A10 — The Sentinel at www.cumberlink.com Sunday • January 2, 2011

Decadein review2000-2010

By Joseph CressSenTinel RepoRTeRjcress@cumberlink.com

Jan. 27, 1750 is a date few may recognize as historically significant for Cumberland County and yet without it, there would be no county history as we know it today.

On that date, what be-came Cumberland County was officially carved out of the western expanse of Lan-caster County. Back then, it was huge, extending as far as present-day Pittsburgh and frontier towns like Carlisle were surrounded by wilder-ness.

Fast forward to the year 2000 and Jan. 27 became Founding Day in Shippens-burg -- the kick-off event to a year-long celebration of the 250th anniversary of Cumberland County.

It was in Shippensburg that the first county court proceedings were held in the limestone house at the corner of South Queen and West King streets. It was there where organizers re-enacted the swearing-in ceremony of the county’s first public officials inviting current leaders to take on the role of their predeces-sors.

Unity and hope Despite some anxiety over

the millennium bug, local residents rang in 2000 with the promise of festivals, re-enactments, parades his-tory tours and a wagon trek to mark this milestone. The events were the culmination of planning started in 1996 by a committee of 31 county residents.

While the anniversary brought people together, the Sept. 23 Ku Klux Klan rally on the Square threatened a bitter divide. This was countered by a “unity rally” held the very same day in a different part of Carlisle.

This community spirit continued into November when a neighborhood coun-cil in Carlisle’s northwest quadrant began to organize a redevelopment project that became the Hope Station Opportunity Area. Situated in an old train station in Me-morial Park, Hope Station and its programs have since become an important com-munity resource for needy families.

2000 proved to be a piv-otal year in terms of the tax base with the first county-wide reassessment in Cum-berland County since 1974 and the first reassessment in Perry County since 1972. Combined, the twin initia-tives drew thousands of ap-peals from property own-ers upset over their new assessment and having to pay more in real estate taxes.

There was also a marked change in the political

landscape of Cumberland County when state Rep. Al Masland, R-199, announced he would not seek a fifth term in office. Instead, he campaigned to succeed re-tiring Congressman Bill Goodling, R-19, but was edged out by Todd Platts in a tight five-way race for the Republication Party nomi-nation following the April primary. Will Gabig was elected to Masland’s vacant seat.

MurdersTwo high-profile murder

cases also emerged out of the first four months of 2000. Mechanicsburg suffered its first homicide in nearly 11 years when 13-year-old Da-vid Colebaugh of the 1100 block of Cocklin Street was fatally shot by his neighbor James A. Borwegen, who was the son of Kenneth Bor-wegen, a former borough police chief. The year closed with the Borwegen mur-der trial being scheduled for January 2001.

In late April, firefighters responded to a blaze in the Michaux State Forest only to discover the charred body of Sydney Bull, a senior at Shippensburg University. The subsequent investi-gation lead to the arrest of Emmett Lockhart, Matthew Timothy Norris and Dontae Dion Chambers.

Police alleged the three men took Bull to the state forest in South Newton Township. While there, Nor-ris shot Bull in the face with a shotgun before removing money and marijuana from the victim’s pants pockets. Lockhart then doused Bull with gasoline which Nor-ris set on fire with a match. 2000 ended with the tri-als of the three men being scheduled for early 2001.

2000: Ye a r i n c l u d e d a

unity rally, the start of

Hope Station, a countywide reassessment, a

political shake-up and high-profile murder.

Year marked a historic milestoneCumberland County

Before we step too far into 2011, we also want to pause and look back at the first de-cade of the new century.

now some may debate the past decade began in 2000, while others fix the start as 2001. The Sentinel would rather not argue but instead celebrates 11 years with a daily photo page starting today and running through Jan. 12.

The Sentinel reviewed about 4,000 days’ worth of photo and news assign-ments recorded between Jan. 1, 2000, and mid-De-cember 2010 and chose some of the highlights.

So sit back and enjoy our tour through time — but maybe expect a phone call.

The Sentinel plans to close out this series on Jan. 13 with an article reporting on your hopes and expecta-tions for 2011 and beyond. The editorial staff had its chance to predict, project and summarize what we think may happen, but now we want to hear from you, our readers.

We invite you to express your thoughts by e-mailing reporter Joseph David Cress at jcress@cumberlink.com.

In Focus

Sentinel file photos

Cumberland County celebrated its 250th anniversary with many events held during the year, including a wagon train in Boiling Springs on July 5, 2000.

Cumberland ■

County celebrated its 250th anniversary in 2000.

Shippensburg University announced in a press conference on April 28, 2000, that student Sydney Bull had been murdered in Michaux State Forest two days earlier.

A neighborhood council began to organize the Hope Station Opportu-nity Area in November 2000. Hope Station and its programs have since become an important community resource for needy families.

A Ku Klux Klan rally was held Sept. 23, 2000, on the Square in Carlisle. The rally was countered by a “unity rally” held the same day in Carlisle.