The Baldwin Borough Historical Society meets monthly at the Baldwin Borough Library on 41 Macek Drive; Pittsburgh, PA - 15227. It has an interesting Web Page with newsletters going back to 2005 containing a lot of local history. Try www.15122.com/baldwinhistoricalsociety/ It also has nearby trivia on the McKee family; Isaly's; the restoration and moving of the historic Willett log cabin and a local cookbook for just five dollars. This site comes from Jacky Drozd Basl who worked with my wife years ago at Duquesne Light Company which no longer exists as we knew it. Neither does the high school Jacky attended as did Nancy Call, Rich's wife, known as South Hills High School.

John Petchel

Coaching ∙ Midland High School, Beaver County
While John Petchel was head football coach at Midland High School (1951-1959), his teams compiled a 59-20-6 record. He coached the Leopards to the WPIAL Class A title in 1952 when they defeated German Township High in a 14-6 championship thriller. Midland shared the WPIAL Class B crown with North Braddock in 1954 after a 7-7 tie in the playoff finals. Before coming to Midland, John had been an assistant football coach at Baldwin High School from 1946 to 1948. He then returned to his alma mater Duquesne University to serve as freshman football coach in 1949 and assistant varsity coach in 1950. John graduated from Freeland High School in 1938 after four years of football, basketball, and baseball. He played college football at Duquesne from 1938 to 1941 as a quarterback for Coach Buff Donelli. John was a member of the famous Duquesne “Sweet Sixteen” players who went through three seasons with only one defeat. After graduating from college in 1942, John followed Coach Donelli to the Cleveland Rams and played two seasons there as a quarterback. He was quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1945 season before starting his coaching career. John retired from teaching in 1975 because of ill health. His two sons followed him into coaching: John, 32, served as assistant football and track coach at Canon-McMillan High School, and Bob, 30, was a wide receiver coach at the University of Virginia after stints as assistant coach for Joe Yukica at Dartmouth and Joe Paterno at Penn State.
Note: The Cleveland NFL Rams later moved to Los Angeles and then to St. Louis where they are today.

© Beaver County Sports Hall of Fame ∙ Established September 18, 1975 ∙ Email: webmaster@bcshof.org ∙ Website Credits

This beautiful travel itinerary is by BHS 1952 alum - Georgia Webb. Her late brother, Dave, graduated with me in 1951. Georgia now lives in Charlottesville, Virginia, another lovely area. At this time of our lives many are planning trips abroad and this is a wonderful description of her experiences in the Emerald Isle. Enjoy/s/Jack.

Well, I've fallen in love with Ireland. We arrived there at 7:00 A.M. on Tuesday morning, March 11th, and were met by our guide Arlene who came in with a group from Chicago, and Philip Duffy, our bus driver, who was without a doubt the most charming, delightful, funny, informative person I've ever met. Before going to the hotel, he took us for a two-hour + tour of Dublin, past Trinity College, Christ Church and St. Patrick's Cathedral. Did you know that St. Patrick's was built 1600 years ago? Also did you know that both Christ Church and St. Patrick's are protestant churches? After Ireland gained its independence from England and the people were no longer forced to belong to the Church of England, they tried to give St. Patrick's back to the Catholic Church, who refused their offer because they said the upkeep would be too costly. However, Catholic services are held there. St. Patrick's is now undergoing some restoration.

The weather was windy and rainy. We checked into the Trinity Capital Hotel, which was great. That evening we went to O'Neil's Pub for dinner and had corned beef and cabbage (which I found out they don't eat very much. It's considered a poor man's meal, and they have it on the menu because Americans request it.) The walk back to the hotel was rough for me as we were having gale winds (40mph).

Wednesday the weather was worse. I stayed in the hotel, but my roommate ventured out and walked through rain, sleet, hail, wind, etc. (Glad I stayed in.) That night we were treated to a welcome dinner at the Merry Ploughboys Pub which is about 45 minutes from Dublin near the mountains. The food was great. And the entertainment was fantastic. They had a traditional Celtic band and Celtic dancers. And a special treat of some Irish Coffee after dessert.

