🍦Happiest city in MD

Good morning, Columbia. Everyone enjoy that nice weather for the past couple days? Good. Now don’t forget your parkas, today. This is Maryland, you know.

In today’s Columbia Scoop:

Let’s get to it.

— Michelle Sinclair

Do you ever get tired of Columbia being Maryland’s golden child? Didn’t think so.

They looked at 180 cities and used 29 key indicators of happiness to score every city. All indicators fit into three categories: emotional & physical well-being, income & employment, community & environment.

Surprisingly, Columbia ranked 162/180 for income & employment even though HoCo is the 6th highest earning county in America. But our stellar rank (3/180) for emotional & physical well-being pushed us way up the list.

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As always, 🎈 means family-friendly

Friday

🎈 🚛 Wheely Fun Day - Get up close and personal with a trash truck, fire truck, Sprinter van, pop-up library, a sheriff’s car, and more.

🎸 The Reagan Years @ Turf Valley Resort - Inject a little 80s into your St. Patrick’s weekend with one of the East Coast’s best 80s cover bands.

Saturday

🎻 Columbia Orchestra: Rhythms of Renewal - A concert with three flavors: ancient ritual, literal environment, and bittersweet nostalgia.

🎈 🛞 51st Annual Collector Car Swap Meet - Buy, sell, and swap car parts, automobilia, and tools. Hosted by the Chesapeake Region of the Antique Automobile Club of America

Sunday

🎈 🐴 Rockin’ A Horse Club Used Tack Sale - Horses are expensive. Buying used makes them less expensive.

🐢 The Green Turtle has drink specials, festive food, and live music on Saturday, 3/14.

🥃 Manor Hill Brewing is releasing 1 very special beer and two whiskeys with their friends at McClintock Distilling on Saturday. The Pizza Trolley will have a special festive pizza and Irish stout brownies.

🇮🇪 Kelsey’s Restaurant & Irish Pub has live music and festivities all the way through Tuesday. Seriously, there’s even a midnight toast on Monday.

🇬🇧 Union Jack’s has live music and specials on Saturday and the Amish Outlaws and more specials on St. Patrick’s Day itself.

🍀 Looney’s Maple Lawn probably has the biggest and rowdiest celebration. They’ve got three bands on Saturday and three bands on Tuesday. Sunday is family fun day.

🐕 Reckless Shepherd has The Hooligans on Sunday for its third annual St. Patrick’s Day celebration.

🎈 Main Street in Ellicott City is the place to be for families on Saturday with live music, raffles, and more.

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On Monday, we asked you to guess the price of this house from one picture (and a tiny hint).

We stumped most of you, but we think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. To live on Hobbits Glen Golf Club in this 3,435 square foot, 4 bed, 2.5 bathroom house will only set you back $850,000. Only 33% of you guess right.

Unfortunately for you, it’s already pending. But it’s never too late to look at the pictures.

I can hear Mimi’s voice in that second photo, “WHEEEEEEEE”

But she’s also super sweet and great with kids and other dogs. She’ll love you forever if you rub her belly. And loving to her means kisses!

Mimi is 9 weeks old and weighs in a 6.5 pounds. The shelter thinks she’ll top out somewhere between 26–60 pounds. A big range, I know but it’s tough to know with rescue dogs.

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👧 Kid’s Fest: Howard County's annual Kid's Fest returns to Meadowbrook Athletic Complex on April 4 with games, inflatables, food vendors, and egg hunts for kids ages 2–12. Pre-registration is $8 per child; day-of tickets are $10.

🥩 All-you-can-eat: Meating BBQ & Buffet soft-opened Tuesday in Ellicott City's Dorsey's Search Village Center. The all-you-can-eat spot features Dongbei-style northeast Chinese barbecue — think wagyu, lamb, and brisket — with lunch buffets starting at $20.95 and dinner at $42.95.

🏒 Power play: Howard County officials presented early plans for a two-sheet indoor rink in Ellicott City at a March 4 public meeting, with Meadowbrook Park as the preferred site. The $60M project is still in preliminary stages, but the county has already approved ~$1M for initial design work. ($)

💼 Summer jobs: Howard County's Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) is accepting applications through March 23 for ages 14–24. The six-week paid program runs July 6–August 14 and is capped at 350 participants.

🔒 Not a lockdown: Atholton High briefly went on "secure" protocol Tuesday after a fight led to several nonstudents entering the building. The school added extra security at dismissal as a precaution. ($)

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52 🌡️ 27 | 🌧️ | 98% | 💨 NW 17 mph

53 🌡️ 40 | ⛅ | 4% | 💨 S 18 mph

56 🌡️ 38 | 🌤️ | 1% | 💨 WNW 11 mph

56 🌡️ 50 | ⛅ | 22% | 💨ESE 12 mph

Collective Encore | Atomic Light Orchestra | 7:30 PM | Tickets
Cured 1821 | Kevin Howard | 6 PM 

Bare Bones | Radio Hero | 8 PM 
Blackwall Barn & Lodge | Grayson Moon | 8 PM 
Collective Encore | Chuck Brown Band | 8 PM | Tickets 
Cured 1821 | Kevin Howard | 6 PM 
Hoco Brew Hive | Scotty Pip & Mike Vance | 7 PM
Kelsey’s Restaurant & Irish Pub | Rob Sebastian | 6 PM 
Looney’s Maple Lawn | Doc Marten & Flannels | 9 PM 
The Morgan Inn | The Half Serious Band | 8 PM 
Smashing Grapes | Jennifer Schimpf | 8 PM 
Turf Valley | The Reagan Years | 8 PM
Union Jack’s | Neel Madan | 8 PM
White Oak Tavern | Noah Pierre | 8 PM

Bare Bones | Bored Certified | 8 PM 
Blackwall Barn & Lodge | Andrew Bell | 8 PM 
Collective Encore | Chuck Brown Band | 8 PM | Tickets 
Cured 1821 | Aiden Interrante | 5 PM 
Kelsey’s Restaurant & Irish Pub | Miss Moon Rising | 6 PM 
Looney’s Maple Lawn | Msy, Local Souls & Radio Hero | 8 PM 
The Morgan Inn | McFadden-Garcia | 7:30 PM 
Oversea Distillery | Dan Ingham Duo | 7 PM 
Smashing Grapes | Levi Terrell | 8 PM 
Union Jack’s | Sugar Jack | 7 PM
White Oak Tavern | Madisun Bailey | 8 PM

Sunday

Blackwall Barn & Lodge | Jamie Bishop | 11 AM 
Cured 1821 | Sidestreet Duo | 5 PM 
Kelsey’s Restaurant & Irish Pub | Brandt Dunn | 4 PM 
Looney’s Maple Lawn | Mark Bray | 8 PM 
Manor Hill Brewing | Brandon Kennedy | 2 PM 
The Morgan Inn | Soul Family Band | 2 PM 
Oversea Distillery | Billy James Herrington Duo | 7 PM 
Smashing Grapes | Kevin Howard | 11 AM 
White Oak Tavern | Jazz Brunch | 10 AM

Thanks for reading Columbia Scoop today. If you found something useful, please share it with someone who always underestimates how long home improvement projects will take.