O'Hara sculptor immortalizes Smiley cookie in Waterfront statue

Smiley, the Eat'n Park cookie recognized throughout the Pittsburgh region, is celebrating his 25th birthday year with a statue of himself at the Waterfront.

"We wanted to do something special for Smiley ... and immortalize him," said Kevin O'Connell, senior vice president of Eat'n Park Restaurants, at a Tuesday news conference. There, an excited, costumed Smiley waved at people and pulled down the purple curtain to reveal his stationary counterpart.

"Smiley is one of the most recognized icons in Western Pennsylvania, and he's come to life as our mascot," O'Connell said.

Eat'n Park officials unveiled the new, glossy statue of Smiley, which stands about 5 feet, 4 inches tall inside the Homestead restaurant, close to the entry area.

The statue version of Smiley, a cookie created in 1986, looks exactly like the costumed mascot who appears at Pittsburgh events: a red cap, blue eyes and mouth, blue legs and red shoes. Restaurant officials say they expect thousands of kids to get their pictures taken with the giant cookie guy.

Not just a sugar cookie, Smiley participates in community causes, such as with Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, O'Connell says.

"It's hard to imagine that, in 1985 in Pittsburgh, there were no Smiley cookies," he said. "They're such a big part of our community."

O'Hara sculptor Ron Seman created the Smiley statue, which weighs about 200 pounds, out of steel and foam, and is covered with shiny epoxy material. Seman took about three months to complete the statue.

"Most of my projects are not nearly as fun as this," said Seman, president of his company, The Object Works.

Cliff Miller, vice president of creative services for Eat'n Park Restaurants, said Smiley's massive popularity comes from his universal appeal.

"It's a known fact that if someone smiles at you, you naturally smile back," Miller said. "Smiley is always smiling at you. Smiley is always happy, obviously."

And he's a yummy sugar cookie to boot, Miller said. What's not to like?

Eat'n Park might commission more Smiley statues for other locations in the future, he said.

By Kellie B. Gormly, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Read more: O'Hara sculptor immortalizes Smiley cookie in Waterfront statue - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/lifestyles/fooddrink/s_739754.html#ixzz1NzG3QJxD

Saint Maximilian Kolbe Parish First Ever Carnival

The days and times are:
Thursday & Friday – 6:00 – 10:00 p.m.,
Saturday – 5:00 – 10:00 p.m.
Sunday from 2:00 – 8:00 p.m.

This event will be a collaborated effort between the St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish and the West Homestead Fire Department.

Our Carnival includes something for people of all ages: games, rides, funnel cakes, nationality food booths, nightly entertainment, raffle tickets, a large flat screen television to be raffled & bingo.

The nationality booths include: Polish, German, Italian and American. Parish bakers will provide the Bakery.

The nightly entertainment will include:

May 26, 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. “Besame” (Columbian Band),
May 27, 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. “Cuieado” (Tango Music- dance instructors included),
May 28, 7:00 – 10:00 p.m. “Sanford Effect” (Reggae)
May 29, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. “Real Deal” (Classic Rock).

For more information and directions to the church, please call the parish office at 412.461.1054 or check us out on Face Book.

363 W. 11th Ave. Extension
Homestead, PA 15120

www.facebook.com/stmaxparish

Foursquare: https://foursquare.com/venue/2087035

Volunteers Needed for The Steel Valley Community Gardens

Steel Valley Community Gardens through the Western PA Conservancy and Young Life of the Steel Valley will plant flowers on Saturday, May 28th, beginning at 9am at the garden at the foot of the Homestead Grays Bridge, the garden at 7th and Amity Streets, and 15th and West Street.

Volunteer help from the community would be greatly appreciated.

For more information contact Jesse Saunders at 412-874-6584.

The Carnegie Library of Homestead

510 E 10th Avenue
Munhall, PA 15120
412-462-3444

Many in our community have inquired of me as to just how our library operates. As President of the Board of Directors, I thought it might be a good time to discuss just what we do and how we do it so that everyone in the community would have the same first hand information. While our library is “free to the public” as Andrew Carnegie prescribed when he left us this wonderful facility, we are not government owned or operated. We are a 501 C3 non profit corporation that is managed by a board of directors made up of regular citizens that are appointed and volunteer to serve. Presently we have eleven board members made up mostly by members of the community.

