Cranberry hotel hosts retired NFL players for a meet and greet event
CRANBERRY TWP — A half-dozen retired NFL players made an appearance in the township during draft events on Friday, April 24.
To join in on the festivities, Hilton Garden Inn Pittsburgh/Cranberry set up a pop-up bar from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. daily through Sunday.
The bar was also the location for a meet and greet with the six former players, who were primarily in the league during the 1970s and 1980s.
Steve Fedell, Craig Bingham, Ron Coder, Boris Anyama and Dan Rains were present at the gathering, along with Cranberry’s own John Skorupan, who played for the Buffalo Bills and New York Giants.
Todd Pifer, general manager of Hilton’s Cranberry location, said the event is the first of its kind at the hotel and came about from Experience Butler County approaching the hotel with the concept.
The pop up bar offered drink and food specials for the weekend. Pifer said for out-of-towner attendees, the event offered a Pittsburgh experience, from french fries on sandwiches to hot dogs served outdoors from Pittsburgh Street Dogs.
The event had cigars on offer as well from Seven Fields-based Kapnos Premium Cigars.
Pifer said the meet and greet was intended to be a community-oriented event where “your every day Joe Schmo coming in off the street can meet someone that actually played on turf.”
“I think it’s a big boom economically for the city of Pittsburgh and also the surrounding areas,” Pifer said of the draft. “The nice thing about Butler County is we’re so close to the city, we could be there in 20 minutes, but we’re out of the rat race, so people can actually relax and enjoy.”
Before the meet and greet, Pifer said he anticipated a bigger crowd of attendees than the previous night. Pifer estimated near the end that about 100 attendees had stopped by.
The event has a financial incentive as well. Skorupan, who is a longtime Cranberry local, is also a member of the Retired Players Association of Pittsburgh. The NFL supports the organization financially and Skorupan said that events like these help the organization show the league its activities in the area.
