Three time- and attention-consuming activities have all ended nearly simultaneously -- the Lansdowne Farmers Market, the Phillies' most excellent and successful postseason exploits, and the 2008 presidential election. What to do with ourselves now?

Weaning From the Market
If you're looking to fill the shopping hole that the Market's "passing" has created, how about the Garden Church's Holiday Bazaar this Saturday? Instead of produce, you'll be able to stock up on crafts, holiday items, books, music, movies, plants, jewelry, and lots of other nearly new, gently used, and vintage items. Nelson's Chicken will be available, as will other lunch items plus baked goods for eating on site or toting home (it should be noted that the Garden Church has some excellent bakers). The event runs 10:00 am to 3:00 pm at Lansdowne and Stratford Avenues. For more information or to donate items (bonus -- get rid of some stuff that you don't want but that someone else might!), call 610-623-1645.

Or if you've been craving the popcorn from the Farmers Market, Saturday's screening of Our Man Flint by Lansdowne Sofa Cinema is right up your alley. This James Bond spoof starring James Coburn as the world's greatest spy/ballet teacher will be especially entertaining if you play along with the Sofa Cinema trivia card you'll get at the show. Tickets for the two screenings, at 6:30 and 9:00 pm, are $5 and are available at the Regency Café and before the shows at the door of the Lansdowne Baptist Church, Lansdowne and LaCrosse Avenues.

Missing the Market's live music offerings? Next Tuesday's Bombadil show, part of the Concerts at the Beach House, to the rescue! Bring whatever you like to drink, a snack to share, and 15 or 20 bucks to go to the artist, and enjoy a band "destined for great things" (per earfarm.com) in a setting so uniquely homey it was recently featured in a Philadelphia Inquirer article. Space is limited though, so make your reservation now by calling or emailing Bob Beach: 610-626-0012 or bob@bobbeach.net.

Phillies' Fill-In
If the triumphant end of the Phillies' run left you with some time on your hands and feeling proud of this little corner of the world, maybe you'd be interested in supporting some other local -- very local -- athletes. Next Saturday, November 15, the Lansdowne Boys and Girls Club's annual sports banquet will honor the teams and athletes that participated in its basketball, baseball, and soccer programs in the 2007-2008 season. (A list of trophy winners is found here.) Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for kids, door prizes will be plentiful, and the event takes place at the Penn Wood High School, with dinner at 5:45 pm and the awards ceremony starting at 7:00 pm. For more information, email president@lbgc.net or call 610-623-8031. (By the way, it's time to sign up for basketball. See the LBGC website for details on when and where.)

Keep Being Heard
Perhaps you're feeling especially civically minded because of the election and want to stay involved. We have that covered too. Tonight, November 6, at 7:00 pm at Borough Hall, you can attend a design charrette to consider plans for 20 Lansdowne Court, the building right behind the Twentieth Century Club. In case "charrette" isn't part of your usual vocabulary or in your dictionary, it's basically an interactive forum. In this particular case, residents will get the opportunity to comment on and ask questions about the conceptual plans presented by the Philadelphia-based Community Design Collaborative, the nonprofit group that's been providing the design and architecture services needed to turn this borough-owned structure into a flexible community space with an eye toward sustainability and best practices. For more information or to save a seat, contact Borough Manager Craig Totaro at 610-623-7300 x214 or totaroc@borough.lansdowne.pa.us.

Just Staying Out of Trouble
Sometimes a person is just looking for something to do that's a little out of the ordinary. Okay, so check out this Saturday's Family Fun Night, 5:00 to 8:00 pm, at the Twentieth Century Club. This special event aims to please the young ones, with nearly a dozen carnival games with prizes, a face-painting and balloon-animal-making clown, and kid-friendly foods like ice cream sundaes from the Franklin Fountain, which are dished out of a wheeled cart by costumed servers. The event is sponsored by the Greater Lansdowne Civic Association to raise money for improvements in Sycamore Park. Admission is $10 for kids 4 to 16, a donation for adults, and free for children under 4.

If an evening away from the kids doing something grown-up is what you need, consider tonight's engagement with author Chris Bohjalian at 7:30 pm at the Twentieth Century Club. Author of Midwives and several other well-received books, Bohjalian will be visiting the borough to discuss his novel The Double Bind. He'll also talk about F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, the novel that's at the heart of the Delaware County Library System's Fall for a Book program, which includes discussion of the novel next Thursday, November 13, at 7:30 and screenings of two related films -- 2001's The Great Gatsby and 2002's G -- on successive Fridays, November 14 and 21, both at 7:00 pm. Tonight's author event and both films require reservations, which you can make right now.

Paws for Pictures
See the photos from Animal Friends of Lansdowne's October 26th Fourth Annual Paws for Kindness Day here.

In addition to the wonderful goings-on listed in the column at left, don't miss these upcoming events:

Charlie Phillips at Regency Café
Thursday, November 6, 7:00 - 9:00 pm; 14 S. Lansdowne Avenue; Free

Elinore Speeks of Elaysha at Regency Café
Thursday, November 13, 7:00 - 9:00 pm; 14 S. Lansdowne Avenue; Free

Special Ed and Short Bus plus Adrien Reju at the Lansdowne Folk Club
Thursday, November 20, 7:30 pm, 84 S. Lansdowne Avenue; $15 in advance, $18 at the door

A Bit of the Arts Fine Arts Show
This FREE event is a great opportunity to support the arts and complete your holiday shopping!
Friday, November 28, 3 - 9 pm & Saturday, November 29, 10 am - 4 pm, Twentieth Century Club, 84 South Lansdowne Avenue

Lansdowne Symphony Orchestra Youth and Holiday Concert
Sunday, December 7, 3:00 pm, Upper Darby Performing Arts Center, Upper Darby High School

View the complete listing of local events

Do you have an event to announce?
Send your upcoming events to events@lansdownesfuture.org to have them included in this space!