A PODCAST PORCH PARTY
Podcast throws a porch party with a purpose in Ohio Twp.
Tips for a summer party
Thinking of hosting a porch party? Erin Bellinger offers these two nuggets of advice: Keep it simple, and if people offer to help, let them! You’ll have a better time if you don’t have to do it all.
Some other tips:
• Decide what kind of party you’re throwing. Is it a beer-and-chip kind of evening? Are kids invited? Are you planning to prepare all the food yourself? Answering these questions will determine everything from your shopping list to the decor to the amount of notice you need to give guests (finding a babysitter can take time). If everyone knows what to expect, no one will be disappointed.
• Make a list and assign some of the hosting tasks. Your significant other/child/nextdoor-neighbor can replenish the chip dish, clear away trash or refill the cooler as well as you can — maybe even better.
• Be cognizant (and sympathetic) of food allergies and restricted diets. Some can’t eat wheat or don’t want to eat meat. Have at least one gluten-free nibble for folks with wheat sensitivities and remember there are a lot of vegetarians among us, too. Also, be sure to provided seltzer, lemonade, soda or a non-alcoholic cocktail.
• Speaking of alcohol, a safe bet is a three drinks and 1½ pounds of ice per person. A bottle of wine yields between four and five glasses while a 750-ml bottle of spirits will make about 16 drinks.
• Think easy, hand-held and cool or room temperature when it comes to food — things that are good for grazing instead of eating on a plate with a knife and fork.
• While we dodged the bullet on Brood X cicadas this spring, Pittsburgh still has plenty of mosquitoes. Be kind to your guests by providing a can of nice-smelling bug spray for those bare ankles and shoulders.
• Opt for paper plates. It’s summer! Who wants to be stuck washing dishes?
• Take some shortcuts, such as using prepared appetizers or a store-bought desserts. To supplement the Ya Jagoff! prize pack that included 24 Ernie Ricci sausages, Mancini’s rolls and Mary Mac Bakehouse baked goods, the Bellingers brought in pizza from Monticello’s and Dough Boy’s in McKees Rocks.
• Relax, and don’t fret if the crowd spills out from your porch onto the lawn. This year especially, a porch party is about having fun, connecting with the people you love and celebrating the fact we can all be together once again.
Some people like to go to parties. Erin Bellinger and her husband, Todd, love to throw them. They’ve been especially excited to host friends and neighbors at their Ohio Township home this summer for two reasons: Coronavirus restrictions against large gatherings have been lifted, and they (finally) are the proud owners of an in-ground swimming pool.
“Both of our kids are in sports, so I’m always hosting,” she said with a laugh. “And I’m a teacher, so I have a high tolerance for kids.”
Mrs. Bellinger, who teaches kindergarten at Pittsburgh Allegheny K-5 on the North Side, also believes in giving back to the community. So when a friend alerted her that the Ya Jagoff! podcast was seeking entries for their fourth annual summer porch tour, she was the first one to apply.
Launched in 2017 (with a year off for COVID-19), the tour is actually a contest that ngives four randomly selected homeowners a “porch party” package that includes food, beer and passes to the Heinz History Center and Kennywood Park. In return, the homeowners raise supplies for Zachary’s Mission, a charity that supports families of medically fragile children by
providing “Zack Packs” filled with necessities like toothpaste and shampoo for families in need during long hospital stays.
The nonprofit was started in 2010 by Patricia and Robert Vance of Greensburg in honor of their son, Zachary, who died 15 days after birth in 2008 from congenital heart failure.
“You provide the porch. We will bring the party!” an email blast proclaimed June 21.
All contestants had to do to be considered was email Ya Jagoff! co- host John Chamberlain a picture of their porch and explain why they should be chosen.
When I saw [ the part about] Zachary’s Mission, I was just hooked,” Mrs. Bellinger said.
She’s also super competitive, so when she found out she’d been selected just three days before the party on July 8, she invited more than 80 people.
It was raining when the podcasters set up under a red portable tent on the Bellingers’ deck, which made this year’s sponsor (J&D Waterproofing) seem especially apropos. “Whoever brought the rain is a jagoff,” Mr. Chamberlain exclaimed to cheers.
Yet the 50 or so guests didn’t seem to mind the soggy weather. In fact, it freed up the evening for some because their kids’ sports practices were canceled.
After depositing bag after bag of supplies in a large storage bin near the pool, guests milled about the covered patio and bar area, raising their beer cans and plastic glasses in occasional hurrahs. Many made sandwiches with the “prize pack” Ernie Ricci sausages and Mancini’s rolls or noshed on big bowls of pineapple and corn salsa.
Jennifer Kuban of Ohio Township’s bag included shampoo, Lysol wipes and bubble gum. “I’m just trying to imagine a child in that situation, and what would make his stay more comfortable,” she said.
Brandon Payne of That Payneful Music started off the evening with a song he wrote just days before the party. Then actress Sophie Guest of Ben Avon, who will appear in the Pittsburghshot film “Dear Zoe” later this year, took her turn at the microphone answering quick-fire “porch torture” questions from co-host Rachael Rennebeck, followed by this reporter and Post-Gazette photographer Ben Braun.
Parties are always fun but this annual get-together, Ms. Rennebeck said, is near and dear to their hearts because it helps families in need in a practical and immediate way. “It’s not about us, it’s about what we bring” to others. Which is why the podcasters haven’t ruled out adding a fifth or even sixth party to the schedule.
“Despite the rain, we thought the energy of the attendees and overall excitement regarding the fundraising mission was probably the best start to a porch tour series yet,” she said. “We feel like we are friends with Erin and we just met her.”
Ms. Bellinger agrees that more is better and notes “the challenge is on” for her to out-raise the other porch party contestants. By night’s end, a bin was in her driveway so neighbors could keep contributing supplies until the series wraps up on Aug. 14.
“We have so much stuff” for a charity that does so much good,” she said with a smile.