We are NOT part of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh but rather an independent library that is part of the 44 member Allegheny County Library System (ACLA). While most of the many library services that we offer are totally free, other activities and use of our facilities come at a cost such as our fitness club memberships or a ticket to a concert. Indeed the fees derived from our fitness club and our music hall operations are what keep the library doors open six days a week. Excellent management by our board and staff over the last few years resulted in ZERO cutbacks to hours and services and in fact saw expanded service offerings, while many other libraries faced severe cutbacks and potential closure with an uncertain outlook for the future. While we aren’t yet assured of another 113 years, our short term future is bright!

Our library operating budget is a little over $850,000 not including capital expenditures. That said, we probably receive about $500,000 form state and local governments to pay our employees and our expenses right? WRONG with a capital W! Even before the Rendell administration cut library budgets 20% in 2009, State library funding had been less than adequate and most libraries were dependent on local government donations. Our cut was about $18,000 and Governor Corbett’s budget hasn’t cut anymore and has in fact added a few programs back that were cut in 2009. Of our $850,000+ budget in 2010, we received $161,000 or 19% from state, regional and local governments broken down as follows: State basic aid $61,306 (based on populations served), RAD $82,903 (based on a very controversial and formula which we fought hard for), and $15,000 from the four municipalities that designate us as their library. For 2011 Munhall has stepped up to $20,000, Homestead $1,500, West Homestead $2,000, Whitaker zero, and a $2,000 gift from West Mifflin, even though they have not designated Carnegie of Homestead as their library.

If you did the math ($850,000 -$161,000) you would have realized that we have $689,000 to make up in our operating budget. In order to produce the revenue necessary to pay our 25 or so employees ($321,000), the utilities ($96,000), payroll taxes and insurance ($64,136), new books and materials ($36,000), and all of the other expenses, we rely on our so called “social enterprise ventures”. It is our fitness club memberships, our room rentals, pool party rentals, gym floor rentals and exercise classes that contribute from our fitness club side. From the music hall operations, our national concert series provides another stream of incomes like hall rental, beer and snack concessions, web site advertising and ticket fees that have made a major contribution since the fall of 2008 when we started doing concerts. Additionally, we apply and receive operating grants that help defray some costs as well. The balance of our operating budget comes from our endowment, about $132,000 per year the past three years, down from an excess of $200,000 in 2007. It is this kind of prudent fiscal belt tightening that will lead to future success for the next 100 years.

To summarize, the citizens of the community need to know that we have made great strides in cost cutting without cutting programs or services, while simultaneously increasing all of our revenue streams, renovated the adults reading room, the children’s library, the teen space, added a computer lab and coffee shop, an elevator (which had been talked about for 20 years) and just opened our new welcome center all in the last four years. We have quietly done nearly $750,000 of renovations over the last four years to improve our facilities to better serve our patrons. Why not stop in to take a look around, read a book, take out a DVD, or just to relax check out the new coffee shop!

Dan Lloyd
President of the Board
www.Homesteadlibrary.org
www.librarymusichall.com
www.flickr.com/photos/cloh/

Finally, if you would like to make a contribution or think you would like to offer more in the way of volunteering or if you may be interested in board service, please send your inquiry, questions or resume to Dan Lloyd, Carnegie Library of Homestead, 510 E Tenth Avenue, Munhall, PA 15120.

HOME COOKED BY DONNA

Dan Lloyd, owner of a large local insurance agency and a local property developer, while ordering dinner at Home Cooked by Donna in the winter of 2009, began talking business with the owner. Donna's was originally located in a small space in the 200 block of Homestead and was formerly called Worthy's Ribs. On occasion you can still get some of those great ribs when not sold out. Donna Boyer, owner operator on "Home Cooked by Donna" expressed her interest in operating a "sit down" restaurant in the area, as opposed to just a take out place. Dan, impressed with the diner type home style food and generous portions, told Donna that he hopes she finds a place and can stay in the area. Hoping to keep a business in the area that already had a following, Dan, while ordering another meal a few weeks later, tells Donna that his son owns a building at 406 East 8th Avenue in Munhall, and he could make it a restaurant. The building was formerly operated for over 30 years as the Nite Cap Lounge. In January, the two came to terms on the rent and they hope to make the transition to the new space by May 2010. Construction was begun in January 2010 by Dan and a small crew. Construction took much longer than expected but the new restaurant with seating for 40 opened without much fanfare in September 2010.

