Jul 8, 2015 3 min read

WAYNESBURG – Growing up in the Waynesburg area, Rachel Rohanna and Robert Rohanna hoped for summer showers each Rain Day celebration.

But the professional golfers who have promising careers on the links will now be begging for dry weather this year after making a wager over the Rain Day hat bet with Waynesburg Mayor Duncan Berryman.

“I was looking through the list and to even have my name next to some of those other names like the Dixie Chicks or Donald Trump or Coleman Scott,” Rachel Rohanna said of the annual July 29 festival in downtown Waynesburg. “For the community to think I should even be a part of that is pretty awesome and I’m very honored.”

Rachel Rohanna, 24, in April won the Guardian Retirement Championship golf tournament in Sarasota, Fla., her first victory on the Symetra Tour.

She could eventually reach the LPGA Tour one day.

Her cousin, Robert, 29, completed in the Golf Channel’s “Big Break The Palm Beaches” reality show and finished third. The show featured a cast of aspiring golfers hoping to take that next step in their professional careers with 12 men competing for more than $120,000.

He marveled at being invited as the Rain Day celebrity after his biggest participation in festival in past years was to “drive up there to get a funnel cake.”

“You know Rain Day is one of those things that everyone knows about,” he said. “It’s on (24/7 cable) news sometimes and it’s cool to be involved with that, especially being in your hometown.”

He said he hopes to attend the festivities while nursing an injury that might keep him off the golf course.

“If I’m around, I’d gladly come back,” he said. “It would be worth coming back for a little while. Anything you can do to support your hometown, it makes it better and is great for the community.”

That was welcome news to Berryman considering many of the celebrities invited to join in the bet typically live out-of-town and are unable to attend.

With the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh reporting rain 25 out of the past 35 days, it’s a good bet Berryman will be able to keep his hat. He added that the Rohanna cousins might be a little torn between wanting the rainy tradition to continue and hoping it will stay dry so they can win the bet.

“It’s not too often you get a hat bet person visiting,” Berryman said. “They seemed like a natural choice. They’re both local kids, so maybe they have their fingers crossed behind their backs.”

Unfortunately, Rachel Rohanna said she will not be able to attend the event as she prepares to compete in a golf tournament in Wisconsin that weekend. Still, she sent her best wishes for a fun festival.

“Just anything local we like to be involved with is an honor,” she said. “It’s pretty cool to make this little bet with him and be involved with Rain Day.”

This will be Berryman’s third Rain Day hat bet. He is undefeated in the betting contest after defeating Olympic bronze medalist Coleman Scott in 2013 and beating actress Patricia Heaton last year. The last rainless year was 2012, when former Mayor Blair Zimmerman lost his hat to now-retired Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Brett Keisel.