Murrysville area: Export trail kiosk, stand-up comedy benefit shows, student band honors and more

Email news briefs and event listings to pvarine@triblive.com.

Kiosk installed at Export trailhead

Officials from the Export Historical Society, J.M. Hall Junior Trust, Export Business Group and Westmoreland Heritage Trail cut the ribbon Nov. 29 on an informational kiosk placed at the Export trailhead.

It includes a map of the trail, a panel featuring Export history and a local business directory.

Christmas Bird Count in Westmoreland County

Local residents are encouraged to volunteer for the annual Christmas Bird Count, a worldwide effort to document local bird populations.

The survey is the largest citizen science effort held for one day, between Dec. 14 and Jan. 5, throughout the United States, Canada, Latin America, the Caribbean and the Pacific Islands.

The Bushy Run Christmas Bird Count will take place on Dec. 28. For meet-up times and locations, and to register, contact Steve Manns at psuloon@yahoo.com or 724-516-2244.

The count circle is centered in the Salem Township area. Other counts throughout the region can be found at the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania’s website, ASWP.org.

Data from the counts, as well as from two other annual counts, the Great Backyard Count in February and the Global Big Day counts in May and October, is submitted to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Ithaca, N.Y. The data is used in the lab’s mission to study and monitor the health of the world’s roughly 10,000 bird species.

Comedy night to benefit parks, trail projects

An evening of stand-up comedy at the Live Casino in Westmoreland Mall will benefit Westmoreland County parks, trail project and concert series.

Doors will open at 6 p.m. for comedy shows on March 7 and 8. Tickets are $40. The shows are for adults age 21 and older. The evening will also include food, a cash bar, basket auctions and a 50/50 raffle.

Tickets are available at the Westmoreland County Parks office, 2 North Main Street in Greensburg; at The Lamplighter, 6566 William Penn Highway just outside Delmont in Salem Township; and at Ginny’s Neighborhood Pizza Joint, 5549 Old William Penn Highway in Murrysville.

No tickets will be sold at the door.

‘Positivity’ talk at Boomers & Beyond

The “Boomers & Beyond” speaker series at Mother of Sorrows Church in Murrysville will feature guest speaker Dennis Daley on Jan. 14.

Daley is a faculty member at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine’s psychiatry department, and has worked as a therapist, educator, program director, researcher and advocate for families affected by a parent’s psychiatric or substance-abuse disorder.

Daley will discuss positive emotions, behaviors and relationships, and their impact on well-being.

The presentation will be at noon at the Mother of Sorrows social hall, 4202 Old William Penn Highway in Murrysville. Attendees may bring a bag lunch and a guest.

Library closures

The Delmont Public Library and Murrysville Community Library will be closed Dec. 24-25, Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 in observance of the holidays.

Students earn state band honors

The following Franklin Regional students earned spots in Pennsylvania Music Educators Association select bands. Those noted with an asterisk (*) are also students at the Newlonsburg Music Academy in Murrysville.

• Honors Band: Noah Eaton*, Naomi Casey*, Esther Campanella*, Jake Miller*, Kendall Beighley*, Reagan Karda, A.J. Schmidt*, Nia Hanington*, Elsa Bandli*, Lacey Pribanic* and Gavin Lichok*

• District Band: Elaine Liao, Addison Ferguson*, Noah Venters, Jenna Munkittrick*, Shawn Stewart*, Lucas Kozuch*, Isaac Eaton*, Noah Eaton, Casey, Campanella, Miller, Beighley, Karda, Hanington, Bandli, Pribanic, Lichok and Schmidt

• Honors Jazz Band: Max Morton*

• Honors Orchestra: Ilana Aranovich

• District Orchestra: Alethea Foster, Schmidt, Hanington, Lichok, Miller and Aranovich

Council president plans to run for mayor

Murrysville Council President Dayne Dice has announced his candidacy for Murrysville mayor.

Dice has served as a Murrysville Council member for seven years, six as president. He is an attorney specializing in representing municipalities, school districts and municipal authorities, and has served as council’s liaison to the Franklin Township Municipal Sanitary Authority.

Dice is a 20-year resident of Murrysville and lives with his wife Kelly, a registered nurse and piano teacher.

Additional Old William Penn bridge work

Murrysville officials said construction crews plan to do additional milling and paving work around the recently-reopened Old William Penn Highway bridge over Turtle Creek near Hills Church Road.

Murrysville Chief Administrator Michael Nestico said the majority of the paving would need to wait until spring, but work crews would do what they could, depending on the weather.

The bridge underwent temporary repairs in the fall to bring its weight limit rating back up to 16 tons.

American Legion scholarships

The Pennsylvania American Legion is taking entries for its annual essay contest. Winners will receive $3,500, $3,000 or $2,500 scholarships.

The contest is open to students in multiple categories: grades 6-8 and 9-12. Students can be from public, private, parochial, cyber/charter or home-schooled.

Students must submit their essay by mail or hand delivery to their local American Legion post by Jan. 8, 2025 for those in grades 9-12, and by Feb. 5, 2025, for those in grades 6-8. Complete rules and regulations are available at PA-legion.com/programs/student-and-youth/essay-program or by emailing wareagles79@hotmail.com.

The Legion also hosts an oratorical contest with scholarships offering $7,500, $5,000 and $4,000. That contest is only open to those in grades 9-12. More information is available at Legion.org/oratorical or by emailing jgdrnjevich@aol.com.