is and what they're doing and all so i'd like to introduce you to father richard roberts thank you thank you irma and it's all about where we are wherever appointed and where were assigned in the methodist tradition  appoints us every year he says you not only appointed to the church but to the community that you're a part of him and when i've been passing since i've been in college now thirty years and and in every community i go to i kind find what's the uniqueness of that community and my my wife and and i and our three children moved to venetia of a year ago in july and i just think it's just beautiful i mean it's just incredible i never lived in the south  before i grew up in the north hills of pittsburgh and fox chapel area and we'd hear rumors about the south hills and north and the north you guys had and the rapid rail system and the county park and we had nothin in the north  see that museum a western expansion there and the right house and so we're kind of emphasizing the village and the uniqueness there again and hoping that they've made it into a museum this is true is that tell me now that i know it is correct it's it's already i'm using them in fact the longhouse has been restored to it as much authenticity as it as it was back in the seventeenth hundreds when the rights first built that and the progression of that they started in the log cabin and then built the home in front and now that is now a museum that the museum of western expansion peters creek historical society and you could make arrangements historical society make arrangements to come view that museum in fact there's a new exhibit that is going to open this summer and it's called the fort cox museum exhibit and all the members of the historical society we have in fact george washington was there at least a fellow that looked just like him and was all dressed in his finery and we got to hear some of the details for cox which was right in the area and which was a fort from you know  revolutionary war times that was of course destroyed but they have found some archaeological evidence that the digs there are just fascinating things i mean what they were eating at the time what they were yeah there's a lot that can happen right there i know these to do an encampment there you know over over memorial day and they haven't done it for a while and running right through right tents set up and everything that's what i've heard yeah the real adventure maybe we'll get back yesterday all the month of june and july every wednesday from noon to one we're going to do outdoor concerts right in the village there in fact it'll be right on the front steps of rights methodist church there it's we've got some new concrete poured in the porch area is just in the shade enough and the way the sun comes over there in venetia the only parts that in the shade are the the fronts of the buildings that face the road and i mean checking that out all spring time and so every noon from noon to one every wednesday in june and july the be a concert and there's there's different variety of groups there for the next three weeks out of the country bluegrass music  in from chautauqua will be will be here this week and next week and then some of our local folks bridget from overt edwards chappell way and and john powell john is just an extraordinary musician that we met  goes to edward chapel my other methodist church that i serve and and john's in his eighty's i think he's eighty six evilly but he can play the guitar and there how monica at the same time than a month ago he says well i can play the mean you thought you were you know out the door at the grand old opry and it was wonderful and we had an upright bass and fiddle and guitar and some some vocalists there a little  and it was just great and so he'll be there the third week of june and then so we're looking for musicians to come in so if you're interested in coming call the church seventy four three hundred eight fifty seven eighteen  and ask for me or ask to be put on the musician schedule for that's again every wednesday and part of that is a lunch too and that's the fun thing about it irma we did this in the city of share in the past four years got some of the downtown businesses  the restaurants take your steak and lube donna's diner the hotdog shops could you provide a five dollar lunch that folks can grab it put it in a brown bag and bring it over to the concert and salvatore down there at the open said i can do that so if you go to the open restaurant which is beneath the post office in venetia and tell them you want the brown bag lunch they'll have it ready for you pay your five dollars grab it bring it up to the concert or we'll have lunch right there at the church the menu changes every week the first week of june i think it to be isley ham barbecue sandwiches potato chips and and some lemonade but again that's every every wednesday and we're looking forward to that term and just to see what thoroughfare but again it's just showing the community one of the comments that i heard myself about a month ago i was speaking to someone about my church and i was trying to explain to her where where i live and she they moved from peters township and now live in hilton head south carolina and i was talking to this young lady that was baca on a business trip and sees and i'm telling her where i live i said back to school by the church and she says oh that church that's closed and i said no why did you think it was closed she said we've lived here all our life and we've brought our kids to the ball into the soccer fields there in the little league fields and we never seen any activity at the church and so we're trying to turn that around the church is never closed but we're just trying to amp up some of the activities in the village and in the church as a part of that of course it's right and along with