President’s Message

I cannot wait until our general meeting on Tuesday, October 7, at 7:00 PM. Our newly juried members from March and September of this year will be right here at the GoggleWorks along with our mini grant winners from April. These amazing artists will be doing a “Show and Tell” for us. I cannot tell you how much I look forward to this meeting each year. We get to know our artists/craftsmen as they talk passionately about their works-a passion we all share in our guild. Our mini grant winners tell us how they spent their grant, either in their craft or leaning a new craft. It indeed is a great evening.

And speaking of excitement, the count down is on for our 75th Juried Holiday Fine Art and Craft Festival. I placed the large road signs this week and our post cards are being addressed to mail out.

This year is also the 80th anniversary of your Reading-Berks Guild of Craftsmen. Wow! So much of which to be proud! Your Guild has been quite active throughout the years. While much has changed over the years, your Guild is still going strong. We are the largest guild in the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen. And with every guild and/or organization much of the work is done by volunteers. So a big thank you to all of you. Without you, we could not make this all happen.

Our regular general meeting for November will be held Sunday, October 26 at 9:00 AM at our Holiday Fine Art and Craft Festival. Having our November meeting at our Festival on Sunday morning has become a more recent tradition. This allows many of our members to attend a monthly meeting and share any ideas they may have been thinking about for our guild.

“Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun.“— Mary Lou Cook

Your President,
Barry L. Bennecoff

Programs

On October 7, 2025, we will host the amazing new crafters that were juried into our Guild in March and September. Let’s give a warm welcome to these members as they begin their journey with us. We will also hear from the recipients of our mini-grants and what they choose to do to enhance their crafts.

Please remember that in October, we will have 2 meetings because the November meeting will be on October 26, 2025, at 9 am at the 75th Annual Holiday Fine Arts & Craft Festival. This is always the best-attended meeting of the year, and we hope to see you there!

Save the Date! Our holiday dinner will be at the Yellow House Hotel on December 2, 2025. We will have 3 delicious entrée options and entertainment for you. Please keep an eye out for a sign-up form that will be very similar to the new sign-ups for our shows.

Program Chair,
Amy Langman
programs@rbcrafts.org

75th Annual Juried Holiday Fine Art and Craft Festival
October 25 & 26th!

The fall show is upon us. The show committee is hard at work making this, our 75 show, a great success.

Show Chair,
Steve Hunter
festivals@rbcrafts.org

Social Media

Your task for today:

Open and Log into Facebook.
Go to the Reading-Berks Guild of Craftsmen Facebook page.
Look at the most current post and share it to your page.
“Like” the post!

The Social Media team has been hard at work promoting your October 25th and 26th Holiday Fine Art & Craft Festival for 2025, but it can’t do it without your support in sharing and ‘Liking” these posts.

Of special note are the two new videos that have been recently posted to our page. These BCTV programs are featuring our artisans, with Kay Bennecoff coordinating and doing lots of the leg work to get these into production. Be sure to watch these!

Gary Rosborough,
Social Media Chair
social-media@rbcrafts.org

BCTV

Though-out the months of September and October, BCTV has been airing and will continue to air two episodes of “Your Berks Craftsmen”. These two episodes are airing alternately and highlight our upcoming 75th Juried Holiday Fine Art and Craft Festival which takes place on Saturday, October 25 from 9 to 5 pm and Sunday, October 26 from 10 to 3 pm. One show features Show Chairperson Steve Hunter along with artists/craftsmen Diane Phalen, Denise Wilz, and Janice Sonnen. The other show features Steve Hunter and Barry Bennecoff, President of Reading-Berks Guild. They are presenting a slide show of many of the artists and craftsmen.

If you don’t have Comcast, there are many ways you and your family and friends can watch.

Find BCTV on air and online:
Comcast Reading Channel 15
Comcast-Southern Berks Channel 965
Service Electric Channel 19
Both channels are streaming online 24-7 at www.bctv.org
BCTV is available on Roku, search for BCTV Berks – HOW TO VIDE
You Tube Channel
Access Your Berks Craftsmen directly.

