The Reading-Berks Guild of Craftsmen, a chapter of The Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen, will bring its 76th Annual Juried Holiday Fine Art & Craft Festival to the Hamburg Field House on Saturday, October 10, 2026, from 9 AM to 4 PM. Featuring a selection of traditional and contemporary handmade work by talented juried artisans, the one-day festival offers shoppers an opportunity to discover distinctive, handcrafted gifts while meeting the makers and learning about their creative processes.

This year’s festival will be held at the Guild’s new location at the Hamburg Field House, 123–127 South Fourth Street (Rear) Entrance on Pine Street, Hamburg, PA 19526. The streamlined one-day format provides an intimate shopping experience featuring a diverse selection of fine art and craft, including pottery, woodworking, jewelry, fiber art, folk art, paintings, and seasonal holiday creations.

Visitors will have the opportunity to meet participating artisans and craftsmen, explore their unique work, and learn more about the techniques and traditions behind their creations. With a wide variety of handcrafted pieces available, the festival is a destination for those looking for special, locally made and one-of-a-kind holiday gifts.

The family-friendly event will also feature a Student Gallery, live music throughout the day and an on-site café offering food and refreshments.

Admission is a $6 donation. Children 12 and under are free. Handicapped accessible.

Proceeds from the festival benefit the educational programs of the Reading-Berks Chapter of The Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen, helping support the Guild’s commitment to arts education and the preservation and appreciation of fine craft.

For additional information, directions, and festival updates and there is always something new, visit the official Reading-Berks Guild of Craftsmen website at rbcrafts.org and follow the Guild on Facebook.

The Reading-Berks Guild of Craftsmen is a chapter of The Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen dedicated to promoting and supporting fine craft and the artists who create it. Through exhibitions, festivals, educational programs, and community outreach, the Guild provides opportunities for the public to experience, appreciate, and learn about traditional and contemporary craft while supporting skilled artisans and the continuation of craft tradition.

READING — Berks County is moving forward with the purchase of the former Wells Fargo Bank building in Reading as it prepares to move employees and services out of the downtown courthouse at least temporarily.

The county will offer $7.2 million for the property at 600 Penn St. That’s less than the current building owner initially wanted, but the fair market value for the property based on two real estate assessments, officials told Spotlight PA this week.

“As a government entity, we can only pay the appraised value of a property based on county codes,” county Chief Operations Officer Kevin Barnhardt said.

About three years ago, Berks authorized a study to look into how to better allocate resources between its main office spaces. That initial study led to a partial move of services to the South Campus in Mohnton and the beginning of conversations about how to renovate the buildings downtown.

However, an assessment earlier this year found unexpected issues, including asbestos, at the courthouse, raising projected costs by about $100 million. That led the county to shift its plans to purchase the Penn Street building and change the scope of the renovations.

At a Tuesday workshop meeting, the Berks County Board of Commissioners approved a letter of intent to purchase the building, which formalizes the county’s plan and permits the start of contract negotiations.

As those talks start with building owner Alan Shuman, a third-party architecture firm will simultaneously work on a plan for how to shuffle employees between the new property, the current services center, and the courthouse.

It has not been decided whether some moves to 600 Penn will be permanent, and many details remain undecided. However, commissioners lauded the county’s new focus on prioritizing the courthouse renovations.

Here’s what we know so far:

Have the plans for the courthouse changed?

Yes.

County operations staff said they first learned about major problems with the 19-story building through an engineering review conducted earlier this year.

Officials announced plans in May to convert the services building into a “judicial center” where most court operations would take place. Under that plan, employees who work in the services facility — including the commissioners, legal department, and finance office — would have been moved to the new building at 600 Penn, and the costly courthouse renovation (around $135 million) would have been indefinitely pushed to when the county could afford it.

Officials said at the time that moving services and keeping the courthouse in a “state of stasis” was the most fiscally responsible action.

Commissioners said that the plan never included the sale or demolition of the courthouse. Still, Berks County residents largely responded to the announcement with concern that the historic building would be torn down or left to deteriorate.

The county has since switched gears. Officials said they plan to focus first on the courthouse and narrow the scope of planned renovations to the services center.

Commissioners cleared the way Tuesday for the third-party architecture firm to develop a plan on how to best relocate employees between the services center and 600 Penn.

