Keep the fall festivity rolling after Halloween!
This SATURDAY, November 1 will be a historical tree planting for East Liberty. Beginning at 10 am and running until 4 pm, over 150 volunteers will plant 115 trees on East Liberty Boulevard in one day! Volunteers will bustle on the boulevard between Highland and Negley Ave. Sign in will be in the Peabody parking lot.

This exciting greening day is fulfilling the community wants and needs for a healthier community. East Liberty has been working on a Green Vision plan for the entire neighborhood, (which will be posted once it is available.)

This event is a partnership between East Liberty Development, Inc., TreeVitalize and Friends of the Pittsburgh Urban Forest.

Join community members, volunteers and tree tenders from around the city, bring the children for pumpkin painting and cookie decorating. Wear your Halloween costume and you’ll have a tree named after you! This will be a day of fun, community, greening and history in the making!

Ernie Hogan and Jack Pelles enjoying dinner at Abay, photo from Post Gazette

” I am often heard telling people that there is no reason to leave East Liberty for most of the things we need to do. Last Saturday my wife I had a nice dinner at one of the local restaurants before enjoying the AMAZING performance of the Wiz at the Kelly Strayhorn. A finer performance could not be found even if we had gone to Pittsburgh’s Cultural District. After the theater we had the choice of enjoying a cup of coffee or some delicious ice cream at Oh Yeah! As we walked back to our car, (on streets filled with people and no fears on a beautiful Pittsburgh night) we were drawn to the weekend’s event at the Shadow Lounge.

“We talked about the excitement of living in such a vibrant area: space to park that allows easy access to restaurants, bars and entertainment. Try the brunch at the Red Room! Enjoy the Pizza at Pizza Sola! Treat yourself to something delectable at Vanilla. I could go on and on because I have enjoyed nearly all of the restaurants and shops the East Liberty has to offer! I encourage everyone to come see why I could say ‘there is no reason to leave East Liberty. It has everything a neighborhood can offer.’”

Jack Pelles
Citizens Bank
Manager East Liberty Branch

Attention all bikers! As we mentioned before on East Liberty Post, exciting things have been happening on East Liberty Boulevard! The right lane on both sides of East Liberty Boulevard has become a bike lane and parking.

See what Bike Pittsburgh has to say!

Also, add to the Bike Lane Forum.

East Liberty Presbyterian Church is hosting a community engagement concert on Monday, November 24 at 7 p.m. This concert will feature the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

Tickets for this concert are $10 for adults in advance and $15 at the door. Students 18 and under, as well as seniors 60 and over receive a special deal of $5. For more information, contact Jessica Schmidt at 412-392-4894. To purchase tickets, call 412-361-5662.

Currently, ads are being sold in the program for this concert. A quarter page is $20, a half page is $40 and a full page is $60. Also, those who purchase a full page ad will receive two free concert tickets!

Ads need to be mailed to:

PSO 2008 Ad Program
6413 Jackson Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15206

They can also be emailed to ethanwinograd@hotmail.com. Checks should be made payable to “Dilworth PTA”. Questions can be directed to 412-352-2627. Make sure to submit yours by the November 10 deadline!

The proceeds from the ad sales and tickets will directly benefit the instrumental music programs at Pittsburgh Dilworth, Hope Academy of Music and the Arts and Rogers CAPA Middle School.

There is a new and exciting place to eat in town. Dinette specializes in thin crust pizza and has an impressive wine list that changes weekly. Aside from their menu and wine list, the restaurant makes itself unique by being committed to buying local, seasonal and organic ingredients for their food. Dinette also reuses, recycles, composts and uses energy efficient appliances to help shrink their carbon footprint.

The chef and owner, Sonja Finn, left Pittsburgh 11 years ago and got her degree in culinary arts from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. She then acquired experience cooking at restaurants in New York, North Carolina and California.

Dinette is open for dinner from 5-10 Tuesday through Thursday and 5-11 on Saturday and Sunday. For more information, call Dinette at 412-362-0202 or visit their website at www.dinette-pgh.com. Dinette is located above Fed Ex and next to Borders on Penn Circle South.

Attention smokers! The much anticipated cigarette butt receptacles are now around the neighborhood. East Liberty received a grant from Keep America Beautiful this summer for $1500. This grant was put towards ordering 16 new receptacles to place around East Liberty. This means that smokers now have a place to throw away their cigarette butts rather than litter them on the street or into the storm drains.

Receptacles have been placed around East Liberty at Capri Pizza, the Shadow Lounge, AVA, Citizens Bank, The Smoke Shop, Pizza Sola, and a few other locations.

A scan was done on August 18 to count the amount of cigarette litter before the receptacles were placed around the neighborhood. Another scan will be occurring sometime in November, a month after they were put around East Liberty. This will ensure that the receptacles are being used.

Also, just as a friendly reminder to our smoking friends in East Liberty, throwing your cigarette butts on the ground is considered littering. Please do your best to keep our neighborhood clean for our health and community pride!

