August 2023 Newsletter

President’s Message:

We are about at the half-way mark through Summer.  We have had some extreme weather conditions this year and my hope is that our members, our families and our friends are okay.

It was my pleasure seeing a lot of our members at The Kutztown Folk Festival this year.  I, along with our Show Chairperson, Steve Hunter,  got to meet new craftsmen and artists there and hopefully stirred up interest in joining our State Guild and our Reading-Berks Guild.  Several of these new artists and craftsmen were young people.  It has renewed my hope that we as craftsmen and artists are not fading away but we are having a resurgence.  In talking with these young craftsmen and artists, I felt their energy and I want to share our energy with them.  This tells me that our Student Gallery that we do at our Holiday Fine Art and Craft Festival is beneficial to our student craftsmen and artists.  It shows we care and we do!

Our next event is at The Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage, Hemet Fescht, on Saturday, September 23, 2023.  If you are interested in being there with your craft, please get in touch with the Heritage Center or reach out to me.

Your Show committee is working diligently on our upcoming 73rd Juried Holiday Fine Art and Craft Festival, November 4 and 5, 2023.  Deadline is October 1 for getting in your application for this event.  Send it in now and then get back into your studio.  Your customers can’t wait to see what you have been creating for them just in time for their holiday shopping.

“It might have been done before, but it hasn’t been done by you.”  Elizabeth Gilbert

Your President,
Barry L. Bennecoff

 Programs:

Join the Guild members for a gathering at the Sly Fox in Wyomissing on August 1st at 6 PM.  The Guild is supplying mini-pizzas for an appetizer, and fell free to order your meal and adult beverage on the deck, weather permitting. If the weather doesn’t cooperate, the party will move inside. Last year was a great success! Let’s make this meeting better still! See you there!

Sly Fox address: 820 Knitting Mills Way #100, Wyomissing, PA 19610

Programs Chair,
Matt Vardjan

Shows:

Plans for our November fall Show are progressing. If you have not applied yet, move this chore to the top of your list. The show is ¾ full at this point in time and the word is out, we run a good show. We will close the show when the venue is full.

Make sure that you volunteer. If you wait for someone else to step-up it may never happen.

When you read the notes section on your application you became aware that we have asked all craftsmen to sign or add their hallmark, if possible, to the crafts they sell. This insures that your buyers know it is handmade buy you. Who knows sometime down the road you’ll be the maker of a valued antique. A clear mark also reminds buyers who made the item, and helps them add to the collection or directs future buyers to you. When Henry Ford made the model T, he put the Ford logo on every part possible, 15,000,000 cars and 100 years later those marked parts are still in demand. You know like the real McCoy.

Social Media:

Facebook & Instagram:
Help us promote our Holiday Fine Art & Craft Festival. Go to our Facebook page,and click on the Holiday Fine Art & Craft Show Event at the top of the page. Once you are on the event page you can click on the Going button. You can make your choice visible to your friends on Facebook, you will then be able to Invite any or all of your friends to the Event. You can also simply click the Share button for the event, and share it to your page. This is really important to help us spread the word about our show.

We’re also going to start promoting individual artist images, please like, share, comment, it helps all of us.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rbcraftsguild
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/readingberksguild/

We need your pics:
We’re alway looking for new photos to promote our Guild members. If you have something new you would like to share, please send photos and captions so we can share it on our Facebook page or in our promotional material. We would love to have more images of you working on your craft, so don’t forget to include yourself in a photo, that’s always a plus.
Email your images to: images@rbcrafts.org

Thank you for helping us promote our show.

                                                                        Social Media Chair,
Lisa  Short

BCTV:

On July 19, 2023 at 7:00 PM, “Your Berks Craftsmen” featured Karen Peiffer, President of the Board of Directors’ of our Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen and Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen, Eric Dusenbery, along with Kay Bennecoff, Host of “Your Berks Craftsmen” and secretary of our Reading-Berks Guild of Craftsmen.  This was a very informative program for craftsmen and artists to learn about the history of our State Guild and Local Guild and the important work they do  to help craftsmen and artists.

