Another Shooting

There have been too many of these in our neighborhood recently. I will post more details as they become available.


Elliott Man Shot Twice
Friday, August 29, 2008
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

An 18-year-old man was shot in the head and face after a man approached him on a back patio of a house in Elliott early today.
Pittsburgh police said the victim is in critical but stable condition. He was able to run from the gunman and get help from a neighbor.
The shooting was at 1:30 a.m. in the 1500 block of Crucible Street. Police did not release the victim's name or information about the shooter's identity or motive. No arrests have been made.
First published on August 29, 2008 at 10:01 am

Pitt Stops Blog

Take a look at the Pitt Stops blog. They are conducting what they are calling a city wide bar crawl. They made a few stops in our area.

Lorenz Cafe

Obey House

West End Cafe

West End Overlook

EWEAA Youth Soccer

The Elliott West End Athletic Association held their soccer camp/clinic from August 18th to August 22nd. There were quite a few kids in attendance, and in addition to learning basic skills and rules, a good time was had by everyone.





As far as I know, the teams should be picked this week as there is another general practice on Wednesday evening at 6:30. So if you want to get someone signed up, you better hurry. In the 8 and under group, teams will be co-ed and broken down into age groups. 7&8 year olds will have their own set of teams and play each other, while the 6 & under crowd will broken down into teams as well. I haven't heard how the 9 & up age bracket will be dispersed, but when I do, it will be posted here. Below are just a few pictures from the camp.

Summer Days Are Over ~ Part 3

Well here is the final installment of my Summer Days series. If you haven't read Part's 1 & 2 you can do so by clicking the links below.

Summer Days Are Over ~ Part 1

Summer Days Are Over ~ Part 2

August 19th, 1983 (cont.)

………After playing ball for a few hours it was time to head home for dinner. My Mom would have gotten home from work around 5 or so. I always knew to be home for dinner by 6. Back then, I guess it was OK to leave your kids home alone as long as they were able to fend for themselves. From 10 years old on, I was in this situation, as were most of the kids I knew. I have to give my mom all the credit in the world, raising me on her own. She worked at Sam’s Pharmacy downtown which I’m assuming didn’t pay all that much. We didn’t have a car. We didn’t have a lot, but being a kid, I didn’t know any better. Every once in a while, we saved up and went out to dinner which was almost always Eat-N-Park down in McKees Rocks.

I walked in the door, threw my baseball stuff in the hallway, and headed straight for the kitchen for a drink. My mom would yell from the upstairs, “Ron is that you?” I always said some smart comeback like, “No, it’s a robber and I’m stealing all your Kool Aid.” I poured my drink and plopped onto the recliner in front of the TV. Ray Tannehill was doing the news. My mom came down and we started getting dinner together. Hamburger Helper was always my choice when asked. There were only a few flavors back then, but my favorite was Cheeseburger Macaroni. We ate in the living room on TV trays and continued watching the news.

Right around 7:00, I headed outside on the street and met up with a few of the neighborhood kids. We started coordinating a game of “release.” There ended up being about 16 of us so we split into 2 teams of 8. The two fastest kids were always picked as the captains, and then they picked everyone else based on their known release abilities. The “base” or “jail” was always in front of this one kid’s house on Wymore Street. It was the perfect place, because it was in the middle of the boundaries and everyone could sit on the wall next to each other when caught. Our boundaries were Harker, Wymore, and Herschel in between Steuben and Lorenz. We were pretty much allowed in and out of any yards within those streets, but not inside any houses. Most people didn’t care about us running through their property. Everyone knew us, and knew that we respected their private property. Some residents even sat on their porches and watched us play like they were watching a sporting event, even cheering us on sometimes. There was always that ONE lady who didn’t want anyone in her yard. The same cranky old lady that would keep your balls or Frisbees if they landed any where near her house. I wasn’t that fast, so I had to make up for it by hiding in great places. I may have had the best place of all. On the corner of Lorenz and Herschel was a house with a small yard in the back. I was able to climb their green chain link fence, stand on it and then climb into the tree adjacent to the fence. Granted, if anyone found me here, I wouldn’t be able to run away from them, but no one EVER found me there. I would laugh as people would walk by underneath listening to their conversations about how frustrated they were, and they were certain that I was either in someone’s house or outside the boundary lines. I would only come in when I heard the call of “Ollie Ollie in Come Free.”

