St. Patrick’s Day came early in the Alle-Kiski Valley, with the area’s fifth annual pub crawl being held on Saturday.
The record-setting warm weather before the late afternoon storms contributed to last-minute ticket buying, which helped boost participation over 300, said Michelle Thom, manager of Voodoo Brewing in New Kensington.
“It’s been good,” she said. “Everybody’s dressed up for the occasion. It’s great weather and everybody’s got a great attitude. You don’t expect an 80 degree day in March.”
Pittsburgh did break the record high of 76 degrees that had stood since 1983, when the measurement at the National Weather Service office in Moon hit 77 at 1 p.m.
A trio of buses were running a loop among the crawl’s six participants — Voodoo, Ash Taphouse, Tortured Souls and Blind Pig Saloon in New Kensington; MJ’s Bar & Grille in Arnold; and The Lamp Post in Lower Burrell.
“We do it every year,” said Sally Simpson, of Brackenridge, who was found at Tortured Souls and said she was the designated driver for a group that included her wife and friends. “It’s fun — good food, good people.”
Bridget Fitch was one of three bus drivers with W.L. Roenigk. Like she does for her New Kensington-Arnold schoolchildren, she decorated her bus for the crawl.
“I like doing this. This is fun,” she said, adding that she gets crawl participants who haven’t been on a school bus since they were kids. “They have a good time. The more people we have, the better it is.”
MJ’s in Arnold has been in the crawl for all but one year, manager Cheryl Meyer said. Those who have never been there before do come back if they try the food.
With a benefit going on at the same time, MJ’s was full of people, many of course dressed in green, enjoying drinks, music and games.
“I love it,” Meyer said of the event. “It usually brings in a really nice crowd. Everybody’s having a good time.”
Tortured Souls and The Lamp Post were participating in the crawl for the first time.
Tortured Souls, located on Craigdell Road across from the Pittsburgh Ice Arena, will be celebrating its second anniversary on March 22.
While co-owner Angie Wyman said they weren’t able to be on the crawl last year, they were excited to be a part of it this year.
“When they reached out this year, we were ready to get on,” she said. “We’re the only brewery in New Kensington that brews on-site.”
At The Lamp Post, owner Anthony Condarcure said it was an employee, Nicole Ross, who got his place signed on this year.
Owned by his family since 1976, The Lamp Post is all but hidden behind Keystone Place on Leechburg Road.
“It’s just a shy bar,” Condarcure said. “We keep to ourselves back here in the alley.”
Condarcure, who confessed to being Italian and not Irish, said at one point he had up to 60 people inside, enjoying food and drink themed for the day.
“I don’t get crowds like that. I was surprised,” he said. Even if only a handful come back, “I’m happy with that. It’s an accomplishment.”
New Kensington native Mariann Waltz remembers when there was nothing but dive bars in the city.
“It’s wonderful what’s happened,” she said. “You can come down on a weekend and it’s hard to find a parking spot. In the ’80s, it would have been hard to believe it would ever be like that.”
Sydney Dubac, from New Kensington and now living in Avonmore, said she comes to the city now for a variety of events including concerts, yoga and table-top gaming. She was in a group with Waltz and doing the crawl for the first time.
“New Kensington is making a comeback,” she said. “I think it’s amazing. It’s cool to see a community blossoming into something viable.”