Columbia Talk

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

The fourth and final individual inductee into the Columbia High School Athletic Hall of Fame had an unusual nickname in high school -- "King Rat," the leader of the 1970 football team also known as Steve Ward.
Here is a brief biography of Ward's accomplishments at Columbia High School.

He won 10 varsity letters for football, basketball and baseball.

During his three years of football, the team was 26-3-1. The 1970 team was 10-0 and won the Lancaster County championship. That year, the “Big Red Machine” scored 371 points, while holding opponents to a total of 69 points. The team averaged 402 yards per game, while giving up just 169 yards a game. As a junior, his team was 8-2. As a halfback, he was the leading receiver with 514 yards and the 2nd leading rusher with 549 yards. He was fifth in scoring in the county with 68 points. Steve co-captained and quarterbacked the team his senior year. He compiled 1774 all-purpose yards, threw 18 touchdown passes and rushed for 7 TD’s. He also intercepted nine passes as a defensive safety. He was named firstst Team All County and Honorable mention All-State.

In basketball, Ward was a starter both his junior and senior years and was named All-County both seasons.

An outstanding shortstop on the baseball team, Steve earned three varsity letters and was name All-County two of his three seasons on the team.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Suit is dismissed

A judge has dismissed a suit filed by the faily of a Wrightsville man. Here is the link: http://www.yorkdispatch.com/local/ci_15252366

Police investigating student's death

West Hempfield Township Police are investigating the death of an 18-year-old student. http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/258489

Tuesday's edition of Is This What We Really Want?

The former United/Sprint Telephone Company building at Third and Walnut streets is another example of a Code Enforcement issue. The owner, who owns the "downtown swimming hole," which was featured earlier on COLUMBIA TALK, has left the building wide open and has gone from a building with perhaps some great potential to one that has been severely neglected and somewhere down the road because of its neglect could be a candidate for "demolition by neglect."

Meet the third Hall of Fame inductee

Mike Keiper is the third athlete that will be inducted into the Columbia High School Athletic Hall of Fame, Friday, Sept. 17.
Here is a list of his CHS accomplishments.

Keiper competed in track and field from 1972-1975

He set the school high jump record in 1973 with leap of 6’4”. That same year he was third in county meet (6’1”), second in districts (6’3”) and fourth in state meet (6’4”).
In 1974, he set the school and county high jump records at 6’7”. He also tied the school pole vault record at 12’9”. He was second in the high jump at the county meet (6’4”), fourth in the high jump (6’3” and the pole vault (12’9”) at the district meet and second in the high jump (6’6”) and fourth in pole vault (12’9”). He also was named Intell Athlete of the Week during the season.
In 1975, he again set a new school record in the high jump (6’9 3/4”) and the pole vault (13’0”). He set meet records in the high jump at Shippensburg Relays (6’5 1/4/”), Dickinson Invitational (6’6”) and Manheim Relays. He won the county meet with a jump of 6’6” (tied meet record), Districts (6’7” – a meet record) and states (6’7 ¾”). He also placed third in the pole vault in districts and fourth in the same event at states. This was also the year the CHS won it’s 1st official Class B team title as State Champs.
Mike also played basketball from 1972-1975 and was a three-year starter and lettermen, serving as co-captain his senioryear. The Tide was 38-28 during that time.
He ranks 13th in points (844) and fourth in rebounds (724).
The 1972 Jr. High team was 16-0 and Mike averaged close to 20 points a game.

Thank you from the SVCC

The 10th Annual 5K River Run was held on May 29 with a record number of runners and walkers - 615! We had 462 participants last year and had about that same number pre-registered Friday night. Approximately 153 more signed up Saturday morning!

