M agazine West Allegheny Edition June/July 2023 FREE Direct Mail Community Publication One of 4 editions serving 17 airport area communities www.awmagazine.com West Allegheny School District Official Newsletter Inside Page 23 Allegheny West WA students lend talents to VFW page 12 PLUS: Local unions restore old Findlay caboose Findlay to celebrate 47th Fair in the Woodlands FAA recognizes two more local aviation mechanics Local racetrack PPMS delivers another season of excitement Pittsburgh Technical College gets assist from Rep. Deluzio June/July 2023 • www.awmagazine.com • 34 • Allegheny West Magazine • June/July 2023 Dear Readers, Thank you for picking up our June West Allegheny issue. This month, we’re bringing you another rundown of positive area news, events and profiles of local businesses. This, though, is one of my favorite issues to pull together each year, as it entails gathering event information for all of the upcoming festivals and other fun summer happenings taking place around the area. Starting on page 30, you’ll find this year’s rundown of car cruises, live music, fairs and more. Then, on page 36, you’ll find programs from the North Fayette and Findlay parks and recreation departments. Western Allegheny Community Library programming is listed on the page adjacent. On page 12, read our cover story about some West Allegheny art students who recently donated their time and talents to paint murals on VFW Post 7714. Then check out page 8 for a story about some local unions that, likewise, donated their time and expertise to rehabilitate a local landmark in downtown Imperial. If you read our last edition that came out in April, you may recall a story about a local airline mechanic who received a prestigious award from the FAA. Recently, two more local mechanics received the same award. Read more on page 10. Look for our next edition in August, when we’ll be bringing you our back-to-school calendars. Until then, I hope you have a great start to summer. Doug Hughey, Publisher/Editor From the Publisher West Allegheny Edition ~ June/July 2023 { } Contents - - - - - - - - - - - 8 9 10 12 13 19 23 30 36 37 38 Allegheny West Magazine-West Allegheny Edition is published in February, April, June, August, October, and December, six issues a year, Hughey Publications, LLC, P. O. Box 220, McDonald, PA 15057. Mailed and distributed free to residents and businesses in Findlay, North Fayette, Oakdale, Sturgeon, a portion of McDonald, and adjacent areas. Extra copies available at municipal offices, schools, libraries, stores, advertisers, hotels, and businesses. Available by mail subscription for $15 annually. Story ideas welcomed. Community events and announcements from non-profit groups must be received by the 15th of the month prior to publishing date. Announcements are limited to 30 words and must include a contact phone number. Reproduction of any artwork, photographs, or copy prepared by Allegheny West Magazine is strictly prohibited without written consent of Hughey Publications, LLC. Copyright 1999- 2021 Allegheny West Magazine. All rights reserved. Views and opinions expressed by contributors and/or advertisers are the responsibility of the contributors and not those of the publisher of Allegheny West Magazine. P. O. Box 220, McDonald, PA 15057 Phone: 724.673.3161 E-Mail: info@awmagazine.com www.awmagazine.com WE PROUDLY SPONSOR AND SUPPORT: A variety of community, school, and nonprofit organizations in our coverage areas of Cornell, Moon, Montour, and West Allegheny. We are committed to recycling our used and left- over products. We encourage our readers to be responsible and dispose of this magazine when finished enjoying it. Consider passing it along to someone else, or placing it in your neighborhood recycling bins. Thank you in advance for doing your part for our earth. Hughey Publications, LLC also publishes the Moon edition of Allegheny West Magazine, the Cornell edition of Allegheny West Magazine and the Montour edition of Allegheny West Magazine. MEMBER Allegheny West Magazine - West Allegheny, is an all positive, good news publication mailed free into the homes and businesses of the West Allegheny School District communities of Findlay, North Fayette, Oakdale, Sturgeon and McDonald to connect communities, promote people, heighten awareness about the richness of the airport region, and build pride in the western suburbs of Allegheny County. Allegheny West Magazine Doug Hughey Jill Bordo Pat Jennette Garret Roberts Sarah Kizina www.ddswebdesign.com Erma Dodd Pat Jennette Unions restore old Findlay caboose Findlay to celebrate 47th Fair in the Woodlands FAA recognizes two more local aviation mechanics WA students lend talents to VFW Local racetrack PPMS delivers another season of excitement Pittsburgh Technical College gets assist from Rep. Deluzio WA Today - June/July Summer Fun Guide Parks and Recreation Library Programs Penned by Erma West Allegheny AP art students Madison Montello and Victoria Mock paint a mural next to the rear entrance of the VFW Post 7714 building in Imperial. Students in the course painted several murals on the building in May. Read more on page 12. PHOTO BY DOUG HUGHEYJune/July 2023 • www.awmagazine.com • 56 • Allegheny West Magazine • June/July 2023 Heritage Valley Health SystemJune/July 2023 • www.awmagazine.com • 7 Heritage Valley Health SystemCAround Your Town Around Your Town Anyone who has ever ridden their bike past the Findlay Township Activity Center on the Montour Trail or made their way to the center for one of township’s many recreation events has no doubt seen the old red caboose sitting outside. Situated on part of an old railroad spur between the center and the Montour Trail, the old caboose is both a landmark and a reminder of the days when the Montour Railroad still ran through town. In recent years, though, the old train car hasn’t been looking too good. Its wooden siding has been rotting away, particularly on the side facing the activity center that’s shaded from the sun. As the township was putting together plans to install a rain garden around the caboose, assistant Findlay Township Parks Director Sue Peindl thought it would be a good time to address the caboose’s deteriorating condition. So, she called on the Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters and the Painters and Allied Trades District Council 57 for assistance. On May 6, a half dozen carpenters from the council, which is headquartered about 10 miles away in Robinson