Tube City Online

Filed Under: Mon Valley Miscellany || By

August 30, 2013 | Link to this story

Upriver, It's the End of an Era

Category: Mon Valley Miscellany || By

"McKees' Port" is named for the ferry boat operation that the McKee Family ran from 1769 until the late 1800s.

Until modern construction materials such as iron, steel and concrete made long highway bridges safe and feasible, ferries were often the only way to reliably cross western Pennsylvania's many rivers.

One of the last remaining ferry boats in the eastern United States stopped running this week. The Fredericktown Ferry, which connected Luzerne Twp., Fayette County, with East Bethlehem Twp., Washington County, was scheduled to make its last trip today (Aug. 30). But high water forced the closure of operations two days early.

A ferry boat first began serving the villages of Labelle and Fredericktown in 1790. The current boat, which was pulled across the river by an underwater cable, dates from 1948, according to reports by Scott Beveridge in the Observer-Reporter.

The 400-foot ferry ride across the Monongahela River saved local residents about an eight-mile round trip to the nearest highway bridge.

(more)

Search Tube City Online

Custom Search
XML: RSS FeedXML: Atom Feed
Posted at 4:35 pm by | Click here and put your ad on Tube City Almanac!
Filed Under: Mon Valley Miscellany | | Link To This Entry | Add to Technorati Favorites

August 29, 2013 | Link to this story

SA Hosts 44th Annual Band Festival

Category: Announcements || By Submitted Report



The 44th annual South Allegheny band festival will be held at 7 p.m. Sept. 7th at Glassport Memorial Stadium, a spokesperson announced.

Cost of admission is $6 for adults, $4 for senior citizens and $3 for students. This year's lineup of bands includes Frazier High School, Riverview High School, Penn Hills High School, Hempfield High School, South Park High School, Duquesne University and South Allegheny High School.

(Photo: South Allegheny School District via Facebook)



Search Tube City Online

Custom Search
XML: RSS FeedXML: Atom Feed
Posted at 12:07 pm by Submitted Report | Click here and put your ad on Tube City Almanac!
Filed Under: Announcements | | Link To This Entry | Add to Technorati Favorites

August 28, 2013 | Link to this story

City Slates Weekend Car Cruise, Rib Fest

Category: Announcements || By Submitted Reports

A ribfest, fireworks, live music and a car cruise are part of a full weekend of events marking the Labor Day holiday.

The city recreation board and the McKeesport Lions Club will host the McKeesport Area Ribfest on Saturday, Sunday and Monday at the Lions Club Bandshell in Renziehausen Park, a spokesman said.

Local blues legend Billy Price performs Saturday, The Four Townsmen appear Sunday and Pure Gold takes the stage Monday. All concerts start at 7 p.m.

Fireworks will follow Monday's concert.

The Lions Club's third-annual car cruise and parade begins at 4 p.m. Sunday along Eden Park Boulevard near McKeesport Area High School.

The cruise will start at the Jakomas Blue Top Pavilion in Renzie. The car show begins at 5 p.m. The parade will include fire trucks and rescue vehicles, as well as the Shriners' clowns, and there is no entry fee.

For other information, check out McKeesportBands.com.



Search Tube City Online

Custom Search
XML: RSS FeedXML: Atom Feed
Posted at 1:03 pm by Submitted Reports | Click here and put your ad on Tube City Almanac!
Filed Under: Announcements | | Link To This Entry | Add to Technorati Favorites

August 27, 2013 | Link to this story

Homestead-Area Residents Eligible for Free Portrait

Category: News || By Submitted Report

All those who live or work in Homestead, West Homestead or Munhall, and all current and retired members of the United Steelworkers union are invited to have a free portrait made by photographer Zoe Strauss during the month of September, until 500 portraits are made and distributed.

The Homestead Portrait Studio will open on at noon on Labor Day at 215 E. 8th Ave, Homestead. The Homestead Portrait Studio is one part of a larger project called "Homesteading" by Strauss, an award-winning photographer and Philadelphia native whose work is part of the permanent collection of that city's museum of art.

"Homesteading" was commissioned for the 2013 Carnegie International at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Museum of Art.

The first two hundred portraits will be also be printed for exhibition at the Carnegie Museum of Art from October 2013 to March 2014 as a part of the Carnegie International.

