District playoffs are over

The District Three basketball playoffs are history and despite having four teams in the finals, the Lancaster-Lebanon League came away without a gold medal.
The final L-L team to fall in the finals happened at the Giant Center this afternnoon when previously unbeaten Hempfield lost in the Boys' 4-A finals to the Red Knights of Reading, 54-46.
It was the first loss of the season for coach Warren Goodling's club and the third 4-A title for the Red Knights.
Prediction wise, I went 14-6 for the 4-A tournament, which also also has Warwick (sixth place) and Penn Manor (seventh place) heading to states.

The Boys 3-A title as previously reported went to unbeaten Eastern, who scored late to beat Lancaster Catholic, 55-53. It was the Knights first 3-A title and first since they won a 2-A title in 1988.

Prediction wise, I was 13-5.

In 2-A, the beat goes on. Trinity turned back Lancaster Mennonite, 77-65 for their third straight title and 11 since Columbia was the last public school to win at the 2-A level in 1990.

Prediction wise, I was 8-4.

Reading Central Catholic, won its first Class A title in four seasons with a 51-32 domination of Greenwood.

Prediction wise, I was 13-2.

Girls winners were: Central Dauphin in 4-A for the second straight year; Trinity in 3-A for the second straight year; York Catholic in 2-A for the fifth straight year and Steel-High for the first time in 1-A.

Prediction wise overall in girls I was 49-16.

All the district champs along with others will play in the state playoffs that start on Friday. More on those later.

The word needs to get out

Attention residents of Columbia!


Sometime within the last three weeks or so, two homes were broken into in broad daylight in my area.

Within this week, dozens of cars throughout our great town have been broken into.

So, I did I find out about the burglaries? Well, a neighbor told me about one of the robberies because it was on my block. Got confirmation of it and last week when the police and emergency people were on my block, I was told more information.

Apparently one Saturday afternoon, not too long ago, maybe three weeks now, one of the homes near where I live was broken into and a substantial amount of money was apparently taken. Didn’t sound like there was much taken in the other robbery.

This week, at least since Tuesday or Wednesday, hearing reports and postings about a number of vehicle break-ins throughout the town.

So what gives?

I know we don’t have a community newspaper any longer and that hurts. But we do have other publications and television stations and even this space, which apparently by my counter is averaging 70 plus hits a day, that will be more than willing to alert the community.

Just how bad is the problem? Is just one area of the community being targeted? Are there any suspects? Do police have any leads? Why are people going around town vandalizing cars?

These are all of the questions residents would like to have answered.

So what gives? Why hasn’t the Columbia Police Department sent the information out to alert residents? Heck, take it one step farther when was the last time anyone has seen police information in any newspaper?

There appears to be a serious problem right now in Columbia and the leadership of our town needs to respond and start getting the news out there.

Sure, you can call the police department and they will gladly take a report, but, unless the leadership of our town starts getting the word out, this problem will get worse and worse and who knows what the end result will be.

Perhaps if everyone affected by this shows up at Monday’s borough council meetings and seeks answers, the information will get out. But I’ve had this thought for sometime that some in Columbia Borough are extremely happy that there is no newspaper and they only get coverage once a month.

But with what’s going on now in terms of the car break-ins and daylight robberies, the borough needs to get the word out.

So for now, Columbia residents, please lock you cars and houses, but even that won’t prevent a break-in, because if someone wants something, they will figure a way to get what they want. And that my friends is extremely sad!

The Current debuts

Kathy Hohenadel, the executive director of the Susquehanna Valley Chamber of Commerce, has authored the Current, a fee publication produced by the chamber.
The Current will be distributed bi-weekly every other Friday at local dining establishments.
The goal of the Current is to keep the community informed of Chamber events that impact community life.
For more information, call the chamber at 684-5249.

Thursday scores

Here are the Disrict 3 playoff scores
Boys 4-A
Third Place: Wilson 59, York 57
Fifth Place: Red Land 67, Warwick 50
Seventh Place and state berth: Penn Manor 64, Daniel Boone 54

Boys 3-A
Championship: Eastern 55, Lancaster Catholic 53
More information on this game can be obtained at lancasteronline.com, ydr.com, yorkdispatch.com and pennline.com
Third Place: Steel-High 72, East Pennsboro 64
Fifth Place: Susquehanna Township 64, York Suburban 29

Boys 1-A
Third Place: Lebanon Catholic 56, Millersburg 54

Girls 4-A
Third Place: Reading 42, Mechanicsburg 41
Fifth Place: CD East 40, Red Lion 38
Seventh Place and state berth: Hershey 35, Mifflin 33

Girls 3-A
Fifth Place: Daniel Boone 43, Manheim Central 27

Girls 2-A
Championship: York Catholic 38, Lancaster Mennonite 30
For more on this game see above links
Consolation: Delone Catholic 64, Wyomissing 37

Girls 1-A
Championship: Steel-High 62, Greenwood 34
Consolation: Camp Hill 68, Bible Baptist 28

Prediction results:  13-2

Columbia needs a newspaper

As I said in one of my final columns that appeared in the Columbia Register, that it was something I started to right about a year ago and stopped and then wrote it again. This is also something I started to write, stopped, finished it, gave it out to a few people who were interested and something that had been followed, perhaps not to the “T,” our great town might still have a newspaper.


