Carnegie Holiday Market fundraising for Riley's Pour House after fire
CARNEGIE, Pa. (KDKA) -- It's been three days since a fire tore through Riley's Pour House in Carnegie. It's an area staple, and many people are trying to support Riley's after the incident.
This Holiday Market on East Main Street was filled with vendors.
Some people were trying to finish their holiday shopping. There's still a lot on people's minds here, though, three days after this community lost one of its tentpoles.
"I was in complete disbelief," Danielle Strimlan said. "Heartbroken. Terribly heartbroken," Scott Township's Sarah Durkin said.
This community still can't believe one of its pillars is gone.
"Great times, especially on St. Patrick's Day," Durkin said.
"It was just overwhelming sadness," Strimlan said.
Between all the cheesesteaks and the snowmen is a mantra this place lives by.
"I made some 'Carnegie Strong' shirts," Strimlan, who owns Homemade with 143, said.
Strimlan was one of the event's vendors. Thursday's fire compelled her to act.
"I'll be donating 20% of all my sales," she said.
She's not the only one. There are prints being made for Riley's, and the Fat Cat Mac Attack is helping, too.
"[We are giving] all of our tips today to Riley's," Marla Gibson, owner at Fat Cat Mac Attack, said. "Also, $2 of every mac and cheese sold today is gonna go back to the employees at Riley's Pour House."
Mayor Stacie Riley isn't surprised by how this community is coming together.
"It allows you to feel like you're being lifted in a time that, you know, you're feeling kind of low," Riley said.
Low because this is the community she leads, but also because this loss is personal.
"I kicked off all of my campaigns there from councilwoman to mayor," Riley said. "I worked there. There's one thing that I will tell you is that Carnegie has been tested time and time again, and we always recover and we rebuild."