The newly formed Tyrone Merchants Association will be celebrating an ‘Octoberfest’ and a ‘Soup Day’ in the business district on Friday and Saturday, October 25 and 26. To make this event special and to help revitalize the downtown district there is a need to have vendors and organizations to participate.
The Tyrone Merchants Association has decided to bring events back into Tyrone, not just downtown, but also try to get businesses in the Tyrone area to come downtown and be part of the celebrations and festivals that the town has been accustomed to in the past.
Chairman Rob Orr stated, “Many communities around us still have those events running, such as Alexandria with Hartzlog Day, and we really wanted to get some of our own events up and running again.”
The idea of the merchants association is to combine smaller businesses’ monies to purchase more advertising at a discount rate and have a larger advertising campaign. If all the smaller businesses advertise on the same weekend, it would be much more meaningful and more effective as a unit rather than each business doing their own advertising at a more costly rate.
The Octoberfest event will happen because of the efforts the merchants association has shown by influencing local Tyrone businesses to come together as one unit.
Orr explained, “As things began to actually become tangible and materialize and things started to happen within the association, the excitement grew, and the more the excitement grows, the easier it is for people to want to be involved in something that is exciting and happening.”
“In the last two or three weeks the merchants association has come together strong, and I’m really excited not just with Octoberfest, but what we do in the future as well,” said Orr.
Octoberfest was a last minute organization by the Tyrone Merchants Association to have a fall event. The association wanted to have a weekend where all the merchants would have a sale at the same time – and with little time available, the association has made that a reality.
Orr stated, “I’m hoping see vendors from social organizations like churches, TACO, Kiwanis Club and Salvation Army, because they can participate in a fall event for fund-raising and also making downtown look fuller with all these people out in the streets selling different things.”
“Other vendors might be from area businesses like Dan Sprankle and Greg Hoover at Warriors Mark Auto World, who are bringing a car down to man for that weekend,” said Orr.
He added, “They’re not lost out there in Warriors Mark now, they’re in downtown Tyrone when there’s a big event going on and people tend to remember that. We want to involve businesses in the Tyrone area.”
Octoberfest will include the festival type sales, crafts, baked goods, hot dogs, and other festive items.
On Saturday, the merchant association is gathering churches and organizations together to have a soup tasting contest as well we selling soup to raise money for church related organizations. There will be a couple of judges tasting all the soups and two money prizes will be awarded for the church or organization with the best tasting soup.
Orr said, “It’s to encourage the churches and organizations to get involved and it will be fun as well. It’s just a way for the merchants association to try to be a bigger part of the community.”
The association has been receiving a lot of outside support from the borough, the chamber, WTRN, The Daily Herald, and even the carpentry and art departments at Tyrone High School. The carpentry shop made the association pumpkin signs out of plywood and the art department painted them with ‘Octoberfest’ announced on the signs.
“That kind of support has just been tremendous and has just made things come together so well,” said Orr.
The merchants association will place the signs at all the exits around Tyrone this weekend so as people drive in and out of Tyrone they will see the signs announcing the Octoberfest event.
Orr explained, “We hope Octoberfest sets off more and more events, we would like to have four major events a year for every season, as well as draw in investors. As business and traffic grows, those weekends can be your four biggest weekends of the year, and that can mean the difference between a business closing its door and opening it up.”
“I think this will help encourage someone who’s wanting to open a business in Tyrone to have a little more confidence in the traffic flow downtown,” he added.
Octoberfest is just the beginning for the merchants associations efforts to help revitalize downtown Tyrone business. If the community pulls together like the merchants have, something special will continue to occur in Tyrone.
“I really believe the events will grow bigger and bigger as the community becomes more supportive of them. Come and check things out and support your local Tyrone businesses,” said Orr.
