‘Sweeties’ baking strategy will soon be twice as nice
Betty Johns, owner of Sweeties Cinnamon House, at the bakery in Beallsville Monday.
Michael Proctor
Betty Johns sells made-from-scratch baked goods of all sorts.
Well, not all.
“Cakes, pies, cookies, bread, buns. We do almost everything but doughnuts,” she said.
The owner of Sweetie’s Cinnamon House didn’t mention the bakery’s featured attraction because, well … that should be obvious.
“Cinnamon rolls.”
Her facility has a sweet presence on Route 40 in Beallsville, and is about to establish another 18 miles to the west. Johns will be opening a second Sweetie’s at 1 Humbert Lane, South Strabane Township – just off North Main Street and barely across the Washington line.
It will be in the building where American Meats, East & Foods – a store featuring to-go foods and a butcher shop – shut down about six months ago.
Launch, she said, will be within two weeks “if everything goes well. I have little odds and ends to get done. You take care of one thing and you have two other things.”
Johns, who lives in South Strabane, said she plans to bake certain items at one location or another and sell at both. She would like to have uniform hours at the two sites – 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday – but might amend them on Humbert Lane.
“I’m not sure what I’ll do Friday nights because we’re so close to (Washington High School’s) football field,” she said. “I don’t know if I’ll extend hours.”
Johns currently has seven employees, all family members. Some of them will work at both locations.
She said she has owned Sweetie’s “forever,” adding she shut it down once before reopening eight years ago.
The motivation behind her expansion is simple.
“This is going to be our retirement,” Johns said. “I’ll always work. Plus if you’re a baker, people are never going to let you not bake.”
John Petronka was a part-time police officer in North Franklin Township and a state Welfare Department employee when he decided to branch out. So, he went after a private detective license.
License in hand, Petronka opened Sentinel Security and Investigations in the township in 1976. He started small, working part time as a private investigator.
Forty years later, the focus has expanded along with the enterprise.
Sentinel Security and Investigations, still at 60 Franklin Farms Road, will be 40 years old this year. Petronka’s son, Chris, took over the business in 1997 and has “20 to 25 employees, depending on the time of the year.”
“I shifted more to security guard services, but we also do private investigations,” said Chris Petronka, owner, private investigator and full-time employee.
He said the company provides security at a number of local events, including Washington Wild Things games, the Jacktown Fair and Pony League World Series.
Sentinel also is a frequent overseer of construction sites. “We’ve done a hotel construction site each of the last five years,” Petronka said.
His firm has some longtime clients, including PONY for 19 years, Millcraft Center for 12, and two school districts from the region – Trinity and one he declined to name.
“One client has been with us for over 35 years,” Petronka said. “Although we’re small, we’ve been able to hang onto contracts.”
The company does not work at shale well sites, but has guarded compressor stations.
Petronka, who lives in South Strabane Township with his wife and two teenage children, said he and his firm strive to be civically minded. In that vein, when he expands the payroll during the summer, it includes students who are pursuing law-enforcement careers.
“We’re appreciative of the community and try to give back when we can.”
• Michael R. Proctor of Canonsburg is one of 13 attorneys nationwide to be named a partner at Dinsmore & Shohl LLP. Proctor, a member of the firm’s litigation department, works out of the Morgantown, W.Va., office and handles business disputes in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio. Dinsmore & Shohl, based in Cincinnati, has 625 attorneys in 11 states.
• Justin Aglio of North Strabane Township was accepted into the Doctor of Education program in leadership and administration at Point Park University. He is director of innovation for Montour School District.
• Anderson Chiropractic will host a weight loss event at 6 p.m. Jan. 28 at 3821 Washington Road, Peters Township, , a certified lifestyle educator and a consultant in the nutritional industry, will discuss natural solutions for weight loss.