Admission: $10 cash at the door
Doors open at 7:00 p.m.
Presentations begin at 8:00 p.m.

We have recieved numerous emails asking what to do after the St. Patrick’s Day Parade.  As you may know, Market Square is under construction (check out these articles on the impact of the construction on the Market Square businesses – Post-Gazette 2/5/2010 and Tribune Review 2/26/2010).  We are very sad to see another local business close and there are many Pittsburghers who are sad about the lack of a place to celebrate after the parade.

From The Pittsburgh Channel.com

Because of ongoing construction, the typical outdoor celebration with open containers in Market Square will not take place.Market Square restaurants will be open with beer specials, like The Original Oyster House, Primanti Brothers, Fat Tommy’s, Moe’s Southwest Grill and Las Velas Mexican Restaurant, which is going Irish for the day with breakfast burritos, Irish tacos and burritos and green margaritas.

• More Events:Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership’s Web Site

Open containers of alcohol are not permitted along the parade route. Pittsburgh police said anyone who violates the open container law is subject to a $200 fine.

St. Patrick’s Day Parade Info:

Saturday, March 13, 2010 – 10am
New parade route this year. Start at Greyhound station to Grant; right on Blvd. of Allies; to Stanwix & Commonwealth Place.

Be a fan of the Pittsburgh St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Facebook and follow @PghStPatsParade on Twitter

Please share any St. Patrick’s Day Celebrations here in the comments – maybe we can organize a new venue for post parade celebrations.

I know that last year there were some soup shortages – this year they will be limiting ticket sales to make sure there is lots of soup for all of the soup hoppers.

• Tickets can be purchased online here – http://www.showclix.com/event/8132/
• Soup Goes Green – All of the bowls and spoons are 100% compostable – containers
• A souper t-shirt – the official soup contest shirts will be printed by Commonwealth Press and I think they will be open for screen printing demos throughout the afternoon.
• Proceeds of the South Side Soup Contest benefit The Brashear Association’s Food Pantry. Please remember to bring your canned food item to help stock the Brashear Association Food Pantry.

South Side Soup Contest
Saturday, Febraury 20, 2010 Noon-3pm
Advanced Registration: $12 donation + a canned good
Day-Of Registration (Unless Sold Out): $15 donation + a canned good

Registration is limited to 1,200- There are less than 400 tickets left- Reserve your space in advance!

How It Works: On February 20th, head to one of the 3 check-in sites listed below to drop off your canned good and pick up your punch card, soup maps and ballots.

Check-In Locations:

• SouthSide Works Cinema @ 425 Cinema Drive
• The Brashear Association @ 2005 Sarah Street
• City Theatre @ 1300 Bingham Street

Facebook Event for the Soup Contest and Be a Fan of the SouthSide on Facebook

Due to the snow – the East Liberty Farmers’ market – which is usually open Saturday mornings – will be open on Sunday so that the meats and produce don’t go to waste.  New to the Farmers’ Market is the Kew Park Coffee Bar – read more about it in the East Liberty Post.  Also check out some of the great photos that Subu, inc took of their visit to the Farmers’ Market last month.

From one of the organizers:

The parking lot is plowed and the streets are now accessible. We decided to open up on Sunday so the meat and produce don’t spoil. Please try to stop by to support the farmers- and you can avoid fighting the crowds at the grocery stores. We will have coffee, hot chocolate and fresh squeezed juice at the Kew Park Coffee stand.

Farmers’ Market in January? Yep – The East Liberty Farmers’ Market is indoors and has been since the 1940s.

Farmers’ Market Cooperative of East Liberty
344 N. Sheridan Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15206 (Across the street from Home Depot)

All day, every Monday, movie tickets to just about any film is $5. This includes new releases, so make sure you buy your tickets early to ensure your showing doesn’t sell out. Some restrictions apply, for instance, Sony Pictures films are not eligible for Bargain Monday pricing for the first 14 days of the release.

If you’re hungry after the show and you’d like to stick with the theme of Bargain Monday, stroll on down to Fatheads (1805 E. Carson St.) for wing night. Wings are 20 cents and you can get as many as you want, and feel free to mix and match flavors. Wing night specials are also available on Wednesday. Seasonal beers including Troeg’s Mad Elf and Great Lakes Christmas Ale are on tap at Fatheads right now.

If you’re on the other side of the river, the AMC Loews Waterfront Theatre offers $5.00 showings all day, Monday through Thursday.