(more)

Search Tube City Online

Custom Search
XML: RSS FeedXML: Atom Feed
Posted at 5:32 pm by Submitted Report | Click here and put your ad on Tube City Almanac!
Filed Under: News | | Link To This Entry | Add to Technorati Favorites

August 22, 2013 | Link to this story

Chamber Slates Oct. 5 Bike Ride

Category: Announcements || By Submitted Report

The third-annual "Tour de Mon" bike ride is scheduled for Oct. 5 on the Steel Valley Trail, the Mon-Yough Area Chamber of Commerce has announced.

The event begins at 8 a.m. at the historic Pump House at The Waterfront in Munhall, and is sponsored by the chamber of commerce.

Executive Director Maury Burgwin said there will be food, music and crafts available. Participants can make a round-trip of 30 miles (Munhall to Elizabeth Twp. and return), 20 miles (Munhall to McKeesport and return), or 10 miles (either to Duquesne and return or to Pittsburgh's Hot Metal Bridge and return).

The Community Heritage Market will be open at the Pump House both before and after the bike ride, Burgwin said.

Sponsors include UPMC, Huntington National Bank, KU Resources, Anthony Crane, The Daily News, John the Greek Food Concessions, Dorothy's Candies and Guardian Storage.

Registration is $20 for adults, $10 under 18, and $50 for families before Sept. 16, and all participants who register before Sept. 16 are guaranteed a T-shirt. After Sept. 16, registration increases to $25 for adults, $15 for kids, and $60 for families, and T-shirt availability is not guaranteed.

For more information, contact Burgwin at (412) 678-2450 or email director@monyoughchamber.com.



Search Tube City Online

Custom Search
XML: RSS FeedXML: Atom Feed
Posted at 3:48 pm by Submitted Report | Click here and put your ad on Tube City Almanac!
Filed Under: Announcements | | Link To This Entry | Add to Technorati Favorites

August 21, 2013 | Link to this story

Children's Library Schedules Story Hours

Category: Announcements || By Submitted Report

Carnegie Library of McKeesport has scheduled a number of upcoming events for children at its city location and White Oak branch.

An infant and toddler story hour will be held at the main location at 10:30 a.m. Sept. 12 for youngsters (under age 3) and their parents or guardians. Preschool-age children may attend but the stories and songs will be geared for our youngest participants.

A preschool story hour will be held later that same day, at 12 noon, for children who are 3-6 years old. Younger siblings are welcome if they are supervised by a parent or guardian. There will be songs, stories and crafts, a spokesperson said.

A story hour for preschool-age children will be held at the White Oak Branch at 12:30 p.m. Sept. 10. There will be songs, poems, stories and crafts, and younger siblings are welcome with direct supervision of a parent or guardian.

For more information on any event, call (412) 672-0625 or email mckeesport@einetwork.net.



Search Tube City Online

Custom Search
XML: RSS FeedXML: Atom Feed
Posted at 11:34 am by Submitted Report | Click here and put your ad on Tube City Almanac!
Filed Under: Announcements | | Link To This Entry | Add to Technorati Favorites

August 20, 2013 | Link to this story

County Slates Sept. 1 Music Festival

Category: Announcements || By Submitted Report

The 14th annual Allegheny County Music Festival, featuring Rusted Root and several local bands, will be held Sept. 1 at the amphitheater in Hartwood Acres Park, a spokesman said.

Opening acts begin at 5 p.m. and Rusted Root will take the stage at 7:30 p.m. The suggested donation is $20 per car to benefit the Allegheny County Music Festival Fund. The fund finances requests from children and youth receiving services through DHS or Allegheny County Juvenile Probation for life-enriching items and opportunities not otherwise available through traditional government funding.

Other acts include Corned Beef and Curry, Royal Teeth, Carla Bianco and Liz Berlin's "We Rock Workshop."



Search Tube City Online

Custom Search
XML: RSS FeedXML: Atom Feed
Posted at 6:10 pm by Submitted Report | Click here and put your ad on Tube City Almanac!
Filed Under: Announcements | | Link To This Entry | Add to Technorati Favorites

August 19, 2013 | Link to this story

McKeesport from the Air, 1949

Category: History || By


Apropos of nothing, I had occasion recently to examine some U.S. Army Air Service aerial photos of the McKeesport area, circa April 1949. You know, like you do. (Click any photo to make it larger.)

First, it's the "old" Dravosburg Bridge, which connected lower 10th Ward with Dravosburg's Ravine Street, along with the "new" Dravosburg "high-level" bridge, which is under construction. The "new" bridge wasn't yet named for state Senator William D. Mansfield, who died in 1952.


