COVID-19 put a halt to the annual Lansdale Day Arts and Crafts Festival last year, but it could not stop the Rotary Club of North Penn from giving back.
This year, the nonprofit organization – of which it is actively seeking local youthful membership – will celebrate 44 years of shutting down West Main Street for six hours and bringing the neighborhood artisan crafts, décor and delights, and culinary delicacies, desserts, dishes with the beloved and annual Lansdale Day Arts and Crafts Festival.
The festival takes place July 17 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in downtown Lansdale, along West Main Street, from Green Street to Towamencin Avenue. West Main Street and all side streets branching from West Main Street will be closed to traffic.
Lansdale Day – sponsored this year with major funding by Elm Terrace Gardens and Gastrointestinal Associates Inc. – is the North Penn Rotary’s major annual fundraiser, and just like last year, when the club held a virtual Lansdale Day for its artisans, local charities and community service organizations will reap the benefits. Manna on Main Street, the North Penn Boys & Girls Club, RSVP of Montgomery County, Garden of Health Inc. in Souderton, and Easterseals, to name a few, all look to benefit from the event.
“With the success of Lansdale Day that we had in 2019 and in years’ past, we’ve raised enough money where we could tuck some away and be able to give donations. We gave an additional $60,000 in donations during COVID to Manna, the Boys and Girls Club, and a local ambulance company that needed specific PPE to transport patients,” said Rotary Club of North Penn Secretary/Treasurer and Lansdale Day Event Manager Tammy Skiermont said. “It felt so good to be able to do that. This is what Rotary is all about and why we are a part of the community – to help all those in need.”
Usually, the free admission and free parking event is held the first Saturday in June, but COVID-19 coupled with a request from Lansdale Borough administration, moved the event to July. Skiermont said it makes for a much better event.
“I’m happy about the fact we can all come together as a community, which is fabulous,” she said. “Rotary uses every single dollar raised at Lansdale Day to support local charities, like Manna, the Boys and Girls Club, RSVP, the PEAK Center, Garden of Health, Easter Seals, and the YMCA. We have scholarships for local high school students, and thankfully, we were able to still do that this year.”
Lansdale Day is important not just to Skiermont, but to the artisans and crafters that take part in the annual event. To many, arts and crafts festivals like Lansdale Day are a necessary source of income. Lansdale Day has made a great name for itself, she said, and crafters and artisans know about it and love the event and Lansdale.
“I felt badly for these artisans who are extremely talented, who actually rely on events like Lansdale Day and other arts festivals for income for the year. I helped them promote their business online. A lot didn’t know how to use Facebook to get their name out there, and I helped them with that,” she said. “They could at least get some business through the height of COVID and have return vendors every year. This year is going to be huge.”
There are more than 200 vendors at this year’s event. They sold out of spaces by June 23.
But Lansdale Day is not any old flea market event. Skiermont emphasized that all vendors are adjudicated for participation. She goes over each applicant’s vendor history with a fine-tooth comb, researching and interviewing vendors as part of the juried event.
Vendors will offer wares for sale in the mediums of leathercraft, woodturning, ceramics, glass, and resins. There are jewelry vendors and home décor vendors offering functional and decorative pieces for sale, Skiermont said.
“We limit jewelry vendors. Everyone is pre-screened,” she said. “I see their work, they send pictures. These artisans either have great experience or some are just brand new. But I’ve done background checks to makes sure they are quality artisans. We don’t sell tube socks here. It’s not a flea market. It’s an affordable, upscale arts and crafts festival.”
Local resident arts and crafts vendors include Diana Burnell, who creates purses, totes, beach bags and the like as Baubles and Bags by DTB; Alexis Drolett, who sells exquisite gemstone jewelry as Champagne on a Wednesday; Bindi Desai, who paints original acrylic and mixed media art; and Alley Blomberg, who, as the Goddess Crystal Shop, sells polished gemstones and healing crystals.
