The best of the Lehigh Valley, every Thursday · Issue #6 · October 8, 2026
Happy Thursday, Lehigh Valley!
Saturday in Bethlehem ends with workers pouring glowing molten iron outside a steel museum at 7pm, and it is free to watch. Before that: the last farmers market of the season, a harvest festival on Main Street, and dachshund races at Oktoberfest. We built the day by the clock.
Weather: sunny and 72 today, sunny and 69 Friday, and partly sunny and 70 Saturday. Sunday turns rainy after 8am (60% chance, then 90% by night), high of 67. Monday is mostly cloudy and 71, with a chance of showers before 2.
In today's edition:
How to do Saturday in Bethlehem, from the market to the iron pour
Dolly Parton's first guitar was a little Martin from Nazareth
Homes of the Week: Wilson, Whitehall, and Lower Macungie
Trick-or-treat dates and leaf pickup, all in one place
A 1957 ice cream stand on Route 100 is back
Making Strides is 21% of the way there with nine days to go
35 things to do this weekend
- Joe Roller
News
How to Do Saturday in Bethlehem
A dachshund sprints for the finish at Oktoberfest's wiener dog races. Photo courtesy of ArtsQuest / artsquest.org
Three free things land on the same Saturday in Bethlehem: Harvest Fest on Main Street, the second weekend of Oktoberfest at SteelStacks, and Steel Weekend at the National Museum of Industrial History. They are all within a couple of miles of each other. Here it is by the clock.
9am: the last farmers market. The Bethlehem Rose Garden Farmers Market closes its 10th season Saturday, 9 to 1, in Rose Garden Park on W Raspberry Street. Free parking.
10:30am: iron and steel demos. Steel Weekend starts at the museum, 602 E 2nd Street, with blacksmiths, hot riveting, and a steam hammer in Foundry Park (10:30 to noon, again 1:30 to 3:30). Admission is listed as free all weekend.
Noon: Harvest Fest. Harvest Fest fills Main and Broad Streets noon to 5, free, rain or shine, with a Crayola Kids' Corner. The 21+ beer trail is already sold out. The all-ages Seasonal Snacks passport is still open: $40 plus a $3 fee, about 22 spots left in each of the noon and 1pm slots on Wednesday.
2:30pm: Oktoberfest. Walk about 20 minutes across the Fahy Bridge, or drive, to Oktoberfest at SteelStacks, free from noon to 10. The wiener dog races run at 1:30, 3, and 4:30 (the photo above is one of them), and Grammy winners ARKAI play 3 to 4:30.
4pm: the steam engine. Back at the museum, they fire up the 115-ton Corliss steam engine in Machinery Hall.
6pm: steinholding. The PA State Steinholding Finals at Oktoberfest, 6 to 7. Remember last week's contest at Shangy's in Emmaus? This is where it was headed. The winner goes to Nationals.
7pm: the iron pour. The main event. In the museum's Foundry Park, the crew melts down scrap iron and pours it, glowing orange (weather permitting, and Saturday looks dry). An artist paints the pour live from 5:30.
8:30pm: Dragtoberfest. Grown-ups only: a free drag show inside Oktoberfest, 18 and up. It fills up fast.
With kids: start at 10:30 with the sensory-friendly Lego Batman Movie at the Banko Alehouse Cinemas at SteelStacks ($7, lights up, sound down). Then the Pup Parade at Oktoberfest at noon, the wiener dog races, the Kids' Corner on Main Street, and the iron pour before bedtime.
Want the steel story? The Steelworkers' Archives bus tour leaves the museum plaza at 3:30 ($10, sign up ahead) and rides through the old plant site.
Sunday, if you're up for rain: the Bethlehem Steel Legacy Band plays indoors at the museum at 2:30, and the Foundry Park demos run again if the rain holds off.
Community Digest
Dolly Parton's First Guitar Was a Little Martin From Nazareth
Dolly Parton was 12 when she got a "little bitty baby Martin guitar," and she played it at her first Grand Ole Opry show. Her cousin Richie Owens says his father liked to give Martins to young players with potential, and one of the first was "a little 12-year-old niece named Dolly."
