The 501 to bring outdoor music, family fun to New Derry - TribLIVE

Rachele Morelli spent the past year looking for an outdoor venue that fit her entrepreneurial aspiration: an open-air family entertainment park.

She closed on a New Derry property in April. Named The 501 because of its location at 501 Longview Court, the park is intended to provide the community with a “different option” for spending time with family and friends.

“We just decided that we wanted to offer the community a place to go since covid has been going on and everybody’s been kind of locked up and limited to what they were able to do,” said Morelli, of Latrobe.

Featuring outdoor concerts, games, fire pits and a variety of food and business vendors, The 501 will be open from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Friday’s grand opening will feature the band East Coast Turnaround and vendors such as Angelo’s Cucina & Catering, Tyler’s Bakery & Café and Custom Designs by Abby Lee. Saturday will showcase the band Results May Vary and vendors like Steel City Chimneys, Tastefully Simple and Color Street.

Morelli added that The 501 is a BYOB location that permits patrons to bring beer and wine only.

The park will be open to the public on Fridays and Saturdays through Oct. 16, with select Sunday events. Updates and information can be found The 501’s Facebook page, facebook.com/newderrypa.

Morelli said the park can also be reserved for gatherings outside of normal business hours.

Additionally, Morelli said she plans to host themed days at the park moving forward, including an appreciation day for the area’s first responders.

“We definitely want to make this community-oriented,” Morelli said. “We want to make sure we thank the people that keep our community going and work hard every day to make sure we’re safe and protected.”

According to Morelli, the park was designed by her son, Michael Morelli, who will serve as The 501’s advisor.

Morelli said most of the planning took place during the pandemic, which complicated the start up process. She explained she has struggled to obtain certain items for the park because of supply shortages, and had a hard time communicating with stores.

Finding outdoor success

Carrie Nardini said she also experienced difficulties planning the Shop the Block Farmers Market in Ross Township because of the pandemic. She is the owner and director of I Made It! Market, which collaborates with The Block Northway shopping mall on McKnight Road to run the farmers market.

Shop the Block Farmers Market operates from 3 to 6 p.m. on Fridays from the first week of June through the last week of October. It is located near the Land’s End and the DSW Shoe Warehouse at The Block Northway.

According to Nardini, the market will host special events this year such as a Kid’s Safety Event featuring activities by the local police and fire departments on June 25. There will also be a fall round up-day at the end of the season.

Nardini said the pandemic prevented some of the usual vendors from participating and brought about new challenges through coronavirus mitigation guidelines.

“It was very difficult. Some sellers were really not able to be out there,” she said. “We had to keep in touch with the health department to make sure we were watching all of the changes that were happening, and we wanted to ensure the safety of shoppers and customers.”

Nardini added that some changes, such as holding the market until 6 p.m. instead of 7 p.m., actually worked better and may be kept in place in future years.

Jay Bell — co-founder and operations director of Bella Terra Vineyards — said he noticed more customers making use of their outdoor space in Hunker last year when the pandemic shut down all non-essential indoor locations.

“The nice thing with our outdoor space is that there’s a lot of open lawn space, so I think I saw last year people really enjoyed (and) felt safe coming out there,” Bell said. “They could still come out in the summer and enjoy music and really not have to be around anybody.”

He said Bella Terra will continue some of the adjustments it made to accommodate pandemic restrictions.

“Once we spaced out tables, it actually was kind of comfortable and it worked last year, so we really aren’t going to change that anytime in the near future,” Bell said. “We have travel spaces where people can walk and not feel like they’re on top of each other.”

In addition to wine tastings and a bistro, Bella Terra offers entertainment — including outdoor summer concerts — every Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Entertainment is also provided on Saturdays if the winery is not hosting a wedding.

Bell added, however, that people can utilize the winery’s grounds anytime during its operating hours of 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday to Tuesday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday to Friday.

Annie Cairns said the Cranberry Township Farmers Market was one of the only opportunities its vendors had to sell their products during the pandemic.

Cairns, the director of marketing and events at the Pittsburgh North Regional Chamber of Commerce, said the township reached out to the chamber to collaborate on the community farmers market in 2020. She said they took the market “a step further” because of the pandemic.

“We were trying to figure out a way for the community to come and be able to support local businesses in a safe, outdoor environment,” Cairns said. “It’s like the thing to do. It is a farmers market, but we’ve created some other things to do while you’re there.”

The Cranberry Township Farmers Market runs 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Fridays from June 4 through Oct. 1 in the township’s municipal center parking lot, located at 2525 Rochester Road. Each week, there will be a variety of artisans, food trucks, fresh produce, bakery items, coffee products, wineries and distilleries.

It will also feature special events such as the grand opening on June 4, Kidapalooza on July 23, Arts and Crafts Fest on Aug. 27 and Barktoberfest on Oct. 1. Additional information regarding these events will be released on the market’s Facebook page.

Cairns added the market has grown significantly since its start in 2019 and since its partnership with the Chamber of Commerce last year. While the market had about seven vendors in 2019 and 18 in 2020, it will feature 40 or more every week this season.

According to Cairns, the market had so many interested vendors this season that it had to put some on a wait list to remain within pandemic occupancy guidelines.

“(The vendors) are just so thankful to be able to sell their product anywhere because of how much they struggled last year financially with their business,” Cairns said.

Cairns also said she hopes the farmers market continues to receive strong business this season.

“(I hope the community) still continues with that mentality of regardless of if we’re in a pandemic or not, how important it is to support local businesses and shop for local products,” she said. “I think now more than ever, people realized from this past year how much the local economy is important to your community and where you live.”

Morelli said she hopes to expand The 501’s events in future seasons and keep an open ear to ideas from the community. She added that she is excited to bring the park to the area, especially because of its proximity to Keystone State Park.

“When my Realtor contacted me and I found this property, everything was perfect about it,” Morelli said. “And New Derry is such a nice community. Everybody’s very friendly there… It just seemed like the perfect fit to bring this park to New Derry, to Westmoreland County.”

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