The Brewster family, from left, Jessica, Ben and Ella, 12, pause in the middle of West Main Street in Saxonburg, where the family lives and owns a business. Cary Shaffer/Butler Eagle

Jessica and Ben Brewster moved to Saxonburg in 2018 to provide a simpler life for themselves and their daughter, Ella, 12, and they haven’t regretted the decision for a second.

The purpose of the move was to greatly shorten Ben’s commute to his job in Sarver and to put Jessica nearer to her Main Street bakery, Batch.

Plus, the Brewsters wanted Ella to attend a small school district.

All that has worked out, but the family most enjoys the perks of living in Saxonburg, such as walking to do and get everything.

“Now that we have a grocery store in Saxonburg, we have about everything we need,” Jessica said. “We walk almost everywhere we go.”

She said Saxonburg offers a winery, coffee shop, restaurants, boutiques, pharmacy, library and more.

“At this point, we have zero empty storefronts,” Brewster said. “It’s become such a (retail) community. Everyone gets along with everyone else and helps each other out.”

Brewster also attends the events in the borough, such as Mingle on Main, the monthly food truck and vendor gathering that shuts down Main Street during the temperate time of year, and the annual Saxonburg Festival of the Arts.

The Brewster family, from left, Ben, 12-year-old Ella, and Jessica walk through downtown Saxonburg along West Main Street on Oct. 17. The Brewsters live and own a business in the borough. Cary Shaffer/Butler Eagle

Brewster said her daughter had no one her age living close to their former home in Butler.

“She has a lot of friends in the area now,” she said.

The family likes to bicycle around the borough, as well, while running errands or just for fun.

“Ella is part of the community too,” she said. “Everyone knows her.”

Asked for a surprising fact about life in Saxonburg, Brewster reports all but two or three businesses on Main Street are woman-owned.

“There is definitely a feeling of camaraderie among the women business owners,” Brewster said. “We want to lift each other up, and I think that’s making the town something special.”

Brewster never thought she would so enjoy the small-town life offered in Saxonburg.

“This is our little village. We have our everyday things we do, but we just like being part of the community,” she said. “It’s so nice to be close to everything and everybody.”

The Brewsters have no plans to leave their homey yet happening little hamlet.

“We’re not going anywhere,” she said. “We love it here.”