Couple’s generosity on tap
Nancy and Ed Bedwell are the 2015 Philanthropists of the Year in Washington County. The couple own The Beer Store in South Strabane and support a variety of organizations and community events.
The owners of The Beer Store, Ed and Nancy Bedwell, were named the 2015 Philanthropists of the Year.
It would have been an intoxicating proposition for many people. Not the Beer Store operators.
Months ago, Ed and Nancy Bedwell had a restaurant date with Betsie Trew and Tripp Kline of the Washington County Community Foundation. After ordering, Trew and Kline presented their guests with another lunch special: we’d like you to be our Philanthropists of the Year.
The couple was overwhelmed but conflicted, uncertain they were deserving.
“We were a little reluctant. It’s really hard to talk about yourself,” Nancy said.
“We first said no,” said her husband, Ed. “They said, ‘Think about it.'”
So they thought about it, and now … a celebration in their honor is brewing.
More than 200 guests will raise their glasses to the Bedwells Thursday night at the 17th annual philanthropy banquet, which will begin with a 6 p.m. reception at the Hilton Garden Inn at Southpointe.
Kline, a WCCF trustee, will kick off the main event – appropriately – with a Miller Lite toast.
Three companies also will be celebrated with the Charles C. Keller Excellence Awards for Corporate Philanthropy in their respective business categories: Ansys (large), NSA Security Forces (medium) and SunnySide Supply (small).
This is the ninth time since the philanthropist award was instituted in 1999 that it is shared by two people, and the eighth time by a married couple.
Tapping the Beer Store duo as this year’s honorees went down smoothly with Trew, WCCF’s president and CEO, and the board of trustees. The Bedwells, marking their silver anniversary together, have been golden in the community.
“They are all about local charities,” Trew said. “It’s not just writing checks, but giving time and talent. They’ve given money and support to causes and have inspired others to do the same.”
The Bedwells are readily recognized for their operation at the corner of Locust Avenue and Berry Road in South Strabane Township. Ed is the owner, Nancy the president of the Beer Store, which encompasses the store and an attached warehouse and employs 27.
He also is the Miller Beer distributor for Greene County and most of Washington, and is co-owner, with Pete Cameron, of Ameron Beverage Distribution Co., producer of Ameron spring and distilled water.
Regional philanthropy has become another Bedwell trademark. Neither Nancy nor Ed is a Washington County native – she grew up in Upper St. Clair, he in Chicago – but they are now inextricably woven into the local fabric. For more than 20 years, they’ve lived on a 173-acre farm in South Franklin Township, where, over time, they’ve cultivated a deep sense of civic support.
“We’ve always tried to be generous when we could. If it’s a positive thing, we’ll do it,” said Nancy, who met Ed when he bought a house next to her parents in Upper St. Clair.
The Bedwells have embraced numerous causes, including one that is especially close to their hearts – literally and figuratively. Ed dealt with heart disease for many years before having a life-saving transplant in 2010.
The couple has helped raise $1.4 million for the American Heart Association and has donated time to the AHA as well. Ed has served as local chapter president and Nancy has devoted 14 years to its annual Heart Ball.
Other beneficiaries of their largess include: the Brownson House, Canonsburg’s Oktoberfest, CASA for Kids, Domestic Violence Services of Southwestern Pennsylvania, Main Street Farmers Market, United Way of Washington County, Washington City Mission, Washington Hospital Foundation and the Whiskey Rebellion Festival.
Nancy also is a trustee of the Hauber Foundation, created by her parents and based in Pittsburgh. She strives to get grants from that foundation for Washington County organizations every year.
Her involvement with the Washington County Historical Society’s annual Art in the Garden show plays to two of her passions: art and gardening. Ed is an art devotee as well, as a walkthrough of the Beer Store can attest. Walls are adorned with Native American artifacts, mostly arrowheads. The Bedwells have a large collection and plan to display many of the items in a museum they intend to open on East Wheeling Street in Washington.
Ed bought the Beer Store building in 1994 and expanded it to where it can house eight trucks, four trailers and as many as 3,000 kegs. There are more than 400 varieties of beer, the top seller being Miller Lite.
That structure did not have refrigeration when it was purchased, but more than a sufficient amount today. “We try to have everything cold for customers,” Ed said. “You don’t see that too much in the state.”
It’s that spirit of giving that will put the Bedwells on center stage Thursday.
“We do a lot of things,” Ed said. “Some of them aren’t huge, but we try to help people who come to us. It’s part of being in the community.”
And because of that, they are in the community of top philanthropists.