News Around the Neighborhood
Lecture: Abandoned America
The Ruins of Western Pennsylvania
Matthew Christopher
Author and Photographer
Tuesday, October 13
6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Fee: $5
This lecture will be held via ZOOM conference. Click here to get your ticket and RSVP.
Author and photographer Matthew Christopher, presents a journey through some of western Pennsylvania’s most fascinating ruins— from a haunting abandoned prison to the remains of the neighborhood of Lincoln Way and beyond. Join us as we explore the fascinating stories of how these places were left behind and separate fact from fiction when it comes to their past.
About the presenter: Matthew Christopher has had an interest in abandoned sites since he was a child, but started documenting them a decade ago while researching the decline of the state hospital system. His two books, Abandoned America: Dismantling the Dream, and Abandoned America: The Age of Consequences, and his website, also titled Abandoned America, have chronicled the stories of modern ruins across the United States and gained international attention. He has recently expanded his scope to document abandoned locations across the globe.
Calling All Explorers! Registration Now Open For our Continuing Education Course
By looking up and paying close attention to the historic built environment, we can discern the connecting threads tying the past and present together in ways that give us a sense of belonging, meaning, and significance.
We are beginning the first of two fall semester CPE courses, taught through the Allegheny Intermediate Unit (AIU) this month. “Pittsburgh Heritage I,” provides participants with the opportunity to explore Pittsburgh’s heritage through the lens of architecture. Participants are surveying local and regional history, cultural heritage, historic preservation, architecture, and more.
Our next course, “Exploring Your Neighborhood and City,” provides first-hand knowledge of the historical and architectural development of Pittsburgh, a city of 90 neighborhoods. The course uses the immediate community as a classroom for teaching social studies, art, and English, as well as other subjects––and provides teachers with the skills required to use the community as a learning resource in their own classroom.
Remote and self-guided tours, videos, articles, and discussions will provide participants with diverse experiences and increased knowledge so they can enrich student learning.
If you or someone you know is interested in joining this exciting learning opportunity, it’s not too late! Registration for our second course –– “Exploring Your Neighborhood and City” (3 CPE credits) –– is open now.
Click HERE to learn more and to register. For registration and credit questions, contact Linda Muller, CPE Program Specialist at the AIU. For course content questions, contact Sarah Greenwald, PHLF’s co-director of education.
We look forward to exploring our region with you this Fall!
Letter from the President – October 2020
Fight for the things you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.
– Ruth Bader Ginsburg
We’re within 30 days of what people are describing as the most consequential elections of a generation.
The US Presidential Election is on Tuesday, November 3rd. Because of coronavirus a lot of us are voting by means other than in-person voting. If you’re mailing or dropping your ballot in a drop box, remember to put the ballot inside the secrecy envelope and then inside the mailing envelope. A ballot not inside the secrecy envelope is considered “naked” and will not be counted. In this time of great division in our country, can we here in Allegheny West come together and agree not to let anything leave the house naked in November?
The Allegheny West Civic Council Election is on Tuesday, November 10th. After discussions within the Executive Committee and feedback from Membership, these are the 2020 voting guidelines:
- AWCC Members will vote between 6:00 PM and 8:00 PM on November 10, 2020 at the ballroom of the Parador Inn at 939 Western Avenue. There will be signs directing everyone to the voting location. Masks are required.
- The Nominating Committee Slate of Officers for 2020 is listed here in the Gazette. Any additional nominations can be made via a Google doc here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdc5xk3iWTQK8M99ylupz6NC1i6UnUdf2NwbMuAVjhzZZCsyw/viewform
This list can also be accessed from the Allegheny West website. You’ll be asked to list the name of the nominee, office nominated to as well as confirm that the person being nominated has agreed to it. Nominations will be accepted until Sunday, November 8th at 5:00 PM.
- Sergeant-at-Arms Sara Sweeney and her two Assistant Judges of Election will collect, count, recount, and certify the election. They will also be present at the polling site to confirm eligibility and enforce social distancing.
- The results will be announced at the General Membership Informational Meeting that will begin at 8PM on November 10th on Zoom.
- Note that Nominating Committee Election will be postponed until February or March of 2021.
We’ll review this again at the General Membership Informational meeting on Tuesday, October 13th. Also at the 10/13 meeting, we’ll have our regular guests, a representative from Pittsburgh Water and Sewer who will talk about the lead line replacement work occurring in Allegheny West and we’ll get a Treasurer’s Report. Finally, on the heels of the huge success of the First Ever AWCC Trivia Contest, we’ll have the Second Ever AWCC Trivia Contest. (Congrats to John DeSantis, last month’s winner.)
Hope to see you on the 13th, stay safe out there!
Ann Gilligan
President, AWCC
AWCC Informational Meeting – October 13, 2020
Via Zoom (details)
Tuesday, October 13th at 7:30 pm
- 7:30 – Gather
- 7:35 – PGH2O Lead Line Replacement in Allegheny West
- 7:50 – Update: City of Pittsburgh, Mayor’s office (Leah Friedman)
- 7:55 – Update: Councilman Wilson’s Office (Councilman Wilson)
- 8:00 – Update: Representative Wheatley’s Office (Maddie Fox)
- 8:05 – Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy (Erin Tobin)
- 8:15 – AWCC Election Update
- 8:25 – Treasurer’s Report
- 8:30 – Committee Reports (Ways & Means, Housing & Planning)
- 8:35 – Second-ever AWCC Trivia Contest
- 9:00 – Award Prizes and Conclusion
The Nominating Committee’s Slate of Officers for 2021
New Officers and Committee Chairs
President: Bob Griewahn
Vice President: Carole Gomrick
Treasurer: Aaron Bryan
Corresponding Secretary: Michael Shealey
Sergeant-at-Arms: Colleen Storm
Property Committee: Fran Barbush
Friends of Allegheny West: Trish Burton
Communications Secretary: Cathy Serventi
Officers and Committee Chairs Serving a Second Term
Membership Committee: Timothy Zinn
Ways and Means Committee: John DeSantis
Housing and Planning Committee: Robin Zoufalik
Celebrating Halloween
Pittsburgh Needs Poll Workers
Want to make $200 helping people vote?