Of course there are some wonderful historical things in Dublin but in general I thought it was an overcrowded concrete jungle. They actually have more taxicabs in Dublin than in New York City. And the way the city is laid out is very confusing. The architecture is a mixture of medieval and modern -- the modern using lots and lots of glass.

Early Thursday morning we headed to Waterford and toured the Waterford Crystal factory. Fascinating place. Each piece of Crystal is individually handmade. There's no such thing as a "second." If a piece is not perfect it is destroyed. Had lunch there then headed to the most charming little fishing town called Kinsale, located in County Cork. Now it's beginning to look like the Ireland I had imagined! Kinsale is a small village, the houses are all connected (what we would call row houses) and each painted a different color, blues, yellows, purples. And all over Ireland the doors to the houses are painted brilliant colors. Philip said this is because the English commanded everyone to paint their doors black to mourn the death of Queen Victoria, so the Irish, being that they didn't think much of the English, painted their doors every color but black. We stayed at the Trident Hotel which is spectacularly located at the water's edge.

I will note here that all throughout the countryside we saw the remains of old castles and monasteries which were destroyed by Cromwell. He was responsible for the death of over a million Irish (which at that time had a population of about 8 million.) Philip also told us about the potato famine which brought so many Irish to the United States. The population of Ireland now is 3.5 million, but about 1.2 million live in Dublin. So that means there are about 50 people per 130 square miles.

Mid-morning Friday we departed for Charles Fort which dates back to the 17th century, then on to Blarney Castle, which was beautiful (no, I didn't kiss the Blarney stone, but Philip said it's perfectly acceptable to kiss the stone "by proxy"). Lunch and shopping at Blarney Woolen Mills which is probably the best place to shop in Ireland. What beautiful woolen sweaters, blankets, etc.! Then on to Killarney, checked into the Killarney Plaza Hotel.

Saturday we had an absolutely breathtakingly beautiful excursion of the Dingle Peninsula. Around each curve of the road was another spectacular scene of mountains meeting the sea. This is where the movie "Ryan's Daughter" was made. Also a hideaway for many famous people. We saw several "beehive houses" which are small round huts (similar in shape to an igloo) made of stone, that date back to 2000BC. These little huts were used by the shepherds as a shelter from the sea. Of course, everywhere, there are sheep, sheep, and more sheep. After that perfect day we headed back to the hotel for dinner.

Sunday morning we drove to Adare, a picturesque village with its row of thatched-roof cottages, then to Bunratty Castle which was built in 1460 and has been fully restored and furnished with 15th to 17th century furniture and tapestries. Then in the afternoon we drove to the Cliffs of Moher which soar vertically from the sea to a height of 700 feet! Truly awesome!

After lunch we traveled through the Burren, a landscape of rocks and fissures carved out by the glaciers during the last ice age. Then on to the Park House Hotel in Galway.

Monday, we took an all-day tour to the Connemara Peninsula with its rolling hills, flowing rivers and coastal landscapes, through the Roundstone Bog to the rugged Twelve Bens mountain range. The peat from the bog was (and in some places still is) used for heat. The peat is cut four to five feet deep, cut in blocks, and laid out in the sun to dry and is then used for fuel. The highway through the bog is bumpy because there is so much moisture that the road sinks in spots. We then went to the Kylemore Abbey, the home of the Benedictine nuns in Ireland. Since this was St. Patrick's Day and the last day of our trip we were treated to a special farewell dinner at a pub near our hotel. More Irish coffee!

We left Galway at 7:45 a.m. on Tuesday, drove to Shannon Airport for our trip home. We had to go through Boston's Logan Airport, then to Dulles and arrived home around midnight.

