Fitzgerald and Penn Hill Seniors to Light Courthouse for Light Up Night

County Executive Rich Fitzgerald will be joined by seniors from the Penn Hills Senior Center in the lighting of the Allegheny County Courthouse on Friday, November 21, 2014 at 5:30 p.m. as part of the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership’s 54th annual Light Up Night festivities. The brief ceremony will take place at the corner of Grant Street and Forbes Avenue, catty-cornered from the Courthouse, to provide the best view of the lighting.

Seniors from the Penn Hills Senior Center will be helping to light the Courthouse because their ornament was selected as the winning ornament submitted by Senior Centers from across the county. In September, senior centers within the county were invited to create a unique, homemade ornament that represents their center. Ten senior centers participated in the contest, submitting 13 ornaments that will be displayed on the Christmas tree in the County Executive’s Office. Submissions were reviewed and voted on by executive staff and three finalists were chosen before a winner was selected.

Penn Hills Senior Center created its ornament using an oversized plastic Christmas light bulb that was filled with greens and garland. They painted the top of the ornament with silver, glitter paint and completed the look with a large red bow tied around the top. The idea was executed by an attendee of the Center, Patricia Madden, who also serves as the art instructor. She was assisted by other members in creating the final product.

Participating senior centers included Center North Senior Center, City of Pittsburgh Senior Community Centers, Etna Senior Center, Kane Glen Hazel, Kane McKeesport, Kane Scott, Penn Hills Senior Center, Rankin Christian Center, Vintage Senior Center, and William McKinley Senior Center. In addition to the County Executive’s office, the ornaments can also be seen on the County’s Facebook page beginning on Friday.

Following the lighting of the Courthouse, which is free and open to the public, the County Executive will also be participating in several other events during the Light Up Night festivities. A full schedule for the evening can be found at http://www.downtownpittsburgh.com/holidays.