Another event in Easton

This one comes from Kim Kmetz:

Enjoy the warm nights and cool sounds of…..

Summer Jazz in the Square

Presented by Easton Business Assoc. and Easton Main Street Initiative

Fridays July 27^th and August 31^st

7-9pm

Centre Square, Downtown Easton

FREE!

Pianist, Patrick Poladian and guitarist, Frank Belinc

For more info., call 610-330-9940

We also are promoting “After 5 Fridays” in the downtown all summer long with more than 25 merchants staying open until 8pm on Friday evenings in addition to our many fine restaurants, many of which offer al fresco dining.

Blueberry Festival

This message comes from our friends in Bethlehem! Looks like an outstanding event.

Have a great weekend!
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Join us for the Blueberry Festival This Weekend! Join us this weekend for Historic Bethlehem's Blueberry Festival, taking place at Burnside Plantation (1461 Schoenersville Road) on July 20, 21 and 22, 2007. Grammy Award-winning artists Bill Miller and Tom Chapin will perform, and visitors of all ages will enjoy the "Classic American Automobile Collection" of Nicola Bulgari. Juried Crafts, children's activities and a blueberry pie-eating contest are among the many activities scheduled during this 3-day event. Sponsored by Your Philadelphia Area Cadillac Dealers, the official principal sponsor of the Blueberry Festival. For more information call 610-691-6055 or stop by the Visitor's Center in Historic Bethlehem.

Congrats to Emmaus!!

A Morning Call article released today reports that Emmaus has been ranked 87th on Money Magazine's top 100 places to live in America. No doubt that this is due, in no small part, to the work of their Main Street committee and Manager, Teri Madison. Congrats to Emmaus on this accomplishment!

For a link to the article, click here.

Facade Program

Happy Monday!

This entry comes from Mark Hartney and I. It discussed our Facade Program, which is one of my favorite aspects of the Main Street program. Details are below.

Downtowns were once a vibrant center of activity for the boroughs and a source of civic pride, thanks in no small part to the outstanding state of the properties. Sadly, in many places, that time has come and gone.

However, thanks to new interest in our downtowns, Main Streets are beginning to come back. Recently the BBRP, a public/private partnership between the GLVCC, GLVCC Foundation and Lehigh and Northampton Counties, rolled out a façade improvement program. The matching grant reimbursement program is sponsored from a variety of public and private sources. The program has been well received with interest from 57 properties, and preliminary project estimates ranging from $470,000 - $593,000. The current levels of interest far exceed the amount of available grant funds.

We would like to thank the Pennsylvania Department of Economic Development, as well as Lehigh and Northampton Counties for their leadership and investment in this initiative. In addition, we also want to thank Sovereign Bank, Merchants National Bank, and East Penn Bank for their participation and support of the façade program. As you can see from the overwhelming response, the Façade Program is providing an incentive for businesses to invest in their properties and downtown. The Lehigh Valley is only as strong as its downtowns, and with the success of programs like these, we are confident that downtown’s revival is underway.

Congrats to Easton

Hi everyone. I have two really interesting articles regarding Easton, curtosy of Mark Hartney. Congrats to the city and their volunteers for all their hard work!

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-b3_3preserve.5940909jul12,0,6891693.story
http://lafayette.edu/news.php/view/10541/

The articles discuss Easton's successful participation in the Preserve America program, a program run by the Federal Government and subsequent recognition by First Lady Laura Bush as program participants.

Happy Friday!

Farmers' Markets in your communities

Hello again everyone! First, welcome to all the volunteers and officials who are visiting this blog for the first time. Summer is here, and there is no better time than summer to shop locally. In the spirit of taking advantage of the beautiful weather, I wanted to take a second to advertise some of the Farmers' Markets that we have in the Lehigh Valley. All of our markets sell items that are grown and produced by local Farmers - buying from these Farmers ensures that you are supporting your community by spending money in it. The food is fresher, tastes better, and healthier for you than the food you will get at supermarkets. There is no doubt that there are quite a few excellent reasons for buying food at your local Farmers' Market.

Want to check out your local market? Well, there are PLENTY of options:

Allentown Farmers' Market: Thursday 9:00 am - 8:00 pm, Friday 8:00 am - 8:00 pm, Saturday 8:00 am - 6:00 pm, located at the Allentown Fairgrounds on 17th and Chew.
Bethlehem Farmers' Market: Thursday, 2:00 pm - 6:00 pm, located at W. 3rd Street between New and Brodhead.
Easton Farmers' Market: Saturday, 8:00 am - 1:00 pm, Easton Centre Square.
Emmaus Farmers' Market: Sunday, 10:00 am - 2:00 pm, parking lot of KNBT (235 Main Street, Emmaus).
Macungie Farmers' Market: Thursday, 3:00 pm - 7:00 pm, parking lot of the Macungie Pub (126 E. Main Street, Macungie).
Saucon Valley Farmers' Market: Sunday, 10:00 am - 2:00 pm, parking lot of KNBT (741 Main Street, Hellertown).

I am sure this is an incomplete list - please know that if I left anything out I will be more than happy to update accordingly. Happy eating!

Mike Schlossberg