Discover Lansdowne - LEDC Newsletter #12

Like it or not -- hey, let's decide right now to like it, 'k? -- the holiday season is upon us. Several activities that you probably do all year get raised to new intensities around now. If September is the time for reading, writing, and 'rithmetic, November and December are all about decorating, helping, eating, shopping, partying, and worshipping. Here are some ideas for getting the most out of these popular gerunds.

Decorating
Is it odd that the annual lighting of the Lansdowne Christmas tree precedes Thanksgiving by almost a week? Probably no odder than using strands of colored lights year-round to brighten up one's home or a town's main street, and that's been a trend for some time. We humans like tiny lights all in a row sparkling in the dark -- how pretty! -- so bring on the decorated trees. The Lansdowne Christmas tree lighting will take place tomorrow, Friday, November 21, at 7:00 pm in the little park across Lansdowne Avenue from the theater. Santa, who is really busy this time of year, is going out of his way to make a special appearance and hand out candy canes and small gifts to children. Penn Wood High School musicians will play music, Don's Dance World students will perform, carols will be sung, hot chocolate and cider will be drunk, and the tree will come to life. All for free. Now that's the way to kick off the holiday season!

Helping
This Saturday morning, November 22, the Lansdowne Tree Advisory Board wants to get 60 new trees planted along east Baltimore Ave., and if you help, there might even be money in it for ya. To support this improvement and bring out volunteers, the LEDC is offering $200 to the group that brings the most volunteers (aged 16 or over; younger children should stay home because of the proximity of the work to the street). Sign-up starts at 8:30 am on the borough green at Baltimore and Lansdowne Aves., and if your group has the most sign-ups by 9:00 am, you win the Volunteer Challenge and the money. Even if you don't win, you'll get free coffee and donuts in the morning as well as lunch later on, not to mention the satisfaction of improving a busy thoroughfare that, let's face it, could use some "sprucing" up. Bring work gloves, shovels, and wheelbarrows if you have them. For more info, call Jerri Staiber at 610-284-1493, or email events@LansdownesFuture.org.

Eating
Even if you help plant trees and get a free breakfast and lunch on Saturday, you still gotta eat later on. Let's keep supporting the locals, in this case local kids, with Boy Scout Troop 63's spaghetti dinner Saturday evening, November 22, from 4:00 to 7:00 pm. Nothing says community like meatballs in a church rec room. Kids 12 and under are $5, and everybody over 12 eats for $7. At the Presbyterian Church, Lansdowne and Greenwood Aves., Lansdowne.

Keeping with the theme of eating is this Saturday's Lansdowne Sofa Cinema offering, Babette's Feast, which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 1987. (We'd advise you hit that spaghetti dinner beforehand or you'll be chewing the armrests.) Between the two film showings, from 8:30 to 9:00 pm, local pastors will lead a discussion of the transformative power of food, community, and thankfulness. Bring a nonperishable food item for the Lansdowne Ministerium Food Pantry, and get $1 off snack bar items. Tickets are $5 and are available at the Regency Café, 14 S. Lansdowne Ave., and at the door of the Lansdowne Baptist Church, 17 E. LaCrosse Ave.

Shopping/Partying
The weekend after Thanksgiving offers a brilliant holiday shopping/partying opportunity within the borough's borders. ("Shopping/partying" has to be one of the very best slash constructions, right up there with "watching TV/napping.") A Bit of the Arts is a fine arts show that was founded by local artist Liz Steele Coats, who put it on in her home for several years. This year, however, while still organized by Liz, it's sponsored by the LEDC and is moving to bigger quarters and expanding, with more than 20 artists working in a multitude of media, including ceramics, glasswork, painting, printmaking, photography, and jewelry. Among the many new participants are student artists from local schools. The sale will take place against a backdrop of music, from classical to rock, performed live on site. Refreshments will be available, with professional pastry chefs offering both temptations and irresistibles. Plus, there are raffles -- we love raffles! The show is at the comfy but classy Twentieth Century Club, 84 S. Lansdowne Ave., Lansdowne, for two days -- Friday, November 28, from 3:00 to 9:00 pm, and Saturday, November 19, from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. Admission: $0. Chance to find unique gifts, support the arts, visit with friends, and buy local: priceless.

