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Aviator Brew Hub takes flight in Stewartstown 

Aviator Brew Hub takes flight in Stewartstown 

  • Marine Corps veteran David Elwell and his wife, Katie, hope Aviator Brew Hub can be an anchor for growth in their community.
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When Katie and David Elwell look around Stewartstown, they see beyond the unused spaces and empty storefronts.

They see the glimmer of the community it once was and the potential for what it could be.  

“That kind of got the gears turning for us,” David says. “If this is where we want to raise our kids and be part of this community, how can we repurpose some of these spaces?” 

Their answer, opening this spring, is Aviator Brew Hub

A place for everyone 

Above all else, David and Katie want to create a community hub. 

“That’s the reason we chose the name,” David says, noting it’s brew hub and not brew pub. “Our long-term goal is a gathering place where people can mark milestones and make memories.” 

The aviator theme pays homage to David’s service as an Aerial Navigator in the Marine Corps and his love of World War II warbirds. 

The brew hub itself, though, is just the beginning.  

It’s meant to be an anchor, or the trunk of a tree. From it is branching a night market. Beginning May 19 and continuing every first and third Friday through October, vendors, musicians, and food trucks will gather at the Brew Hub from 4-8 p.m. 

“You start to stack up all these things that are really mutually beneficial to each other,” David says. 

In addition to brewing craft beer and cider, the drive to create a community gathering place guided the couple’s decisions to include outdoor space and offer wine, kombucha, non-alcoholic beer, and craft soda.  

Having four kids, they want it to be a space where families are just as comfortable as are a group of friends.  

“We do want to be family centric, friendly, open,” Katie says, “a community space where anyone can come and just know they’re welcome and safe.” 

A leap of faith 

David had resigned from his civilian job of 10 years, and the couple had invested tens of thousands of dollars and countless hours in the project when they hit a major roadblock. The space they’d planned to lease was suddenly, inexplicably, unavailable. It was a watershed juncture: They could call it quits or forge ahead.  

“That was the moment when we realized we were committed,” David says. “We’ve set a course. This is something we felt compelled to do.”  

A few months, a new property owner, and a big sigh of relief later, the pair signed a lease. 

Success isn’t guaranteed because there’s no certainty in a new business. But the couple feel confident in their plans. 

“We see a method, a process for how we can make this work,” Katie says. They’re supported by their faith ― “We’re all in on Jesus,” David says ― and the belief that every person is made on purpose, with purpose. 

“Our tendency is to cut ourselves short of our true potential. If we fall on our face, I’m confident we’ll still be OK,” David says. “You get one time to do this life right. We plan to live while we’re alive.”