Good morning, Columbia. It's National German Chocolate Cake Day. But get this. It’s not German at all. It’s named after the American chocolatier who invented the chocolate used in the recipe. Sounds kinda like french fries (which hail from Belgium). And wait until you hear about Guinea pigs. . .
In today’s Columbia Scoop:
Bocce queen immortalized
All seven farmers markets now open
A sweet new bakery
Let’s get to it.
— Michelle Sinclair
PITCH PERFECT
Where to watch the World Cup in HoCo ⚽
The World Cup kicks off today — 48 teams playing across the US, Canada, and Mexico through July 19 — and since it's all in our hemisphere, kickoff times are mercifully civilized. The U.S. opens against Paraguay Friday at 9 PM.
These are our top picks for two weeks of group-stage chaos:
Ale House Columbia – 📺 50+ TVs. And they’re staying open late to show U.S. games.
Union Jack’s – Showing every game. And they’ve got a big screen.
Looney’s Maple Lawn – They take stuff like this seriously. As witnessed by the full page special menu (drinks and food).
Also solid: HoCo Brew Hive (11 TVs), Reckless Shepherd, and The Greene Turtle — because you can't write about watching sports in Maryland without mentioning The Greene Turtle.
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ROLL MODEL
Cedar Lane's bocce courts now honor HoCo’s "Queen of Bocce" 👑
County Executive Calvin Ball unveiled a sign Monday dedicating the bocce courts at Cedar Lane Park West as the Grace Kubofcik Bocce Courts, honoring the community advocate and bocce enthusiast who died last June at 83.
Kubofcik earned the crown. She pushed for the shade structures and lighting that keep players on the courts into the evening, and the four ADA-compliant courts (opened in 2019) now host Special Olympics Maryland Howard County's bocce league plus Monday, Thursday, and Saturday leagues. The Monday League alone fields 28 teams and roughly 115 players. See. . . not everyone’s playing pickleball.
Beyond bocce – A civic leader since the late 1970s, Kubofcik was past president of the League of Women Voters, co-chaired the environmental piece of Ellicott City's Safe & Sound plan after the floods, and spent decades as a fixture at County Council and Planning Board meetings.
Her husband Jim — married to Grace for 59 years and still playing in the league — put it simply: "What a wonderful tribute."
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EVENTS
Weekend preview
Photo: eVenti Verticali
🎈 = family-friendly events
Friday
🎈🎶 LakeFest Weekend 2026 - The Columbia Festival of the Arts kicks off three days of music, vertical dance spectacle SPHERE by Italian aerialists eVenti Verticali, an arts & crafts show, food trucks, and more at the Downtown Columbia Lakefront.
🎶 Midnight Mini-Golf at Columbia SportsPark - This month's theme: Red Carpet. Dress up, play under the stars, adult beverages available.
🎈🎶 40 West Trio at Clarksville Commons - Bring your lawn chairs for free Friday night music.
🎈🍦 Summer Sounds: Ice Cream Social at Hickory Ridge - Live music, ice cream, and zero agenda.
Saturday
🎈🎶 LakeFest Weekend 2026 - Day two features performances by BBC World Music Award recipients The Garifuna Collective, Tartan Terrors, and two showtimes for eVenti Verticali’s SPHERE.
🎈🍺 Manor Hill 11 Year Anniversary Festival - Free farm festival with beer releases, three stages of live music, food trucks, and blacksmithing demos.
🎈💎 Gem Miner's Spring Show - Over 60 vendors selling beads, jewelry, gems, minerals, and fossils at the Howard County Fairgrounds. Runs through Sunday.
🌳 Discover Hopewell BioBlitz - Explore Columbia's 1.6-acre wildflower meadow during peak pollinator season — guided walks, free plants and seeds, ice cream.
🌱 Culinary Herbs Workshop - Garden walk and hands-on remedy-making at Jim Duke's Green Farmacy Garden.
🌱 The Laurel Garden Tour - Nine late spring gardens featuring native plants, pollinators, and Bay-Wise certified spaces in Old Town and West Laurel.
Sunday
🎈🎶 LakeFest Weekend 2026 - Final day features Broadway vocalist Shayna Steele and Latin band Pablo Antonio y La Firma.
🎷 Jazz in the Mills: Benjie Porecki - Versatile and virtuosic jazz at The Other Barn.
🎈🎶 Summer Sounds: 40th Anniversary at Kings Contrivance - Live music and family activities celebrating four decades.
All weekend
📚 Book Fair by The Novel Refuge - New and used books, tote bags, and accessories at Sapwood Cellars all weekend.