Let me start my saying, the last two newspapers in our town failed – the Columbia Ledger and the Columbia Register, both failed for different reasons in my opinion. The third I worked for the Columbia News failed for another reason. So I will talk about all three, their affects on our town and why the worked and didn’t work.

I can honestly say this, outside of a few weeks last year when the Columbia Ledger was in limbo, I really enjoyed going to work each day. I can say after a few weeks of working for the newspaper that wasn’t the case. I saw early on that the revival of a newspaper for Columbia wasn’t going to work. But more on that later.

I started to work at the Columbia News in 1984 and found it a joy to work in my hometown. I took what I learned from my eight or so years at WSBA from the likes of Ed Wickenheiser, Ron Corbin and the late Phil Eberly into that job and still take that professionalism with me today.

What I found out early on was how important the hometown paper was to the people of Columbia. It had it all – history, told you who was coming into this town in terms of births and who was leaving us in terms of deaths. Started to learn the newspaper business and found it a career I would like.

Continued to learn more from the likes of “Teedy” Aston and the Crist family, who were really interested in a community newspaper. Its also where I learned computers.

Then there was the late Shirley Myers, who had the knack of being able to be nice to people, yet knew who you didn’t want to see or talk too and that was nice.

But the Columbia News started changing when the Crist family decided to retire and sold the business if I remember first to a newspaper from Johnstown, who then sold it to a group that owned the York Newspapers. I can remember one marketing guy they had come in to talk about things telling me I didn’t know sports or Columbia. Hell, he wasn’t from the Columbia area.

The change was not good. The Crists were booted out the door and “Teedy” road down the road to retirement.

The three editors, I think there were three, that replaced “Teedy” had some good ideas, but basically didn’t know Columbia. But like today, when the big guys come in, the little guys got pushed aside and it wasn’t long before they came in one day, said that was it. No chance to turn it possibly into a weekly paper.

Next came the Ledger Newspaper group out of Quarryville. They had their papers printed at the Columbia News until they cut out that part of the process.

Fran Maye was my first contact and Don Althouse was the owner. Spent about a month working full-time as a correspondent. It was a pretty good experience, but the pay was less than I was making at the Columbia News.

They had some good ideas, but because they were located out of Quarryville, it didn’t give off a good first impression.

But they too started to change things. Althouse sold the business, but kept a hand in things and was visible in Columbia every week, which I thought was good.

When he sold the business, there was a bunch of people brought in and they weren’t around long. There were also three or four more owners, going from a small group to a couple of larger groups such as its final owners, the Daily Local News/Journal Register Company.

The one good thing that over the 20 or so years, they left us a lone in Columbia. If we needed to get out of the office for while, we did. But they brought in some people that didn’t fit Columbia and I decided I had enough.

One day back in 1999 I think it was, I got a call from the Elizabethtown Chronicle, wanting to know if I was interested in becoming their sports editor in Elizabethtown an Hershey. Much better money than I was making now, so after much thought I took it. Low and behold after a few months there, the same group (Journal Register) purchased those two papers and I asked to get shifted back to Columbia.

After a while I was able to make the decisions as what got went into the newspaper and thought we really had a good product. I think myself and my tag team partner for most of the years, if not all of them, Terry Hougendobler had a pretty good idea of what Columbia wanted also, but it was getting old trying to find things.

But as with the old Columbia News, the bigger company wasn’t interested in the small fry and put the paper up for sale. Folks, you don’t know how close it came to the paper closing before it did.

There was also a sale that fell through.

It was during that time about a year ago, I started to put together a plan for a newspaper in Columbia. What could work, what might work, etc., etc.

I shared it with a few people and they liked it. Shared it with a few potential buyers and not saying it was gospel, but it was a pretty good plan.

After a few months, On-Line Publishers came into the picture and I shared the plan with them.

Well, they decided to move forward, but had another plan and after a few weeks or within the first month, I could see it wasn’t going to work. I was the editor and had no say in anything.

Then I had my accident and it just got worse.

I still think Columbia deserves and needs a newspaper. There are so many things that have been missed, not covered and the list that goes on and on. I am willing to talk with anyone about what I think will make a successful newspaper in Columbia at anytime. I think I might have a better idea than other people since I’ve been doing it half my life.

