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It turns out that other things have been happening besides International Village ...

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Penn State 'Pinning' Ceremony: Incoming students at Penn State's campus in McKeesport will be "pinned" during the annual academic convocation Friday morning in the Wunderley Gymnasium.

Chief Academic Officer Kurt Torell will welcome each student, who will receive a pin from Greater Allegheny Campus signifying their entrance into the university.

Torell says the convocation is the first day for students and their families to become "acclimated" to the campus.

The keynote speaker will be Veronica Montecinos, professor of sociology at the Greater Allegheny Campus, a spokeswoman said.

More details at Penn State's website.

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Now Hear This: Mike Mauer, housing counselor at the Mon Valley Initiative, was a guest last Saturday on the Rev. Jay Geisler's talk show, "Focus on the Mon Valley."

Also interviewed was City Councilman Darryl Segina, who is retiring as chairman of the International Village Committee.

You can download the program at the TalkShoe website. "Focus on the Mon Valley" airs at 6 a.m. on McKeesport-licensed (but Greentree-based) WMNY (1360).

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Blues Festival Successful: Joyce Rothermel, chief executive officer of Duquesne's Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, reports that last weekend's Pittsburgh Blues Festival was a success, despite the threat of rain on Saturday.

Although the financial reports aren't yet complete, she says, "the weekend was well attended, and revenues should be good." About 12 tons of food was donated on Friday by Blues Festival concertgoers, Rothermel says.

(A slideshow of the Blues Festival --- held at Hartwood Acres county park, north of Pittsburgh --- is available online.)

Meanwhile, the federal stimulus package has allowed the food bank to hire five workers through the AmeriCorps VISTA program. The workers will help other organizations that distribute food to improve their volunteer support and public relations.

Despite the fact that the economy seems to be recovering slowly, demand at the food bank remains high --- Rothermel says the August food distribution in Duquesne supported 750 families, up approximately 200 households from the month before.

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Farm Stands Open Thru Nov. 12: In a related story, farm stands remain open on Wednesdays and Thursdays throughout the Mon-Yough area, according to the Food Bank's Iris Valanti.

The Mon Yough Community Services Farm Stand at 500 Market St., Downtown, is open from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Wednesdays, while another at the Westinghouse Valley Human Services Center, 519 Penn Ave., Turtle Creek, is open from 12 noon to 3 p.m. Wednesdays.

On Thursdays, a farm stand is open at the Dairy Mart on Second Avenue in Hazelwood from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m, and at Lifespan Senior Center, 530 Miller Ave., Clairton, from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

The farm stands are designed to provide fresh, Pennsylvania-grown produce to urban communities and are open to the public. They accept cash, WIC coupons, senior citizen nutrition coupons and EBT cards. Call (412) 460-3663, extension 216, for details.

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Eat'n Park Threatened?: Pat Cloonan of the Daily News reports that Eat'n Park's city location --- a fixture Downtown from the very beginnings of the chain --- may close as a result of construction of the new "flyover" ramp connecting the Industrial Center of McKeesport to Lysle Boulevard.

Part of the restaurant's parking lot is likely to be taken by Allegheny County in an eminent domain proceeding.

City and county officials claim they're close to an agreement to trade Eat'n Park a portion of a neighboring alley for creation of a new parking lot. But Cloonan reported Wednesday that Eat'n Park executives aren't happy with the proposed swap but are "hopeful" they can come to an agreement.

An Eat'n Park spokesman told Cloonan that the restaurant chain would like to remain in the city, but "losing a good portion of our property is going to make it difficult."

Opened in 1952, the city location is the sixth-oldest in the Homestead-based chain.

Creation of the flyover ramp is considered crucial to marketing the industrial park on the former U.S. Steel National Works site. Access is currently limited to two narrow railroad crossings at Locust and Center streets.