Murrysville area: 'Plum Proud' benefit ornament sales, local speaker series, Rotary Oktoberfest and more

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ESAL speaker focuses on portrait painting

The East Suburban Artists League will welcome Tom Tholen as the featured speaker for its Sept. 7 meeting.

Tholen will discuss his expertise in portrait painting. He spent a career working for companies including Disney, Marvel and Pixar. Tholen is in the process of creating a graphic novel.

Tholen’s presentation will include creating an attendees’ portrait, with explanations of the different techniques and strategies involved.

The public is invited to attend the free presentation at 6:45 p.m. at Christ’s Lutheran Church, 5330 Old Logan Ferry Road in Murrysville.

For more, see ESALart.org or call 412-373-0711.

Fall speaker series at Mother of Sorrows

Mother of Sorrows Parish will host a fall women’s speaker series beginning Sept. 15.

Helene Paharik, an adjunct professor at Saint Vincent College, will present “In Persona Maria: Women Participating in the Mission of Jesus.”

It will be at 7 p.m. at the church, 4202 Old William Penn Highway in Murrysville. There is no cost to attend.

For more, or to register, email jillkirsch@gmail.com or call 724-757-2491.

‘Plum Proud’ ornament sales benefit Rustic Ridge Family Fund

Wendell August Forge announced it is producing an ornament honoring the Plum community following the fatal Aug. 12 house explosion in the borough’s Rustic Ridge neighborhood.

The “Plum Proud” ornaments cost $20 and are available directly from Wendell August Forge through its website.

The Grove City company said half of the sales will go to the Rustic Ridge Family Fund to help those affected most by the explosion.

Erin Lewis, the company’s marketing director, lives in Rustic Ridge.

Orders are due by Sept. 15. Ornaments will ship by Oct. 1, the company said.

For more, see WendellAugust.com/plumproud

Rotary Oktoberfest set for Sept. 30

The Murrysville-Export Rotary will host its annual Oktoberfest celebration from 4-8 p.m. Sept. 30.

The cost is $10 for adults, and includes a $2 food/drink coupon. Families and children are welcome. Proceeds will benefit local Rotary charities.

The evening will feature German-style food, beer and wine, a “Wall of Beer” raffle, brewing tank raffle and a dirndl-and-lederhosen contest.

It will be at the Murrysville Volunteer Fire Company No. 1 pavilion, at 3235 Sardis Road. For more, call 724-309-2771 or email tpauly@ventanapa.com.

Visionary Committee to hold bike raffle

The Delmont Visionary Committee is selling raffle tickets for two electric bicycles.

The first, a Kona Coco HD Electric Bike features a hub drive motor and has a retail value of $1,999. The second is a Journey Sora 700CC, with an aluminum frame, waxwing carbon fork and a retail value of $1,299.

Raffle tickets are for $10, which will purchase five chances on the Kona or eight chances on the Journey. Winners will be based on the Pennsylvania Lottery’s Pick 3 evening lottery on Nov. 9 for the Kona and Nov. 10 for the Journey.

All proceeds will benefit the committee’s efforts to make Delmont more pedestrian- and cyclist-friendly.

Tickets are available at Teri’s Place A Salon, 2377 Route 66 in Delmont or by emailing delmontvisionarycommittee@gmail.com.

Lions club car show

The Delmont and Murrysville Lions Club will host a car show from 11 a.m to 4 p.m. Aug. 27.

Donations are $10 and dash plaques will be issued to the first 125 entrants, in addition to trophies being awarded. The rain-or-shine event will also include a basket raffle and 50/50. Food and drinks will be available and entertainment will be provided by DJ Larry. Pets are not permitted.

It will be at the Delmont Fire Department, and officials are asking attendees to use the Abbe Place entrance rather than the main entrance at 2360 Route 66.

AMVETS Ladies Auxiliary collecting hearing aids

The Ladies Auxiliary at the White Valley AMVETS is collecting used or unwanted hearing aids for donation to the John Tracy Clinic, which offers programs to educate and offer emotional support to parents and preschool-age deaf children.

The clinic is named after actor Spencer Tracy’s son, who was diagnosed with profound hearing loss in 1925. Over the years, the clinic has enabled more than a half-million children to master oral communication with their hearing peers by the time they reach elementary school.

Donations are accepted all year. To drop off or arrange pickup of a donation, call 724-448-5511 or 724-454-0978.

The White Valley AMVETS Post 85 is at 2100 Carolina St. in Murrysville.

Library speaker focuses on ‘Action-Packed’ painting series

Oil painter Clare Mears Stefanini will discuss painting people in motion at an Aug. 28 presentation in the Murrysville Community Library.

Stefanini will discuss her “Action-Packed” exhibition, a series of paintings capturing motion and sometimes multiple images of a figure in one painting. She has exhibited works at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, the Pennsylvania State Museum and local venues and libraries. “Action-Packed” will be on display through the end of August at the library.

Attendees are asked to register at MurrysvilleLibrary.org or by calling 724-327-1102. There is no cost to attend.

The library is at 4130 Sardis Road in Murrysville.

International Women will host Cuba presentation

The International Women club’s next meeting will feature a presentation on Cuba by club member and local travel agent Sharon Battle.

The meeting is at 9 a.m. Sept. 8 at Cross Roads Presbyterian Church, 2310 Haymaker Road in Monroeville. All women in the community are invited to attend.

The church’s “Mother’s Day Out” babysitting program is suspended until further notice.

Live music

• Ginny’s Neighborhood Pizza Joint, 5549 Old William Penn Hwy., Murrysville: Gas House Annie, 6 p.m. Aug. 12; Aubrey Burchell, 6 p.m. Aug. 26.

• SchoolHouse Tavern, 2001 Main St., Claridge (Penn Township): Elias Khouri, 6 p.m. Sept. 1; Dallas Mars, 9 p.m. Sept. 23; 8th Street Rox, 8 p.m. Oct. 21

• Joey’s the Edge, 5904 Washington Ave., Export: Weekly Tuesday jam session with host Kenny Blake, 8-11 p.m.

Upcoming meetings

• Export council, 6:30 p.m. Sept. 5 at the borough building, 5823 Washington Avenue. Agendas are available in advance at ExportPennsylvania.com.

• Murrysville council, 7 p.m. Sept. 6 at the municipal building, 4100 Sardis Road. Meetings are broadcast live on Comcast local access Channel 21, streamed at Murrysville.com — enter “Channel 21” in the search field — and archived on the school district’s YouTube channel.

• Delmont council, 7 p.m. Sept. 12 at the borough building, 77 Greensburg Street. Agendas are available in advance at DelmontBoro.com.