Nov 23, 2021 5 min read

Chanukah luncheon

A Chanukah seniors luncheon is scheduled for 1 p.m. Nov. 29 at Chabad of the South Hills, 1701 McFarland Road, Mt. Lebanon.

A festival holiday program will include a kosher lunch, featuring hot latkes. Suggested donation is $5. Preregistration is recommended. To RSVP or for more information, call 412-278-2658 or email barb@chabadsh.com.

Art guild meeting

Bethel Art Guild will meet at 12:30 p.m. Dec. 2 in the Bethel Park Community Center, 5151 Park Ave.

The guest speaker is Vicki Sawyer. She received her Art degree at Penn State University, leading her to graphic design and professional mural painting. She painted hundreds of murals featuring birds, insects, plants and grasses.

Over the past 15 years, she has moved to canvas paintings of the natural world. Now with a career as a fine art painter, her library has grown to more than 2,500 paintings. Her work has been exhibited and received numerous recognitions all over the eastern United States.

Chanukah celebration

The annual South Hills Lights Chanukah celebration, with this year’s theme “fire and ice,” is scheduled for Dec. 1 in the parking lot of Dormont Pool, 1801 Dormont Ave.

Ice carving at 5 p.m. is followed by the Grand Menorah Lighting at 5:30. Also featured will be a giant ice menorah, fire show by the Ohio Burn Unit, a Chanukah gelt drop, latke and donuts, music, and Chanukah giveaways.

The event is sponsored by Chabad of the South Hills in Mt. Lebanon, along with Dormont Borough and corporate sponsor JKS Financial.

RSVP at chabadsh.com/lights. Early registration is advised, as space generally fills quickly.

College Club meets

The College Club of Carnegie will meet Dec. 4 at the Crowne Plaza Suites Pittsburgh South, Bethel Park.

The Christmas luncheon will feature a gift exchange. There will be a social meeting at 11:30 a.m. and lunch served at noon. A Chinese auction to benefit the scholarship fund will be held. For more information contact Therese Condit, membership chairperson, at 412-279-4458.

Holiday Kickoff in Peters

Peters Township’s Holiday Kickoff is scheduled for Dec. 6 at a new location for 2021.

The annual tree lighting previously was held at Peters Township Public Library. This year, the library and Parks and Recreation Department will present the holiday event at the Community Recreation Center, 700 Meredith Drive.

Featured will be crafts, games, a letters-to-Santa station and a visit from Santa Claus, himself.

Registration is required for time slots beginning at 6 p.m., by calling 724-942-5000.

Ruthfred Acres Woman’s Club

The Ruthfred Acres Woman’s Club will meet at 11:30 a.m. Dec. 8 at St. Clair Country Club, 2300 Old Washington Road, Upper St. Clair.

At the meeting, the club will be gathering gifts for a family from Bethel Park.

The club’s charity of the year is the South Hills Interfaith Movement. The club treasurer will be accepting monetary donations through March, 2022 in lieu of the annual Christmas basket raffle.

To attend or for more information, contact Pat at 412-833-3034.

Bethel Park holiday concert

The Bethel Park Community Foundation’s popular Dean Streator Concert Series will resume with its annual holiday concert at 2:30 p.m. Dec. 12 in the Bethel Park Community Center.

Doors open at 2, and masks and vaccination cards are required.

The concert is free, but contributions to the Community Foundation are welcome. The foundation funds scholarships and projects which benefit residents of Bethel Park in the areas of arts and culture, health and recreation, education and safety.

The holiday program will feature Community Band South, directed by Jim Bennett and Max Gonano; Bethel Park High School’s Top 21, under the direction of Todd Kuczawa; and the Handbell Ringers of Southminster Presbyterian Church, Richard Pinkerton, director.

Holiday concert

The South Hills Chorale will perform its holiday concert at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 17 at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 2040 Washington Road, Upper St. Clair.

The program features Christmas and Hanukkah music, plus a Christmas carol sing-along.

Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at https://www.southhillschorale.org/, from any chorale member or at the door. For more information, email southhillschorale@gmail.com or call Pat, 412-221-9109.

For 61 years, the 80-member group of singers has performed for thousands of people, holding two major concerts a year. The chorale also performs outreach concerts at senior living communities and for other events.

scholarship competition

Keynotes of South Hills is accepting applications for next year’s Music Scholarship Competition, scheduled for May 14 in the Fine Arts Theater at Mt. Lebanon High School.

Cash awards totaling up to $12,000 will be presented. Instrumentalists must be under 26 years of age by June 1, 2022 and vocalists must be under the age of 30.

The student must be a full-time music major at a college, university or music school or a graduating high school senior accepted for admission as a full-time music major.

Contestants must be legal residents of Allegheny, Washington or surrounding counties of Pennsylvania for the past year. Deadline for application is April 30.

For an application, contact the scholarship chairman, Toni Kvederis, at 412-892-8395 or jj.kvederis@verizon.net.