Weather doesn't dampen spirits
CRANBERRY TWP — Cranberry Community Days was interrupted briefly Thursday night when dark storm clouds blew in from the north about 6 p.m.
Event organizers told vendors and attendees to take cover in their cars or in picnic shelters when a storm broke out.
The rain lasted only about 20 minutes, and the carnival rides, live entertainment and other events resumed afterward, said Bruce Mazzoni, chairman of the Cranberry Township Community Chest, which organizes the event.
Some vendors left early, and most of the car cruise participants also left.
“I feel bad for the food vendors because it happened right at dinner time,” Mazzoni said.
Community Days, celebrating its 40th anniversary, is in the community park on Route 19. It runs from 4 to 11 p.m. today and from 1 to 11 p.m. Saturday.
Chain-saw carver Ken Tynan of Butler is working on a sculpture of Pirates-great Roberto Clemente during the event.
When finished, it will be placed in Graham Park near the Miracle League field, which is being resurfaced as part of the Community Chest's 2016 project of the year.
Tynan said that Clemente in a batting stance will emerge as the three-day event progresses, but it will take several weeks to finish it.
“There are a lot of details. I have to do all the folds and wrinkles and put the number on the shirt and the Pirates logo on the hat,” he said.
Before the rainstorm, some residents displayed classic cars in the car cruise.
George Linder displayed his 1966 Ford Twin I-beam pickup truck that he bought in 1990 and has 93,000 miles.
Linder and his wife Carol Linder have lived together in the township since 1950.
“I remember when Route 19 was a two-lane highway and you knew everyone in the township,” he said.
Linder said that he remembers hunting for deer on the property that became the park and working on the farm that would later become the dog park.
“I'm glad it is the park and not another housing plan,” he said about the property.
Dorothee Landgraf of Cranberry brought her two children, ages 2 and 4, to enjoy the rides and the inflatables area.
Landgraf, a native of Germany, said she has found the township to be a good place to raise a family since coming here three years ago.
“It's really nice. It's really kid friendly,” she said.
The Cranberry Township Community Chest uses the festival each year to launch its project of the year.The 2017 project of the year is the CTCC SportsCourts at Graham Park. The Community Chest wants to raise $750,000, including an anticipated $100,000 at Community Days, to install a variety of new sports courts in the park.The project includes eight pickleball courts, as well as tennis, basketball, shuffleboard and other courts.Mazzoni said that the feedback from residents for the plan has been positive.“People are excited for it, especially the pickleball. I've heard from a lot of people about the pickleball courts,” he said.A fundraiser and launch for the project, Martinis with Monet, was Wednesday night and attended by about 325 people, he said.On display next to the amphitheater during Community Days is a 1,400-pound steel sculpture commissioned by the Cranberry Artists Network to help promote and celebrate the project.The sculpture is of a ball being held up by two hands. It will be moved around the township during the campaign and will later be placed permanently in Graham Park.It was made by Curt Bondi, a welder, and designed by Duane Cacali and Noele Reynolds of the Artists Network.“The hands represent the support that the people are giving Cranberry during the project,” Cacali said.The proceeds of Community Days go to the nonprofit groups that participate, including the Lions and Rotary clubs.The Lions will sell bison burgers today and have a pancake breakfast from 7:30 to 11 a.m. Saturday. The Sunrise Rotary Club will have a beanbag tournament at 2 p.m. Saturday.New this year, the Pittsburgh Flying Disc Society is running a six-hole disc golf course that is open to beginners and free to play.Saturday night will conclude with a fireworks at 9:30 p.m.For information about the event, visit www.ctcchest.org.
