Bethel Bakery celebrates 70th anniversary

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Nate and Alex Swanson of Bethel Park try their hand at cake decorating by icing a chocolate chip cookie during Bethel Bakery’s 70th anniversary celebration.

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Joan Horoho of Mt. Lebanon and Sarah Knight of Upper St. Clair, along with her daughter, Sylvia, enjoy a post-workout treat during Bethel Bakery’s 70th anniversary celebration.

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Damian Farina admires his spider tattoo that was airbrushed on his left arm during festivities at Bethel Bakery’s 70th anniversary celebration.

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Kathleen Emery and Eileen Rosleck of Brentwood cannot choose between all the sweet selections offered in the display cases at Bethel Bakery.

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Laura and Mackenzie Whitfield try to identify the ingredients that go into a confection created by Bethel Bakery during festivities celebrating the 70th anniversary of the business.

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Cecilia Schein serves up a warmed glazed donut filled with ice cream from the Penn State Creamery while Elena Wassil calculates the payment for another customer during festivities celebrating the 70th anniversary of Bethel Bakery.

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Bethel Bakery employees Richard Whitehurst, Cecilia Schein and Elena Wassil served up a specialty donut made exclusively for the 70th celebration of the business. The concoction featured a warmed glazed donut filled with ice cream from the Penn State Creamery.

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Children pose for pictures at a photo booth set up for the 70th anniversary celebration for Bethel Bakery.

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Nate and Alex Swanson of Bethel Park show off the cookies they iced and decorated during a Bethel Bakery 70th anniversary celebration.

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The crowd inside Bethel Bakery is typical for a Saturday morning. On Aug. 6, the business celebrated its 70th anniversary with special treats, festivities and games.

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Sarah Knight of Upper St. Clair is the healthy living director at the Spencer YMCA in Bethel Park.

So why was she eating an ice cream donut at 10 a.m. on Aug. 6 in front of Bethel Bakery with her daughter, Sylvia, and her client, Joan Horoho of Mt. Lebanon?

“This is our training session,” she joked.

“Kinda crazy,” she added, “but a good kind of crazy.”

Knight was not alone. Hundreds of customers lined up for the confection, created specifically for Bethel Bakery’s 70th anniversary celebration.

The glazed donut was split in half and filled with ice cream made at the Penn State Creamery. Peach, vanilla and “Death By Chocolate” were flavors from which customers could choose.

“Delicious,” said Kevin Hancovsky, who picked peach.

A Bethel Bakery employee, Hancovsky had the day off but came to the establishment for the celebration and the sweet confection.

“It’s a combination they have never had before, but it’s really good,” said Hancovsky, who recently graduated from PennWest Edinboro with a degree in fine arts.

The Walsh family, which has owned the bakery since 1955, saw friends from Busken Bakery in Cincinnati demonstrate the concoction at a convention in Atlanta in March 2020.

“We saw them do this concept out of a food truck and I have always wanted to try it,” said Stephen Walsh, who assumed ownership of Bethel Bakery from his father, John, in 2023. “This was the perfect event to bring it out for and being a Penn State graduate, it had to be Creamery ice cream.

Because August is Peach Month, that flavor had to be picked, Walsh added.

The specialty donut is not a permanent item on the menu.

“It’s just for special occasions,” Walsh said.

Bethel Bakery’s 70th anniversary was significant because it celebrated the day Morris and Anna Walsh opened the franchise out of a three-car garage building located a few shops from the current location on Brightwood Road in Bethel Park. Morris, 95, passed away on Jan. 2, 2024.

“We miss him. We all do,” Stephen Walsh said. Walsh noted that on Aug. 1, the actual day the bakery opened, he and his dad, John, walked down to the location on the corner of South Park Road after their work day had finished.

“Standing there it’s hard to imagine my grandfather on that day, 70 years ago, and opening the bakery in those three garages and what it’s become not just for our family but for the community. This space is where his dream started and continues.”

On a typical busy Saturday, the celebration continued until 4 p.m. Customers were able to purchase buttercream tarts specifically designed for the occasion as well as participate in activities that included a “Guess The Ingredient” game, cookie decorating, airbrush tattoos and a free photo booth.

Laura Whitfield enjoyed the event with her daughter, Mackenzie. They successfully identified six of the seven ingredients that went into a confection.

“This was very cute,” Whitfield said. “A very fun event for the kids.”

While the Whitfields were partial to the mini cheesecakes, Yum Yum cupcakes and muffins the bakery makes, the Swanson family favored the donuts. “The ones shaped like a pretzel,” said Nate.

The Swanson family relocated to Bethel Park 13 years ago when Mark started working for BNY Mellon. While his wife, Marissa, is from the North Hills area, Mark is from Warren. They have two additional children, Alex and Madeline.

“We usually stop at the bakery every couple of weeks and our in-laws live down the road. So we are driving by here all the time,” Mark said.

“This reminds me of my hometown,” he added. “It’s a great community here. I feel like we have a small-town mentality here yet you have the amenities of the big city just minutes away.”

Eileen Rosleck from Carrick attended the party with her friend, Kathleen Emery of Brentwood.

“Best cakes ever,” Rosleck said. “When my family has a birthday, it’s Bethel Bakery. Lots of bakeries are good, but we’ve been coming here for so many years. They’re worth the trip.”

Even from the YMCA, which is a short walk from Bethel Bakery.

“It’s a mile and a quarter,” said Knight. “We actually walk from the Y to Bethel Bakery. So that’s a good way to work off the donut. We loved it, and we absolutely love Bethel Bakery.”