EWRY — To many people, the borough of Newry is merely a stop light on the way from Hollidaysburg to East Freedom.

But to others like those who grew up in the small town, it’s a place they’re happy to call home.

The Rev. Allen Zeth, who is administrator of St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church in Newry, is a native son of the borough and proud of it.

“To me, we had the best of everything,” he said. “We played outside on the playground by the school. We knew every hill and place to play around here.”

Mirror photo by Brian Yermal Jr. / Newry Lutheran Church serves Newry and the surrounding community. Michael Rhyne is pastor at the church.

Zeth, who became administrator of the church five years ago, said Newry still typifies small-town living.

“I’ll go to visit my friends in Washington, D.C., or other big cities, and I can’t wait to get home. I can’t stand the traffic,” he said. “There’s one signal light in Newry.”

A place they call home

But it’s not just the physical differences that set Newry apart, it’s the people who have made the borough ideal, he said.

“You knew everybody, and you felt safe,” he said. “And you’re about 20 minutes from everything, from Altoona, from the stores. A lot of people don’t want to be right in the middle of all of that, they’d rather be out in the country.”

Mirror photo by Brian Yermal Jr. / Wanna Biscuit? Bakery and Grooming Salon owner Leigh Burger cleans the ears of Oakley, a chocolate lab, in her salon on Dunnings Highway in Newry.

Zeth is not alone in his feelings about Newry. Mary Jean Decker, who is a descendent by marriage of the founder of the town, Patrick Cassidy, agreed that Newry is a special place.

Although Decker now lives in the Hollidaysburg area, she has fond memories of her Newry childhood.

“I always loved it,” she said. “It’s where I grew up. You knew everybody in town. Everybody got along. You did things for each other.”

Decker recalled that when she was a freshman in high school, her family moved to East Freedom. But Decker longed for her former home town.

“I missed it so much I walked over,” she said. “I got a girlfriend to go with me, and we walked over.”

Mirror photo by Brian Yermal Jr. / Leighty's Farm Market on Dunnings Highway, Blair Township, carries a variety of produce, including several types of apples.

The town’s Irish roots

When she was a child, Decker liked to look up at the sign in Newry that names her ancestor, Patrick Cassidy, as the founder of the town. Cassidy was a British Army officer who came to America from Newry, Ireland, in 1752.

Cassidy, who later fought on the American side during the Revolutionary War, became a surveyor and laid out several tracts in what was then Huntingdon County, according to a history booklet of the town prepared by the Newry Area Bicentennial Commission in 1976.

One of those tracts was “Franks Town” and the other was Newry, although it was called “Cassidy” on a map commissioned by the governor and state Legislature at the time, according to the booklet.

Cassidy then made provisions for what would become St. Patrick’s Church and the Newry Lutheran Church.

Mirror photo by Brian Yermal Jr. / Former Puzzletown Road Bible Church Pastor Lynn Johnston (left) and church member Terry Smith discuss historical photos of Newry and the surrounding area. Both men said many members come from Newry and surrounding areas help one another out whenever needed and act like a big family.

As indicated in the booklet, “to insure the survival of his new community, Cassidy, a devout Catholic, donated plots of ground for two churches and adjoining cemeteries,” according to the booklet. “A plot at the east end of town, bordering his own farm, was given to the saintly prince-priest of the Alleghenies, (the) Rev. Dr. Demetrius Gallitzin; a plot on the northwest corner was given to the Protestant congregation.”

Driving around Newry today, visitors will see signs of the town’s Irish heritage. There are street signs with names like Shamrock Lane and Patrick Lane. Viewing some of the names on the tombstones in St. Patrick’s Cemetery, there are names that continue through generations.

“Some of the names go back 200 years,” Zeth said. “And many of those names are still here in town.”

Decker said she always seemed to know from a young age that she was related to the town’s founder and she researched Patrick Cassidy to learn more about him. She’s also trying to trace her ancestry to find out more about her roots.

