The Mountville Community Event will be held at Froelich Park, 350 W. Main St., Mountville, on Saturday, March 25, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The family-friendly event will feature a variety of small businesses, nonprofits, live entertainment and local vendors.

Live entertainment will be provided by local musicians such as Small Town Troubadours and Chuck Mock Band, and students from Paloma School of Irish Dance in Lancaster will perform. Each nonprofit organization in attendance will provide a free children's activity, and a bounce house will be available to kids as well. Nonprofits such as the Mountville Lions Club, Girl Scouts, Hempfield Mini-THON and the Froelich Foundation will have booths at the event, and even the Easter Bunny is scheduled to make an appearance. Parking will be available by donation, and it will be facilitated by the Mountville Fire Company.

Multiple food trucks will be participating in the event, including Philly Cheesesteak Co., Mac Stack and G's Concessions. Vendors will be local artisans, crafters and businesses such as Balloon Art by Topaz, Bark Ranger Bakery, Crafts from the Heart and Let's Get Rustic. MJ Squad will accept registration for vendors until all of the spaces are filled. To register as a vendor, visit http://www.mjsquadevents.com.

"I love seeing the community coming together," said Megan Kalbach, one of the event's organizers. "We want to give an opportunity to these organizations to be out there and share with the community, but also just to have fun. It's a good way to kick off the spring season, get out of the house and kiss winter goodbye."

The free community event was first organized in March 2021 by local marketing company MJ Squad. Many of MJ Squad's clients were struggling to find affordable events in the area to share their missions or sell their products, and many organizations were still overcoming challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Kalbach and Jacquelynne Hess, the founders of MJ Squad, decided that an accessible community event in Mountville would benefit both local businesses and nonprofits, so they began organizing it.

MJ Squad also organizes other community events that share the same mission as the Mountville Community Event; throughout the year, Hess and Kalbach help to offer holiday markets and events at the Tanger Outlets.

Kalbach and Hess started MJ Squad over the COVID-19 pandemic as a way to help small businesses and business owners in the area. Both Kalbach and Hess were raised by small business owners and each became an entrepreneur prior to founding MJ Squad. "We had no idea this is something that was so missing when we started," Kalbach said. "We're humbled and grateful to provide this type of support for small business, after growing up and watching our parents navigate that."