Pioneer Power

There will be no pooh-poohing Columbia's 40th b-day in these quarters. We're totally in the tank for a party. For starters, we wouldn't be here unless those hardy few made a town out of the place. Literally. We remember a particularly anguished discussion between the parents about the risks of moving way out to this farm country between Baltimore and Washington. In those days, there was no network of superhighways; you got here from Washington on a two-lane Route 29. There was just one grocery story and a small village square. The schools were newfangled and didn't hew to the traditional. Columbia in the early days was a place where a college got its start in an inflatable bubble and the town center was so sleepy that they launched hot air balloons from where the library is now. We could go on.

The point is the folks who came here in the early days took a chance; many left predictable, comfortable lives, and tried something new. We think that's kind of inspiring.