A few hours spent at the Blawnox Sportsmen Club along Freeport Road feels like settling into a friend’s living room.
The fireplace is lit, a game is blaring on the big-screen TV. A slow cooker full of meatballs simmers near the bar. Sometimes, a card game gets competitive.
“We like to get together and have a couple of beers,” club President Ed Crates said. “It’s a close-knit group. If you ring the buzzer and we don’t know you, we promptly turn you around and send you on the way.
“Everyone here knows everyone else.”
The membership-only club, founded in 1936, marks its 90th anniversary March 27. It has become an institution in Blawnox not only for its familiarity — it draws a crowd seven days a week — but its philanthropy.
The service-oriented group boasts more than 600 members and has developed a reputation for contributing to the well-being of the borough and beyond.
Proceeds from members’ dues, which cost $20 a year ($10 to renew), are used to support local agencies that include EMS and fire departments — anything that makes a difference for people living in the Lower Valley.
“We try to do something once a month, whether it’s donating to ALS or partnering with the Pittsburgh North Optimist Club,” said Crates of O’Hara.
“We donate to everyone. We’re especially heavy with the little leagues in Aspinwall and Blawnox.
“If we have a member who seems to be in some type of situation, we help.”
The nonprofit was incorporated early on as a hunting and fishing club. The original 13 members bought a camp in Tionesta, about two hours north in Forest County.
“It’s a great place right on the Allegheny River,” said club Vice President Jim Verderber, 80. “We like to go up to camp every now and then and have a good old time. It’s just nice talking with everyone.
“It’s unbelievable to me that our club is still going strong after 90 years.”
Verderber, a Marine veteran from O’Hara, is among the longest-serving members.
“My dad was a member, and we have a rule that when you’re in active duty service, you get dues for free,” he said. “In ’66, I turned 21 and I was in Vietnam. My dad signed me up, and I’ve been there ever since.”
Verderber’s brother, Jack, is the oldest-serving member, having joined in 1959.
The significance of the club’s mission isn’t lost on Verderber. After all these years, he has remained active in club fundraisers such as the chili cook-off and venison dinner, where “deer meat galore” is on the menu, and for holiday parties and Steelers games.
“Because of these things, we just got to make a donation to the American Legion in Sharpsburg. There’s a few of us veterans, and it’s important to help those kind of groups — it translates to help for vets up at the VA Heinz campus.”
When it first opened, the Blawnox Sportsmen Club was down the block, situated in what is now the Fox Chapel Ski and Board shop.
The current location was purchased in 1942.
The charter remains a throwback to early days — only men are allowed to serve on the board, but women are welcome as social members.
Crates hails from a long line of members, his father and uncle included.
“My father worked at the mill behind the club and was a member. My uncle was on the board,” he said. “I joined in the early 2000s and now (my) kids are members.”
Secretary Justin Jump also noted his family’s history at the club. He has been a member for 33 years.
“My whole family has been part of the club my whole life,” Jump said.
That’s what makes it special, the O’Hara resident said.
“It’s not like your typical bar,” he said. “It’s family-oriented, and you make lifelong friends here.”