We usually played this until 9 or 9:30. We would play games like this almost every single night in the summer. If we didn’t have enough people for a full game of release, we would play smaller games in front of the house. We played games like Three Little Pigs, Mother May I, It Tag, Freeze Tag, TV Tag, and a few other we made up as went along. We would always figure out who was “IT” by putting our feet in a circle and by taking turns, we would utter the popular sayings like “Occa Bocca Soda Crocca Occa Bocca Boo, In comes Uncle Sam out goes Y.O.U.” or my favorite “My mother and your mother were hanging up clothes, my mother punched your mother right in the nose, what color was the blood……” We must of have 50 of these sayings.

This was one of the typical days growing up in Elliott in the late 70’s and early 80’s. There were many other things we did. Wiffle Ball games, tag football in the street, etc. I wouldn’t have traded those games and the fun we had outside for the all video games in the world.

Langley Football

Another season of Langley Mustangs football is about to begin. There hasn’t been anything to be proud about recently regarding the football team, but with 2nd year coach Ken Wright at the helm, let’s hope things are about to change.

I can’t remember the last time Langley made the playoffs. I know back in the late 80’s there were a few good years, but after that what happened to the program? I have a few opinions, that are by no means accurate facts, but just guesses on my part.

1. There seems to be no sense of community support, therefore, no interest in playing for the team by students. There are some very good athletes in the district that just don’t really care whether they play or not. I think if the community supported the team a little, the kids might WANT to play football. When was the last time you walked or drove through Elliott and seen “Go Mustangs” banners or signs hanging in businesses? This lack of support could be the fact that all games are played at “Cupples Stadium” on the Southside as opposed to having Home games at Langley field where people leave their houses and walk to the games. Or it could be that most of the athletes in the Elliott, Sheraden, and Crafton Heights area are going to other schools. How can we have community support if you live on a street with 5 kids that play football and they play for 5 different schools? This brings me to my 2nd point.

2. Perry Traditional Academy. Ever since students were able to choose their magnet programs and which city schools they wanted to attend, it seems that Perry has been close to the top if not the champions ever since. I won’t say that Perry is recruiting athletes to play for them, but it seems like many decent student athletes end up there while they live in other districts. If I were making the rules, you would go there for academic reasons, but still play sports for your “neighborhood” school. I may be completely wrong. Maybe Perry just has the best coaches and they prepare better which is very possible.

3. Lack of Feeder Programs. I don’t remember Elliott ever having a youth football program, but there was always the Sheraden Bulldogs that kids can play for. I’m not even sure if that’s still around and I don’t know why there weren’t more. There is a youth football program that I know nothing about that plays on Windgap field. This could be an option, but it seems like it is geared toward the younger players, not the pre-high school or middle school students. If anyone knows more about that program, please emial me or leave a comment and I will get the word out. I know Crafton has a program that the city youth can be a part of, but how many city residents know that. On top of that, according to this article, The Crafton “Little Cougars” are having problems of their own. Why can’t we have the “West End Little Mustangs”. Kids from Elliott, Sheraden, Westwood, Crafton Heights, etc could all be part of the league.

These are just a few of my ideas of why Langley Football is as bad as it is. It may not be any of these reasons, it may be a combination of all three. Either way you look at it, I hope their fortunes turn around soon and win back some of the high school football fans that reside on this side of the city.

According to this article in Today’s Post-Gazette, the future may be looking a little bit brighter.

PG West: Langley out to end losing ways in City League
Thursday, August 21, 2008

By Brad Everett, Tri-State Sports & News Service

Entering his second season at the helm of a program which has long been considered the City League's doormat, Langley coach Ken Wright believes that honesty is the first step in getting his players to buy into the fact their fortunes can indeed reverse their course.

Read the rest of this article HERE.

Summer Days Are Over ~ Part 2

Well continuing the saga from yesterday, here is the 2nd part of my day........

August 19th, 1983(cont.)

