For information on submitting an obituary, please contact Reading Eagle by phone at 610-371-5018, or email at obituaries@readingeagle.com or fax at 610-371-5193.
Most obituaries published in the Reading Eagle are submitted through funeral homes and cremation services, but we will accept submissions from families. Obituaries can be emailed to obituaries@readingeagle.com.
In addition to the text of the obituary, any photographs that you wish to include can be attached to this email. Please put the text of the obituary in a Word document, a Google document or in the body of the email. The Reading Eagle also requires a way to verify the death, so please include either the phone number of the funeral home or cremation service that is in charge of the deceased’s care or a photo of his/her death certificate. We also request that your full name, phone number and address are all included in this email.
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Obituaries can be submitted for any future date, but they must be received no later than 3:00 p.m. the day prior to its running for it to be published.
Please call the obituary desk, at 610-371-5018, for information on pricing.
The choices were seemingly endless, the options almost overwhelming. Everywhere you looked inside the Leesport Farmers Market on Saturday there were stacks and displays. People eagerly gathered around them, browsing through the countless cassettes, CDs and, most notably, vinyl records.
The farmers market played host to Record Riots, an event that offered more than 30,000 records, many of them rare, to music fans and collectors.
Organizer Stephen Gritzan said the show came about in 2008 in New York, at a time when record shows were few and far between. After the initial event attracted more than 900 people to a club in Brooklyn, Gritzan decided to take the event on the road.
Today, the show moves through dozens of locations annually across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Maryland, Virginia and Ohio. It features the collections of record stores, independent dealers and more.
“We are now the largest network of vinyl events in the country,” Gritzan said.
It’s possible to buy records online, but Gritzan noted that people at Record Riots events have a desire for community.
“I see these shows as a place where people want to hang with other people who have a similar interest, who want to share new music and who want to get away from the screens,” he said. “In this era of fractured society where everyone is angry with each other, this is an example of people finding commonality in music they love.”
Jim Heinbaugh said he came to the show in search of “unfindable vinyl” at the right price. The York County resident was on the hunt for rare albums from metal bands to add to his collection of more than 3,000 records.
“I’m looking for obscure stuff,” he said. “I go to shows like this a lot not really knowing what I might find. And that’s the part that I like so much — the surprise of it all.”
Mike Frederick and his 16-year-old daughter, Lou, were also in search of hard-to-find recordings. The pair said listening to vinyl has become something their Schuylkill County family does as a way to share musical interests.
“We want to find something we don’t have in our collection and never heard of before because that’s part of the adventure — discovering something new,” he said.
Mike Frederick said listening to vinyl records is a unique experience.
“When you sit down and put a record on, you are making a commitment in a way that makes it more of an event,” he said. “That is time we put aside as a family to really stop what we’re doing and really listen.”
Lou Frederick was holding some of the albums she and her dad had already picked out. There were titles by Donald Fagen, The Groundhogs and The Seldom Scene.
“I’m still finding out what music I like the most, but there’s not much I won’t listen to,” she said.
The Fredericks were leafing through titles at a stand belonging to Derek Shaw. The York County collector brought more than 1,200 records to the show.
Shaw, who has taken part in 15 shows in the last three months, said he was there to help people find something they were looking for or turn them on to something new. He had albums ranging from the 1950s to the present day by artists representing dozens of different genres.
He knows what sells the best.
“Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, Pink Floyd, the Grateful Dead and Janis Joplin are those tried and true artists that a lot of people are looking for,” he said. “At least in my experience those are the records that have always been in demand.”
Shaw said the appeal of vinyl over other recording formats is its warmth and depth.
“CDs are just too sterile,” he said. “It’s true that vinyl has pops and clicks, but sound is what makes it exciting.”
Ernie Binder said that as a vinyl enthusiast he missed the days when record stores were common and he could pop in to search for his favorite artists. That’s why he decided to open his own shop about two months ago in Cumberland County.
“Vinyl is a work of art that makes them treasures,” he said. “Many albums are meant to be listened to as an entire piece that you just don’t get streaming individual songs. And you actually have to devote time to a record rather than treating it as background music to be listened to in headphones.”
Binder had a stack of records he had picked out for his customers. Albums by Heart, Billy Joel and Led Zeppelin were among his finds.
Dean and Allie Lewis were searching for albums by Phish, which was proving more difficult than they expected. The Boyertown couple said they were surprised by how elusive the task was becoming.
“We’ve been busy digging through all these stacks,” Dean Lewis said as he continued his search in frustration.
The couple, who were a little younger than some of the other attendees at the show, said they have about 600 records in their collection and value the unique tactile connection to music that vinyl offers.
“I like having the physical product,” Allie Lewis said.
“I think it comes down to how much you like music and how you want to experience music,” Dean Lewis added. “Streaming music is fine for some people, but vinyl makes music more immersive.”
Chad Malinowski, owner of Haul House Records in West Reading, said being at the show provides exposure for his store.
He said he brings albums by artists he knows people are looking for, and his offerings span genres from heavy metal to punk rock to new wave.
“I find that people travel a long way to come to shows like this in search of something that may be hard to find,” he said. “Vinyl came back in a big way about 15 years ago and seems to be gaining more popularity as time goes by.”
Malinowski opened his store two years ago out of his love for vinyl. He said the sound and artwork is what makes records so special.