But what I feel bad for are the kids who aren’t getting their pictures in the newspaper any longer, the sports news that hasn’t been covered right for more than a year and the small town events that mad our town unique that no longer get exposed.

Yes, it has been fun and I think it will work again, but since my accident and the recent experience I had, I don’t know if I want to do through the wars again, but then again, if it is done the right way, it would be something to consider.

For now, my thirst to write and make sure things get covered are limited to this blog. So if you have anything, send it to me and I will publish it. And if you really want to know my feelings on certain aspects of this column, hit me up sometime.

Just like being in charge of something in our small town, you have to have a pretty unique outlook on things and really care about our town. That’s something I’ve done over the years, that others I’ve worked with or the powers to be didn’t understand.

Wrestlers at Regionals

The final step in the “Road to Hershey” begins tomorrow night at Wilson High School in Berks County when Columbia wrestlers Joey Ronca and Jake Sentz participate in the Class AA South Central Regional Tournament.


The two-day event runs through Saturday and those who place in the top five at their respective weight class qualify for the PIAA championships, which begin next Thursday at the Giant Center in Hershey.

Sentz, wrestling at 285, brings a 27-16 record into his first round match against Dylan Evans of Springfield Township in District 1. He is 25-8. Evans placed third at the District 1 championships.

Ronca, a fourth place finisher at last week’s District Three championships, is 36-8 and will wrestle Anthony Farole (23-13) of Leighton in the first round. Farole is a sophomore. Leighton is from District 11.

More predictions

Girls 3-A scores: West York over Oley Valley, 52-42 and Trinity over Palmyra, 56-28.
Finals are Saturday at 11:15 a.m. Take Trinity in finals and Palmyra in consolation game.
Boys 2-A: Trinity over Hanover, 62-38 and Lancaster Mennonite over Delone Catholic, 68-53.
Finals are Friday atn 6:45 p.m.

Event for St. Anne's

There will be a fundraiser for The St. Anne's Retirement Community Pet Committee at Friendly's in Centerville on March 24.
Anyone that comes and has dinner, or ice cream, 10 percent of the profit for the night between 5-9 p.m. will be given towards are pet fund to help with the cost of taken care of our pet family at St Anne's.

Another L-L team in finals

Add the Lancaster Mennonite boys to the list of L-L teams in the District 3 finals.

The Blazers beat Delone Catholic at the Giant Center tonight, 68-57. They will meet Trinity in the 2-A finals on Friday. Coach Larry Kostelac's team crushed Hanover, 56-39.

By the way, Mennonite and Trinity also have their girls' teams in the District 3 finals.
The other two teams from the L-L in the finals are Hempfield in 4-A and Lancaster Catholic in 3-A.

Two streaks will continue this year in the District 3 finals. Columbia was the last public school to win a district title in Boys 2-A and Girls 2-A. In Girls 1-A, there will be a public school winner for the first time since 1997 when Columbia won the title. This year, Steel-High meets Greenwood.

The finals start tomorrow night. Predictions in Boys 2-A -- Trinity over Mennonite in finals and Delone wins the Hanover championship by beating Hanover in the consolation game. Bet that game will probably be in the Hershey or Cedar Crest area, instead of perhaps Spring Grove.

I'll post the Girls 3-A picks tomorrow, but leaning toward Trinity over either Oley Valley or West York.

Playoff update/predictions

Here are the scores from Tuesday’s District 3 playoff games.

Boys 4-A

Hempfield 69, York 53
Reading 34, Wilson 33
Red Land 44, Penn Manor 33
Warwick 68, Daniel Boone 58
Schedule
Friday, March 4 (TBA)
\Third Place: Wilson vs. York
Fifth Place: Red Land vs. Warwick
Seventh Place (winner goes to states): Penn Manor vs. Daniel Boone
Saturday, March 5, 1 p.m., Giant Center
Hempfield vs. Reading
Predictions: Hempfield over Reading; York over Wilson; Red Land over Warwick and Penn Manor over Red Land.

Girls 4-A

Harrisburg 36, Mechanicsburg 27
Schedule
Championship: CD over Harrisburg, 8:30 p.m., Friday
Third Place, Thursday, TBA, Reading over Mechanicsburg
Fifth Place, Thursday, TBA, Red Lion over CD East
Seventh Place, winner advances to states: Hershey over Gov. Mifflin

Girls 3-A

Manheim Central over Lancaster Catholic, 56-50
Daniel Boone over Shippensburg, 67-44

Girls 1-A

Steel-High 86, Bible Baptist 19
Greenwood 44, Camp Hill 40
Schedule
Championship: Steel High over Greenwood, Thursday, 4:30
Consi: Camp Hill over Bible Baptist

Candy Bingo to benefit K-9 campaign

The Columbia K-9 Campaign will hold a  Wolfgang CHOCOLATE Bingo, sponsored by the Columbia Consolidated Fire Company, 10th and Mifflin streets, on Saturday, March 13.
Proceeds from the event benefit Columbia K-9 Officer Max, who will offer a demonstration at 12:30 p.m.

