January 2021

President’s Message:

Your President,  Barry L. Bennecoff

Shows:

Work progresses on the spring outdoor  show at Renningers. This show looks to have  great potential, we have a large outdoor venue with a roof,  lots of parking , and a public starved for something to do. The only thing we need is to save you , our members, a space in this great show.  Go to our web page look for the festival pull down tap,  on this page select  info for exhibitors, select the  May Day button, fill out the application and send it in.

Show Chair, Steve Hunter

1st Saturday’s Pop-Up Shows at Renninger’s Farmers’ Market:

Get the pop-up application

The Reading-Berks Guild Market:

The Reading-Berks Guild Market  Facebook Group is live! Some of our members are listing and selling items from the Reading-Berks Guild Market. We are just beginning, so check back often. To go to our Market, sign into Facebook and search for Reading-Berks Guild Market, or click on groups (the little icon at the top of the page that looks like a group of people) and find us, and there is also a link from our website. To sell, you must be a juried member of our chapter. To purchase, you must be a member of the Group.  Just go to the Group and click on Join.  For more information, contact Louise at eglassplace@gmail.com. 

Market Administrator, Louise Mehaffey

Opportunity for Reading-Berks Members:

Tom Brungard of the Recreation Board of Birdsboro has invited our members to apply for their “Second Saturday” Craft Show on March 13th, 2021 at the Birdsboro Memorial Community Center.  If you need more information, please contact Tom Brungard . Get the application.

Programs:

For those of you who are good at Zoom presentations and would like to do a presentation this month or in February, please give me a call: 610-655-5541.

General Meetings by Zoom:

Due to social distancing and indoor event attendance limits, we will will be having our January and most likely February Meetings by Zoom.   Please sign up for our Zoom meetings by emailing: info@rbcrafts.org.  You will be invited to all future zoom meetings.

The link to the zoom meeting will be sent by Mail Chimp a day or two before the meeting.

Media:

Casting call for all craftsmen of The Reading-Berks Guild of Craftsmen.  Needed:  several craftsmen who want to share their stories  of their craft in 2021.  As most of you know, I usually get my “Stars” lined up for the following year at our Holiday Fine Art and Craft Festival .  Since that did not happen this year I am on a “Star Search”. We are able to go into the studio at BCTV.  We can only have two people in the studio at one time.  OR we can do a zoom BCTV show right in your studio.  As we did several zoom shows this past year we kept getting better and better as we learned more and more about zoom with each show.  So those are our options.  Think about this and so when I call you, you can let me know which one is best for you.

I want to thank all our stars who appeared on BCTV in 2020.  You were truly stars, not only in your respective craft but the ways you worked with me and BCTV to achieve the successful shows that we were able to produce.  Kudos to you!  All the shows from 2020 can be seen by going to our website at https://rbcrafts.org/our-guild/bctv-your-berks-craftsmen/Your BCTV Host, Kay Bennecoff

Standards:

The next jury session is scheduled for Tues, March 9, 2021 at the Goggleworks. Members who have belonged to our chapter for a minimum of 3 months are eligible to present their work for jurying. Because of COVID19, I don’t know at the present time how jurying will be done, but if you want your work juried, contact me.  For more information or for an application, go to https://rbcrafts.org/resources or contact Louise at eglassplace@gmail.com.

Standards Chair, Louise Mehaffey

Membership Dues:

A friendly reminder that for a large percentage of our membership, membership dues were due by the end of the year.  If you are in this group and did not receive your bill for your dues, please contact the PA  Guild of Craftsmen.  The remaining members dues are due the month in which you joined.

Events:

General Meetings: (1st Tuesday of Month)

January 5, 2021: General Meeting via Zoom at  7 PM
February 2, 2021: General Meeting via Zoom at 7 PM

Shows:

Something for Your Sweetheart:  First Saturday, February 6, 2021 9 AM –  3 PM at Renninger’s Farmers’ Market in the White Room

Think Spring:  First Saturday, March 6, 2021 9 AM – 3 PM at Renninger’s Farmers’ Market in the White Room

Hoppy Shopping:  First Saturday, April 3, 2021 9 AM – 3 PM at Renninger’s Farmers’ Market in the White Room

Mega Spring Craft Show: First Saturday, May 1 (May Day) 9 AM -3 PM Renninger’s Farmers’ Market Outside, Under the Pavilion

Randy Gerhart:

Randy Gerhart is the husband of one of our long term members:  Anne Gerhart.  Our hearts go out to Anne at this time.

From the Reading Eagle:

Randy S. Gerhart, 66, of Bern Twp., passed away Monday, December 21, 2020 in Reading Hospital and Medical Center. He was the husband of Anne M. (Lauter) Gerhart. They were married April 23, 1977 and celebrated 43 years of marriage. Born in West Reading, he was the son of the late Stanley E. and Doris V. “Ginny” (Yoder) Gerhart. Randy was a member of Bern U.C.C., where his family held membership for 4 generations. He always cared about his family and friends more than himself and worked hard his whole life. Randy was an extremely proud father and grandfather. If there was one thing Randy taught his sons, it was that family comes first and that he wanted to leave a legacy for his sons and granddaughters. Randy graduated from Schuylkill Valley High School in 1972. He attended Lebanon Valley College and Ryder Technical institute with a degree in electronics. He worked at GPU for 20 years as a Storage IT Engineer. He also worked at Quest Diagnostics in Norristown as a Storage IT Engineer. Randy loved the Philadelphia Eagles and Penske Racing (Indycar). His favorite driver was Hélio Castroneves. Randy’s pride and joy, besides his wife, two sons and granddaughters, was the bar he purchased and painstakingly brought back to life, The Van Reed Inn. He enjoyed spending his time entertaining customers and friends, and many of his customers quickly became his friends. He also enjoyed gardening, and telling “dad” jokes. He loved to spoil his granddaughters. Surviving in addition to his wife are two sons: Scott R. Gerhart, husband of Allison L. (Fair), Maidencreek Twp., and Derek N. Gerhart, fiancé of Ashley E. Spatz, Bern Twp.; two granddaughters: Melanie and Courtney Gerhart; a sister: Brenda (Gerhart) Owens, wife of Dave, Bern Twp; a canine companion: Duke; and a feline companion: Duncan. A drive thru visitation with the family will be held Saturday, December 26, 2020 from 9:30 to 10:30 am in the front of Leibensperger Funeral Homes, Inc., 223 Peach Street Leesport, PA 19533, please remain in your vehicles to greet the family. CDC Social Distancing Guidelines shall be followed at all times. Please wear a face covering. Private burial will be in Laureldale Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be sent to The Humane Society of Berks County, 1729 N. 11th Street, Reading, PA 19604.For online condolences, please visit www.leibenspergerfuneralhomes.com

Happy New Year!