AROUND CAYCE, SPRINGDALE & WEST COLUMBIA

The West Columbia Beautification Foundation is hosting the 3rd annual “Taste on the River” February 26, 6-9 pm, at Stone River, 121 Alexander Road, West Columbia.

Tickets are $50 per person and include two drink tickets, restaurant samples, and a silent auction. Purchase tickets via a link at www.facebook.com/beautifywcolasc orcall Colleen Otte at 803-791-1880 Ext.616.

The best restaurants from West Columbia and Columbia are coming together for a fun evening to showcase their cuisine and to help beautify West Columbia.

Over the past two years, the Taste on the River events raised over $20,000 to plant trees and shrubbery along Sunset Boulevard from Meeting Street to I-26. The tax-deductible tickets and donations will help the Foundation take the plantings to other areas of the city, including Augusta Highway.

For sponsorship opportunities or to donate silent auction items for the event, contact Kelli Ricard at kricard@westcolumbiasc.gov or 803-791-1880, Ext. *623.

The last total lunar eclipse until 2021 occurred Sunday night, and early Monday morning (Jan. 22, 23.) It began after 10:30 pm. The eclipse took more than three hours. And it was visible in West Columbia under perfectly clear skies, although it was a cold winter’s night, with temperatures in the 30s.

It was the first supermoon of the year. That’s when a full moon appears a little bigger and brighter because of its slightly closer position.

Totality – when the moon is completely covered by the Earth’s shadow – lasted an hour. During a total lunar eclipse, the eclipsed, or blood moon, turns red from sunlight scattering off Earth’s atmosphere.