A look back at the top Mon Valley community stories of 2016
St. Thomas Aquinas Roman Catholic Church on Union Street in California will continue hosting Mass after a regional consolidation in the beginning of 2017.
Ringgold School District is moving forward with construction of a new middle school.
The Little League field at John DiVirgilio Sports Complex in Rostraver was the site of the statewide Little League Championships in July.
John ‘Chummy’ Lignelli, who served as mayor of Donora for six terms before retiring in 2014, died Dec. 1.
In this file image, Lisa Stout-Bashioum, president of the Bentleyville Bicentennial Committee, adjusts a candle decoration on the 200th anniversary float that was used in the Bentleyville Bicentennial parade in June.
Community is defined by the sharing of common cultures, interests, governments and characteristics.
But the communities that make up the Herald-Standard readership area are so much more than a broad definition. Our communities are made of people with compassion, with drive to succeed, with knowledge to make tough decisions, with heart-warming stories to tell and with a commitment to help those in need.
The Herald-Standard strives daily to bring to the attention of readers those stories in the Community section.
Here are some of the top Community stories of 2016:
Catholic church mergers and closures
In the face of a decline in parishioners and priests, the local Roman Catholic Church in 2016 dealt with new mergers and the affects of previous ones.
Bishop David Zubik of the Pittsburgh diocese announced a strategic planning initiative in May that called for evangelization along with possible church closings, saying, “Pope Francis wants us to reach out to those in need of love, of care and protection, of mercy and grace.”
In December, the diocese reported five southeastern Washington County parishes would merge into the new St. Katherine Drexel Parish, effective Jan. 8. They involve St. Agnes in Richeyville, Ave Maria in Bentleyville, St. Joseph in Roscoe, St. Oliver Plunkett in Fredericktown and St. Thomas Aquinas in California.
Mass will be offered on a regular basis at Ave Marie, St. Thomas, and St. Michael worship center of St. Oliver. Mass will be offered occasionally, including weddings and funerals, at the other churches.
Meanwhile, in the Greensburg diocese, parishioners of four churches previously merged into St. Francis of Assisi Parish of Western Fayette County are still hoping for worship opportunities that go beyond Mass twice a year in each of these buildings.
A late September meeting took place in Republic for members of the former Madonna of Czestochowa in Cardale, St. Mary, Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Leckrone, St. Procopius in New Salem and Holy Rosary in Republic. The Greensburg diocese merged them in 2013 into St. Francis, along with the former St. Thomas in Footedale and All Saints in Masontown that continue to be used as worship sites.
Parishioners at the meeting reviewed the situation: They appealed the merger in 2013. The Vatican upheld it but directed now-retired Bishop Lawrence Brandt to schedule Masses in each of the closed churches. Two are held in each every year. The parishioners pressed for more with the Vatican saying in 2015 the pastor is the “competent authority” to make scheduling changes.
When additional Masses were not scheduled, parishioners waited while Bishop Edward Malesic took office before asking for more. But, as of December, the diocese said there is no change.
Rostraver hosts Little League state tourney
The John DiVirgilio Sports Complex in Rostraver Township hosted the state Little League Championships July 24-30.
Eight teams participated in the double-elimination tournament. The winner advanced to Bristol, Connecticut, for the Eastern Regionals and a chance to advance to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
The state Little League rotates the site among the sections. Rostraver Township plays in Section 2. This was the first time that a team in District 9 of Section 2 hosted the tournament. The district administrator chooses the specific site. The complex hosted a tournament for 11-year-olds last year. It was during that time that the district administrator and township baseball officials began discussions about hosting the state tournament this year.
Putting on the tournament involved everything from the logistics of where the teams will stay and eat to recruiting sufficient volunteers to assist all visitors. A banquet was held for the teams and their families at the Rostraver Central Fire Hall on July 22.
Bleachers from Cedar Creek Park were brought to the complex and placed in the outfield to accommodate the extra fans. The practice fields at Cedar Creek were reserved for the teams to practice. A shuttle transported fans from parking in Cedar Creek Park to the field. All games were played on one field used for Little League.
Ringgold moves on school construction after years of debate
Ringgold School District officials broke ground for the new middle school April 20.
The middle school is being constructed on the same campus as the high school and is on schedule to open for the first day of class in Aug. 2017.
In March, the school board approved bids for construction of the $41,983,081 project, which came in $1.26 million under pre-bid estimates prepared Dec. 16.
The groundbreaking marks the start of a project that was years in the making. The new middle school would replace the current Ringgold Middle School, formerly Finley Middle School. For years, the school has shifted slightly due to pyrite beneath the structure.
Donora and Monongahela elementary centers were closed at the end of the 2010-11 school year. At one time, the Ringgold School Board was considering a plan to reopen the buildings and renovate them for use as middle schools.
The board ultimately decided to pursue construction of a new middle school at the Carroll Township site where the high school is located.
Bentleyville marks bicentennial
A celebration 200 years in the making was spread over four days, June 30 to July 3, in Bentleyville.
A time capsule buried during the 1966 celebration was opened. For Bentleyville’s sesquicentennial in 1966, the organizing committee had copper coins minted to mark the event. That committee placed 20 copper coins in the time capsule for the 2016 committee to sell as fundraiser for the bicentennial.
The bicentennial committee auctioned off five of them and buried 15 of them “to pay it forward,” said Lisa Stout-Bashioum.
Planning for the bicentennial began in 2004 during a meeting of the Bentleyville Historical Society. Most of the events took place at Richardson Park.
An ecumenical service was hosted by the Bentworth Ministerium Association at the Bentleyville Union Holiness Camp meeting ground. The property for that camp was donated to the Wesleyan Church by Bentley’s daughter shortly after the Civil War as a gesture of unity and peace.
Valley mourns death of Donora Mayor John “Chummy” Lignelli
John “Chummy” Lignelli embodied Donora and loved and cared for the people of Donora.
That’s how Lignelli was remembered upon his passing Dec. 1.
John Lignelli who served as mayor for six terms before retiring in 2014, died in Residence at the Hilltop in Carroll Township, where he had been residing for a little more than two years.
Prior to being elected mayor in 1993, Lignelli served on council.
He was a 50-year member of the Donora Fire Department.
Lignelli was a member of the Mid-Mon Valley Transit Authority and the Washington County Housing Authority, which more than a decade ago named the senior high rise in New Eagle as the John Lignelli Manor.
When Donora needed a new library, it was Lignelli who quietly led the fundraising efforts.
On Aug. 29, one day before Lignelli’s 95th birthday, the Donora Public Library was renamed for Lignelli.
He tirelessly lobbied Harrisburg until PennDOT renamed the Donora-Monessen Bridge as the Stan “The Man” Musial Bridge in recognition of the baseball hall- of famer who was born in Donora.
Staff reporters Christopher Buckley and Frances Borsodi Zajac contributed to this article.