Doors open at noon and bingo begins at 1 p.m.
There will be 20 games played and winners get $100 worth of chocolate.
Tickets are $20 per two tickets and extra sheets are $5.
Call 684-5435 for tickets.

Police officers are honored

Four police officers from West Hempfield Township were honored by township supervisors at their monthly meeting tonight.


Honored were Sgt. Tim Coyle, Sgt. Russell Geier and Corp. Doug Ober and Officer James Gardill received honors.

Coyle received the Medal of Valor for an incident on Route 30 involving a speeding vehicle and a pursuit off of Route 30 into Columbia Borough, where the suspect got out of his vehicle and took off on foot. While on foot pursuit, the suspect turned and pointed a gun at police.

In addition to Coyle's honor, Corp. Ober and Officer Robert Small received letters of commendation.

Corp. Ober and Officer Gardill received the Life Saving Award as the result an incident in the township last March where they helped save the life of a 58-year-old township resident.

Geier received a Commendation Award for assisting a woman and her two-year-old son out of the second floor of a house during a domestic dispute, also in March of last year. Geier helped the two climb down a ladder during the incident that ended peacefully with the help of the Lancaster County SERT team.

Also at the meeting, new badges, honoring the 50th anniversary of the police department were unveiled. The West Hempfield Township Police Department was formed in September 1960 by then part-time patrolman Lester Myers, who became the township's first police chief. Currently there are 20 full-time officers and three full-time aides

Fire outside VFW

Firemen from Columbia battled a fire Monday morning outside the Red Rose Memorial Post 2435, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Fourth and Manor streets around 9:49 a.m.
An outdoor building attached to the pavillion was damaged.
The police department was first on the scene with a small fire showing.
The state police fire marshal is investigating the cause of the blaze.

More predict

The District Three basketball tournament is headed down the home stretch.
Here are some more predictions for the championship and consolation games already determined.
Boys 3-A: Eastern over Lancaster Catholic in championship. Steel-High over East Pennboro in third place game and Hershey over Susquehanna Township in fifth place game.
Boys 1A: Reading C.C. over Greenwood in championship game and Lebanon Catholic over Millersburg in consi game.
Girls 4-A: In the fifth place game, Red Lion over C.D. East and in seventh place game, with winner advancing to state tournament, Hershey over Governor Mifflin. Championship and third place games will be decided tonight.
Girls 2-A: Might be the best championship game of them all -- York Catholic vs. Lancaster Mennonite. They've already played once this year with the Irish winning back in January. York Catholic is looking for its fourth straight state title and this one will feature a couple of PTP'ers in Erin LaVenice from Mennonite and Katie Shram from York Catholic. Neutral and big floor might give the edge to Mennonite, who I am taking in this one. In the consolation game, I like Delone over Wyomissing.

Here are the scores from last night:
Boys 3-A: Eastern 66, East Pennsboro 52; Lancaster Catholic 62, Steel-High 44; Susquehanna Township 71, West York 51 and Hershey 64, York Suburban 54.
Boys 2-A: Lancaster Mennonite 76, Upper Dauphin 46.
Boys 1-A: Central Catholic over Millersburg, 76-31 and Greenwood over Lebanon Catholic, 48-33.
Girls 4-A: Central Dauphin over Red Lion, 73-58; Red Lion 36, Hershey 32 and C.D. East over Governor Mifflin, 51-45.
Girls 2-A:  York Catholic over Wyomissing, 55-31 and Mennonite over Delone Catholic, 45-41.

Tonight's schedule:
Boys 4-A: Hempfield vs. York High and Reaading vs. Wilson.
Girls 4-A: Harrisburg vs. Mechanicsburg
Girls 3-A: Daniel Boone vs. Shippensburg and Manheim Central vs. Lancaster Catholic.
Girls 1-A: Steel-High vs. Bible Baptist and Greenwood vs. Camp Hill.

Wednesday's schedule:
Boys 2-A: Trinity vs. Hanover and Delone Catholic vs. Mennonite in semi-finals.
Girls 3-A: Trinity vs. Palmyra and West York vs. Oley Valley in semi-finals

Parents are seeking help

Dear Business Owner or Manager,


The Columbia High School Class of 2011 Parents Club needs your help! We are looking for door prizes to give out during the post prom on May 8, at the Hempfield Recreation Center.
The post-prom is an overnight event provided by the Junior Class parents to provide the students with safe and fun activities after the prom.
We are asking for your support in making this event a success. Any donation you could provide (.i.e: gift certificates, attire, souvenirs, cash, etc.would be greatly appreciated.
In addition to extending our heartfelt gratitude, each donor will be recognized for his or her generosity in a program distributed at the post prom.
Thank you in advance for your consideration and support.
Regards,

Class of 2011 Parents officers
Penny Barton, president – pbarton@jjsnack.com
Norma Clark, treasurer – nclark2004@embarqmail.com
Julie Riggleman, secretary – jriggleman@lift-all.com

Penny Barton

Class of 2011 Parents

129 N 3rd St

Columbia, PA 17512

(717) 917-4634

Wanted man

Lancaster City Police are looking for 31-year-old Michael Tyrone Stewart in connection with a five-year-old murder investigation in the city.

