(strumming music) - [JoAnn] You can go and view the Amish countryside.

- We're just out enjoying the beautiful day and doing a little leaf peeping.

- You can check out the covered bridge.

- [Tourist] I wanted Marilyn to see what it looked like in the fall.

- [JoAnn] A lot of the men go fly fishing.

- And if we're lucky enough, we'll get to go over do a little wine tasting later.

(laughing) - [Narrator] Tucked away in the rolling hills of Western Pennsylvania is a little town that time almost forgot, but thankfully didn't.

- It's really, really good.

- [JoAnn] A lot of people just come because it's Volant and there's nothing else like it.

- [Narrator] Volant, Pennsylvania is a success story.

A community that's struggled through bad times then reinvented itself into a tourist destination.

And you're about to see why people from all over the world are visiting Volant.

(uplifting music) (strumming music) Blink and you'll miss it.

At just 1/10th of a square mile, you have to be on the lookout when you're driving down Route 208 through Lawrence County or you just might pass through one of the prettiest little towns in Northwestern, PA. - It's just a nice part of the country, an easy drive.

- [Narrator] Like many small towns, Volant had to survive the loss of a major industry.

It was born as a mill town, but not the big city kind of mill.

- This is a gristmill and the grist was made into buckwheat.

They also did corn and they did wheat, but mostly it was buckwheat.

- [Narrator] Patti Phillips is happy to share Volant's history, she's the town Activities Director.

- [Patti] I do tours of the mill.

Taking you from the very first time that the flour or the grain comes, to when it leaves the mill.

The power behind it was water.

It was brought in from the dam.

It came down the stream.

It would go through where the turbines are.

It would go out underneath, which would turn the wheel.

When the wheel turned, it would turn the turbines which turned another gear, which did the whole entire mill.

- [Narrator] The mill went up in 1812 and operated for the next 160 years, serving as the center of town.

Farmers from miles around gathered here while their grain was being refined.

- [Patti] They would go into this little room and sit around in their chairs, drinking their whatever and smoking their whatever, and just have a good old fashioned gossip session.

- [Narrator] The town was built on land bought from Native Americans and was first called Lockeville after the mill owner, JP Locke.

It was renamed Volant in the 1870s.

- [Patti] Supposedly there were some hunters here and the the hunters were from Italy 'cause they spoke, well they no, they spoke Latin.

And as he pulled up he would say volant, which means flying away.

So that's where Volant got its name.

(laughing) Just kind of flying away.

- [Narrator] The town grew in part because of the railroads, the Franklin and New Castle railroad was completed in the 1870s.

Six passenger trains and two freight trains pass through Volant every day.

- [Patti] The railroad company was also really, really good in helping the town to develop.

It went from New Castle, Volant to Franklin and back and forth.

- [Narrator] Town elders built a college for men and women.

The largest class in 1892 numbered 140 students.

A fire closed the college in the early 1900s, but a brickyard, stone quarry and the mill kept the town humming for the next 60 years.

- [Patti] There were two covered bridges in Volant up until the early '30s.

- [Narrator] Betty Steve knows a lot about Volant.

- I have been here for approximately 70 years.

My husband was born and raised here.

We just live up the street.

And somehow or another we have become the historians in town.

- [Narrator] Her business is all about history too.

Betty is part owner of a vintage clothing store and she remembers how merchants thrived in Volant's heyday.

- [Betty] Hunters came up here.

Nearly all these homes here in town, at one time or another, have had a room or rooms that they rented out.

And then the oil actually came in to a lot of the commerce here.

At one point, I think they had three grocery stores, a meat market, a bank, post office.

- [Narrator] Times were good until the 1960s and '70s, the railroad left and the mill closed.

- [Patti] People were going to more modernized type of machinery.

The economy just took it down to nothing and then it was sold off.

- So we were afraid, really, that someone would set it a fire sometime.

- [Narrator] The mill sat empty for over 20 years, then in 1984, local businessman Bill Kinnery bought the mill and made it the focus of Volant once again.

- [Karen] He revitalized and restored the mill and turned it into a country mercantile shop.

