By Amy Evans, AICP

Columbia, a small borough of about 10,000 people on the Susquehanna River in Lancaster County, has a longstanding tradition of celebrating Arbor Day. For decades, this rested on the shoulders of a single volunteer who managed Columbia’s Tree City USA designation and coordinated the town’s Arbor Day Celebration in late April. Two years ago, the Shade Tree Commission and the Columbia Park Rangers, a park clean-up volunteer group, took on this role. With the transition came opportunities to expand the event’s scope while preserving all of the traditions the town loves, like the reading of Joyce Kilmer’s poem Trees by a Columbia High School Senior, distribution of apples by a local child playing Johnny Appleseed, musical interludes, and the planting of a tree in a public space in town.

On April 25th, the Shade Tree Commission and the Park Rangers joined with Sahd Metal Recycling, Lancaster County Solid Waste Management Authority, Columbia Borough Police, the Susquehanna National Heritage Area and the Columbia Merchants Association to create the town’s most vibrant sustainability-oriented celebration yet: Go Green Columbia. This all-day effort kicked off with a borough-wide spring clean up focused on parks, streets, sidewalks, and large appliance disposal. In the evening, Sahd Metal Recycling, a local business who has held an Earth Day celebration for 20 years, paired up with the Shade Tree Commission’s celebration of its 33rd Tree City USA designation in a combined event that drew over 400 people to Columbia’s River Park. Many of these folks continued on to celebrate Columbia’s Fourth Friday at a variety of local businesses.

Courtesy of several local wildlife rehab facilities, attendees enjoyed meeting owls, a squirrel and a snack-loving groundhog named Elliott. People could also snag a photo with Smokey the Bear, pick from a variety of free tree seedlings, learn about outdoor recreational opportunities, and talk with environmental organizations like the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay and Susquehanna Riverkeepers.

Go Green Columbia began as simple conversations between people who care about Columbia. If 2025 is anything to judge by, its creative blend of old and new traditions will continue to spark new partnerships and capture the interest of new audiences.