On behalf of the Susquehanna Valley Chamber of Commerce, I'd like to extend Thank You's to:
Northwest Savings Bank-Columbia and Wrightsville - for continuing yearly to be the major sponsor of River Run. Their sponsorship helps us to meet the two major expenses of this Run: The fee to have the Run professionally timed by Pretzel City Sports and the purchase of T-shirts that are handed out to our runners and walkers.
John Wright Store & Restaurant
Brenner Accounting Services
Hinkle's Pharmacy
Jay H. Lutz & Co.
KGS Insurance
Frank Sahd Salvage Center, Inc.
Nicklaias & Hohenadel, LLP
Becky & Ken's
B&T Sportswear
...for continued sponsorship over the years and especially this year when we knew the number of registered runners was going to far exceed our initial t-shirt purchase. We were able to provide t-shirts to at least 550 participants and the names of these sponsors are on each and every one.
Heim Pattern Shop: Bud and Barb Heim, Shelly Heim and Tonya, Caci, Brie and Evan Simms for manning the Columbia "water station" - they poured much more water this year than ever before to what looked like an un-ending line!
St. John's Herr Estate - for cases of bottled water for the Finish Line.
Then, as the number of registrants was growing, an email request for more bottled water was sent and we had immediate reponse from:
Phil and Judith Bowers
Hampton Inn - York
Hinkle's Pharmacy
Home Maintenance Help
Sager, Swisher & Company
Union National Community Bank
Vital Touch Terapies
Regalia Costumers
These donations helped cover all water needs!
Businesses who provided Door Prizes - for drawings held at the awards assembly after the Run:
Becky & Ken's
The Daily Grind
E.M. Herr ACE Hardware
Express Laundry, LLC
First National Bank Museum
The Flour Child
Half-Fast Farm
Impressions Salon
Ladybug Keepers
Little's Beverage
McCleary's Public House
RoadID
Ray's
Shank's Tavern
Subway-Columbia
Susquehanna Glass
Entities who provided services or facility use:
Wrightsville Fire Police, Susquehanna Valley Emergency Medical Services, Columbia Borough, Wrightsville Borough, Wrightsville Elementary School, Trinity Lutheran Church and Grace United Methodist Church
And finally to our crew of volunteers who man the assorted tables, lines, chutes, water truck and roads:
Barry Ford, Scott Garrety, Michael Garrety, Lisa Torbert, Mike Hooper, Phil and Judith Bowers, Ralph Kreiser, Brenda and Rod Burg, Lola Peters, Heather Straisbaugh, Laura Cowburn, Deb and Dave Reisinger, Margaret Gwiazdowski, Doug Hall, Denise Moscarell, Ron Diehl, Barbara Frey, Emily Hooper, Elizabeth Hooper, and for withstanding the craziness of the finish line: Chris Kelly, Mary Rothrock, Harry Knighton and Chop Leader.
The Lancaster Newspapers reported that last weekend's Red Rose Run listed almost 1,200 runners; that run has taken place for 30 years. Our 5k River Run brought half that number of folks (and their families, as well) into our communities in only our 10th year!
As River Run (and the Fall 5k MAG Run) continues to grow, we need to grow our efforts as well and we thank you one and all for your continued support and generosity. We could not do it without you.

Sincerely,

Amy Hooper
Administrative Director
SVCC

John Murphy obituary information

John Murphy, the chief of the Columbia Fire Police passed away on Sundau. Here is information on his death: http://obits.lancasteronline.com/index.php?p=2525751

Monday, June 7, 2010

Meet another CHS Hall of Famer

The second person to be elected to the Columbia High School Athletic Hall of Fame is Hilary Hershey.
Yesterday, we introduced Ken Haverstick as the first inductee. The third annual Hall of Fame induction wll be held Friday, Sept. 17 during the Crimson Tide's football game with Daniel Boone.
Here is a look at Hershey's CHS athletic career.

Hilary played three sports at CHS – basketball, field hockey and track, lettering in all three sports during all seasons played.

Co-captained of all three sports during her senior year.
All-County 1st team for basketball (1981-82)
All-County 1st team for field hockey (1981).
County qualifier for the shot put and javelin in 1982.
Named MVP for both basketball and field hockey in 1981-82.
Awarded a scholarship to American University, a Division I college.

Rotary Park dig

For those wondering why there is an orange safety fence around the Rotary Park, where the basketball court once stood, it doesn't have anything to do with planned improvements for the park. The sociology and anthropology departments from Millersville University's Archaelogical Field School are conducting adig at the park looking for old Indian artifacts.

Time to honor teacher

There will be a drop-in retirement party on Sunday, June 13 from 1-4 p.m. for retiring CHS teacher Jean Phiel.
The party will be held at Golden Stories, formerly A Taste of Styles in the 200 block of Locust Street.
Former and current students and friends are welcome to attend the event.