Township, got the work underway. The carpenters removed the old siding from the car’s shaded side, replaced its corner posts and fixed some of the other woodwork. They then installed new siding along the length of the car. Peindl says they did the work for free. “They donated all the work,” says Peindl. “We just supplied them with the materials.” Among those working that day was Tim Chesleigh, a council representative of 17 years. Chesleigh says union carpenters are always looking for opportunities to help, but that the ones there that day were also earning points under the council’s UCAN program. The program allows council carpenters to supplement their training card through volunteer projects and, in the process, earn reward points. Carpenters can even rack up points by participating in political events that help the union. At the end of the year, the council holds a drawing and one lucky carpenter gets a new pick-up truck. The more points a carpenter earns, the better chance they have of winning. “It’s just to help our guys get engaged, and incentivize them to get engaged, not that we really have to because everybody wants to help out,” says Chesleigh. Ron Buchel says that the Painters and Allied Trades District Council 57 is planning to paint the entire car later in the summer. Priming of the new siding will take place sooner. Buchel says the painters, just like the carpenters, are donating their time to the project. He says they regularly do outreach work of this nature, though usually for youth projects such as gyms and playgrounds. Peindl says she isn’t exactly sure how old the wooden caboose is, but she says it made its way to the area from Station Square, where it was one of the last of its kind. Wooden cabooses like that one were later replaced by ones made out of steel. This restoration project will thus help sustain the old train car for many more years to come. Union workers donate time to restore old Findlay caboose STORY AND PHOTOS BY DOUG HUGHEY Carpenters from the Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters work on replacing siding on the old caboose sitting outside the Findlay Township Activity Center. The carpenters donated their time to the project. Read and share stories at awmagazine.com. 8 • Allegheny West Magazine • June/July 2023CAround Your Town Around Your Town Follow Allegheny West Magazine: Facebook: @awestmag Twitter: @alleghenywest Girl Scouts Western Pennsylvania has awarded Sarah Rankin of North Fayette Township with the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest award a Girl Scout can earn. Sarah earned the award after hosting a series of in-person educational workshops for children and teens about hygiene. Her workshops focused on the importance of personal hygiene and the effects that poor hygiene can have on self- esteem. For her project, Sarah involved many of her peers in her cosmetology program at Parkway West Career and Technology Center. Sarah attended the trade school before graduating from West Allegheny in early June. “Sarah created a project that can continue on to build self confidence and esteem in students not only through their everyday life, but also as some prepare for their careers,” says Christina Weber, Sarah’s cosmetology instructor at PWCTC. Weber also assisted Sarah with her Gold Award effort, along with West Montour Service Unit Leaders Megan Myers, Christine Jordan and Sarah Shaffer. Sarah started her project in December with a series of workshops at Valley Presbyterian Church in Imperial. The workshops were recorded so they could be shared with students in the district. Before graduating, Sarah participated in All Star Competitive Cheer at Rain Athletics in McKeesport and was a junior coach for Girls on the Run. A state-licensed cosmetologist, Sarah was also a student teacher at PWCTC and president of the PWCTC NTHS. North Fayette resident earns Girl Scout Gold Award STORY AND PHOTO SUBMITTED Sarah Rankin Findlay Township is gearing up to host its 47th Community Fair on Aug. 18 and 19. It’s a historic occasion for the event, which began in 1976 when a Findlay Township supervisor came up with an idea to have the township’s parks and recreation department organize several days of community events to celebrate the county’s bicentennial. The event was held in the parking lot of the Municipal Center, with one of the highlights being a free picnic for those attending on the last day of the event. As the fair continued to grow, the first five-member fair board was appointed in 1985 to officially organize and run the three-day event. The fair eventually outgrew the parking lot and, in 1994, was moved to a 64- acre park owned by the township to allow for expansion. The name officially became the Findlay Township Community Fair in the Woodlands. Pavilions in the park were utilized as exhibit areas and the public works department constructed a stage for use by entertainers. In 2001, the first agricultural building was constructed and, in 2003, a permanent amphitheater/stage was built. There have been some changes to the fair’s format over the years. The fair’s board was expanded to include 12 members and the event shortened to two days, but the goal of the fair remains the same: to bring the community together. Local businesses and organizations support the fair by sponsoring games and events as well as selling food. Community members can enter a wide variety of crafts, photography, flower arrangements and vegetables for judging. The 2023 fair kicks off Aug. 18 with the Findlay 5K and Fun Walk, followed by live music along with inflatables and a petting zoo. The fair’s annual parade takes place the next morning on Aug. 19 along Route 30. Festivities continue with stage performances by local dance, karate and cheer groups. The fair has a lineup of live music and family entertainment planned, including a pedal pull, pie-eating contest and balloon twisting. Throughout its history, the fair has remained free to the public. For many families it has become a tradition to end the summer with a trip to the “Fair in the Woodlands.” Visit www.findlaytownshipfair.org for more and to see a full schedule of events. Findlay to celebrate 47th Fair in the Woodlands in August SUBMITTED BY CHERYL RINEHART AND SARAH WEESE Scenes from past Findlay fairs include (from top) a fireman’s battle of the barrel (1979), corn roasting (1977) and a view of the fair outside the municipal building (1986). June/July 2023 • www.awmagazine.com • 9Next >