Three others were charged today by city police in connection with the Oct. 24, 2004 murder of Heather Marie Nunn in the kitchen of her home, 224 Pearl St.

The other three suspects were also in custody on other, unrelated charges, police said.

Stewart, also known on the streets as “Mike Murder” has ties to Columbia and his last known address, in addition to one in Columbia, was in the 1100 block of Freemont Street in Lancaster.

Charged today were:

* Edward Leon Major, 31, currently in the federal prison in Lewisburg, serving more than 12 years following his conviction on charges of possession with the intent to deliver crack cocaine (10.4 grams) in Lancaster in June, 2005.

* David Vasquez Jordan, 28, currently in Lancaster County Prison on unrelated homicide charges for a Dec. 13, 2009 stabbing death in the 400 block of St. Joseph Street.

* Hayward Jamar Stewart, 33, Garden Court Apartments, currently in Lebanon County Prison on unrelated charges and a parole violation/

Police said Stewart is about six-foot tall, weighs around 150 pounds with short dark hair and dark eyes.

The murder of Nunn happened around 9:30 p.m., Oct. 24, 2004 when police found Nunn, 23, shot laying on her kitchen floor. The woman’s daughters, ages 6 and 8 were upstairs in the bathtub when the shooting happened and only came downstairs when they heard a noise.

During the course of the investigation, it was learned that the murder was actually a botched robbery attempt by the four and Major was the shooter in the incident.

Police said Jordan was arrested at the Lancaster County Prison and Hayward Stewart at the Lebanon County Prison on Feb. 26. Major will be charged at a later date.

These charges and arrests, filed by Det. Nickel before Magisterial District Judge Cheryl Hartman, were the result of a cooperative effort involving the Lancaster City Police, the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office, the United States Attorney’s Office (Eastern District) and the United States Marshal’s Service. Assistant United States Attorney Mark S. Miller and Lancaster County Assistant District Attorney Ryan T. Boop are prosecuting this case in Lancaster County Court.

The Lancaster Police are actively seeking Michael Stewart. Anyone with information as to his whereabouts is asked to call 735-3300. Callers do not have to give their names to provide information.

Two CHS athletes are hockey champs

Columbia High School athletes, Alex Beckley (left) and Jeremy Beckley (right), pictured with their father Jim (center), were members of the Northern Lebanon hockey team that beat Conestoga Valley Sunday night at the Klick Lewis Arena for the Tier 3 championship of the Central Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League.
The Northern Lebanon team is made up of players from Columbia and Northern Lebanon, Elco, Spring Grove and Donegal.
The CV team was made up of players from CV, Donegal, Manheim Central and Lancaster Catholic.

Relay for Life dance

The Relay for Life Cancer Crusaders are holding a fund-raiser dance “A Night at the Oscars” at the Susquehanna Fire Hall, 10th and Manor streets, Saturday, March 20, starting at 8 p.m.
All proceeds go to the American Cancer Society.
For tickets, contact Patti Hinkle @ DPHinkle@comcast.net or 449-2676.
A 42-inch flat screen television will be raffled off at the event/

Church to hold dinner

St. James Lutheran Church, 10th and Manor street, Columbia, will hold a spaghetti dinner fro 4-7 p.m., Saturday, March 6.

Give it a look and some help

As many of you know since the end of the Columbia Register, I have decided to start a blog, dedicated to the news, sports and other events in our town. Today, I have posted a calendar of events. Please check it out at barry-ford.blogspot.com. Anything you want the community to know about, hopefully I CAN HELP.

Send anything from community events, pics, etc. Already in about three weeks have h\ad more than 1,200 visitors.
My email is tides.cln@gmail.com. Cell is 342-1234.
Perhaps through this, someone might see the need for our town to have a newspaper/newsletter etc. Might be wishful thinking though.

CHS students perform

Columbia High School students under the direction of Janet Wood and Mitch Cooper will hold their annual spring musical next week on Thursday and Friday, March 11 and 12 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, March 13 at 2 and 7 p.m.
The musical is GREASE and some of the cast members performed last Friday night at the second annual Gala, sponsored by the Susquehanna Valley Chamber of Commerce.
Tickets will be available at the door.

