Honey Brook Harmony Day will have something for everyone

Honey Brook Harmony Day 2012 will take place on Sept. 15 at over a dozen different locations, with James Umble Memorial Park, Honey Brook Presbyterian Church, and the Honey Brook Fire Company counted among them. Harmony Day is an annual community-wide event organized with the participation of the Honey Brook Community Partnership where local residents, organizations and businesses come together to promote harmony in the community.

Renny Magill and Terri Givens, co-chairs of the Honey Brook Community Partnership’s Harmony Day committee, have been diligently at work with their fellow committee members and supporting partnership members to showpiece Harmony Day as a representation of why Honey Brook is a wonderful place to live, work, and play.

“The organizations embrace and take Harmony Day seriously,” said Magill. “To be able to serve on this committee and organize something that strengthens the community has been a wonderful opportunity. We can build on the history of Harmony Day for the benefit of everyone.”

Harmony Day, by its design, puts together fun events for all attendees. Free shuttles provided by Hickory House Nursing Home, Heatherwood Retirement Community and Tel Hai Retirement Community will run throughout the day to take attendees to the different locations. Shuttles typically run in 15 minute intervals.

There are plenty of things for kids to do. The Children’s Passport Program involves kids signing up for a Harmony Day ‘passport’, which is then filled with stickers from each of the Harmony Day sites. Once a child fills their passport with all of the stickers they can then participate in a prize drawing. There is a limit of 500 passports, which can be picked up at the Honey Brook Fire Company Carnival Grounds.

Hickory House will also be a popular destination for kids – with ice cream, a magician and pony rides being just some of the happenings there.

James Umble Memorial Park, the home of Twin Valley Little League, will host a series of events beginning at 10 a.m. with a pickleball demo. Pickleball is a racquet sport similar to tennis, but with its smaller playing area and slower moving ball, pickleball is much easier to play than tennis. Pickleball is a popular activity for seniors and young children. The pickleball demonstration will lead off with Don Welsh offering an introduction to the sport, and then players from Knob Hill will participle in an exhibition game.

Former Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Tommy Greene will be at the park from 12 – 1 p.m. for a pitching clinic.

“Everyone is invited, but the clinic is designed for kids ages 10-12,” said Givens, “We really would like to see those involved in other little leagues come out too. Harmony Day is about coming together, so all are welcome to come and be a part of the event.”

Following the clinic, Greene will hang out to chat and sign autographs from 1-2 p.m.

The park will also have sports and active living vendors on location throughout the day hosting demos such as The Rehab Center’s free backpacks for kids along with a demo showing how to properly wear your backpack, and a martial arts demo courtesy of Brandywine Martial Arts.

At the Honey Brook Fore Company Carnival Grounds, live music and performances will start at 10 a.m., with character juggler Chris Ivey - a former Gold Medal winner in the World Juggling Championships – offering a theatrical and family-friendly juggling performance. At 11 a.m. ‘The Floats’, a teenage band who recently won the battle of the bands at the Brandywine Hospital and the Chester County Hospital, will perform both covers and original songs. From 12 p.m. – 2 p.m. professional guitarist and Honey Brook resident Paul Colombo will perform with his band Maya Blue.

“We have a new member, John McGovern, on bass and vocals, along with me and George Fessenbecker on percussion and vocals,” said Colombo. “We’re looking forward to playing in my hometown and will be debuting new material, including two new original songs I wrote.”

This year the Honey Brook Fire Company will be holding a chicken BBQ at the carnival grounds from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. (or until sold out) to benefit the fire company.

“Our menu consists of a whole half chicken salad, corn on the cob, hot dogs, rolls, beverage and a sweet treat for a price of $12 per person,” said Dawn Robb, who helps organize fundraisers for the fire company.

The fire company will also have display booths and activities directed by Chester County Emergency Services and others.

One attraction which is new for this year is the Taste of Honey Brook event being held in the Fellowship Hall of Honey Brook Presbyterian Church. Taste of Honey Brook is a free expo-style gallery of bite-sized food offerings provided by Honey Brook restaurants and other businesses and organizations.

“With (Taste of Honey Brook) our efforts are to focus on the ways which we can work together to help, benefit and highlight the area’s hidden treasures,” Magill said. “It provides food samples and information to the community. Also, donations will be accepted there to benefit the church’s Shepherd’s Kitchen Food Pantry.”

“There is no suggested donation,” said Givens, “we have it (set up) so that people can give what they can.”

“This is our first time doing it, and we are hoping for great success,” continued Magill. “It will give people a chance to try samples of signature dishes form area restaurants before lunchtime.”

