Harry Funk stories, Page 24
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...
Four-legged friends help Ramsey students celebrate school year’s end in Monroeville
A visitor to Ramsey Elementary School prompted plenty of questions along the lines of: “Is that a real unicorn?” No, but the presence of Dolly, a miniature horse fitted with a conical golden headpiece, certainly helped make Ramsey’s Fun and Fitness Day, the final day of the academic year, a...
Hampton Township Farmer’s Market opens for season
You don’t really need a farm to be a farmers’ market vendor. “We decided to start our own little thing called Hugh’s Heirloom Herbs,” Stacey Gray said, with the venture being named after her son. “We got this herb catalogue and picked out some thymes and basils that we’d never...
Bethel Park resident leads Cancer Bridges through time of transition, growth
As an organization that strives to help as many people as possible, Cancer Bridges can report a strong measure of success in that regard. “This past year, the goal for new members was 180. And since July 1 of last year, we have welcomed 505 new members,” executive director Stephanie...
Blessed Trinity Academy student heads for National Marbles Tournament
Meet the Natural, and she’s quite a bit younger than Robert Redford. She’s Shaler resident Emilie Lepic, a third-grader at Blessed Trinity Academy, and she’s headed to the 100th-anniversary National Marbles Tournament in Wildwood, N.J., after qualifying through Allegheny County’s tourney. Her success comes as a surprise — shall we...
‘The Ending of Thunder’: Monroeville filmmaker gains acclaim for PTSD-focused project
An injured soldier, obviously terrified as sounds of storms and combat roar around him, serves as the focal point for the short film “The Ending of Thunder.” Director Donnie McDonnell’s long-standing intention was to call attention to the devastating effects of post-traumatic stress disorder, a condition normally associated with people...
Meaning of Memorial Day reinforced at Hampton observance
The relevance of the last Monday of each May can get lost in the late-spring shuffle. “Before I actually knew what Memorial Day was, I just thought it was a day we celebrate that has something to do with soldiers,” Hampton High School junior Gabby Imbarlina said. “Now, thinking back,...
Oakmont artist continues support of Children’s Hospital
An Oakmont resident is continuing to put her artistic talents toward benefiting UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. During the June 4 Walk for Children’s in Schenley Park, youngsters will have the opportunity to work on a special project courtesy of Sara Kirsch. “We will have a tent and three very...
Painting and Piano: Night of creativity kicks off Plum library reading program
Visitors to Plum Borough Community Library will notice new artwork on display, thanks to the talents of some patrons. To kick off the summer reading program, which has the seasonally appropriate theme Oceans of Possibilities, the library hosted Painting and Piano on the Patio, during which participants completed a variety...
Young volunteers help make for successful Monroeville Lions Farmers Market
The Monroeville Lions Club is getting a little help from some friends. Students from Gateway and Plum Senior high schools are volunteering to assist with the Saturday morning farmers’ market that the club has been running for 40 years. Plum junior Lauren Price started lending a hand last year at...
Longtime Pitcairn funeral home merges with nearby family-owned business
In Pitcairn, the funeral home founded by Thomas Pearce had been a community fixture since 1929. For the majority of that time, Chuck Bruna was a fixture at the business. “I started here when I was a senior in high school, in 1962,” he said, his voice resonating with the...
Members of Ukrainian church in Carnegie deliver supplies to beleaguered nation
As humanitarian aid continues to head for Ukraine, reports inevitably crop up about supplies not necessarily reaching their intended destinations. “That may have been undermining the effort here to get people to assist Ukraine,” Alexander Konecky said. “So I felt that when I was finally able to go there and...
‘Come and have a good time’ at free-membership Plum Community Center
With his Fender Stratocaster strapped to his shoulder and plugged into his amplifier, Dennis Cunningham is carrying on a tuneful tradition. “Plum Community Center has had volunteers playing music with guitars and singing for 20 years,” he said. “It started with older guys. They retired.” Apparently, the founders of the...
Bethel Park-based Ruthfred Aces Woman’s Club celebrates 75 years
You could say that the 75th anniversary for the Ruthfred Aces Woman’s Club came at the right time. Civic-minded Bethel Park residents founded the group in 1947, meaning this is the year to mark three-quarters of a century of helping to make for a better community. That also means the...
‘Back to normal’: Bethel Park farmers’ market returns on Tuesdays
Now, that’s more like what everyone wants to see. After a first-week mulligan of sorts thanks to Mother Nature, the Bethel Park Recreation Farmers’ Market experienced a proper opening in the sunny conditions that organizers hope to see on plenty a Tuesday afternoon this season. “We are back to normal...
‘We found a good recipe’: Bethel Park students serve hydroponically grown greens
A quick look at the luscious leafy greens sprouting from a series of pipes doesn’t quite tell the whole story. “It’s a lot of trial and error,” Bethel Park sixth-grader Sydney Kellander said. “It took us many tries before we got a batch of seedlings that was ready to grow...
