Lehigh Valley Buzz

A weekly look around the Lehigh Valley.

Issue 2 - The Liberty Bell's Allentown hideout and what's on your ballot next Tuesday

Hey. Halloween is Saturday, and Election Day is next Tuesday, Nov 3. Busy week around the valley.

What's in this one

1

Hot picks · Halloween night's Zombie Ball at SteelStacks leads the weekend, with a Moravian cemetery tour in Bethlehem and Crayola's last Hauntoween weekend in Easton. Then the Phantoms do trick-or-treat on Sunday.

2

Field guide · Lehigh Parkway in late fall: where to park and what to walk. Bogert's Covered Bridge is still closed.

3

The scrap · Whitehall's mystery BO smell, plus a hot dog riding a hot dog at the Bethlehem parade.

4

What's building · What the ballot questions actually say, from Allentown's paid sick time question to Whitehall's treasurer.

5

Makers · The Nazareth Farmers Market's last outdoor Saturday on Halloween morning, then a two-floor craft market at a Bethlehem fire hall on Sunday.

6

Deep cut · The bell under the floorboards: how the Liberty Bell ended up hidden in Allentown, and the new bell on Hamilton Street.

7

Season · Cider at Scholl Orchards in Bethlehem and the Emmaus Farmers' Market's last month of Sundays.

Hot picks

This weekend's best bets around here.

Halloween lands on Saturday, and the clocks fall back early Sunday, so you get an extra hour to recover from whatever you dressed as. Grown-ups get a zombie party at SteelStacks Saturday night, and the kids get Crayola's last spooky weekend.

Bethlehem · Sat Oct 31 · 8pm · 18+ · $19.25 advance, $24.25 day of

SteelStacks Zombie Ball

Musikfest Café at 101 Founders Way turns into a zombie party on Halloween night. DJ Andrew Highland spins while a tarot reader and a live aerialist work the room, and the costume contest pays cash for the most creative individual and the most creative couple. It's 18+ only, and ArtsQuest is upfront about why: explicit lyrics and R-rated gore on the screens. Ticket prices include fees. The advance ticket is five bucks cheaper, which is the only time in my life procrastinating has had a posted price. ArtsQuest

Image: ArtsQuest

Flat Moravian headstones in the grass at God's Acre in Bethlehem

Bethlehem · Fri Oct 30 and Sun Nov 1 · 3pm · $20 adults, $12 kids

Cemetery Tour: Death & Dying

A costumed guide from Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites starts at the Moravian Museum, 66 W. Church St., and walks you through God's Acre, the old Moravian burial ground. You hear how the early Moravians announced a death, including a thing called the Death Tray. It runs about 90 minutes on brick sidewalks with some slopes and grass, so wear real shoes. Spending Halloween weekend learning how colonial Moravians handled funerals is the most Bethlehem plan I can think of. Historic Bethlehem

Photo: Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites

The Crayola Experience building on Centre Square in Easton, with a street clock out front

Easton · Sat Oct 31 10am to 6pm, Sun Nov 1 10am to 5pm · $30.99 + tax

Last weekend of Screamin' Green Hauntoween at Crayola Experience

Crayola Experience on Centre Square wraps its Halloween run Sunday. Weekends come with trick-or-treat stations inside the attraction, along with a scavenger hunt and the Monsters & Magic crafts, where kids design their own monster mask. Buy online for $3 off, and kids 2 and under are free. One heads-up: the elevator is out of service through Nov 8, so it's stairs to every level. Costumes are welcome and costume masks aren't, so the monster mask your kid makes there is basically a loophole Crayola built for itself. Hauntoween · Hours

Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Allentown · Sun Nov 1 · 3:05pm

Haunted on Hamilton at the Phantoms game

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms host the Providence Bruins at PPL Center, 701 Hamilton St., and they're calling the afternoon Haunted on Hamilton. The team says kids can trick-or-treat on the concourse and join meLVin's on-ice costume parade. The first 2,500 fans 14 and under get a souvenir popcorn bucket from Gruber. It's the day after Halloween, so your kid's costume gets a second outing that nobody can call weird. phantomshockey.com · pplcenter.com

Image: Lehigh Valley Phantoms

Field guide

One useful guide to living around here.

The Little Lehigh Creek winding through Lehigh Parkway under bare trees, with Bogert's Covered Bridge behind. Hatch illustration.

Illustration: Buzz Artist

Allentown · Lehigh Parkway along the Little Lehigh Creek (Fish Hatchery Rd up to Robin Hood Bridge)

Lehigh Parkway in late fall: where to park and what to walk

If you've only ever driven past Lehigh Parkway, this is the week to pull in. It's the big park that follows the Little Lehigh Creek on Allentown's south side, with a path that crosses the creek on a bunch of bridges, so you can walk out on one bank and loop back on the other. The state's latest foliage report, dated Oct 22, lists Lehigh County as "Approaching Peak." That puts the creek valley right in its moment.

