Page 20 PLUS: Crescent VFD delivers supplies to tornado victims The West Hills Symphonic Band plays on Where the dog parks are Our area fish fry and Lenten food list page 25 Moon Township Garden Club: Native, invasive and pollinators…oh my! Moon Edition Serving Moon Area School District March/April 2022 One of 4 editions serving 16 airport area communities www.awmagazine.com FREE Direct Mail Community Publication M agazine Allegheny WestMarch/April 2022 • www.awmagazine.com • 34 • Allegheny West Magazine • March/April 2022 { } Contents Crescent VFD collects supplies for tornado victims The West Hills Symphonic Band plays on Moon Area School District News Native, invasive and pollinators…oh my! Our area fish fry and Lenten food list Where the dog parks are Moon Edition March/April 2022 - - - - - - 9 10 20 22 25 26 Columns - Around Your Town - Legislative Update - Your Schools - Groundwork - On the Horizon - Chamberlink 8 11 16 22 24 30 Allegheny West Magazine-Moon Edition is published in January, March, May, July, September, and November, six issues a year, Hughey Publications, LLC, P. O. Box 220, McDonald PA 15057. Mailed and distributed free to residents and businesses in Crescent, Moon and Moon Area School District. Reproduction of any artwork, photographs, or copy prepared by Allegheny West Magazine is strictly prohibited without written consent of Hughey Publications LLC. Copyright 1999-2022 Allegheny West Magazine. All rights reserved. Views and opinions expressed by contributors and/or advertisers are the responsibility of the contributors and not those of the publisher of Allegheny West Magazine. WE PROUDLY SPONSOR AND SUPPORT: A variety of community, school, and nonprofit organizations in our coverage areas of Cornell, Moon, Montour, and West Allegheny. We are committed to recycling our used and leftover products. We encourage our readers to be responsible and dispose of this magazine when finished enjoying it. Consider passing it along to someone else, or placing it in your neighborhood recycling bins. Thank you in advance for doing your part for our earth. MEMBER Allegheny West Magazine - Moon Edition, is an all positive, good news publication mailed free into the homes and businesses of the Moon Area School District communities of Moon and Crescent to connect communities, promote people, heighten awareness about the richness of the airport region, and build pride in the western suburbs of Allegheny County. Allegheny West Magazine Dear Readers, Thank you for picking up our March Moon edition. This month, we’re taking a look at a number of interesting stories in the Moon Area community and getting readers caught up on the latest first- quarter happenings at Moon Area School District. If you have a pooch at home and are feeling a little stir crazy these days, check out page 26 for our rundown of local dog parks in the area. You may have heard about a couple of these, but probably not all. Even if you have, check out our useful tips from a local dog training expert on proper dog park etiquette. On page 8, read a recap of the Crescent Township VFD’s efforts to help storm victims in Kentucky this past December. Then, on page 25, check out our local fish fry and Lenten food list along with area upcoming happenings, including Moon Parks and Recreation programs. Check out page 20 for the latest from Moon Area School District, including information about the school’s upcoming musical and a very special visit it received from a Broadway performer. On page 10, we take a look at the West Hills Symphonic Band, which has returned to form following a hiatus due to COVID-19. Now almost a year since it first started performing again, the band has plenty of shows under its belt and is looking forward to the summer season. Look for our next edition in May, when we’ll be bringing you our annual Summer Fun Guide. Until then, I hope you will continue to stay safe and healthy. From the Publisher Doug Hughey, Publisher/Editor P. O. Box 220, McDonald, PA 15057 Phone: 724.673.3161 E-Mail: info@awmagazine.com www.awmagazine.com Doug Hughey Jill Bordo Pat Jennette Jocelyn Grecko Sarah Kizina www.ddswebdesign.com Pat Jennette ABOUT THE COVER Moon Township Garden Club member Alicia Li snapped this photo of a ruby-throated hummingbird enjoying nectar of lavender in her garden. For more on the importance of pollinator gardens and native plants as spring approaches, check out this month’s Groundwork column on page 22. PHOTO BY ALICIA LIMarch/April 2022 • www.awmagazine.com • 5Heritage Valley Health System Get your Heart in Shape! Cardiac Rehabilitation at Heritage Valley Health System Your heart is a muscle and, just like any other muscle, exercise will strengthen it. Being physically active is a great step toward good heart health, and is essential following a cardiac event. The Cardiac Rehabilitation Program at Heritage Valley Health System is designed to help patients with heart disease recover faster and return to full and productive lives. Cardiac rehab includes exercise, education, counseling and learning how to live a healthier life. Our specially trained team consists of cardiologists, nurses, exercise physiologists and registered dietitians who will work with you to design a program to meet your specific needs. Almost everyone with heart disease can benefit from some type of cardiac rehab. No one is too old or too young! Cardiac Rehabilitation is offered at the following Heritage Valley locations: An innovative treatment for Aortic Stenosis Available at Heritage Valley Beaver What exactly is TAVR? It is a minimally invasive procedure in which a catheter is used to implant a new valve within a damaged valve. Because this procedure is less invasive than traditional surgery, there are considerable potential benefits for patients who qualify, such as faster recovery time, quicker relief of symptoms, shorter hospital stays, lower risk of infection and less trauma to the muscle tissue. How is the procedure done? A puncture