Bethel Park a perfect place to live
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Elmyra Dingle, 5, and Sylvia Kirstein, 4, help steer the train around the bend during Bethel Park Community Day.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Caleb Wilhelm, 4, rounds the bend on the whip. “It was so much fun,” he said of the amusement ride.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Will Alborg sat in the dunking booth as spectators paid money to hit a target and sink the Bethel Park hockey player. Although the junior said the water was very cold, he had a good time. In fact, he would volunteer to seat in the catbird seat at next year’s community day celebration.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Shiloh Koeppl, 4, bounds down a slide during festivities at Bethel Park Community Day.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
An anxious Brynn Moore, 3, tumbles down a slide during Bethel Park Community Day events.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Jackson Kelton hooks a big fish during a game at Bethel Park Community Day.
Donovan Kelton, 4, hooks a fish while his mother, Bridget, and brother, Jackson, look on during Bethel Park Community Day festivities.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Highpoint Fitness was among the many businesses sponsoring booths during Bethel Park Community Day. Some of the staff pose for pictures. From left are Kayte Zeiler, John Carberry, Luke Jasante, and Kevin Sanker. Zeiler, Carberry and Jasante are all Bethel Park natives and graduates.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Daniel Freeman had one of the best seats in the house from the front of a fire truck in which to enjoy Bethel Park Community Day festivities.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Jacob Fonda tosses up a winner while his sister, Elizabeth, and father, Daniel, look on.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Calvin Kirstein performs a fitness test by doing push-ups under the watchful eye of Highpoint Fitness trainer Luke Jasante during festivities at Bethel Park Community Day.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Bethel Park’s Lucy Martin-Farmer and Ava Arnold are members of the Artistic Swimming recreation program, directed by Deb Hazlett (background).
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Grace Ferency, Artemis Conaboy, and Draven Kennedy represented the Best Buddies Club. The school organization is a friendship club that focuses on inclusion. Julie Hernadez is the moderator. She teaches life skills classes and autistic support courses at the high school.
Photos: Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Vanessa Troxell, Maddie Masztak, Samira Gorman, Laura Casaler, Hannah Chicas sold cookies as well as potted mums to help support the Bethel Park High School girls’ varsity tennis team.
Emma Smith, Sarah Carroll, Grace Plassio, and Caroline Zelt represented the Bethel Park Interact Club as well as the Rotary Club.
The Bethel Park Historical Society was represented by Jim Hucke, Susie Dolinar and Bill Haverthur during community day activities.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Kat Tena, Kylie Kasievich and Reese Fontanesi helped man the Bethel Park lacrosse booth during community day activities.
Joe Koeppl said he had the “perfect childhood” and the primary reason for that, he added, was he is a Bethel Park native.
“Bethel Park is a great community to grow up in,” he said. “There is a sense of community living here.”
Though he now lives in Finleyville, Koeppl joined citizens on Sept. 24 to celebrate Bethel Park Community Day. Koeppl and his wife, Alysia, were born and raised in the municipality and introduced their daughter, Shiloh, and her cousin, Brynn Moore, to an event they have enjoyed for years.
“It’s special, Koeppl said. “Just all they do for the kids, the fun activities, games and snacks,” he added.
Festivities kicked off with a parade that stepped off from the municipal building and marched down Broad Street, then moved across the high school campus before spilling into the parking lot where activities were held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
More than 60 vendor booths provided a variety of games, fundraisers, refreshments and information regarding their organizations, businesses or clubs.
While a caricature artist and a DJ provided additional entertainment, the “Miracle Sisters” and “Teen Villains” made guest appearances. Mirabel and Luisa are two sisters of the Madrigal family from the movie “Encanto,” while the “Teen Villains” are the daughters of the Evil Queen and Maleficent from the Disney Descendants franchise.
Amusement rides provided thrills for the children. In addition to the traditional kids’ train and whip rides, there was a jump and slide inflatable as well as a Eurobungy.
While riding the whip was “so much fun” for Caleb Wilhelm, the 4-year-old said “sliding down the big, super slide” was his favorite.
Wilhelm’s father, Greg, added that community day was great for his son because he was able to see friends he had played T-Ball with in the summer and with whom he attended preschool.
“It has been fun for him to see them hanging out,” said Greg Wilhelm. The Ohio native added, “everybody seems to come out for this.”
Angie Dingle and Darah Kirstein would never miss a community day. They went to school together, graduated in 2003 and served as president and vice president of their class. They reminisced how they planned prom and homecoming activities among other things during their teen years.
While Kirstein’s husband, Denny, said the people make the community special because of their genuine nature, Darah added that “The community is comprised of hard-working people that are working very hard to make Bethel Park better.”
While her daughter, Sylvia, enjoyed the amusement rides with Elmyra Dingle, their mothers relished the opportunity to connect with current and old friends by attending community day.
“It’s so much fun,” they said.
“You run into people you see every day or those that you haven’t seen in a while and everybody is so supportive of all the organizations,” said Darah Kirstein.
“Black and Orange never looked so good,” she added.
The thrill of victory never felt so fine either. Jacob Fonda captured the first of many prizes in a throwing contest at a booth sponsored by Cub Scouts Pack 215.
“The toys,” responded Fonda when asked what was his favorite part of community day. “It’s like Christmas in September.”
For Fonda, community day was a family affair. He attended with his dad, Daniel, and sister, Elizabeth.
Though exhausted from performing as a Bethette in the marching band the night prior at the Baldwin-BP football game, Elizabeth admitted she enjoyed the day.
“It’s very tiring but it’s very fun to do everything that I do,” she said.
Dan Freeman enjoyed everything as well but was particularly intrigued by the fire trucks. He came to the event with his parents, Daniel and Kayla. The family had high praise for the day as well as the borough.
“This is better than last year. There seems to be more going on and the booths that are set up are more diverse.”
“Proudly,” Dan Freeman said when asked if he were a Bethel Park resident. “Everybody is pretty nice here. There seems to be a strong sense of community here and everyone is willing to help out. It’s a lot better than other places that we have lived.”
Michele McNulty agreed. She attended community day events with her children, Fiona, 5, and Hugh, 3.
“We just moved here last year and we live right down the road, so it’s nice to see this event. It’s a great community and it’s great to see all the organizations in the community coming together to celebrate.”