HPCC Newsletter: Hot summer events and more neighborhood news

Hello Neighbors!

We kicked off summer on June 2nd with two of the neighborhood’s favorite events: the Yard Sale and Bryant Street Festival. Despite a grim forecast, the weather was beautiful and the turnout stupendous. What does it take to make these events happen? Volunteers. In particular, two people deserve your special thanks:


  • Jason Griess - Jason responded to our call for help with the neighborhood yard sale several years ago and hasn’t stopped since! He reimagined the yard sale map, creating an online version that’s easy to use and saves resources, and coordinates yard sale signs and flea market vendor registration. He also joined the HPCC board, where his experience in community and economic development has helped guide discussions about our community planning needs and ways to support our businesses and Bryant Street.


  • Justin Bhagat - Justin took the reins of the Bryant Street Festival this year and decided to shake things up by moving the stage, consolidating the vendors, and adding more food trucks. The results were an amazing success! Justin, a transportation architect with Pittsburgh Regional Transit, is finishing up a three-year term on the HPCC Board, but has promised to stay on as BSF coordinator. He’ll be looking for assistants next year, so if you love this event, please email us and join next year’s BSF team!


And thank you to all the other folks who also helped to make these events possible, including Leah Bhagat-Young, Laura Garcia Bohnet, Christine Haas, Zan Hall, Sara Pettit, Bob Staresinic, Marco Virgili, Kelly Vitti, and HPCC board members Sabrina Culyba, Rebecca Marinov, Judy Beck, and Laura Farra Myers. We love our volunteers and our members!

Stay cool, stay safe and stay kind. See you in the ‘hood -


As always, with many thanks,

Stephanie Walsh

HPCC President

Join us for HPCC’s annual business meeting

Come join us for pizza and an update on all the great things your HPCC has been doing in the past year! In addition to our monthly report from Zone 5, the agenda will include updates from the HPCC's Membership, Finance, Children's and Park Committees. We'll also be voting on the following slate of officers and new board members:

  • Stephanie Walsh, President

  • Sabrina Culyba, Vice President

  • Howard Degenholtz, Treasurer

  • Judy Beck, Secretary

  • Andrew Bell

  • Jack Brice

  • Amanda Crossland

  • Kelli Vitti


Please help us welcome new members, and give a special thanks to our departing board members for all their hard work over the years:

  • Justin Bhagat

  • Becky Marinov

  • Kathleen Paola

  • MaryBeth Van Fleet


All are welcome to join on Thurs. June 20 at 7 p.m. Please note that the location for the meeting will now be at St. Andrew's Church, 5801 Hampton St. in the basement meeting hall.

City opens cooling centers

As forecasted temperatures are predicted to reach 90+ degrees all week, CitiParks will activate six Healthy Active Living Centers as Cooling Centers this week. The East End shelter is at the Homewood Healthy Active Living Community Center, 7321 Frankstown Road. Find a full list of cooling centers and air conditioned city recreation centers in the City’s announcement.


The centers will be open June 17 - 21 during the following hours:

Mon., Tues., Thurs., Fri.:  8 a.m. - 7 p.m.

Wed.: noon - 7 p.m.

Enjoying this newsletter? Become an HPCC member to support more Highland Park community content like this. Membership starts at $10/year. Join or renew today!

Save the Dates

A number of favorite neighborhood events, organized by HPCC, are coming up. Mark your calendars!


HPCC Community Meeting

Thurs. 6/20, 7 p.m.

St. Andrew’s Church; basement function room

This is the annual business meeting where you can learn about what the HPCC has been doing for the neighborhood and vote on new board members. Pizza will be served!


Picnic in the Park

Thurs. 6/27, 4 - 7 p.m.

Rhododendron Shelter

Bring your picnic & lawn games for an evening of relaxation in the park. The HPCC will be providing popcorn, music, sidewalk chalk and lawn games, and Park Ranger Sam will be leading kids crafts.


