Thanks to all those who attended the Whiskey Smash on Nov. 19! We are planning next year’s event already! Call us or email us your email or postal address so we can give you an advance invitation! 724-887-7910 or info@westovertonvillage.org.
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Enjoy a relaxing visit to the past this hectic holiday season, as West Overton Village and Museums will host a free Homestead Holiday Open House from 2- 6 p.m., on Saturday, December 5.
Guests can step back in time as docents in period costume give tours of the historic mansion’s second floor museum decked out in holiday finery and filled with enchanting live harp and guitar music.
The open house will include a visit to the 1830s summer kitchen for holiday treats and hot drinks from the hearth. The summer kitchen features a beehive-style oven reminiscent of those used by industrialist Henry Clay Frick, who was born on the property in 1849.
The open house is free and no reservations are necessary.
West Overton will also participate in the Scottdale Historical Society’s Annual Christmas House Tour that day as one of six homes on display throughout the area. Tickets for the Scottdale Historical Society’s House tour are $15 each or two for $25 and are available now at Collections by Marty, 143 Pittsburgh St. Scottdale, Pa., or by calling the Historical Society at 724-619-1874.
Located at 109 West Overton Road in Scottdale, Westmoreland County, West Overton is on the National Register of Historic Places and is one of seven stops nationally on The American Whiskey Trail.
Between 1803 and 1880, West Overton evolved from an isolated farming enclave into a thriving rural industrial village under entrepreneur Abraham Overholt. He oversaw farming, weaving, coopering, whiskey distilling, coking coal and livestock husbandry enterprises.
For more information, please contact West Overton Village & Museums at 724-887-7910.
Tickets are SOLD OUT for Whiskey Smash! on November 19. Unfortunately, we will not be selling tickets at the door as was advertised. We are taking names for a waiting list and collecting emails for invitations to future whiskey events. We appreciate your continued support!
To celebrate the region’s heritage as one of the world’s premier pre-Prohibition distilling destinations, West Overton Village & Museums will host its inaugural event: Whiskey Smash! A Celebration of Local and Regional Craft Spirits on Thursday, Nov. 19, from 6-8 p.m.
“We also want to build anticipation for West Overton Village & Museums’ whiskey distilling future,” said Jessica Kadie-Barclay, managing director, West Overton Village & Museums. “Old Farm Pennsylvania Pure Rye was made here in the 1800s and it’s so exciting that we’ll be able to offer to our guests the distillery and tasting experience in the near future.”
At Whiskey Smash, guests will enjoy tastings of crafted whiskey and moonshine from at least four regional distilleries, plus live music and delicious foods. Throughout the evening, guests will be able to sample West Overton’s featured cocktail, the Whiskey Smash and each guest will receive a free souvenir rocks glass.
“Our board president Robert Ferguson will give a brief program and make a surprise announcement at the event. We won’t offer a hint at this time, but we are excited,” added Ms. Kadie-Barclay.
Tickets are just $25 per person in advance by calling the museum or $30 at the door. All proceeds benefit West Overton Village & Museums.
Participating distilleries include Black Draft Distillery, of Martinsburg, W.Va.; Christian W. Klay Winery and Ridge Runners Distillery, of Chalk Hill; Disobedient Spirits, of Homer City; and Wigle Whiskey, of Pittsburgh.
Briar Rose & Friends, a Pittsburgh cover band featuring pop, jazz and more, will provide music, and the evening’s food will be provided by Carson’s Premier Catering.
For more information, please contact West Overton Village & Museums at 724-887-7910.
Harrisburg Day Trip (Tour of the Capitol Building, State Museum of Pennsylvania and Planetarium)
5:30 a.m. – Coffee and donuts at West Overton
6:00 a.m. – Leave West Overton
7:30 a.m. – Rest stop at Breezewood
10:45 a..m. – Arrive at the Capitol Building
11:00 a.m. – Tour of the Capitol
11:45 a.m. – 1 p.m. – Lunch in the Capitol cafeteria (On your own. Tables are reserved. Meals are about $7.50.)
1:00 p.m. – Walk across the street to the State Museum of Pennsylvania
1:30-2 p.m. – Planetarium presentation
2:00-4:30 p.m. – Museum on your own
4:45 p.m. – Leave the Museum
6:30 p.m. – Dinner at Hoss’s on your own
8:00 p.m. – Leave for West Overton
9:16 p.m. – Arrive at West Overton
Members: $85/person; Non-members: $90/person
To register, contact Jessica or Kathy at 724-887-7910.
All reservations and payments must be received by August 12, 2015.
On Wednesday, June 24, 6-8 p.m., West Overton Village & Museums will celebrate the artwork of junior and senior high students from the Mount Pleasant School District. The art work ranges from sculptures to pottery and drawings, paintings, and digital art.
Light hors d’oeuvres and beverages will be served.