On Wednesday, August 16, 2023, at 7:00 PM please tune in to “Your Berks Craftsmen” to view our talented and well known craftsman and teacher, Louise Mehaffey, as she demonstrates and gives our host, Kay Bennecoff, a lesson on lamp worked glass beads.  You can see “Your Berks Craftsmen” on Comcast, Channel 15.  Don’t have Comcast……..go to BCTV.org and watch on your computer.  You can also view “Your Berks Craftsmen” by going to our website, rbcrafts.org, and see it in a day or two after the initial airing.  It will also be on “YouTube” in a day or two following the initial airing.

Your BCTV Host,
Kay L. Bennecoff 

Standards:

The next jury session is scheduled for Tues, Sept 5, 2023 at the Goggleworks in room 325. Members who have belonged to our chapter for a minimum of 3 months are eligible to present their work for jurying. The room will be open at 5:30, and jurying will begin at 6:00. Members will be asked to leave before jurying begins, and can return in 30 minutes for the results.

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:

From the State web site this month, we are currently showing a total of 155 members for our Reading-Berks Guild chapter.  This has been increasing steadily and it means that folks are seeing the value of becoming members of our chapter.  This is great!

So I’ve been touting how great it is to have a badge from our chapter of the Guild.   So what does it look like?  Here’s a picture:

Why do you need one?

• It immediately tells people you belong to an established Guild which gives you some authority in your craft.
• It lets people know who to call you and to be able to talk and interact with you and ask questions; to be friendlier.  When folks feel friendlier towards you, they will spend more time at your booth, and possibly purchase your work!
• It makes people feel more comfortable that you are not hiding behind some anonymous “no-name”.
• It creates more accountability knowing who you are.
• It promotes your brand and makes a great first impression.

So the question is, why don’t you have a name badge!

How can you get one of these?    Email or contact me and I will get a form to you.  All members of our chapter can have a badge for FREE!

Thanks Much!

Membership Chair,
Gary Rosborough

Website:

We have updated the Directory on the website and would like for everyone check their information to make sure that it is correct.  Send all corrections to info@rbcrafts.org

Website Chair,
Bill Jones 

Opportunity for our Craftsmen:

The Friends of Reading Hospital:

Mary Ellen of “The Friends of Reading Hospital” wants to extend the following invitation to our Guild Members to participate in their annual fundraiser, “Holiday Happening”.    The invitation is below:

The Friends of Reading Hospital  are organizing their annual fundraiser, Holiday Happening.  The event will be held in the conference rooms of R Ground (Main Entrance of the Hospital) on Wednesday. December 6, 2023, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.  We hope you will be able to participate as a vendor in this endeavor.  You may sell items which are unique/special to your business.  The hospital has 5,000 employees; we will supply the tables and sales slips for all the vendors.  The vendors will record their sales and The Friends will handle all cash/credit transactions.  The Friends will retain 30% of all sales and remit 70% to the vendors.  We have the advantage of being able to set up for this event (in the conference rooms) on December 5.  That will enable all participants to be ready to begin at 7 a.m. on Wednesday.  Because we are in a hospital, vendors are required to show proof of insurance, flu and COVID vaccinations.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me.

Thank you for participating.

Mary Ellen Batman

The Friends of Reading Hospital

For more information, contact Anne Marie Kline at 484-628-8434 (Hospital contact)

Forwarded by our Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen:

The 30th WXPN XPoNential Music Fest along the Delaware River  Waterfront in Wiggins Park, Camden, NJ.  September 22-24, 2023.  They are having a Crafts Village behind the Marina Stage, one of two man stages at the festival and are looking for craftsmen.

Email questions to WXPNCraftsVillage@comcast.net

Events:

General Meetings: (1st Tuesday of Month):

August 1, 2023:   6 PM  Social at the Sly Fox (see details under Programs)

September 5, 2023: 7 PM at the Goggle Works

Shows:

Holiday Show:   Saturday & Sunday, November 4 & 5, 2023

Newsletter:

Currently we are sending out more newsletters than we have members.  I would like to clean up our Newsletter list by removing non-members.   If you are no longer a member of our guild, but would like to continue getting the Newsletter please send me a short note to info@rbcrafts.org requesting to remain on the list and why..

If you would like to put something in the Newsletter, please contact me at info@rbcrafts.org
Newsletter Editor,
Sandra Jones