Food is also part of the fare at Lansdale Day. There will be two food courts at Lansdale Day – one at Susquehanna Avenue and West Main Street, and a second at South Richardson Avenue and Main Street by St. John’s United Church of Christ. Food trucks will be on-hand.
Skiermont said there is something for everyone, and she was not just talking about the arts and crafts.
“We’ll have an American fare of hot dogs, cheesesteaks, and cheeseburgers, Mexican food, seafood, pulled pork, brisket mac and cheese from Stove and Tap,” she said. “Local restaurants are a part of this. We’ll have mini pies, cookies, cakes, caramel fudge, Italian ice, and fruit smoothies.”
Local resident food vendors include Richele Brisbon and Shelby’s Sweet Things, offering baked goods, fried chicken, pulled pork and mac and cheese; Robert Mortimer and Uncle Bob’s Traveling Food Service, with burgers, crepes, mac and cheese, wraps and desserts; and Rita’s Water Ice.
Kugel Ball at Railroad Plaza is the site for the live DJ, children’s games, and other kid-friendly vendors. Lansdale Day will also have a Henna tattoo artist and moon bounces.
Both cats and dogs are represented this year at Lansdale Day: Stray Cat Blues and Dog Town Rescue will appear at the event. Skiermont said other pet vendors will offer handcrafted dog coats, collars, treats and food.
Lansdale Day does not have a beer garden – “It’s really not an event that warrants that because of the time of day,” Skiermont said – but Boardroom Spirits of Lansdale and Stone & Key Cellars in Montgomery Township will have samples of their wares and bottles of wine for sale.
Additional sponsors for Lansdale Day include Discover Lansdale, MossRehab at Lansdale, Lansdale Tavern, American Heritage Credit Union, and Harleysville Bank.
“We could not do what we do and give bank without our sponsors,” Skiermont said.
Pennbrook Middle School National Junior Honor Society students will volunteer at the event, she said.
“These kids who are so willing to come and help, it’s so inspiring to see that in young people,” she said. “Forming relationships, giving back to the community, and making the world a better place is all the Rotary is about.”
Seeking New, Youthful Members
The Rotary Club of North Penn is pushing for recruitment of younger members. Change, it believes, begins with the youth.
“It takes young people to run a successful nonprofit,” Skiermont said.
The Rotary Club of North Penn continues to stand strong at 30 members, down from 45 since last year. Skiermont said retirement, COVID and moving dwindled the membership.
“It’s amazing what we can pull off with so few of us,” she said. “COVID hit us hard, like every other nonprofit organization. We are certainly growing and looking for new members. Anybody willing to get their hands dirty and be involved in the community, we’d love to have them look into Rotary Club.”
The nonprofit believes in “service above self” and is made up of volunteers with a common passion for community service. In addition to supporting local nonprofits, Rotary Club of North Penn also aids in the Rotary International’s service projects, which is primarily focused on eradicating polio, disease and hunger in underdeveloped communities and nations. It is one of 34 clubs in the local Rotary district, which includes clubs in the Montgomeryville and New Britain area, in Doylestown and in parts of Bucks and Lehigh counties.
“We are looking to do good in the world,” Skiermont said. “There are still countries in this world still afflicted with polio. We can’t get into Afghanistan and Pakistan, which is a shame because of the unrest there it is difficult to get in an inoculate children. India became polio-free three years ago. And it’s all part of the work of Rotarians worldwide.”
Skiermont said she and her fellow North Penn Rotarians – which include new President Mohana Padgaonkar, President Elect Stanley Hunt, immediate Past President Thomas Clifford, directors Dr. Michael Seidner and Will Liegel, foundation treasurer Lon Seitz, and Interact Club Chair Kristin York – try to live their personal and professional lives with “service above self.”
“We may be a small local club, but we’re mighty. We do what we can,” she said.
Rotary Club of North Penn meets the second and fourth Tuesday of every month at 5:30 p.m. at Smokehouse Tavern in Lansdale. You can find more details on the Rotary Club of North Penn at its website.
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