Many of us have a few items at home such as paint, pesticides, batteries, or other common household chemicals that we’d like to dispose of.  These items should not be put out for the regular trash collection, as their presence in landfills helps to create an environmental hazard.  Now, the PHCA can help you dispose of these items responsibly.

The next disposal event for household chemicals is out at Monroeville Mall on Saturday September 18.  We know that many people don’t have transportation, or don’t have enough items to make the trip worthwhile.  If you get these items to the PHCA office before September 18, we will take them to the event for you. The county charges a fee for disposal and we are adding a little charge for our effort, so you will need to pay us $3 a gallon for the fee and our time and cost to take stuff out there.

Acceptable items include aerosol cans, automotive fluids, batteries, chemistry sets, compact fluorescent bulbs (but not fluorescent tubes), gasoline and kerosene, household cleaners, mercury, paint products, pesticides and herbicides, photo chemicals, and pool chemicals.

No tires, bulk waste, medical waste, compressed gas cylinders, fluorescent tubes, or appliances are accepted at this event.  For more information, call 412.488.7452 or check here.

There is another upcoming event for hard-to-dispose-of items on September 25 in the Strip District.  Check here for more information on that event.

On Friday, September 10 from 6-9 p.m., the Double Wide Grill on the South Side will host a Polish Night.  There will be dancing to polka music from the Karl Lukitsch Band, and they will be serving a Polish Platter including pierogies from “A Forgotten Taste”, kielbasa, and haluski for $8.99. They will also have a Polish bottled beer.

The Double Wide Grill is in a former gas station and has carried that theme through in all decorating–much more charming than it might sound–and has a large outdoor seating area.  Double Wide is located at 2339 E. Carson Street; for more information check out their Facebook page or call 412.390-1111.

We already did a post about this, but this is an important issue that could affect communities around Pittsburgh for decades to come, so here’s a reminder.

State Senator Jim Ferlo will host a Tele-Town Hall Meeting to discuss deepwell drilling of the Marcellus Shale on Thursday, September 9 from 6-7 p.m.  This innovative meeting format will include a panel of public health, environmental, regulatory, labor and industry experts in the natural gas extraction field.

The Marcellus Shale is a geological formation found under Pennsylvania, New York, and West Virginia between 5,000 and 8,000 feet below the surface.  The formation is estimated to hold 500 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, enough to power the United States for decades.  This fossil fuel resource possesses enormous opportunities, but perhaps even more environmental, public health, economic, and social challenges.

Please join Senator Jim Ferlo by phone on September 9th to learn more from a panel of experts on the “Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” of the Marcellus Shale natural gas deposits.  To participate, Dial 1-888-886-6603 Ext. 15390#.

This tele-town hall meeting is intended to allow maximum participation by the public by offering a toll-free number, so constituents can listen and ask questions from the comfort of their home.  Call 1-888-886-6603 Ext. 15390# between 5:55 p.m. and 7 p.m. to listen in on the important town hall meeting to learn more about the Marcellus Shale’s expected impacts on Pennsylvania residents.  The event will also be streaming live online at www.senatorferlo.com where the meeting may be seen continuing past the first hour.  For more information, call Senator Ferlo’s Pittsburgh office at 412-621-3006 and ask for Mikhail Pappas.

West Penn Recreation Center (now referred to by Citiparks as the West Penn Community Center) has been a presence in Polish Hill since the 1930′s.  But in recent years, the center has had only minimal engagement with the neighborhood.  The center experienced low usage during the years of population decline and high crime, and was closed for several years.  After the center was re-opened, many of the people who use it regularly are kids from St. Benedicts and folks from nearby neighborhoods.  Polish Hill doesn’t have a lot of kids right now, but we do have lots of new young (and youngish) residents, and we have been working to encourage everyone to use this wonderful resource.

Since the PHCA found out about the continued existence of the West Penn Advisory Board last year, we have been interested in getting neighborhood residents onto the board.  Neighborhood participation and engagement with West Penn will help the center be more of a resource for Polish Hill residents.  If this is a project that interests you, here’s your opportunity to step forward.

On Thursday, September 23rd at 6:00 pm, the West Penn Advisory Board will hold an election meeting at the center.  This is the time for interested residents to put forth their names to serve on the board.  The position is uncompensated, the term is a year and the board meets just seven times a year, plus individual meetings for special events.  Please let the PHCA know if you would be interested in serving.

If you would like more information about the board or West Penn, call Marcia Scott at 412.622.7353 or email her here.

