Looking ahead to history
150th anniversary plans getting underway
LANSDALE >> It’s still a year and a half away, but the week of Lansdale’s biggest birthday yet is starting to come into focus.
Borough continued talks on plans for Lansdale’s 150th birthday on Wednesday night, including a price tag for a new landmark and a tentative schedule of two celebrations in one week.
“The actual anniversary is August 24 of 2022, so it’s just less than 18 months away at this point,” said Borough Manager John Ernst.
Informal planning for the town’s 150th birthday started in 2019, and in January the volunteer 150th anniversary committee first unveiled plans for a gazebo to be installed in Memorial Park, ideally by early 2022 for use throughout that year. Ernst and councilman Bill Henning, both members of that planning committee, gave council a preview on Wednesday night of ideas up for discussion so far.
“We are looking to have several events throughout the season, that would be in conjunction with our typical seasonal events. Such as, Lansdale Day would have a focus on the anniversary of the borough, several First Friday events would have a focus on the anniversary of the borough,” Ernst said.
“For those of us that remember the strawberry festival that was held at the
firehouse, on the same day as Lansdale Day, we are working to bring that back, just at least for that one year,” he said.
Other suggestions so far have included a parade for firefighters and emergency responders, a visit by a steam engine to the town’s train station, and an evening of baseball between local high school teams.
“We would bring back the rivalry of Lansdale Catholic and North Penn. I’ve been talking to both coaches of the baseball teams, and they are extremely interested,” Ernst said.
Events could include a baseball game featuring local celebrities, and a game featuring an antique-style baseball team, which Ernst said the committee has held early talks with.
“We’ve made arrangements with the Brandywine
Baseball Club, which is an antique baseball club that does tours around the area, playing baseball in old uniforms, old equipment, and playing the game back as it was played at the turn of the century,” he said.
“Right now, we are possibly proposing a twilight doubleheader-type of event, where they will come out and do a doubleheader, and they will provide the opposing team,” he said.
Those games would be held at Memorial Park’s Weaver Field, just adjacent to where the gazebo would be installed, and could also include some commemoration of historical teams, including from the Negro Leagues, that played in town.
“We’re looking at having a community picnic slash dinner on the actual night of the anniversary, Wednesday the 24th, and we’re talking about having that at Memorial Park, where you’d come, bring food, blanket, chairs, and the community itself just gets together to gather and celebrate,” Ernst said.
Henning added that the internal planning committee has already begun talks with local event nonprofit Discover Lansdale about holding most of the events under that group’s umbrella, to allow for fundraising similar to that already done for the annual First Fridays, Founders Day and other events.
“As far as the gazebo goes, Discover Lansdale is proposing to basically split the cost of the gazebo with the borough,” Henning said.
Early estimates are that the prefabricated structure would cost around $80,000 for the purchase, delivery, and installation of utilities, which would be split 50/50 to produce a cost of $40,000 each for Discover and the borough. Discover could offset their portion by selling decorative brick pavers that surround the gazebo, and any surplus from those sales could go into a 150th fund to cover other costs, such as for an anniversary booklet or other merchandise.
“The idea is trying to cut the borough’s expenses as much as possible,” Henning said.
Councilman Leon Angelichio asked if organizers had considered any way to attract corporate sponsors, and Henning said they had, with options that could include larger ads in the booklet, larger bricks at a higher price, or plaques or benches on or around the gazebo. Angelichio suggested the committee could also consider bringing in food vendors with retro-style offerings, and councilwoman Carrie Hawkins Charlton said they could also tie in with a parks and recreation department program that allows donors to sponsor benches in parks throughout the town.
“Obviously, you’re trying to offset the costs from that specific day, but that would be awesome,” she said.
Another thought, Angelichio added, could be to use the borough’s new skatepark to host events, like a celebrity-style skateboarding competition with donations to the fund as a cost of admission.
For the gazebo fundraisers, Henning said early estimates are that the space surrounding the gazebo could hold around 400 brick pavers, and selling those for $100 each, plus about 100 larger bricks, could raise around $50,000, which could cover the Discover Lansdale share with a surplus into the event fund. Ernst said borough staff could also contribute hours working on the project, such as parks, public works or electric department employees, and Angelichio suggested local skilled workers could also donate time instead of monetarily.
“That gives you a ballpark figure of what I’m envisioning the borough responsibility to be,” Henning said.
Ernst said he’s been keeping in mind a rough figure of $150,000 for the entire year’s anniversary events, including the traditional Founders Day fireworks show and activities on Aug. 27, the Saturday after the Wednesday night anniversary picnic. Having the gazebo installed by the spring of 2022 could allow for events there all year, and possibly private rentals, depending on interest.
“I remember there always used to be wedding pictures taken there. It would be nice to see wedding pictures in the park, I think the gazebo will definitely bring that back,” Henning said.
Both added that anyone interested in volunteering, donating or otherwise helping can contact local nonprofit Discover Lansdale at www.DiscoverLansdale.org, follow @ Lansdaleorg on Twitter or search for “Discover Lansdale” on Facebook. Lansdale’s borough council next meets at 7 p.m. on March 17; for more information visit www.Lansdale.org.