A Founders Day packed with fun, food -- and fireworks!
What a day full of activities Lansdale's Founders Day always has to offer, from the Festival of the Arts in Memorial Park to the Fairmount Fire Company water battle, to the Health Expo, the Food Truck Festival, the presentation of Lansdale's Lifetime Achievement Award, and, of course, the fabulous fireworks! The theme of this year's celebration, Aug. 26, 2017, is Moving Through the Years. If you own a vintage automobile, you can join in our parade to celebrate the day! Just fill in the form below and return it to us. And if you know of someone who has given their all for the borough, nominate him or her for the Lifetime Achievement Award 2017 by clicking here. Cruising through Lansdale's past By Tracy Flynn, Communication Coordinator, Lansdale Borough This year’s Founders Day theme tells the story of how we are a town centered on transportation. So let’s jump into the DeLorean and “move through the years” of Lansdale’s history. Want to know more? Then be sure to come out to Founders Day, Saturday, Aug. 26, to get the full story on all these great places in the Borough. Let’s start all the way back in 1743 when the Jenkins family received land on what is now Jenkins Avenue and began building an oversized log cabin. Construction of the Jenkins Homestead, the current home of the Lansdale Historical Society, was completed in 1790 and housed multiple generations of the Jenkins family. In 1889, seventeen years after incorporation, the Borough began planning for fire safety by starting a fire company ... but a group of citizens who were impatient with the slow progress of the company started their own rival group. The groups settled their differences and are known today as the Fairmount Fire Company. Let’s jump in time to the early 1920s, when locals called South Broad Street “The Speedway” because it was the widest, straightest and best-paved road in the area. As a result it was the street where local drivers showed off their speed and skills. So it’s only appropriate that this year’s new Vintage Car Parade will take place along the route (though at a much more reasonable pace). As we turn the page in Lansdale’s history book, 1928 brought the opening of the Lansdale Public Library with 1,000 books available to the public. It was in one room of the Borough building on Courtland Street and Montgomery Avenue. The library was supported by a $1 membership fee and donations, while volunteers staffed the circulation desk and a schoolteacher was employed part-time to classify books. As the Borough moved closer to the start of a new millennium, our little town became known for its fine parks and events. In 1988, the first Festival of the Arts was held in Memorial Park, and it has grown considerably into one of the finest events of its kind in the area. Fast forward to 2011 and the inaugural Founders Day here in Lansdale. Discover Lansdale and the Borough are excited to bring you another year of fun and excitement for the entire family. Be sure to check the schedule of new and returning events and mark your calendars to make 2017 the best Founders Day yet! |
Founders Day
August 26, 2017
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| 2017_fd_car_parade2.pdf |
