Harvest Day Produces $11K For Yardley Community

YARDLEY, PA —With Harvest Day a week away, one of the organization's main outcomes of the annual festival is the money given back to the community.

The Yardley Harvest Day Committee doled out $11,500 to borough community organizations following last year's festival, said Rich Wayne, Harvest Day's co-chairman.

Yardley Harvest Day will be held on Saturday, Sept. 23. The festival runs rain or shine from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Fitzgerald Field on Bell and College Avenues as well as along Canal Street.

Nine groups received money, including The Gather Place and Friends of Lake Afton.

They included:

• The Gather Place —$500
• Yardley Farmers Market —$1,000
• Yardley Makefield Emergency Unit —$1,000
• Friends of Lake Afton —$1,000
• Friends of Delaware Canal - Mary Yardley Bridge —$1,000
• Experience Yardley —$1,000
• Yardley Historical Association —$1,500
• Jamie Gallagher, Sam Lebrecque, and Harry Wayne —$500 each
• Pennsbury Scholarship Foundation —$3,000

The Gather Place

The committee is happy to award $500 to our newest beneficiary, the Gather Place. The Old AME church on Canal Street. Gather Place opened on September 10, 2022, as the first African American and women-owned, operated, American History Museum in Bucks County. Shirley Lee Corsey, Property Conservator and Executive Director.

Yardley Farmers Market

The committee is happy to award $1,000 to the YFM. The market was formed in the spring of 2015 and has quickly become a popular fixture in Buttonwood Park.

Yardley-Makefield Emergency unit
$1,000 to Yardley-Makefield Emergency unit has served Lower Makefield, Yardley, and portions of Upper Makefield Township since 1955. The rescue squad’s mission is to provide the most advanced and efficient emergency medical care possible as well as educate and promote health and safety awareness. YMEMS is comprised of both career and volunteer members who maintain staffing 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Friends of Lake Afton

The Yardley HD Committee is happy to award $1,000 to FOLA. Lake Afton was built in 1705 to power a waterwheel. FOLA was formed in 1969 when three women became concerned about the pond. FOLA was incorporated in 1975. Project RELAY (Remediate the Erosion by Lake Afton in Yardley) is aimed at the ground erosion due to water runoff from the Church lot. Over the past 6 years, Lake Afton has lost about a dozen trees. After Project RELAY, Project Shade will be next to reclaim part of Lake Afton, building up enough topsoil to support large shade trees. (Michelle Sharer, President Nick Primola, Marna Matthews, Sandy Brady, Marsha Childs, Dave Bowker)

FODC – Mary Yardley Bridge
$1,000 to the FODC on behalf of the MY Bridge Committee. The bridge has been there for 100 years. It provides footpath access for residents in the northern areas of the borough to the canal,
and emergency services access and an evacuation route during floods. Last replaced in the 1980s by the current wooden span, the bridge must be replaced. Members of the Mary Yardley Footbridge Committee presented a draft proposal to the council on the design, demolition, and
replacement plan for the borough-owned bridge.

Experience Yardley
(Chair Elizabeth Young, Heather Diprato, Tiffany Wichert)
Experience Yardley engages in creating and managing community events and placemaking projects that show off Yardley's charm, natural assets & a great downtown. Music on Main, Canal-o-ween, Restaurant Week, 2nd Saturday, Small Bus Saturday, Place Making.

Yardley Historical Association
The Yardley Historical Association, caretakers of the 1878 Old Library and its collections, was formed in 1964 after interest in preserving area history was stimulated by a 1963 Canal Days
celebration. The YHA maintains a collection of primary and secondary materials, including maps, photographs, newspapers, letters, deeds, and ephemera, related to the Yardley area. The Yardley Historical Association sponsors educational programs. The Association also conducts tours of historic Yardley, and provides speakers for school and community groups.

Jamie Gallagher, Sam Lebrecque, Harry Wayne
Longtime volunteers and Borough Seniors in High School each getting $500 scholarships.

Pennsbury Scholarship Foundation
Since 1956, the Pennsbury Scholarship Foundation has helped deserving Pennsbury graduates achieve their goal of higher education. This was started by Medill Bair, who was the regional
superintendent of the Pennsbury Joint School District. The first substantial gift received by the Foundation came in 1968 by William and Anna Hayes. Jeff Smith, who is a director and former president of the fund, was a valued HD volunteer.