Next, we have Bettis Field, the airport at the top of Dravosburg Hill that opened in 1924. Note that the two runways are marked with "X's," signifying to pilots that they're out of service. Just a few months before this photo was taken, the airport had been sold to Westinghouse Electric Corp., which was about to turn the land into Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory.

(more)

Search Tube City Online

Custom Search
XML: RSS FeedXML: Atom Feed
Posted at 6:09 pm by | Click here and put your ad on Tube City Almanac!
Filed Under: History | | Link To This Entry | Add to Technorati Favorites

August 14, 2013 | Link to this story

Live, from Renzie Park, it's Wednesday Night

Category: Announcements || By



Video streaming by Ustream

We'll win no awards for our videography, but here's Wednesday night's events at International Village, sponsored by Penn State Greater Allegheny, Westmoreland Pools & Spas, McKeesport Fire Fighters Union IAFF Local 10, and Dead-Mans-Hollow.com, with additional support from you, the readers of Tube City Almanac!

And a reminder ... we have four $50 gift cards from Westmoreland Pools to give away, plus a prize pack from the Dead Man's Hollow website. All you have to is tweet "westmorelandpoolandspa.com" at @tubecityonline or share Tube City Online on Facebook, and we'll enter you in the drawing. No purchase necessary ... drawing Thursday night at International Village.



Search Tube City Online

Custom Search
XML: RSS FeedXML: Atom Feed
Posted at 11:10 pm by | Click here and put your ad on Tube City Almanac!
Filed Under: Announcements | | Link To This Entry | Add to Technorati Favorites

August 09, 2013 | Link to this story

Recycling Program Offers Cash for Old Woodstoves

Category: Announcements || By Submitted Report

The Allegheny County Health Department is offering a "bounty" program for residents to dispose of woodstoves and outdoor wood-fired boilers manufactured before the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency set emission standards for the equipment.

The bounty program was set up to help reduce the smoke and fine particulate pollution that come from such old equipment and in response to an increase in citizen complaints about wood-burning emissions.

The Health Department is offering a $500 cash incentive for non-Phase II outdoor wood-fired boilers and a $200 gift card for uncertified woodstoves. Bounties will be offered for up to five outdoor wood-fired boilers and 200 woodstoves.

The gift cards are for Home Depot, Lowe's, Kmart, Dick's Sporting Goods, GetGo and Giant Eagle.

(more)

Search Tube City Online

Custom Search
XML: RSS FeedXML: Atom Feed
Posted at 5:17 pm by Submitted Report | Click here and put your ad on Tube City Almanac!
Filed Under: Announcements | | Link To This Entry | Add to Technorati Favorites

August 09, 2013 | Link to this story

White Oak Park Slates Fitness Events

Category: Announcements || By Submitted Report

White Oak Park has set its schedule for next week's programs at Angora Gardens.

On Tuesday, a free "Mommy and Me" fitness class will be offered from 1 to 2 p.m. The class is geared for children ages 3 to 6.

Wednesday, a nutrition class will be held from 6 to 7 p.m.

On Thursday, a tai chi class will be offered from 5 to 6 p.m.

On Friday, yoga class will be taught from 11 a.m. to 12 noon, and a Zumba class from 12 to 1 p.m.

For more information or to register for any class, call (412) 675-8556. Angora Gardens is located at 3 Muse Lane.



Search Tube City Online

Custom Search
XML: RSS FeedXML: Atom Feed
Posted at 5:16 pm by Submitted Report | Click here and put your ad on Tube City Almanac!
Filed Under: Announcements | | Link To This Entry | Add to Technorati Favorites

August 09, 2013 | Link to this story

Please Patronize Our Advertisers

Category: Announcements || By Editor







You could win a $50 gift card from Westmoreland Pools. No obligation ... no purchase necessary! Between today and Aug. 15, 2013, just tweet "westmorelandpoolandspa.com" at @tubecityonline... complete rules here.




Our International Village webcast will be live on Aug. 13, 14 and 15 at www.tubecityonline.com/webcast ... bookmark the page now!