That first guitar was later lost in a fire. This past year Owens tracked down a little Martin Model 518 to replace it, and Martin in Nazareth built Dolly another one, with butterflies inlaid on the fingerboard.
45 people over 100, one lunch. Northampton County held its 12th centenarian luncheon last week at Green Pond Country Club, and the oldest guest was 108. "It feels amazing to have 45 centenarians together in the same room," said luncheon chair Lori Metzz. Northampton is one of the only counties in Pennsylvania that does this. The story.
A new playground in Lower Macungie. The old East Texas playground came down in mid-September, and the township held the grand opening for the new one Wednesday afternoon. Saturday is the dry day to try it.
600 athletes at DeSales. More than 600 Special Olympics athletes played flag football, soccer, volleyball, and bocce at DeSales this past weekend, and the top finishers head to Villanova. "It's the adrenaline and the rush and the power. It's amazing," said athlete Liam Burns. The story.
One-liners: Whitehall High grad Justin Klement painted this season's Eagles Wing Wall at the Linc, with the team's seven captains on it. Emmaus High's Justin Chan and Meenapriya Muthiah are National Merit semifinalists. And Chayse Rivera won first place for fifth graders in the state's Smokey Bear and Woodsy Owl poster contest as a student at Schnecksville Elementary.
Homes of the Week
Three homes, three budgets, three corners of the Valley. Live at send time.
UNDER $350K
$309,900 · Wilson Borough (Easton address)
1,216 sqft · 3 bed / 1 bath · Built 1920 · Redone top to bottom: quartz counters, a remodeled bath, first-floor laundry, a garage, and a fenced yard, a one-minute walk from Liberty Park · Listed by Peak Properties PA
$350K TO $550K
$475,000 · Whitehall Township
2,604 sqft · 3 bed / 2.5 bath · Built 1992 · Colonial in Parkview Estates, first time for sale since it was new: renovated eat-in kitchen, a bar in the lower-level family room, and easy access to the Ironton Rail Trail · Open house Sunday 1 to 3 · Listed by Assist 2 Sell Buyers & Sellers Realty
OVER $550K
$650,000 · Lower Macungie Township (Macungie address)
3,085 sqft · 4 bed / 3 bath · Built 1996 · Three and a half wooded acres with an in-ground pool, a fire pit, a main-floor primary suite, and a downstairs bar with its own keg tap · Showings by appointment · Listed by IronValley Real Estate of Lehigh Valley
City Updates
Trick-or-Treat Dates, Leaf Pickup, and the Roads
Trick-or-treat is Friday, October 30.
That's the night in Emmaus (6 to 8, rain or shine, porch lights on), Bethlehem (6 to 8), and Macungie (starts at 6). South Whitehall has the same night penciled in, waiting on a final vote.
Your town not here yet? Hit reply and we'll add it next week.
Leaf pickup starts October 19 in Emmaus and Lower Macungie. Both want loose leaves raked into a long row at the curb, no more than 18 inches into the street, with no bags, branches, or grass.
Emmaus's last pickup is December 4. Can't wait? Emmaus's Klines Lane compost site takes leaves now.
Bethlehem starts November 2: loose in the gutter or in paper bags, never plastic.
Route 22 in Whitehall loses a lane each way tonight and Friday night, 9pm to 5am, between MacArthur Road and Fullerton Avenue.
Route 33 southbound is down to one lane between Route 191 and Tatamy through November 9 for the Bushkill Creek bridge, and the southbound ramps at Route 191 and at Tatamy's Main Street are closed.
I-78 has night lane closures between the Route 412 and Route 611 exits, 8pm to 6am, through Saturday.
Market Street in Bangor is closed between S 6th and S 7th Streets for a sinkhole repair, possibly through the end of next week.
Still going: Lehigh Street in Allentown (Vultee to Jefferson, weekdays 9 to 3, through October 16) and MacArthur Road (Center to Chestnut, through October 30).
New in the Valley
A 1957 Ice Cream Stand Is Back on Route 100
The ice cream stand at Routes 29 and 100 in Upper Milford has been scooping since 1957, first as Leo and Wilma Kressley's Cree-Mee Freez, later as TG Countryside, until it closed in September 2025. Friends Stacy Kiefer and Jessica Bogert bought it this spring and reopened it to everyone on October 2 as The Crow's Nest Creamery, 5130 Chestnut Street. Breakfast starts at 6am.
