Selinsgrove plays host to Beer and Wine Festival

Justin Strawser, The Daily Item, Sunbury, Pa.
·2 min read

Jul. 17—SELINSGROVE — The Selinsgrove Beer and Wine Festival has become a tradition for many people far and wide.

The 2022 event, hosted by Selinsgrove Projects Inc., was held Saturday afternoon a few blocks from Downtown Selinsgrove on University Avenue between Broad and West Pine streets, Selinsgrove. It featured 46 vendors.

Paul and Brenda Buckley, of New Jersey, have only ever missed the first one in 2008. Friends told them that it was the best brew festival and they started coming in its second year.

"We like that it's not overcrowded," said Brenda Buckley. "There's a big focus on talking to the brewers. The food is amazing. It's a nice time and it's not a drunk fest."

While the Buckleys are strictly patrons for the last few years, they were once brewers. They are past winners of the People's Choice award.

"We only missed the first year, and that's only because we didn't know about it," said Brenda Buckley.

Susquehanna University alumnae Arielle Heisler, Cara Brennan, Hannah Klim, Bethany Hanak and Kali Rebuck all agreed that they are making the festival a tradition.

"I drove four and a half hours just for this," said Klim. "We do it for the memories. We did it last year, too."

Festival co-chairs Ernie Kemper and Carol Handlan said more than 1,375 tickets had been sold at the start of the event. They expected to sell out.

"We've had years where it's sweltering hot," said Kemper. "Last year it was beautiful and then it got ugly and rained at the end. Today is one of the nice days, weather wise."

Rain or heat doesn't keep the crowds away, said Handlan.

"If you're going to be hot, you might as well be hot having fun," she said.

Steve Koch, owner and brewer at the Bullfrog Brewery in Williamsport, said he enjoys interacting with people. The most popular drink was the black currant punch, a tank aged fruited sour ale fermented with our house wild yeast culture, then racked onto a ridiculous amount of black currants for a minimum of three months.

Jason Ufema, the curator of grand ideas for Shy Bear Brewing in Lewistown, said he is originally from Selinsgrove.

"It's a homecoming I'm always willing to support," he said.

Many of his customers travel to Lewistown from Selinsgrove, he said.