Split invention, festival garner Latrobe inaugural spot in Dole Banana Hall of Fame

The City of Latrobe is no second banana — particularly when it comes to the yellow fruit that is the main ingredient in the town’s original frozen treat.

The city on Monday was named one of three inaugural inductees in the Dole Banana Hall of Fame.

Dole officials said they are creating the hall to help mark the company’s 125th anniversary, a milestone that coincides with the 120th anniversary of the creation of the banana split by David Strickler, a staffer at Latrobe’s Tassell Pharmacy.

Latrobe gained the Hall of Fame recognition by virtue of Strickler’s landmark dessert and also as a result of the city’s annual hosting of a related late-summer festival, the Great American Banana Split Celebration. This year’s festivities are slated for Aug. 24-25.

“All of us at Dole are well aware that we could never have made it to our banana quasquicentennial — our 125th year of growing and marketing bananas — without the help of other banana ambassadors with a similar passion for the fruit,” said William Goldfield, Dole’s communications director. “This Hall of Fame is for them.”

The other hall inductees are Bobby Banana, Dole’s 7-foot-tall banana mascot, and Brennan’s New Orleans, creator of another fruitful dessert — Bananas Foster.

Bobby Banana was among the attractions at last summer’s Latrobe festival. Dole will be partnering with local organizers again for this year’s banana split event, according to Briana Tomack, president and CEO of the Greater Latrobe-Laurel Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce.

“I’m glad to have them doing it,” Tomack said of Dole’s recognition of and participation in the festival. “It’s going to bring a lot of attention to the event and, hopefully, increase attendance and spread awareness about Latrobe. We have so many things to offer.”

That includes the Latrobe Art Center, located close by the chamber headquarters on Ligonier Street. As in past years, the center on Aug. 23 will hold its signature Yellow Tie Gala, as a lead-in to the banana festivities. During the following celebration, the center will offer activities for kids.

“The community has really come to embrace the celebration and claim it as their own,” said Michael Tusay, executive director of the art center. “It’s a fantastic annual tradition and I hope it continues for years and years to come.”

Latrobe Mayor Eric Bartels said the Hall of Fame nod reinforces awareness of the city’s claim to fame as the split’s birthplace

He said, “It allows the city to stay in the news and allows attention to remain on our (birthplace) designation” — previously memorialized with a state historical marker and a giant banana split sculpture on Ligonier Street, near where the original first delighted pharmacy customers.

“It’s a nice honor to keep that momentum going,” Bartels said.

The late Thomas Lazarchik operated Latrobe’s Strickler’s pharmacy for 35 years, until his retirement in 2000. Though he didn’t live to see the success of the banana split festival, he celebrated the desert’s local origin in his own way, by selling related memorabilia.

“He would be very proud that his city is getting this Hall of Fame honor,” said his son, Andrew, who serves on the festival committee.

Dole will accept nominations through its social media pages for additional Hall of Fame honorees throughout the year. Visit dole.com/125 for Dole anniversary updates and banana tips and recipes.

For more about Latrobe’s banana split celebration, contact Tomack at briana@gllv.org or visit bananasplitfest.com.