Search Tube City Online

Custom Search
XML: RSS FeedXML: Atom Feed
Posted at 10:34 am by Editor | Click here and put your ad on Tube City Almanac!
Filed Under: Announcements | | Link To This Entry | Add to Technorati Favorites

August 07, 2013 | Link to this story

Win a $50 Gift Card from Westmoreland Pools

Category: Shameless Horn-Tooting || By



Tube City Online is giving away four $50 gift cards to Westmoreland Pools and Spas ... plus other neat pool prizes ... during International Village!

Drawing will be held Thursday, Aug. 15, and you don't need to be present to win. Stop by our booth for an entry blank, and we'll notify winners via email or phone.

Or ... enter via social media! Here's what you have to do. On Twitter, tweet "westmorelandpoolandspa.com" @tubecityonline.

To enter on Facebook, "like" facebook.com/westmorelandpool ... and then post a message on their Facebook wall that tags @tubecityonline.

We'll select four winners at random from all of the entries.

(more)

Search Tube City Online

Custom Search
XML: RSS FeedXML: Atom Feed
Posted at 11:44 am by | Click here and put your ad on Tube City Almanac!
Filed Under: Shameless Horn-Tooting | | Link To This Entry | Add to Technorati Favorites

August 06, 2013 | Link to this story

Next Week's Broadcast

Category: Announcements || By

I'm pleased to report that WEDO (810) will be carrying portions of next week's broadcast from International Village.

General Manager Jeremy Bosse says the station is tentatively planning to carry our coverage from 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Meanwhile: We will be providing audio and video coverage of International Village at www.tubecityonline.com/webcast.html throughout the three days of the festival.

This is the first time we've done video, so it's going to be an experiment, at best. But we thought that people out of town would want to see their friends or relatives on stage, rather than just hearing them.

I am somewhat concerned that the Internet connection might be shaky; we will try to archive the coverage as best we can, so that we can upload it later if the Internet connection fails. (Right now, we've arranged for both Sprint LTE and Verizon Internet. If one goes down, I'm hoping the other one will keep working!)

Also, our 92.3 FM transmitter (which broke the first day of the festival last year) has been repaired, thanks to the efforts of board member Dan Malesky, and good Lord willing, you will be able to listen on an FM radio within the confines of Renziehausen Park.

There's lots more yet to do, so stay tuned, and don't be surprised if posting here at the Almanac is light for a few days.



Search Tube City Online

Custom Search
XML: RSS FeedXML: Atom Feed
Posted at 5:17 pm by | Click here and put your ad on Tube City Almanac!
Filed Under: Announcements | | Link To This Entry | Add to Technorati Favorites

August 06, 2013 | Link to this story

Thank You, Penn State Greater Allegheny

Category: Announcements || By



Thank you, Penn State University Greater Allegheny, for becoming the lead sponsor of next week's planned broadcast from the 54th annual International Village.

They join Westmoreland Pools & Spas, McKeesport Fire Fighters Local Union 10 and the Dead Man's Hollow website in helping us make this event possible, as well as Skymagik Internet Services and R.B. Hoffman Consulting.

Oh ... and you, of course.



Search Tube City Online

Custom Search
XML: RSS FeedXML: Atom Feed
Posted at 5:02 pm by | Click here and put your ad on Tube City Almanac!
Filed Under: Announcements | | Link To This Entry | Add to Technorati Favorites

August 03, 2013 | Link to this story

Oldies Dance Will Benefit Cancer 'Relay'

Category: Announcements || By Submitted Report

Four local teams participating in the American Cancer Society's "Relay for Life" will hold an oldies dance on Aug. 24 to raise money for the cause.

The dance at the White Oak Athletic Association, Lower Heckman Road, begins at 7 p.m. Food service begins at 6 p.m.

Tickets cost $10 and include food, soft drinks and beer. A limited number of tickets will be available at the door, so reservations are suggested, a spokeswoman said.

Proceeds benefit Arlene's Team, Fuzzy's Fighters, Pratt's Pack and Shining Stars. For reservations, call (412) 401-3934 or (412) 673-4607.

This year's McKeesport Relay for Life begins at 10 a.m. Aug. 10 at McKeesport Area High School, 1960 Eden Park Blvd.

More than two dozen teams and nearly 300 participants have raised $50,000 already, according to the American Cancer Society's website.



Search Tube City Online

Custom Search
XML: RSS FeedXML: Atom Feed
Posted at 9:29 pm by Submitted Report | Click here and put your ad on Tube City Almanac!
Filed Under: Announcements | | Link To This Entry | Add to Technorati Favorites

August 02, 2013 | Link to this story

BBQ Entrepreneur Cooks Up New Local Business

Category: News || By


Walk the aisles of the Giant Eagle in White Oak, and you'll find a savory surprise where they keep the barbecue sauce.