Since opening, Donna's has been cranking out some of the best home cooked food in the burg one carefully prepared plate at a time. In addition to the great food the interior is warm and friendly and is just a cozy quiet place to enjoy a meal. While the restaurant doesn't host a parking lot, there is ample on street parking, and the short walk around the block or just down the street is somewhat refreshing in contrast to the mega-lots we have gotten used to. For his efforts, Dan did manage to get one of his favorites on the menu; turkey devonshire. If you like hot roast turkey or homemade meatloaf and potatoes, you'll get none better that at Donna's, and should you manage to eat it all, have a nice nap!

Home Cooked By Donna
406 E. 8th Ave.
Munhall, PA 15120
412-464- 1450
www.facebook.com/homecookedbydonna

A small dine in or carry out food establishment family own and operated. Serving fresh, good, & healthy portions of daily "home cooked" meals. Our very diverse menu offers breakfast, lunch, & dinner six days a week.

Amity Street entrance to Waterfront to close May 9

Construction work at two railroad crossings will close the Amity Street entrance to The Waterfront shopping complex in Homestead on Monday May 9, 2011

CSX and Norfolk Southern will install new sections of rail panel and resurface the crossings with concrete and asphalt to smooth the ride for motorists, said Sean Campbell, general manager of CAMSCO Service Inc., which is managing the work zone.

The street will be closed at East Sixth Avenue starting at 9 a.m. Monday May 9. It is scheduled to reopen by 9 p.m. Friday May 13, Mr. Campbell said.

Mayor Betty Esper arranged to have the project start after Mother's Day, she said, so shoppers buying gifts or taking their moms to dinner would not be inconvenienced.

Shoppers can reach The Waterfront via its two other entrances, from the Homestead Grays Bridge and Route 837 at East Waterfront Drive.

Friday, May 06, 2011

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11126/1144460-55.stm#ixzz1LlYc27AE

Negro League signs to line bridge

Plaques will honor Grays, Crawfords

The lineups haven't been announced yet, but the Homestead Grays and Pittsburgh Crawfords, legendary baseball rivals in the Negro Leagues, will be matched up again next week.

A series of signs honoring the teams will be unveiled Thursday on the Homestead Grays Bridge at an event hosted by Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato, Homestead Mayor Betty Esper, the Pirates and the Josh Gibson Foundation.

It will be 9-on-9, as nine signs commemorating the Grays will line the side of the bridge carrying traffic toward Homestead, and nine markers depicting the Crawfords will bedeck the Pittsburgh-bound side.

"The idea was to honor both of the teams and the Negro Leagues," said Mr. Onorato's spokesman, Kevin Evanto.

The display is the culmination of a decade-long dream of Ms. Esper, who began gathering support in 2001 for renaming what was formerly the Homestead High-Level Bridge to honor the Grays, the dominant Negro National League team of the 1930s and 1940s.

At the time she mentioned a goal of draping banners of Grays players along the bridge, which was renamed in 2002.

"Mayor Esper has been a driving force behind this," said county spokeswoman Megan Dardanell.

Rather than banners, the display will be metal signs, in the shape of elongated home plates, bearing photographs of the great players and owners of the teams. The signs were designed by Pittsburgh sports artist Dino Guarino, who has painted images of many of the region's great athletes, including Bill Mazeroski, Roberto Clemente, Mario Lemieux and Arnold Palmer.

"We think this is a great part of not only baseball but Pittsburgh folklore," Mr. Guarino said. "More and more people should be aware of it."

The photographs are black-and-white but the signs are accented in Prussian blue for the Grays and cranberry red for the Crawfords, he said. Each will have the team's logo on the back.

The metal signs will hold up better against the elements than vinyl banners, Mr. Evanto said.

The Homestead Grays were established in 1912 but the team's roots went back more than a decade before that. They competed in the Negro National League from 1935 to 1948 and won nine straight pennants from 1937 to 1945.

The Crawfords played independently in 1931 and 1932 and in the Negro National League from 1933 to 1938.

Although the names of the honorees haven't been revealed, it's a sure bet that catcher Josh Gibson, who played for both teams, will be among them. Mr. Gibson hit more than 800 home runs during a 16-year career and was inducted to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., in 1972.

