Harry Funk stories, Page 24
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...
South Hills Stars ready to shine at Bethel Park parade
The Stars will be on parade. During Bethel Park’s annual Memorial Day extravaganza, keep an eye out for a group of folks who are making their large-scale public debut after a couple of months of practice. Emily Columbus serves as instructor for the South Hills Stars Color Guard, a special-needs...
South Hills area robotics team offers varied learning experiences
Picture a 125-pound, nearly three-foot-tall mechanical creation climb unassisted onto a set of monkey bars, amid a throng of folks who are rooting for it to succeed. “It’s as exciting as a hockey game or a football game,” Upper St. Clair resident and Scott Township native Ellen Simon said. “When...
Carnegie Carnegie celebrates grand opening of Library Park
On an almost daily basis in the 1980s, Karen Watkins and her children would walk up the hill leading to the Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall. “Now, my daughter brings her children here, and they enjoy the library,” she said. “It’s great to know that our library is...
Alternative to Florida works well for Gateway High School band trip
The schedule for the Gateway High School marching band usually calls for a trip to central Florida every other year. While 2022 was supposed to be one of them, the lingering effects of the covid-19 pandemic prompted some caution among the powers that be for one of Orlando’s premier destinations....
Walk to Cure Arthritis May 22 at Boyce Park in Plum
While the debilitating effects of arthritis most commonly are associated with aging, consider what happened to Allie McGinnis when she was just 5. “I fell at a bowling alley, and my arm, it was stuck at a 90-degree angle. It wouldn’t move. My joints were so stiff that my arm...
Bethel Park celebrates Arbor Day with help from young friends
Today’s kindergartners represent tomorrow’s Class of 2035. On Arbor Day that year, plans call for certain Bethel Park students who by then will be high school seniors to have their photograph taken with a particular tree. For Arbor Day 2022, Abraham Lincoln Elementary School kindergartners participated in a planting and...
Spanning the centuries: Tour season approaches at Old St. Luke’s in Scott
Old St. Luke’s Church already had passed its bicentennial when Scott Quinn began driving by it circa 1976. At first, he didn’t even notice the venerable Scott structure, it being located amid dense overgrowth off Old Washington Pike, near the long-since-replaced engineering anomaly known as the Crooked Bridge. “It goes...
Give it a try: Monroeville Public Library’s maker lab offers high-tech resources
Make before you buy. That’s a major consideration with regard to the maker lab at Monroeville Public Library, where a variety of state-of-the-art software and equipment is available for use. “What we’re focusing on is providing resources that people don’t necessarily have on their own but want to try out,”...
By Acclamation: Verona brewery provides plenty of variety
What eventually became Acclamation Brewing in Verona traces its origins to an appropriate place. “The story I always tell is that we were at a brewery, and it was packed,” Jason Yahnke said. “And the beer was very average.” His wife, Danni Piccolo, asked his thoughts. Drawing from his background...
‘Like a complete makeover’: New playground opens at Monroeville school
Not so long ago, the area behind Dr. Cleveland Steward Jr. Elementary School looked nothing like it does today. “We had blacktop and we had grass,” third-grade teacher Emily Levine said. “So that’s why we wanted this playground so badly. It’s like a complete makeover, and we couldn’t feel more...
