for orchid lovers
The Orchid Society of Western Pennsylvania’s annual show is Saturday, March 21, from 10 to 5 and Sunday, March 22, from 10 to 4 at the Phipps Garden Center, 1059 Shady Avenue. The show—an excellent chance to learn about and buy orchids—is free and open to the public.
See hundreds of orchids in full bloom in beautifully staged exhibits and arrangements. Free classes, plant raffles and sales by vendors from all over the eastern United States and Ecuador, dubbed “the Orchid Garden of the World” with 4,000 some documented varieties.
For more information about the show, call Carolyn Bolton at 412-714-0263. For some interesting history about Mt. Lebanon resident and Orchid Society founder Grete Holst Evans, see our story [1].
[2]eat, dance, bid for charity
The Dormont-Mt. Lebanon-Castle Shannon Rotary Club presents its annual Taste of the South Hills fundraiser at 6:30 p.m., Saturday, March 21, at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church on Gilkeson Road. About 20 local restaurateurs will serve up their best, backed by the music of No Bad Juju [3], with lots of cool stuff to be auctioned off. Over the past eight years, proceeds from the event have benefitted about 30 area charities. Serving on the Rotary Board are Mike Fuson, Chris Hafner, Jason Baer, Marilyn Raimondi, Bob Watson, Bernie Deverson, John Montgomery, Reg Tate, Dan McGervey, Mark Bronczyk, Madeline Orfitelli and Bob Lloyd. On the fund-raising committee are Jim Howell, Ed Cipriano Lisa Dorn, Melissa Fuson, Susan Giegel, Chris Hafner, Sue Lauer and Mike Thuransky. For sponsorship or additional information about the event, visit www.tasteofthesouthhills.com [4].
[5]women read. and write
That’s not big news, but the Women Read/Women Write Book Festival is. This year’s festival is Sunday, March 29, from 11:30 to 5, at the Andrew Carnegie Music Hall in Carnegie. Forty authors are gathering to sign books, talk to readers, and debate literary happenings relevant to women.
On the list are Mt. Lebanon writers Maggie Horgan, author of Heart-
ifacts; Meredith Mileti, festival co-founder and author of Aftertaste: A Novel in Five Courses; Mitchell Kaplan, author of By Fire, By Water; and Karen Bush, Louise Machinist and Jean McQuillin, authors of My House, Our House. Admission to the festival is $10. In addition, three small workshops led by best-selling authors for people interested in improving their writing skills will be
available for an additional cost. More info: womenreadwomenwrite.com [6]or email info@womenreadwomenwrite.com [7].
[8]race, run, walk for a cause
Martha’s Run is one of the milestones of the racing season in western Pennsylvania. The 10K, dedicated to the memory of fallen FBI agent and Mt. Lebanon native Martha Dixon, will be Saturday, April 11, starting at the high school and ending at Dixon Field. Registration is available at www.marthadixon.org [9].
Money raised from the race has gone to beautify dozens of parks in the area, and has paid for Martha’s Playground, $50,000 worth of play equipment in Mt. Lebanon Park.
Along with the 10K, events include a 2-mile fun run, 1-mile walk, and children’s races. Fun run and walk begin at 8:30 a.m.; the 10K starts at 9, and the children’s races follow the conclusion of the 10K.
Dixon was killed in 1994 attempting to stop a gunman in a Washington, DC, police station. She received the FBI Memorial Star and Medal of Valor.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Pre-Purim seniors lunch on Tuesday, March 3, at noon, Chabad of the South Hills on McFarland Road. Lunch, special Purim program, hamentashen and good company. $5 suggested donation. Wheelchair accessible. Please preregister by calling Barb, 412-278-2658.
A celebration of Tartan Day, the Scottish version of St. Patrick’s Day, will take place from 10 to 4:30, Saturday, April 11, at Bethel Presbyterian Church, 2999 Bethel Church Road in Bethel Park. Run by the St. Andrew’s Society of Pittsburgh, the day includes food, dancing, workshops and more. No charge.
St. Winifred Women’s Guild’s card party and luncheon is Saturday, April 18, in Benedict Hall from noon to 3. Doors open at 11. $12 donation. For more information, call the Parish Office at 412-344-5010.
Save the date for the Mt. Lebanon Foundation for Education’s Taste of Lebo, Saturday, April 18. Uptown restaurants will compete in the Battle of the Appetizers, where attendees will vote on the best appetizer. More info next month.
Commonwealth Computer Recycling will be in the parking lot behind the library collecting electronic devices from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday, March 28.
There is no charge to drop off phones and cellphones, printers, and most computer items, except those with CRT monitors (the old ones that look like a TV).
There will be a $10 charge for CRT monitors and consumer appliances such at radios, blenders, DVD or VHS players, vacuums and hair dryers. Items not accepted are: refrigerators, air conditioners, dehumidifiers, batteries, lightbulbs and TVs. View the complete list of accepted items at www.ccrcyber.com [10].
Commonwealth Computer Recycling will also have data destruction equipment onsite crushing hard drives. If you have a hard drive that you don’t want to recycle because of security issues, this process will provide some peace of mind. The cost for data destruction is $10 per hard drive.
The Women’s Golf Association of Mt. Lebanon meets at Mt. Lebanon Golf Course every Tuesday from April through September. Residents and non-residents, all skill levels, welcome. For more info, call Sharon Ackerman, 412-480-3319.
AUTHOR LECTURE Award-winning author Stewart O’Nan will be the speaker for the library’s Joseph Wertheim Memorial Author Lecture, 7 p.m., Tuesday, March 24, at Mellon Middle School Auditorium. O’Nan’s award-winning fiction includes Snow Angels, A Prayer for the Dying, Last Night at the Lobster, and Emily, Alone. Granta literary magazine named him one of America’s best young novelists. His new novel, West of Sunset, published in January, is a portrait of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s last years in Hollywood. His nonfiction works include The Circus Fire and Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the Historic 2004 Season, which he co-wrote with Stephen King.
SAVE THE DATE On March 5, state Rep. Dan Miller will host the 2015 Children and Youth Disability and Mental Health Summit, from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, March 11 and 12, at Beth El Congregation, 1900 Cochran Road. The event will include workshops and a resource expo. For more information, call 412-343-3870 or visit www.pahouse.com/miller [11].
Have an event? Send the info to events@mtlebanon.org [12].