Worshipping
The Church and Clergy Association of Lansdowne and vicinity is sponsoring a Community Thanksgiving Service, Tuesday, November 25, at 7:30 pm, at the Lansdowne Presbyterian Church, Lansdowne and Greenwood Aves., Lansdowne. Reverend Troy Davis of the New Life Worship Center will offer a Thanksgiving meditation, and a combined choir from several churches will sing. Nonperishable food items will be collected and an offering taken to benefit the Association's food cupboard and fuel fund. Refreshments and fellowship will follow the service. All are welcome.

< Back \| November 20, 2008 \| Newsletter #12 \| visit the LEDC online at www.LansdownesFuture.org
Like it or not -- hey, let's decide right now to like it, 'k? -- the holiday season is upon us. Several activities that you probably do all year get raised to new intensities around now. If September is the time for reading, writing, and 'rithmetic, November and December are all about decorating, helping, eating, shopping, partying, and worshipping. Here are some ideas for getting the most out of these popular gerunds. Decorating Is it odd that the annual lighting of the Lansdowne Christmas tree precedes Thanksgiving by almost a week? Probably no odder than using strands of colored lights year-round to brighten up one's home or a town's main street, and that's been a trend for some time. We humans like tiny lights all in a row sparkling in the dark -- how pretty! -- so bring on the decorated trees. The Lansdowne Christmas tree lighting will take place tomorrow, Friday, November 21, at 7:00 pm in the little park across Lansdowne Avenue from the theater. Santa, who is really busy this time of year, is going out of his way to make a special appearance and hand out candy canes and small gifts to children. Penn Wood High School musicians will play music, Don's Dance World students will perform, carols will be sung, hot chocolate and cider will be drunk, and the tree will come to life. All for free. Now that's the way to kick off the holiday season! Helping This Saturday morning, November 22, the Lansdowne Tree Advisory Board wants to get 60 new trees planted along east Baltimore Ave., and if you help, there might even be money in it for ya. To support this improvement and bring out volunteers, the LEDC is offering $200 to the group that brings the most volunteers (aged 16 or over; younger children should stay home because of the proximity of the work to the street). Sign-up starts at 8:30 am on the borough green at Baltimore and Lansdowne Aves., and if your group has the most sign-ups by 9:00 am, you win the Volunteer Challenge and the money. Even if you don't win, you'll get free coffee and donuts in the morning as well as lunch later on, not to mention the satisfaction of improving a busy thoroughfare that, let's face it, could use some "sprucing" up. Bring work gloves, shovels, and wheelbarrows if you have them. For more info, call Jerri Staiber at 610-284-1493, or email events@LansdownesFuture.org. Eating Even if you help plant trees and get a free breakfast and lunch on Saturday, you still gotta eat later on. Let's keep supporting the locals, in this case local kids, with Boy Scout Troop 63's spaghetti dinner Saturday evening, November 22, from 4:00 to 7:00 pm. Nothing says community like meatballs in a church rec room. Kids 12 and under are $5, and everybody over 12 eats for $7. At the Presbyterian Church, Lansdowne and Greenwood Aves., Lansdowne. Keeping with the theme of eating is this Saturday's Lansdowne Sofa Cinema offering, Babette's Feast, which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 1987. (We'd advise you hit that spaghetti dinner beforehand or you'll be chewing the armrests.) Between the two film showings, from 8:30 to 9:00 pm, local pastors will lead a discussion of the transformative power of food, community, and thankfulness. Bring a nonperishable food item for the Lansdowne Ministerium Food Pantry, and get $1 off snack bar items. Tickets are $5 and are available at the Regency Café, 14 S. Lansdowne Ave., and at the door of the Lansdowne Baptist Church, 17 E. LaCrosse Ave. Shopping/Partying The weekend after Thanksgiving offers a brilliant holiday shopping/partying opportunity within the borough's borders. ("Shopping/partying" has to be one of the very best slash constructions, right up there with "watching TV/napping.") A Bit of the Arts is a fine arts show that was founded by local artist Liz Steele Coats, who put it on in her home for several years. This year, however, while still organized by Liz, it's sponsored by the LEDC and is moving to bigger quarters and expanding, with more than 20 artists working in a multitude of media, including ceramics, glasswork, painting, printmaking, photography, and jewelry. Among the many new participants are student artists from local schools. The sale will take place against a backdrop of music, from classical to rock, performed live