Reports are in from other Spring on Fourth Events

In case you missed the day, here's what happened at the Skate/BMX bike demo on New Street: Read the whole report on the Homebase 610 blog.

Check out the photo gallery from the Banana Factory's block party. Make sure you click through the whole thing! There was a lot of fun going at the glass blowing, too!














Not to be overlooked - Here's a link to some Facebook Photo Albums from the Second Five Alarm Art Fair presented by the Community Artists of Bethlehem. Read more about this event - which no doubt will come back again for a three-quel at this blog.

 and Paper Dove Studios 

Weninger Studios

Last, but not least, there's a the report them the HUGE, Cops n Kids Celebration of Reading. This was the program that not only provided free books to more than 1,200 kids, it was also provided the balloons for the Spring on Fourth (thanks to a very generous sponsor, and lots of volunteers). There so much more to report on this event. But it'll have to wait for another post.
Stay tuned.

We want to hear from you

Here's a little back story on this event. It started 15 years ago by a group of citizens who wanted to change the perceptions of South Bethlehem. While some of the bad feelings still linger - there are many who live in our community who have seen the transformation of South Bethlehem, and are proud to live, work, pray and play in it. This event is sustained by citizens who love this city. Many committee members work for various local business and non-profits. But there is not one organization that is the organizer. Our sponsors and partners support the effort. The planning and execution are the results of a real grassroots effort.

We're an ALL VOLUNTEER group, and pretty darned proud to be the muscle behind this event. It's more than the committee. It's all of the local business, volunteers for each separate event, and YOU coming to it that really make it work.

But even the best intentions and efforts could use some feedback. Each year, we try something new. Three years ago, we tried out the skateboard/BMX bike demo. That effort helped to increase community support of the local Skate Park. Two years ago, more organizations were joining forces by presenting their celebrations on the same day. Cops 'n' Kids Reading Celebration, Banana Factory Block Party, and the Community Artists of Bethlehem's 5 Alarm Arts Fair. This year, we added a dance floor to the to inspire ideas of what functions the future Greenway park might offer our community.

We also tried a chili passport for pre-sale. This was a tricky experiment, because of a couple of factors:
1. We we're sure if people would respond positively to the idea.
2. We didn't want to over sell passports - there IS a limited supply of chili
3. We are at the mercy of weather. We got lucky again this year.

Oops! we ran out of chili tickets a couple of times. For those in line - Thanks for your patience! We'll make sure we have enough on hand next year. Do we sell more passports before the event? Should we have some on hand to sell on the day of?

So now that you know a little bit of back ground - tell us your thoughts. What do you like? What could we fix? And if you want to be a part of the behind-the scenes, let us know. We're about to have our wrap up session in a week or two.... after we've recovered. And we'd love to hear from you before then.

Thanks for coming. Thanks for reading. And who's going to the next community event for the Lehigh Valley? We hope to see you there, too.

the 2010 Chili Contest Winners

Our plucky, yet fearless judges had a tough choice this year. And I can tell you from hearing the discussions after all the tastings, comparisons, and notes - there was quite the animated discussion about who was the best. Two categories this year; judge's choice, and people's choice.

The People's Choice winner is:      Tulum (picture taken with some lovelies from the Fun House.)

And the Judge's Choice winner is: Lehigh Pub.

(These poor guys just got to pose with one of the Spring on Fourth Committee members...)

 

Something New this year - Dancing on the Greenway

Thanks to some help from the men of Sigma Chi (Lehigh University) and from the generosity of Holy Infancy Parish, we're trying something new at this year's Spring on Fourth.... Dancing on the Greenway!!

Kathleen Bibalao has been tapping her network of local and Lehigh dance groups to try out the location. She's even wrangled Robert Wagner to host the afternoon.

The location is on the corner of New Street and Mechanic - just a few yards from the Adams Street Bus Terminal. Thanks to the magic of Google maps and the new street view, you can find the floor just beyond the tree on the corner.

So why are we doing this? If one has heard about the future Greenway Park, this is a great chance to the community to start really imagining what to do with the space. Could this be a place for a plaza in the near future? Well - why not try a function BEFORE we design something for the space.... and see what happens?

That what we did with the skate / BMX demo three years ago. Sometimes, people just need to really see the thing before their own imaginations ignite.

Preview The Spring on Fourth Activities

Preview the 2010 Chili Contestants

New for 2010: Chili Passport

Buy this ahead - saves line waiting. $5 = 15 tastings. Available at Banana Factory Gift Shop, Cleo's, Tallarico's Chocolates and HomeBase Skate Shop.

Limited supply available.

Thanks to the designers at the Morning Call for a beautiful layout.

19 Days to the 15th Annual Spring on Fourth event

15^th Annual “Spring on Fourth! What’s on Third? Street festival and Chili cook off

(Lehigh Valley, PA) The 15^th Annual “Spring on Fourth! What’s on Third? Street Festival and Chili Cook-off will be held on April 24^th 2010 from 11:30 am to 4:00 pm. South Bethlehem’s galleries, shops and stores are once again joining together for an enjoyable afternoon of music, food and fun. This year’s festival will be an extra special celebration with awesome events planned by community leaders throughout South Bethlehem.

Founded 15 years ago to celebrate Bethlehem’s historic, revitalized Southside, “Spring on Fourth! What’s on Third?” is a free, public event that takes place along Third, Fourth and New streets. Highlighting the celebration is the popular chili contest, live entertainment by a variety of performers, fun family activities and more from 12:00 to 4:00. In addition, many of the South Side merchants feature sales and special discounts throughout the afternoon.

Featured “Spring on Fourth! What’s on Third?” events include – A Community dance party on the Greenway, a BMX biking and skateboarding demonstration sponsored by Homebase Skate Shop, The Community Artists of Bethlehem present their 5Alarm Arts Fair at Campus Square, Tina Hemmerly and the Happy Hoopers, strolling performers and as always Clarence the Clown will be strolling through town.

This year’s “Spring on Fourth! What’s on Third?” chili contest, which takes place from 12:00 to 2:00 p.m., features 30+ entries ranging from spicy, five-alarm chili to vegetarian versions of the dish.  Patrons are invited to sample the entries, with a block of three tickets – good for three samples – selling for $1 each.  New this year will be a passport ticket system available for pre-purchase; the passports can be purchased at the Banana Factory’s Gift shop, Comfort Suites, Cleo’s and Homebase Skate shop and are $5.00 each for 15 tastings.

The winners of the chili contest will be announced on WDIY 88.1 FM at 4:15 p.m.  Also join WDIY from 4 to 6 pm with a special celebration of community at Godfrey Daniels with a performance by Roman’s Kind of Blue after the Chili Winner Awards ceremony.

Community partner offerings include the Cops 'n' Kids Celebration of Reading at Looper's parking lot and The Banana Factory presents Arts Block Party at the Steelworker's Memorial Park with a Hot Tamale Stage and Arts projects. 

Embassy Bank is the presenting sponsor and WDIY 88.1 FM, Lehigh Valley Community Public Radio, Pulse Weekly and B-104 are the media sponsors. Other sponsors include the Morning Call, Lehigh University, Orasure Technologies, Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce, Saraceno Design, St. Luke’s Print Shop, U.S. Food Service, the Bethlehem Fine Arts Commission, CAT, Coalition for Appropriate Transportation, Bethlehem Parks and Recreation Department, Downtown Bethlehem Association, and the South Side Film Festival.