Here is a post from Mrs. Phiel's Columbia School District web site:

I was born and raised in Columbia, and I had lived here most of my life. I attended William G. Taylor Elementary School and Columbia High School.

After high school, I attended Millersville State College to train as an English teacher. I have a Master's Equivalency issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
My own children attended and my grandchildren attend the Columbia Borough Schools. I am a firm believer in the quality of the education you receive here.
I have been teaching English at CHS since September 1982. I now act as Language Arts Department Chairperson.
I will be retiring at the end of the 2009/2010 school year. It has been a wonderful 28 years.

Monday's Is This What We Want

Today's travels took us to South Fifth Street, just behind the Columbia Square to a property where the siding is falling off and some boards and insulation is showing. Right off the main street and behind another eyesore property.

New church in town

The former Moose Annex in the 200 block of Loucst Street is home to Columbia's newest church.

Fair time

The Holy Trinity parish will hold its annual festival this week in the 400 block of Cherry Street. Set up was under way this morning.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Columbia Talking Points

There seems to be an awful lot to talk about each day/week in Columbia. In my mind, there is no other small town like it in the United States.At times, one would think our town's population is one million people instead of 10,000 or our town is as big as the state of Texas.
But, we are not.
What I've found is we are a very caring town, who want our town to be successful and one that rallies together when we feel are wronged.
Over the last week or so, I've heard of a lot of issues in our town, some of which I've learned or viewed during my daily rides throughout our town.
So, I have created Columbia Talking Points, so we can open discussion on the issues are town is facing. Comments are welcome.

* The first point, a sad one today, is the passing of John Murphy, the chief/president of the Columbia Fire Police after a courageous battle with cancer. Gonna be a little different when you see Traffic 8 responding to emergency scenes and not seeing him behind the wheel or out somewhere directing traffic.
My smypathy to his family and I would hope the fire police/borough would recognize Murphy's contributions to the fire police and borough by doing soethingrespectful in his memory.
* Congratulations to the Columbia High School Class of 2010, who will officially become alumni of the high school this week.
* Congratulations to the family of the late Missy Glenn and Dr, Claire Storm, who were honored by the state for their efforts to promote tourism in our town Friday in Harrisburg.

So, with that out of the way, let's talk about the issuues.
1. It is my understanding that a certain person, who has given this town a number of problems within the left few months may have been back in town last week and tried to move in with another person in the lower half of our town in a Section 8 property. The person freaked because she was moving in with a large number of cats, which may or may not have been taken by law enforcement, because she was living illegally and the certain person threatened to call the Section 8 officials, because she already had someone living there illegeally.
My question is, when will Columbia Borough and others take a stand to officially remove this person from our town and end our headaches. We don't need this type of person here. Would another municipality put up with it? Probably not.
2. There was a meeting of borough council's property committee last week, The discussion centered on Safe Harbor "giving" the borough the river front property where a number of local residents have cabins.
If you were a Columbia Borough official at that meeting, it did not go well.
I have to admit at last month's borough council meeting when this issue was discussed, not at length, I was kind of surprised by it. It sounded to me and some others, who were at that meeting, it was in the discussion phase and wasn't close to becoing a reality.
Well, I think myself and everyone else were wrong. It sounds like Columbia Borough is a lot farther along with these talks then was left on.
The cabin owners and others complained to the borough about it. My feeling is that these people need to continue to watch this because if they don't, they ight end up on the outside looking in at their cabins.
3. Sticking along the river, was told Friday that in the last week, when the heavy storms passed through the area, there were two water rescues caused by road flooding because the new parking lot isn't draining properly and two people were trapped in their vehicles.
Who put the parking lot in? Columbia Borough.
4. Still along the river, I've been down to River Park a lot lately. Looks nice and the plans for its future look great. But, there's really nothing down there. The parking areas and paths look good and the new grass.
But, the lights weren't installed on the light poles and it just looks empty.
Again, in talking with an emergency official, there have been two issues down there, which left me shaking my head. One was a couple of weeks ago, there was a water rescue at night, requiring lighting. One of the local fire departments responded to light the area. Apparently, they were ask to take their large vehicle out of River Park because the blacktop was not made for heavy use vehicles and it was feared the parking lot would be damaged. Interesting.
Along the same lines, another local fire departmment was down at the park filling their engine with water and the chief of the company received an email asking them not to do it anymore.
Again, interesting.
5. Road past the market house the other day, sorry I didn't make it in, but I see the market hours are changing on Thursday, it will now be open until 7 p.m. and Friday until 6 p.m.
I hope that when council finally hires a market manager, they look at the days of the week it is open and get more stands in the facility and move it more toward a farmer's market.
Hearing there is a lot of politics being played down right now and one of the more popluar stands is closing its doors this week because of it.
6. Code Enforcement issues. They are all over town and aren't going away, Some are expected to be exposed at next week's council meeting, many of which you can see without going up and down alleys. Some have been posted on here and more will.
7. In my various rides and even walks around our town, I'm surprised there aren't more complaints about curbs and sidewalks not being ADA accessible and some of those who are need to be repaired.
Our town needs cleaned up in more than one way.