All this talk of movies making you hungry for popcorn? Make sure you print out your Popalot Card from Pittsburgh Popcorn Company for a free small bag of heavenly goodness after purchasing 9 bags of any size. Each week, both Pittsburgh Popcorn Company locations feature different flavors. One is usually seasonal and the other is a bit more non-traditional. Through December 3, 2009, the Strip District (209 21st St) store is featuring Gingerbread Cookie Corn and Spicy Southwest Cheddar. Through December 1, 2009, at the downtown (822 Liberty Ave) store, you can pick up Pumpkin Spice or Dill Pickle. If you feel like sharing the popcorn love, they ship nationwide!

Photo by Jennie Roth.

Get ready for a vertical hike – Pittsburgh is home to thousands of city steps that help people get up and down the hills around this city.  Each year the South Side Slopes Neighborhood Association organizes a self guided tour of some of the different steps and points of interest around the slopes.

Sunday, October 4, 2009 – Noon to 4pm
Register at 21st and Josephine Streets – UPMC South Side Lot

Walkers will enjoy all of these features as they tour, at their own pace, approximately 2,700 steps and the intertwining streets and sidewalks that connect them. The courses have changed to offer a different perspective of the South Side Slopes. Trekkers should find the routes pedestrian friendly, especially as they explore the middle areas of the Slopes neighborhood.

The South Side Slopes may quite possibly have the most steps of any neighborhood in the United States. After all, it is home to nearly 10% of the 712 sets of steps within Pittsburgh, which has the most steps of any city in the country. The city with the next greatest amount of steps is the Ohio River town of Cincinnati, followed by

Image by peterp via Flickr

San Francisco. The steps of the combined cities, however, do not equal those in Pittsburgh. Altogether, some 66 out of the city’s 88 neighborhoods have steps. These hundreds of public stairways give tribute to the many hillside neighborhoods.

For the past 10 year a group of dedicated volunteers has been working to bring back the grandness to Grandview Park – and the timing is perfect.  The park will celebrate its 100th birthday this Saturday, October 3rd with a big community birthday party.

From 15211.org:

The Friends of Grandview Park will host a birthday celebration in the park (499 Bailey Ave., Mt. Washington, 15211), on Sat., Oct. 3, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will be activities for all ages ranging from artists and food vendors to musicians and children’s entertainment. Kids will be able to climb to the top of a life-size fort to see the city.

More info on the Park and the birthday Celebration from the Post-Gazette and the Green Tree Times

Grandview Park is part of the larger Grand View Scenic Byway Park.

It is 7:oo am on a Thursday morning in early September and I step out of my classroom for hall duty.  For those who do not work in the hallowed halls of education it just means that my colleagues and I watch kids walk by on their way to 1st block.  I am very self conscious about my attire – a black polo shirt and Khaki’s.  It is a bit under-dressed for my Principal’s standards so I anxiously watch the end of the hallway hoping he chooses a different route for his morning greetings. 

As the students file past I am distracted by their attire.  Several different versions of number 86 in white on a black field or black on a white field catch my eye.  I turn my head to answer a question of from colleague and spot the corner of the D in Delhomme on the shoulder of a student who is clearly a freshman.  Wow, I think to myself, that kid has some nerve wearing that to school today.  I silently hope he makes it home safely but not without the appropriate amount of good hearted teasing.  I continue ’securing’ my little kingdom of the hall way for the next 10 minutes.  As the minutes tick by, I subconsciously check off the Steeler jerseys filing past me me:

34 – Mendhenhall (rookie year take 2) √.     

 92 – Harrison √√.    

7-Big Ben (only 1?)  √.  

43 – (Hey, these kids have good taste!) – Polamalu √√√√√   

10-Santonio Holmes - (does that kid have on gold tennis shoes?  I hope that he makes it across the  threshold of the classroom without having to dive) – √√√

Then I see it: A black jersey running past me in a flash of speed hoping not to be sent to lockout.  I did not have my glasses on . . .  Is that an 88?  I thought they retired Lynn. . . maybe or the life of me I could not remember who was #88 on the Steelers now – (Hey!!!! Give me a break it was 7:00 am and I had been up for 2 hours getting my own fam appropriately dressed for Steeler game day.)   The white number 88 zooms past me and when he passes I see the name – Swann. . .  Of course, a throwback.  Both Swann and Holmes make it to their destinations unscathed.

When the late bell rings, I turn to go into my classroom and look down and see the tri-colored hypocycloids on the black polo shirt I hijacked from my husband’s closet.  It is going to be a great day!

Setting: September 3, 2009  – Suburban high school in Charlotte, North Carolina.