Where you park changes the whole walk. The Lil-Le-Hi Trout Nursery at 2901 Fish Hatchery Road is the quiet end, with signs for a self-guided tour and a vending machine that sells fish food. Robin Hood Bridge, up at the end closer to the city, has its own lot and restrooms. One catch this fall: Bogert's Covered Bridge, built in 1841 and the oldest covered bridge in Lehigh County, is still closed for repairs. The city's project page lists completion as late 2026, and back in July the city said the closure could stretch into early 2027.

The path is open dawn to dusk and has no lights, and the clocks fall back this Sunday, Nov 1. So go early and plan to be back at the car before it gets dark. The full guide has every lot and how I'd do the loop, plus the Trexler and WPA story behind the park.

Read the field guide

The scrap

The best stuff you missed in the area's social media world.

Quote card of the r/lehighvalley post Whitehall BO smell, with a commenter's reply: Farmers putting down manure

Whitehall · MacArthur Commons

The Whitehall BO mystery

A Whitehall gym-goer blamed one stinky stranger. One commenter's theory: "Farmers putting down manure." Reddit

via u/GhostThread, comment by u/cazzy1212

Bethlehem · Halloween Parade route

The parade's highlight was a hot dog

A whole parade of costumes, and the highlight was a hot dog riding on a giant hot dog. TikTok

via @lvwithlove

Windshield view of N. 7th St in Allentown, where the right lane runs into a new curb

Allentown · N. 7th St by the PPL Center

7th Street's right lane has other plans

Heading south on 7th, the right lane just runs into a new curb. One commenter: "lane roulette." Reddit

via u/Personal_Spend_2535

What's building

What's going up, getting paused, or getting fought over.

Election Day is next Tuesday, Nov 3, and a few places around here have yes-or-no questions on the ballot. This is just what each one says and what a yes or a no changes. Polls are open 7am to 8pm on Tuesday, Nov 3. If you vote by mail, your ballot has to be received by your county elections office before 8pm on Tuesday, Nov 3. Over in Northampton County, there are no ballot questions this year in Bethlehem, Easton, Nazareth, Bath, Hellertown or Northampton.

A blank checklist on a clipboard with a pencil beside it. Hatch illustration.

Allentown · ballot question · Tue Nov 3

Allentown asks: should businesses have to give paid sick time?

Allentown voters get a yes-or-no question on adding a "Paid Sick Leave Act" to the city's public health code. It came from a citizen petition, and in July City Council chose to send it to voters instead of voting on it themselves. According to the county's plain-language explanation, workers at businesses with 15 or more employees would earn at least one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours they work in Allentown. Workers at smaller businesses would earn sick time at the same rate. A yes adds the chapter, starting Jan 1, 2027. A no leaves the health code as it is. No dollar amount is listed. The official wording fits on a phone screen, so it's worth a read before you're standing in the booth. Official plain-language text · WFMZ

Illustration: Buzz Artist

The Lehigh County Courthouse in Allentown, a glass and stone building at a street corner

Lehigh County · ballot questions · Tue Nov 3

Three charter questions on every Lehigh County ballot

Everybody in Lehigh County, from Allentown out to Coopersburg, gets three questions about the county's Home Rule Charter. Question 1 would grow the Election and Registration Commission from three voting members to five, with two from each of the county's two largest political affiliations and one from the third largest, which counts unaffiliated and independent voters. Right now it's the county executive (or a designee) plus one appointee from each of the two largest parties. It would also let residents apply for a seat. Question 2 would let the county run its legal notices in at least one general-circulation newspaper instead of the two it has to use now. Question 3 would swap the Board of Commissioners chair's required seat on the county Retirement Board for another commissioner. A yes on 1 or 2 takes effect right away, and a yes on 3 starts Jan 1, 2027. A no on any of them keeps the charter as is. No dollar amount is listed on any of the three. Three questions about who sits on which board is peak county government, and I mean that lovingly. Official plain-language text · LV Press

Lehigh County Courthouse, Allentown. Photo: Atwngirl / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

The Whitehall Township municipal building seen across MacArthur Road

Whitehall · ballot question · Tue Nov 3

Whitehall votes on its elected treasurer, again

Whitehall Township voters get asked whether to get rid of the elected Treasurer when the current term ends, or sooner if the office goes vacant. The mayor would appoint a Finance Director instead, confirmed by the Board of Commissioners, with the same powers and duties the Treasurer has now. A yes makes that switch. A no keeps the Treasurer as an elected office. The commissioners voted 5-2 in June to put it on the ballot, and this isn't the first time Whitehall has voted on a version of it. No dollar amount is listed. At this point the ballot should open with a "previously on Whitehall" recap. Official plain-language text · LV Press · Township minutes

Photo: Mr. Matté / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Voting basics: Voting basics · Lehigh County sample ballot · Northampton County sample ballots

Makers

Local makers nights and market tables worth hitting.

Halloween morning, Nazareth's farmers market closes out its outdoor season on the square. Then on Sunday, a Bethlehem fire hall fills two floors with crafters.

