Around the Valley
Friday, October 9 in Nazareth and Easton: two home football games tonight, Lewis Black at the State, and a market-packed Saturday ahead
This is the Friday, October 9 roundup for Nazareth, Easton, and the townships in between, checked this morning against live district, municipal, and venue calendars. Today is the two-town home football night: Nazareth hosts Bethlehem Liberty at Leh Stadium and Easton hosts Northampton at Cottingham, both at 7:00 p.m., with Lewis Black at the State Theatre for a night out after. The weekend keeps the momentum with both farmers markets and the Martin Guitar raffle on Saturday, a free blueJacks concert at Nevin Park, and Forks Restaurant Week opening Sunday, and then the calendar quiets for a four-day school weekend before the October 17 super-Saturday.
Tonight: two home football games, and one stage
Friday night belongs to the Lehigh Valley circuit. The Nazareth Blue Eagles carry a five-game win streak into Leh Stadium at 7:00 p.m., where they host Bethlehem Liberty in an EPC Northampton-division league game. Nazareth is 5-1 and comes off a 49-point first-half outburst in its October 2 win at Stroudsburg; Liberty arrives at 2-4. Across the valley, the Easton Red Rovers host Northampton at Cottingham Stadium at 7:00 p.m. in another EPC North game: the Rovers are 3-3 and the defending District 11 Class 6A champions, a new-look team reloading under head coach Matt Senneca, while the 4-2 Konkrete Kids have been knocking on the door of the EPC elite under John Toman. The Easton Area School District has flagged this as the first home game under its new Cottingham entry and seating procedures, so give yourself extra time and check the district's news feed for the gate map before you go.
After the final whistle, Lewis Black takes the State Theatre stage at 8:00 p.m. for a night of comedy, and across the river the Easton Public Market hosts Acoustic Kitchen with Serafina Salvaterra on its Friday night lineup at 325 Northampton Street, presented by Fitzpatrick, Lentz & Bubba and Martin Guitar. The indoor market is open daily, so a pre-game or post-show bite is easy either way.
The week just played: a soccer upset and a seventh straight
The week just played belonged to the Nazareth Blue Eagles across three sports. Girls soccer took down previously unbeaten Emmaus on Wednesday, October 7 on a second-half penalty kick by senior midfielder Abigail Kilareski, a result that shook up the EPC standings. Field hockey beat Northampton for a seventh straight win, and the football team's 49-point first half at Stroudsburg made it five wins in a row. District schedules post live on the Nazareth athletics page, so this weekend's volleyball, soccer, and cross-country times are best checked there as the week fills in.
The local market stayed busy too, which is worth watching if you are tracking the corridor. A four-bedroom home at 4652 Willow Lane in Nazareth sold for $651,000, reported October 6, and a four-bedroom at 129 Chase Hollow Drive changed hands at $1.065 million, reported October 8. Both sales give a useful read on the upper end of the Nazareth market.
Vote by November 3: ballot boxes and the 137th District
Northampton County's November 3 general election is 25 days out, and the county has been rolling out the machinery. Secure ballot drop-off boxes went up on October 5, and the county has announced Ballot-on-Demand voting plus one-day pop-up voter services events around the county. The Morning Call's October 9 preview of the races to watch puts the 137th District front and center: Republican Representative Joseph Emrick, a former Upper Nazareth Township supervisor seeking a ninth term, faces Democrat Jeffrey Warren. For drop-off locations and pop-up dates, the county's press releases and elections office are the authoritative list.
Saturday: markets, the Martin raffle, and a free concert
The Nazareth Farmers Market keeps its every-Saturday run on the circle at Main and Center Streets, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., and the Martin Guitar Charitable Foundation's raffle draws again Saturday morning at 2 South Main Street, one of three October drawing days on the way to the Halloween-morning grand prize. The Nazareth Center for the Arts opens its gallery the same morning at 30 East Belvidere Street, with the HAUNTED exhibit on the walls through the end of the month.
In Easton, the Easton Farmers Market returns to Scott Park on Larry Holmes Drive, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., with more than 50 local and regional vendors on the first regular market Saturday since Garlic Fest weekend. And the city adds a free community concert Saturday: Live at Nevin Park featuring the blueJacks, on the City of Easton calendar. When the sun goes down, the Eerie Easton Walking Tours keep their Friday and Saturday evening runs from the Sigal Museum, and Olde Stone Farm's Harvest Nights at 1350 Raubsville Road in Williams Township runs 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. through October 31 with the flashlight corn maze, moonlit hayrides, and the pumpkin patch.
Sunday: Restaurant Week opens, trunk-or-treat, and Sunday Sounds
The inaugural Forks Township Restaurant Week opens Sunday, October 11 and runs through Saturday, October 17, organized by the Forks Business Association with the Easton Area Chamber of Commerce. Nearly a dozen eateries across the township are offering prix-fixe menus and promotions, from Widow's Tavern in Stockertown to Leaf Restaurant & Cigar Bar at 90 Mort Drive, with SURV on Sullivan Trail anchoring the scratch-kitchen end. It is a good week to eat your way up and down Route 248.
Sunday also brings the trunk-or-treat that Nazareth Borough Council approved in September: Action Karate's trunk-or-treat at Nazareth Borough Park, 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., an early Halloween warm-up for the younger set. The Easton Public Market runs its Sunday Sounds live music series, and the Downtown Nazareth gift card promo is good every Sunday, so a market-morning coffee can come with a card toward local shops.