- [Narrator] Karen Rockenstein is on the board of the Volant Community Development Corporation, an organization working to keep Volant on the map.

The VCDC bought the mill in 2006, and it's not only a tourist attraction but the first stop on your shopping trip through Volant.

(uplifting music) - [Karen] Some are consignment shops.

Some are areas where people rent.

My shop is located not only on the first floor, but on the second floor.

There's a room with all the Native American elements in there.

Downstairs I have more of the nature element.

- [Narrator] Karen is among the six merchants with a store inside the old mill.

- [Karen] I looked around.

Before I opened the shop, I had worked for someone else that had five retail stores.

I liked how friendly the people were.

It felt like a place I wanted to be.

- [Narrator] Outside the mill, along the tiny quarter mile stretch of road, there are more than two dozen other shops.

- [Karen] It's ranging from a miniature shop to an antique shop, primarily specialty shops.

I think there's something for everyone.

- [Shopper] I enjoy the arts and crafts here.

Things that you could find here are for any age, any craft, any kind of personality, any kind of home decor.

- There's a thousand malls that you can go to to do shopping, but this is also an experience, let alone just a shopping area.

So they come in here looking for something different.

They're not gonna find any place else.

- It is slower pace, but it's just nice to browse and walk and not have shopping pressure.

- We get people from all over the world that come because, I think, of the serene, quietness of the land.

They can stroll the streets here, it's not hectic.

And it's a nice relaxing day.

We get a lot of people from Canada that come down and just from, I think, every state and country that you can imagine.

- [Customer] We love shopping in the states.

We love going through the little stores.

We love Volant.

Every year we come down, we make sure we come to Volant.

- [Narrator] Many of the merchants have been in Volant for decades.

Anita Guyton owns the Volant Miniature Shop where you can find almost anything recreated in tiny detail.

- Everything I would say from soup to nuts, as they say in the real world.

We have fish bowls, and now we have the new fish that look like they're in a bag of water.

And we have the litter pan for the cats.

If you're gonna have a cat, you better have that litter box.

She's been doing it for quite a while, so I'm sure- - [Narrator] At under five feet tall, Anita is tiny too.

- [Anita] Many people think that miniatures are for kids only.

But most of my customers are adults that enjoy the miniatures as a hobby.

- While many of Anita's items bring back visual memories, Becky Galiano's store, just up the street, brings back the taste of old times.

- I have a variety of all the old fashioned candies from all over the United States and England.

I carry a full line of different snack mixes, pickled Amish items.

And I also carry the world's hottest pepper.

- [Narrator] But candy is still the big seller.

Becky credits her own sugar daddy, actually her father-in-law, with inspiring her to open up shop.

- My father-in-law had a store back in 1955.

One of the original ice cream soda shops, delis, candy stores.

And he always talked about how much he enjoyed it.

And loved the people that came in and all the talking that they did and stories that they swapped.

We found this little place here in Volant and decided to go ahead and open a little candy shop.

Everybody likes candy.

Let me tell you, everybody from small to big, there's a little kid in everybody.

- [Narrator] For some people sweets do the trick, for others, it's a good cup of tea.

- [Roberta] We have tea on the tasting bar, you're welcome to sample.

- [Narrator] Roberta Butchy and her husband are relative newcomers to Volant.

Their teashop is one of the newer businesses.

- We carry about 118 varieties or blends of loose leaf tea.

We also have accessories to go with the tea, teapots, scones to candy.

- They have a Black Christmas, I think it's called, it's really, really good.

- [Roberta] Volant is a quaint, cozy little community.

It's quiet, peaceful.

We love on the days when we're not too busy, to sit out there and drink our own tea and watch the traffic go by.

There's a lovely group of merchants here that makes it an enjoyable place to share business concerns with.

And we do a little cooperative advertising, that kind of thing here.

So it's been a good fit for us.

- [Narrator] For all of their cheeriness, shop owners have not been immune to the recent economic downturns.

Some stores sit empty and others are just getting by.

- [Anita] It's not like it used to be, but you know, we still have a lot of people coming.

