Althouse Arboretum Events

Save Our Ash 5K Dash

October 8 @ 10:00 am – 12:00 pm

Althouse Arboretum   ($15 fun walk/run, $25 5K trail race)

Come on out and give the short but challenging “Save Our Ash” 5K trail run a try, and help save the beautiful Arboretum’s ash forest from a killer invasive beetle!

> 3.1 Mile Trail Run starts at 10:00 am
> 1.3 or 2.4 mile (your choice!) Fun Walk/Run begins at about 10:05.
> New for 2016: Race Timing by Pretzel City Sports

Find out more »

Family Night Hike

October 14 @ 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Due to high demand for this event we will be having two nights you can attend this year, Friday October 14th or Saturday October 15th. Both nights come anytime between 6pm – 9pm. Our most popular event! Families can walk through candle-lit trails to storytellers, then end the evening with marshmallows and the bonfire. Additional games and children’s activities will take place beneath the pavilion. This is a great event for young children as alternative to traditional Halloween activities. $2.50…

Haunted Woods

October 29 @ 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm

Unlike our Family Night Hike which is not scary at all, we have this terrifying event made for the thrill seekers in our community. Come in your best costume to watch a classic horror movie in the Arboretum meadow, and if you dare try venturing out into our haunted woods, but you won’t be alone… $5 per person

Visit us at http://althousearboretum.org/ for future events or to sign up for our newsletter!

Temple of Terror Returns To Pottstown – Seasonal Entertainment

Happy Halloween

The Pumpkin House – Kenova, WV

A friend of mine suggested that something like this would make a great festival for Pottstown.  As many residents recall, tractor trailer loads of pumpkins made their way into Pottstown every fall to become Mrs. Smith’s pumpkin pie, before the company was sold.  She suggested in addition to the pumpkin carving that a “pumpkin toss” might be fun when the pumpkin viewing was all over.

Several locations come to mind, Memorial Park or Riverfront Park would be at the top of the list.

This would be a great “homage” to Pottstown’s past.  Pumpkin parade, pumpkin queen, Pumpkin 5K and the list goes on and on 🙂

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kenovas-Famous-Griffith-Pumpkin-House/278830822139142

Pumpkin Run At Wilcox Farms Car Show

Civic Clubs Working To Make Pottstown A Halloween Town

POTTSTOWN, PA — Sometimes people have to be scared into action.

And so you could say that perhaps one of the best things that ever happened to the Pottstown Halloween parade was that it was almost killed off last year by lack of funding.

Among those who stepped up into the breach, providing a needed infusion of funds, was the Stichter Lodge No. 254, F & AM Masonic Lodge which, earlier in the year, had a scare of its own.

Large pieces of cornice work had fallen off their landmark building on North Franklin Street and the members were not sure how to pay to repair it.

“We were kind of scared into action,” said Dave Hollenbach, a past master at the lodge. “We started looking into alternative ways to fund repairs to the building and it was about then that the issues with the Halloween parade cropped up.”

Read more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20131006/civic-clubs-working-to-make-pottstown-a-halloween-town

Pottstown Halloween Parade Planned, Funds Needed

Location of Pottstown in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

POTTSTOWN, PA — With civic groups working to make Pottstown “the place to be” for Halloween, it would be remiss not to mention the event that got it all started — the Halloween Parade.

As Halloween-parade lovers may recall, last year’s parade almost didn’t happen when it was revealed that the organizers did not have the fee waiver they thought they had from borough council.

Council eventually agreed to pay half the fee for police overtime services to $2,500, but it was a scramble to come up with the money.

Dick Frantz is the Pottstown Rotary Club’s point man on parade matters and he said the club, which co-sponsors the parade with the Pottstown AMBUCS, hopes to avoid that last minute scramble this year.

Rad more: http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20131006/pottstown-halloween-parade-planned-funds-needed

Great Year For Gourds: Weather Conditions Favorable For Farmers

Squashes and pumpkins (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

JOHNSTOWN, PA — The search for The Great Pumpkin by cartoon icon Charlie Brown may have come to a rapid conclusion had he had access to this year’s pumpkin field at the Tim Gresh farm near Colver.

The norm this year at Gresh’s farm are pumpkins weighing 50 pounds or more, pumpkins that are being turned into some of the biggest, scariest Jack-o-Lanterns gracing porches and lawns.

