Arden Fair 2012

On Saturday, September 1st, 2012, also known as Labor Day Saturday 2012, the 105th annual Arden Fair took place on The Highway adjacent to the Arden Gild Hall in Arden Delaware. In discussion with participants of the Fair over the years, we understand this to be a fun event with plenty of activities to do. One of the activities, perhaps for the eighth year in a row, is an Israeli dance recital in the Hall about 2 in the afternoon. This follows an International dance recital in the hall and these recitals occur during a fair the sponsers many rides, an antiques market, a series of live bands in concert, a book fair, food vendors and artisan goods.

We accompanied several of the Israeli dancers anda guest of one of the dancers, a party of four that partook of the fair, the dancing, a local Wilmington restaurant and a wrapup party at another participant's house in Arden.

By picture and text below we attempt to provide coverage of this years Arden Fair.

We start our coverage indicating the four participants who we followed. Given that there were 3 or 4 camers available to them, it is impossible to attribute any one photo to any of these individuals. So, Rochelle Zimmerman, Nancy Bostock, Adam Baum and Mark (or is it Marc) Rauer all deserve credit for what appears here in this script. Nancy and Marc were coming from the Valley Forge area while Rochelle and Adam originated from Bucks County. The meetup was the Giant food store at Wynnewood and Lancaster Avenues in Wynnewood with a further 45 minute drive to Grubb Road (before it turns into Harvey Rd) where the group parked and began the walk to the fair.

As we understand it, the communities of Arden form an enclave within Wilmington, so there is a real difference in the look of the area between thge two entities. From suburbia, one crosses the street to be transported back some 100 years into a set of one lane, mostly unpaved road structure. The pictures in this montage attempt to show this as our group moves toward the site of the fair. Transportation for many is by school bus and you can see several of our party playing hide and seek with one that is approaching.

As we understand, the parties were running late as they entered the fair. Many shots were taken but in a rush as everyone tried to make it to the Gild Hall before the 2PM performance. But, you can see that there was a mass of humanity to move through and we are told that it was with 5 minutes to spare that our dancers (and the one observer) reached Sharon Kleban and the other Israeli dancers at the stage of the Gild Hall

This montage shows the dancers as they prep for their performance as our group finally makes it to the stage. Sharon had selected eleven dances to perform with whoever showed up. After this performance, up on the stage, Sharon planned to move to the floor at the foot of the stage and encourage the audience to dance some of the easier Israeli dances. So, in this montage we see the performers heading up on stage for the beginning part of the recital.

Well, after some discussion by Sharon with her dancers, it's time to dance. From what we understand Sharon's play selection included some old-time favorites like Shir and BeHar HaGilboa intermixed with new favorites such as Lev Patuach. This web site can report that some of our favorites such as Al Salsolim and Eilat were also included. The pictures in this montage were taken by all the cameras through the course of the on-stage recital.

While the recital is in progress, we should report that the book swap is still going strong as this montage shows. To the back of the Gild hall, bibliophiles wade through stacks of books and when they have selected their share, they move to the right hand table to pay for them. We assume that some of these patrons recognize that dancing is occurring a few feet away from them but there are many who are oblivious to the action on the stage.

In addition, another group is on the floor of the Gild hall and these are the spectators of the dancing. A semicircle of chairs have been placed as a barrier between the bibliophiles and the dance performers and we catch a few shots in this montage. In a while they will have the opportunity to sample Israeli dancing as Sharon has made provision to include many of them at the end of the performance.

With the recital done, it is now time for audience participation. Sharon, and some of the dancers, head down the steps to the base of the stage and welcome the spectators into the circle. She has selected several easy beginner Israeli dances and before each dance, she demonstrates the steps. This montage consists of several shots showing Sharon as she demonstrates the steps to various dances as the others watch.

Whether easy Israeli or not, these members of the audience deserve credit for trying something new. This montage contains pictures caught by all the cameras of this dancing on the floor where Israeli dancers of various proficiencies interact in the circle with neophytes drawn into the circle by Sharon's invitation and to no small degree her engaging personality. Everyone helped each other and the circle seemed to perform well. Hopefully, some of these new dancers experiencing Israeli dance for the first time will take Sharon up on her invitation to the regular Gild Israeli dance class meeting the 1st and 4th Wednesday evening of every month.