March Calendar of Events

Here is a monthly calendar of events for activities in Columbia, that COLUMBIA TALK has been able to find.


If you want community events publicized or information gotten out to the community, please send me an email (tides.cln@gmail.com) and I will help promote your event for free. Thank you.

Also, if you have other news, COLUMBIA TALK will publish it as well.

You can also get your community events posted as well by contacting the Susquehanna Valley Chamber of Commerce at 684-5249.

March 1

Fastnacht Bake at Holy Trinity
6 p.m., Coaches Council meeting at Columbia High School.
6:30 p.m., Parents-Teachers Partnership meeting, Taylor Elementary School.
6:30 p.m., Columbia Borough Council Safety Committee meeting, Borough Hall.

March 2

6 p.m., Columbia Borough Council Legislation Committee meeting, Borough Hall.
6 p.m., Columbia School Board Finance Committee meeting, DAC.
7 p.m., Columbia School Board Property Committee meeting, DAC.
7 p.m., Columbia Board of Health meeting, Borough Hall.
7:30 p.m., Columbia Borough Council Property Committee meeting, Borough Hall.

March 3

Fastnacht Bake at Holy Trinity
1 p.m., Census testing at Columbia Public Library.
6 p.m., Movie Night at Columbia Public Library.
6 p.m., Columbia School Board Curriculum Committee meeting, DAC.
7 p.m., Columbia School Board Extra-curricular committee meeting, DAC.

March 4

9 a.m., Columbia Market House opens.
6 p.m., Columbia Parks and Recreation committee meeting, Borough Hall.

March 5

World Day of Prayer
9 a.m., Columbia Market House opens.
4 p.m., PIAA regional wrestling at Wilson High School.
4 p.m., Lenten Fish Fry, St. Peter’s Church

March 6

Risk Watch Program at Hempfield Rec Center.
10 a.m., PIAA Regional wrestling at Wilson High School.
10 a.m., Story time at Columbia Public Library.
4 p.m., Spaghetti dinner at St. James Lutheran Church.
5 p.m., Homes of Hope Spaghetti dinner at Columbia United Methodist Church.

March 7

9 a.m., Tide Pride Craft Show at the Columbia Market House.

March 8

Fastnacht Bake, Holy Trinity.
First day of spring sports practice at Columbia High School
National Middle School Week, Columbia High School
7 p.m., Columbia Borough Council meeting, Borough Hall.

March 9

National Middle School Week, Columbia High School.
1 p.m., Census testing, Columbia Public Library
6:30 p.m., Columbia Shade Tree Commission meeting, Borough Hall.

March 10

Fastnacht Bake, Holy Trinity
National Middle School Week, Columbia High School.
Middle School Observation Day, Columbia High School.
6 p.m., Family Movie Night, Columbia Public Library.
6:30 p.m., Tide Pride meeting, DAC
6:30 p.m., Borough Council Finance Committee meeting, Borough Hall.

March 11

National Middle School Week, Columbia High School
9 a.m., Columbia Market House Open.
6:30 p.m., Columbia Borough Council market committee meeting, Borough Hall.
7 p.m., Columbia High School musical GREASE, Columbia High School.7 p.m.,Columbia Public Library Board meeting
7 p.m., Columbia School Board Committee of the Whole meeting, DAC.

March 12

National Middle School Week, Columbia High School
9 a.m., Columbia Market House Open.
4 p.m., Lenten Fish Fry, St. Peter’s Church
7 p.m., Columbia High School musical GREASE, Columbia High School.

March 13

10 a.m., Story time, Columbia Public Library.
Noon, K-9 Chocolate Bingo, Columbia Consolidated Fire Department
2 and 7 p.m., Columbia High School musical GREASE, Columbia High School.

March 14

Daylight Saving Time begins

March 15

Fastnacht Bake, Holy Trinity
9 a.m., Columbia Civil Service committee meeting, Borough Hall.
7 p.m., Columbia Education Foundation meeting, DAC.
7 p.m., Columbia Planning Commission meeting, Borough Hall.

March 16

6 p.m., Columbia Basketball Banquet, Taste of Styles.

March 17

St. Patrick’s Day.
6 p.m., Movie Night, Columbia Public Library
7 p.m., Columbia Historic Architectural Review Board meeting, Borough Hall.

March 18

9 a.m., Columbia Market House opens
4:30 p.m., Columbia Municipal Authority meeting, Borough Hall.
6 p.m., Columbia Borough Council Waste Water Committee meeting, Borough Hall.
7 p.m., Columbia School Board meeting, DAC.

March 19

9 a.m., Columbia Market House opens.
4 p.m., Lenten Fish Fry, St. Peter’s Church.

March 20

10 a.m., Story time, Columbia Public Library.
8 p.m., American Cancer Society Dance, Susquehanna Fire Company.

