Tri-County Home and Garden Show Held in Kimberton

Formerly known as the Pottstown Home Show, the freshly renamed Tri-County Home and Garden Show relocated to the Kimberton Fire Company and Fairgrounds to reach an even greater audience. The show began Friday and lasts through Sunday.

Reflecting on this year’s three-day event, Eileen Gilbert, director of operations, said a steady flow of traffic and being so well embraced by the Phoenixville community made the location change a worthy transition for the show.

“This isn’t just trade reps flying in to be here,” Gilbert said. “These are local business owners in our communities who are willing to take the time to help with your home improvement questions and needs.”

Gilbert said with the fairgrounds secured for the event in the future, she intends to continually reel in more proprietors of assorted specialties to work in line with public demand.

Sponsored by the Building Industries Exchange of Pottstown and Vicinity, the show not only moved to a larger and more utilitarian space but has also incorporated the new categories of food vendors and artisans due to public demand, Gilbert said.

Braving the cold in 20-something temperatures outside the show entrance, three food trucks offered visitors quickly served eats. These vendors included Dallas Fries of Phoenixville, M&N Funnel Cakes of Royersford and Palladino’s Smokin’ BBQ of Birdsboro.

With approximately 50 vendors this year based in Montgomery, Berks and Chester counties in fields aimed at home improvement, repair and furnishing, three artisans joined the list of exhibitors.

Grace Pirog of Gracefully Framed in Boyertown not only handles custom framing but also designs two-dimensional wooden handcrafted models of homes and historic landmark buildings. She explained that many seen today are screen-printed, but hers are cut out of wood from workable photographs, and the detail of her pieces is much more involved with each brushstroke.

Husband and wife duo Deb and Rick Reis of Reis Renditions in Chester County create wooden crafts and fishing line weaved baskets. They use an assortment of woods in magnetic and movable back and sided picture frames, recently under patent. Additionally, Reis Renditions offers pencil holders, sitting and wall clocks, letter holders and necklaces with focal pieces featuring smoothed rocks they’ve gathered from far-off vacations and other places around the world.

Heidi Hammel brought her Reclaimed Creations to the scene with hats made from wool sweaters she finds in bins at thrift stores, sometimes putting together her garments with the duo of dangling beads from Ghana. Of the six styles of hats she sells, all are lined with either fleece or silk.

Hammel is based out of Media but devotedly travels to the area every year for the Firebird Festival.

Offering seminars on the second day of the event, Kelly Chevrolet spoke about automobile knowledge in today’s world, CzarStar Security presented about home security, Sanatoga Water Conditioning addressed possible water treatment needs, Halo Energy discussed renewable energy solutions for residential and business areas and J.O.B. Design and Construction Company talked with visitors about the smarts of hiring a contractor.

Best In Show Awards:

• In this year’s honors, Luciana’s Unique Design of Boyertown, specializing in elegantly finished kitchen and bathroom installations, took first place in the best of show awards. Luciana’s has garnered the award for nearly 10 years.
• Schumaker Construction of Gilbertsville took second place, bumping up from last year’s third place win, with projects more demanding and complicated than are approached by many home builders.
• Hetrick Gardens of Pottstown garnered third place, suiting a collaboration involving Rinox pavers of Douglassville and Todd’s Tree Service, also of Pottstown. With faux-snow between grayish pavers intended to look akin to natural stone, the display included other wintery musts like old sleds, skis and antiquated ice skates along with the spring teaser of purple pansies. (Disclosure: The writer of this article, Jennifer Hetrick, is the sister of the owners of Hetrick Gardens.)
• Oehlert Brothers of Royersford, self-penned as the energy experts, won fourth place, while an assortment of other exhibitors won ribbons in blue, red, yellow and white. 

If You Go:

Location: Kimberton Fairgrounds, 752 Pike Springs Rd., Phoenixville

Cost: $5, children 13 and under are free

Time: The show is open Sunday, Feb. 13 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. At 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m., Kelly Chevrolet of Phoenixville is sponsoring automobile seminars.

More information: Check out the Web site for the Tri-County Home and Garden Show.