It does go up and down.

- We fared better than a lot of small towns, I think.

Businesses change, when you have small mom and pop businesses, life changes change whether people stick around or what they do.

I mean, somebody gets divorced.

Somebody's husband gets transferred, shops change.

There would always be that when you have a small town and small shops.

But there's a strong core here.

- [Narrator] That strong core has gotten creative about keeping visitors coming to town.

- We try to have a festival or something going on in the village every month.

And we do put out a calendar of events and we stuff them in all of our bags.

We put them in all the rest stops.

We put them everywhere so that people will, you know, be able to find us.

We have our own website, and we put out emails.

We do as much as we can.

- [Narrator] But mostly it's by word of mouth.

People somehow seem to find Volant.

- We just went off the beaten path and here we were.

So yeah, and we've come back every year.

We know the way we don't even need directions now.

(strumming music) - [Narrator] But you may need directions to find one of the Volant's biggest attractions.

- This is the Amish countryside of Lawrence County.

My job is to promote all the beautiful things here in Lawrence County.

- [Narrator] It's not a tough sell with all the beautiful natural scenery, the rolling hills and charming towns.

But the nearly 2,000 Amish people near Volant are definitely a major draw.

- [JoAnn] One of the largest communities in Western Pennsylvania, if not the state of Pennsylvania, outside of Lancaster.

You're gonna see Amish coming in and out of town all the time.

And people love to see that way of life.

- [Narrator] The Amish way of life dates back to the late 1600s.

That's when a group of Christians broke away from mainstream Protestants.

During the next two centuries, they would leave the Swiss German region of Europe seeking religious freedom in North America.

- [JoAnn] The Amish came here probably about 1847.

They came over and settled in different parts of Pennsylvania and immigrated out to the farmlands.

And that's why we have them here in Lawrence County.

- [Narrator] And the Lawrence County tourists are fascinated by glimpses of such a simple lifestyle.

- [JoAnn] The Amish do not have electricity in their homes.

The children, there are about four or five district school in this area.

And the children do go to school up until eighth grade.

Their teachers are Amish teachers and they're in one room schoolhouse, similar to what we had years ago.

- [Narrator] The Amish follow a blueprint for behavior known as "The Ordnung."

Which dictates everything from dress and hairstyle to farming techniques.

It is the Old Order Amish who live in Lawrence County with more conservative beliefs and traditional practices.

- [JoAnn] They are a very religious group of people.

They do not allow you to focus on their faces.

They don't wanna display pride over one another.

Amish women primarily wear blue dresses.

They don't use buttons.

They primarily fasten their dresses with straight pins.

The Amish men wear hats all the time.

And if you see an Amish man and he has a beard, you know he's married.

- [Narrator] Something else you might notice are the colors of their buggies.

- [Narrator] And around the New Wilmington, Volant area, it's brown buggy Amish.

And that is unique to this area because if you go to Lancaster or anywhere else, you're gonna see either black buggies or gray buggies.

(uplifting music) The Amish people are primarily farmers.

They grow a lot of produce on their farms.

And especially in the fall, you're gonna see them out at farmer's markets, as far away as Pittsburgh.

They do baking.

They do a lot of things like handcrafting and their craftsmanship is just beyond belief.

The Amish get along very well with the people in this community.

They call us English.

We're all English because we're not Amish.

- [Narrator] Tourists come to the area hoping to see a buggy passing through.

And they're often rewarded.

To offer a closer glimpse into the life of the Amish, Volant holds an Amish wedding feast once a month at the Volant Meeting House.

No Amish take part, but the so-called English explain the customs as best they can.

- [Karen] It's an interactive dinner.

And there's a host that leads you through the customs associated with dating and weddings.

- [Narrator] And even the wedding dinner is simple.

- [Karen] Everyone has the same menu at their wedding receptions.

They discourage competition, so they all serve the same.

And it's a very simple dinner, but a very good, wholesome, chicken, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, vegetables, appetizers, pies and cakes for dessert.

(uplifting music) - [Narrator] Another place the Amish interact with the English is in their crafts.