March 21

No events

March 22

No events

March 23

1 p.m., Census testing, Columbia Public Library
6:30 p.m., Columbia Borough Council Community Development committee meeting, Borough Hall.

March 24

1:15 p.m., Early dismissal, Columbia Elementary Schools.

March 25

9 a.m., Columbia Market House opens
6:30 p.m., Columbia River Park committee meeting, Borough Hall.

March 26

9 a.m., Columbia Market House opens
4 p.m., Columbia baseball at Conestoga Valley.
4 p.m., Upper Dauphin at Columbia softball
4 p.m., Lenten Fish Fry, St. Peter’s Church
5 p.m., Fourth Friday at Columbia galleries.

March 27

10 a.m., Treasure in Your Attic, Antique Appraisal, Susquehanna Valley Chamber of Commerce, Burning Bridge
10 a.m., Story time, Columbia Public Library

March 28

No events

March 29

CHS Student Council Spring King contest and Spirit Week.
4 p.m., Northern Lebanon at Columbia track
6:30 p.m., Columbia High School parent steering committee, CHS.

March 30

Columbia High School Student Council Spring King contest and Spirit Week.
1 p.m., Census testing, Columbia Public Library.
4 p.m., Columbia baseball at Reading Central Catholic
4 p.m., Reading Central Catholic at Columbia Softball

March 31

6 p.m., Movie Night, Columbia Public Library
7 p.m., Columbia Zoning Hearing Board meeting, Borough Hall.

Semi-final/consi game predictions/schedule

Boys AAAA: In the semi-finals on Tuesday at Giant Center, take Reading over Wilson and feeling an upset as York High's athletes are beter and too much to handle for unbeaten Hempfield.
In consi games, Red Land over Penn Manor and Daniel Boone over Warwick.
Boys AAA: Monday at the Giant Center, two easy picks -- Eastern over East Pennsboro and Steel-High over Lancaster Catholic.
In consi games, I'll take West York over Susquehanna Township and Hershey over York Suburban.
Boys AA: Wednesday at Giant Center. Mennonite (assuming they beat Upper Dauphin on Monday) has a challenge against Delone Catholic. Not liking the L-L League here, so I see a Delone win and Trinity with ease over Hanover.
Boys A: Semi-finals are at Lower Dauphin on Monday. Reading Central Catholic over Millersburg and Greenwood over Lebanon Catholic.
Girls AAAA: Semi-finals are Monday and Tuesday ar Giant Center.
In one semi-final, go with Central Dauphin over Reading and in a toss-up Mechanicsburg over Harrisburg.
Consi round picks: Red Lion over Hershey and Governor Mifflin over CD East.
Girls AAA: Semi-finals are Wednesday at Giant Center. West York over Oley Valley and Trinity over Palmyra.
Consi round: Shippensburg over Oley Valley and Lancaster Catholic over Manheim Central.
Girls AA: Semi-finals are Monday at East Pennsboro.
Like York Catholic, who is going for a fourth straight trip to the state finals and not feeling the love for Mennonite over Delone Catholic, but I'll still take the L-L League team.
Girls A: The Rollers over Bible Baptist and Greenwood over Camp Hill. Semi-finals are Tuesday at Cedar Crest.

District Three scores/prediction results

All of the scores are in from Saturday's Day of Basketball Across District Three. There were some upsets.
Boys AAAA: Hempfield stays unbeaten with a 60-54 win over rival Penn Manor. The Black Knights now meet York at the Giant Center on Tuesday (8 p.m.). The Bearcats clawed their way to an upset of Red Land, 55-50. In the lower bracket, its a re-match of two teams from Berks County as Wilson meets Reading. Wilson crushed Warwick, 44-23, while Reading knighted Daniel Boone, 63-38. That game is Tuesday at 6:30 at the Giant Center.
Prediction Results: 3-1.
Boys AA: No surprises here. Mennonite and Upper Dauphin will play Monday. The winner meets Delone Catholic on Wednesday. The Squires were 58-50 winners over McDevitt. In the lower bracket, Trinity had a huge win over York Catholic, 63-38 and Hanoverm a public school earns a berth in the semi-finals with a 54-34 win over Annville-Cleona.
Prediction Results: 3-0, pending the results of Monday's game.
Boys A: Millersburg over Living Word, 61-39 and Greenwood over Camp Hill.
Prediction Results: 4-0 for entire bracket. Other two games were played last night.
Girls AAAA: Central Dauphin upsets Red Lion, 50-41 and Harrisburg wins over Mifflin, 67-55.
Prediction results for entire bracket (other two games were played last night): 3-1.
Girls AAA: West York over Daniel Boone, 48-36; Oley Valley over Shippensburg, 62-43;.Trinity over Manheim Central, 48-38 and Palnyra downs Lancaster Catholic, 56-48.
Prediction Results: 2-2.
Girls A: Steel-High over Central Catholic, 56-27; Bible Baptist over Country Day, 44-40; Camp Hill over Lebanon Catholic, 44-42 and Greenwood over Conestoga Christian, 64-25.
Prediction Results: 3-1.
Overall Boys: 32-9.
Overall Girls: 32-13
Overall Record: 64-22 (74 percent)

One step closer

Two Columbia wrestlers have moved one step closer to the ultimate prize in high school wrestling -- the chance to wrestle for a state championship.

