Craft, food vendors turn out for St. Patrick's Day pop-up market in Greensburg

Visitors to the Greensburg Garden & Civic Center’s St. Patrick’s Day-themed pop-up market Sunday may have been surprised to see a hearse parked in front of the building.

The vehicle was attached to a vintage Scotty trailer, where The Coffin Bean & Co. owner Jen Mullins prepared coffee and tea drinks for customers bundled in winter jackets.

Blending the market’s St. Patrick’s Day theme with The Coffin Bean’s affinity for Halloween, Mullins drafted a menu of beverages such as the Sinister Shamrock, Ghoul’s Gold lattes, and Veil of Violets Chai.

The Coffin Bean, based in Apollo, was one of several dozen craft, home decor and food vendors at the St. Patrick’s Day market, which ran from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday. The event was part of an ongoing vendor market series at the Greensburg Garden & Civic Center, which Mullins joined this season.

Inside, Rhylee Stone sold homemade clay and resin jewelry — including earrings shaped like shamrocks, gold horseshoes and pints of beer.

“I try to do theme things because people love themed events,” said Stone, owner of Greensburg-based Stone Clay Co.

Each piece can take several hours to make, between baking them in the oven and creating handpainted designs. It was a hobby she developed during the pandemic.

“I just fell in love with it and I’ve been doing it ever since,” said Stone, of Greensburg.

Stone has participated in the market series for about a year.

“I have two young kids,” she said, “so I love getting out and talking to people and meeting and sharing my stuff.”

In addition to his staple birdhouses and humorous signs, Bob Kennedy crafted wooden mushrooms to fit the market’s St. Patrick’s Day theme.

Owner of Kennedy’s Country in Rostraver, Kennedy did research and engineering in the steel industry for two decades before turning his woodworking hobby into a career. He retired about five years ago but resumed creating wooden crafts for local shows in 2023 following the death of his wife.

“After she passed away, then I needed something to do, keep me occupied,” he said.

Selling wooden home decor at craft shows in Allegheny, Somerset and Westmoreland counties keeps him out of trouble, Kennedy said with a laugh.

“I”m 80 years old,” he said, “and I feel like I’m 35.”

Mullins was similarly reenergized after opening The Coffin Bean with her husband about a year and a half ago.

“I was so tired of my corporate job,” she said, “and I was like ‘I want to do something different. I have to pivot.’ ”

Mullins will start operating the business full-time this month, opening the trailer for drive-thru orders in Apollo four days a week.