matriarchy

Started in 1947 as a livestock auction, it grew into a regional farm market. Multiple buildings full of family-owned stands for produce, meat, poultry, baked goods, all sorts of supplies and general merchandise, new and used. They have regular special events – craft shows, gun shows, collectibles, etc. Local auctioneer’s hold estate sales there. There is a large rental hall. A large book sale is held in July by the AAUW.

The key feature for many people is the Wednesday morning flea market, in a field that gently marches uphill. The earlier you arrive (4AM is busy), the better space you get at the market – all spaces are $10 if you are selling. Many shoppers arrive just as early, to get the first crack at the bargains. It takes longer to see all the vendors than the market is open – at least for me. Everything from expensive antiques to cheap socks and used paperbacks. You dip down into the market buildings once in a while to use the restrooms (avoid the Port-a-POtties on the hill) and get food. Wear sunscreen and bring a water bottle. Most of the aisles between rows of stalls are paved, so a wagon or wheeled shopping cart is a good idea.

Once you see everything on “the hill” you can also visit the reserved covered spaces down in one of the open-air buildings, to find merchants of collectibles, nursery stock, liquidated sundries, dollar-story-type items, books, crafts, you-name-it. You can still also buy a cow at the livestock auction, if you are so inclined. Buy rope, get your guitar tuned, eat shoo-fly pie, add to your Hall pottery colletion…

Oley is a village in Oley Township, Berks County. The whole township (I think) is a historic district and the only township on the National Register of Historic Places. Some public roads are dirt. If you are looking for excitement, this might not be your first stop; but if you are looking for an example of rural landscape that has not changed much for 300 years, there is a lot to see here.

There is an annual community fair in the fall, at the fairground behind the fire company on Main Street. There is also an annual tour of historic houses, a good little diner, and a motorcycle social club. There is a great little nursery called Glick’s that has a good assortment of reasonably-priced annuals and perennials, and a big Christmas poinsettia show. There is a local bike tour called the Shoo-Fly Classic: http://www.berksbicycle.com/

Oley is ecologically important to water conservation, part of an important watershed. Many Oley landowners have deeded conservation easements in an effort to preserve the rural landscape. There are mysterious historic standing stones hidden in the woods, left by natives before English and German settlers completely chased them off the excellent farmland. The last names on the mailboxes have been Pennsylvania Dutch for generations, and the local accent is still often “dutchy.” In the mid-1700’s, a Huguenot immigrant doctor/minister named George de Benneville helped found the Universalist church in America. There is a 300-year old oak tree called the Sacred Oak, that you used to be able to visit, now closed to all but occasional ceremonial visitors.

There is a cute tea room on Main Street, where you can get Victorian High Tea, reservations recommended. The houses on Main Street are picturesque, and the farm buildings and rural landscapes on any road are photo-worthy. Taking a Sunday drive is no longer recommended when gas prices are close to $3/gallon, but this would be the sort of place you would go if you did take one. Take a camera. Stop for breakfast at the Oley Legion Diner, and later get ice cream at the Oley Turnpike Dairy.

I like it – it’s quirky. There is almost nothing else Asian about Reading, besides the usual handful of restaurants and Asian residents that any city has. No particular Asian neighborhood, that I know of. But it reminds me of the days when Reading was still manufacturing city, and someone had money to build a silly little Pagoda and import a bell for it. Long before I was born, but the city has changed several times in it’s history and will change again… is changing now.

The city is doing more remodeling around the Pagoda. Adding a coffee shop, locating the offices of the city Event Planner there, etc. They cleared an area to landscape for outdoor events. It’ll be 100 years old in 2008. But if you have bad knees you are still gonna have trouble walking up 7 flights of stairs to get to the top! You can read more about it at pagodaskyline.org