Feb 15, 2019 4 min read

MONONGAHELA – Monongahela will celebrate its 250th anniversary in August and two community leaders briefed council Wednesday on plans for the celebration.

Laura Magone, president of the Monongahela 250 nonprofit organization, said the celebration is planned for Aug. 8-11 and fundraising is underway.

Magone referenced the celebration held in Monongahela 50 years ago, and noted that much has changed since then.

“A lot of things have changed since then: the population has changed, the school district has changed and the downtown changed. The world around us has changed, so we have changed the structure of how we are planning this,” Magone explained. She said a corporation has been started, with a board made up of Vice President Susan Bowers, Treasurer Carol Frye, and Martha Muniz.

“We’re very proud of the town being such a historic area with significant accomplishments. I think that our residents are some of the best people that I’ve encountered, so we’re trying to throw a party that people will talk about for the next 50 years,” Magone said, adding that the organization is grateful for the $3,000 that the city set aside for the event.

Magone said the group would like to meet with council to discuss logistics. Council responded by forming an ad hoc committee made up of William Polonoli and Claudia Williams to meet with organization officials.

Another issue Magone addressed was the cost of security for equipment being rented for the event. She said they have a contract to use the aquatorium for the event but cannot afford the cost of two city police officers needed to watch over the equipment that will be stored there. Williams said the matter will be discussed further.

George Eckert, president of the Monongahela Area Revitalization Corporation, said calendars for the 250th celebration are going fast and can be purchased for $10. Eckert said there will be a 5K race at 8 a.m. Aug. 10. “It’s walkers and runners so everybody can participate,” Eckert said.

Officials of Ono San Pietro, Italy, Monongahela’s sister city, will be returning to Monongahela for the 250th celebration, Mayor Bob Kepics added.

Terry Necciai, executive director of Monongahela’s Main Street Program, said that the M.y. Main Street program, a nonprofit youth program, is planning youth street fair for the event.

Necciai said it will include a collection of steam whistles and bells from boats, trains and steel mills, which he said is the “loudest musical instrument in the Monongahela Valley.”

He said the group also plans to have entertainment and other displays. Two barbers will set up shop, offering straight razor shaves and haircuts. The youth fair is planned for the evening of Aug. 9 and 10 during the four-day celebration.

“Our young people have gone door to door asking businesses to participate,” Necciai said.

In other business, resident Scott Frederick addressed the council regarding Monongahela native Alvin Helfer being honored by the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Helfer, who died in 1975, was one of the first daily baseball announcers in New York City, starting in 1939. Frederick said he is being honored for the Baseball Hall of Fame’s 150th anniversary. Helfer called games for eight teams and became nationally known for his radio work on Mutual Game of the Day in the 1950s.

He said Helfer will be the recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award for excellence in broadcasting.

“Only 43 people have received this award and one of them happens to be us,” said Frederick. A celebration will be held at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, where Helfer will be honored during the Hall of Fame Awards ceremony on July 20 as part of Hall of Fame Weekend.

Frederick said he contacted the director of the Hall of Fame to see how the city could be recognized due to Monongahela’s connection.

Frederick suggested that council act as a liaison between the city and the Hall of Fame to see if city representatives could attend the ceremony or if the city can find another avenue can be found to honor Helfer.

“This is very significant to have someone honored at the Hall of Fame,” Frederick said.

Council also voted to decline Ringgold School District’s offer for the city to purchase the Armstrong fields. Council cited issues with flooding as one of the reasons it is not interested in pursuing the purchase.