With pumpkins 90 percent water, moisture in the 2013 growing season of Cambria and Somerset counties has been abundant enough to meet that high standard, but not too much to foster growth problems, according to growers.

The result is plenty of well-shaped, good-colored, heavy pumpkins, be they for pies or for fun.

Read more: http://tribune-democrat.com/latestnews/x703131127/Great-year-for-gourds-Weather-conditions-favorable-for-farmers

A Clothes Call: Spring Township Nixes Naked Haunted House

Map of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States with township and municipal boundaries (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The owner of Sinking Spring‘s Shocktoberfest was pumped about offering his customers a one-of-a-kind experience: the chance to go through a haunted house stark naked.

But Thursday, Patrick Konopelski found out that his guests are going to have to keep their underwear on.

Konopelski’s application to have the naked haunted house challenge on the Spring Township portion of his Park Avenue property was turned down, three days after Sinking Spring officials said there could be no nude entertainment on the borough side.

Township officials said they would need more time to evaluate the request, and Shocktoberfest kicks off today. Konopelski emailed his request to the township about 9 p.m. Wednesday.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=514528

Pottstown Masonic Lodge To Host Halloween Haunted House And 5k Run

Temple of Terror (haunted house)
The scheduled nights are Oct. 11, 12, 13 along with Oct. 18, 19 and Oct. 25, 26.
The event will run from 6 to 10 p.m. and tickets are $15.
Stichter Masonic Lodge – 20 N. Franklin Street, Pottstown

Monster Dash 5k will be held Sunday October 20.
$20 entry fee per person.
$45 entry fee for 3 person teams. Pre Register online to receive a free Tech Race Tshirt! Day of registration 7:30AM – 9AM Race begins 9:15AM. Hundreds of dollars in random prizes. For full info and to pre register visit www.makebreak.com

For more information on becoming an actor, call 484-948-8317.

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TempleOfTerror

Berks County Braces For Hurricane Early Next Week

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Berks County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Almost a year after a freak Halloween snowstorm buried Berks County, utility companies are preparing for the possibility of more rare weather: a hurricane that forecasters say could cause trouble here early next week.

Hurricane Sandy was still a long way off northeast of Cuba on Thursday, but it seemed to be heading this way with strong winds and heavy rain that could bring flooding, property damage and power outages, AccuWeather said.

There could be wind gusts of at least 50 mph and several inches of rain, meteorologist Tom Kines said.

The worst case is that it continues on its current northward track, while the best case is that it heads east out to sea, resulting in only a normal rainstorm, he said. If severe weather comes, it will most likely arrive Monday night or early Tuesday.

Reading Eagle: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=423464

‘Frankenstorm’ Threatens East Coast

WASHINGTON — An unusual nasty mix of a hurricane and a winter storm that forecasters are now calling “Frankenstorm” is likely to blast most of the East Coast next week, focusing the worst of its weather mayhem around New York City and New Jersey.

Government forecasters today upped the odds of a major weather mess, now saying there’s a 90 percent chance that the East will get steady gale-force winds, heavy rain, flooding and maybe snow starting Sunday and stretching past Halloween on Wednesday.

Meteorologists say it is likely to cause $1 billion in damages.

The storm is a combination of Hurricane Sandy, now in the Caribbean, an early winter storm in the West, and a blast of arctic air from the North. They’re predicted to collide and park over the country’s most populous coastal corridor and reach as far inland as Ohio.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=423263

Masons Make Friday Another $1,000 Day For Halloween Parade Donations

Location of Pottstown in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note:  Three cheers for the Masons!

POTTSTOWN — There was no shortage of generous donations toward paying police overtime costs for the Halloween Parade Friday, and it included another generous $1,000 contribution, this time from the local Masons lodge.

Matching their friends over at The German Club, who also gave $1,000, the members of Stichter Lodge No. 254 F.A.&M., also ponied up $1,000.

Read more: http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20121013/NEWS01/121019714/masons-make-friday-another-1-000-day-for-halloween-parade-donations

 

$1,000 German Club Donation Starts Pottstown Halloween Parade Fund Drive Off Right

Location of Pottstown in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note:  The cheers for the German Club!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The first day of fund-raising to pay $2,660 in borough costs for the Oct. 24 Halloween parade netted a whopping $1,125, just short of the halfway mark, on the very first day.