One has been a career wrestler, the other has been wrestling for just two years. Meet Columbia's two regional qualifiers -- seniors Joey Ronca and Jake Sentz. They medaled at the two-day District Three Class AA championships at the old Hersheypark Arena. Sentz, the second year grappler placed third at 285 pounds to continue his season. Ronca, the career wrestler, settled for fourth place at 135 pounds.

There were seven Columbia wrestlers who made the trek to Chocolatetown and only one other wrestler, John Markley (130) made it to the second day of competition.

Sentz brings home the bronze medal following a pin in 2:28 over Tyler Unger of Boiling Springs in the third place bout. Sentz (27-16) started off  the championships on a positive note Friday morning, showing Malcolm White of Wyomissing the lights in 3:24, putting him into the quarter-finals against Milton Hershey's Chris Ramirez. It was a quick ending for the Columbia wrestler, who was pinned by the Spartan wrestler in just 13 seconds.
To keep his goal of reaching the regionals alive, Sentz had to work his way back through the consolation bracket. He started that remarkable run off by pinning Dakota Hoagland of Halifax in just 81 seconds. His next victim was Nic Aguliar of Biglerville and Sentz moved on with another fall in 2:58.
He was now in a position to medal and moved into the third place bout with a 9-6 win over Raul Leyva of Littlestown. The two had split their previous meetings at the Hanover Duals back in December and at last week's sectional tournament. The third time was a charm for Sentz.

Ronca settled for fourth place at 135 after falling for the second time in the championships to Tyler Thumma of Boiling Springs in the third place bout. Thumma scored a 14-3 major decision over Ronca.
While placing at districts was a highlight for the Tide senior, he also recorded a personal milestone in the opening round of the championships against Hamburg's Bryan Weidenhammer. A pin in 4:14 over the Hamburg wrestler was Ronca's 100th career win. It was also the third time this season that Ronca (36-8) had beaten Weidenhammer.
That put Ronca, the newest member of Columbia's century club, into his first match with Thumma. The Bubbler wrestler was at his best, scoring a pin in 3:44.
Now in the consolation bracket, Ronca had a tough first match against Robbie Moretz of Halifax, scoring a 5-4 win. Ronca continued his march toward the medal stand with a dominating 14-2 major decision over Sean Emerich of Kutztown and followed that with another major decision by a 12-2 score over Noah Blascone of Bermudian Springs.
That win set the stage for a rematch with Thumma, with third place on the line.

At 130 pounds, Markley fell short in his bid to get in the medal round when he lost to York Suburban's Kyle Arnold in the third round of consolations.
Markley opened the championships with a a second period pin over Kyle Christianson of Kutztown in 3:36, but was the victim of a tech fall in the quarter-finals to Joe Spisak of Boiling Springs, 16-0, in 2:41. Now in the consi round, Markley stayed alive for a match by pinning Annville-Cleona's Seth Lehman in 4:35.

The other Columbia wrestlers never made it to the second day.

At 119, Derek Zercher easily won his first round bout with Annville Cleona's Tim Renninger by a 13-6 score to advance to the quarter-finals. Zercher lasted 70 seconds in his next match in which he was pinned by Pete Renda of Boiling Springs and then was eliminated from the tournament when he lost a 13-9 decision to Wyomissing's Cody Rank.

At 140, Jordon Halter, who will probably be the next Columbia wrestler to reach the 100 win plateau lost a tough 6-5 decision in the opening round to Zeb Sheaman of Tulpehocken by a 6-5 score and then saw his sophomore season end when he was pinned by Sam Rhoads of Boiling Springs in 2:33.

At 160, sophomore Nate Warner lost a 3-0 decision in his opening match to Pequea Valley's Mitch Ball and then was eliminated following an 11-2 major decision loss to Schuylkill Valley's Ryan Maurer.

At 215, senior Brandon Felus saw his wrestling career end after losing to Dylan  Powell of Juniata in the opening round by a 6-2 score and then suffered a 13-2 major decision loss to Sam Matter of Boiling Springs in the consolation round.

The regional championships, featuring wrestlers from Districts 1, 3 and 11 begins Friday night at Wilson High School. The top five finishers in each weight class advance to the state tournament.