Anne's Arts & Activities Blog

New dates have been set for Bradford's Annual Pumpkin Fest. The Festival will be held on Sunday, October 14, 2012, from noon to 4pm. Lots of rides, vendors, live music, food, and shows will be setup along Main Street from Tops to the Square. Everyone should be mark their calendars for this family oriented festival, and keep growing their pumpkins so they can enter them in the "Big Pumpkin Contest." Also, start thinking about ideas for the "Scarecrow Decorating Contest," as participants can choose to have their scarecrows displayed along Main Street for the Halloween Season. Pumpkin Fest Committee Members: Kelly Platko of Roseart, Kim Graham and Fred Graham of Graham's Greenhouse and Landscaping, Kim Hallock of Main Street Outlet and DBBDA Member, and Christy Graham of Northwest Savings Bank are looking forward to making this Pumpkin Fest a memorable one. All Main Street Businesses are encouraged to participate with their own booths or side walk sales. This i...

Ryan Race, a member of the Willow Creek Triathlon committee, and Kelly Platko from Roseart Co. in Bradford, look over one of the Zippo Manufacturing Co. lighters that were produced for the triathlon, which will be held on Saturday. The numbered, limited edition lighter will be available for purchase at the triathlon. Roseart donates the proceeds from the lighter sales to the triathlon. Only 50 lighters were produced; # 50 of the series will be raffled off at the event. The triathlon benefits the Disabled American Veterans of McKean and Warren counties. Those interested may still register for the triathlon via the website - willowcreektriathlon.org - or at the day of the event. The triathlon starts at 9:30 a.m. with a swim at Quaker Lake in Allegany State Park, N.Y., and continues with a bicycle ride to the Corydon Hotel on Route 346 in Bradford and ends after a run to the Willows Restaurant. Photo provided by Sandra Rhodes

Leadership McKean is first recipient of Directors’ Award The Bradford Area Chamber of Commerce is proud to announce the recipients of their 2011 Awards along with the nominees to be honored in each category. Leadership McKean has been selected by the BACC Board of Directors as the first recipient of the Directors’ Award, designed to be chosen by vote among the Board of Directors and awarded to an individual or organization which has earned special recognition. John Sullivan, President of the BACC Board of Directors, stated, “Leadership McKean has had a tremendous impact in our community over the last five years, and we have certainly felt that positive influence at the Chamber. In fact, nearly half of our board members are Leadership McKean alumni, or are current students in the program. That participation is testimony to the success of the program. As a member of the second Leadership McKean class in 2008, I know how much it inspired me to get more involved in the community. Deve...

Actor Lew Temple and daughter Tulia, who turns three in January, visit with Judy Rose at Roseart before heading to the Main Street Moviehouse for the premiere of "Unstoppable." In the lobby of the theater, Temple poses with April Stuckey of Roulette who was an extra when the filming took place in Driftwood. more photos and video after Kapers

The final schedule of activities has been announced for the Pumpkin Fest which will be held in Bradford’s downtown historic district on Sunday, October 24th from Noon to 4 p.m. At the Hooker Fulton Building there will be games such as pumpkin bowling, pin the wart on the witch and face painting, hair braiding and henna tattoos. In the parking area there will be pony rides and a 4H display. Food items will include Halloween popcorn and baked goods. At the PNC bank parking lot there will be pie throwing, pumpkin patch soccer, a prize wheel, a reading corner and other pumpkin themed games. There will also be a booth set up by the Bradford City Police Department and the Project Pride Elm Street program that will have Halloween safety information. Trick or Treat bags to be used for trick or treating will be distributed. Hay rides will begin in front of the PNC bank area. Entrants for the Great Pumpkin Measuring Contest can enter their pumpkins and have them measured in the PNC parking lot a...

Merchants within Downtown Bradford’s historic district will be extending their business hours this Friday, July 2nd as part of their First Fridays program. Merchants extending their hours to 7 p.m. include Paper to Pages, Grandma’s House Tea & Gifts, Main Street Antiques, Tin Ceiling Gift Shoppe, Bradford Furniture, Orris Jewelers, Roseart Gifts, and the Main Street Mercantile. The Fran Charles Shop is extending its’ hours to 9 p.m. every Friday, and Man’s World is open until 6 p.m. on Fridays.

Merchants within Downtown Bradford’s historic district will begin extending their business hours the first Friday of each month. “First Fridays is already a popular and successful program within several Main Street communities in Pennsylvania,” said Main Street Manager, Anita Dolan, “and the downtown merchants in Bradford wanted to try it here.” Merchants extending their hours to 7 p.m. include Paper to Pages, Grandma’s House Tea & Gifts, Main Street Antiques, Tin Ceiling Gift Shoppe, Bradford Furniture, Orris Jewelers, Roseart Gifts, and the Main Street Mercantile. The Fran Charles Shop is extending its’ hours to 9 p.m. every Friday, and Man’s World is open until 6 p.m. on Fridays. “This is a good time for Bradford to begin First Fridays. We have some wonderful restaurants in our historic district and some new ones will be opening this summer,” added Dolan. “The Bradford Main Street Moviehouse will be installing it’s 3D movie theatre this month, so we are hoping people will suppor...

Dorie Meabon, cancer survivor and event co-chair for the 12th Annual Kids & Cancer Motorcycle Dice Run welcomes the hundreds of participants to the Zippo parking Saturday morning. She also introduced little Aiden Davis and his mother Amanda, who talked about Aiden's battle with cancer. Fran Stewart of the American Cancer Society was on hand to thank the participants for the money that was donated for the organization to buy a new van to transport cancer patients to any hospital where they're getting treatment. The rain held off long enough to get the opening ceremonies underway, but did start falling during the bikers' parade down Main Street. Also Saturday, the Roseart Lighter Show continued in the St. Bernard's gym. Above left, Kelly Platko of Roseart chats one of the collectors. An art show was also held Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Lisa's Hairport patio. Organizer Roger Peters says it was very successful.

The second Roseart Zippo Lighter Show will be held on July 17th and 18th in Bradford, PA. Participants must be a member of one of the Zippo Lighter Collector Clubs to exhibit. Collectors interested in participating in this show are asked to contact the Roseart Company for information at 814-362-3030 or email: roseartlightersusa@verizon.net. The cost of a table to exhibit your collection is $35.00 for one and $50.00 for two tables. Table reservations are due by June 26th. The show, which is a part of the Summer Daze events downtown, will be located at the St. Bernard Gymnasium on Festival Way (formerly Webster Street). The public is welcome to come to buy, sell or swap their Zippo lighters. The hours on Friday, July 17th are 9:00 a.m. through 5:00 p.m. and Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. There are collectors coming from as far away as Germany and Italy as well as domestic distributors from New Mexico, Canada, etc. There will be an admission fee to the show of $3.00 to the...