Since it was lunchtime we headed to West End Park for the “Free Lunch.” We arrived at the pavilion and parked our bikes amongst the 20 or so others. We hoped it was fried chicken day. It was the only thing that was truly edible. We filled our bellies then took off up the street for Herschel Field again.

This time we decided to look for balls. Softballs, baseballs, tennis balls, anything at all. We started behind left field of the Big Field near the Tamilia residence. This is where we found most of the baseballs we collected. Back then there were a few high schools that called the place home as well as the 20th and 28th Ward Federation League teams. Elliott did not have Pony, Colt, or Legion teams. These were added much later. In addition to Home Runs, these woods contained balls that rolled under the fence just about anywhere. We navigated these woods as if we were expert hikers on some type of expedition for National Geographic. We knew every nook and cranny from there to Ducky Pond and to the the Dumps. We also knew where to look for the balls. We knew exactly where they hid from the players who nonchalantly looked for them when the first entered this domain. In about 15 minutes, we found about 15 baseballs between left and center. Some of them were brand new, others were scuffed and dirty, but good balls nonetheless. There were also a plethora of waterlogged and mud covered baseballs with the covers half off that my dog wouldn’t play with. We left them to rot. My friend rode his bike over to the bleachers and found an empty beer box that was perfect for carrying the balls. We filled it up and rode our bikes over to the right field hillside below the tennis courts saying hi to Jules who was lining the field for the days games. We always found a few baseballs here, but this was the most likely place for softballs and tennis balls. We loved finding tennis balls (especially orange ones), since we used these for our many games of “Off the Step” or “Curb Ball.” We would play this on the Big Field cement bleachers in the morning when no one was around. Some people used a racquet ball, but we preferred the good old tennis ball. Different sections of the tall fence behind us represented singles, doubles, and triples. Of course over the fence was a Home Run. Sometimes we would even set up beer and pop cans that were laying around from the night before on the top step, give each one a point total and try to knock them over with the tennis balls while standing at the bottom.

After we loaded the box with our treasure trove of balls, we headed home. By now it was about 2:00 and about 90 degrees. In the basement I had plastic milk cartons full of balls that were organized by ball type. We filled them up accordingly to what we found.

After a short break sitting inside and watching TV, we made a few phone calls to get a pick up game of ball going. We met the gang at 3:00 up at the little field. Friends told friends, and we ended up having a good pick up baseball game of 5 on 5. We had a pitcher, 3rd baseman, Short stop, Left Fielder and Center Fielder. If you hit the ball to right field, you were out. We played Pitchers Mound Poison, meaning the pitcher was essentially the First Baseman. We made bases out of anything we could find. 1st base was half a pizza box, 2nd base was an old chewed up Newport frisbee that somebody’s dog left out in the field, 3rd base was a smashed up beer box. We always had that one left hander, that would make everyone switch sides of the field, therefore if he hit to left field he was out. We would play this for hours almost everyday in the summer. If we didn’t have enough players, we would play some other baseball related game, home run derby, 500, Indian Ball, or just make something up as we went.

………………..To Be Continued.

Summer Days Are Over~Part 1

Well it’s back to school this week for a few local schools. Propel-Montour and the Pittsburgh Accelerated academies started back Monday the 18th. Most schools start back next Monday the 25th. It wasn’t that long ago, that all schools didn’t start back until after the labor day holiday. I really feel bad for kids today, getting jipped out of and extra week or two of summer break. I will use this opportunity to try and paint a picture of my typical day of summer growing up in Elliott.

AUGUST 19, 1983

I woke up around 8:00 am from the sun and heat coming through my bedroom window. We didn’t have air conditioners back then. We had one neighbor on the street that had a window unit, but we all assumed they were rich. Us regular folk just used the old window fan complemented by an oscillating fan. It worked fine for us. I walked downstairs and grabbed the box of Fruity Pebbles off the top of the fridge and poured my bowl of pure tastiness. Sitting at the dining room table, I flipped on the radio and changed the station to B94 and the Quinn and Banana morning show, which was playing “Down Under” from Men at Work. My mom always listened to Jimmy and Steve on DVE, but since I was only 11, Quinn and Banana were more my style of humor.

