Lead Stories
Lady Foxes Capture State Tennis Crown:
Fox Chapel Girls Are PA's Best
It's one thing to go undefeated in a season. It's quite another to win 193 points out of 195 in a season. And to take the WPIAL Championship, and then win everything in the PIAA to secure the Class AAA State Championship, well, now that's an outstanding feat!

Our Kids
It's All in the Music
Recently, we at Alle-Kiski Today went in search of musical talent asking local high school band directors to recommend their most accomplished players. Consequently, this month I'd like to introduce all our readers to Kiski Area High School senior, Lauren Palitti. Some of Lauren's earliest childhood memories ring with musical undertones, so her focus and deliberation to develop this talent and further carry it into a career is not surprising.

The Dedicated
Oakmont's Pride
How much can one group of women in hats and white gloves accomplish? Well, how about landscaping 17 miles of hillside, planting trees, and putting in a walking trail? Then throw in ten years of hard work, fundraising, and grant writing.

AK Educators
Promoting the Magic at Riverview
Accepting the position as superintendent of Riverview School District in 1999 was like coming home for Dr. Charles Erdeljac. When Dr. Erdeljac returned to Riverview, he was thrilled to have the opportunity to give back through professional work to his home community of nearly 50 years. He says with a smile, "The people of Oakmont and Verona are family to me. It was a pleasure to come back and be one of the team players with all of the good people of this community."

from The Editor
Heroes In Action
I am dedicating my Editor's Column this month to all of the brave men and women who lay their lives on the line as firefighters and police officers throughout the Alle-Kiski Valley.

Gloria's Kitchen
Stuffed Manicotti and Apple Pie
Everyone is sure to enjoy this meal. Manicotti dishes can be hard to work with but stuffing the shells before they are cooked makes it a lot easier to handle. If you don’t tell the kids that there is spinach in these tasty shells, they will love every bite. When they have cleaned their plates, you can tell them they just finished a serving of spinach. You’ll be surprised when they ask for seconds. My husband loves this dish and requests it regularly.

Our Local Heritage
Survival: The Story of Massey Harbison
What looked to be a short excursion turned out to be a grand adventure as Our Local Heritage went on location to where one of the area's first pioneer women lived over 200 years ago.

AK Sports
Apollo-Ridge Coach Greg Fox &
the Vikings: Coming Back
It was a rough season last winter for Coach Greg Fox’s Vikings varsity basketball squad. They found themselves on the losing side way more often than not. But the players didn’t give up and have kept up the pace since last season.

AK Sports
Burrell Coach Ron McKnabb &
the Buccaneers: The Bright Future Formula
Having played for an area basketball team that won a state championship in '79, Burrell Coach Ron McKnabb knows what it takes to make a championship-caliber team, and winning at that level is like. "It's something you can't describe," Ron says.

AK Sports
Cheswick Coach Todd Rosio
& the Chargers: Playing Hard
"The kids always bought into what we're doing," says Cheswick Christian Academy Coach Todd Rosio. "It sorta gets handed down from year to year. They trust me and I trust them. They try to play basketball the right way. It's been good.

AK Sports
Evangel Heights Coach Dick Swaney &
the Eagles: Mixing Ingredients
"We have to be very creative sometimes," notes Dick Swaney, basketball coach at Evangel Heights Christian Academy in Sarver. This is the third senior class at the school; even though the basketball program is in its third year, it's still in its infancy. But Swaney is no stranger to coaching.

AK Sports
Fox Chapel Coach Harry Jenkins & the Foxes:
Tails of Hard Work and Heart
"I'm ready for the season to start," the basketball coach states. It's that time of year, so that's typical for a basketball coach to be ready. But just a few months ago, Harry Jenkins might have wondered if he would ever speak those words again.

AK Sports
Freeport Coach Mike Beale & the Yellow Jackets:
Chess and Press
"We try to swarm to the ball... we're looking for people to step up and play man-to-man defense 32 solid minutes of basketball," the coach says. This may be Mike Beale's first year as official head coach of Freeport basketball, but he is certainly no stranger to the program's defensive style of play.

AK Sports
Highlands Assistant Coach Shawn Bennis & the Rams:
A Stepped-Up Difference
Assistant Coach Shawn Bennis, in his 12th year with Rams' Basketball, says the "keyword last year was perseverance." And you do have to hand it to last year's team who rose up from the ashes of a 0-12 start.

AK Sports
Kiski Area Coach Larry Rupert &
the Cavaliers: New Opportunities
It really wasn't a bad year for the Cavs last year; they scrapped their way to the WPIAL and State playoffs and pieced together 14 wins for the season. But they did have a veteran group of heavily-experienced seniors who graduated.

AK Sports
Leechburg Coach Damian Davies & the Blue Devils:
Hard-Nosed Hoops
"There's no doubt, living in my father's house for so long, that man-to-man, nose-to-nose full-court pressure defense is going to be our staple," states first-year Leechburg Coach Damian Davies.

AK Sports
Valley Coach Vern Benson & the Vikings:
Taking Determination
"It's a team game. If you needed one guy, it would've been one-on-one. But it's a five-man game, a team basketball game. That's how you win games."

AK Sports
Plum Coach Ron Richards &
the Mustangs: Making Progress
"We have a pretty good nucleus back," Plum's Ron Richards comments. "I'm very excited about the young kids we have in our program."

AK Sports
Riverview Coach Kevin Krajca & the Raiders:
Reload on the Rebound
"Last year, we had a lot of improvement," says Kevin Krajca, Riverview basketball coach. "It was a big step up for us, we felt like we made some progress." He indicates the Raiders' progress will continue.

AK Sports
Saltsburg Coach Jeff Clawson & the Trojans:
Picking It Up
Clawson expects a lot out of them, and says, "We’re young but very talented…the seniors have a lot of character, lot of heart."

AK Sports
Springdale Coach Brian Gaetano
& the Dynamos: Turning the Lights on
It wasn't a pretty sight last year for the Dynamos. Let's just say there weren't many W's in the Win column. Coach Brian Gaetano, now in his second season as Chief Operator of the Dynamos, probably won't forget it. But he knows some things took place that may help this year fade the memories of last season.

AK Sports
St. Joseph Coach Kelly Robinson & the Spartans:
All Work, All Fun
This small single-A ball club last year was the fifth highest-scoring team in the WPIAL in any class-single, double, triple or even quad-A. The Spartans averaged over 70 pts. a game on their way to a 23-win season, which ended in the second round of the States.

Veterans of Freedom
Three Hundred Days on the Front Lines
Battle worn, Frank Gervasi sat aboard a ship bound for Italy. He flinched as missiles from twelve English Spitfires exploded in the murky water, tossing the craft like a toy.

Healthy Eating
Tomato Salsa with Black Beans
So often we are hurried during the holidays, but we still need to bring a dish to this event or that get-together. Oh what to make!

Alle-Kiski Businesses
Valley Sports Complex Offers Much To Community
The Valley Sports Complex is barely a year old and it already is a big hit with the community.

Alle-Kiski Churches
Looking to the Future with New Pastor
The newly formed Vandergrift Presbyterian Church - the result of a merger of two local Presbyterian congregations - is now ready to fulfill its mission and take up its role in the community. To help them, the congregation called in a new pastor in July, Reverend Frank Neal Galley.

A-K Dining
Elena Restaurant Customers Keep Coming Back
One way you know a good restaurant is by the high number of people who become regular customers, some who come two to three times a week. Elena Restaurant & Café at the Hillcrest Shopping Center in Lower Burrell is one of those restaurants.