We take great pride in the easy-to-read format of The Columbia INSIDER. Our pages are conveniently stapled together in a 8” X 10 1/2 “ booklet designed to stay around in an unobtrusive way until you need us. And need us you will. Every month we publish local news of community events, art and music along with a calendar of what’s happening of interest by date, called INTown. There is a line-up of columnists and contributors, many of whom have been with us since our first issue.

 

One such columnist is Prudence J.M.Theriault, a certified Tarot Master and Intuitive Consultant. Her column, Dear Prudence,unlocks the mysteries in the deck of Tarot cards and answers our readers’ questions about life.

The Doctor is IN column has a tremendous following. Dr. Robin Tassinari, MD is a Professor of Psychiatry and Internal Medicine at Albany Medical College and Attending Psychiatrist at Albany Medical Center Hospital, Capital District Psychiatric Center. His column offers knowledgeable insight on many topics; sometimes a serious topic, laced with humor, as everyone looks at their own thoughts and reactions to a common situation.

 

Barbara  Ann Mojica is a retired schoolteacher and administrator in the New York City Public School System. Now residing locally in Copake, NY., Barbara brings her love of history to the pages of The Columbia Insider with her monthly column, Passages. She has an amazing talent to bring every seemingly mundane theme of each issue to life in an interesting and informative historical essay that our readers anxiously await each month. When Barbara isn’t busy writing for The Columbia INSIDER, she is the author of a series of children’s books, Little Miss History® Travels to. Her husband, Victor Ramon Mojica, is the talented illustrator of all her books and the creator of our exclusive comic strip, Captain Crossbones®. Our comics page always features the comical antics of the Captain and his crew. You never knew pirates could be so much fun!

 

Fun and humor go hand-in-hand and The Columbia INSIDER delivers both. Alison Sorge has maintained her column, Ali on Humor since day one of publication. Ali on Humor is a compilation of jokes, comics and humorous anecdotes often following the theme of the issue. Jill Peck Vona keeps our readers laughing with the comic MY Duma, life through the eyes of her cat named Duma.

 

New to the pages of The Columbia INSIDER but certainly not new to our neighborhood, Nancy Drahushuk Randall writes a column we call IN Praise of the Populace. Nancy features local people who grew up right here in Columbia County and went on to make names of themselves in the big world out there. Her column is interesting for both long-time residents  and newcomers and is an inspiration for local youngsters today.

 

Angela Shelf Medearis is our Kitchen Diva. She is a culinary historian and the author of seven cookbooks. Her column is made available to The Columbia INSIDER each month through our subscription to King Syndicate, Inc. We often print other recipes but her column is so well-received it is a staple on our pages.

 

Every issue has a page devoted just to our younger readers. We call it Kidding Around and it has fun puzzles and activities for the kids to enjoy. For adults we offer word search puzzles and Soduko along with two crossword puzzles. The King Crossword is suitable for young adults or anyone who might be crunched for time. Super Crossword is a little more challenging, but designed that everyone can have the satisfaction of success, and keep the fun in puzzle games.

 

Eddie The In is our own exclusive character mascot representing The Columbia INSIDER. He’s a super sleuth who hunts the local sales and events in our neighborhoods. Eddie The In image is printed in our advertiser’s space each issue. Readers participate in a fun contest by counting how many Eddies they found on our pages in the ads and sending their count to us before the deadline. From all the correct entries a name is chosen to win a prize. Usually the winner is awarded a gift certificate to use at one of our advertisers. Kids and adults alike love finding Eddie; many folks do it just for fun without ever entering the contest. We have heard from families who make it a household game and the siblings enjoy the rivalry!

Pat and Ed