Downtown Ardmore turns into one giant block party Saturday, October 17, as the Ardmore Business Association marks its 75th anniversary with a free community celebration running from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Schauffele Plaza. Fox29 personality Bob Kelly is set to make an appearance alongside the Philadelphia Eagles mascot Swoop and Eagles cheerleaders, while organizers have packed the day with a vintage car show, sidewalk sales, a family fun zone, face painting, balloon fun and activities, and the ever-popular Ardbark Dog Parade and Contest.
The Lower Merion Police Department is among township drop-off locations for non-perishable food donations to Preston & Steve's Camp Out for Hunger. It's a fitting pairing for a festival built around community and connection, since the radio drive has grown into the largest single-site food collection event in the country since it launched in 1998 under hosts Preston Elliot and Steve Morrison, according to Neumann University. Last year's multi-day broadcast at Xfinity Mobile Arena pulled in more than 1.8 million pounds of food and nearly $1.93 million in cash for Philabundance, per 93.3 WMMR.
Local police involvement in the drive isn't new. The department has previously teamed up with municipal fire and EMS agencies to gather more than 3,400 pounds of non-perishable food in a single monthly collection, serving as a local drop-off point before deliveries reach the central Camp Out for Hunger site. That history of public safety participation in neighborhood charity efforts echoes the department's presence at other recent gatherings, including Lower Merion's National Night Out, which moved to Suburban Square this past summer.
A Festival That Outgrew Its Own Parking Lot
Ardmore Day didn't start out as the sprawling affair it's become. The event originated in 2019 as a modest downtown open house before expanding into the Ardmore Business Association's largest annual community festival, now drawing visitors well beyond Schauffele Plaza into the surrounding downtown streets, according to the Lower Merion Times. The volunteer-led association behind it was founded in 1951 and advocates for small businesses across the commercial district, managing major public programming in Downtown Ardmore, as detailed by Patch.
The group's track record earned it the Main Line Parent 2026 LOVE Award for Best Community Events this past May, a recognition that highlighted recurring programs like the Ardbark Dog Parade, Spooktacular, and holiday parades, per the organization's Instagram post. This year's celebration folds several of those signature events — Spooktacular included — into the same Saturday lineup alongside live music and food vendors.
Schauffele Plaza's Transformation From Parking Lot to Civic Green
The festival's host site is the subject of a redesign initiative. Lower Merion Township has considered conceptual plans for Schauffele Plaza, on Cricket Avenue, to convert a former 72-space municipal parking lot into a flexible civic green space; plans were presented to the township's Building & Planning Committee earlier this year, according to Lower Merion Township. The plan honors the plaza's history as a former trolley station, incorporating transit-inspired design features, native plantings, and a pedestrian-friendly woonerf shared street along Trolley Way, as outlined by Omnes Studio, which notes the project is pursuing Sustainable SITES certification.
Suburban Square opened in 1928 as one of the nation's earliest planned suburban shopping centers and recently completed a 131-unit mixed-use apartment expansion along Coulter Avenue, according to Suburban Square. Together with Lancaster Avenue, the shopping center forms one of the main commercial anchors drawing shoppers and diners into Ardmore.
