Founders Day Shirts, Excursion Tickets Now Available

Lansdale Borough is five days away from celebrating its 140th birthday - and what better way than with Founders Day.

The all-day event begins Saturday at 9 a.m. with the Lansdale Farmers' Market and ends at 9 p.m. with a fireworks extravaganza.

Bonus: It's also the Lansdale Festival of the Arts in Memorial Park.

"A Town on Track" is the train-related theme for the 140th this year. 

So, naturally, train excursions are a big feature this year.

Citizens can start celebrating early, as new red Founders Day shirts are available for $10 each right now.

Founders Day organizer Mary Fuller said the fire engine red color is reminiscent of fireworks.

The shirts feature a circular embelm with a steam train, fireworks and the date of Lansdale's incorporation of 1872.

The train is the heart of Lansdale's founding, as the town radially formed and grew from the Lansdale train station.

"It's too early for branding," said Fuller after last Wednesday's Lansdale Borough Council meeting. "We couldn't hold up the shirts for branding."

Last year, the inaugural Founders Day event faced a fiasco - and its name was Hurricane Irene.

Founders Day had to be cancelled and rescheduled for October.

At that time, more than 1,000 T-shirts were made for the inaugural event, featuring the initial date.

Fuller and the Founders Day Committee got smart this year. One thing they did - they ordered far less shirts.

"You may notice that one of the changes we made - no date on the shirt," Fuller said. "In the event of - we're not saying it - we just tried to be smarter this year."

The shirts went on sale on August 11 at the Lansdale Farmers' Market.

"We have sold quite a few," Fuller said. "We sold more than we did last year on opening day." 

Fuller said there would be a deal with the new shirts and the old inaugural shirts.

For those who are interested, the uber-popular Discover Lansdale black T-shirts with the design "Paris Milan New York Tokyo Lansdale" are also available at $10 each.

"They are selling like hot cakes," Fuller said. "We are about to reorder again. We ordered onesies in children sizes - sold out."

The train excursions for Founders Day come courtesy of SEPTA New Hope and Ivyland Excursion Trains.

Tickets are available at Lansdale Borough Hall, Lansdale Library and Henning's Scale Models. If tickets are not available, each facility will take names and reserve spots.

Volunteers are also needed for the event. You can email volunteers@discoverlansdale.org, mfuller@lansdale.org or tflynn@lansdale.org to help out.

The Founders Day Committee is seeking volunteers for the dunk tank especially.

The committee also needs patrons for the event.

"If you cannot donate on a big scale, we will take small-scale donations," Fuller said. 

Signs promoting Founders Day are also available at or by contacting

"Just so you know," Fuller said, "I've had some preliminary discussons for 10 years from now for 150 years. We are thinking that far ahead." 

Sponsors for this year's Founders Day include:

• American Heritage Federal Credit Union
• Elm Terrace Gardens
• Freedom Credit Union
• Hangley, Aronchick, Segal, Pudlin & Schiller
• Abington Health Lansdale Hospital
• Minuteman Press
• Remington Vernick & Beach Engineers
• SEPTA
• Sign-A-Rama
• Susquehanna Bank
• Tyco
• Univest
• Wisler Pearlstine, LLP

Here is the schedule of events for Founders Day, courtesy of DiscoverLansdale.org: