Starting now.
Commonalities where guests find common ground through uncommon
conversations, politics, religion, finances,
all the topics your grandmother told you not to discuss with friends.
And now your host, Matthew Dowling,
and today's guests on commonalities.
Well, hello, and thank you for joining us on another episode of Commonalities.
This is actually episode 20,
so we are 20 in now to the show. Uh, I apologize,
I I did have a new show on Tuesday of this week, um,
but you were hearing the best of for the, the past week or so.
I've been a little under the weather and, uh, and so I apologize for that.
But we're back up and running.
My guest today is a good friend of mine and one of the sponsors of our
program, mayor Bill Gerkey. Mayor Gerkey, thanks for joining us here today.
Well.
Thanks for having me, Matt, and glad to see that you're doing much better.
Well, you know, we on this program, uh,
talk politics at all different levels. In fact, it's not just politics.
We talk about, we say at the beginning of the show, we talk about politics,
religion, and finances,
all the things your grandmother told you not to talk about. And, uh,
and that's what we do here.
But today we're gonna talk about government that is closest
to you, the people. And sometimes, uh, that is where,
uh, the most amount of change in your life can be made.
People make a big deal out of what's happening in the United States Senate
or in Congress, or even in the State House. Um,
but when it comes down to brass tack,
the fact that your garbage is picked up on time,
the fact that your parks are clean, uh,
the fact that your roads are taken care of,
those are the things that we see each and every day.
And those are the things that municipal government,
like the city of Uniontown are responsible. So,
I wanted to have you on the program today to talk a little bit about some
exciting things that are happening, but beco, before we go there, um,
you know, bill,
I've known you for a long time and I know that you are a,
uh, a major union town,
red Raider basketball fan, and, uh, they're playing tonight.
So I wanted to get your insight on, uh,
on our Red Raiders and what you think will happen, how you think Coach K will,
uh, will do, and, and how's that game gonna turn out for us?
Well, I don't have a Crystal ball Mac, but um,
I've seen Uniontown play probably three quarters of their games this year.
They're well coached, um, well disciplined team. Um,
they're going up against a tough opponent tonight,
but I think at this time of year, they're all tough opponents.
So hopefully they, they can pu pull out a win tonight. I,
I've talked to the coach this morning. He said he has his team ready to go.
And I think everybody in the community,
we're all hoping that Uniontown wins tonight, along with Laura Highlands,
cuz that sets up a show down next Monday night. I think, um,
everybody in the city will, will go to see that game. So we're wishing out,
we're wishing all the, the best of Coach K and his staff and his team.
Well, we have Bill over in the producer's chair, and, uh, bill, I,
I guess you have a mic over there.
What's your prediction for the outcome of today? Tonight's game, uh.
A lot of people will be watching our live stream on the W Nmb s Facebook page.
. That's my prediction.
For, you know, it's, it has amazed me. Um, I,
I watched the live stream of both of the Uniontown Laurel
Highlands games, um,
and I've been following basketball more than I normally do, um,
because I have some clients that, uh,
that wanted to make sure that we highlight some basketball information on
their, uh, social media accounts.
It's one of the things that my company does is we, uh,
we manage social media for small businesses and political candidates,
people like that. Um,
and you guys have reached the 2000 watcher
mark, uh, on Facebook. What is is simply, uh,
just astonishing to me that you have all of those people crammed into the
gym,
and then you have 2000 people that are logged on to their phones
or their computers, and, you know, as many of us, uh,
know who follow livestream, um,
generally statistics say that for every viewer that you see
on a livestream,
you have 3.5 people that are watching because people watch
as families or as groups. So simply thousands of people are tuning in.
Maybe they like to hear the sound of Brian Marx's voice, I'm not sure. Uh,
but they're definitely, yeah, that's it, by the way. Yeah, that's,
that's what it is. But, uh,
they are definitely watching our Red Raiders and the Laurel Highlands Mustangs
and, and our local teams here. And, you know,
high school sports are so very important in mayor,
I think you would agree with me because high school sports not
only give an athletic outlet to the
young people that play them, but they keep our young people off of our streets.
And if they're off of our streets, um, they stay outta trouble. And,
and so I think there's a huge benefit to the community to have not only
good high school sports, not only high school sports,
but good high school sports at that. Would.
You agree? Absolutely. And, and you can, you can see, see that and,
and the community, it helps the community also, the community gets behind them.
And as I've always said is my, I guess it's three and a half years now,
I've been, I've been mayor and what my goal has been, and I'll,
it'll continue to be,
is to bring the community together through whatever venue or avenue that we,
that we pick. But that's a good way of bringing the community together. Um,
I've talked to people that are going to the game tonight,
but there's a lot of people like you and Bill had mentioned that they're going
to watch it on livestream on w Nmb s but the gyms are filled. So it,
it's a really great service that w Nmb s provides. And, uh, matter of fact,
just for a short period of time, I'll make a real short story of this.
We went to church last night and I wanted to see what Gebel was doing,
so I was able, we went to eat dinner, pulled it up on my phone, and it was just,
it was the first time that I've watched it on livestream,
and it was just really nice for me to sit there and watch.
We were in a restaurant, turn the, the, uh, the, um,
volume down and got to watch the, the Gators win win a game last.
Night. Is it now you were watching the Gators during dinner?
Not during the sermon church.
Right? Absolutely. Fortunately,
the church was over at eight o'clock and we didn't get broadcast until.
Eight o'clock. Well, I can tell you one thing for sure,
I wouldn't wanna be the person answering the telephone at Mama Marque's Pizza
on, uh, on game night,
because I know they always advertise specials and so forth. And, uh,
and I'm sure the kitchens not only in their restaurant,
but in restaurants across town,
do better on game nights than they do on most Friday nights. Um,
so there's an economic boom that it brings to, uh,
to the area as well. And you think, you know, this is just high school sports.
This isn't the Super Bowl. Um,
but it does make an economic impact here in the local.
Area. And, and like you said at the beginning of the show, Matt,
that we can sit here and talk about, um, national government, state government,
but what people are really interested is what's going on in their community and
high school basketball, is it just taking the limelight right now?
And it brings the community together and,
and it's really fun for everyone to have a conversation about high school
basketball. And it, as your show says commonalities.
A lot of people have different opinions,
but we all come together and that brings us all together, which I really enjoy.
Well, you know, we're talking recreation.
So that's gonna gimme a great segue to, uh,
one of the other topics that I wanted to talk to you about today.
I know the city of Uniontown has already connected the Sheep Skin Trail,
which we're hearing, uh,
a lot about to the South Union Township, uh,
portion of the trail.
But you guys are getting ready to connect to the North Union area,
um, or their section of the trail,
and that sheepskins gonna run right through Uniontown.
So why don't you tell me a little bit about that,
that project and what's going on with, uh,
kind of a quick update on the Sheep skin trail?
Sure thing, Matt. It's really exciting for me when I, um,
became mayor, uh, probably a short time into my office, into my term,
um,
township supervisor Bob Ship Bar paid me a visit one day and it looked pretty
easy, like what South Union did. But they, of course,
they didn't go through the, the center of a city and I,
I was really not aware of what, what we needed to do.
But we got our team together and we started planning,
which we started from square one.
Made a few mistakes and a few good moves, but, uh,
this past summer we started at Dunbar Street, I mean, excuse me,
at Pennsylvania Avenue next to CLOs Lumber and started our trail and it went
behind Bailey Park and, uh,
we crossed Dunbar Street and we ended up at the end of the year,
we ended up on Fayette Street. So we have a, we have a, the trail is complete,
I wouldn't say complete, but the walkways complete the signage.
There's always things to do with the trail that I was not aware of originally,
but now I'm as, as I'm learning, there's more and more to do. But our next,
our next goal is of,
I wanted to say that that trail that I described from Pennsylvania Avenue up to
up to Fayette Street, that was all done by the city's workers.
And I wanna send a big thank you out to John Linsky. Um,
he headed up that job and there was a lot of other people that were instrumental
in getting that done. So now what our goal is in the springtime,
which spring is just around the corner, looks like it's here today, but,
but whatever the case may be behind the Auto Land store that goes from Fayette
Street up to Beon Boulevard, there's no traffic there.
We're going to remove the, the railroad tracks there and pave that area.
So then that's a pretty easy job compared to what we have in
front of us. You know, going down the center street of, of Uniontown,
down Beeson Boulevard, down behind Capella's Restaurant and get to the,
um, north Union township border.
There's a lot of things that need to be ironed out. Um,
we're working on that. The commissioners,
all three of the commissioners have been very instrumental,
very helpful in getting us some grants and trying to plan this out.
So, um, we're looking forward to, um,
getting that section behind Auto Land completed, um,
in a month or two so we can see a little more done then,
then we go into Beon Boulevard, and that's gonna be a little more, um,
problematic, but we have a plan there. And then get,
get behind Capellas, which again, the areas that,
that people aren't traveling, um, with a car is a little easier than,
than going through the center of Uniontown. But we're working on it and,
and it is exciting.
Alright? It definitely isn't.
And that's another economic driver that we see for the community.
We've seen what trails have done for the great Allegheny Passage. Um,
and I, in my youth, before I had a fake hip, uh,
I rode on a bicycle from Cumberland, Maryland to Washington,
DC That's a great trail. They've now connected from Pittsburgh to Cumberland,
Maryland. I've never had the opportunity to, to ride that portion of the trail,
but I know that, uh, that you have businesses that spring up that, uh,
that take care of that tourism that's coming through your area. And,
and I think that'll be a great thing for our local community.
We have to get our first break in here today,
so stay with us and we'll be right back here on commonalities.
You're listening to commonalities where guests find common ground through
uncommon conversations.
We'll be back after this brief break to recognize our sponsors.
Are you enjoying the program?
You're listening to support commonalities and help keep us on the air by making
a donation of five, 10, or $25, or any amount you feel comfortable sharing
online@donate.commonalities.online. Again,
that is donate.commonalities.online on the worldwide web.
Buy our host a cup of coffee or help pay for airtime at donate dot commonalities
online.
Hello, Uniontown Mayor, bill Gerkey here.
There's nothing quite like the feeling of home. That's sense of belonging.
Those fall Friday nights under the lights, those winter nights in the gym,
watching our red Raiders,
those refreshing spring afternoons at Bailey Park rooting on our Red Raider
softball and baseball teams.
I am grateful for those memories and hope our community's children and
grandchildren can enjoy those memories too. But to do that,
we have to plan for the future. During my first term in office,
the city has got Bailey Park back to a place where we can be proud of.
Begun our city's first comprehensive plan in over 20 years.
Started work on the city's section of the Sheep Skin Trail,
worked on eliminating blighted properties and are rebuilding the city's
neighborhoods. We've updated the faulty equipment in the parking garages,
and we're bringing a more competitive, reliable, faster,
and less expensive internet service to our city residents.
We have done a lot, but there's still more to do. So I Bill Gerkey.
I'm running for a second term. We're Uniontown proud, we're Uniontown strong,
and together we can continue to rebuild Uniontown for the next
generation.
Paid.
For by Mayor Billey.
I'm Melinda de LaRose. As an Assistant District attorney,
I've protected Fayette County families and fought to uphold our constitutional
rights. As a prosecutor and trusted local attorney,
I've provided victims of crime with a strong voice and put criminals behind
bars. My pledge to you as Judge is to follow the law,
always maintain the highest ethical standards,
and to run a courtroom that's respectful of your time and tax dollars.
I'm Melinda de LaRose asking for your vote for Judge.
Paid for by Friends of Melinda de LaRose.
When it comes to buying a home,
what you see isn't exactly what you get.
That's why home buyers should call Dave Dowling At Grandview Inspections
at 7 2 4 2 0 8 4 1 0 8.
You'll see colorful flowers, freshly painted walls,
granite countertops, gleaming hardwood floors, and other touches.
What you can't see is the cracks, ancient plumbing,
dangerous wiring,
or broken appliances that might be revealed when you hire
a home inspector. And when it comes to home inspectors,
knowing yours has the qualifications and experience needed,
should be your number one concern.
Dave Dowling with Grandview Inspections is an architectural engineer
with over 30 years of commercial construction experience and hundreds
of inspections under his belt.
A home inspection is an opportunity for you to hire an expert to walk
through the home and prepare a report outlining the home's major components.
What needs immediate attention and what will require maintenance after you move
in your home is one of your biggest investments.
So make sure your investment is everything you hoped it to be.
Call Dave Dowling at Grandview Inspections at
7 2 4 2 0 8 4 1 0 8.
Is your business using analog strategies in a digital marketing world?
If so,
then contact Matthew or Rebecca Dowling at Coordinated 360 for a
professional consultation where we bring in-depth knowledge and functional
expertise with a holistic perspective.
Coordinated 360 provides digital marketing, paid ad and media buying services,
web design, social media management, video production,
and more for businesses, organizations,
and political campaigns with decades of experience.
Matt and Becky at Coordinated 360 can help you craft your unique message
and share it with the world. For a no risk media evaluation and recommendations,
call 7 2 4 3 2 0 22 12 or visit
us online at www.coordinatedthreesixty.com.
Find us also on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter,
or email info coordinated three sixty.com.
You are listening to commonalities where guests find common ground through
Uncommon Conversations.
Well, thanks for sticking with us. Our, my guest today is Mayor Bill Gki,
mayor of the City of Uniontown, and we've been talking, um,
actually a lot about high school sports. I'm kind of afraid that, uh,
Jonathan Goth may, uh, may come after me for, for still in his topic of, uh,
his show. But, uh,
we've also been talking a little bit about the Sheep Skin Trail and some
recreation pieces that are happening in the city of Uniontown now,
mayor Erky, um,
I know there's not a lot to update everyone on right now,
but I did want to make note of the fact that you guys are working
on a comprehensive plan and planning is so extremely
important, uh,
for municipalities because that's where you not only
decide what's gonna be done in the future,
but how you're going to fund things in the future,
whether it will be through tax revenue,
whether there are grants available to you. Um, so I,
I know you're doing the, the first, uh, uh,
comprehensive plan in nearly 20 years or in 20 years,
if I'm correct. So tell us a little bit about, uh,
what's going on with that comprehensive plan.
Yes. Um, the city, as Matt had said,
the city had not had a comprehensive plan update for 20 years.
So actually we started from square one. And, and again, um,
whenever you're starting at Square one, you make a lot of mistakes.
And when you make mistakes, it takes up time. But, um,
a after we got our bearings together and,
and found which direction we want to go, we hired Gibson Thomas, um,
to head up our comprehensive plan,
getting with some of the members of the community to get an idea where we want
to go. And without a co uh, an updated comprehensive plan, it's really hard,
if not impossible,
to get some of the certain grant fundings that you need to improve our
city. And, and that's one thing that I couldn't understand at one time,
that grants are very important to be able to get things done. Just,
I'll go back to the Sheep Skin Trail. You know,
the city did provide some of the funding to do some of the sheep control,
but to do all of the Sheep Skin trail grants play,
play a major role, if not a, a complete role in that. So,
but back to the comprehensive plan, I'm excited.
We've had a couple meetings over talking about the comprehensive plan,
getting some people in the community involved,
and I think by the end of the year,
we're gonna be more concrete on what we're doing and make the public much more
where aware of where, where we are going and,
and it'll be an improvement to our city.
You know, and, and,
and I wanted to pause there and talk just a little bit about grants.
In my six years in the, in the legislature, uh,
I worked with a lot of municipalities that were looking for funding. And,
um, you know, I, you come to, uh,
a grant maker with what you think is a fantastic project,
and it may be a fantastic project we'll use just for, uh,
the sake of an example, the Sheep Skin Trail, uh, as an example.
But many times when you apply for the first grant,
one of the things that they're gonna want you to do is to get some engineering
done and get some drawings in place because grant makers don't
like to, uh, don't like to,
to go on the mindset that, you know, we got Bobby Jo that works for us,
and, and they got it all figured out, and they know how they're gonna do it.
They want to see, you know,
concrete architectural drawings on how things are done.
So sometimes, uh,
it may cost a municipality a little bit extra to get that
work done through the grant process, but in the long terms,
the municipality is better off because a,
a good plan is put in place, good architectural drawings, uh, exist,
and then you can apply for additional grants to actually do the project.
But many times, uh, it takes a little longer to get things done,
then, you know,
if we could just send the street department down there with some blacktop and
they, and they start rolling, uh, with their own, uh, knowledge.
Exactly. And, and that's one, that's one of the things that I,
it was hard for me to understand at the beginning, but I agree with Matt.
And even, um,
we did receive some grant funding for the Sheep Skin Trail. Um, but,
uh, the city I think applied once before I became mayor. Then we applied,
so the third time. So a lot of times with grant funding, when you first apply,
you're not guaranteed that you're gonna be awarded that grant.
So you learn a little bit about your mistakes and go and apply again and go
apply again. So again, that takes time. So, um,
it's a little frustrating that it takes so long to get this done.
And I'll go back to Mr. Schiff Byer whenever he came to see me.
It looked pretty easy whenever I first looked at the plans. But as time goes on,
there's a lot of moving parts that we have to put them all together to make this
project work, but it, I feel confident that it will come to fruition.
So, you know, we have a a a couple things that, uh,
that happen when exciting things are happening in a downtown corridor.
I know, uh, the city of Connellsville has dealt with this to some extent.
The city of Uniontown is now dealing with it.
We're bringing people to downtown. And downtown,
uh,
Uniontown is not the downtown that it was designed to be in
the late 18 hundreds,
even in the 1920s during kind of the renaissance of downtown,
because everyone's driving one of these big vehicles,
these SUVs or pickup trucks or, you know,
there are no compact cars. Of course, in the 1920s, if you had a car,
it wasn't compact either. Um, you know, you had.
Those, but there weren't as, as knocked in Arabia. But there were,
there weren't as anywhere near.
As many as there weren't near as many. So that brings me, um, to,
to, uh, kind of my next topic and my next transition.
We have what we call the Grand Old Lady of Main Street,
the State Theater Center for the Arts, uh,
which is just less than a block from City Hall there,
a beautiful newer parking garage that was built right behind
that building. And on show nights, I know it fills up rather quickly.
Um, in fact, very funny, Erica Miller from the,
the theaters rigged my cell phone right now, so I'll have to get back to her.
Um, but, uh, that,
that parking garage had some issues and some issues that you guys had
to figure out because, you know, I've parked there during a,
uh, a show at the theater and then have been stuck,
and the firemen have had to come open the gates and, and let us out.
But some of those problems have been addressed. So tell us a little bit about.
That. Oh, absolutely. Those problems have been addressed. Um,
just to bring people up to speed. Um, our parking garage,
the one Matt is speaking of, behind the state theater, we've just,
we just paid that off payment, made the final payment,
I can't remember if it was December of last year or January of this year,
but we don't have a payment there anymore.
But that building's still in good shape and it can generate some
income. But with the equipment that we had there,
it was the same equipment that when it was originally built. And of course,
that was 15 years ago, 16 years ago.
So Mark John had spearheaded a project of getting us parking
garage equipment at before, up until now,
the parking garage was not able to accept credit cards.
And sometimes when you put cash in, it wouldn't give you the proper change.
So that, that makes an inconvenience for people. Of course,
if you walk across the street to City Hall, if you know,
to walk across the street to City Hall, the girls there would,
would make that right. But then again, I've talked about time again,
people's time is valuable and, and, you know,
you walk over there to a strange place say, Hey, I didn't get my changer.
I can't get out. But now we've got equipment in there, it isn't completed yet,
but hopefully, and I keep saying this, within a month,
that you'll be able to use the parking garage and,
and then we can utilize the two hour parking on the streets.
