Butler / Local Interest

Court House, view from the back.Photo: Barbara Bloom

On Sunday July 25th 2010 we were at the Edgewood Country Club in Pittsburgh PA. The event was a wedding reception for Matthew and Jessica Schwersenska. Matthew and Jessica were married at 3:30 pm at Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh. Guests began arriving at the Edgewood Country Club at 5:00 pm where they enjoyed cocktails and [...]

On Saturday July 24th 2010 we were at The Atrium in Prospect Pennsylvania. The event was a wedding reception for Joseph and Courtney Behrens. Courtney & Joe were married at 3:30 pm at the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Chicora PA. Guests began arriving at The Atrium shortly before 5:00 pm where they enjoyed cocktails [...]

This weekend the San Diego Comic Con took place. I did not attend, but one of the panels that literally caught my eye was for the Green Lantern movie. Ryan Reynolds, who played Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, will play the Green Lantern. Blake Lively co-stars, and she received a lot of attention due to her low cut blouse. Wow! I can not wait for the movie.

Well, I'm going away again. Sorta. For the next week I'll be at "Butler Project." It's the youth group mission trip for the summer! Even though we'll be in our home town, we'll be staying at the church. Butler project is something like Reach Workcamp, only on a much smaller level. There are three churches involved and three work sites. We will be working on the houses, painting...putting on new roofs etc! It's such a blast. We get to serve the Lord by helping people in need, and have tons of fun at the same time. Every evening after we're done working, we do something fun like go to the movies, or have a pool party! Not to mention the best cooks EVER feed us the most amazing breakfast, lunch and dinners. You would think we might lose a little weight working every day...ha! Noooo way!
Anyway... Everyone have a great week! Please be praying for us and our safety while on the sites!


(I uploaded another roll of fisheye fun! See HERE.)

A grand re-opening of the newly renovated farmers’ market is scheduled for Monday, August 2, 2010 between 2:00 and 4:00 pm.

 

The market located at the intersections Chestnut, Race and Shore Streets has been remodeled to include roll doors at each vendor stall, electricity and water supply.

 

A ribbon cutting ceremony will take place at 2:30 pm. Local farm produce and flowers will be available. Reusable shopping bags will be available for $2.

 

The Farmers’ Market has been housed at a temporary location at the Quarry Street Lot this season.  Hours of operation for this season are Monday and Wednesday afternoons 2:00-6:00 pm and Saturday mornings 7:30 am to noon.

 

The grants for this project were “Fresh Food Financing Initiative” through the Reinvestment Fund, and “Community Development Block Grant” through the Department of Community and Economic Development administered by the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Butler.

 

For more information contact 724.285.4124 or visit www.cityofbutler.org

 

 

 

 

A grand re-opening of the newly renovated farmers’ market is scheduled for Monday, August 2, 2010 between 2:00 and 4:00 pm.

 

The market located at the intersections Chestnut, Race and Shore Streets has been remodeled to include roll doors at each vendor stall, electricity and water supply.

 

A ribbon cutting ceremony will take place at 2:30 pm. Local farm produce and flowers will be available. Reusable shopping bags will be available for $2.

 

The Farmers’ Market has been housed at a temporary location at the Quarry Street Lot this season.  Hours of operation for this season are Monday and Wednesday afternoons 2:00-6:00 pm and Saturday mornings 7:30 am to noon.

 

The grants for this project were “Fresh Food Financing Initiative” through the Reinvestment Fund, and “Community Development Block Grant” through the Department of Community and Economic Development administered by the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Butler.

 

For more information contact 724.285.4124 or visit www.cityofbutler.org

 

 

 

 

Centre City Summer Jam...the answer to what to do on a Friday night!  Butler Downtown, local bands, and other downtown businesses have teamed up to bring a FREE concert downtown on Friday, August 13, 2010.

The event will run from 6:00pm to 10:00pm in the parking lot at the corner of East Cunningham and South Main Streets (former Woolworth property). The first band, Doxy Drive, will perform at 7:00 pm and Moondrag is scheduled for 8:30 pm. In addition to local performances and other activities, a downtown marketplace will have local food, beer and merchandise for sale on site. Many nearby businesses will have extended hours. There will be raffles with the chance to win cash and prizes.

Butler Downtown volunteer, Bob Dandoy said "I had many friends come up to me at the June Summer Jam saying these events reminded them of the old 'Neighborhood Nights' in the city back in the 1960s and 70s.  The Summer Jam is a nice evening to hear some local music and relax with friends."

All are welcome to this free community event. This is the final concert of the series for the summer; don't miss the chance to attend. Stop by and enjoy an evening of local music and Butler flavor!