Your Host of “Your Berks Craftsmen”,
Kay L. Bennecoff

Standards

Our jury session was held on Tuesday, September 2, 2025. The Standards Committee viewed and accepted 6 new members to the Reading Berks Guild of Craftsmen.

The new members are:

Miranda Fasnacht with Fiber Art
Desire’ Frantz with Primitive Creatures
Adrienne Trafford with Paper Clay
Ethan Boyer with Dried Floral Designs,
Donna DelCollo with Goose Feathered Trees
Christie Edling with Mosaics.

They will be at our Holiday Show. Please extend them a warm welcome.

The next jury session for new members will be on Tuesday, March 3, 2026, in room 325 at the Google works. If interested in being juried, you must be a member of the Reading Berks of Craftsmen for at least 3 months prior to the jury date. You can apply on-line. You may also reach out to the Standards committee for more information.

Please remember that your work must be original work with no copies of another’s work., commercial kits, assemblages or patterns. Reading Berks guild of Craftsmen standards include excellence in Craftsmanship, well resolved design and a unique voice or style.

I want to personally say Thank-you to the Standards Committee for all your help with the jury session. There was a great deal of art to see, and your input was very valuable.

Standards Chairperson,
Diane Phalen
standards@rbcrafts.org

Website

The Reading-Berks Guild has updated our online member directory!

This directory uses membership information provided by the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen (PGC) through their monthly report.

By default, only members with a website listed in their PGC profile will appear. If you don’t see your name, try unchecking the “Has Website” box at the top of the page to view the full list.

Want your website or social media link to appear?

You’ll need to update your profile on the PGC website.
1. Log in to PGC
2. Go to Member Resources → View/Update Your Profile
3. Click the gear icon and select Edit Profile from the dropdown. Be sure to add your website (or Etsy shop), Instagram, and/or Facebook page link in the appropriate section.

Once your profile is updated, your information should appear on our Guild website within 30 days, or after we receive the next monthly report from the PGC.

Need help?

If you’re having trouble editing your profile, email: membership@pacrafts.

Include your name, chapter, and the information you’d like updated.

Website Chair,
Lisa Short
webmaster@rbcrafts.org

Membership

The State Guild website currently shows that there are 161 members of the Reading-Berks Guild chapter.

Please don’t forget that when joining or renewing your membership for the Guild that you select the Reading-Berks Chapter, so that you can get the extra benefits of our specific guild chapter. Joining is easy and is done through the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen

Membership Chair,
John Paul Warren
membership@rbcrafts.org

Pennsylvania State Guild of Craftsmen

PGC 2nd Annual Online Auction
Items accepted until September 16, 2025 Bidding begins September 23 and ends on Sunday, October 25, 2025 at 5:00 pm.

The success of the 80th Anniversary Auction prompted us to have another!

We are asking for your support by donating items for the auction. Auction items are not limited to handmade art and crafts. We accept social events, teaching/donating workshops, restaurant gift cards, sporting events tickets, activity center gift cards, and personal services to name a few. Donations are not limited to Lancaster area-based products and services. Last year we had bidders from all over the state and outside Pennsylvania too!

With each donated item download and complete the description form and deliver or ship your items along with the completed form to:

PGC at 335 N. Queen Street, Lancaster, PA 17603.

Items will be displayed at the Guild Store and online at the beginning of the auction. 2025 Auction Link

I do have an Auction Request “script” to share if you have time to contact your favorite restaurants, hair salons, etc to help with this fundraiser. Thank you!

PGC – Reading-Berks Guild Representative,
Denise Wilz
Denise@wilzpottery.com

Events

Historic Schaefferstown:
Harvest Fair on September 13, 2025 from 10 AM – 4 PM and September 14, 2025 from 11:30 AM – 4 PM.

The Festival is held on the beautiful Alexander Schaeffer Farm in Schaefferstown, PA. Please call 717-949-2244 or email Historic Schaefferstown for more information.

If you would like to put something in the Newsletter, please contact us at newsletter@rbcrafts.org

Newsletter Editor,
Nancy Vardjan

October 2025 Newsletter