With 2013 U.S. Open Coming, Ardmore Initiative Takes the Initiative

The organization plans to take the fullest advantage of the exposure that comes with the Merion Golf Club tournament.

With the 2013 U.S. Open, and the media hordes and general brouhaha that come with it, set to descend on Ardmore in June 10, the Ardmore Initiative is poised to take advantage of the challenges and opportunities the event presents. “Our businesses are really looking forward to the arrival of the players, workers, volunteers and visitors to the 2013 U.S. Open championship,” Ardmore Initiative executive director Christine Vilardo said. Vilardo added that many local businesses are preparing for the surge. Restaurants are creating happy hour menu specials, while merchants have fashioned golf-themed window displays. In addition, the Ardmore Initiative has worked with the township to get the area ready to make its best impression. “New banners …

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Save The Date: 2nd Annual Cricket Crafts & Brew Fest

The upcoming crafts fair and brew fest will help benefit the Ardmore Initiative.

Feeling crafty? Oggle at some local crafts while enjoying a few beers at the second annual Cricket Crafts & Brew Fest on May 4. From 2 p.m. to 8 p.m., the festival will feature local craft vendors as well as 10 different hand-crafted beers from around the nation all along Cricket Avenue in Ardmore. The event is sponsored by Ardmore businesses and the proceeds from the festival will go towards the Ardmore Initiative—a business district authority responsible for physical improvements and economic development.  In addition, live music will be played at the outdoor family-friendly festival and a variety of food from restaurants along Crciket Avenue will be available. Don't forget to bring the kiddos too—a kids' section will also feature moon …

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With 'Guerilla Marketing,' 2013 US Open Could Mean Boom for Ardmore

The golf tournament, to be held at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, will bring an estimated 170,000 people to the area—but business owners are staying realistic.

With an estimated 170,000 people expected to attend the 2013 US Open Championship over the course of the tournament's run in June, Ardmore-area businesses are learning how they might capitalize on an unusual opportunity—while also tempering their expectations. The 2013 US Open, to be held at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Haverford Township, runs from June 10-16, 2013. This year will mark the fifth time Merion Golf Club has hosted the championship, the last time being 32 years ago, in 1981. Tuesday night at Ardmore Toyota, more than 30 members of the Ardmore Business Association met with USGA Championship Director Hank Thompson, USGA Volunteer and Player Services Liaison John Coppins, Lower Merion Police Lt. Dave Snyder and Long and Foster …

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Photos: Taste of Ardmore 2012

Ardmore residents came together for a night of community, food and fashion at Ardmore Initiative's yearly fundraiser.

Local residents and officials came together to celebrate Ardmore food and fashions at Taste of Ardmore on Thursday night. The event is Ardmore Initiative's only fundraising event of the year, and proceeds support the business district authority's work to advocate for the Ardmore business community. The evening's fashion show featured some familiar faces, including Lower Merion Board of Commissioners President Liz Rogan, Fire Marshal Jim McCoy, township secretary Eileen Trainer, Friends of Linwood Park president Kate Galer, all modeling fashions from Ardmore shops.

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'Taste of Ardmore' Returns on Thursday

The annual Ardmore Initiative fundraiser features food from local restaurants and a fashion show featuring some well-known Ardmore faces.

Another night of food and fashion from local businesses is planned for Ardmore Initiative’s annual Taste of Ardmore fundraiser this Thursday. The event, to be held at Ardmore Toyota, is Ardmore Initiative's only fundraising event of the year. The business district authority, created in 1993, advocates for the business community in Ardmore and has worked to bring events like Clover Market and Oktoberfest to Ardmore, in addition to recruiting downtown businesses. The money raised from ticket sales goes toward continuing to support the work of the Ardmore Initiative, which also includes cleaning up Ardmore, fixing its facades, planting trees and other projects, said Ardmore Initiative’s John Durso. For a $40 ticket (or $60, after the early …

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GreenFest Comes To Ardmore, Sunday

Recycle small electronics and thermometers, shred documents, tour an ambulance, make a rain stick, talk green and more, on June 12.

This Sunday, residents can recycle small electronics and thermometers, shred documents, tour an ambulance, make a rain stick, learn about green ideas and more, at Ardmore's GreenFest, an environmental sustainability and awareness event hosted by State Rep. Tim Briggs in conjunction with Ardmore Initiative. The event, to be held at Schauffele Plaza, 12 E. Lancaster Ave. in Ardmore from 1 to 4 p.m. on Sunday June 12, includes on-site recycling and shredding, kids activities like a moon bounce and live animals, and booths from local and national environmentally friendly organizations where residents can learn about green practices and products. “It will be a great opportunity to see ‘green’ (hybrid) cars [and] learn about green products to …

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Ardmore Initiative Applying for ‘Keystone Community’ Designation

The Initiative’s next meeting is Tuesday, Feb. 21.

The Ardmore Initiative intends to apply to the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) for a designation as a “Keystone Community,” which if successful would replace the AI’s previous designation as a “Main Street Achiever.” AI Executive Director Christine Vilardo this week said the group also intends to apply for DCED funding to continue the Facade Improvement grant program and to support additional streetscape and marketing initiatives. The Initiative’s next board meeting is open to the public for input, and is scheduled for Tuesday (Feb. 21) at 4 p.m. in the Caucus Room of the Lower Merion Township Administration Building (75 E. Lancaster Ave. in Ardmore). The Keystone Community program “designates and funds…

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All That & Ardmore

South Carolina Town Takes Cue From Ardmore on ‘Downtown Dollars’

Beaufort will sell $15,000 worth of “Main Street Dollars.”

Citing the success of Ardmore’s “Downtown Dollars” program in recent years, officials in the coastal town of Beaufort, South Carolina (south of Charleston and just north of Hilton Head) are following Ardmore’s lead and introducing sell $15,000 worth of “Main Street Dollars,” The Beaufort Gazette recently reported. “The idea is borrowed from a program started in Ardmore, Pa., a few years ago, where ‘Downtown Dollars’ has become so hot, the organization raffles them away,” wrote reporter Erin Moody. “They got buzz, and got people talking, and that’s what we want,” Main Street Beaufort Executive Director LaNelle Fabian told the newspaper. “We hope it pays a payroll, pays a rent.” The scrip can be used through March 31 at participating …

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Greatest Person

Christine Vilardo: Bringing Ardmore Together

The business-minded Vilardo is Ardmore's linchpin.

In his pop-sociological bestseller, TheTippingPoint, author Malcolm Gladwell wrote that for any idea to really take off, it requires three distinct types to work on its behalf. “Mavens” are the heady information specialists who are pathological sharers of all they know. “Salesmen” are those people-people with a knack for charm and persuasion. And “connectors” are men and women with social networks sufficiently wide and disparate to bring together people and ideas that would otherwise be like ships in the night. Christine Vilardo is a classic connector. Since taking over as executive director of the Ardmore Initiative in 2007, the former choreographer has used her smarts and deep Rolodex to create unique opportunities for local businesses …

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