Brownsville Community Festival August 6th

Last year's Community Festival attracted about 1700 people to the Brownsville downtown area and officials are hoping for a larger turnout this year.  The festival will begin at 10am on August 6.

A highlight of the day will be the "duck race," which will take place at 3:30 p.m. along the Monongahela River, starting at the historic Inter-County Bridge, which was recently renovated.  Numbered rubber ducks will be dropped from the bridge into the river and the first three "sponsored" ducks carried by the current over the finish line at the wharf will win prizes.  Nearly 1,000 ducks were dropped last year.  It costs $5 to sponsor a duck.

First prize is a two-night stay in Pittsburgh with dinner and a show, valued at $500.  Second place will receive a $250 Dick's Sporting Goods gift card. Third place will receive a $100 Walmart gift card.
There will be a corporate duck race that coincides with the main race. The ducks can be purchased leading up to the festival by calling Brownsville Area Revitalization Corp (BARC) at 724-785-9331 or at the BARC tent on the day of the festival.

Other festival activities include games, face painting, a climbing wall, play spaces, a petting zoo, pony rides and other forms of entertainment along Market Street throughout the day, ending at about 6 p.m. There will be a morning 5K run sponsored by Brownsville Area High School and a community parade will take place at 11 a.m. Following the parade, dance companies will perform and a Brownsville Rotary talent show featuring local students will take place on stage in the downtown area's center parking lot.  A classic car show will be set up downtown and restaurants, fire companies and community organizations will man ethnic food booths.

There will be a break from activities around 4 p.m., when a motorcycle run sponsored by the Nicholson Cancer Fund of Connellsville travels through downtown. More than 350 motorcycles are expected.
Those wanting to participate in the motorcycle run can register by calling Jeff Halfhill at 724-331-6243. Vendor space is $25 plus $5 for electricity, if needed. To register a classic car in the festival, call Charlie Perkins at 724-970-7462.

Fountain At The Point To Be Repaired

Fountain at The Point

Pittsburgh's iconic fountain at The Point draws its water from a fourth "underground" river which runs beneath the Ohio River.  The fountain, which opened in 1974, has worked only sporadically since 2009 because of mechanical problems and general disrepair. It is scheduled for complete rehabilitation starting in fall and ending sometime in 2012.

The fountain stopped running last July when officials decided it needed extensive repairs and added it as the fourth phase of a $42 million, five-year park renovation that is mostly state-funded, with donations from Riverlife specifically for the fountain.  Some of the original design elements of the 1970s were never completed because of lack of money at the time.  The current restoration will revive some of those elements, including a raised plaza that would make it easier for people to sit along the fountain's granite edges.  Additions will include a waterfall inside the fountain base and energy-efficient lighting to permit nighttime illumination in colors.

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Pittsburgh's Underground River