A new city logo, a new look for this year’s Songs4Soldiers concert and a new role for Shoemaker Schoolhouse were among the items on the agenda at Monday night’s meeting of the Columbia City Council Committee of the Whole.

A new city logo will now grace official city signage, publications and electronic media. It will be used in conjunction with, not instead of, Fritznickel, the jovial, lederhosen-clad man with an Alpine horn that has served as Columbia’s unofficial logo for many years.

“Fritz is very important to the community and we (didn’t) want to get rid of Fritz at all,” said Emily Fultz, Columbia’s director of community development.

Instead, Fritz got a bit of a makeover. He has an updated outfit and a color scheme to match the new logo.

“It feels like now we can use these two together and they work well together,” Fultz said.

“They definitely compliment each other,” added Sue Spargo,  director of community relations and tourism. “Fritz we see as a mascot for Columbia.”

The two images will be used both together and separately, depending on the type of communication — with the round logo reflecting the hometown atmosphere and agricultural roots of the area for economic development and Fritz showing the community’s German heritage.

“It’s going to give us a bunch of different ways to show what we are and how we are,” Columbia Mayor Kevin Hutchinson said.

The new logo and revamped Fritznickel will make their first public appearance together on a city brochure expected to be delivered later this week.

“It’s Fritz-tastic,” city administrator Jimmy Morani said.

Songs4Soldiers founder and president Dustin Row provided the council with an update of preparations underway for the 2017 concert. Different this year than in years past will be a two-day event rather than one.

“This year will be our fifth concert, our fifth anniversary,” Row said while thanking the Columbia Police Department and Department of Public Works. “Not only for everybody’s willingness to let us try this, but for the excitement on top of it.”

In previous years, Songs4Soldiers took place on a Saturday, with primarily cover bands performing a family friendly event. This year, it will take place over two days, Sept. 22-23, at Bolm-Schuhkraft Park…>>>

Read the rest of this story and view more photos in the March 15 issue of the Republic-Times. If you don’t already receive the paper, you can subscribe by calling 939-3814 or clicking here, or pick up a copy at any of these locations.