Food will be available from Peddler’s Inn, Jerry’s Pizza Pie, La Piazza, Something Grilled, and September Farms. There are other vendor spots available for taste of Honey Brook, and you do not have to be a restaurant to participate - you can be a caterer or have another business dealing with food (Tel-Hai, for example, will have a nutritionist on hand to talk about healthy eating).

Across the street from the Honey Brook Presbyterian Church there will be a WYOU live radio remote from 10 a.m. -12 p.m. to add to the fun.

Honey Brook Hardware will have chainsaw sculptor Andrew Kinsinger on the premises creating one-of-a-kind artworks. Also scheduled are a Stihl equipment promo trailer and special sales.

Heatherwood Retirement Community is once again hosting their popular open-air Market and Craft Fair, with forty vendors on-site. Crafts, hand-made items, art and food are among the goods that will be available. Auntie Anne’s Pretzels, the Glenmoore Food Truck, and the Mesa Grill are just some of the food vendors that will be in attendance.

Also included in this list of destinations is St. Peter Parish, located at 2835 Manor Rd. in West Brandywine, which will be celebrating their 50 year anniversary that day by hosting an old-fashioned country fair from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

“We included St. Peter’s Parish because they were originally founded in Honey Brook,” said Magill.

A Pet Blessing, conducted by Pastor Rich Moore will held at Living god Lutheran Church from 9 – 11 a.m.

“We invite people to bring their pets for a pet blessing (and we) encourage everyone to bring along a blanket or a towel which will be donated to the SPCA,” said Pastor Moore. “We will have refreshments for kids, doggy treats, and a watering hole for horses. There will also be a hoagie sale to benefit the American Cancer Society from 9 – 11 a.m.”

Making Harmony Day happen is no small feat, and the same can be said for making it known. This year’s Harmony Day sponsors contributed approximately $10K to marketing, last year that number was $7.1K, and the year before totaled $4K. This commitment from businesses to Harmony Day shows that it is more than about giving people the chance to walk down the street, have a snack, and spend a little money. Harmony Day’s origin traces back decades as the coalescence of the community of Honey Brook in the face of an act of racial intolerance. Today, the coming together is for facing the challenge of sustaining the community by supporting the institutions, organizations, and businesses within the community.

“We encourage other businesses to get involved (because) the amount of publicity a business gains during Harmony Day is just tremendous,” said Givens. “Everyone involved gets recognition and notoriety, so we would like to see more businesses involved.”

“My involvement in the committee is a representation of Tel Hai’s commitment to broaden the community by learning all we can about our neighbors and creating cooperative relationships,” said Magill. “We hope that all who are involved in Harmony Day mutually benefit through the sharing of resources.”

He added that he has seen small organizations “struggle as individuals” to accomplish the same mission championed by Harmony Day, and suggested that the collective pooling of resources which goes into Harmony Day is an very effective means to support and be seen in the community.

“All who are involved (as Harmony Day sponsors) benefit the whole,” he continued, “none of us could do this on our own.”

For a full schedule of Harmony Days events by location, visit www.honeybrookevents.com/harmonyday.htm

For questions, including information on how to add your business to the Taste of Honey Brook, send an email to the Honey Brook Community Partnership at HoneyBrookACP@Gmail.com

The Harmony Day Committee consists of: Terri Givens – Heatherwood Retirement Community (Co-Chair), Renny Magill – Tel Hai Retirement Community (Co-Chair), Kelly Good – Susquehanna Bank, Cathie Thompson – Hickory House, Bob Klinger, President, HB Fire Co, Dawn Schaffer - Honey Brook Community Library, Chuck Bachman – Susquehanna Bank, Chief Pat Ely of the Honey Brook Police Department, Pat Moser – TV Little League Association, Kevin Matthews – Howell Lodge, H. Lyn and Bev Kemper – Wimpy & Dees Diner, Jennifer Hacker – Heatherwood Retirement Community, and Sam Baez – Key Financial, Inc. The committee received additional significant support from Donna Horvath – Partnership Steering Committee Chair and Janet Heinis – Partnership Steering Committee Vice-Chair.

The Honey Brook Community Partnership would like to thank the following sponsors for their support for 2012 Harmony Day - Honey Brook Sponsors: Heatherwood Retirement Community, Honey Brook Animal Hospital, Honey Brook Golf Club, Honey Brook Pharmacy, Hickory House Nursing, Knies Insurance Group, The Rehab Center, Susquehanna Bank, Tel Hai Retirement Community. Harmony Sponsors: Bistro on 10, Morgantown/Honey Brook Community Courier, Honey Brook Family Practice, Hoover Building Specialists, Dr. Marsha Kirschner DMD, Labs Funeral Home, M&T Bank, Multiquip/Sanders and Saws, Sharp Energy, Suplee Oil Company, Tri County Record. Friends: Honey Brook Outdoor Power LLC, Schnure Manufacturing, and Stoltzfus Market.

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