After about an hour, the Israeli dance demonstration is over. This montage starts with a picture of everyone congratulating each other. Our party then leaves the Gild hall and the next picture is taken as they leave and one of our photographers scans the kiosks to the side of the hall. But now, there is an attempt to redo one of the adventures of the year before. In 2011, Rochelle, Adam and Marc sampled the pies of the vendor who annually is right at the side of the Gild Hall. Last year, 2011, they were somewhat disappointed given that the vendor had run out of strawberry pie. This year their luck changed. Strawberry pie was available for all and all of the party enjoyed at least one slice. We have been told that Adam decided to sample several other varieties of fruit pie and we conclude that everything was delicious whether of Strawberry, blueberry, apple or any fruit.

Besides the kiosks, the dancing and the book swap, continuous live music pervades the fair. As we understand it, several bands provide the music throughout the day. The Gild Hall sits next to what is called the Shady Grove and in this grove is a bandstand. If visiting most days, one wouldn't even know that the band stand existed but not this day as a steady stream of music comes forth. These pictures are by Marc Rauer and apparently he took these while a band was on break or during the interval when a new band preps the stage to begin. But you can see the number of people enjoying the day, which was quite pleasant given that the remnants of a hurricane would sweep the Delaware Valley region the next day.

At this point, our parties split up so we have the result of pictures taken of several sections of the fair. In this montage the photographer went up to another food court which bordered the antique market. There was a fee to enter the antiques area and in one of these shots you can see those wares from the perimeter. The other shots show the food kiosks and the tent for those who wanted to sit down when eating.

One of the group went to the Buzzware center, one of buildings owned by the Gild just up from the Gild hall. This building at one time was an elementary school but has been modified for use by the community throughout the year. On this day, it became a holistic center for those visiting the fair. These pictures show the approach to Buzzware up to the entrance manned by a volunteer accepting the one dollar admittance fee.

As indicated above, you can see some of our party deep in shopping, but one of the party, Mark Rauer, did mention that he held some serious discussions with two vendors indicated in this montage. Unfortunately, we don't have a name for the vendor of bird feeders that appears in the first picture. But, Marc held a serious discussion with the two women tending the kiosk pertaining to the most important aspect of feeders, the baffle to thwart squirrels from their penchant to raid said feeders. In this Marc has some knowledge living in a squirrel infested condo while he maintains two bird feeders. As he told the ladies, you have to set up the feeder outside of jumping distance from a tree to thwart these pesky rodents and the baffle should be attached below the feeder such that is skews to the side as the weight of the squirrel is applied thus throwing the animal off balance. The feeders that Marc uses at his condo were created by a then neighbor, Harold Clapper, who was a part of the Barnes and Noble group to which Nancy and Marc belong. The second vendor that caught Marc's eye was Rock Run Hollow from Port Deposit, Maryland which specializes in all the products (and by-products) of bees. While not mentioned, Rock Run Hollow is captured by Isaac B Rehert in a book he wrote in 1967 having spent a year there in residence. Apparently, bee keeping was not a part of the farm at that time but subsequently has been developed. Our last shot shows the various products of the wax that is harvested from the hives.

Apparently, about 5:30 it was back to the car and over to the Jasmine restaurant on Route 202 near the Gild Hall. The Jasmine, recommended by several folks at the Israeli dancing recital, is an upscale Chinese (perhaps Asian would be a better description) fusion restaurant and bar. Our party of four really enjoyed the meal which was financially helped by a discount coupon given to the group by one of the restaurant's patrons. With the meal ended, it was off to Sharon Kleban's house for a little get together of those perfoming at the fair. Our group apparently was so tired that no pictures exist of this so our coverage of the Arden Fair ends here. But there's one last thing....

This script cannot be written without the photographs supplied by the participants. All of them sacrificed to bring you, the reader, and this website, more information and knowledge about the Arden Fair. So, here's a thanks to Nancy Bostock, Rochelle Zimmerman, Adam Baum and Marc Rauer all of whom are caught taking pictures in this montage

Ed Note: Nancy is part of a group, offyougo, based out of the Valley Forge Barnes and Noble. They also record their events. You can see a specific writeup of Nancy's participation in the 2012 Arden fair by clicking here