“I would love to go to Ireland someday,” she said. “I’ve always loved history. I tried to find out what I could about him, that he was a surveyor and a soldier. I remember looking up at the sign by the road in Newry and thinking it was great that I was related to him.”

Mirror photo by Brian Yermal Jr. / Mark's Computers manager Jeremy Snyder sauders (spelling?) a new connection onto a motherboard. Snyder said this is a common repair for customers.

Newry’s annual events

Although they didn’t have a traditional yearly reunion, the Cassidy clan did try to get together for several years, Decker said. The out-of-town Cassidy relatives would come home for one of the town’s two main events, the annual summer festival held by St. Patrick’s Church, Decker said.

But the relatives had a different name for the event, she said.

“We always called it the ‘Newry picnic,’ not the festival,” Decker said.

She recalled in years past that the church would buy turkeys for the women of the parish and have them cook the birds at home, then bring them to the church hall to serve for a big community meal on Sunday, the second day of the event.

Things have changed a lot for the festival, which Zeth said he remembers going to when he was a young boy. He still has a statue of St. Joseph that he won as a prize from a game that he played at one festival when he was a child. No one could recall how long the St. Patrick summer festival has existed, but Zeth said he recalled that there were festivals up to the early 1960s and then for some unknown reason the event stopped in 1966. They resumed 35 years ago and have been going strong ever since, he said.

Even when it rains, the St. Patrick’s festival draws crowds and makes a profit, Zeth said. Last year, on what is usually one of the biggest days for the event, it poured down rain. But they improvised, and the festival continued.

“We just moved indoors instead,” Zeth said. “We filled the entire gym where we had the flea market set up, so we were able to just move everything inside.”

Several factors combine to make St. Patrick’s festival a success. In addition to the good food and live bands, the Newry festival isn’t land-locked like some other church events, with 6 acres of land that has shade trees and plenty of parking. The festival also shuts down by 9 p.m. and serves no alcohol, which Zeth said he thinks helps keep a lid on security issues.

“We talked about having alcohol, but we thought that might cause more problems,” he said. “Our tradition is that this has always been a family function.”

Both the festival and the other big event in the borough, a Lenten seafood buffet, which is also sponsored by the church, benefit St. Patrick’s Catholic School. The seafood buffet, like the festival, is an area favorite, drawing people from as far away as Cumberland, Md., Johnstown and Huntingdon, many coming year after year.

“We’re providing a service to the community,” Zeth said. “People love to come and socialize, they know they’re getting good food that’s hot, well-prepared, and you couldn’t get a comparable meal at a restaurant for this price.”

In addition to the festival and seafood buffet, the church also runs a very popular bingo game that has drawn players from the borough and surrounding area for many years.

Leighty’s

Newry has seen many changes in its long history including for about 20 years serving as a stop on the Allegheny Portage Railroad in the early 1800s. The town also had a toll road and toll gate at one time. But it is still home to one of the oldest businesses in Blair County, Leighty’s Farm Market, which is more than 100 years old and remains family-owned by Brian and Donna Leighty Meiser.

“The Leighty family is well-known in the community,” Donna said. “We are a family-owned business that values our customers, many of whom we know by name.”

The farm market offers products like flowers and vegetable plants from its own greenhouse in the spring plus fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables in the summer and fall. The business also supports local charities, such as St. Patrick’s Church and The Father’s House in Altoona.

Many customers said they prefer shopping at the farm market rather than the big-box stores, Donna said.

“Customers will even drive here from other states to buy our quality plants,” she said. “We often hear stories from people visiting from out of the area who remember coming here when they were children.”

In addition to the farm market, the Leighty family owns other businesses across the road from the farm market. Donna’s brother, Brent Leighty, operates the Boot Warehouse, which features over 20,000 pairs of boots plus a wide variety of hunting and outdoor apparel. Don Leighty, who is Donna’s father, owns the outdoor flea market, which draws hundreds of vendors and thousands of shoppers on Sundays, weather permitting.