T
his year marks the 40th annual Peters Township
Community Day. Community Day has been an
important part of each summer for Peters Township
and has grown from humble beginnings to a full-day
extravaganza with the help of many dedicated workers, residents,
patrons and volunteers.
In the mid to late 1970s, Community Day found its very
beginnings with the Kiwanis Club of Peters Township. While not
officially marked as the Peters Township Community Day at the
time, the Kiwanis Club—led then by Paul Pigman, who was also
Chairman of the Recreation Board—hosted many events that
brought residents together to enjoy a day of fun and camaraderie.
“I can remember hosting many of the events in my own house,”
says Ellie Pigman, Paul’s widow. “We did so many different
fundraisers throughout the year to raise money for the various
endeavors that helped build Peters Township up at the time. One
of my fondest memories was the Miss Peters Township Contest,
along with an afternoon tea.” Pigman’s own daughter participated
in the event.
Later, in 1978, Peters Township Community Day was officially
adopted and installed by the Chamber of Commerce, and was
designed to showcase local businesses in addition to some
nonprofits that set up booths to raise funds.
In 1981, during the Township’s Bicentennial Celebration, the
Township joined with the Chamber for a weeklong celebration
highlighted with a parade and a special Community Day. It was at
this time the Township became involved with Community Day,
and remained involved thereafter.
“Community Day is an opportunity to showcase
our beautiful community — our wonderful
parks, local businesses and organizations, and
our residents. It provides joy to people of all
ages and entertains different interests — really
bringing people together.”
“The Township’s participation—both in staff and funding—
took Community Day to a new level, and created the format of
a joint committee of Chamber and municipality,” says Michael
Silvestri, former Peters Township Manager who participated
in the early Community Days. “The
number of booths and types of
participants increased to
more local organizations,
in addition to food
vendors. It was at
this time that the
famous and always
anticipated
evening fireworks
display was
started.”
While Silvestri
did not become
involved with
Community Day
until he and Tia
Merdian chaired the Bicentennial Committee in 1981, he did
participate in the very first official Community Day in 1978 with
the McMurray Rotary Club. “We had a simple booth where
we cooked hot dogs, and gave them away to those attending,”
he recalls. “One of my favorite Community Day memories was
participating in the Rotary’s Lemonade Squeeze. I also enjoyed
volunteering over the years with the St. Benedict Dunk Tank.”
When Community Day started, the Township did not yet
have a recreation department. Joanne Nelson became the first
Recreation Director in the early 1980s and played a very strong
part in expanding the scope of Community Day as the years
went on. “Over the years, with the Township Recreation staff
becoming involved, organization of the event became more
efficient and the variety of booths expanded,” says Silvestri.
Peters Township resident Susan Donnan worked under
Nelson on the Recreation Board and was in charge of finding
and booking entertainment for Community Day for 20 years. “I
majored in Parks and Recreation Administration in college, and
enjoyed being a part of the Peters Township Recreation Board
where I began the senior lunch program in addition to working
on Community Day each year,” she says. “In the early days, I
scheduled all strolling entertainment—such as jugglers, Scottish
pipers and more—that would walk around throughout the day
and entertain in different areas of the park. Today, the park has a
beautiful stage for entertainment. Back then, things were smaller
and we didn’t have any specific stages for performances.”
Donnan also recalls how the event grew in the time that she
was involved. “Eventually, the event became so large that we
had to set up a parking system with shuttle service,” she notes.
“We used to go to the park and begin setting up booths at 6 a.m.,
which was complicated because in the early days, we weren’t
able to easily run electricity! We always used to receive a lot of
local donations and prizes, and people would enjoy buying their
chances. After the park was renovated, and with the addition of
the trail, Community Day became a much nicer event, and we
started to see a much wider atte ndance rate.”
Longtime resident Pat Dolanch also served on the Community
Day Committee since the very early events, and fondly
remembers the day’s raffles. “We sold tickets for the prizes and
people would sit around our booth all day waiting for their name
to be called,” she laughs. “Tickets were put in a small fish bowl at
that time—a far cry from what we sell today!”
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PETERS TOWNSHIP
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JUNE/JULY 2018
43