Fire engines, flags and fanfare: Columbia celebrates in grand style

 

Dearest Gentle Reader,


It is with the greatest of pleasure, and no small measure of civic pride, that your devoted correspondent takes up her quill to relay the magnificent spectacle that graced the streets of our beloved Columbia this past Saturday. For indeed, a Lancaster County Firefighters Parade of considerable grandeur unfolded before the eyes of those fortunate enough to bear witness.


The procession was, in a word, resplendent. Fire apparatus of various descriptions, drawn from the stations of Lancaster County and, in a gesture of inclusivity, from York County as well, which made their way through our streets. One must commend Columbia's generous and welcoming spirit; we do not turn away a good fire truck, regardless of its county of origin. 


And let us not forget all of the other organizations that participated, too numerous to list here.


There were also, one is delighted to report, representatives of those indispensable if less glamorous pillars of civilized society: the towing companies, the refuse disposal concerns, and the Lancaster Area Sewage Authority, who, one trusts, were received with all the dignity their vital contributions to our communal well-being so richly deserve.


Draped in the colors of our great Republic, the affair carried a most patriotic air, flags flying in joyful anticipation of our nation's 250th anniversary and, with equal ceremony, of Columbia Borough's own approaching 300th. Three centuries, Gentle Reader! Our little borough has survived rather a great deal, and is apparently still standing.


One must, however, in the spirit of full and honest reportage, note certain irregularities upon the periphery. An errant motorist, apparently unacquainted with the concept of a parade, launched his vehicle down Locust Street at a speed one can only describe as ambitious, though mercifully before the procession had reached that area. Various scooters and bicycles threaded themselves along the sidewalks with breezy disregard for pedestrians.


The participating companies had been arranged along Manor Street, and occupying the cross streets between Ninth and Fourteenth, a staging effort that must have required a degree of coordination one can only describe as monumental. One ponders, with genuine admiration, the countless hours of planning, communication, and fortitude required to assemble such an event.


This was not a common occurrence, Gentle Reader. Parades of this scale and character descend upon a borough perhaps once in several decades, if one is fortunate. That it should arrive in Columbia's 300th anniversary year feels not merely fitting, but downright poetic.


Your correspondent extends, on behalf of all who lined those warm spring streets, heartfelt and enthusiastic gratitude to everyone who labored to bring this grand affair to fruition. May our borough's next three centuries be as colorful, as spirited, and, one hopes, somewhat better attended.


Ever yours in faithful observation of all that transpires in our fair Borough,

 

Lady Whistletown

 

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