Bethel Park Journal category, Page 9

George Washington Elementary School student Nora Buchanan won first place among third graders in the statewide Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful’s Litter Hawk Youth Award Program. The poster she made for the contest features people picking up trash, with the declaration: “We must all pitch in … open your eyes to litter.”...

Getting off the couch — or out of the car, or up and down the stairs — used to be a cinch. Once you pass the half-century mark, probably not so much. Although they have a while to go in that regard, Bethel Park residents Jason and Rachel Zawodniak understand....

Since Denny Little took over as coach of the Penn-Trafford softball team in 2017, his teams had made it a habit of playing in the Class 5A quarterfinals. That tradition ended last season, when the rebuilding Warriors qualified for the playoffs but were bounced in the first round by eventual...

In 2009, the nonprofit assistance organization then known as South Hills Interfaith Ministries moved into its Bethel Park center on South Park Road. “We knew then there were issues with the building that we wanted to address at some point going forward,” executive director Jim Guffey recalled. Improvements such as...

Complete with frosty hair, even whiter teeth and ever-present sunglasses, meet Joe Bidentime. “He came into my life at the end of 2020. And the reason he came into my life was he was president, and I’m an equal-opportunity offender,” Bethel Park native April Brucker said. Four years earlier, she’d...

For going on eight years, members of the Bethel Park Historical Society have worked diligently on renovations to the former Bethel High School building, with origins dating back to 1905. As the Schoolhouse Arts and History Center on South Park Road, the building serves as an applicable gathering place for...

An Oakmont native is facing a potential sentence of life in prison after a federal jury Wednesday convicted him of kidnapping a Bethel Park woman, driving her to Nevada and killing her in the desert. John Matthew Chapman, 44, of Oakland, Md., who previously lived in Allegheny County, was found...

Farmers’ market opens May 7 The Bethel Park Farmers’ Market opens for the season on May 7. The market is scheduled from 3 to 7 p.m. Tuesdays through Sept. 25 in the parking lot in South Park along Corrigan Drive. Enjoy musical guests, special educational speakers, story time with friends...

Bethel Park Samantha DeMicheli sold property at 2642 Bethel Crest Drive to Christopher and Ashley Hall for $400,000. Martha Hankowitz sold property at 262 Horning Road to Sandra Wesson and Cindy Diaz for $190,000. Barbara Jo Vogel sold property at 1002 Lenox Drive to Timothy and Sandra Kelly for $195,000....

Artemis Conaboy’s favorite track and field event is the 400-meter dash. “I love the length of the race and the how anyone can win and catch up at different points of the race,” said the athletic Bethel Park senior. Well, Conaboy picked up where she left off last season at...

Bethel Park athletes Ryan Petras and Eddie Cebula recently were cited as players of the week on back-to-back days in their respective sports. Petras, on April 7, was named Trib HSSN baseball player of the week. A day later, Cebula was lauded as a Western Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association player...

It’s been nearly three years since the Pittsburgh Pirates drafted pitcher Justin Meis in the 10th round (No. 283 overall) of the 2021 MLB Draft, but the euphoria has yet to wear off for the Bethel Park native, who played collegiately at Eastern Michigan. Adding to the still-surreal feeling of...

The last creature on Earth travels through time in order to try and change history in “Apis,” the final production in the New Hazlett Theater’s 11th season of Community Supported Art productions. And who is that last creature? He’s a little blue bee named Bob. And he’s one of several...

Six Bethel Park High School students earned seats through multiple competitive auditions to participate in the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association’s 2024 All-State Festival and Annual In-Service Conference, scheduled for April 17-20 in Erie. The students are Ethan Alberter, junior, All-State Concert Band, trombone; Maria Catana, junior, All-State Chorus, Soprano 1;...

You could build, say, a pickup truck with the amount of scrap brought in during a metal-collection event in March at Bethel Park’s George Washington Elementary School. Michael Brothers Hauling and Recycling reported a total of 2.34 tons, or 4,680 pounds. The Baldwin Borough company collaborated with Verichek Technical Services...

When it comes to Bethel Park against Peters Township on the baseball diamond, expect the unexpected. The one thing you can anticipate is a close game. Less than 24 hours after Peters Township came back to win in dramatic fashion, Bethel Park scored an unearned run in the sixth inning...

When she was young, Jean Reidy wrote stories and stapled the pages together to make books. She continues to do so, minus the stapler. The native of suburban Chicago recently visited two Bethel Park elementary schools to talk in part about her experience as an award-winning children’s author. Her main...

In 1981, Ann Talman placed a call from New York City to her hometown Upper St. Clair, announcing: “Dad! I got the Broadway show. And guess what? Guess who’s playing my mother? Elizabeth Taylor!” What followed was 18 months of touring with a cast that also included Maureen Stapleton and...

Bethel Park School District again received the “Best Communities for Music Education” designation by the National Association of Music Merchants Foundation. Now in its 25th year, the designation is awarded to districts that demonstrate outstanding achievement in providing music access and education to all students. To earn the recognition, Bethel...

In an effort to help its local business community obtain a robust workforce, the municipality of Bethel Park in cooperation with the Bethel Park Chamber of Commerce, will hold a free job fair. The event is scheduled from 9 a.m. to noon April 27 at the Bethel Park Community Center,...

Bethel Park High School teacher Brad Kszastowski knew that annually, someone is recognized as the regional adviser of the year at the Pennsylvania Student Council Regional Meeting. As he sat at South Fayette High School listening to the presentation announcement, he arrived at a realization. “In the first few sentences,...

One of the catchiest campaign slogans in American history is “I like Ike.” It turned out to be effective, too: Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected president twice, both times by relative landslide. And the statement apparently reflects Eisenhower’s personality to a tee. “He was a genuine, authentic person,” historian Dick...

Organizers of Leetsdale’s Easter Egg Hunt said nearly 200 families from the Quaker Valley area hopped over to Henle Park to search for 1,000 eggs as part of the annual event March 24. By the end of the search, the children’s baskets were filled with candy. The Easter Bunny also...

Ellen Yerkey doesn’t want to think about Tuesday. The day marks one full year since her son, Alex, was fatally shot while he biked to a pick-up baseball game in Pittsburgh’s Bloomfield neighborhood. The sting remains fresh. “It’s definitely not another Tuesday. It’s been a year since my son was...