Kittanning Lights Up the Night!

by Jonathan Weaver

A year after a water issue cancelled Light Up Night Kittanning activities on Market Street, residents now have a way of counting down until the holiday season.

Between 5:30 and 8:30PM Friday, local and regional residents flooded Market Street for food, family fun and to see Santa Claus be driven in on the top of the Hose Company #1 ladder truck.

Motor traffic on main streets was shut off an hour earlier.

The parade route shortened for 2013, and instead just focused on South Jefferson and Market Streets. It was led by the Kittanning Senior High School band, which performed “Jingle Bell Jam” and “Christmas Promenade”.

After waving to children atop the fire truck Santa Claus turned on the lights and went inside the Rosebud Mining training center for photographs and to listen to each child’s wish list.

“It’s been beautiful – I get to see all these little kids. It (was) a special night,” Santa said.

Turney Luke, a member of Downtown Kittanning, Inc., has been responsible for storing and maintaining outdoor lights in Riverfront Park and on Borough streets for 25 years. It costs about $1,000 per year to maintain the 1,000 individual lights, with funding come from local businesses.

“When I got involved, I just wanted to bring some of the memories back for the kids so that they had a sense of community. It’s important because you’re just not going to have a community without youth,” Luke said. “You have to get them interested – someone eventually has to take this over.”

Luke said there were some electrical problems earlier this month, but that Harry Lloyd of Rocket Electrical in Kittanning repaired the timers and relay switches just in time.

The lights and banners will be hung through New Years 2014. The boots and drummer boys have been lit since 2004 and the snowflakes in Riverfront Park since 2000.

Luke is worried about what local residents might see in the future because of plans to revitalize Market Street that would include underground electrical wires, thus eliminating the fixtures.

“If there are no telephone poles, we obviously won’t be able to hang a fixture on it,” Luke said. “And you have to have about a 14-foot clearance from the (street).”

Hose Company #1 Fire Chief Gene Stephens asked Santa for a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

At least two of the floats in the parade were first-time participants.

One was full of Salvation Army teens and adults throwing candy and Lieutenant Jason Imhoff and Western Pennsylvania Band Master David LaBossiere playing Christmas carols on the euphonium.

Lieutenant Amber Imhoff said the Salvation Army was prepared to have a float last year as well before events were cancelled. Teens also made a few hundred cookies for the Salvation Army canteen near the Santa photos.

Nearly three dozen Cub Scouts aged 5-10 from Pack 670 in Ford City also joined the parade and rode on a circus train. All participants made masks with either lions, tigers, bears, wolves or elephants drawn.

Cubmaster Amy Kamis said the group always wanted a float, but were able to provide one this year thanks to Den Leader Randy Reesman and wife Irene.

Randy is a farmer in Kittanning Township and transported the kids along with Den Leaders Holly Baker and Tina Martin. Den Leader Jason Heilman also helped kids prepare, but was not able to attend.

2013 Dayton Fair Queen Katie Kasanicky and Newly-elected Borough First-Ward Councilman David Croyle also threw candy to children along the parade route.

At 6:30PM, 20 local residents competed in the pie-eating contest on the F&M Bank Plaza stage. Each contestant could only touch the pie with their face, and had 60 seconds to eat the most.

Even though Kittanning Senior High Freshman Daunte Ion likes cherry pie the best, he competed for the top prize with his mom, Melissa, for the first time.

“It was pretty good pie, though. Just inhale,” Daunte said.

Melissa was also not confident in her results, saying the pie went up her nose during the competition. Judges weighed the pies before and after the competition to determine who ate the most.

Daunte, who ate about a pound-and-a-half of his pie, is looking forward to eating homemade pie baked by his grandmother, Karen Stewart of Apollo, Thursday for Thanksgiving.

Kittanning Senior High Sophomore Cade Hepner was announced as the winner.

Hepner competed in the contest alongside 10 other Kittanning Wildcat football players after the team heard about it at school. Hepner ate about a pound-and-a-half of his two-and-a-half pound pie to win the contest, and won a $100 bill from State Rep. Jeff Pyle’s office. He plans to spend the money on Christmas gifts for himself.

The winner two years ago, Lance Black, did not compete due to a work conflict.

Later that evening, Light Up Night Kittanning Member Jack Bennett presented the window decorating contest trophy to County Seat Co-Owner Betty Silagyi.

Betty and husband Terry of Worthington (who have operated the restaurant since 1975) credited Nadeen Miller of West Kittanning with the concept.

“I built it in about two days. We came down and installed it one afternoon,” Miller said. “The tree we had before because we used it in the window a couple years ago and those are (the Silagyi) daughters stuffed animals from when they were a child.”

The North Pole was also utilized in a different window display, and Miller’s husband, Bud, helped with the train. She concluded that it was a fun project.

Betty said the display is handmade each year. The restaurant will have the trophy in the window during the holiday season and then a placard afterward.

“This is for Kittanning, and to make it new. Bring people downtown,” Betty said.

Chamber of Commerce Executive Director (and DKI Secretary) Linda Pozzuto said the dozen windows in the competition were judged by Rural Valley residents and said it was a close competition.

“The toss-up was between Jordan’s Paint and the County Seat – (those were) the two they were debating between. It was a close tie between the two, and finally they went with the County Seat because there’s was all handmade so that took a little bit more creativity,” Pozzuto said.

Throughout the evening, families were able to get their faces painted by Lenape Tech cosmetology students, receive balloon animals from the Shriner clowns and listen to music outside the 700 Shop.

Music was played by six Kittanning Senior High soloists: Ian Delp on tenor saxophone, Mike Hopwood on alto saxophone, Nate Stoughton on trombone, Toby Johns on trumpet, Lizzie Murray on oboe and Frances Kirby on clarinet

Hopwood – also the marching band senior drum major – has been playing alto saxophone for nine years. He announced that he is coordinating with Band Director Pat Cavanaugh on a Christmas variety show the first weekend of December.

Luke said the outdoor music is a Light Up Night Kittanning tradition.

“We’ve had band solos for – well, it seems like forever now. Out front, every half-hour there’s a new student that plays a different instrument and plays all holiday music,” Luke said. “It’s really nice. People like it. We always support the local kids. A lot of people play and just don’t have the venue where they can show what they can do, so we try to give the upperclassman a chance to do that.”

The evening concluded with about 15 minutes of fireworks shot off over the Allegheny River.

Glory on High Fireworks Owner Ken Traister and his crew set off fireworks from Brown’s Landing near the bridge in Ford City.

Fireworks were also planned for last year, but were rescheduled for during the ‘Waves of Thunder’ in June due to the water emergency.

“All the emergency personnel were tied up with supplying the town with whatever they needed, and all the businesses that were shut down were paying the bill for the fireworks. It would not have benefitted anyone to do fireworks when all the businesses were shut down,” Traister said. “I agree with what they had to do.”

Various aspects of Light Up Night Kittanning have been added during the last two decades. Residents recall that instead of hanging figures, about 1,000 luminaries lit Market Street during the 1980’s or that the parade used to end with children receiving candy or $1 in a Rosebud parking lot.

There were also stars hung from street poles before the current signs on side streets and boots and drummer boys.