A produce stand under a blue canopy at the Nazareth Farmers Market, with tomatoes on a red checked tablecloth

Nazareth · Sat Oct 31 · 9am to 1pm

Last Saturday of the Nazareth Farmers Market

The Nazareth Farmers Market sets up in Center Square, at Main and Center streets, Saturday mornings from May through October, which makes Halloween its last outdoor Saturday of the year. It's producer-only, so the person behind the table made or grew what you're buying. The market's own page lists 20-plus vendors, with things like artisan cheese, strudel, kiffles, handmade soaps and candles mixed in with the produce. It also runs holiday markets in November and December, so this isn't goodbye for long. Buying a kiffle from the person who rolled it is a better Halloween treat than anything coming out of a plastic pumpkin. nazarethpanow.com · buylocalglv.org

Photo: Nazareth Economic Development Commission

Christmas Craft Market flyer with a wooden signpost: Nov 1, 2026, 11AM to 3PM, free entry, Nancy Run Fire Hall

Bethlehem · Sun Nov 1 · 11am to 3pm · free entry

Christmas Craft Market & Raffle at Nancy Run Fire Hall

Fun-Nominal Events fills two floors of the Nancy Run Fire Hall, 3564 Easton Ave., with crafters, and it benefits the Nancy Run Fire Company. The organizer lists pottery, painting, paper crafts and woodworking, plus local authors and dozens of raffle items. Entry is free. It's Christmas shopping the morning after Halloween, which feels early right up until you find the exact gift for the person who's impossible to buy for. fun-nominalevents.com

Image: Fun-Nominal Events & Marketing

Deep cut

One local history leftover worth knowing.

Gifford Beal mural study of men and horses unloading the Liberty Bell from a wagon

Mural study for the Allentown Post Office. Art: Gifford Beal, "Liberty Bell Brought to Allentown" (mural study, Allentown Post Office), Smithsonian American Art Museum (public domain)

Allentown · the old Zion's Reformed Church, Hamilton St between Sixth and Seventh (new bell at the corner of Hamilton and S. Church St)

The bell under the floorboards

Every time I walk Hamilton Street between Sixth and Seventh now, there's a six-foot bronze bell on the corner of South Church Street that wasn't there a year ago. It went up in May for America's 250th, and it marks something most of us half-learned in fourth grade and then forgot: for most of a year during the Revolution, the Liberty Bell was hidden in Allentown.

In September 1777, with the British about to take Philadelphia, the city's bells were carted out so they couldn't be melted down for ammunition. The State House bell, the one we call the Liberty Bell, went north by wagon through Quakertown and Bethlehem and ended up under the basement floorboards of Zion's Reformed Church, in a little town that was then called Northampton Towne. It stayed until the British left Philadelphia the next year.

The church basement later became the Liberty Bell Shrine Museum, and plenty of people who grew up here remember ringing its full-size replica. That museum closed in 2023, and its exhibits now live at the Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum at 432 W. Walnut St., open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 to 4. The longer cut has the whole story, including why the old replica is still stuck in the basement.

Read the deep cut

Season

What's in the air right now. Farm stands, orchards, peak harvest.

The state's latest foliage report, dated Oct 22, lists Northampton County at "Peak" and Lehigh County at "Approaching Peak," so the hills are doing their thing right now. Pumpkin season's basically done. Apple and cider season isn't.

A farm market stand with crates of apples and pumpkins. Hatch illustration.

Bethlehem · Mon to Fri 9am to 5pm, Sat and Sun 9am to 4pm

Scholl Orchards farm market

Scholl Orchards says it started as a table of apples on the side of Center Street, and the family dates its main orchard to 1948. Today it's a full farm market at 3057 N. Center St. in Bethlehem. Fall is apples and cider, and they press their own apple blend into cider in the fall and winter months. They've also planted newer varieties like EverCrisp and CrimsonCrisp. If you'd rather not drive to Center Street, they set up at the Easton Farmers' Market in Scott Park on Saturdays, 9 to 1. The market closes Sundays after Thanksgiving, so get your weekend cider runs in before then. A gallon of local cider is the cheapest way I know to make my kitchen smell like I have my life together. Hours · Scholl Orchards

Illustration: Buzz Artist

Bunches of red radishes with green tops at a farmers market

Emmaus · Sundays · 10am to 1pm · rain or shine

Emmaus Farmers' Market at Triangle Park

The Sunday market at Triangle Park in Emmaus runs rain or shine, and its regular season goes all the way through November. That makes it a good spot to start lining up Thanksgiving produce from local growers before the holiday rush. In December it switches to winter hours, every Sunday 10 to noon, and January through April it's only the second and fourth Sundays. With the clocks falling back this Sunday, Nov 1, a 10am market start basically feels like 11. I'll take any farmers market that lets me sleep in by accident. Emmaus Farmers' Market

Photo: Emmaus Farmers' Market

See you around the valley.

Lehigh Valley Buzz · written from around here · Tuesday mornings

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