“Things happen. Things change, and our information became more clear that we really need to focus on the courthouse,” Barnhardt told Spotlight PA.

Still, the renovation of the historic building will not happen immediately. Barnhardt declined to comment on how exactly it will play out.

“We want to be generic in not saying things that people then, with the public or the media … say, ‘Well, you told us this,’” Barnhardt said. “So we want to stop doing the supposition and say ‘We're really going to give you facts when we have the facts.’”

Why does the courthouse need renovations?

The reasons for renovating the courthouse have not changed, even if the timeline has.

The new goal is to renovate the courthouse sooner because of issues that require “dire attention,” Barnhardt said. The nearly 100-year-old building has a number of safety concerns, including asbestos-covered pipes and mechanical line issues.

In modern buildings, such issues can sometimes be isolated while repairs happen. The courthouse, however, would have to be completely evacuated if any of its internal systems failed, like HVAC, plumbing, or electrical, Barnhardt told commissioners.

Bringing the building up to code requires far more than the cosmetic upgrades it received in the 1990s. Beyond safety issues, major changes mean the building will lose its “grandfather status” that allows it to operate without being fully ADA compliant (no restrooms on some floors, accessibility issues, etc.).

Officials did not specify on Tuesday whether all of the $135 million in estimated renovations will take place or what changes will be prioritized.

“We do not want to be a group that decides to kick the can down the road,” Barnhardt said.

How long will it take to move employees and renovate the courthouse?

In May, officials estimated it will take between eight and 10 years for the county to have the financial capacity to consider $135 million in courthouse upgrades.

It’s unclear if or how that timeline will change.

Barnhardt did not want to publicly commit to a schedule for the move to 600 Penn or the renovations, but he noted the full process will take “a number of years.”

“It's going to be a long path that we're configured, but we're going to have buy-in and support from everyone as we go forward,” he said. “There could be some obvious alteration of timing based on hiccups we have with some of the environments, but we certainly want to make sure everyone's satisfied with where they're going to end up either permanently or temporarily.”

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What will it cost to buy 600 Penn St.?

The county hired a private real estate broker and an appraiser to perform fair market value assessments of the building. The estimated purchase price of $7.235 million is the average of the two, Barnhardt said.

Spotlight PA has submitted a records request for the county’s appraisal reports and contracts. Publicly available property records show that Shuman purchased the building in 2021 for $3.2 million from the Greater Berks Development Fund. The property’s assessed tax value is just over $1.4 million.

The county approached Shuman earlier in the year with the idea. At a Tuesday workshop meeting, commissioners approved a letter of intent to purchase the building, which formalizes the county’s plan and permits the start of contract negotiations.

“It's like buying a house. This is just a much bigger house,” Barnhardt said. “There are details to be worked out, but it gave legal and Alan [Shuman] at least the understanding that we have an intent to purchase that building. It's no longer in the ether.”

County Finance Director Laura Jones outlined multiple cost scenarios for buying the building instead of leasing it. She said the county would save at most $12 million over 10 years with the purchase if considering a gross lease at $15 per square foot with a 2.5% inflation rate on the price per square foot and on utilities.

Will the purchase impact the City of Reading?

The purchase of the Penn Street building does have wider implications. As a government-owned building, the county would not pay property taxes on it, impacting the city’s anticipated revenue from a major commercial property.

Mayor Eddie Morán said in May that he was “extremely frustrated” by the proposal and its potential impact on the downtown area.

What comes next?

Beers + Hoffman Architecture has worked with the county since the beginning of the process. The company conducted a space study for the county in 2023 and helped plan the partial move to the South Campus building. A representative for the firm said Tuesday the team will take the next few months to plan where employees will move between the three downtown buildings should the purchase of 600 Penn proceed.

The Penn Street property is being imagined primarily as a temporary space, but Barnhardt said some departments, like election services, which already rents part of the building, may reside there permanently. He declined to discuss a time frame or cost estimate, as details are still being decided.

“We don't want to get pinned down to dates and pricing because it's, again, it's wide open right now,” Barnhardt said.

The Berks County Latino Chamber of Commerce will host its 2026 annual gala on Oct. 10.

