Little dust gathered Saturday morning on the $50 bottles of freshly bottled rye whiskey — a concoction clear as water but packed with a 100-proof punch — that Patrick A. Bochy served and peddled during a spring market at West Overton Village.
It turned out a second drink — the historic Scottdale district’s Monongahela Rye Whiskey, its hue an amber glow — didn’t last long on the shelves, either.
“It gives you a nice warmth,” said Bochy, 44, of Scottdale, the district’s co-executive director, as a cocktail containing the elixir turned one customer in the village distillery from curious to satisfied. “That’s what we call ‘The Monongahela Hug.’ It just warms you up.”
West Overton’s whiskey roots run deep.
The original distillery on-site, believed to be the village’s third, was built in 1855. Today, the site’s current distillery still produces 90 gallons of whiskey annually.
But preservationists, artisans and craft aficionados Saturday celebrated something larger than spirits Saturday at the village, which was started when the Overholt family purchased a 263-acre Westmoreland County tract as a farm back in 1803.
“This market is a way to highlight local people who make and bake their own stuff,” said Aaron Hollis, Jr., 34, of Scottdale, the village’s other co-executive director. “It’s a great way to celebrate that entrepreneurial spirit the Overholts had in the 1800s.”
You wouldn’t be faulted for thinking many of Saturday’s roughly 30 vendors would fit nicely alongside their 18th- and 19th-century American counterparts.
Greensburg resident Eric Matt Way sold rows of hand-forged trinkets and rings, their intricate details shining through layers of copper and nickel.
Justin Cherry baked and sold loaves of fresh bread literally taken straight from the hearth: a 6,000-pound clay oven Cherry had towed to Scottdale.
“You hook it up just like a trailer,” laughed Cherry, 41, of Summerville, S.C. “But, y’know, it’s an 18th-century oven.”
It took Cherry and his Half Crown Bakehouse team four hours to heat up his car-sized oven — but just 40 minutes to crank out each batch of two dozen loaves. He stood guard in front of burning logs and embers while clothed head-to-toe in period-specific, linen garb, complete with baker’s cap.
But despite the flourish of anachronistic details, some kept their eyes fixed firmly on the present day.
Take Becky Oravetz.
The Scottdale woman turned out Saturday to West Overton Village to celebrate her 48th birthday with a locally distilled cocktail: a “Hawaiian stone sour,” complete with a juicy pineapple garnish.
“It’s really a good twist to a whiskey sour — it’s sweet,” said Oravetz, sipping the beverage from a nine-ounce plastic cup as her daughter, Saylor , 18, stood by.
“The environment, the people, this whole place is just amazing,” she added. “It’s great that we have this little treasure in Scottdale.”
There, of course, were modern conveniences offered this weekend in the village, which dwindled from 50 buildings and 200 residents at its peak to a 35-acre “historic district” today.
Those not interested in artisanal bread could nosh on slices of pizza or grab a bubble-tea-inspired lemonade.
Saturday morning’s grayness and fairly constant rain didn’t dampen the market’s turnout. Dozens walked from building to building, pausing at petting zoos or food trucks.
In fact, one woman buying flowers and plants outside the distillery was actually pleased with the storm clouds.
“Sometimes, we’re even more lucky with plants because the rain scares off people,” Jenny Stine, 35, of Scottdale, said with a grin.
Despite the rain, Witt’s Perennial Nursery brought about 600 perennials to sell — some cherry-red Dianthus flowers here, a few rows of ultra-violet Lewisia plants there. Traffic was anything but light.
Stine glowed as nursery owner Don Witt wrapped up a few Coral Bells, a low-maintenance perennial, for her to plant.
“Even when they’re not blooming, there’s still color in the garden,” Stine said. “And anything that I don’t have to plant year after year is a win for me.”