Hours are still settling in, with 6am to 9pm Tuesday to Sunday the plan, and a bigger grand opening is coming in a couple of weeks.
The Bethlehem Gift Shoppe at 77 W Broad Street, right on the Harvest Fest route, has its grand opening Saturday, noon to 6, with a ribbon cutting at 1. Everything is from Pennsylvania makers: skincare, clothes, raw honey, houseplants, and handmade Moravian stars.
Forks Township's first Restaurant Week runs Sunday through October 17, with nine spots including SURV, Widow's Tavern, Zekraft, and Tony's Pizza. The list is up; menus are coming.
SNIPES is set to open its third Valley sneaker store this week in the Lehigh Shopping Center, 2100 W Union Boulevard in Bethlehem, though the manager says the date could still move.
Coming: Onward Coffee, the Emmaus couple's coffee trailer gone brick-and-mortar, plans a soft opening next Thursday, October 15, at 3900 Hamilton Boulevard across from Dorney Park. The Bachstein family behind Blackbird Antiques hopes to open the Nazareth Book Shoppe at 27 E Belvidere Street by Black Friday.
Closing: the 1812 Piano Lounge on W Allen Street in Allentown plays its last night October 22, with a farewell show that takes reservations.
Do Some Good
One way to help the Valley each week, plus the nonprofit events worth knowing about.
Making Strides Is at 21% With Nine Days to Go
Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walks from SteelStacks Saturday, October 17, 10:30 to 2, rain or shine. It is free to sign up.
The Lehigh Valley walk has raised $62,850 of its $300,000 goal. That is only 21%.
So a new team from your street or office actually moves the number.
The top team right now, Wag for Awareness, is at $5,948, and Macungie's Paws for a Cause is at $2,187. The money goes to the American Cancer Society's breast cancer research and patient programs.
Community Bike Works Mileage Challenge | through Tuesday, October 13, anywhere
$99,263 of $150,000 with five days left. Log your walks, runs, or rides, or come to Saturday's Spin-a-Thon, 10 to 12:30, at 707 Hamilton Street, 4th floor, where your miles count double (sign up for the challenge first). Full disclosure: the challenge raises money on Pledge It, where I work.
Little Lehigh tree planting | Sat 9 to noon, near 1475 Mack Blvd, Allentown
Help the Little Lehigh Watershed Stewards and Wildlands Conservancy plant 150 trees. Details on their site.
Miller-Keystone Blood Center | through October 31, Allentown, Bethlehem, and Palmer centers
Five blood types, O-positive and O-negative among them, are listed as critical. Donors this month get a $10-off voucher while they last and a shot at Penn State tickets.
Bethlehem Emergency Sheltering | Sat + Sun 11:45 to 1, 75 E Market St, Bethlehem
The winter shelter opens in November. Drop off sleeping bags, tents, or a case of bottled water.
Lehigh Valley Humane Society | 640 Dixon St, Allentown, during open hours
Cleaning out the linen closet? They want old towels, comforters, and blankets, plus KONGs, peanut butter, and spray cheese for the dogs.
Plant A Row | final drop-offs through Saturday
Last flush of tomatoes and peppers? Angels of Easton takes them daily 9 to 9, Parkland Library on Thursday, and St. Ann's in Emmaus Saturday 8 to 11. It all goes to local pantries.
Allentown CROP Hunger Walk | Sun Oct 18, walk 1:30, St. Timothy Lutheran, 140 S Ott St
Walk 10K or the one-mile loop to help stock two Allentown food pantries.
Light The Night | Sat Oct 24, 5:30, Grange Park, Upper Macungie
Free to sign up. Lanterns, a kids' zone, and a one-mile walk. The Valley is at 30% of its $485,000 goal.
Thank you: last week's feature, the Buddy Walk, has raised $83,197 of $95,000, and the page is still open. (I sit on EPDSC's board, and the walk runs on Pledge It, where I work.)
Is your nonprofit doing something? | anywhere in the Valley
Fundraiser, walk, drive, gala: hit reply and we'll list it here, free.
