A popular Fayette County business has changed hands and is going strong into its 37th Christmas season. New Geneva Stoneware, a landmark on Main Street in McClellandtown, was recently sold by Linn and Karen Newman to John and Larae Angel of Smithfield.

“There's no one cut-and-dried answer for the sale,” Linn Newman said. “I guess I might have lost the passion for it. I was really just going through the motions. Putting together a Christmas program is analogous to putting together a D-Day invasion. I didn't want to do Christmas for the 37th time.”

Once the decision to close was posted on Facebook, the couple was inundated with responses from people who didn't want to see New Geneva Stoneware fade away.

“I wasn't prepared for the shockwave of orders coming in when the announcement went out. People came in and stripped the building of all our pottery. I would work all night firing the kilns to supply the demand. We were making graduation steins with the year 2019 on them — people weren't ready to let go of the pottery,” said Newman.

Then came phone calls from interested buyers who wanted to continue the business.

“Within minutes of making the announcement on Facebook, we were swarmed with responses and visitors to the store,” Newman said. The first phone call I got (from a prospective buyer) was from New Hampshire. Another came from Washington, D.C.”

So how does one pass on one's lifetime labor of love?

After considering offers from businessmen outside the area, the Newmans settled on the Smithfield couple (who, ironically, live on the New Geneva Road) — self-described “addicts” of the collectable stoneware.

According to Linn, “We thought the Angels had the enthusiasm and the energy to continue the business. I wanted to see who was the best fit. They seemed to understand the idea of continuing this tradition. They understood the artistic tradition.”

During the transfer of ownership, the operation closed briefly in July and reopened Oct. 20. The Angels are retaining potter Melissa Planiczka and adding an artist, Mary Ann Hovanic, who brings with her some 25 years of experience to the decorating table. Larae Angel began greeting customers and taking care of the day-to-day bookkeeping in taking over some of Karen Newman's former tasks.

Larae Angel told of the Angels' decision to acquire the business: “Having been lifelong customers, (we) were very familiar with the product line. And (with a laugh) I was looking for something to do with the second half of my life.”

Angel said that her career had been as a health care administrator — a vocation that offered very little contact with people — something she sorely missed.

Planiczka has been casting the figurines, turning the pots and firing the kilns for some 13 years. Trained by Linn Newman, she could be described as the “heartbeat” of the firm, turning out as many as 75 to 80 pieces in a day. Touring the production facilities with Planiczka is something of a crash course in pottery making.

Potting clay, a thick liquid known as “slip,” is dispensed into moulds from a tank through a nozzle that looks and works much like the familiar pump at a gasoline station. The two-part moulds are strapped tightly together as the liquid is allowed time to dry to its desired thickness. Liquid slip is then poured from the center of the creation and the mould is taken apart to reveal a semi-soft figurine or pot. A figurine may be ready to dry before for firing, but a pot or vase usually requires some skilled finishing work on the wheel.

After firing, pieces are glazed and again fired to bring a desired luster or depth to a design that may be painted on the glaze or applied as a decal that adheres upon re-firing. For example, Hovanic may paint a face on a Christmas Santa, snowman or angel. A run of crocks or mugs commemorating an event or will have names and dates applied as a decal.

New Geneva Stoneware Co. began on Liberty Street in Masontown on Nov. 5, 1978, and moved to its present location in McClellandtown in January 1994. Initially, the company was a partnership among the Newmans, Carmen Guappone and John Whollery. After the deaths of Guappone and Whollery, the business came under the sole ownership of the Newmans.

Few artistic endeavors can claim the long-term success of New Geneva Stoneware. Its national mailing list contains more than 19,000 names. But in its 37 years of existence, the distinctive blue-and-gray glazed creations have delighted countless aficionados.

Franklin LaCava is a contributing writer to Trib Total Media.

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