Harry Funk stories, Page 23
Collier music teacher celebrates 1st anniversary of studio
Ask youngsters about their favorite songs, and the answers are likely to be nursery rhymes or something they heard in a Disney movie. You may not expect Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Ronda Alla Turca.” The section of a sonata composed in 1783 made the top-two list of Becki Lewis’ three-year-old daughter,...
Bethel Park lacrosse coach focuses on players’ mental health
A casual observer simply may see teenage girls playing lacrosse Their coach tends to view a world of possibilities that transcends sports. “This is the future,” Becky Luzier said. “We’re looking at the ability to change every ill that exists in our society on this field right now, because someday...
Kerr Memorial Museum in Oakmont marks 20 years
A building at the corner of Oakmont’s Delaware Avenue and Fourth Street holds special memories for borough resident Jane Foster. “I had Virginia Kerr as a seventh- and eighth-grade teacher,” she said about the woman who lived there her entire life. “She was a friend of our family, because my...
Plum library program focuses on Bogart, Bacall
Among the true-life love stories that emerged from Hollywood was the unlikely pairing of a married actor in his mid-40s with a teenager making her first movie. Yet Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall worked as a couple. “Even though their ages were so different and their time together was really...
Escape the ordinary with Puzzle Room, Primal Pigment in Verona
Mix Jackson Pollock with Jimi Hendrix, plus a touch of Peter Max and Pink Floyd, and you get the general idea of what Jessica Dancisin calls “Pittsburgh’s one-of-a-kind blacklight splatter-paint experience.” Actually, the music pumped into Primal Pigment is customers’ choice. But the glow of the gobs of liquid that...
Blue sky greets return of Hampton Community Day
As had been the case with countless events, Hampton Community Day was waylaid by covid for two years. In planning to resume the extravaganza for 2022, organizers hoped that the coast would be clear as far as health considerations and, of course, the weather would cooperate. Their wishes came true...
Motorists gas up in Monroeville for $2.38 per gallon
To answer the question of how to handle motorists who are itching to gas up at less than half the going rate: “It’s like a well-oiled machine.” Certainly, Ashley Klingensmith, state director for Americans for Prosperity, couldn’t have said it better. But seriously, the process of offering regular unleaded for...
Stars, stripes align for Monroeville Independence Day celebration
After a two-year absence, the stars aligned — stripes, too! — for the return of the annual Monroeville Independence Day Parade. Under a blue sky, with the temperature well into the red and white teeth gleaming from myriad smiles, parade observers started to gather well before the 9 a.m. start,...
Hampton hosts Food Truck Day every other Wednesday
The lamb gyro was fantastic. So reported Hampton resident Shane Cowoski after he and his wife, Millie, enjoyed dinner from the eatery Pittsburgh Halal. And they didn’t have to venture too far from home. From 3 to 7 p.m. every other Wednesday, Food Truck Day is featured in the side...
Sight On Scene: Plum firm’s software enhances school safety
Essential to handling an emergency is accounting for everyone involved. Thanks to a Plum software development firm, responsible parties have a new tool to do so in a particularly effective manner. B-Three Solutions’ Sight On Scene application — yes, the acronym is SOS — offers an array of features with...
Former police chief’s badge, other possessions return to Bethel Park
For what probably amounted to decades, a woman on the West Coast had been in possession of family heirlooms that came from Bethel Park. More accurately, the aged gun holsters, identification card and silver badge originated in what then was Bethel Township, by way of her stepfamily. Whatever the case,...
Gothic Celt: Allison Park singer brings history, mysticism to music
If you think fairy tales are for kids, try reading the originals. Singer Tiffany Apan’s affinity for the work of Danish author Hans Christian inspired the lyrics for her latest single, the somewhat ironically titled “Lullaby.” “It’s ‘The Match Girl’ and the non-Disneyized ‘Little Mermaid.’ It’s a lot darker than...
