Category: Events || By

With gas prices above $4 a gallon in most of the Mon-Yough area, there's no better time to look for low-bucks entertainment that's not too far to drive.

So there's no better time for the annual McKeesport City Fair, which kicks off at 6 tonight at Helen Richey Field in Renziehausen Park along Eden Park Boulevard.

It's the seventh year for the five day celebration of the start of summer. Events continue nightly from 6 to 11 p.m. and wrap up Saturday, naturally, with fireworks (after all, we are in western Pennsylvania).

Admission and parking are free.

According to Patti Bosnak, vice president of the city Recreation Board, more than a dozen rides will be operated by LAM Enterprises, owned by Lloyd Serfas of Greenock, Elizabeth Township.

"They try to have something different every year," Bosnak says.

Ride-all-night price is $12 per person, per evening, she says. Games and souvenir stands will also be manned.

Food will include traditional treats such as funnel cake, cotton candy, french fries with toppings, corn dogs and fresh lemonade. In addition, local restaurants will also have booths at the fair; Mama Pepino's will be selling pizza and gyros, Farmer's Pride Poultry will have chicken-on-a-stick, halushki, hot dogs and hot sausage, and Dell's Dessert Hut will have ice cream.

The city Recreation Board has tried to fill some of the void left when the Mon-Yough Riverfront Entertainment Committee, or MYREC, disbanded several years ago.

Besides Bosnak, members include president Ron Melocchi, Jennifer Shields, Tammy Toth, Cheryl Cotter, Cyndi James and Chuck Jarrell.

Board members coordinate fair activities with city Parks and Recreation Director Jim Brown, Bosnak says.

. . .

Good Neighbor Day: The city fair isn't the only event underway in the city this week. The annual "Good Neighbor Day" celebration will be underway tomorrow on Fifth Avenue, Downtown, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Owners of local businesses and representatives from local non-profit agencies will be on hand with free giveaways and to answer questions.

. . .

Oil Company Brought to Its Knees: Last week I mentioned that the Fueland store on Lebanon Church Road in Dravosburg had been among the first local self-service gas stations to go above $4 per gallon.

Well, get a load of this. After I posted that picture, they dropped back to $3.979.

Behold the awesome power of the Tube City Almanac! Bwa-ha-ha-ha!

Say, you don't think it has anything to do with the fact that the 7-Eleven on West Fifth Avenue stayed under $4, do you?

Nah, it's got to be this crummy website.