Power outage can't darken borough's spirit, celebration
Despite the darkness, Slippery Rock Borough gleamed.
The borough's Light Up Night celebration continued as planned Saturday, offering some an expected jovial experience and others a reprieve from their homes, darkened by a winter storm that left thousands without power through much of last weekend, according to Slippery Rock Mayor Jondavid Longo.
“It's kind of bittersweet because you had 100,000 people around the Slippery Rock area without power,” Longo said. “Everyone was happy, but it's in the back of your mind.”
Longo said as the night went by, people focused more on the lights than their hardships, and he hoped they found some comfort.
“I was happy that we were able to put a little joy into a chaotic week,” Longo said. “Folks were really excited that we were able to keep this moving.”
With some vendors unable to participate because of the storm, 19 vendors still made the trip, which is more than in the past, according to Longo.
“We had a great turnout and had a lot of positivity surrounding the whole event,” he said.
In addition to the vendors, food and appealing lights, many also rooted for their favorite trees to take home first place in the tree-decorating contest, according to Longo.
“It added a little bit of excitement and flair to our Light Up Night,” Longo said. “This was a fun, laid-back way to connect with the community and connect with one another.”
He said the contest had a little extra meaning for the Slippery Rock Police Department and Slippery Rock Volunteer Fire and Rescue Team. The departments wagered vehicle-washing duties over which of their trees would take the higher place.
“I tried to stay out of the middle of it,” Longo said.
The winners of the interdepartmental battle were the police officers, whose tree took second place in the overall competition.
The officers put together a tree that mostly made light fun of some police stereotypes that happen to ring true in their department.
They placed doughnuts, bacon and coffee ornaments to represent the fun side of their work, and then they put handcuffs, yellow tape and a tiny cruiser topper to show off the serious side as well.
Police Chief Terry Fedokovitz said he liked showing people the fun stuff.
“We went the funny route with the doughnuts and the bacon. People see it and see us as people too,” Fedokovitz said. “People laughed at it. We had a lot of good comments.”
Fedokovitz said it was good for the officers to express themselves and show that they aren't too rigid.
“We just have that stereotype,” Fedokovitz said. “We're normal people, and we have senses of humor.”
Fedokovitz said the friendly wager also showed the good relationship the two departments share.
“There's no bad feelings here between the two agencies,” Fedokovitz said. “Everybody gets along.”Fedokovitz said he wants to continue competing with the fire department at future events.“I think we're looking forward to doing a yearly thing with the fire department,” Fedokovitz said. “We're already planning it. We have next year's tree in the works already.”Fire Chief Ryan Hanchosky said his firefighters initiated the challenge. He congratulated the police department on a job well done and for the fun banter back and forth on social media.“It was a fun time picking back and forth at the police and us,” Hanchosky said. “We secretly think that the police chief has a home decorating side to him.”Hanchosky said his crew found a little time outside of dealing with the storm to prepare their tree, which featured a rolled-up fire hose and a pair of fire boots at its base along with a lot of red ornaments. Some of the ornaments were little firefighter hats, and the topper was also a firefighter helmet.Hanchosky said both departments have a lot of respect for each other, and aside from the fun will be there to answer the call of duty.“Between us and the borough cops, we're all really good friends. It's good to have a bond between the police and fire departments,” Hanchosky said. “It's good that the police and firefighters have each other's backs night or day.”Longo said the community is lucky to have two agencies that can work and play together.“Members of the fire and police departments are as close to each other as they can possibly be. They're friends and they're neighbors,” he said.He said their relationship only boosts their ability to work together to keep the peace and save lives.“There's a common denominator there, and that's public service,” Longo said.
