Final antiques sale of abbreviated season coming up at Historic Hanna's Town

The season’s final antiques and collectibles sale is Sunday at Historic Hanna’s Town in Hempfield.

Pandemic notwithstanding, it’s been a pretty good summer for the sales, said Lisa Hays, executive director of Westmoreland Historical Society, which manages the site for Westmoreland County Parks and Recreation.

While attendance by both vendors and visitors “hasn’t been record-setting, it’s been OK,” she said.

The sale begins at 7:30 a.m. and continues into the early afternoon, although some vendors will be set up and selling by 1 p.m. Saturday. Admission is $3 per car; no pets are allowed.

The sale goes on rain or shine, but Sunday’s weather is predicted to be sunny and mild, Hays noted.

The annual sale typically takes place monthly from May through October. The May sale was canceled due to the pandemic shutdown and September’s sale suffered from a rain forecast. Otherwise, it’s been business pretty much as usual.

More than 100 vendors have been present every month except September, Hays said.

“The regulars have been coming,” said antiques vendor John Mickinak, who has been selling at Hanna’s Town since the 1970s. “My sales have been about what they’ve always been.

“A lot of folks are just happy to be out and out-of-doors. Most are just happy that we’re here, and I think it’s wonderful that we were able to be there for them,” he said.

“It’s been a very difficult year due to covid-19, and antique dealers have had few chances to show and sell their things in person,” Hays said. “I feel good about the opportunity for vendors to sell and the opportunity to give the public something to do.”

Vendors at Hanna’s Town offer a variety of one-of-a-kind antiques, folk art items, historical crafts, reproductions and collectibles. The historical society notes that the sale is not a flea market.

Attendees are given a paper with safety guidelines and practices in place on the sprawling outdoor sale site at 809 Forbes Trail Road.

Aisles are one-way; directional signs are posted at the end of each aisle. Visitors are asked not to cut across vendor spaces to the other side, but to stay in the aisles.

Vendor spaces are 28-by-20-feet, which helps attendees to spread out, Hays said.

Visitors are encouraged to wear face masks and to practice social distancing. Portable toilets are stocked with hand sanitizer.

“Many of our vendors are older and in the high-risk group,” Hays noted.

Vendor fees benefit historical society history preservation and education projects. Parking revenues are divided equally between the historical society and Forbes Road Volunteer Fire Department.

Details: 724-836-1800 or westmorelandhistory.org