ron Harper set up outside with this sign accusing Smucker of hiring undocumented workers to work at his business.

Harper lays out his case in this 2016 video:

In a recent editorial, Lancaster Online, without substantiation, associated Harper with the Beiler campaign, a charge Harper denied in a comment following the editorial in which he also reiterated his claim about Smucker:

The Democrats 
A rally for Democratic candidate Jess King was held at Lancaster’s Musser Park last Saturday, May 5. Former presidential hopeful and current Vermont Senator, Bernie Sanders, also appeared at the rally  to boost support for King.

Merchandise included this banner featuring portraits by artist Shepard Fairey depicting women of diverse religious and racial backgrounds.
16-year-old Ashton Clatterbuck, a junior at Lancaster Mennonite High School, offered remarks. His parents, Mark and Malinda, are founders of the anti-pipeline group “Lancaster Against Pipelines.”

Lancaster City Councilman Ismail Smith Wade-el threw his support behind Jess King.

King laid out the main points of her platform: providing Medicare for all, increasing the minimum wage, enacting common sense gun safety regulations, and offering debt-free public college, among others.

King cited her Mennonite heritage and that of her relatives, Republicans Smucker and Beiler, but distanced herself from their policies. King is running unopposed in the primary.

Bernie Sanders took the stage and announced his support for King.

“We need Jess because her vision of America is a very different vision than the Republican leadership and Donald Trump, who now control our government,” Sanders told the crowd.

Sanders spoke for 20 minutes to the gathering of about 2,000.

Sanders appeared with King again near rally’s end before leaving the stage to walk among attendees and shake hands.

The “Where’s Waldo?” character was among the crowd, repurposed to deliver a political message.

This van belonging to “Lancaster Stands Up,” a local grassroots organization, was parked near Musser Park. Some constituents believe Congressman Smucker has been elusive and reluctant to hold town halls.

The “Where’s Lloyd?” logo

Columbia teen charged with beating, burning 2-year-old in Lebanon County

A Columbia man is accused of beating and seriously burning a 2-year-old child in Myerstown.

Joshua Booher, 19, was charged by state police with aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person and harassment, the Lebanon Daily News reported.

MORE:

https://lancasteronline.com/news/local/columbia-teen-charged-with-beating-burning–year-old-in/article_aff31d10-5252-11e8-b6b1-93ae1fcbe099.html

About Town

Photos from around Columbia over the past week…
The vulture…
He’s still there in his attic apartment.
Here are a few more rentals for our avian friends.
And here’s an eviction notice that must have been filled out in invisible ink.
 This company has been laying the bricks down at the bridge plaza.

Here’s a guy mowing the grass near the plaza.

 Here’s a newly planted cherry tree at River Park.

And here’s a previously planted clump birch.

 It appears as though someone – or several someones – killed this black snake.

 It was lying under the Route 30 overpass, near the bottom of the high school hill, along with potentially incriminating evidence.

 Testing the water down at the boat ramp

 This photo was shot in Lancaster but lately seems relevant to Columbia.

 Built-in bird bath 

 Down by the river

 If looks could kill

 Newly planted trees along Heritage Drive

 Here, too . . . behind the fence

 Quick ticket, please!

That first block of Union – Yes, it’s public.

 This section, which leads to Columbia’s other public boat ramp, should be widened and paved. It’s difficult to understand why the borough hasn’t done this . . . or is it?
 And here’s the ramp. A little work, and it’ll be good to go.

 Two bridges

 Those awnings…
 Nice!
 Bikes

A reader submitted this photo of a mattress on the sidewalk on South 4th.
We checked it out, and yep, there it was, although someone had the courtesy to lean it against the fence.

Further down, at 3rd & Perry: rolled-up carpet

A few blocks further north on 3rd – a public toilet. It almost hides that ugly gas fixture.
So: a mattress, a carpet, and a toilet – everything necessary for sidewalk living.

 Early Sunday morning – the signs say “OPEN.”

 But this one says, “Closed Sunday.”

 Ticketed, and rightly so

 Dancing doors down at Bootleg Antiques

 Hanging out a bit

 This must be Columbia. Three signs hint at that.

 City Gate’s May Calendar of Events
 Taking down the chimney, brick by brick. This is right next to the hole in the ground near the bottom of Locust.

 In case you want to go biking outside but also want to stay stationary

 Yes it is. Not just for the wealthy, privileged few.

 Balloon man!

 Proud sponsors of the upcoming Hero Walk/Ride

 The former chip factory, soon to be a hotel

 The trash runneth over.

 Construction continues at the library.

 Religious symbolism

The weeping angel might be praying for Columbia.
A reader submitted the following historical photos:
 The former tollbooth at the bridge entrance

 3rd & Locust

 The former railroad station, now Eastern Drillers, can be seen in the background here.

The former Columbia Brewing Company on South 4th Street…
In the book, Columbia the Gem, a passage recounts the time the Feds raided the building during Prohibition, chopped open all the barrels of beer and poured the contents into the street. The beer reportedly flowed down 4th Street towards Shawnee Run, where residents collected it in buckets.
A school tax receipt from 1886. 
Things were cheaper then.