The award-winning "BBQ Stu's" sauces don't come from some faraway conglomerate. They originated in McKeesport, along with their creator, "BBQ Stu" Wilson.

An employee of the Port Authority of Allegheny County and longtime backyard griller, Wilson, 52, began experimenting with making his own barbecue sauce while grilling for his friends in his garage.

"I started making the sauce in 1989," Wilson said. "Then I brought the sauce to competitions in 1993."

In 2003, Wilson had a stroke, which temporarily put his sauce-making at a standstill. One night while helping a friend cook dinner for his guests, he received a prophetic message.

"I helped my friends cook and I brought the sauce out," Wilson said. "A pastor from New Jersey was a guest to dinner and after he tasted it he said I needed to do something with the barbeque sauce and to remember Psalm 34:8."

Psalm 34:8 reads, "taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him." The words "Psalm 34:8 Taste and See" are now printed on the label of every bottle of BBQ Stu's barbeque sauce.

(more)

Search Tube City Online

Custom Search
XML: RSS FeedXML: Atom Feed
Posted at 4:10 pm by | Click here and put your ad on Tube City Almanac!
Filed Under: News | | Link To This Entry | Add to Technorati Favorites

August 01, 2013 | Link to this story

Cancer Claims Life of Radio's Terry Lee

Category: News || By

Terry Lee Trunzo, legendary disc jockey on McKeesport's WMCK and WIXZ (1360) who became a well-known rock-and-roll impresario in the Pittsburgh area, died Tuesday night at his home in Bellville, Ohio. He was 70.

Trunzo's death from lung cancer comes a little more than three years after he emerged from a self-imposed exile with a triumphant return to McKeesport, hosting a standing-room-only dance at the Palisades in 2010.

Until a few months ago, Trunzo was hosting an online oldies show.

His family announced last week on his website that Trunzo was in poor health.

Trunzo was born August 27, 1942, in Monongahela, the son of the late Albert D. Trunzo, Sr. and Pauline Carlson Trunzo, and entered the radio business as a teen-ager, working at Charleroi's WESA, Carnegie's WZUM and Canonsburg's WARO.

But his rise to fame really took off at McKeesport's 1360, where Trunzo mixed the hits with comedy, live performances by local artists, and obscure garage rock, then would segue into the soulful ballads that he billed as "music for young lovers."

Many of the local acts heard on his show were also promoted in the Pittsburgh area by Trunzo, or featured at his nightclub, TL's Night Train, in Elizabeth Twp. Trunzo also hosted teen dance shows on Pittsburgh's WIIC-TV (11), WPGH-TV (53) and KDKA-TV (2).

In the late 1980s, Trunzo left Pittsburgh and moved to Arizona, where he helped launch the Kool Gold syndicated oldies format; at its height, his "Music for Young Lovers" show was heard on more than 50 radio stations across the United States.

He also owned radio stations in Florida and Ohio before leaving the entertainment business and re-locating to Bellville, about halfway between Akron and Columbus, where he ran a family farm as well as a trucking business.

(more)

Search Tube City Online

Custom Search
XML: RSS FeedXML: Atom Feed
Posted at 12:28 pm by | Click here and put your ad on Tube City Almanac!
Filed Under: News | | Link To This Entry | Add to Technorati Favorites

August 01, 2013 | Link to this story

South Allegheny Bus Stop Forms Available

Category: Announcements || By Submitted Report

South Allegheny School District announced yesterday that bus routes and rosters are being finalized for the 2013-14 school year.

Parents or guardians whose child requires an alternate morning pickup or afternoon drop-off location --- other than their residence --- within Glassport, Liberty, Lincoln or Port Vue must complete an alternate transportation form. Forms are available in the school offices or at the district's website.

Forms are due to the district no later than Aug. 5. If you have questions regarding bus stops or pickup or drop-off times, call Pennsylvania Coach Lines at (412) 872-4936.



Search Tube City Online

Custom Search
XML: RSS FeedXML: Atom Feed
Posted at 12:15 am by Submitted Report | Click here and put your ad on Tube City Almanac!
Filed Under: Announcements | | Link To This Entry | Add to Technorati Favorites

Archives

Next Archive