Weekend Rundown: Oct 8-12
FREE means free. Prices are listed where the organizer posts them. Double-check times before heading out!
FAIR & FESTIVAL
Wilson Borough Fall Fest | Thu + Fri 6 to 10pm, Sat 1 to 10pm, Meuser Park, 2240 Northampton St, Wilson
Rides, food, and drinks. Kids' ride wristbands are $20 Thursday night and Saturday 1 to 5. The Large Flowerheads play Saturday 6:30 to 9:30.
Barktoberfest Pet Fair | Sat 11 to 3, Macungie Memorial Park, 50 N Poplar St
Pet blessing at 12:30 at the gazebo, a free agility course, a stunt dog show, adoptable pets, and food trucks. Bring the dog.
JuxtaFaire FREE | Sat noon to 4, JuxtaHub, 375 S 10th St, Emmaus
20-plus makers, Yergey beer, and free pumpkin painting for kids.
Macungie Halloween Parade FREE | Sat 7pm, Main St, Macungie (rain date Sun)
One of the big ones. The route map is on the site, so grab a curb spot early.
Oktoberfest at SteelStacks, Friday and Sunday FREE | Fri 5 to 10, Sun noon to 6, Bethlehem
Friday: Galena Brass Band at 6:30 and karaoke 8 to 10. Sunday: wiener dog races at 1:30 and 3, and the bratwurst eating contest at 5 ($10 to enter, 18+; finish 10 brats first and win $250).
Apple Fest | Sat 10 to 3, Lutz-Franklin Schoolhouse, 2631 Limpar Ln, Hellertown
Quilt demos, storytime, and fall snacks at a one-room schoolhouse.
MARKETS
Macungie Farmers Market FREE | Thu 4 to 7pm, Lumber St, Macungie
Four Thursdays left this season.
Allentown Fairgrounds Farmers Market FREE | Thu 9 to 7, Fri 8 to 7, Sat 8 to 6, 1825 Chew St
Easton Farmers' Market FREE | Sat 9am to 1pm, Scott Park, Easton
Back after the Garlic Fest week off.
Emmaus Farmers' Market FREE | Sun 10am to 1pm, Triangle Park
Bring the umbrella.
LIVE & FREE MUSIC
Open Mic Night FREE | Thu 7 to 10pm, Williams Brew Stage, SteelStacks
Acoustic only; sign-ups at 6:30.
Shepherd Hills pavilion | Fri + Sat 6 to 9pm, Wescosville
Nyte Flyte Friday, Them Dirty Birds Saturday, outside.
Vynecrest Vineyards | Sat + Sun 1 to 4pm, Breinigsville
Brian Smith Saturday, Levi Longacre Sunday.
ARTS & CULTURE
The Music Man | Thu 7:30pm, State Theatre, Easton
The national tour. $70 to $110.
Matilda the Musical | opens Fri, through Oct 25, Civic Theatre, Allentown
$35, $30 for students, seniors, and military, plus a $4 fee.
Allentown Symphony: Fire & Passion | Sat 7:30pm, Sun 2pm, Miller Symphony Hall
Season opener with pianist Joyce Yang and a Pennsylvania premiere by Chris Brubeck.
Neighborhood Saturday FREE | Sat 11 to 4, Allentown Art Museum
Live music, art-making, and bilingual storytelling. Last weekend for the Kay WalkingStick and Hudson River School show, which closes Sunday.
Spooky Nazareth Walking Tours | Fri + Sat 7 and 8:15pm, Whitefield House, Nazareth
Lantern-led, 12 people a tour. $15, kids under 5 free. They sell out.
Outlander in Concert | Sun 6pm, Zoellner Arts Center, Bethlehem
The show's score played live under scenes from the series. $49 and $55.
Whiskey Myers | Sat 7pm, Wind Creek Event Center, Bethlehem
Texas southern rock. $49.50 to $99.50 plus fees.
FAMILY & OUTDOORS
Grim's Orchard Fall Festival | Fri 10 to 6, Sat + Sun 10 to 7, Mon 10 to 6, Breinigsville
Corn maze, hayride, goat snuggling, cider donuts. $11.99 to $37.99. Open Columbus Day.