On October 14th-16th, the second annual International Energy from Biomass and Waste Expo will occur to showcase innovative technologies and investment opportunities.

Who: Pittsburgh’s own Steel City Biofuels in conjunction with Freesen & Partner GmbH will host over 1,000 delegates from around the world at the 2nd annual Energy from Biomass and Waste Conference and Expo. Sponsors include Penn State University, USDA, HRG Engineering, The West Penn Power Sustainable Energy Fund, PPSEP, North American Clean Energy, Biomass Magazine, Bioenergy International, Sustainable Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Technology Council, and the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance.

What: EBW is the premier North American showcase and educational forum for the growing business of using energy and biomass waste to clean & renewable energy supplies. In addition to a traditional technology exhibition, the event features two days of conference tracks featuring targeted market, technology, finance & investment, project development, and workforce development forums.
Notable speakers confirmed to date include Dan Griffiths, Deputy Secretary of the PA DEP’s Office of Energy & Technology Development, Wilfred Muskins, Deputy Secretary of the PA DCED’s Office of International Business Development, Joel Morrison, Director of the West Penn Power Sustainable Energy Fund, Brian Kennedy, VP of Government Relations for the Pittsburgh Technology Council, and Frank Horrigan, SW Regional Director of the Governor’s Action Team.

When: October 14th 5pm-7pm- Welcome Reception
October 15th 9am-5pm- Day 1 of Conference
October 16th 9am-5pm- Day 2 of Conference

Where: David L. Lawrence Convention Center
1004 Fort Duquesne Boulevard
Pittsburgh, PA 15222

Why: As issues of energy security and environmental protection begin to dominate policy and the news, domestically produced energy from biomass and waste can provide an economically viable alternative to traditional energy sources. Now is the time for bioenergy in Pittsburgh as Pennsylvania’s natural resources and recent legislation put the state in prime position to be a national and international leader.

About Steel City Biofuels: Steel City Biofuels (SCB), a program of Penn State University (PSU), is dedicated to building the awareness, policy, technology and infrastructure necessary for the sustainable production and use of biofuels in Southwestern Pennsylvania. SCB pursues this mission through the deployment of innovative educational programs for schools, businesses and communities, demonstrations of biofuels technologies, collaborative research projects, and support for efforts to develop biofuel related policies at the Federal, State, and Local levels.

GTECH and Steel City biofuels give a demonstration of how to make biofuels.

GTECH Stretegies would like to share the good news of their successful event to promote green jobs and the importance of alternative energies.

A note from GTECH
Friends,

If you were there, you know. If you weren’t there you missed out! However, you can see photos of the great work that was done at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/30961046@N05/

Whether it was The Boy Scouts shuttling seeds, MLK Murals showing their stuff, Mr. Fisher’s harmony, Steel City Biofuels making biodiesel, or Billy’s Gold Door cooking up some good stuff, it was a pretty fun day.

For those of you who cut, carried, snipped and shucked, thanks for all of your hard work! We can’t believe how much we got done in such a short period of time. For those who helped organize, provide materials, services, shelter, electricity and clean up, we couldn’t have done it without you. THANK YOU!

For all of you, thank you for the privilege of working in such an inspiring community. We are grateful for the opportunity and look forward to growing together!

Humbly,

The GTECH Team

(Andrew, Chris, Maureen, & Josh)
Growth Through Energy & Community Health

Top: Union Project’s Eat UP Cafe, Bottom: Richard Chen’s private room

East Liberty’s dining district has been receiving kudos again for its wide array of restaurants and cafes! With a diversity among cultural cuisine, price range and atmosphere, many are looking at East Liberty as the place to enjoy an evening out or a bite before a community meeting.

Read these local reviews from the Post Gazette and the City Paper of Richard Chen’s or Eat UP Cafe. Ranging from the high end Pan-Asian cuisine to the community-based, local-youth-run East UP Cafe at the Union Project, there is room for everyone’s taste!

The Pittsburgh Gospel Choir (under the auspices of River City Brass Band), presents its debut concert at East Liberty Presbyterian Church, Saturday, November 15, at 4 p.m.

Under the direction of Dr. Herbert V.R.P. Jones, get ready for a star-studded event filled with hymns, African-American sacred music, spirituals and choral pieces including “The Church’s One Foundation” by M. Roger Holland, III.

The Pittsburgh Gospel Choir has been led since its founding by Dr. Herbert V.R.P. Jones, one of the nation’s foremost figures in choral conducting and pedagogy and an expert in the intersection between theology and musical expression. A Pittsburgh native, Dr. Jones has cultivated a broad-based, multifaceted career as a choral conductor, educator, operatic bass-baritone, liturgical dancer and pastor, teaching and performing across the United States and Europe.

Featured guests include 28 virtuosos of River CIty Brass Band, guitarist Joe Negri and more! Pittsburgh Gospel Concert is a multi-ethnic, multi-generational choral unit in Pittsburgh.

Come and witness the excitement! There is NO ADMISSION COST, but donations will be accepted. For details, call 412-613-5825 or visit pittsburghgospelchoir.org.