all the activities that go on at the scene at the community school on june the thirteenth that's the night before flag day flag day is the fourteenth and and again i live within sight of that notice that there was no flag there and it's what can we do to kind of bring a peter's bringing those groups together along with painting the flagpole getting the girl scouts involved they meet inside that building and and some other folks just to kind of put together a program on june the thirteenth at six o'clock the rededication of that flagpole and the world will sing the national anthem the fact the little league they normally start at six o'clock they're going to come up and  postpone their games for fifteen minutes and be a part of that we're going to say a pledge of allegiance to the flag and fly colors on that flag for the first time since the school was closed oh that was wonderful thanks y right i think you bring it up i say day one of the flags that flew on the capitol building in washington d c will be the first flag that will be flown there and so that's just a great what an honor and tradition and now we're going to properly light that so we can the flag will be flown twenty four seven three hundred sixty five days a year and so this legacy that risk for quite a while that side to bring it to the thank you is that right yeah now that used to fly on there when before when ok well we'll bring it out and and again properly lighted and have a celebration june thirteenth at six o'clock just invite the community to come and be a part of that so that's that's wonderful thank y happens when we know about memorial days we were at the mcnairy parade here and enjoyed the v f w celebration right here at peter's township on on that memorial  day but they always play taps which is significant for memorial day right but i talked to them this morning the honor guard and i said well i need rubble the i need something to upbeat yes because we're raising that thing so they're going to come up with that and as we raise the colors  peter's township began in the area of in a ship with the museum with the right house right across the street and in that little log cabin the museum in front of that then school church a post office that there's and then plus that kind library is kind of like if the core of this community to it's kind of centrally located and they do a lot of great great programs there that we've been to take my lord takes the girls there every week and there's just so much to be a part of at the library i was sat in on a book signing back in the fall and dan rooney was here the owner of the steelers and he was talking about the north side of pittsburgh that's where he grew up and that's where he continues to live even today his son lives out where i grew up in fox chapel but but it but he and his wife still live in the north side of pittsburgh and and the uniqueness of that community the village  you know i don't think it's any mistake that the south hills village is called the south wales village and it's a very successful mall even today because it's more of a village atmosphere one of my first  back in ninety nine and i go to northway mall and i start walking around and it is and half of it's gone the thing about it is the big stores are there but they took half of it away and i actually had to physically ask the security guard and say what happened in the rest of the model and he said well you know today in today's time folks want to shop in the villages they want the outdoor thing it's like the waterfront in homestead they like this with the outdoor atmosphere right through mount mount lebanon on a saturday morning you've got every cafe there has sidewalk tables they have folks selling things off of tables in front of their stores it's that village atmosphere that that we have in the nation that we're going to start promoting now that was the success of this area you know in the early days and so the village of and he says some of the things that we've got coming up talked about the brown bag concerts i talked about the flagpole recommissioning we're going to do some educational events this summer one of them is we're going out to mingle creek park june sixteenth to the twentieth for wilderness adventures what it's called and they'll be some stories some crafts some limp it kind of things some some really heavy duty activities going on but that's every day from nine thirty to noon june sixteenth through the twentieth and shelter number two  go creek park and and this wilderness adventure and we're looking forward to that and then we're going to do a similar event right in right at wright's methodist right in our nisha on july fourteenth through the nineteenth and what we're looking for here irma is i know they do a community day at the end of june pier peters would park which is a great thing we will be there selling funnel cakes and i think that we have got a table to sell through face painting so rights and rights methodists will be there but i'm looking to do some kind of festival some kind of heritage days down in venetia that's what we began so how can we do that and so some time during the week of july fourteenth through the nineteenth they'll be some some tents some outdoor activities going on some some community projects in other words we want to clean up the community on during that week with some litter pick up things with some painting with some general refurbish zation of a village of benita during the week of july fourteenth through the nineteenth so if you've got a project again that you'd like the us to be a part  and residents of the community that we can come and be a part of again call call us at the church seventy four three four eight fifty seven eighteen and we'll put you on the calendar for that we can see what we can do it will end every night that getting together and backyard