is made in the patient’s leg and a catheter is inserted, giving access to the patient’s heart through the femoral artery. The new heart valve is compressed onto a balloon, placed in the delivery system, and then guided to the patient’s aortic valve. Once it reaches the damaged valve, the balloon is inflated and expands the new valve into place. The leaflets of the damaged valve will hold the new valve in place and it will begin working immediately. Who is eligible for a TAVR procedure? You may be a candidate if you have been diagnosed with severe aortic stenosis; you cannot have open heart surgery due to age or risk factors; or your symptoms have not improved with medical therapy. Heritage Valley’s TAVR Heart Team uses a multi-disciplinary approach to determine if a patient is a good candidate for the TAVR procedure and, after additional testing and review, treatment recommendations are reviewed with the patient and the referring physician. Heritage Valley Kennedy 25 Heckel Road McKees Rocks, PA 15136 (412) 777-6849 The Heart & Vascular Center 12 Quaker Village Shopping Center Ohio River Boulevard; Suite 2A Leetsdale, PA 15056 724-773-4636 The Heart & Vascular Center 605 Sharon Road Beaver, PA 15009 (724) 773-4507 Aortic stenosis is one of the most common and serious valve disease problems. This condition occurs when the heart’s aortic valve narrows. The valve doesn’t open fully, which reduces or blocks blood flow from the heart to the body, and causes the heart to work harder than it should. Luckily for patients with this diagnosis, our expert interventional cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons at Heritage Valley Beaver offer an innovative alternative to open heart surgery called Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement, or TAVR. For more information on the TAVR program at Heritage Valley Beaver, please call Carrie Farrow RN, TAVR Coordinator, at (724) 773- 8224. A physician holds a valve used during the TAVR procedure. A physician referral is needed to begin a cardiac rehab program through Heritage Valley Health System. 6 • Allegheny West Magazine • March/April 2022Heritage Valley Health System March is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, a time when we shine a spotlight on the importance of early detection and screening. While there is currently no cure for colorectal cancer, it is highly treatable if caught in the early stages. Colon cancer remains the third leading cause of cancer-related death in the U.S., yet it is very preventable. Unfortunately, many people with colorectal cancer may experience no symptoms, which is why regular screenings are so important. Detecting cancer early, when it’s small and hasn’t spread, often allows for more treatment options. It has been shown that the average person is at risk of developing polyps beginning at 45 years of age. However, removing polyps during screening colonoscopies significantly reduces colon cancer development later in life. At present, the only reliable way to detect polyps is through a screening colonoscopy. Certain people may be more at risk of developing colorectal cancer than others. A diet high in red and processed meats can be a risk factor, as is obesity, lack of exercise and smoking, which can contribute to the development of a number of different cancers. However, having risk factors does not necessarily mean that you will develop colorectal cancer. We realize that many people delayed elective procedures and screenings due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which is why we urge you to discuss colorectal cancer screening with your physician at your next appointment. Heritage Valley cares about your health! March is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month Have you been screened lately? • A persistent change in bowel habits, including diarrhea or constipation • Rectal bleeding or blood in your stool • Persistent abdominal discomfort, such as cramps, gas or pain • A feeling that your bowel doesn’t empty completely • Weakness or fatigue • Unexplained weight loss Symptoms of colorectal cancer may include: March/April 2022 • www.awmagazine.com • 7CAround Your Town Around Your Town Crescent VFD delivers aid to storm-ravaged Kentucky This past December, in the days after a devastating tornado ripped through Kentucky and Tennessee, members of the Crescent Township VFD were trying to find a way to help. Though they couldn’t respond to such an emergency from over 500 miles away, they did get the idea that they could collect supplies to assist those affected. “Some of us were getting the idea at the same time,” says Crescent VFD chief Dan Muller. “Then assistant chief John Kriger said, ‘We’re doing it.’” Department members contacted Pittsburgh’s television news networks to help get the word out and the story quickly gained traction. “When people heard about it, my gosh,” says Muller. “From the first day, people were bringing stuff down from Moon Township, the food banks - we were getting people from Charleroi, West Mifflin, New Castle, everyone heard about this. They were just bringing stuff down.” Over the following week, donations continued to pour into the department. Muller says people drove into the department’s parking lot along McGovern Boulevard in Glenwillard with everything from diapers to generators. With assistance from the Independence VFD, fire fighters worked from the early morning hours and on into the evening unloading cars. Inside, volunteers helped sort donations right down to individual toothbrushes and tooth paste tubes. Kriger, who is also the department’s president, recalls one person donating six brand-new generators with 12 gas cans and an elderly couple driving all the way from Huntingdon in Central Pennsylvania with supplies. He says a law firm from the North Hills spent $4,000 cleaning out two box stores buying a wish list of items he’d received from the Kentucky Fire Commission. Those were just some of the magnanimous gestures he says