Beautiful Saturday brings 'em out for Plainfield events

'Four Centuries in a Weekend' event continues at Drake House today.

It was a perfectly beautiful Fall day Saturday, bringing crowds out for an array of Plainfield events.

Former Councilor Malcolm Dunn and his wife Flora took part.

Over a hundred runners and walkers took part in Plainfield's first Historic Queen City 5K Walk/Run For Life. The event got plenty of coverage: from Plainfield Sports News' extended coverage with videos, photos and interviews (see here), Bernice on Plaintalker II (see here), Councilor Storch -- who says he was the first elected official to cross the finish line (see here), and the Courier (see here, with a small photo gallery here).

 

About 60 homeowners turned out for HPC workshop on wood windows.

Attendees at the Historic Preservation Commission's workshop on wood windows were able to get glimpses of the Walk/Race participants as they rounded the corner at Park Avenue and West 8th Street.

The workshop, the first of its kind ever sponsored by the HPC, drew a crowd of about sixty homeowners, including a good sampling of those from outside the city's historic districts. The crowd was attentive and a side table well-stocked with handouts, including guidelines for those in historic districts and other useful information. One participant later suggested to me that followup workshops on roofs and gutters would be useful. (The HPC might want to consider a re-run/update of a forum John Grady and I organized in 1988 called 'Painted Ladies: Historical or Hysterical?', which drew a standing-room only crowd.)

Happiness at The Pillars porch sale as customers finally begin to show up.

Though the 5K Walk/Run inhibited early crowds (both West 4th Street and West 8th Street were difficult to cross until participants had passed along the route), the Porch Sale at The Pillars began to draw a crowd as I stopped by a little after 11 AM.

Renovations to the Drake House last year included
an ADA-compliant accessibility ramp.

The Drake House, one of 24 sites open Saturday and Sunday as part of Union County's 'Four Centuries in a Weekend', drew steady traffic throughout the day. A stiff breeze had the 'Welcome' flag staked in the front yard flapping, drawing the attention of passing drivers.

The weekend event continues today from Noon to 5 PM at the Drake House and the other 23 locations (see Courier article here, Union County website here, with special attention to the re-opening of Masker's Barn at Deserted Village in the Watchung Reservation here).

The Cardinals vs. Cougars game at Hub Stine Field got copious coverage: Plainfield Sports News (see here), the Courier (see here, and photos here), and the Ledger (see here).

NOTE: The gremlins at Blogger have converted all but one color photo for today to black and white. Go figure.

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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