Shirley A. Meley, lifelong Columbian, touched the lives of many

Shirley A. Meley

Shirley A. Meley, a lifelong resident of Columbia, PA passed peacefully on Wednesday, May 2, 2018 after a lengthy illness. She was born August 13, 1935, to the late Kathryn Miller Rupp and late step-father Carl F. Rupp. She is survived by her husband, the love of her life, William N. Meley, who she met in tenth grade homeroom and spent the next sixty-eight years with.

She leaves five children and their families to mourn: Nicholas & Christine (Gerfin), Anthony & Deb (Haldeman), Gregory, Kathleen, and Patricia. She adored her grandchildren: Amy (Ben), Dominic (Jess), Vincent, Margaret, and Elizabeth. And she was blessed to be an integral part of her great-grandchildren’s lives: Caedan, Julian, Gianna, Oliver and Oscar. She was predeceased by her beloved grandson Brendan.

She is survived by her three sisters: Carla (Walter) Petroski, Corinne (Dan) Ritz, and Christina (Marty) Zeamer, and her brothers-in-law: Joe (Holly) Mele, James (Jennifer) Meley, and Patrick Meley, as well as numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins. She was also predeceased by her cherished parents-in-law, Nicholas & Margaret Meley, and brother-in-law Laurence Meley.

She was a lifelong learner and a passionate teacher, graduating as class valedictorian from Columbia High School, Class of 1953, while winning awards and scholarships as best student in science, mathematics, Latin and English. While working and raising her children, she earned both her BS in education and MS as a reading specialist and educational administrator from Millersville University. Her decades-long teaching career began in 1965 at the recently opened St. Leo the Great School in Rohrerstown (before the windows were even installed!), but her love of helping others achieve their academic goals began in first grade when she tutored her fellow students in reading, and continued through her high school years as she helped many classmates improve their grades and fulfill their potential. 

In 1970 she began teaching fourth grade at Holy Trinity School in Columbia and became the school’s first lay principal in 1983, spending the next fifteen years in a position she relished, until she retired in 1998. She cared deeply for the well-being of the hundreds of students whose minds and hearts she touched, and she liked nothing better than hearing from former students and celebrating their achievements. In a commemorative book presented to her upon her retirement, student after student described her as compassionate, generous of spirit, warm, and always available with comfort, a smile or a hug. Her love of teaching, and the grace with which she performed her duties as an educator, inspired a number of her students to become teachers themselves, some of whom she later hired to teach at Holy Trinity.

She was an active member of Holy Trinity Catholic Church, serving as a CCD teacher, an extraordinary minister, a Pre-Cana counselor, a lector, a member of the Altar Rosary Society, and a member of the HT Mother’s Club. She served on the Lancaster County Youth Aid Panel, counseling first-time juvenile offenders from Columbia Borough, describing it as one of the most fulfilling experiences she ever had.

Possessing a generous heart and always championing the under-dog, she was an unflinching warrior for social justice, an early advocate for tolerance and cultural diversity, and she embraced interactions with folks from all walks of life, knowing each encounter enriched her life.

A former Girl Scout, she continued her love of scouting by serving as a Den Mother for the Cub Scouts. She was an excellent seamstress, sewing everything from gowns for girls in her family to celebrate the 1963 Civil War Centennial, to Barbie Doll clothes, to surfer swimming trunks for her sons. She was an excellent cook, preparing family recipes, from PA Dutch cooking to Italian cuisine, and her potato salad was legendary. She was also an exceptional baker, known for her perfect pie crusts and her cookies. At Christmas, she baked dozens of different kinds of cookies, making sure everyone’s favorite was available. She collected angel figurines, many of which were gifts from her former students.

Each day and especially on Sunday, she completed her New York Times crossword puzzle. In addition to her love for all of God’s children, she also loved all the dogs in her life and was caught on a number of occasions singing “Gene’s a Yankee-Doodle-Doggie”!

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, 409 Cherry St., Columbia, PA 17512 on Wednesday, May 9, 2018 promptly at 10:00 a.m. with the Rev. Stephen P. Kelley, Celebrant. Interment will follow in Holy Trinity Catholic Cemetery. Family and friends may view at the Clyde W. Kraft Funeral Home, Inc., 519 Walnut St., Columbia, PA on Tuesday evening from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. (Recitation of the Holy Rosary at 7:30 p.m.) and again on Wednesday from 9:00 a.m. until 9:45 a.m. at the church. The community is invited to attend a fellowship luncheon at the Knights of Columbus, Fourth and Maple Sts., Columbia, PA following the interment. 

Donations in Shirley’s memory in lieu of flowers may be made to the Brendan W. Meley Memorial Award, c/o Thaddeus Stevens Foundation, 750 E. King St,. Lancaster, PA 17602 or to the St. Vincent de Paul Society, c/o of Holy Trinity Catholic Church at the above address. Please add Shirley A. Meley on memo line.

Police, EMT resources are being drained in Lancaster and Columbia by a rise in synthetic drug use

“The use of synthetic cannabinoids/K2 in Columbia has been prevalent for years,” borough police Detective Matthew D. Leddy said in an email. “Our patrol officers are exposed to users of synthetic cannabinoids on a regular basis.”
MORE:

https://lancasteronline.com/news/local/police-emt-resources-are-being-drained-in-lancaster-columbia-by/article_91d31d5c-47f4-11e8-9639-bb932ec444ff.html