First Hall of Fame inductee

The Columbia High School Athletic Hall of Fame Committee et this week to select the 2010 Class of Inductees.
The Hall of Fame Class will be inducted Friday, Sept. 17 during the football game with Daniel Boone.
Over the next week, the inductees will be profiled.
Meet the first inductee, Ken Haverstick.
During Ken’s junior year, the basketball team was 20-2 and was Lancaster County League champs. They lost to Kutztown 48-45 in District 3, Class B final. Kutztown were the eventual State champs. In his senior year, the team was 20-3 and was again Lancaster County League champs. They beat Eastern (Wrightsville) in the District 3, Class B finals, before losing to Montrose in the Class B Eastern State finals.
Ken was captain of his senior team, was named to the first team All-County and received Little All-State Honorable Mention. In his junior year, he had been named to secnd team All-County.

Ken was also a three-year starter for the Tide baseball team.
Ken returned to CHS where he coached vasrsity basketball from 1968-1971. His teams were 28-28.
He was Junior High Basketball coach for 15 years, 1978-1993. His record was 160-109 and his teams won six Section III championships.
Ken was also on the coaching staff of the 1986-87 CHS boys basketball team which the State Class AA, State championship. He had coached many of the players on that team when they were in Junior High.
Ken was the golf coach for three years in the mid-70’s. One of his players, John Gamby, went on to win the LANCO Gold championship.
Haverstick was also the acting Athletic Director at CHS during the mid-90’s.

Two are honored

The late Melissa Glenn and Dr. Claire Storm were honored in Harrisburg on Friday with the Keystone Society for Tourism Awards. The awards were presnted at the Governor's Mansion on Front Street.

In the top photo with the Glenn family are Laura Cowburn and Bill Kloidt, directors with the Susquehanna Valley Chaber of Commerce. In the bottom photo, Dr. Storm with her husband, Albert.

Sunday's if this is what we want

With the recent storms of the last week in our town, one place pointed out was the site of the former Etzweiler Funeral Home in the first block of North Third Streeet. The building, which was torn down more than two years ago is a huge eysore in our town and nothing is being done to make the owner of the property to fill in the hole. In the recent rains, the hole has filled up with water. Also, the gate on the fence is unlocked and is a safety issue. This is one of several properties owned by David Doolittle that are in need of repair or have been left neglected.

Local firemen are honored

Columbia's Susquehanna Fire Copany was honored at this weekend's Lancaster County Firemen's Convention and Parade, hosted by the Bareville and Leacock Fire Departments. Here is a link: http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/258044

Red Rose Run features a number of locals

Thw Red Rose Run was held yesterday in downtown Lancaster. Columbia grad Katie Shelley finished second in the women's race. Here is a link to the results: http://lancasterredroserun.com/results/2010/2010%20Red%20Rose%20Results.pdf

Smith's score shutout

Smith's Hotel beats Stewartstown in Susquehanna League baseball: http://www.leaguelineup.com/gamesum_baseball.asp?url=susquehannaleaguebaseball&sid=444096732&GameID=9813233

Friday, June 4, 2010

More code issues

If it seems like there are a lot of problemswith Code Enforcement in town, there is. It just seems like the borough turns a blind eye toward them. Here is one from downtown Columbia, about a block from the borough office. To get your problems answered, you can try calling codes at 684-2467, ext. 215.