picnics the community center there the thursday lunches every other thursday that i get to attend over there it's just need to be with other people and less than you ever well thank you it's my pleasure it's a such of such a fun time to do all the i mean there's a lot of activities that go on in that community center officer dave in the train the whole third floor training exhibit up there and then the girl scouts and use that building and in the peters creek presbyterian church is there so there's the dance studio i mean you want to go anywhere but venetia you know to everything can happen right there so  that july fourteenth through the nineteenth we're looking for kind of the heritage days we're going to talk to the museum over there what can we do over there maybe have it open during the week we'll do some activities for sure  in between the school and the church right there and i know it'll be a just a great time great plans yeah yeah good good plans again we we we're been been just blessed where we've lived since we've since laura and i moved back to pennsylvania from south carolina in and we were in franklin for ten years and had great great just wonderful times and franklin with theater and music and and  to be a part of the chamber of commerce downtown same thing in the city sharon for four years in fact we went there last week to open up their brown bag series that i brought to that town and then tony to tell us from the letterman i mean we used his his little park and i got to be a letterman last year yeah because we did invite all of them so i got to sing the high harmonies and it was great it was such fun time but that tony's nor me there on wednesdays back and sharon and  so we're going to bring that excitement that joy down here to have been a show starting here in june and forever we had great fun the christmas time during our light up night in and that's a new event that that we put together last  december and in fact we came over here to the library's light up night learned some things went to p g place downtown and and have seen that my kids learn to skate around in the the christmas tree at p p d place downtown pittsburgh so i'm pulling ideas from every place i go that hey this works this is great we can do it in phoenicia and so so we're excited we're excited to be in peter so i think we need it well thank you we're trying to bring all them together girl scouts boy scouts you know bring everyone together for a common purpose and that is you know to recommission that flag and to do something patriotic and so so that's going to be a lot of fun and  talk to the people at the little league fields over there and then they say they're just so kind and so welcoming and i don't think i've met i mean prosper since i've been there in the sas kills yet and so i hope that continues and how can we you know spread that joy around a little bit because it is it's a unique place i mean i've heard some of the stories from some of our senior citizens in the area one in particular  mr lute shared to me that his father used to catch the train to go to high school in washington and he lived right there in the nation and he'd put the flag up so they would see that and stop to pick him up to take to the fra and we found a plate that was broken but it's a china plate and i told my my daughters and i look at the back of it and here is from the b n o railroad oh wow and it was you know someone musta got a bad you know the passenger trains maybe they had a bad d come see us sometime in the nation lots of activities on wednesdays and in of course on sundays and come for a ballgame on friday and saturday night and then i have dogs over there they're just great they're wonderful  fall and this guy greg wealthy is just phenomenal and so greg would be with us this this the next two weeks and then lunch at the open stop by pick up a lunch or come and just come to the church and we'll have lunch there for you're there along with tables and chairs and or if you want to bring your own lawn chair bring your own lawn chair but it's and it's going to be kind of  a just a nice picnic place to be we want to catch people that's a busy road there yeah we resurrected the old church sign that they almost threw away and that's right at the end of our parking lot and on that we put the  community things that are going on like brown bag like the flagpole commissioning like the fort cox exhibit over at the library or over at the museum and so that sign in particular is different from our church sign that's going to be advertised all the  of all the community events that's right yeah memorial day saturday they had a baseball classic down there at the ball feel a little league field what a fun time i took the girls over there and it was just like a big pickup game and so it was wonderful sounds like you're having a good time having a good time enjoying the south and living in the south and acton rich and live in big so it's been great having you here and it's time somebody is the place yeah yeah the sleeping giant right yeah that's right yeah it's just makes me feel good you know that we're finally getting to know where we are yeah we're venetia is yeah thank you thank you very much one of our one of our folks told us about the how they change that used to be called something else the nation was originally called andersonville or something or not that i know public told me that story too but it was called that he was named after a doctor in the area and somebody went through in went through the however this was a turn of the century and  not used anywhere else and so they chose that as the name for the village thank you our mass thank you for letting me be interviewed here today and we look forward to seeing you over at the community center and all the events of the nation wonderful kainat i'm going to do my best to try to get t