he witnessed. Yet as donations continued to pile up at the department, it became apparent that VFD members weren’t going to be able to transport all of those donations on their own. “I kept saying we need a bigger truck,” says Kriger. Luckily, Kriger owns a trucking company and was able to call in some favors. Steel City Hotshots lent the department a box truck while a number of fire fighters from both departments volunteered their enclosed trailers. Someone else lent them a goose-neck trailer that they loaded entirely with about 10 pallets of bottled water. In the end, the department ended up collecting 44,000 pounds of supplies, about $17,000 in gift cards and another $5,000 that had been donated just for transportation costs. Initially, the department intended to deliver all of those supplies directly to Mayfield, the epicenter of the disaster. When they informed the Kentucky Fire Commission about what all they were bringing, though, Kriger says they were instead directed to a large warehouse in Paris, Kentucky. On Dec. 21 at 6 a.m., on the Tuesday before Christmas, their convoy left Crescent Township. Along the way, they stopped in Carollton, Ohio to pick up supplies at a church that had also collected items for the effort. When they stopped to have lunch at a local diner, the local police chief, who had heard about their efforts, picked up their tab. “All along the route, we had police waving at us and truckers blowing their horns,” says Kriger. As they passed into Kentucky, a state police patrol even joined them and escorted them all the way to their destination. “They could not believe what we had,” says Kriger, describing the reaction among fire fighters to the convoy. “They were overwhelmed. They actually called their paid guys in on overtime to help us unload.” Muller says about 20 fire fighters helped make quick work of the process. “It went off like a military operation,” says Muller. “It took about an hour and TOP: Crescent VFD members collected aid donations and then delivered them to this Kentucky Fire Commission warehouse in Paris, Kentucky. It was empty when they arrived. BOTTOM: Volunteers help sort items at the department in Crescent. LEFT: A single donation consisted of six generators. RIGHT: Fire fighters help unload donations in the parking lot. 8 • Allegheny West Magazine • March/April 2022 8 • Allegheny West Magazine • March/April 2022CAround Your Town Around Your Town Allegheny West Magazine founder and publisher Pat Jennette has been named editor of the National Park Travelers Club’s newsletter, “The Stamp Pad.” She will oversee the production, design and distribution of the quarterly newsletter serving 2,500 paying members and over 10,000+ site participants across the country. NPTC is a national nonprofit organization of National Park enthusiasts who share a passion for the natural and historical treasures protected within the National Park system. Members engage in activities to collect the system’s 423 unit stamps, participate in regional meetups and attend a national conference. Yvonne Manske, president of the National Park Travelers Club, said in the announcement, “The Board has voted unanimously to appoint Pat Jennette as the new Stamp Pad Editor. Pat has been a member since 2016 and comes with a wealth of experience in editing and producing newsletters. We are excited to have her on board.” As the new editor, Jennette will also work with membership to keep them abreast of membership news, share stories about the National Parks, and provide a variety of news relevant to the members as it relates to the National Park system. Prior to accepting the position, Jennette owned and operated Real Visuals for RV Parks, which provided marketing for the RV park industry for four years. Previously, she founded Allegheny West Magazine and published the magazine for 15 years before selling the company to current publisher, Doug Hughey, in 2014. As publisher emeritus, she continues to write and edit for the magazine. She is formerly a resident of Imperial. A full-time RVer since 2016, Jennette and her husband, John, travel the U.S. and have made their winter home in Southern California. They have visited, to date, 118 of the nation’s 423 National Park units. They have visited 37 of the 63 official National Parks. The couple has made presentations about the National Parks over the years at RV properties and local libraries, sharing their love and passion for the National Park system. They also served for a season as volunteers at Pinnacles National Park in California. Additionally, they have shared their knowledge with students at cyber schools. Pat and John are both members of the National Park Foundation and the National Park Conservation Association. Allegheny West publisher emeritus named editor of national publication CONTENT SUBMITTED Pat Jennette is pictured at Big Bend National Park in October of 2021. STORY BY DOUG HUGHEY PHOTOS SUBMITTED half by hand to unload it all. The warehouse was empty with six bays when we got there and we filled it.” As the convoy headed home that same day, Muller snapped a picture of the sun setting atop one truck. He posted it to social media with the caption, “Mission accomplished. Heading home.” For him, the effort was reminiscent of another the department undertook in 1977 following the Johnstown flood of that year. Muller says he was a junior fire fighter at the time and that the department collected supplies over the course of two days. Fire fighters then delivered those donations directly to the affected areas. Muller recalls seeing Huey helicopters dotting the landscape on their journey. “We were just taking a cue from our elders,” he says about this most recent effort. Though the department is done collecting emergency supplies, it is continuing to fund raise to support its own operations. As part of that, the department will be holding its annual fish fry throughout Lent. For more, see page 25. March/April 2022 • www.awmagazine.com • 9Next >