Tag Archives: Memorial Day

Memorial Day in Pittsburgh and Team Rubicon

Last week I wrote a post about how much of this blog as been inspired by my work in local political campaign.  While I have been writing about Pittsburgh, I have also been working for a number of business and organizations – many who I met while working on political campaigns.  One of those jobs was working for VoteVets.org – which is a national Veteran’s advocacy organization.  VoteVets.org was founded by Jon Soltz – who I first met when we were both volunteering on the 2004 presidential campaign.  Jon is a Veteran and after serving two tours of duty over seas, he created VoteVets.org and VetVoice Foundation.  It was an honor to be able to work for Jon and VoteVets.org and I learned first hand about how Veterans have served and continue to serve our country.

One of the Veterans that I worked with at VoteVets.org, is Richard Smith.  Actually, I think I first met Richard at a conference as he is also a blogger.   Last week Richard posted about Team Rubicon on his Facebook Page.  Team Rubicon is an organization where Veterans who have returned to the US, work on disaster relief projects and humanitarian issues.  Richard set up a page to help raise money so Team Rubicon could send more Veterans to assist in the aftermath of the Oklahoma tornado.

Here is Richard’s note about Team Rubicon:

Hello friends,

For those who do not know, Team Rubicon is an organization that deploys teams of Veterans to disaster areas to assist first responders in relief using skills they learned in the military. I really want to deploy to Oklahoma, but being a single dad keeps me close to home.

Instead, I’ve set a fundraising goal to help Team Rubicon provide much needed relief in Oklahoma. Team Rubicon will have initial assessment teams on the ground tomorrow and will have a full scale response in Oklahoma within days. This isn’t new for these guys. They’ve deployed teams to New York for Hurrican Sandy, as well as places as far away as Haiti and Sudan. If you are going to donate to the relief efforts, please consider donating to my fundraiser page.

Early money is important to help get these Vets on the ground as soon as possible.

Please join me in supporting Team Rubicon by making a contribution online here.  Every little bit counts.  (And I know that Team Pittsburgh can certainly help tip the fundraising goal).  While Richard wasn’t able to make it to Oklahoma to help here is a photo he posted on Twitter of the Veterans cleaning up Arlington National Cemetery for Memorial Day.

Here is a snapshot of some of the blog post and photos of Memorial Day celebrations honoring those who served our country.

Some photos, tweets and links from Memorial Day Celebrations in Pittsburgh. (More info available here – http://iheartpgh.com/2013/05/27/memorial-day-in-pittsburgh-and-team-rubicon/)

http://storify.com/iheartpgh/memorial-day-in-pittsburgh

 

Some Hot Festivals to Kick-Off Summer (Radio Round Up)

WDVE

While it is still technically spring, Memorial Day weekend feels like the official start to summer.   I’ll be honest – sometimes it is hard to find events for these 3 day weekends – but that is not the case for this one! This weekend there are a bunch of great free and affordable events to get you outdoors and enjoy this start to summer.  Here are our picks for this weekend that we shared on WDVE (if you are an early riser you can here me most Friday mornings talking about all things Pittsburgh – 6:45 am – 1025. FM).

One of the other things we talked about this morning was Banjo Night at the Elks Club.  Banjo Night is every Wednesday Night, 8pm, The Elks on the Northside (next to the Giant Eagle). – more info here.

Fri. May 25 Wexford Car Cruise

  • “a fantastic place for Hot Rodders, Gearheads, car crazy people as well as families”
  • First car cruise of the summer
  • Car Cruise is located at North Way Christian Community 12121 Perry Highway, Wexford, PA 15090
Fri. May 255-8:30pm Bakery Square BBQ & Craft Beer Festival

  • BBQ food, beer tasting
  • Outdoor activities
  • live music by Brennan Peirson & Coronado
  • Facebook Event Link

 
Sat. May 264-7pm Tugboat Print Shop Garden Party

  • to celebrate their latest print “Garden” Tugboat Print Shop is hosting a Garden Party
  • Stop by and check out their shop, see the new print and their entire collection
  • Music, beer and lots of super nice people
  • Click here to see photos of they created the woodblocks to create this print.
  
Sat. May 26 Parrots of the Caribean Opens at the Aviary

  • The new show at the Pittsburgh Aviary is all about Parrots
  • Show starts May 26 and runs daily (we’re still trying to figure out what times)
  
Sat. May 263pm – 11pm Pyro Fest

  • Hartwood Acres kicks off the summer concert season with America’s Largest Fireworks Fest
  • Fireworks (of course)
  • Live Music – Good Brother Earl, BE Taylor, The Gathering Field, and more
  • Tickets are $18 and available online here
  • Check out some of the set up photos on the Pryo Fest Facebook page here
Sun. May 275pm – 11pm Kaya Fest

  
Mon. May 2810am-4pm Memorial Day Celebration at Soldiers and Sailors Hall

  • Free event and admission to museum
  • Memorial Service
  • Cornerstone Rededication
  • Kids Activites
PGH Fact – Part of “Silence of the Lambs” was filmed at Soldier and Sailors Hall

 

The Best Fest of All The Rest – KayaFest

With Memorial Day weekend a few days away – we are entering one of the best times of year here in Pittsburgh – summer time also means neighborhood festival time.  Pittsburgh celebrates neighborhoods and cultures like no other place – there will be weekend after weekend of amazing free activities, music and ethnic food.  The greek food festivals a few weeks ago were the sneek peek of what is to come for the next few months.

But I am going to go ahead and say that the best fest of all the rest might just be KayaFest.  First off thanks to the folks from BigBurrito for being awesome Pittsburghers.  BigBurrito is the restaurnt group that started with the Oakland MadMex many years ago and now runs many of the tastiest places in town.  They make good food, the support local farmers and they do good things for Pittsburgh. Continue reading →