Category Archives: Community Resources

Map & Compass Orienteering in Frick Park – Dec. 1

Some of the most popular posts here on this blog have been about scavenger hunts – so we wanted to share this event from the Western PA Orienteering Club.

This Saturday, December 1, 2012 the Western PA Orienterring Club is headed to Frick Park for their last event of 2012.

Here are the details for the event from the Meet-up page:

For the first time, Frick Park has been mapped into a standardized Orienteering (the sport) format, using map symbols and conventions that are specific to that activity. The Western Pennsylvania Orienteering Club will host a meet on Saturday December 1, registration and starts can be anytime between 10 AM and 1 PM, and everybody must be finished by 2:30 PM (time when the courses officially close).

Orienteering is a outdoor recreational activity in which participants find checkpoints in the woods using solely a topographic map and a compass (no GPS, like in geocaching…). It can be either competitive (runners) or non-competitive (walkers). It is rain or shine. It is all ages (7 year olds and 90 year olds all welcome). It is all skills (beginners, intermediate, advanced). It is inexpensive ($5 for the map – group or family doing event together with just one map only pay $5 for the entire group. If a group has five people and sharing one map, it comes to $1/person).

The meet HQ will be setup in the small shelter at the bottom of the Ravine Trail, also known as “Lower Frick”. There is a parking lot for vehicles, reachable from Hutchinson Avenue when coming from S. Braddock Ave.

There is no mass-start. The starts are staggered two minutes apart so that participants don’t follow each other. Orienteering is a land navigational challenge, in which one selects the best and optimal route to from point A to point B, considering obstacles, climb, terrain, visual references.

This question comes pretty often, so here is the answer: “can I bring my dog?”… “yes you can, as long as it complies with city ordinances, such as being on a leash”

Beginner instruction is available on site by volunteers.

There will be four courses available:

  • The beginner course (White) will have a bird’s eye distance of about 2.5 km. All checkpoints are located along a trail or very accessible terrain.
  • The advanced beginner course (Yellow) will have a bird’s eye distance of 3.5 km. Checkpoints are visible from trail and there may be off-trail short travel to reach them.
  • The intermediate course (Orange)will have a bird’s eye distance of about 5 km, and will involve some bushwacking and off-trail navigation.
  • The advanced course (Red) will have a bird’s eye distance of about 7.5 km, and have checkpoints located in hard-to-find locations, and given the hills of Frick park, involve also considerable climb and require some athleticism.

Orienteering is a sport that is currently practiced in Scandinavian and Eastern European countries. In the US, it has a small but passionate following. Here in Western Pennsylvania, it has a small group of volunteers of all backgrounds, from normal outdoor lovers, hikers, adventure racers, scouts, geocachers. The club is a 501(c)3 organization (non-profit).

 

Voter Guides and Election Day Links for Pittsburgh

Tuesday, November 6 is election day – in addtion to voting for the President – there are lots of other races on the ballot that should be on your radar.  But just as importantly for Pittsburgh – May 21, 2013 is the primary election for Mayor of the City of Pittsburgh and even-numbered city council seats.  If you aren’t registered to vote – please take a moment to register so you are ready for the Primary election in May.  Click here to fill out a voter registration form.

Below are some links to voting resources as well as local voting guides and endorsements from Pittsburgh bloggers.  We are posting links to guides and blog posts from both democrats and republicans.

Find Your Poling Place & Voting Info

Poling Place Locator:

  • Vote411.org – a non-partisan polling place locator run by the League of Women Voters
  • VotesPA.com – PA Department of State’s Voting Info Website

Election Protection

  • 866ourvote.org or call 1-866-687-8683
  • Additionally the Post-Gazette would like to be notified of any voting issues from their Facebook page “Also, please notify the Post-Gazette about irregularities by sending an email to localnews@post-gazette.com with subject line ‘Voting Problems.'”

Voter Guides

Last week we asked our followers on Facebook and Twitter to share links to voter guides – the following we submitted to us.

#VotePGH – Tweet The Vote

We’ll be following the hashtag #votepgh and sharing photos and links through election day – please use #votepgh in your tweets so we can follow along

What Pittsburgh Bloggers Are Saying About the Election

Here are some posts by local bloggers about the election.

If you have a post about the election or a voter guide we should add to the list please leave the link in the comments below.

Yinz Want To Learn About Social Media N’At? 7 Reasons to Attend Podcamp Pittsburgh

If you want to learn more about social media then this is the weekend for you.

This Saturday and Sunday is the 7th Annual Podcamp Pittsburgh – a free unconference where social media experts from Pittsburgh and beyond will be offering presentations and panel discussions on all things social media.  There are lots of sesssions for every level.  If you have been looking to learn more about how to use blogging, Facebook, Twitter, podcasts and a host of other tools to get better connected on the internet – then Podcamp is for you.

Podcamp starts Friday night with a happy hour at Rolands in the Strip.  Saturday and Sunday start with a keynote followed by a day of presenations.  There is also a party on Saturday night at Alpha Lab.

Podcamp Pittsburgh 7
Friday-Sunday, October 26-28, 2012
Point Park University, Rolands, Alpha Lab
Podcamp Pittsburgh is free to attend – you can register here.

7 Reasons To Attend Podcamp Pittsburgh 7

http://storify.com/iheartpgh/7-reasons-to-attend-podcamp-pittsburgh-7

The Sprout Fund Hosts A Fall Open House – Nov. 2

One of the Pittsburgh non-profits that has been doing what they do to make Pittsburgh a better place is the Sprout Fund – think of it as a Pittsburgh Kickstarter, before Kickstarter ever existed.  The Sprout Fund has been making small grants to people/organizations with ideas for projects to make Pittsburgh a better place to live.

