Newsletter - October 2026 | | |
The excitement is growing as we are getting closer to our 76th Annual Juried Holiday Fine Art and Craft Festival at our new location in Hamburg at the Hamburg Field House this year. Continue to get the word out that we have moved and the date is October 10, 2026 from 9 AM to 4 PM. If you are not signed up to do the festival with us this year, please consider volunteering for an hour or two that day. Visit with old friends and make new ones. Your help is always needed and much appreciated.
As I have mentioned many times over the last several months, this is an election year for your Reading-Berks Guild of Craftsmen. I have been checking with our Nominating Committee Chair, Bill Kassel, on a monthly basis and as of today, no one has considered a position. What we do great as a Guild: our Spring and Fall Shows are great, our Stanley Seltz Student Awards at the BCIU Art show are great, our jurying process and supporting our contemporary and traditional craftsmen are great. Our general meetings are held monthly at the GoggleWorks in Reading. We have a program and a business meeting each month. Our social gatherings held several times a year are in Berks County. We, as the board, have been pondering how can we move our Guild forward for you, our members. What can we do to help involve our many members? Scaling things down seemed to be the general consensus.
Your board of directors has been meeting extra times and have come up with some proposed changes that might make it more desirable for members to consider a position on the board. Because of proximity and time constraints in many peoples’ lives, we are proposing having a yearly general meeting and get together in person and having quarterly Zoom executive board meetings. Show committee meetings will be conducted through Zoom and on an as needed basis. We are also proposing working with group teams on the executive committee. “Of-interest” in-person meetings can always be added throughout the year. With these suggested changes, proposed bylaws changes had to be dealt with and will be read in their entirety at the October 6 general meeting per our current bylaws and will be voted on at our November general meeting along with the general election that night.
” Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.” Henry Ford
Your President,
Barry L. Bennecoff
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Please join us for the general meeting at GoogleWorks. It starts at 7:00 PM.
At the October 6th, we will elect officers for 2027 and discuss the future of the Guild.
Have you submitted your mini-grant application? On November 2nd, our mini-grant winners will discuss how they enhanced their crafts with their grant money. Also, new members who were inducted into the Guild in March and September and will share some details of their craft and show some examples of their work. Join us at the meeting and welcome them to the Guild.
Save the Date! December 1st will be our annual holiday dinner. Do you have a suggestion for the location of our dinner? Please email me as soon as possible at birdgyrl@gmail.com with suggestions.
| | Holiday Fine Art & Craft Festival | | |
Our 2026 Fall show is almost upon us. We will have 51 craftsmen this year at the Hamberg Field House Oct. 10, 2026 from 9:00 AM to 4 PM. Please continue to push this event through your social media and by word of mouth. All members are able to attend for free, so come and see your fellow craftsmen and do your holiday shopping with us.
The show Committee has taken on a lot of extra work to make this event a quality show. My thanks to all of the committee for the support and work you have put in.
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Your Social Media team has been hard at work posting almost every day about our upcoming Holiday Show. Come join us at the Fine Art & Craft Festival for this ONE DAY ONLY event on October 10, 2026. It will have free parking. Plus, it will be all on one floor for easy access, so invite your friends!
The NEW LOCATION which is the Hamburg Field house is located on
123-127 South 4th Street in the rear (Pine Street) in Hamburg, PA 19526.
If you are traveling on Route I-78 from either direction, the exit to the show is Exit 30.
Be sure to visit our Facebook web page and “LIKE” and share our posts so that everyone knows about this great show.
Finally, tell friends and family that they can receive an admission discount by purchasing advance tickets ahead of time.
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On “Your Berks Craftsmen” this month we are continuing the segment on our 76th Juried Holiday Fine Art and Craft Festival that is fast approaching on Saturday, October 10, 2026, from 9 AM to 4 PM in our new location, The Hamburg Field House, in the town of Hamburg, PA. Joining me in the studio for the recording of this program with some of our talented artists and craftsmen, Steve Hunter, Janice Sonnen, Kristin Gawlick, Bill Kassel and Barry Bennecoff. For continuous updates to our Festival, please go to rbcrafts.org and follow us on Facebook.
