Twice the participants expected at Verona Garden Club's 2nd annual Botany & Booze benefit

Verona Garden Club members hope double the brews, double the goods and double the space equals double the funds at the second annual Botany & Booze.

The fundraiser for the beautification group is scheduled for May 21-22 at Railroad Park.

East Railroad Avenue will be closed from Center to South avenues as vendors and guests will be in the street during the event. Detours will be posted.

The event is open to all ages and admission is free. Those 21 and older can purchase tickets for one 4-ounce beer or mixed drink sample or a 2-ounce shot of liquor from each of the breweries.

Tickets range between $30 to $70 and are available on eventbrite.com.

The garden club also will have hundreds of plants for sale, including hanging baskets, house plants and porch planters.

“It did really well last year, so we’re doing it again,” said club president Kim Roller. The club was able to raise about $10,000 from last year’s event.

Fund went toward the purchase of 24 self-watering hanging baskets.

Roller said previous baskets needed to be watered about two times a day. The new ones need water about twice a week.

The goal this year is to be able to buy at least another 24 baskets to be hung around the borough.

“There are a lot of projects that we would like to get off the ground to continue beautifying our town,” Roller said. “I would hope that we could continue to raise a little bit more funds. The event doubled, so our costs have increased as well.”

Last May featured a handful of breweries and about 20 vendors.

A little more than than double of each have signed up to participate in the upcoming event.

Jen Walzer, one of the owners of Inner Groove Brewery in Verona, assisted in coordinating with adult beverage purveyors.

“It’s going to be bigger and better (and) more fun,” Walzer said. “The first year (everyone) was just coming out of covid, so we kept it kind of small. I think it’s going to be a really fun event. It’s something fun for everybody.”

Breweries scheduled for both days include Inner Groove, Acclamation Brewing, 4Four6 Distillery, BrewDog Pittsburgh, Trace Brewing and Still Mill Distillery.

Monday’s Brewing Co., Burgh’ers Brewing, Arboretum Trail Brewing Co., Dancing Gnome, North Country Brewing and Personal Day Seltzer are scheduled to take part on May 21.

Two Frays Brewery, Acrospire Brewing Co., Old Thunder Brewing Co., Golden Age Beer Co., Mindful Brewing Co., East End Brewing and Bygone Wines are scheduled to take part on May 22.

Walzer, a Pittsburgh Brewers Guild board member, said more the merrier when it comes to fundraising.

“We don’t see other breweries as competition,” she said. “The more breweries the better, because people like to go where they can try more variety and have different things. The summer time is fun when we get to see all our brewing friends at these events.

“We definitely want to be community-focused, so we want to help out as much as we can. It’s one of the community events we feel we can help with. That’s 100% what we want to do.”

Food trucks Emporio Meatball, Streets on the Fly, El Rincon and The Funnel Cake Men are planned for May 21.

La Palapa, Haskel’s Deli, BRGR and Mike’s Dirty Dogs are planned for May 22.

Sno Cones by Becca are scheduled for both days.

More than 40 vendors also will be on hand, a boost from about 20 last May.

Jennifer Orefice, owner of Songbird Artistry in Lawrenceville, is one of them.

Songbird features hand-crafted jewelry, stickers, magnets, clay planters and more.

Orefice, a Murrysville resident, also participated in last year’s event.

“It’s a really awesome show,” Orefice said. “Verona is really one of these up-and-coming areas. Last year was awesome. It exceeded my expectations. The first year you always get nervous: Are people going to like it? It was incredible.

“I make some really cool one-of-a-kind unique stuff. It’s not really a competition because it’s a lot different from what a lot of people do. With the amount of people that showed up last year, and the amount of people we’re anticipating this year, I think there’s going to be enough to go around.”

Sponsorship and volunteer opportunities are available. More information is available at the club’s Facebook page or email veronagardenclub@gmail.com for more information.