The Sprout Fund started with the Seed Award Program back in 2001 – in the past 11 years various Seed Awards have helped to launch many projects that are continuing to serve Pittsburgh today – Bike Pittsburgh, GTECH and Handmade Arcade all got started with the help of the Sprout Fund’s grants.  You can read more about the first 10 years of the Sprout Fund here in the Post-Gazette and check out the projects they have funded here.

Sprout Programming has expanded from the Seed Award and they now run the Spark program that focues on kids, creativity and technology.

On November 2, 2012 stop by the Sprout Fund offices located on Penn Avenue in Garfield to check out some the projects that have been supported, there will be snacks, drinks and music as well.

Join Sprout, neighbors, friends, current, and past projects for an open house on Nov. 2 from 5:30-9:30pm at Sprout offices:
5423 Penn Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15203, next to EDGE studio and across from The Quiet Storm!

Enjoy complimentary snacks and drinks while listening to live entertainment from Lungs Face Feet and DJ Edgar Um. Guests can meet board members and staff to learn about Sprouts programs and discover recent projects funded by Sprout’s Seed Award!

Special thanks to EDGE studio, Whole Foods Market, Penn Brewery, Clear Story, Inc., & Thommy Conroy!

Pgh Needs Food Trucks & How You Can Help

I know this is a longer post than what I usually write – but while it may seem small, the issue of food trucks in Pittsburgh could become a great way to help start more successful businesses in Pittsburgh.  If you are in a hurry, you can skip my ramblings about Food Trucks in Austin and scroll down to read about the upcoming PghMobileFood events.

I guess I didn’t really know how behind the times Pittsburgh was interms of food trucks until I was in Austin, TX last fall for work.  I stayed in Austin for an extra day to just walk around and see what everyone loves about the place.  Another friend from Pittsburgh visits there often and posts amazing food from food trucks on his facebook page.  I took off my work shoes, put on my sneakers and set off on a little urban hike in search of food trucks.

I was probably using Yelp or Google maps – searching for the keyword tacos – and I stumbled upon the South Austin Trailer Park and Eatery – my first thought was this is an awful nice location for a trailer park, then I realized it was a food truck trailer park.    A parking lot with food trucks, picnic tables, a garage space – with doors that opened and more tables and bathrooms.

Sign for South Austin Trailer Park and Eatery

Sign for South Austin Trailer Park and Eatery (Photo credit: TheSeafarer)

South Austin Trailer Park and Eatery

South Austin Trailer Park and Eatery (Photo credit: riacale)

Austin - Bouldin Creek: South Austin Trailer ...

Austin - Bouldin Creek: South Austin Trailer Park & Eatery (Photo credit: wallyg)

Austin - Bouldin Creek: South Austin Trailer ...

Austin - Bouldin Creek: South Austin Trailer Park & Eatery (Photo credit: wallyg)

Location, Location, Location:

Another factor in the success of a business is location – if you open a new business in the wrong location – there is only so much you can do to get people to go out of their way to visit your shop.  Think about it – how many of you go over to the north shore for a meal if you aren’t already headed to the north shore for a baseball game, football game or other big event – the rest of the time – those location are pretty empty.

Food Trucks allow the businesses to go to the people, thus a new restaurant isn’t just limited to their location.  Which solves another problem – feeding a group of people – it is a challenge.  If you plan an event at a location that isn’t set up to feed a large group of people – you are limited in options.  Enter the food trucks – in the past 6 weeks – I have attended several events where the food trucks were able to come, set up and provide food – allowing for people to stay and participate in the community event.  The StepTrek and the Wigle Whiskey Tar and Feather party are just two of the events that drew a crowd, and food was provided by food trucks.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake Ball from Holy Cacao

And this got me thinking about the opportunity of food trucks – opening a restaurant is hard – some people say 90%, this article argues that it is more like 60% of restaurants that fail – and that is a failure not only for the business owner but for the communities that are eager to have businesses.

The Austin Trailer Park & Eatery makes it a little easier for a business to get started – tables, chairs, bathrooms, trash are all shared – plus multiple businesses are marketing the space together.  While I was there I had a taco for Torchy’s and some cake balls from Holy Cacao – in one visit I was able to patronize two  businesses.

Holy Cacao on Urbanspoon

We are starting to see something like this at the Pittsburgh Public Market.  The Public Market has already given places like the Crested Duck Charcuterie a start – and now that they have a following they have opened their own location in Beechview.  And the East End Book Exchange has been using the public market to get started on opening a used book store in Pittsburgh.  Low rent and weekend hours make the Public Market a great incubator for new Pittsburgh businesses.  If we want to grow more local business – what else can we do as a city and a community to help business owners get off to a successful start?

Crested Duck Charcuterie Deli on Urbanspoon

Confusing Laws for Pittsburgh food Trucks:

The food truck scene is huge in other cities (see this recent Post-Gazette article about Portlands 500+ food trucks) but is just getting started here in Pittsburgh – part of that is because there is a whole host of issues and conflicting laws about food trucks in the city of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County.

You can read more about the current food truck regulations in this August 2012 article from the City Paper.

PghMobileFood – Working to Improve Food Trucks in Pittsburgh:

Some Pittsburghers in partnership with the Saxifrage School (and keep an eye out for the Saxifrage School – this is an incredible new organization in Pittsburgh) are getting together to work on the local food truck problem and come up with some solutions – and you can join them.  Last Wednesday they hosted the first of 3 events on Food Trucks – Food Trucks 101: Competition Law and the Constitution.  Anyone who is interested is invited to attended the upcoming Pgh Mobile Food Events.

If you are a twitter user follow @PghMobileFood.