There are so many ways you can watch “Your Berks Craftsmen”. It airs every Wednesday night at 7PM on BCTV. Also, go to our Reading-Berks Guild of Craftsmen’s website, rbcrafts.org OR find it on BCTV.org. Finally, our 76th Juried Holiday Fine Art and Craft Festival is also posted on BCTV’s new Berks Calendar. Hope to see you on October 10, 2026.
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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 VIDEO
You Tube Channel
Access Your Berks Craftsmen directly.
Thanks for watching,
Your Host of “Your Berks Craftsmen”,
Kay L. Bennecoff
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Help your business grow using FREE or low cost webinars! Sign up for emails from SCORE
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Support the Guild in several areas. Store help, Fine Craft Guild booth, etc. If you would like to volunteer some time, check the sign up genius link
Volunteers needed for the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, PA for the Fall Fine Craft Fair October 23-25, 2026. Sign up now.
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Fine Craft as a Business: How to Launch a Craft Business
Location: PA Guild of Craftsmen (PGC), 335 N. Queen St., Lancaster, PA, 2nd Floor (In person and via Zoom).
Saturday, October 17, 2026 – ½ day Session – 9:00 am – 12:00 pm, 2nd floor, large classroom
This workshop is specially designed for crafts people who want to start a craft business or ensure their current business is set up properly and follows the best practices for legality, insurance coverage, tax payments, etc. Also, learn about sales channels, copyrights, etc.
| | PGC offers a series of workshops as part of the Fine Craft as a Business program to help you set up, maintain, or expand your art/craft business and to enrich your business skills in general. Workshops are scheduled 2-3 times per year. Depending on the topics, we have half-day and full day programs that usually take place on a Saturday. They will be publicized on the PGC website and on social media. Programs are presented either via Zoom and/or In-Person. All programs will be recorded. Click here to learn of informative and helpful up-coming and past presentations. | | |
Are you passionate about fine craftsmanship and interested in helping guide the future of our Guild? We are currently seeking nominations for several upcoming openings on our Board of Directors. Elections will be held in November, and nominations should be submitted by the regular October meeting.
Serving on the Board is a meaningful way to support the Guild’s mission, contribute your ideas, and help sustain our long tradition of excellence in fine craft. Board members provide leadership, stewardship, and direction for our programs and activities.
The following positions are open for nomination along with a brief job description:
presides over meetings, appoints committee chairpersons, directs
Guild activities, and serves as an ex-officio member of all committees.
Note: The Past President-serves one year on the Executive
Committee to support the incoming President and ensure a smooth
transition.
manages Guild funds and provides financial reports at each meeting
of the Guild
records and distributes minutes of all Executive Committee meetings
and records and reads minutes of all general meetings at general
meetings
monthly, email board members to received information for an up-coming newsletter and publish it using Constant Contact, a very easy computer newsletter program. Tutorial lessons will be given to the new Newsletter Editor.
We welcome nominations of members who are committed, dependable, and enthusiastic about supporting the Guild. Prior board experience is helpful but not required.
We encourage you to consider how you—or a fellow member—can help support and shape the future of our Guild. If you would like to nominate yourself or another member, please reach out to me.
Nominating Committee Chair,
Bill Kassel
bill@bill-kassel.com
| | Up-coming Craft Opportunities | | |
The Berks Art Alliance is a non-profit organization that supports the visual arts in the greater Berks county region. Our objective is to encourage artists by providing workshops, exhibitions and information that will keep the artistic momentum alive and growing in, and beyond, Berks County.
This year we are excited to extend our participation outreach for our 47th Annual Juried Art Exhibition at the Goggleworks Center for the Arts in November! The submission deadline is September 18, 2026, and is open to artists over 18 years of age. Works submitted must adhere to the guidelines in the prospectus.
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If you would like to put something in the Newsletter, please contact us at newsletter@rbcrafts.org
Newsletter Editor,
Nancy Vardjan
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