(strumming music) The tourism office publishes a map that shows visitors where to find them.

Along the routes, is Tina's Quilt Shop.

(strumming music) - [JoAnn] Quilts are all handmade quilts.

The craftsmanship is beyond compare.

(strumming music) (relaxing music) - [Narrator] If you don't happen upon the Amish in Volant, you can just meander down the back roads and find a little Amish roadside stand.

Filled with the freshest produce.

(uplifting music) And best looking baked goods you'll ever see.

- [JoAnn] They're very industrious, hardworking people.

(happy music) - [Bryan] The grapes that we grow here are French-American hybrids.

The reason for that is they're winter hardy.

Their Cabernet, or Merlot, or Chardonnay.

You can't grow here and have it survive the winter.

So we use what's a hybrid grape, it's developed specifically for this area.

- [Narrator] Bryan Rhodes is a man who finds his work quite intoxicating - [Bryan] Best job in the world.

I get up every day, I never do the same thing every day.

I get to interact with people.

It's challenging.

It's just a fantastic career.

- [Narrator] Bryan is a vintner in Volant.

Since 2003 he's been making and selling wine out of grapes grown just a few miles north of town.

The Volant Mill Winery is located right on the main street, and it's a business Bryan shares with his dad.

- We gotta fill that cran-grape down there twice.

- [Bryan] The Volant location draws from a pretty diverse crowd.

I've had people in here from all over the world, China, Guam, you name it.

They've been into this little town.

And I'd say the rest of the market comes from Cleveland, a 300 mile radius.

- [Narrator] When you think of the top states producing wine, California and New York head the list, but Pennsylvania isn't far behind.

- [Bryan] Well, the Pennsylvania wine industry's grown dramatically.

Originally started with about 90, when we opened up in 2003.

I think today there's 140 wineries that are registered with the Pennsylvania Wine Association in the state.

We're becoming more and more accepted and we're all getting better.

- [Narrator] And the business is also getting bigger.

The winery now has four locations in the Greater Pittsburgh area, and a production facility in Fredonia.

- [Bryan] It's where we do most of our, I call the dirty work, the crushing in and brushing of the grapes, and the fermentation, et cetera.

- Do you want to sample it?

- Yes.

- Okay.

How about you ladies, do you wanna try anything too?

Do you all wanna try the same?

- Just a little wee bit for me.

- [Vendor] Sure.

- [Taster] This is the sweet one.

- [Narrator] According to Bryan, Americans, especially Pennsylvania, like their wine sweet.

- [Bryan] Traditionally it's primarily known as a sweet wine country.

I equate drinking sweet wine in this area to be the Pepsi generation.

America loves sweet.

So what we're able to produce here are good sweet wines.

Unlike Cabernet, Chardonnay, Merlot, which are the Vinifera grapes, which are drier wines.

That's what most people know.

- [Narrator] In keeping things local, Bryan employs people from the area.

Like most of the merchants in Volant, the Volant Mill Winery works with the Amish community.

- [Bryan] Instead of using immigrant labor, we prefer to keep things locally.

So most of our harvesting is done by Amish.

And they're doing the pruning, and the harvesting in the vineyards.

- [Narrator] And Bryan himself is involved in all aspects of the wine production.

- Watch your step, and come on back.

There's about 200 gallons in there right now which equates to about a thousand bottles.

- [Narrator] Volant Mill Winery produces 22 different wines and puts out 100,000 bottles each year.

- [Bryan] Our hottest seller today is Cocoa Vino, which is a chocolate type wine.

It tastes like a cherry Tootsie Pop in a bottle.

- It tastes a little different than the last batch.

- Mm-hm.

- It's good though.

- It kinda tastes like a grape Tootsie Roll.

(jazz music) - Here we go.

(glasses clanking) (women laughing) - Now see you don't like- - [Vendor] Did you like that one?

- You don't like that, do you?

- I love it, it's very good.

- [Vendor] Do you like that one?

- Oh yes, it's very good.

(blues music) - [Narrator] Just down the road a ways, you come to Bob Shuey's store.

It's the first stop before heading down to Neshannock Creek, or Crick as the locals call it.