Hampton’s Murder By Book Club celebrates 10th anniversary
Here’s a mystery: Why don’t more people read mysteries? At least, that’s what members of the Hampton Community Library-based Murder By the Book Club probably wonder as they delve into their latest whodunit. For a decade now, starting with “Mirror Image” by Dennis Palumbo in June 2012, the group has...
‘Be on the lookout!’: Bear sighted in Plum neighborhood
Let’s say that she or he was, uh, bear-ly noticeable. Following what probably were a series of double takes and/or rubbings of eyes, several Plum residents were quick to grab their smartphones to photograph an unexpected mid-June visitor. An ursine character of undetermined gender, at least from a layman’s cursory...
Art students follow in South Fayette teacher’s footsteps
Students enjoy hearing encouragement from their teachers, even if it comes with more than a hint of humility. “When they grow up, they’ll be much better than I am,” Selva Priya Sahadevan said. “Even now, I see kids doing much better than me.” Yes, her Priya Arts students tend to...
Fundraiser in Peters Township benefits efforts to provide service dogs for veterans
The goal was to raise enough money to save two lives. According to Bri Hall, mission accomplished. For a second year, the North Strabane resident organized a fundraiser to benefit nonprofits that help provide service dogs for veterans, with the 2021 event taking place at 31 Sports Bar & Grille...
Bridgeville-originating chamber rebrands as South West Regional
An old friend, so to speak, has a new name. With its centennial just six years away, the organization that started as the Bridgeville Chamber of Commerce, later the South West Communities, now is called South West Regional. “Since I’ve been with the chamber, our footprint has grown,” Mandi Pryor,...
Family preserves history of Bethel Park’s Coverdale neighborhood
You’ve heard about all the owners of old homes and hostelries making the claim: George Washington slept here. Bethel Park resident Collin McCormick has a similar story, and a far more confirmable one, involving 13-year National Basketball Association player Armen Gilliam (1964-2011). “He lived in the same house I grew...
Career fair provides enlightenment for Bethel Park elementary students
The conventional wisdom has been to wait until youngsters are into their teens or so to start providing them with serious information about what they may want to pursue to earn their livings. From Marianne Schafer’s perspective, that isn’t necessarily the best idea. “I was going out to career fairs...
Monroeville Rotary presents scholarships: Five recent Gateway grads selected
Because of last-minute circumstances, Karis Barrett had to cancel. She had been invited to join fellow members of the Gateway High School Class of 2022 in attending the Rotary Club of Monroeville’s June 16 meeting, at which the club presented scholarships to five graduates. Barrett, though, was present in spirit,...
Rust Project carries on tradition of Neil Young, other hall of famers
Sometimes brother knows best. While listening to the radio one day in her Indiana Township home, young Suzy Wargo heard a song she didn’t recognize. “I was sitting on the floor with my stereo on, and my mouth, you had to pick my jaw up off the floor,” she said....
Hampton resident works toward protecting green space
A typical day on the job just doesn’t exist for Hampton resident Emilie Rzotkiewicz. “Some mornings I wear a suit, asking for significant dollars, and in the afternoon I’m out walking in the mud,” she said. “Yesterday, I was digging out a tractor from the mud, trying to figure out...
Upper St. Clair doctor develops workout bench with injury prevention in mind
While attending Upper St. Clair High School, Joel Klein was an exemplary athlete, earning a total of six varsity letters in baseball and basketball, and serving as team captain in both sports. After he graduated, Klein continued to play baseball at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, when he could. “I was injured...
Bridgeville American Legion memorial dedicated at Cemetery of Alleghenies
The dedication ceremony for Bridgeville American Legion Post 54’s memorial stone at the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies brought back memories for Bob Milliken. “Many years ago, when this first came here, I worked for an asphalt company in Bridgeville, T.A. Robinson,” the post commander said. “There were just a...
Family to host benefit in Peters Township for Always B Smiling
An offer from a Bridgeville business owner is helping the nonprofit Always B Smiling live up to its name. Founders Dean and Kristin Huibregtse’s certainly sported upside-down frowns when Tom Robinson, who owns T.A. Robinson Asphalt Paving Inc. on McLaughlin Run Road, told them he and members of his family...
