recount WWII memories in “Homeland”
by Randall Stroope, and enjoy a new
work by Dr. Hirokawa. The public is
welcome. Interested singers should
register at shcchoir.org/bridges.html.
The South Hills Children’s Choir is
a nonprofit choir dedicated to offering
quality musical education for children
from all walks of life in the surrounding
community and celebrating diversity
both in music and in southwestern
PA’s youth. It aims to establish a
lifelong relationship with and respect
for quality music in the singers’ and their
families’ lives.
The South Hills Children’s Choir
receives funding support through a
generous grant from the Pennsylvania
Council on the Arts, a state agency
funded by the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania, and the National
Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.
VITA TAX SERVICE
VITA (Volunteer Income Tax
Assistance) volunteers will once
again be at the Western Allegheny
Community Library to complete tax
forms for senior citizens and those
earning less than $60,000 on Mondays,
Tuesdays and Thursdays through Apr. 9.
This service is free but by appointment
only. No walk-ins will be taken.
All interested residents should call the
library front desk
at 724.695.8150
x1, to schedule an
appointment. n
ROBINSON TOWNSHIP HISTORICAL SOCIETY:
MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE CRAWL
If you were in or around Pittsburgh in late August 1994, you might remember
all the fuss about a giant telescope mirror being transported along area highways.
One of the many locales it passed through was Robinson Township. But why all
the fuss?
The 27-foot mirror, housed in a 32-ft.-wide box weighing 24 tons, was being
transported on an imposing flatbed truck with 18 axles and 50 tires. Along
with 12 accompanying vehicles, on Aug. 11 it had begun its journey from New
York’s Corning Glass Plant, where the huge mirror had been fabricated. After
traversing the St. Lawrence River, Lake Ontario, and the Welland Canal on a
barge, the mirror arrived at Port Erie, Pa. On Aug. 24, it began its 7- to 25-mile-
per-hour crawl south on I-79. After spending the night at a rest area in Cranberry
Township under tight security, it continued south on I-79 to Bridgeville, the
safest place to turn it around to head back north.
In Robinson Township, the caravan proceeded along I-79 and Route 60 before
traveling via Routes 51, 251, and 18 to its destination in Wampum, Pa., 40 miles
north of Pittsburgh. Many area residents, including Ray Phillips of the Robinson
Township Historical Society, snapped pictures along the way, but some travelers
were not thrilled with the seemingly endless traffic tie-ups. Families heading
north for end-of-summer vacations were forced to sit in the August heat for
hours. But for many, the unusual sight was a bit of a thrill.
In an underground mine in Wampum, the mirror underwent three years of
grinding and polishing by Contraves, Inc. until at last it resumed its four-year
journey. In September 1998, a huge crane hoisted the boxed mirror onto a barge
for its longest and final trip, passing through New Orleans and the Panama
Canal, and on across the Pacific to its final destination: Hawaii.
Today, the mirror
resides in one of a pair
of Japanese Subaru
telescopes at Mauna
Kea, believed to be
among the largest
telescopes in the world.
The two sit side by side
atop the 14,000-foot
mountain, where they
continue to be used by
astronomers from all
over the world.
CARLYNTON-MONTOUR
❘
SPRING 2020
7