 

Centre City Summer Jam...the answer to what to do on a Friday night!  Butler Downtown, local bands, and other downtown businesses have teamed up to bring a FREE concert downtown on Friday, August 13, 2010.

The event will run from 6:00pm to 10:00pm in the parking lot at the corner of East Cunningham and South Main Streets (former Woolworth property). The first band, Doxy Drive, will perform at 7:00 pm and Moondrag is scheduled for 8:30 pm. In addition to local performances and other activities, a downtown marketplace will have local food, beer and merchandise for sale on site. Many nearby businesses will have extended hours. There will be raffles with the chance to win cash and prizes.

Butler Downtown volunteer, Bob Dandoy said "I had many friends come up to me at the June Summer Jam saying these events reminded them of the old 'Neighborhood Nights' in the city back in the 1960s and 70s.  The Summer Jam is a nice evening to hear some local music and relax with friends."

All are welcome to this free community event. This is the final concert of the series for the summer; don't miss the chance to attend. Stop by and enjoy an evening of local music and Butler flavor!

 

On Saturday July 17th 2010 we were at Succop Conservancy in Butler Pennsylvania. The event was a wedding ceremony and wedding reception for Ian and Samantha Penberthy. Ian and Samantha were guests at a previous wedding I did for Marwan and Dana Maalouf last July and that wedding turned out great. Because of this, I [...]

On Saturday May 15th 2010 we were at the Alpine Room at the SNPJ Recreation Center in Enon Valley Pennsylvania. The event was a wedding reception for Aaron and Kimberly Benedict. Kim and Aaron were married at 2:30 pm at the Cranberry Community United Presbyterian Church. Guests began arriving to the Alpine Room Shortly after [...]

On Friday July 16th 2010 we were at the Days Inn Resort and Conference Center in Butler Pennsylvania. The event was a wedding reception for Chris and Mandy Jockel. This was the second wedding that we did for the Jockel family in the past month. Chris’ sister Holly got married back on June 18th 2010 [...]

I usually carry my guitar chords and pedals around in a tote bag, but recently I started to wonder if they were getting beat up from lugging them around so much. I remembered I had this little hard shell suitcase that I started to prime years ago. Somehow it got stuck in Dustin's closet and I totally forgot about it! It would be perfect for my gear! So, I finished priming it and gave it a coat of grey. I added these little flower decals that I got at a Stampin' Up party...and voilà! 



I don't think I'm going to redo the inside. I'm a little too lazy for that! Haha! Tested it out last night when we played at The Lemon Grove in Youngstown, Ohio. It was just right. So much easier to find stuff inside since it completely opens up. 

Thank you so much to the 3G Gallery for having me in this show! It was an honor!What a great evening. 

Travis (hubbie), Katie (Dustin's gf), Dustin (boy child) & myself
So LAST night I didn't bring my big camera because I was being lazy and didn't want to lug it around the Gallery Crawl. Sheesh. I learned my lesson. What was I thinking? So, the pictures above I stole from the 3G facebook page. All the other pictures I took were with my Fisheye file camera, which I have to wait to see. Man. I can't believe we always had to wait to see our pictures. It kills me nowadays!Over all I wasn't that impressed with the Gallery Crawl. I'm sure they differ from time to time but I really didn't see anything that I was super in love with. Don't get me wrong, I do love looking at any and all art. There just wasn't ANY surrealist types? Maybe I missed them? I did very much enjoy The Art of Akira at the Toonseum though! Either way it was fun to walk around with the fam, and then after we ate at the Spaghetti Warehouse. Delectable! 

Design

1. City Bike Routes
2. Downtown Signage
3. Building Inventories

Promotions

1. Walking and Trolley Tours
2. Centre City Summer Jam
3. Community Conference Calls
4. Happy Hour Events

Economic Restructuring

1. LERTA (Tax Abatement Program with the City, School District & County
2. Business Privilege Tax Research
3. Benefits to Locating a Business Downtown

Organizational

1. Annual Comedy Night
2. Interviewing 6 other Successful PA Main Street Programs to understand their transition from the grant cycle to sustainable revenue.
3. Volunteer recruitment: Compiling a list of specific tasks and projects that volunteers can take on.

Butler Downtown uses the Main Street Program Four-Point Approach: design, organization, promotion, and economic restructuring to advance the sense of place, quality of life and economic vitality of our downtown business district and traditional neighborhoods.  Each committee was asked to list the Top 3 projects they are currently working on.  Additional information on each topic can be found through the links provided.