Reservoir of Jazz

August Sundays, 5 - 7 p.m.

Highland Park Entry Garden, near the fountain

Visit the Reservoir of Jazz website for the schedule of performers.


HPCC Community Meeting

Thurs. 8/15, 7 p.m.

St. Andrew’s Church; basement function room

Topics TBD


Highland Park Hullabaloo

Thurs. 9/19, 4 - 7 p.m.

Rhododendron Shelter

Our neighborhood BBQ returns! Come down for free food, live music and lots of fun!


*Please note the new date for the Hullabaloo — it has been rescheduled to September this year.

CitiParks Summer Guide is Out

In addition to HPCC events, the CitiParks calendar is also full of fun. For the full, citywide calendar of events, check out the CityParks Summer Guide for 2024. The guide includes information on summer food programs, a summer reading program, tennis clinics, recreation and senior centers, 5K runs and July 4th celebrations.


There are plenty of resources and activities in and near Highland Park, including Cinema in the Park, the Roving Art Cart, the Highland Park pool and don’t forget the farmers’ market (schedule below)!

Speak up for Fulton!

Pittsburgh Public Schools is hosting a number of town hall meetings to discuss potential changes to school building utilization. Fulton School, just a block off Highland Park’s main Bryant St. corridor, may be on the list of schools for possible closure. The closest town hall meeting will be July 11 at Obama. For details and more info about the town halls, read WESA’s coverage.

Celebrating Juneteenth

Juneteenth is officially June 19, although the City celebrated the holiday last weekend (June 14 -16) at Point State Park and Market Square with a parade, vendors, cultural activities and more.


What is Juneteenth? It commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union General Gordon Granger led thousands of federal troops to Galveston, Texas, to announce that the Civil War had ended and to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation. Although the Proclamation went into effect Jan 1st, 1863, it took time for freedom to make its way westward, and this date is celebrated as the end of slavery in the United States.


For more information about the history of Juneteenth, read the National Museum of African American History and Culture’s article, “What is Juneteenth?” Since becoming a federal holiday in 2021, it has become more universally recognized and celebrated (it became a state holiday in 2020). To learn more about how Juneteenth is celebrated, check out this “beginner’s guide” by PBS.

Weigh in on the Mayor’s budget

Want to see the city invest in a new firing range, traffic calming in the neighborhood, Heth's Run restoration, park improvements and/or other priorities? The city is hosting a public engagement meeting in the East End (Monday, June 17) and virtually (Saturday, June 22). This is your opportunity to provide input to the process while the Mayor's Office is developing its budget request for 2025.


Monday's meeting will be from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Catalyst Academy (7061 Lemington Avenue). Dinner will be provided.


For more information about the budget process - including an online budget survey and info on the virtual budget meeting - visit the City of Pittsburgh’s budget engagement website.

It’s fishing season!

Sign up for the Mayor’s Office newsletter

The Mayor’s Office has launched an e-newsletter to better and more consistently share critical information on city engagement opportunities and project updates. The newsletter’s regular features have been determined in response to feedback from the community on topics they want to hear more about, such as:


-infrastructure project updates

-public meeting opportunities

-procurement / contracting opportunities

-what the city is doing about climate change

-youth engagement

Etc!


The newsletter is bi-weekly and hits subscriber inboxes every other Thursday at 10 a.m. To subscribe, visit:  City of Pittsburgh, Office of the Mayor (list-manage.com)

The Highland Park Community Council is an all volunteer-run organization. We are responsible for many of the great events that make this neighborhood so special like the Hullabaloo, the Yard Sale, Light-up Night, the Bryant Street Parklet Pumpkin Patch and so much more. Please consider donating to continue to make this the best neighborhood in the city. If you are interested in volunteering, send an email to volunteers@hpccpgh.org. If you would like to become a supporting member, join here. Memberships start at $10/year.