The chamber’s signature event brings business leaders, community partners and regional stakeholders together for an evening of celebration, recognition and meaningful networking.

The gala will be held at the DoubleTree by Hilton, 701 Penn St., Reading, and will include a keynote speaker, the presentation of several awards and the opportunity for networking.

“The gala represents the culmination of a year of impactful programming dedicated to supporting Latino-owned businesses, workforce development, and economic growth across Berks County and beyond,” the chamber said on its website.

The Latino Chamber of Commerce began more than 20 years ago with the goal of building an organization to serve as a catalyst for economic empowerment, connection and long-term growth within the Latino business community, the organization said.

Over the years, the chamber has helped entrepreneurs start, grow and sustain their businesses, and has connected members with financial institutions, government agencies and corporate partners.

Among those being recognized at the event are Centro Hispano, 201 Penn St., Reading, which will receive the Community Partner of the Year award.

Centro Hispano supports the Latino population in Berks through collaborative initiatives designed to enable individuals and families to improve their lives and their communities. The organization has been supporting the community for 60 years.

La Mega Radio will be presented with the Small Business of the Year award.

The third award recipient is Fabulous Cake Factory, 1134 Muhlenberg St., Reading, which is receiving the chamber’s Emerging Entrepreneur award. The bakery, which opened in 2023, is owned by Edwin and Mia Rios. The bakery is inspired by Puerto Rican traditions, crafting custom cakes, fresh bread, empanadillas and pastries, according to the bakery’s website.

Keynote speaker for the event will be Perla López Baray, journalist anchor and executive producer of 69 News Edición en Español at WFMZ-TV. Baray has been a pioneering voice in Spanish-language television, and has spent more than 20 years informing and empowering diverse communities. This year, she was inducted into the MATAS Mid-Atlantic Silver Circle Society.

For more information on the Latino Chamber of Commerce and to get tickets for the event, visit https://berkslatinochamber.com/.

Berkshire residents, businesses and other key stakeholders will more easily be able to follow and engage with the work of the Berkshire Prosperity Board following the launch of its new website.

The Berkshire Prosperity Board aims to drive and deliver economic prosperity across Berkshire with the aim of securing more funding, creating more jobs and enabling more affordable housing for residents.

It brings together the six councils in Berkshire who have been working together and have so far delivered:

The website promotes the work of the Board and aims to raise awareness of how Berkshire Leaders and councils are working collaboratively to achieve greater outcomes for everyone who lives and works in Berkshire.

Managed by West Berkshire Council on behalf of all six Berkshire councils, the site provides an overview of how the Board's work across key areas of focus is improving outcomes for residents and businesses across Berkshire. The areas of focus are: health and inequalities; skills and education; affordable housing; sector development; strategic infrastructure; and net zero. There is also a section on the work to promote tourism in the county.

https://www.berkshireprosperity.co.uk/ provides information on the ongoing work and membership of the Berkshire Business Board, which was created to help drive economic growth in the county and better support our local economies for the benefit of residents and business.

It will additionally provide access to all documents relating to the Berkshire Prosperity Board. This includes meetings, decision-making, grant applications and county-wide success stories.

Councillor Jeff Brooks, Leader of West Berkshire Council, said:

"I am delighted that West Berkshire was able to create this platform for the whole of Berkshire to take advantage of. The new site will shine a light on the important work being undertaken by councillors and officers, across all six councils, to improve outcomes for residents, businesses and other key stakeholders. It will be continuously updated as work progresses and as we continue to work towards building on Berkshire's economic success. This has been a great example of collaboration across the county with colleagues from Reading, working closely with West Berkshire colleagues to create the website with input from the other four councils."

The day to work to keep the website updated will jointly be carried out by West Berkshire and Reading Borough Councils, on behalf of the six Berkshire councils who are members of the Board.

Berkshire has played a hugely significant role in driving the UK economy in recent decades. It has great connectivity and is home to the UK's Silicon Valley, as well as many innovative and international businesses, and has a highly skilled workforce.

Working together on shared challenges and opportunities provides a more powerful voice than each Council would have individually, helping to effectively engage Government, secure more funding from both public and private investors, and to be an attractive location for inward investment.

The website was approved at the Berkshire Prosperity Board on Monday 21st September 2026.