The Josh Gibson Foundation is celebrating the centennial of the great catcher's birth this year, and is headed by Mr. Gibson's great-grandson Sean.

"These guys have done a lot for baseball and are very seldom recognized," Mr. Gibson said. "That bridge gets a lot of traffic. People will have a chance to learn more about these two great teams."

Pittsburgh, he added, "has always been at the forefront of doing things like this."

Saturday, May 07, 2011

By Jon Schmitz, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Read more: http://www.postgazette.com/pg/11127/1144763-55.stm#ixzz1Lh1bIy8k

Kennywood's Open!

Ghost hunters back in Homestead

Stars of the Syfy original series "Ghost Hunters" are trying to find out what people in Homestead already know — that the former police station near the intersection of Ninth Avenue and Amity Street is haunted.

Film crews were recording outside the facility Friday evening. Officers were interviewed as well as police secretary Vicci Kenna. Kenna was filmed in a place she thought she would never have to return, the old station`s basement.

"It`s very exciting, but it was still creepy in the basement," Kenna said. "Very creepy. Even worse because it`s all empty and really weird, but I think this is exciting. It will prove to everybody now, hopefully, that we were not crazy. We have worked with the other world. We have worked with the other side of whatever."

Paranormal investigators Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson were not at the station Friday. The hunters conducted their investigation at the former station last Saturday.

"We`ve had a good experience here," producer Mike Peebles said.

Hunters also investigated another location about an hour away from the Steel Valley area. That area was not revealed Friday.

Police Chief Jeff DeSimone gave the hunters a tour of the facility.

"I`m tickled pink that they chose to come to Homestead, and I`m just excited that they`re here," he said. "I`m looking forward to whatever evidence they might have uncovered."

Ghost Hunters is not the first paranormal group to investigate the former police station, which originally was built as a post office. Hauntings Research revealed its findings in September 2010 of a study they conducted in May of that year.

Founder Ed Ozosky said at the time the jail cells contain a vortex for souls and spirits crossing into and out of the living world.

"I totally lost track of how many people were in there," Ozosky said of the souls inside the former station. "One of the reasons there were so many people is that it literally had an open doorway for spirits to come and go... a vortex (detection) is very rare."

The Greater Pittsburgh Paranormal Society gathered nearly 30 hours of video footage and 100 hours of audio recordings in 2008, and they reported screams in the basement as well as human figures moving about in a locked office.

DeSimone said the Syfy group may have more or different findings than the investigators.

"These guys are by all means the premier organization," the chief said. "They`re the ones on TV. They each employ different methods even though they are similar. Each has its own way of doing things."

Peebles said he could not talk about what was found, only that it will be shown in an episode within the next two to three months for the show`s seventh season.

"They really won`t tell us anything about the investigation," Kenna said. "Just that it`s over and they need to interview the people that have experienced things and worked in the building."

Hunters also burned the midnight oil at the Carnegie Library of Homestead in Munhall last Sunday.

Library president Dan Lloyd said the hunters explored the entire facility including the athletic club, the pool, the boiler room, the main hall, the adult reading room and the music hall.

"They sought us out and heard from a number of people (that the library was haunted)," Lloyd said. "They dug into the history of the area and library. (The show`s) going to have to do with the history of the Mon Valley."

Lloyd said athletic club director Edward Child reported he saw something unexplainable. He also noted someone died in the pool in November 1899.

According to a report in the former Homestead News Messenger that month, Robert E. Peebles, 25, died Nov. 28 around 10 p.m. "under mysterious circumstances" and "was found dead in eight feet of water."

"A lot of people don`t know this, but it`s something that I knew because I do a lot of reading," Lloyd said. "There are some odd circumstances surrounding this guy`s death."

Lloyd also noted people reported books falling off shelves for no apparent reason, among other unexplained phenomena.

The season premier of Ghost Hunters is scheduled for June 1, and is set in Hawaii.

Ghost Hunters airs on Syfy Wednesdays at 9 and 11 p.m. EST. Check local listings for station information.

This is the second time Ghost Hunters came to the Steel Valley area. Hunters went into a few homes for the show`s first season.

Peebles said he could not remember what was found at that time.

By Michael DiVittorio, MCKEESPORT DAILY NEWS
Saturday, May 7, 2011

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