More than 100 people gathered at St. Clair Country Club for the Historical Society of Mount Lebanon’s annual dinner program. Jody Colby and Julie Agar planned the event with the help of society volunteers and sponsorship from The Bognar Family of Bognar & Company and Berkshire Hathaway Home Services, the Preferred Realty. Honorary dinner chair was lifelong resident and Berkshire Hathaway agent Lynn Geyer Banbury.
The evening began with cocktails, a buffet dinner and a raffle and silent auction, with historic ragtime music by vintage piano master Martin Spitznagel. Historical Society President Jim Wojcik welcomed guests to the fund-raiser, which benefits the Mt. Lebanon History Center at the corner of Lebanon Avenue and Washington Road. The center currently is closed as it undergoes a complete $1.1 million renovation that will allow it to expand programming and better showcase its extensive collection. It is expected to reopen in 2018.
Highlight of the gala was a presentation by Andy Masich, president and CEO of The Senator John Heinz History Center, on Destination Moon: Pittsburgh and the Apollo 11 Mission. An exhibition about the 1969 moon landing, which still captivates the public, will open at the Heinz History Center next September.
This year for the first time three Mt. Lebanon residents who made history were honored: The late June Delano, a former Mt. Lebanon Commissioner who also worked tirelessly for the Mt. Lebanon Conservancy and many other causes; the late John Troan, a former editor-in-chief of the Pittsburgh Press who was nationally known for his coverage of the Salk polio vaccine, and the Hon. Terry McVerry a former state legislator from this district who later served as a judge. McVerry accepted the honor in person. Delano’s children, Jonathan, Sarah and Michael Delano, and Troan’s daughter, Judy Troan Gelman, represented their parents.
Thanks to underwriting from Berkshire Hathaway, the beautiful house medallions that designate a property as located in Mt. Lebanon’s National Register Historic District were available at a discount for that evening only. To purchase a medallion (they make great gifts) or to find out more about the Historical Society of Mt. Lebanon, visit www.lebohistory.org.
To view full gallery of this event, visit visit photos.lebomag.com