Soggy conditions can't dampen enthusiasm at Historic Hanna's Town outdoor antique market

Soggy fields from days of steady rain marked the start of Historic Hanna’s Town’s outdoor antiques and collectibles sale Sunday. The conditions, however, didn’t deter bargain hunters like 71-year-old Marcia Anderson of Acme.

“I’ve been coming here for a lot of years,” Anderson said. “I love looking at all the old antiques and things.”

Anderson said last week’s rain wasn’t going to stop her. It also didn’t deter a couple thousand other shoppers who ignored the mud but enjoyed the sun as they sorted through the antiques and merchandise displayed by dozens of vendors.

live “just over the hill” from the historic site in Hempfield as she examined several clay crocks and jugs and Southwestern jewelry.

“I found this old wooden yard stick that has brass ends, and it was a real bargain, I think, at $2,” she said.

Minette Seate of Pittsburgh wasn’t bothered by the mud or puddles. It was her first visit to the antiques market that started in 1974 and is in its 49th season.

“I have a friend who I had told that I enjoy collecting old advertising memoriabilia and he said, ‘You’ve got to come out to Hanna’s Town with me,’ and so I did this morning,” Seate said.

Seate told her husband, Ken, before departing that she probably wouldn’t buy anything but found a metal Duquesne Brewing Co. tray, plus a World War II-era Pullman porter metal figurine to her liking.

“I saw a lot of other things I would have liked to buy, but they were too big. But this is great here,” Seate said.

Seate said she prepared for the mud.

“Oh, that doesn’t bother me,” she said. “I put on my gardening boots, and I’ll just wash them off with the hose when I get home.”

Fran Newcomer, 87, of Youngstown has been selling her artwork and primitive cookware, cooking utensils, furniture glassware, jewelry, tools and toys at Hanna’s Town for 35 years.

“Oh, I enjoy this,” she said. “I enjoy the variety of people that I get to meet.

“Anything with iron in it … cookware, pots, flower stands … seem to be popular.”

Newcomer’s daughter, Michelle Bellew, said her mother has been taking her to outdoor sales in Blairsville, Latrobe and Tarentum “since I was 6 months old.”

Newcomer said the sun was nice Sunday, “but setting up Saturday (in the rain) wasn’t so much.”

Bellew and Bellew’s 12-year-old son, Joshua, were giving Newcomer a hand during the five-hour preparation Saturday.

Blair County fur trapper Nick Vrabel was admiring the many tanned pelts and animal tails displayed by vendor and fellow trapper, Tom Butz of Unity.

“These are really nice quality,” Vrabel said. “I’m impressed.”

Butz, a veteran vendor at the sale, said a few vendors didn’t show up because of the weather, and it kept the attendance “down a bit.” Betz who also displays antique tools, animal traps, tanning backpacks and Rolling Rock Beer memoriabilia said there were still many bargains available.

“I let go of a pair of old Rolling Rock metal chairs I had for $40 a piece a little earlier. I’m glad, too … now I won’t have to lift them back into my truck,” he said.

Steven Rosatti, assistant chief at Forbes Road Volunteer Fire Department, admitted “the weather probably kept some people home (Sunday).” Fire department volunteers provide parking supervision and split the $3-per-vehicle spectator parking fee with the Westmoreland Historical Society.

“If this was a normal sale day, and it was dry, you would have a tough time finding a parking place anywhere. But all in all, I’m surprised at the number of people who did come out today in view of the rain earlier in the week,” he said.

He said the sales on the second Sunday of the month through October generate “several thousand dollars” annually into the fire department coffers.

“Every dollar helps us. And we also do it for the benefit of the community,” Rosati said.

From 1773 through 1786, Hanna’s Town served as the site of the first English courts west of the Allegheny Mountains and the first seat of government for Westmoreland County. It hosted travelers along Forbes Road and served as a recruitment center during the Revolutionary War.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it is maintained by the historical society and Westmoreland County Parks and Recreation.

Other sale dates will be June 12, July 10, Aug. 14, Sept. 11 and Oct. 9. Sales are 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., rain or shine.

More details are at westmorelandhistory.org.