Rosedale Fall Festival brings big crowds to Penn Hills pool

The Rosedale Beach Club pool was closed for the season, but the fun did not stop at the legendary Penn Hills venue.

It hosted the annual Rosedale Fall Festival Sept. 14-16 with thousands of folks from multiple communities packing the grounds each night.

The carnival atmosphere, including games, rides and treats, was provided by Elizabeth Township-based LAM Enterprises, owned by Lloyd Serfas, his wife, Angie, and their daughter, Melanie.

The company has been a part of the festival for at least five years.

Local community groups also had informational booths and small games of chance.

Kristionna Hopkins, 9, of Penn Hills came to the festival with family and friends. She said she liked the games and loved the rides.

“It has a lot of stuff for kids to play,” Kristionna said.

Club volunteers and their families made homemade foods for sale including turkey legs, fresh-cut fries, haluski, hot and sweet sausage and more.

Other activities included gift basket raffles, 50/50 and performances by 90 Second Knockout and Norm Nardini.

For many, it was a time of celebration and joy. For some, it was an end of an era.

Event chairman Daryl Saltzman announced this would be his last year organizing the festival and being on the club board of directors. This was his sixth year as chairman and nearly 20th on the board.

The festival was canceled in 2020 because of covid.

Saltzman recently had spinal cord surgery, and health issues have caught up with the 62-year-old Penn Hills resident.

“It’s time for me to pass it on to some younger people, and hopefully they take the torch with them,” Saltzman said. “It’s an unbelievable multi-community event.

“We put it together to bring in Plum, Oakmont, Penn Hills, Verona and all my vendors are basically local. Bands are all local. Food is all local. Some of the best restaurants around have given us their food. We’ve had a fantastic response from the entire community business-wise. I keep putting sponsor signs up all around here. Without them, we’re nothing.”

Saltzman ensured the festival was the best it could be from chatting with all the vendors to checking food quality and calling in reinforcements when trashcans filled up.

“I’m not shy, especially when it comes to doing this for the community,” he said. “I’m hoping we can keep growing it and growing it. I think I’ve given them enough of a slate to run it again. We start planning this the day after it ends. I call it the autopsy of the pool.”

Saltzman was joined by his wife, club president Mame Saltzman. The pair danced together toward the end of the festival. They have been married nearly 33 years.

“For the most part I’m in awe,” Mame Saltzman said of her husband. “I’m not good at walking up to people and trying to get volunteers. He’s good at it. Sometimes it gets frustrating because he gets frustrated when it’s not going exactly as he perceives it to be, but he’s able to bend. We make it work.”

Several board members shared a moment with the Saltzman family by a mural at the main entrance.

Saltzman’s successor has not been named.

Volunteer Jimmie Jackson said that person will have big shoes to fill.

“This whole thing is Daryl,” Jackson said. “He’s brought the whole community together. It’s nice to see people from all around come because of what he did. No one’s going to be able to live up to what he has done, but, hopefully, he will still give his advice and we can carry on.”

More information about the festival and photos are available on the event’s Facebook page.