Once I was finished with breakfast, I walked next door to my best friend’s house. I didn’t have to knock. The door was always open and I was always seen as part of family. We grabbed our bikes and off we went having absolutely no plans for the day. We decided we wanted to go get some candy down at Fingers, but didn’t have any money. We did what any kid did back then that needed money, we grabbed a few bags and took off on our search to find returnable pop bottles. Hey, they were 10 cents a piece, so getting a few of those meant we had some serious cash to spend. We decided to head to Herschel first as that was usually the place we always hit the jackpot. As we were pedaling our way there, we were always on the lookout for that lone bottle glistening in the sun, laying on the side of the road that some older kid threw out the window of his Trans Am. We stopped up at the Little Field first and checked all around Dot’s Candy Stand. Nothing. We rode our bikes down the path that connected the parking lot to the basketball courts and raced over to the yellow and orange wooden benches. There they were, sitting in the cement drain/gutter, 3 bottles. In the bags they went. We cruised the length of the gutter along side the Tennis Courts all the way to the back corner. There was nothing there but a few cases worth of beer cans. I couldn’t understand why people would go back there to dump their cans. When I got older, I found out where the cans came from, and left a few there myself.

We rode back the way we came, through the basketball courts and down the ramp to the playground, out the park and down the street to the parking lot of the Big Field. We checked the 2 green garbage cans behind the backstop. THERE THEY WERE! We hit the big one. We fought off the bees and pulled 11 bottles out of those cans. In the bags they went. We pulled a few iced tea cartons out just so we could pop them and then we threw them away again. We found two more bottles on the cement bleachers. There must have been a softball game the previous night. Possibly between the Ubets and the Trio Bar.

We decided that 16 bottles were enough to carry and we didn’t even hit West End Park yet. We each tied 2 bags with 4 bottles each to our handlebars and cruised down Herschel to Walbridge. We had to ride on the sidewalks because back then, Herschel was still red brick and Walbridge was cobblestone. We couldn’t have the bottles clinging together and break. Losing a bottle is the same as losing a box of Lemonheads or Boston Baked Beans. We made a left onto Harker traveled up to Neidel made a right to get to Steuben, left on Amherst, cut through the Thaddeus Stevens parking lot and playground, through the alley and right to Fingers. We turned our bottles in and got a cool $1.60. We decided to get 30 cents each worth of penny candy. We stood there picking it out through the glass window. “I’ll have 5 sour patch kids, 5 fish, 5 licorice nickels, 5 flying saucer wafers, 5 pixie stix, and five sixlets.” My friend picked his out then we headed across the street to Murray’s Pizza where we decided to spend the dollar that’s left on the 8 Ball Deluxe pinball machine. We could get 5 balls for a quarter so that’s 2 games a piece. All this and it’s only 11:30. Now we are starting to get hungry for lunch.

........to be continued.

Arthur M Fording

I'm on a small vacation this week, so I don't really have computer access. I had a short window of opportunity here, so I figured that I would share something that I always found fascinating.


There are many recollections of historical facts out there about the West End and Elliott, but this excerpt from Arthur M. Fording's - Recollections and Reminiscencesof West End -- Pittsburgh, PA

Apparently this reference book is catologued at the Carnegie Library-West End Branch. Here is a small piece of this story.


"Little settlements known by distinctive names comprised the West End Section, although never having a corporate existence.Thus we had Crotsburg, up near the Point Bridge. The territorial limits of Temperanceville commenced about where the West Side Belt Railroad crosses Steuben and South Main Streets up the Saw Mill Run Valley to the Old Stone Tavern On the Run, and about to Schmelz' Brewery on Steuben street and comprising part of the hillside on the westerly side of Steuben Street and also that part of the hill adjoining the old Noblestown Road and South Main Street.Reesville was on the easterly side of Saw Mill Run between old Bridge Street (later Park Way and now Plank Street) up the Run to where it is crossed by Independence Street on old Washington Pike.Tinkersville lay between the Old Stone Tavern and the site of the present brick works of James T. Fox.Shalerville lay beyond that to the foot of Mt. Washington."

Please read the entire article that you can find HERE. There are alot of interesting facts that you might find that you never knew about.