on site. Refreshments will be available, with professional pastry chefs offering both temptations and irresistibles. Plus, there are raffles -- we love raffles! The show is at the comfy but classy Twentieth Century Club, 84 S. Lansdowne Ave., Lansdowne, for two days -- Friday, November 28, from 3:00 to 9:00 pm, and Saturday, November 19, from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. Admission: $0. Chance to find unique gifts, support the arts, visit with friends, and buy local: priceless. Worshipping The Church and Clergy Association of Lansdowne and vicinity is sponsoring a Community Thanksgiving Service, Tuesday, November 25, at 7:30 pm, at the Lansdowne Presbyterian Church, Lansdowne and Greenwood Aves., Lansdowne. Reverend Troy Davis of the New Life Worship Center will offer a Thanksgiving meditation, and a combined choir from several churches will sing. Nonperishable food items will be collected and an offering taken to benefit the Association's food cupboard and fuel fund. Refreshments and fellowship will follow the service. All are welcome.	In addition to the wonderful goings-on listed in the column at left, don't miss these upcoming events: Nate Graham & Dave Applegate at Regency Café Thursday, November 20, 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 *Babette's Feast* at Lansdowne Sofa Cinema Saturday, November 22, 6:45 & 9:00 pm; 17 E. LaCrosse at the Lansdowne Baptist Church; Tickets $5 A Bit of the Arts Fine Arts Show Friday, November 28, 3 - 9 pm & Saturday, November 29, 10 am - 4 pm; Twentieth Century Club, 84 South Lansdowne Avenue Minas at World Café Live: 50 Years of Bossa Nova Saturday, November 29, 7:30 pm (Brazilian buffet dinner concert) and 9:30 pm (samba dance party); World Café Live, 3025 Walnut Street, Philadelphia; tickets $19 to $40; 215-222-1400 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! Before Our Times Antiques' annual holiday open house and one day sale is Sunday, November 30, 1:00 to 5:00 pm. This catered event pairs fabulous food and high spirits with bargains on the shop's stock of antique and vintage items, from thimbles to rugs, salt cellars to mahogany buffets. In honor of the store's 18th anniversary, everything is 18% off, with free gift wrapping to boot. Take a friend and go early for the best selection and the most elbow room. Before Our Time Antiques, 54 West Marshall Road, Lansdowne; 610-259-6370; beforeourtime@comcast.net. Mission Burrito is offering tacos for tunes. Just burn a mix CD of music you think would sound good at the restaurant and drop it off there (32 W. Baltimore Ave., Lansdowne), making sure to include your name and email address on it. If they play your CD (and how could they not, since it'll be awesome), they'll send you a coupon for an order of free tacos. Call for Volunteers A Bit of the Arts fine arts show needs a few volunteers to help sell raffle tickets Friday, November 28, from 6:00 to 9:00 pm, and Saturday, November 30, from noon to 4:00 pm. Contact Liz Steele Coats at lizsteelecoats7@aol.com if you can help for any portion of those times. Looking for Volunteers? Does your community group need to connect with volunteers? The LEDC wants to help. Here's how: Fill out our Need Volunteers form to place your free call for volunteers. We'll list your specific volunteer needs in this space, giving you exposure to many local community-minded folks. Facade Grants: Grants are available to business owners in the central business district for facade improvement. This program can provide up to a 50% match for qualified businesses. For more information please contact Michael Grant by calling 610-745-4013 or sending an email to mainstreet@LansdownesFuture.org. Fundraising: Help the LEDC make Lansdowne even better by making a tax-deductible contribution today. Funds are used to support projects such as the Lansdowne Farmers Market, Lansdowne Arts Festival, Lansdowne Sofa Cinema, and all sorts of great stuff (including this newsletter!). Gifts can be made online at www.LansdownesFuture.org/donate. Volunteer: Yet another way to make Lansdowne a great town...volunteer for the LEDC. We have spots open in Facade Design, Organization, Promotions, and Economic Restructuring. To volunteer, please send an email to volunteer@LansdownesFuture.org.

SIGN UP TO RECEIVE THIS NEWSLETTER at www.LansdownesFuture.org Lansdowne Economic Development Corporation - 12 S. Lansdowne Avenue, Lansdowne, PA 19050, Phone: 484.461.7001, email: info@LansdownesFuture.org. Send comments and feedback regarding this newsletter to feedback@LansdownesFuture.org Discover Lansdowne is an initiative of the Lansdowne Main Street Program, a project of the Lansdowne Economic Development Corporation (LEDC). Visit the LEDC online at www.LansdownesFuture.org The LEDC is a 501(c)(3) organization that receives support from the Borough of Lansdowne and the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development