I know that some people on the tour were expecting to see a lot of little horse-drawn carts and thatched-roof cottages, but they rarely exist. In the past 10 years the unemployment rate has gone from 14% to zero, which has a lot to do with the fact that they attracted many U.S. businesses by offering a low tax rate, and their participation in the European Union. The cost of living is extremely high. A typical lunch in a pub would cost 17-20 euros ($27-$32 at today's exchange rate). (Oh, how I dread getting my credit card bill!) Their income tax is about 40 percent. I didn't see any cars older than 2000. The food was fabulous, especially the seafood. I had seafood chowder at three different places, all a little different, but all were excellent.

The Irish are wonderful, friendly people who love Americans. They are especially proud of the fact that the son of an Irish immigrant became president of the U.S. We visited a Cathedral in Galway which has one wing especially dedicated to John F. Kennedy. They also have a very high regard for Bill Clinton for sending George Mitchell to negotiate peace in Northern Ireland.

I earlier mentioned Philip Duffy our bus driver. He is obviously very highly respected. He told us that several years ago his boss asked him to do a tour but couldn't give him any information about it, and told him to just go to Shannon Airport and someone would meet him there. Turns out there were 28 U.S. Congressmen who were going to Northern Ireland on a fact-finding mission regarding encouraging some U.S. businesses to locate there. He was extremely proud of having had a small part in that.

Another fact I didn't know: Ireland was THE ONLY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD, to call for a full day of mourning for the victims of 9/11. They closed every shop and business in the country. We didn't even do that. In 2005 Ireland decided to give all the widows of the NY firefighters and police officers who had died a trip to Ireland. Philip drove them. The head nurse at one of the hospitals in New York, Bridget O'Sullivan, was Irish and after 9/11 had moved back to Kinsale, built a home, and in her garden planted a tree for every one of the policemen and firefighters who had died and put their names on the trees, and in some cases a picture. Philip said when he took the women there it was the most emotional thing he had ever experienced.

Some parts of the trip were a little difficult for me, and there were a couple things I simply could not do, but I'd go back again in a minute. I can't say enough for Mayflower Tours. All the hotels were wonderful and everything went smoothly. Our small group from Charlottesville met up with a group from Washington state and another group from Chicago -- also one couple from Lancaster, PA, so it was nice to meet all these different people - 42 in all.

That's all that I can think of right now, so all I can say is Erin Go Bragh!

This is from the South Hills Record. John has really done a lot for our old stomping grounds and the bike trail connection to Washington, D.C. sounds great. I wonder if the Levitski Brothers still own those "shabby Route 51" places the article discusses? /s/Jack

Businessman John Slater awarded

by William West
Staff Writer
March 20, 2008

John Slater deals with death on a regular basis.

Caskets, flowers and sobbing people fill his workplace every week. But Slater -- a man who has made funerals his livelihood -- spends many of his free hours helping to breathe life into the communities of Baldwin, Brentwood and Whitehall.

For his work, the South Hills Record editorial board named the Brentwood business owner Citizen of the Year for 2008.

Aside from owning the funeral home on Brownsville Road that bears his name, Slater, 54, also serves as chairperson of the non-profit organization Economic Development South and as president of the Brentwood Business Owners Association.

His involvement with the organizations makes him the face of commercial revitalization for the area. Slater embraces the leadership positions, but dislikes the spotlight that comes with them.

Standing at the doorway of his funeral home on Monday, waiting to have his picture taken, Slater appeared apprehensive. He wasn't insecure, just wary of the celebrity treatment.

"There is no 'comfortable' when there's picture taking," Slater said.

Fame, even on a local level, is not something he wanted. Slater always envisioned his efforts as one part of a much bigger whole.

"A rising tide lifts all boats," Slater said. "When people begin to fix their properties, it positively affects all other owners in the area."

Slater first developed an interest in the commercial viability of the area during the early 1990s when he joined the Brentwood, Baldwin, Whitehall Chamber of Commerce. He ascended to the presidency in 1997 and held the position until 1999.