🎨 2026 Student & Faculty Exhibition - Pottery, sculpture, glass, paintings, and more at Columbia Art Center through Saturday.
More
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In other news. . .
🥕 Seventh Heaven – The Merriweather District Farmers' Market opens today (Thursdays 3–7 PM at Merriweather Row Plaza), which means every farmers market in HoCo is now up and running — all seven of them. The schedule: Savage and Ellicott City on Wednesdays, Merriweather District Thursdays, Fulton Fridays and Saturdays, Clarksville Commons and Old Ellicott City Saturdays, and Oakland Mills Sundays. Full schedule (with times) here.
🍺 Farm to Pint – Manor Hill Brewing turns 11 on Saturday and is celebrating with a free festival on the farm: live music on three stages, fresh beer releases, food trucks, and blacksmithing demos from 12–7 PM. Bring chairs and claim your patch of grass early.
🇺🇸 Star Spangled Send-off – Flag Day is Sunday, and Howard County has a dignified send-off for your worn and tattered American flags: a Flag Retirement drop-off container at the Alpha Ridge Landfill Residents' Convenience Center (2350 Marriottsville Rd), set up by American Legion Post 156. The center is open Monday–Saturday, 8 AM–4 PM — so the flag can come down this weekend and be retired properly on Monday.
🍪 Sweets the Spot – Savorists, a women-owned macaron and NY-style cookie bakery, is opening a storefront at Hickory Ridge Village Center (6470 Freetown Rd) this summer. While the rest of us daydream about pools and beaches, their summer checklist reads: permit revisions, renovation timelines, and display-case dimensions. Until the doors open, the macarons are a click away.
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WEATHER
Thursday
94 🌡️ 71 | ⛈️ | 36% ☔ | 💨 W 8 mph
Friday
96 🌡️ 66 | ⛈️ | 65% ☔ | 💨 W 9 mph
Saturday
88 🌡️ 66 | ☀️ | 1% ☔ | 💨 NW 6 mph
Sunday
92 🌡️ 66 | ⛈️ | 40% ☔ | 💨 SW 10 mph
Monday
83 🌡️ 62 | 🌧️ | 44% ☔ | 💨 N 7 mph
LIVE MUSIC LOWDOWN
Thursday
Cured 1821 | Jon Waller | 6 PM
Merriweather | Hardy | 7 PM | Ticket
The Morgan Inn | James Naill | 6 PM
Friday
Bare Bones | Making Waves | 8 PM
The Barn & Lodge | Madisun Bailey | 8 PM
Clarksville Commons | 40 West Trio | 6 PM
Collective Encore | Satisfaction | 8 PM | Ticket
Cured 1821 | Ian Trushiem | 6 PM
Kelsey’s Restaurant & Irish Pub | Rob Sebastian | 6 PM
Merriweather | Bleachers | 7:30 PM | Tickets
The Morgan Inn | Sidewalk Soul | 8 PM
Reckless Shepherd | Better Off Dead | 9 PM
Smashing Grapes | Andrew Bell | 8 PM
White Oak Tavern | Jimmy Solesky| 7 PM
Saturday
Bare Bones | Code Red | 8 PM
The Barn & Lodge | Andrew Bell | 8 PM
Cured 1821 | Tim Andrulonis | 6 PM
Kelsey’s Restaurant & Irish Pub | Richard Walton | 6 PM
Looney’s Maple Lawn | Collective| 9 PM
Manor Hill Brewing | 11 Year Anniversary Festival (3 stages) | 12–7 PM
Merriweather | All Good Now | See Lineup | 11 AM- 7:30PM | Tickets
The Morgan Inn | McFadden-Garcia | 8 PM
Smashing Grapes | Jordan Mills | 8 PM
Sonoma’s | Escape Goat| 7 PM
White Oak Tavern | Mercy Creek | 8 PM
Sunday
The Barn & Lodge | Jamie Bishop | 8 PM
Collective Encore | Know Return | 7 PM | Ticket
Cured 1821 | Sidestreet Duo | 5 PM
Kings Contrivance Village Center | Summer Sounds 40th Anniversary | 4 PM
Manor Hill Brewing | Dan Bregman | 2 PM
Merriweather | All Good Now | See Lineup | Noon- 7:30PM | Tickets
The Morgan Inn | The Soul Family Band | 2 PM
The Other Barn | Benjie Porecki (Jazz in the Mills) | 5 PM
Smashing Grapes | Sara Jones| 11 AM
White Oak Tavern | Jazzy Brunch | 11 AM
THANKS!
Thanks for reading Columbia Scoop today. If you found something useful, share it with the friend who plans dinner around whatever's at the farmers market.