The week ahead: a four-day weekend, then budget nights
Monday, October 12 is off for both districts, listed as Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples' Day on the adopted calendars, so students get a four-day weekend. The meetings stack up after the break. The Nazareth Area School District board runs its Committee of the Whole on Tuesday, October 13 at 6:00 p.m., with agendas on the Keystone Agenda platform and Zoom links posted ahead; the Easton Area School District board holds its next regular meeting Tuesday, October 20 at 7:00 p.m. at the Easton Area Education Center, with the agenda in the district's BoardDocs portal.
On the municipal side, Forks Township runs its 2027 Budget Workshop on Tuesday, October 13 from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. at 1606 Sullivan Trail, then the Supervisors' regular meeting Thursday, October 15 at 7:00 p.m. continues the budget discussion. Lower Nazareth Township Supervisors sit Wednesday, October 14 at 7:00 p.m. on the second-and-fourth-Wednesday round, and Easton City Council meets Wednesday, October 14 and Wednesday, October 28 at 6:00 p.m. in Council Chambers on the third floor of City Hall, 123 South 3rd Street, with agendas in the Agenda Center. The West Ward Market plays its final Thursday of the season on October 15 at the Community Garden at 10th and Pine Streets in Easton, so that 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. window is the last of the year.
Friday the 16th, then the super-Saturday
The adults' night lands Friday, October 16. Crayola After Dark: Halloween Edition runs 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. at 30 Centre Square, a 21+ evening with Halloween-inspired creativity, a live DJ, cocktails and bites, and a costume contest; early-bird tickets are $39.99 plus tax, space is limited, and a valid photo ID is required at the door. The State Theatre has comedian Bobby Collins at 7:30 p.m. the same night.
Then Saturday, October 17 stacks the season's biggest day in both towns. The Nazareth Halloween Parade, presented by Vigilance Hose Co. #1, steps off at 1:00 p.m. from Belvidere and Liberty Streets, proceeds west on Belvidere to Main, north to the circle, then east on East Center Street, ending at Nazareth Senior High School; rain or shine, no rain date. The Nazareth Fall Festival, presented by the Nazareth Area Chamber of Commerce, follows at 2:00 p.m. on South Main Street between Belvidere and Walnut. In Easton, Apple Jam fills Scott Park from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Nazareth's Blue Eagles play a rare Saturday game at Bethlehem Catholic at 7:00 p.m., and The Rocket Man Show at the State Theatre at 7:30 p.m. closes the night.
Things to do: Crayola, Martin Guitar, and the haunted walks
The Crayola Experience runs Screamin' Green Hauntoween through November 1, included with general admission at 30 Centre Square: weekend trick-or-treating stations, themed crafts, scavenger hunts, and photo ops, plus the Creepy Critter Visit with Arachno-Showbia. At C.F. Martin & Co. on Sycamore Street in Nazareth, the free museum, the 1833 Shop, and the Pickin' Parlor stay open weekdays, and the guided one-hour factory tour runs Monday through Friday with departures between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., small groups only, booked in advance on the tour scheduler.
The State Theatre keeps its month moving after this week: Bobby Collins on October 16, The Rocket Man Show on October 17, The Bronx Wanderers on October 22, Cinderella by the United European Ballet Company on October 23, a Phil Collins tribute on October 24, and The Fab Faux on October 30.
Where to eat this week
Restaurant Week is the excuse, but the regulars are the reason. In Nazareth, the Nazareth Diner on South Broad Street covers breakfast any hour, Birthright Brewing Company at 57 South Main pours its own beer with a full menu, Pizza Joe's at 550 South Main is the dependable Italian stop, and Sicily Pizza and Los Compadres on East Lawn Road round out the quick-dinner end.
Downtown Easton keeps its own rotation: Billy's Downtown Diner on South 3rd Street for the classic breakfast, 3rd & Ferry Fish Market for seafood on the corner by the square, Thyme Rooftop Grille on Northampton Street for a view of the circle, ThreeBirds Coffee House for the coffee end of the street, and the Easton Public Market two blocks in when the square is shoulder-to-shoulder. In Forks, SURV is worth the short drive for its scratch kitchen and wood-fired pizza, especially during Restaurant Week, and keep an eye out for La Piazza Italia Ristorante, a brick-oven pizza and homemade pasta spot announced for the Forks Towne Center on Sullivan Trail.
On the horizon
Circle these dates: two home football games and Lewis Black tonight; both farmers markets, the Martin Guitar raffle, Live at Nevin Park, the Eerie Easton tours, and Olde Stone Farm's Harvest Nights on Saturday; Forks Restaurant Week, the trunk-or-treat at Nazareth Borough Park, and Sunday Sounds on Sunday; a four-day weekend for students Monday; the Nazareth school board Committee of the Whole and the Forks budget workshop on Tuesday; Lower Nazareth Supervisors and Easton City Council on Wednesday; Forks Supervisors and the final West Ward Market on Thursday; Crayola After Dark and Bobby Collins on Friday the 16th; and the October 17 super-Saturday with the parade at 1:00 p.m., the Fall Festival at 2:00 p.m., Apple Jam at Scott Park, Nazareth football at Bethlehem Catholic, and The Rocket Man Show. Then the Witches' Walk takes downtown Easton on Friday the 23rd and Saturday the 24th, the Phillipsburg-Easton Halloween Parade crosses the Delaware on Sunday the 25th at 3:00 p.m., the rivalry finale is Nazareth at Easton on Friday the 30th at Cottingham, and Halloween morning brings the Martin Guitar grand-prize drawing and the final Nazareth market of the season. Beyond the month, PA Bacon Fest celebrates its 15th anniversary November 7 and 8. For anything dated, the Easton city events page, Downtown Nazareth's listings, and the Easton Main Street Initiative stay more current than any single post can, so give them a glance before you head out the door.