Just before Slater became president, former Chamber of Commerce President Mac McIlrath encouraged him to check out the Brentwood Economic Task Force, which was trying to get a grocery store in what is now Brentwood Towne Square. Slater attended a task force meeting and became hooked, thus beginning his more than decade-long push to revitalize the area.

"I blame Mac McIlrath for this," Slater said.

But Slater's connection to the area stretches back farther -- even past the 1890s. His family first moved to the area in the 1850s, residing in the Pittsburgh community of Knoxville. Later generations moved to Mt. Washington and Carrick. Slater's family changed residences, but always remained in the South Hills. Slater considers himself "very fortunate" to walk the same land his father, grandfather and great grandfather once walked.

At least one of Slater's childhood memories influences him to this day. He recalls riding his bike around the South Hills as a child; now he hopes to establish a bike path connecting Pittsburgh to the trail in Jefferson Hills, which leads to Washington, D.C.

The bike trail makes up one-half of Slater's most recent initiative for the area. Having helped establish Brentwood Towne Square in 2002, Slater turned EDS's attention to Route 51. He proposed a bike trail as early as 2002, but the idea never came to fruition. In the past months, Urban Design Ventures, a community planning firm hired by EDS to study the area, again suggested a bike path be made through the South Hills.

Slater's current plans also include a complete renovation of the properties along 51, as well as revitalization of more than 15 shopping centers in the Brentwood, Baldwin and Whitehall areas.

There have been obstacles along the way. Allegheny County declined to get involved with dilapidated properties along Route 51. Property owners refused to maintain their buildings and land. All the while, Slater maintained hope.

McIlrath, owner of McIlrath Insurance Agency in Whitehall and a friend of Slater's for 26 years, said he would have quit if faced with the challenges Slater addressed in the past several years.

"John is like a pillar of the business community," McIlrath said.

"He has impressed me by looking beyond the negatives," said Dr. Alex Lese, founder of the BBOA.

Nick Sirianni, a member of the Board of Directors for the BBW Chamber of Commerce, helped Slater get over his initial discouragements in 2002. He encouraged the EDS chairman to expand his initiatives beyond Brentwood, Baldwin and Whitehall.

"It almost gave John a breath of fresh air," Sirianni said.

Slater of course credits these three men, along with countless other business organization members, elected officials and public employees, for the improvements made to the area.

But Sirianni, expressing the sentiment of most people who have worked with Slater, thinks differently. He first met Slater nearly 30 years ago during a family member's funeral; from just a brief encounter, Sirianni said he knew Slater was someone special.

"As we left the funeral home, I felt good," Sirianni said. "I knew John would take care of everything."

Carl Backe, Baldwin 1951, sent this reminisce of the local radio broadcasts of the Pirates and Steelers. Of course, we also recall the noise of the telegraph ticker tape in the background as Rosy and Prince recreated a Pirate game played on the road. The broadcasters did not travel with the team until the early fifties as I recall. As an aside, my grandfather in Virginia was a retired telegrapher with Western Union and when several of neighborhood kids would gather at his house to hear Washington Senator games on the radio via ticker tape he would say something like "He hit a double" about five seconds before the announcers and the other kids thought he was psycic.
Carl says:
I see by the internet sport section that Myron Cope passed away at 79...I only heard him a few times do the radio broadcast for the Steelers...He was their radioman for 35 years!! Inventor of the Terrible Towel! And he had that Pgh brogue in extreme didn't he! Y'know in my life time I can remember great sport broadcasters from the Pgh area....Rosey Rosewell comes to mind and his famous "raise the window Aunt Minny, here it comes" or something like that...And Bob Prince, who spoke at the commencement of our eighth grade class at Roosevelt grade school!! I remember he spoke on giving just one iota more in whatever we wanted to do...Good stuff.

And also I remember another unique Pittsburgher, Rege Kordick, who eventually went to LA and made a name for himself there. The glory days of radio!!!

BTW you can go to www.wpix.com and nose around and hear a snippet of Myron Cope...

From the wasteland of CA where more people are leaving this bankrupt state than come here, excluding the
illegals of course...

Carl B