Way to go Pottstown.  The biggest contribution came from Pottstown’s German Club, which donated $1,000 to the cause.

Read entire article: http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20121011/NEWS01/121019814/-1-000-german-club-donation-starts-pottstown-halloween-parade-fund-drive-off-right

Pottstown Halloween Parade Is Back On After Council Waives Half The Fee

Editor’s note:  Some of the council’s logic here is frightening.  The reason Pottstown is going broke can hardly be attributed to the costs associated with a couple of parades and fireworks. It’s the protuberant budget!  $38,000,000.00 for a town with 22,377 people is absurd.  Again, these few activities combined account for less than 1% of the budget.  The tax base can’t support a budget this size and cuts need to be made, but council is unwilling to do so (as they have demonstrated year after year).  Then, out of the blue they want to “tighten the purse strings” over a couple thousand lousy dollars that don’t make a hill of beans difference in the grand scheme of things.  I would be far more impressed with more substantive belt-tightening that would actually make a dent.

POTTSTOWN, PA — Borough council Tuesday night voted unanimously to waive half the fees for the annual Halloween parade, allowing the organizers to proclaim that they would raise the remaining $2,660 somehow and that the parade will go on as planned.

It is scheduled for Wed. Oct. 24, 7 p.m. on High Street.

“It’s such a good thing for Pottstown,” said Aram Ecker, speaking for the AMBUCS. “There are a lot of organizations involved and there is a lot of time put in for the costumes and floats. It’s been such a legacy and tradition in Pottstown, I don’t want to see it die.”

“The middle school marching band is so excited, they bought sweatshirts for the event. Their debut this year will be the Halloween parade and they’ve been practicing since the first day of school,” Ecker said.

Read more: http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20121009/NEWS01/121009362/pottstown-halloween-parade-is-back-on-after-council-waives-half-the-fee

Check Out This Halloween Display In Elmira Heights, NY

Happy Halloween!

Check out this house in Elmira Heights, NY.  These people go all out for Halloween.  Click on the attached link from the Star Gazette and view the 20 pictures of their exterior Halloween display!

Click here: http://www.stargazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Site=CB&Date=20111030&Category=NEWS01&ArtNo=110300802&Ref=PH&Item=0

Top Picks For Halloween Costumes In 2011

According to a recent survey, most Americans will be dressing up for Halloween as:

Women:

Lady Gaga 36%

Sarah Palin 24%

Michelle Obama 20%

Men:

Geico Caveman 46%

The Donald 26%

Barack Obama 14%

Pottstown YMCA 21st Annual Halloween Safehouse

Pottstown YMCA

21st Annual Halloween Safehouse

Y Cares Treat Trail & Food Drive

Friday, October 28, 2011, 6-8 PM

Ages 12 & under with Adult

Admission Fee – Canned Food Item or Donation

Food donations benefit the pantries of The Pottstown Cluster of Religious Communities & the Salvation Army.

Monetary donations benefit the Y Cares Program of Freedom Valley YMCA

Freedom Valley YMCA at Pottstown, Adams & Jackson Streets, 610.323.7300 or  www.fvymca.org

Halloween (2011) In Pottstown

Image via Wikipedia

Here is the schedule for Halloween activities in Pottstown borough:

Halloween Parade – October 19th, 7:00 p.m. – High Street

Trick or Treat Night – October 31st, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m

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Pottstown Brick House Halloween And Thanksgiving Events

Image via Wikipedia

Dave has some great events planned for the upcoming fall holidays!

Saturday, October 30th is the Cops and Robbers Costume Party.  DJ Brother Mike is providing the music.  There will be contests, prizes, giveaways and drink specials.  So dress up as a cop or robber and get down to the Brick House this Saturday night!

Pumpkin drinks, creepy cocktails and Sam Adams seasonal New Castle Brown Ale are on the drink menu!

New entrée specials are:

Tuesday – Chicken Cordon Bleu or Chicken Florentine $12.99

Wednesday – New York Strip Steak $14.99

Thursday – Brick House Shepherds Pie $10.99

Thanksgiving Day, November 25th, at the Brick House includes a “Family Style” holiday meal special.  Reservations are now being accepted  The full menu is also available all day! 

The Brick House is located at the corner of High and Hanover Streets in downtown Pottstown.  Good food, good friends, good times!

Tell ’em Roy’s Rants sent you!

http://www.pottstownbrickhouse.com