All good things must come to an end

A recent story in The News-Times pegged it exactly right: Columbia County's "Americana" celebration is a victim of its own success.

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The patriotic event's six-year run, sadly, seems to have run its course. Spearheaded by Jane Armstrong, a retired educator who founded American Pride Through Education Inc., "Americana" was intended as the climax of Proud to Be an American Month.

Armstrong's vision was to turn November into a nationwide, month-long patriotic celebration. Columbia and Richmond counties quickly jumped on board.

Richmond's celebration lost steam soon after. Columbia County's, meanwhile, built up so large that the 500 performing pupils and all their parents could no longer fit at First Baptist Church of Augusta, which let it be known that it could no longer host the event.

The loss of the venue coincided with the school system's withdrawal of organizational support. An upper-level system administrator was devoting the equivalent of about two weeks' work setting up the event, and school board members rightly decided that's not an appropriate use of taxpayer funds.

The county's schools will, of course, continue to hold their own patriotic celebrations, especially around Veterans Day. But the countywide event has run its course.

It was exceptionally good while it lasted.