Feb. 7 will mark a fairly significant milestone for Shelby County. That date is Shelby County’s 192nd birthday, thus providing ample reason for the Shelby County Historical Society to throw something of a birthday celebration for the county and its people.

Festivities will be held at Shelby County’s ‘old’ courthouse in Columbiana beginning at 1:45 p.m.

There will be birthday cake and cookies for the kids and ample pomp and circumstance befitting such a milestone, thanks to the generosity of countless community businesses and groups. Special music provided by The First Baptist Church of Pelham will also help mark the celebration.

The celebration will also serve as an official ribbon cutting for the Shelby County Museum and Archives, which has undergone much restoration, expansion and development over the last several years. A wonderful collection of our county’s rich history can be found inside perhaps the most significant and best restored historic buildings in our county.

One little-known fact about the ‘old’ courthouse is that it was saved from demolition by just one vote in 1979, as residents of Columbiana went to the polls to determine the fate of what had become a worn and decrepit old building. Thankfully, the building and its historical permanence were saved.

Countless other stories of significance, great and small, can be discovered in walking through the halls of the museum, making such a visit, and this celebration, an enriching experience for both longtime residents of Shelby County and visitors and newcomers alike.

So much of what we are today and where we’re headed tomorrow drives from where and what we’ve been. Our county’s birthday celebration gives us a good opportunity to immerse ourselves in that past. Here’s hoping to see you there.