“Come To The Fair!” – Annual Colonial May Fair At Pottsgrove Manor

Pottstown, PA – Celebrate spring at the Annual Colonial May Fair held at historic Pottsgrove Manor on Saturday, May 3, 2014 from 11:00am to 5:00pm.

This yearly event is a fun-filled day with activities for all ages including games, music, dancing, and crafts. Tucker’s Tales Puppet Theatre will present interactive puppet shows and will also provide festive historic music around the grounds during the event. Signora Bella will delight audiences with her acrobatic feats. Colonial conjurer Levram the Great will perform historically-themed magic shows and entertain visitors with pocket magic tricks throughout the day. Members of the Tapestry Historic Dance Ensemble will demonstrate authentic English country dances and will lead visitors in dances around the maypole to open and close the fair.

In addition to the entertainment, a variety of early American crafters and demonstrators will be on hand to display historic skills and trades and sell their wares. Young visitors can compete in hoop races, play with colonial toys and games, help churn butter, and more! The first floor of colonial ironmaster John Potts’ 1752 manor house will be open for self-guided tours during the fair. Open-hearth cooking will be demonstrated in the Pottsgrove Manor kitchen. While visitors can’t try the food cooked in the colonial kitchen, they will be able to purchase food during the event. MMG Concessions will offer burgers, cheesesteaks, hot dogs, sausage, sandwiches, fries, hand-rolled pretzels, fresh-squeezed lemonade, and more. Visitors can also shop at the manor’s museum shop for colonial games, books, and unique gifts.

This year’s fair coincides with the first-ever “Pow-Wow on Manatawny Creek,” celebrating the culture and traditions of the Lenni-Lenape Indians. The pow-wow will be taking place during the hours of May Fair and will be held at Memorial Park, less than a block from the Manor. The public is encouraged to visit both events for an experience that spans time periods and cultures!

For a schedule of the day’s activities and a list of vendors and craftspeople who will be at the fair, please visit http://www.montcopa.org/index.aspx?NID=1421.

A donation of $2.00 per person is suggested for this event. Visitors are asked to park at the Carousel at Pottstown building, 30 West King Street. There is no charge for parking, and Pottstown’s restored trolley will be giving free rides during the fair between the carousel parking lot, Memorial Park, and Pottsgrove Manor. Handicapped parking is available in the museum’s parking lot.

Pottsgrove Manor is located at 100 West King Street near the intersection of King Street and Route 100, just off Route 422, in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. Pottsgrove Manor is operated by Montgomery County under the direction of the Parks, Trails, and Historic Sites Division of the Assets and Infrastructure Department. For more information, please call 610-326-4014, or visit the website at www.montcopa.org/pottsgrovemanor.

Like Pottsgrove Manor on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pottsgrovemanor.

Pottstown To Host Native American Pow Wow In Memorial Park

Pennsylvania Economy Added More Jobs In May Than In Any Month Since 1983

Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate fell slightly to 7.5 percent in May, the state announced this afternoon.

The state’s economy added 24,000 new jobs compared to April — the highest one-month gain since 1983.  The number of people filing for unemployment claims also fell in May by 9,000 to 488,000.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/business/news/pennsylvania-economy-added-more-jobs-in-may-than-in-any-month-since-1983-692575/#ixzz2WxdKpdHe

Feeble U.S. Job Growth Stokes Fears of Global Slowdown

For a third year, the economic recovery in the United States is floundering, stoking fears of a global slowdown as the European crisis escalates.

Last month, the nation’s employers added the fewest jobs in a year and the unemployment rate actually rose, the Labor Department reported Friday. May was not a fluke either. It was the third consecutive month of disappointing results.

The weakening recovery is a serious vulnerability for President Obama as he faces re-election and it provides traction to his Republican rival, Mitt Romney, who says the administration has not done enough to strengthen the economy. Because Washington remains deeply divided over how best to stimulate growth, the report increases the  pressure on the Federal Reserve to take further action on its own.

The United States gained a net 69,000 jobs in May, for an average of 96,000 over each of the last three months. That is down from a 245,000 gain on average from December through February. The unemployment rate rose to 8.2 percent in May from 8.1 in April, though largely because more people began looking for work. And there was more bad news: job gains that had been reported in March and April were revised downward.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/02/business/economy/us-added-69000-jobs-in-may-jobless-rate-at-8-2.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper