Export's annual Ethnic & Food Festival set for Aug. 21

Export officials are making plans for the borough’s annual Ethnic Food & Music Festival, set for Aug. 21 throughout the downtown area.

Washington Avenue will close late in the evening on Aug. 20 to allow vendors to stage booths and bring in equipment, and to construct the main performance stage near the Export Volunteer Fire Department at the western end of Washington.

Brick Hill Road will be closed starting at District Court 10-3-02 the day of the festival.

Borough residents will have access to Madison Avenue by way of the borough parking lot.

There is no cost to attend, and on-site parking is available for a small fee. There is a children’s area open from noon to 4 p.m. with face painting, a bounce house and train ride. The Export caboose will also be open from noon to 4 p.m. The band schedule will be:

• Main stage: DeStella Dance Studio at 12:15 p.m., Jack Tady at 1 p.m., the Cash Out Show at 3:30 p.m., the Agway Shoplifters at 5:30 p.m., and Jerry B. and the Bone Tones at 7:30 p.m.

• East End stage: Kal & Moore at 1 p.m., Brothers Kelly at 3 p.m., Dave Stout at 5 p.m. For the latest information on the festival, see ExportPennsylvania.com.

Playground fencing

Council President Barry Delissio will solicit two additional phone bids for repair work to the fencing surrounding the Export Community Playground off Roosevelt Street in order to satisfy bidding requirements.

Earlier this summer, borough officials looked at samples to potentially replace the fencing. Councilman John Nagoda said it needed to get done sooner rather than later.

“This is a safety issue,” Nagoda said. “I’ve been making phone calls for two years. The cost to do this is now $4,000 more because of how long we’ve waited.”

Solicitor Wes Long said the borough needed consistency in the bids it solicits to satisfy the requirements of its ordinances.

“We got bids, but not all on the same things,” Long said. “Some were for fixing the fence, some were for decorative iron fencing.”

Federal grant funding

Borough officials will look to include Webster Street, Pal Court, Silvio Court and a section of Grant Avenue in its 2022 application for Community Development Block Grant funding. “Those are the only areas I’m comfortable putting on there, the ones where we know the infrastructure is in good shape,” Delissio said.

The borough’s federal Community Development Block Grant of $100,000 has been approved, slated for repairs to the hillside along Fillmore Avenue.

Nonprofit status

The Export Historical Society received federal approval of its nonprofit status, according to society member Melanie Litz.

“That will hopefully enable us to go after some larger corporate donations,” Litz said. “We’ve had to pass up some good opportunities because of that, so it’s exciting to have this and start heading in that direction.”

The historical society undertook the work of raising money to fund the relocation of the borough’s veterans memorial earlier this year. Litz said the nonprofit status raises its profile among similar organizations as well.

“It makes us really legit in the eyes of other historical societies,” she said.