Seiple Farms | Fri noon to 6 + flashlight maze 6 to 9, Sat + Sun 10 to 6, Mon noon to 6, Bath
Free hayride to the pumpkin patch. Maze $10, flashlight maze $13.
Go Wild with St. Luke's Children's Hospital | Sun 10 to 2, Lehigh Valley Zoo
A scavenger hunt and crafts at the all-abilities playground, included with zoo admission.
Witches & Wizards Weekend | Sat + Sun, Da Vinci Science Center, Allentown
Halloween hands-on science, plus the Finding Titanic exhibit. A good rainy-Sunday pick.
Screamin' Green Hauntoween | Daily from 10, Crayola Experience, Easton
Superheroes week: characters at 11 and 2, weekend trick-or-treat stations. Indoors.
Hawk Mountain | Daily 9 to 5, Kempton
Peak hawk season. Trail fee $10, $7 seniors, $5 kids 6 to 12. Saturday at 5, Scott Weidensaul talks about oystercatchers.
Story Time on the Lenape Trail FREE | Mon 10 to 10:45am, Little Lehigh Parkway, 2901 Fish Hatchery Rd lot
A Columbus Day storywalk for little ones.
FOOD & DRINK
Sweater Weather Brunch | Sun 10:30 and 12:30 seatings, Bear Creek, Macungie
Buffet, live music, and a chairlift ride to the summit. $49.95, $24.95 for kids 5 to 12. Sunday is a rain day, so pack a jacket for the lift.
Oktoberfest Bourbon Tasting | Sat 2pm, Fowler Blast Furnace Room, SteelStacks
Eight cask-strength bourbons with bites. From $82.50, tax and tip in. 21+.
COMEDY
Lewis Black | Fri 8pm, State Theatre, Easton
$59.98 to $110.
SPORTS
Phantoms vs Cleveland | Sat 7:05pm and Sun 1:05pm, PPL Center, Allentown
Sunday is Bluey Day.
Muhlenberg vs Franklin & Marshall | Sat 1pm, Scotty Wood Stadium, Allentown
WORTH THE DRIVE
Jim Thorpe Fall Foliage Festival FREE | Sat + Sun, downtown Jim Thorpe
Weekend two, which the organizers call the better-color weekend. Free music; parking is paid. Go Saturday.
Knoebels Hallo-Fun | Fri 6 to 10, Sat 2 to 10, Sun noon to 6, Elysburg
Opening weekend. Free admission and parking, pay per ride.
Penn's Peak | Fri + Sat 8pm, Jim Thorpe
Dokken with Lynch Mob Friday ($41.50 advance). HUGO, the Journey tribute, Saturday ($27 to $37).
Circle the Date
The Emmaus Halloween 5K is a costume run through Emmaus Saturday, October 17 at 6:30, right before the parade at 7. It is $35.50 through Monday, then the price goes up, and it pays for Emmaus parks.
The Vera Cruz Halloween Parade steps off Wednesday, October 14 at 7 from Mystic Chain Park in Upper Milford.
Promenade Saucon Valley turns 20 with Barktoberfest, Friday and Saturday, October 16 and 17: dock-diving dogs, a pet costume contest, and ten $200 gift cards drawn Saturday at 2:15 (you have to be there).
Boo at the Zoo starts Saturday, October 17 at the Lehigh Valley Zoo, 10 to 3:30, weekends through November 1.
Bethlehem's 105th Halloween Parade is Sunday, October 25 at 2pm on Broad and Main Streets.
The Trick or Trot 5K on Bethlehem's South Side is Halloween morning at 9: $45, $15 for kids, with a trunk-or-treat village after. Sign up by October 24.
D&L RaceFest sends a half marathon down the D&L Trail into Easton November 15. 329 half spots are left at $110.
The Winter Light Spectacular switches on at the Lehigh Valley Zoo Friday, November 13. Opening-night tickets are $13 if you buy ahead.
Christkindlmarkt opens November 13 at SteelStacks. Tip: it is free to get in on Friday nights from 5 to 8.
The Lights in the Parkway 5K on Thanksgiving Eve had 305 of 1,200 spots left Wednesday, and the price goes up after October 29.
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