I will be without access again until Monday the 25th. See you Then.

Something For the Whole Family

If you are looking for something to do but don't want to spend any money, here's the perfect thing for you. The CLO is playing at the West End Overlook They are going to be performing from your kids favorite movies, High School Musical, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella and more. This looks it will be a great time for the whole family. Below is the article from the Post-Gazette

In the Wings: PMT at the Overlook

Thursday, August 07, 2008

By Christopher Rawson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

• Pittsburgh Musical Theater is ready for its annual show at the West End Overlook. Called "Disney on Broadway (live) at the Overlook!" and co-sponsored by the West Pittsburgh Partnership and City Parks, it presents six pros and 10 young members of the PMT Stars youth troupe, Aug. 7, 8, 9, 15 and 16, 7:30 p.m. at the West End Overlook Amphitheater (directions at www.pittsburghmusicals.com; more info there or at 412-539-0900, Ext. 232). The park will be reserved from 6 p.m., so bring a picnic.

Their pitch: "The stunning Pittsburgh skyline (as spectacular as that from Victoria Peak in Hong Kong) is the backdrop for selections from 'High School Musical' and 'Beauty and the Beast,' plus 'The Wedding Singer' and 'Cinderella.' Watching the sun set as the city lights up is unforgettable. Designed to delight the entire family and the price is right -- free."

Cast: (pros) Larissa Petrucci, Jason Swauger, Vinny Tresco, Katie Mae Maloney, Leah Zahner and Katie Kerr; (students) Beth Anderson, Nicki Uram, Anne Ciarlone, Brittany Dorazio, Zuri Hodge, Shannon Daily, Maria Fazio, Zeke Stewart, Krysta Bartman and Adrianne Knapp.

ELLIOTT FEDERATION TEAM MAKES CHAMPIONSHIP

Here is the beginning of a story from today's Post-Gazette regarding the Elliott Federation League baseball team.

PG West: Upstart Elliott battles, loses in championship series in Greater Federation Baseball League
Thursday, August 07, 2008
By Nicholas Tolomeo, Tri-State Sports & News Service

In just its second year in the Greater Pittsburgh Federation League, Elliott has made a quick ascension to the top of the standings.
Elliott reached the league championship series where it was defeated by perennial league powerhouse St. Johns-Lefty's, three games to one.

Please read the rest of the article HERE.


Because this blog is so new, we haven't had the resources to spend more time on the Federation team. Hopefully, by next year we will be able to carry all game results, schedules, photos and stats.

Fashion Show in West End

ALL ABOUT YOUTH & CITY PAPER PRESENTLOCAL MOTION 2008
September 18, 2008

Local Motion is an annual Fashion Show featuring local designers, models and stylists. This year marks the 4th annual show and will be held at James Centre in the West End. Doors open at 7 p.m., show will start at 9 p.m. There will be a food and drink reception from 7-9 p.m. featuring some of the best Pittsburgh’s restaurants.

Walking Tour

Check out this Photo log of a Walking tour through Elliott and West End.

I remember walking many of these steps as a kid. It brings back a lot of good memories.

West End Bypass

Someone made a great point about opening the Wabash Tunnel in a letter to the editor.

Let's go, Wabash
With the construction project at the West End Circle, doesn't it seem like a good idea to lift the restrictions on the HOV lanes in the Wabash Tunnel?
Let more people use the tunnel. It would give a lot of people the chance to see the benefits and hopefully continue to use when the West End project is completed.

STAN KENDRA
Green Tree

Here's a small update from the Gazette.

West End Bypass -- The new South Main Street bridge between Steuben and South Main streets is to be done in October. That will reopen the "back door" route to the city, end the short but congested detour through the West End and ease pressure on the Parkway West, especially inbound in the morning.

ELLIOTT BREWERS WIN MAYORS CUP

After winning against Beechview, Banksville, and Sheraden, the 11-12 year old Elliott Brewers got the chance to play Squirrel Hill at PNC park for the championship.

Elliott defeated Squirrel Hill 3-0 to win the Mayor's Cup.

There is a small write up in today's Post-Gazette, though it mainly discusses the feelings of the kids regarding the Jason Bay trade to Boston.