Fire truck water salute welcomes new pontoons, owners to Smitty’s Marina

Colin and Sarah Peck of Eighty Four purchased the property in December and are excited to become a part of the Valley’s community.

Smitty’s Marina, a longtime Mon Valley staple, has new owners, and they have opened their business with a ceremonial “water salute” for some

Smitty’s Marina technician Jake Volosin and service manager Danny Kurtz are shown at the travel lift preparing to unload a pontoon boat from the delivery truck. Jeff Helsel / Mon Valley Independent

of their new pontoons.

Wednesday morning, Sarah and Colin Peck, the new owners of Smitty’s, welcomed six new pontoons to their boat dealership, with the two trucks hauling them being escorted into the marina by Charleroi Regional Police.

A Charleroi Volunteer Fire Department truck was waiting for the pontoons by the marina entrance to give them a proper welcome with the traditional water salute. The trucks with the pontoons slowly drove under two large arches of water and then made their way to where they would be unloaded.

Their son Noah Peck, 5, was also waiting excitedly for the pontoons to come with his parents. Sarah said that their daughter Lydia, 8, could not make it due to school.

The Pecks officially acquired the property that sits along the Monongahela River in December. The family is excited to become part of the Mon Valley community.

“We called the police a few weeks ago on our first shipment, and they came, and then we’re like, ‘Who else could we call to see about the pontoons that we just became a dealership of?’” Sarah said. “So we called them.

They’re like, sure, and then the police came too, and it’s just we’re really excited to be in this community and to serve this community and just bring a little excitement.”

Smitty’s Marina and restaurant had been owned and operated for years by Carl and Lydia Zanardini. Sarah explained that they were in the process of purchasing the property from Zanardini before he passed away, but they finalized the sale with his family on Dec. 20.

For the Pecks, who grew up near each other and attended high school and Washington and Jefferson College together, purchasing the riverfront business in Speers allows them to carry on a family tradition.

“This was kind of a dream of ours for many years, to own a business,” Sarah said. “My family owned a car dealership. My brother owns two power sports dealerships in Washington County and Greene County, so this is just the dream of my husband and I.”

Colin said longtime employees of Smitty’s Marina, Jake Volosin and Danny Kurtz, will continue to work for their business and have been a big help as they get acclimated.

In addition to serving as a boat dealership and marina, the Smitty’s restaurant will open May 15. Sarah explained the dealership will continue to go by “Smitty’s Marina” but the restaurant will be named Lock 4 Bar and Grill.

The Pecks said the restaurant has typically been closed during the winter months, but they hope to keep it open all year in the future.

“We’re going to have an elevated menu, more bar selection, ice cream, coffee, brunch, more expanded drinks and bringing in lots of local, different wines and spirits,” Sarah said. “And then we’re going to have entertainment every weekend, just really trying to make it a destination spot. And we plan on remaining open all year-round, and not just seasonally.”

Smitty’s offers summer dockage, winter storage, and more for customers. Sarah explained that they recently extended their dock area as well.

“We have a lot of plans, lots of ideas to really try to develop and bring more people down to the river,” she said. “We have such an amazing riverfront property. So obviously, we have the boat dealership we purchased, and they’re expanding the docks to offer more dock slips for boaters to come down. We also expanded into Sylvan pontoons, so we’re now that dealership.”

Sarah said they also wanted to help the local community by providing a scholarship to those interested in a trade school.

The Pecks plan to name the scholarship after Carl Zanardini to honor his legacy and to continue what he believed in.

“We wanted to continue his legacy, he really was an advocate of those who are going into trade school,” Sarah said. “So we’re not going to be able to do it this year, just because we got a late start, but we’re going to do an annual scholarship where we’ll raise money for a local student who wants to pursue trade school.”

To learn more about Smitty’s, go https://www.smittysmarina. com. The marina is currently open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday and can be reached at 724-483-7333.