National Night Out on Tuesday night at the Columbia Water Park drew hundreds of people who enjoyed free hamburgers, hotdogs and pizza as well as live music. The Columbia Police Department and the Marion County Sheriff’s Office sponsored the family-fun event.  Other activities included a DUI golf cart course and water slides. Despite the heat and humidity, people had a great time.

Here are some pictures from the Fourth of July Extravaganza that was held last Friday in Columbia’s Friendship Park and was sponsored by the Friends of the Columbia-Marion County Public Library. This was the first year for the extravaganza, but the Friends of the Library hopes to make it an annual event. More than 100 people attended, and all proceeds went to the Friends of the Library for projects to improve the library.

The Summer Reading Program at the Columbia-Marion County Library wrapped up on Tuesday in a fun fashion as the children got to splash in the water at the Columbia Fire Department.  Large hoses sprayed water on the children to provide relief from the heat. The Summer Reading Program, which went through the month of June, is an annual community outreach offered by the library. Many children participate in the educational and fun program every year. See the pictures below for all the fun that was had.

About 25 local children graduated from the Family Reading Bonds program Tuesday night at the Columbia-Marion County Public library. The six-week program sponsored by the Mississippi Humanities Council encourages parents and children to read together. The children were presented with a certificate and a book for graduation. Here is a slideshow of pictures from the event.

Donnie Williams of Marion County, who is working down in Louisiana (not on the oil rig), e-mailed these pictures of the oil rig explosion. Williams has worked on the oil rig in the past and is friends with some of the people who were in the explosion. It is unclear if any of the workers in the explosion are from Marion County.

The annual Easter parade sponsored by Main Street Columbia was Satuday in downtown.

Little league baseball players and their parents came out in droves today at Dean Griner baseball park at the Columbia Waterpark for opening day action. Here are a few pictures.

Here are some photos from the Columbia Mardi Gras Parade that took place Saturday, Feb. 6, 2010. The Kiwanis Club of Columbia sponsors the annual parade.