You might have heard that in the June primary, there was a staggering decrease in poll workers, and over 80% of polling locations closed. That’s because most veteran poll workers are older folks and can’t work. Fewer polling locations hurt the ability of many residents to vote.
The County still needs to recruit thousands of poll workers for the November election, in the next week! Since many people don’t know that they can get paid $200 to be a poll worker, we’re hoping you can sign up and help spread the word.
1) If you can, please sign up to be a poll worker and encourage your friends to sign up too. The process to become a poll worker can be a bit complicated, and the County’s response may not come quickly, but don’t worry: the Power the Polls team will help you along the way. Here’s the website: https://www.powerthepolls.org/?source=CFG
By the way, we know there have been some confusing reports on whether this need has already been met. So you know – we’ve checked and applicants *are* still needed; the County doesn’t yet know which past workers are returning or how many new applications will be valid. There may also be other valuable roles that any extra applicants can fill. It may take a while to hear back, given the huge task – so don’t be concerned. But chances are they will have to finish this process in the next week, so time is short!
VOTE!
Estonian Jazz Star Jaak Sooaar Returns to Pittsburgh
The Jaak Sooäär Trio
+ Poet Kai Aareleid
Tuesday, September 15th
7:00 pm
The Jaak Sooäär Trio made their US debut in Pittsburgh during Jazz Poetry 2016, and we’re still talking about the incredible concert experience. So, when we decided to commission new work and in-language poetry collaborations with international musicians for virtual Jazz Poetry 2020, we were excited to invite Jaak back.
Their 2020 concert is filmed in an Estonian jazz club and is sweetly melodic. It includes a powerful collaboration with poet, Kai Aareleid, named the “2019 Estonian author of the year.” Tuning in on Tuesday September 15th will transport you from your couch right to Estonia—what could be a better way to spend your Tuesday?
Jaak Sooäär has been a prominent member of the Estonian music scene since 1989, ranging in styles from jazz to rock and folk to classical. In 1999, Sooäär toured with The European Jazz Youth Orchestra and, in 2003, took part in the EBU Big Band in Istanbul. In 2007 Sooäär was the first jazz musician to get Estonian Annual Jazz Prize. He has also recieved annual prize of Estonian Culture Endownment (Eesti Kultuurkapital) both in 2007 and 2018. He is one of the founders of Estonian Jazz Union which has promoted jazz very successfully in Estonia and Estonian jazz abroad.
Letter from the President – September 2020
We do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate.
– Thomas Jefferson
And now for something completely different…elections! The consensus of opinion expressed at the August General Membership meeting is that AWCC should not conduct our election during an in-person meeting this year due to risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The revised election plan, which will be discussed at the September meeting and finalized by the October meeting for a November 10th election is as follows:
- AWCC Members will vote during a window of time on the evening of November 10, 2020. Much thanks to Ed Menzer, owner of the Parador Inn on Western Avenue, who generously offered the use of his wheelchair accessible ballroom space as our polling place.
- The polling place will open prior to the vote so that any late nominations (“from the floor”) can be submitted. Members who come to vote will see a ballot with the Nomination Committee slate, as well as from the floor nominations that can be written in if desired.
- Sergeant-at-Arms Sara Sweeney is responsible for the orderly operation of the election process. Sara will serve as Chief Judge of Election, and, along with two appointed Assistant Judges of Election (TBD) will collect, count, recount, and certify the election. The results will be announced via a Zoom meeting after the polls close on November 10th.
- Also on November 10th, per the by-laws, we should select the members of the 2021 Nominating Committee. The first job of the Nominating Committee is nominating the Neighbor of the Year in April. The Executive Committee recommendation is to delay the selection of the Nominating Committee until February or March.
The Nominating Committee is hard at work preparing the slate for the November 10th election. If you are interested in serving on the 2021 AWCC Executive Committee, please contact Tim Zinn, Nominating Committee Chair, me or any of the current Board members. To be eligible to vote in the AWCC election on November 10th, you must pay your membership dues by October 10th. (More information.)
For extra fun, we’re going to conclude the September 8th Informational Meeting with the First Ever AWCC Trivia Contest. It’s open to everyone and there will be prizes! Think you know a lot about Allegheny West? Think again. Side-betting and trash-talking are encouraged. Hope to see you on the 8th.
Ann Gilligan
President, AWCC
AWCC Informational Meeting – September 8, 2020
Via Zoom (details)
Tuesday, September 8th at 7:30 pm
- 7:30 – Gather, Say Hello, Make Trivia Contest Side Bets
- 7:35 – Update: City of Pittsburgh, Mayor’s Office (Leah Friedman)
- 7:45 – Update: Councilman Wilson’s Office (Councilman Wilson)
- 7:55 – Update: Representative Wheatley’s Office (Maddie Fox)
- 8:00 – Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy (Erin Tobin)
- 8:10 – AWCC Election Update
- 8:25 – Treasurer’s Report
- 8:30 – Committee Reports (Ways & Means, Housing & Planning)
- 8:35 – First-ever AWCC Trivia Contest
- 8:45 – Award Prizes and Conclusion