Last month a new project was launched with the aim of preserving and honoring the history of Polish Hill.  Mark O’Connor, a Polish Hill resident and a professor of English at Slippery Rock, came to us with the idea of an oral history project.  There have of course been similar projects, including Polish Hill Remembered, a small book and CD produced by high school students, and a section on Polish Hill in a recent edition of On the Bluff, a publication from Duquesne University.  But this effort is more comprehensive, and it’s the first initiated from the neighborhood itself.

We are seeking people who lived in Polish Hill for any length of time, up into the 1980′s.  Interviewees don’t have to have been born here, or still live in the neighborhood, or even in Pittsburgh.  And they don’t have to be Polish.  We just want to talk to anyone who lived here and has memories and stories of what Polish Hill was like.

If you or someone you know has memories of Polish Hill in its prime–the people, places, and unique feel of the neighborhood, Mark would like to interview you.  Interviews can be held where is convenient and comfortable for you–at the PHCA office, at your home, or by telephone–the only requirement is that it needs to be a quiet place, as the interviews are being recorded.

Mark has already talked to a number of people, and the colorful stories he’s hearing are enough to fill volumes!  We are discussing ways to combine the oral histories with the wonderful photos the PHCA photo archive is collecting.

For more information about the project, contact Mark O’Connor at 412.321.1999 or email him at mark.oconnor2@sru.edu.

(above photo:  a rainy May Queen procession on Brereton Street, 1950′s, photo donated to the PHCA photo archive by Teresa Wojciak)

Have you done an end-of-summer cleanout?  Thinking that it might be time for a yard sale?  Don’t do it alone–sell your stuff at the Polish Hill Flea Market!  For just $10 you can rent a table, sell your castoffs (or crafts), and enjoy the day in the company of neighbors and visitors.  If you don’t have enough stuff to do it alone, team up w/ friends–but the table is still just $10!

The flea market will be held at West Penn Park, in the playground area and will run from 12-5 pm.  You can sell used household stuff, or your own crafts–whatever you want.  But if you wish to sell food, you must have an ACHD permit on display at your table.

For more information or to reserve a table, contact the PHCA at 12.681.1950, or email phcapgh@gmail.com.

(above:  the Polish Hill Flea Market, September 2009)

Polish Hillarian, Brian Seckleki, journeyed beyond the neighborhood’s borders today, investigating rumors of a new shopping experience in the Strip District.

And what did he bring back from his brief, albeit fruitful journey?

Pictures! Which he was kind enough to share with Staffski –

The Public Market debuted today. But have no fear! The grand opening is taking place September 11-12. Details about vendors, hours and special activities and events can be found on their site.

Don’t forget that a lot of our favorite Polish Hill businesses really fit the bill for the City Paper categories. Gooski’s and the Rock Room have both had top honors in past polls. There are several new businesses in Polish Hill that we think are top notch, like Urban Gypsy, Lili Coffee*Shop, Mind Cure, Copacetic Comics and the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. A few years ago, an unusual write-in won the category for Best Goat Tied to a Lamp Post, right here in Polish Hill. Unfortunately, after much Googling, Staffski has not been able to locate the article. The point is that you, dear reader, can take the opportunity afforded you in the make-your-own-category section and nominate a unique feature of Polish Hill.

Have fun!

One event that will be engaging all of you book lovers is the Pittsburgh Bookstore Tour, conducted by Karen Lillis. The tour will feature a lot of Pittsburgh’s independent bookstore’s, including Polish Hill’s own Copacetic Comics. (Sept 19, details and ticketing information.)

Ms. Lillis will also be conducting a tour of Pittsburgh’s storied libraries on September 12. The tour will include the grand old dames of the Carnegie Library system, like the Braddock Library, as well as the new Galliot Center for Newman Studies. (Details and ticketing information.)

For more great book-related events, check the Small Press Festival calendar.

The two-day Small Press Festival expo will be held on September 25th and 26th, from 12pm to 5pm, at AIR: Artists Image Resource. The vendor list isn’t available on the SPF site yet, but a lot of Pittsburgh’s favorite small presses and bookstores will be represented at the event. Check into the site to see what develops.

Staffski uses the Downing to Herron staircase with much frequency and has been watching the accumulation of birdhouses on the fence for quite some time. What started out as a little over a dozen has grown to dozens of little birdhouse.

Another interesting feature, a magnetic poetry board, made its appearance this summer.

Well, Staffski was heading down the staircase and stopped to talk to Elzabeth Fisch. It seems that Ms. Fisch and her neighbor, Donna Hoffman, are the individuals that have been putting so much effort into installing the birdhouse and maintaining the area along Downing Street. One of the other residents along the street trimmed down a lot of the weeds that were growing along the fence.

Congratulations to you. Downing Street is such a pleasant walk nowadays.