Like on his show, Mister Rogers inspired wherever he went, including Saxonburg
SAXONBURG — Mister Rogers' Neighborhood apparently included Saxonburg.
With the recent release of the movie “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” starring Tom Hanks as Mister Rogers, there has been a renewed interest in the gentle children's TV show host from Pittsburgh.
One of the facts coming to light is that the soft-spoken Fred Rogers made it a habit to stop at the Hotel Saxonburg during his show's heyday.
Former hotel owner Carolyn Gentile of Adams Township said, “He was a very good customer of ours. He and his wife came up for dinner all the time.”
The Hotel Saxonburg is where Laura Santora of Penn Township met Mister Rogers in what she believes was 1975.
“I was like, 6, but I remember that he happened to be there and the place erupted,” Santora said, fondly recalling the memory of meeting the beloved PBS star. “He was so generous and took pictures with everyone,” said Santora.
Santora believes Rogers especially liked the Hotel Saxonburg because it was remote and away from the fans, although his attempt at anonymity didn't seem to work the day she encountered him.
“We were huge fans,” she said of herself and her three siblings. “We grew up with him. Of course, back in the day, you only got three channels.”
Like so many who grew up with Mister Rogers and his Neighborhood of Make-Believe, Santora's memories were brought back by the release of “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.”
Santora said, “I saw the movie opening night. It was really great. Pittsburghers will really appreciate it.”
Mister Rogers didn't just visit the hotel on his leisure time.
In fact, according to a website that chronicles “Mister Rogers' Neighborhood” episodes, Rogers featured the Hotel Saxonburg during his Nov. 17, 1982, show in which he recorded an episode at the hotel to talk about common things found at a restaurant. In the segment, Mister Rogers orders a sandwich and visits the kitchen to watch the chef prepare his food.
Gentile said, “He asked us if he could film here.”
It proved to be an all-day affair.“It was an 8-minute episode but they filmed from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.,” she said.“He was extremely concerned that there wasn't anything that children shouldn't have,” Gentile said.“One time he stopped because he was worried that the salt was too prominent on the table. He didn't want children to use too much salt. He was such a perfectionist,” she said.Kyle Knapp of Saxonburg was an 8-year-old extra during the filming at the hotel.“My parents were friends with Fred and Carolyn Gentile, who were the owners of the hotel at the time,” he said. “I went to school with Cara Gentile. I got to sit at a table with her during the filming.”Knapp said the three to four hours it took to film this part of the episode proved to be intensely boring for an 8-year-old boy.He saw Mister Rogers, but didn't talk with him.“I was more interested in the salad they gave me,” Knapp said. “We weren't supposed to eat it, but I did and they had to bring me another one.”Knapp said the four hours of tedium translated to about 10 seconds of screen time. He has found the episode on You Tube.Not only was the hotel featured on his children's show, it even had a prominent spot in Mister Rogers' home.Apparently, Mister Rogers appreciated the Hotel Saxonburg so much, he commissioned a painting of the outside of the building by Cabot artist Geraldine Freehling, according to Freehling's daughter, Judy Strezeski of Butler.“My mother ate lunch and dinner at the hotel all the time. I believe that's how they connected,” Strezeski said. “When mom met Fred Rogers, she said he was so exactly like his persona,” adding that she never met Mister Rogers.
Judy Ferree, the hotel's current owner, said Freehling's painting of the Hotel Saxonburg now hangs in the hotel's main dining room.“I bought the hotel in 2010, and I heard that he came in often for a grilled cheese sandwich,” Ferree said. “He had a usual table in the tavern section by the window in the back by the fireplace. We call it Table 6. He asked Geraldine to paint the front of the hotel. He had it in his home for many years.”Ferree said the painting was eventually given to Mister Rogers' caretaker, whose family approached her about three years ago to see if she was interested in purchasing the painting. She did.“It's back in the main dining room. It's pretty neat to have,” Ferree said.It's also pretty neat to have a connection to a beloved TV icon.Ferree said Mister Rogers fans occasionally find their way to her establishment.“We once had one young man who was a huge Mister Rogers fan,” she said.He had seen the episode in which Mister Rogers visits the hotel, and his family traveled there to see the hotel.“He was very sweet. We took him back to see the kitchen just like on the show,” she said.Gentile said the Mister Rogers you saw on screen was the same Mister Rogers you saw in real life.“One time he came to the hotel and met my youngest daughter, Cara,” she said.“She said she was sorry she didn't have on a Neighborhood T-shirt.“He said to her, 'It's not what we wear on the outside, it's what we are on the inside.' He was exactly like he was on TV,” said Gentile.
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