A $5 donation benefits West Overton Village and Museums.
Watch our new documentary West Overton Village History Distilled!
No one is more eager for spring than the West Overton Garden Society members, who started planning their Annual May Mart Plant Sale when the needles started dropping from their Christmas trees.
Join them from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. Sat., May 9, at the West Overton Distillery Museum for a huge selection of certified-organic heirloom tomato plants plus veggies, annuals, hanging baskets, ferns, herbs, perennials, berries, strawberries, succulents, geraniums, houseplants and more.
“Last year we sold out of heirloom tomatoes by 9:30 a.m. and the shoppers just kept coming, so this year, we more than doubled our order,” said Society President Jan Brubacher. “We’ll also have red, pink, white and salmon geraniums plus lots of herbs and bedding plants. It gets bigger every year.”
Vendors will also have home-baked cookies, coffee and glass flower creations for sale.
Guests who bring a plant to the swap table may take one home with them and everyone can register for a hanging basket door prize.
“We’ll be dividing our plants – including red raspberries — from the West Overton gardens and potting them up again to sell,” said Mrs. Brubacher. “We’re always looking for new members to help us take care of the gardens at West Overton, too.”
All proceeds from the sale will be used to enhance the gardens and landscaping at West Overton, which hosts weddings most Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, spring through fall.
Geranium colors will include white, pink, red and salmon. Hanging baskets will be available for sun or shade and several Penn State Master Gardener volunteers will be available to answer gardening questions.
“We like to try unusual plants each year too, so we’re also offering tomatillos and ground cherries,” said Mrs. Brubacher. “Ground cherries can be used for preserves, pies, over ice cream, or in fresh fruit salads and come in a papery husk that turns brown when the fruits ripen. We want people to report back their thoughts about these.”
For more information on the May Mart Plant Sale, visit the WOM website or call Mrs. Brubacher at 724-640-4180.
2015 West Overton May Mart Plant sale
Certified-organic locally grown heirloom tomatoes (the # is the number of flats of 18 plants we ordered; two hybrids – not heirlooms — are marked as such)
Pink
3 Brandywine, beefsteak
4 Mortgage Lifter, slicer
3 Prudens Purple, beefsteak potato leaf
2 Tiffen Mennonite, sandwich heirloom slicer
Red
1 Abe Lincoln, 8 oz. red meaty, hybrid
2 Box Car Willie, orange -ed slicer sweet tart
2 Cosmonaut Volkov, slicer
3 Rutgers, red slicer, caning, heavy yields
1 Fourth of July, early producer, golf-tennis ball size, hybrid
Paste Tomatoes
4 Amish Paste
4 San Marzano Paste
1 Roma, red plum, quality paste tomato
Yellow Tomatoes/Marbled
3 Garden Peach, marbled salad size
2 Hillbilly Flame, beefsteak
2 Pineapple, marbled beefsteak
Orange Tomatoes
2 Dr. Whyche’s beefsteak
1 Janue Flamme, small salad clusters
2 Persimmon, beefsteak
Green Tomatoes
1 Green Zebra, small salad, yellow/green stripes
Black Tomatoes
2 Black Krim
2 Cherokee Purple
2 Paul Robeson
Grape
1 Red Pearl grape tomato
Cherry
3 Peacevine Cherry – very prolific red cherry
2 Tiny Tim, miniature plants perfect for pots
3 Sungold, super sweet
1 Black Cherry, dark purple cherry
1 snow white, cream colored white sweet cherry
Ground Cherries/tomatillos (papery husks)
1 Aunt Molly’s Ground Cherry
1 green tomatillo
Scottdale resident Tom Bailey promotes and markets local products with his online PennMade business.
A chance to see and hear some of these products will take place April 25 in the Overholt Room of West Overton Village & Museums. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m., with the concert scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
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Recently, West Overton Museum & Village has taken the American Alliance of Museum’s Pledge of Excellence. The pledge shows West Overton’s commitment to being a good steward of the resources it holds in the public trust. By pledging, West Overton commits in fulfillment of its educational mission that the organization will strive to operate according to national standards and best practices to the best of its abilities and in accordance with its resources.
“The pledge raises our professionalism as a museum, not only regionally but nationally as well. As an organization, this is of upmost importance to West Overton. It is especially important as we continue to transition and grow into a positive direction. We are so excited about the upcoming changes and expansion at West Overton and this is a part of that process,” said Jessica Kadie-Barclay, managing director, West Overton Village & Museums.
The American Alliance of Museums (formerly the American Association of Museums) is the one organization that supports all museums. Through advocacy and excellence, the Alliance strengthens the museum community. We support 21,000 museums, individuals and companies by:
•Developing standards and best practices
•Providing resources and career development
•Advocating for museums to thrive
For further information about the American Alliance of Museums, visit their website at www.aam-us.org.