- We try to cater to the fly-fishing needs of Western Pennsylvania and Ohio.

- [Narrator] And they do, attracting thousands of fly fishers every year.

Folks stop in at the Neshannock Fly Shop to pick up the latest lures, rods and reels.

Maybe even a map of the crick before putting on their gear and wading in.

- I lost the ant house.

- Did you lose it or break it?

- It broke off.

- Broke it.

- [Narrator] Bob teaches them all how to fly fish.

And he's got a bit of experience.

For many years, Bob worked as a wildlife officer for the National Park Service.

- [Bob] And then when I decided it was time to give that up, I was always in the fly fishing community, I was guiding and so forth.

And got back to Western PA, I didn't think I would be back to this area.

I like it here.

- [Narrator] The fly fishermen are lured to Volant because it's among the most popular fishing holes in Western Pennsylvania.

The Neshannock is 30 miles long and it's a freestone stream, which means the water comes from rain and runoff, not discharged from a dam or reservoir.

- [Bob] I mean, we've got everything from carp to trout.

They are stocked by Pride Unlimited, my store, the Pennsylvania Fish Commission.

So we try to keep a healthy population of trout in the stream.

- [Narrator] The stretch of stream directly behind Bob's store is specially regulated, catch and release, and always full of fish unless Mother Nature steps in.

- [Bob] So we had high water all spring and then the drought hit us in June.

It's a busy creek, and obviously avoid weekends if you can.

We have 2.7 miles, so you can sneak away.

- [Narrator] So what is fly fishing?

And can anyone do it?

- [Bob] Just a different approach to fishing, it's all artificial.

So we're imitating the insects, the baitfish, egg patterns, everything.

It's not as difficult as people think it is.

- [Narrator] People of all ages come to the Neshannock to fly fish, but you might be surprised to meet one of the best on the crick today.

- My name's Mario.

I'm from Youngstown, Ohio.

I'm 15 years old.

- [Bob] He's taking classes, but he's had the interest long before he started being a fly fisher.

I mean, he's a fishing (indistinct).

- I've been fishing my whole life.

I started fly fishing around three years ago.

And I really have a love and passion for it.

So I love to do this every chance I get, I get to come out here.

- [Narrator] Mario and his dad, Martin are regulars on the Neshannock.

- [Mario] In the summer a lot of times it gets way too warm.

And it might freeze over in the winter.

So you have to be die hard to be out there and in the extreme conditions.

But the spring, like around April and October, is the best two months probably.

It's good fishing down here, fun times.

As you could see, it's beautiful.

Well, today I got to get out a little bit before everything got started.

And I hooked a few, landed one or two.

So hopefully we'll get into a couple.

- [Martin] The student has become the teacher.

- [Bob] It is so relaxing.

It's almost like you hypnotize yourself when you're fly fishing.

You're just focusing on so many little details that, you know, you forget work.

You know, you don't worry about work while you're out there fishing.

- [Narrator] And for anglers like Mario and his dad, the fishing provides much more.

- [Mario] We love it out here.

I mean, we get to learn a lot about each other and it's a good time.

(strumming music) (uplifting music) - [JoAnn] Yeah, a lot of people feel that this is almost like a Mayberry where everybody just kinda kicks back and relaxes.

- [Narrator] For people who do slow down along Route 208, they are treated to a special little town.

- [Patti] This is the only place I know of that you can go and you get it all in one package, on one street.

- [Narrator] You can come here to fish, tour the Amish countryside, meander along the back roads, and find some bargains too.

- Well, we usually like to make a little event out of it.

Every year we try to come to here either in the spring or in the fall, 'cause it's so pretty with the leaves, to do a little Christmas shopping and it's just kind of fun.

- I had a summer bucket list and Volant was one of the places that I wanted to come this summer.

- [Client] The people are all so nice.

As you go into each of the open buildings, they're all like old friends, practically.

- [Narrator] And like old friends, a visit of Volant reconnects you with a special place in time.

- [Karen] It's just a charming little place, interesting people.

Volant has my heart.

(uplifting music)