We hired a parking enforcement officer,
so I always say that parking in downtown Uniontown was the wild West,
but we don't want it to be that way, and we're gonna transition into a, a,
a more organized parking situation in the city. So I'm excited about that.
Of course, it's been three years.
I saw it whenever I came into office and I see it now. But we're working,
and I believe that that'll come again to fruition here real soon.
Well, you know,
in parking enforcement is so very important because you have Joyce find jewelry
on that block. You have new Bowers flowers that are right there. Um,
you have places that are even Marylands on Maine, um,
that are bringing people from outside of the,
the union town metro area to shop and to eat and to
dine. And, uh,
and so we wanna make sure that the parking spots that are available on the
streets are available to them.
And too many times we see the,
the people that are working in those downtown establishments, um, you know,
parking all day in those spots. And,
and we wanna make sure that that's not the case that you have, uh, you know,
parking for your out-of-town visitors. Of course,
if you work downtown and you're just stopping for five minutes to pick something
up, that's one thing.
But to park there for a full eight hour shift takes parking away
from, uh, from a client from out of town that, uh, that we want to be able to,
to have them spend, uh,
spend their money because we want people to come to Uniontown with pockets full
of money and, you know, leave Uniontown with empty pockets. Well, I I like that,
Matt. You know, so, so that's our goal here in downtown Uniontown. Bill,
we have another break we have to get to, and, uh,
then we'll be right back here on commonalities.
You are listening to commonalities where guests find common ground through
uncommon conversations.
We'll be back after this brief break to recognize our sponsors.
Are you enjoying the program?
You're listening to support commonalities and help keep us on the air by making
a donation of five, 10, or $25, or any amount you feel comfortable sharing
online@donate.commonalities.online. Again,
that is donate.commonalities.online on the worldwide web.
Buy our host a cup of coffee or help pay for airtime at donate dot commonalities
online.
Hello, Uniontown Mayor, bill Gerkey here.
There's nothing quite like the feeling of home, that sense of belonging,
those fall Friday nights under the lights, those winter nights in the gym,
watching our red Raiders,
those refreshing spring afternoons at Bailey Park rooting on our Red Raider
softball and baseball teams.
I'm grateful for those memories and hope our community's children and
grandchildren can enjoy those memories too. But to do that,
we have to plan for the future. During my first term in office,
the city has got Bailey Park back to a place where we can be proud of.
Begun our city's first comprehensive plan in over 20 years.
Started work on the city's section of the Sheep Skin Trail,
worked on eliminating blighted properties and are rebuilding the city's
neighborhoods. We've updated the faulty equipment in the parking garages,
and we're bringing a more competitive, reliable, faster,
and less expensive internet service to our city residents.
We have done a lot, but there's still more to do. So, I Bill Gerkey.
I'm running for a second term. We're Uniontown proud, we're Uniontown strong,
and together we can continue to rebuild Uniontown for the next
generation.
Paid.
For by Mayor Erky.
When it comes to buying a home,
what you see isn't exactly what you get.
That's why home buyers should call Dave Dowling At Grandview
Inspections at 7 2 4 2 0 8 4 1 0 8.
You'll see colorful flowers, freshly painted walls, granite countertops,
gleaming hardwood floors, and other touches.
What you can't see is the cracks, ancient plumbing,
dangerous wiring,
or broken appliances that might be revealed when you hire a
home inspector. And when it comes to home inspectors,
knowing yours has the qualifications and experience needed,
should be your number one concern.
Dave Dowling with Grandview Inspections is an architectural engineer
with over 30 years of commercial construction experience and hundreds of
inspections under his belt.
A home inspection is an opportunity for you to hire an expert to walk
through the home and prepare a report outlining the home's major components.
What needs immediate attention and what will require maintenance after
you move in your home is one of your biggest investments.
So make sure your investment is everything you hoped it to be.
Call Dave Dowling at Grandview Inspections at
7 2 4 2 0 8 4 1 0 8.
I'm Melinda De LaRose. As an Assistant District Attorney,
I've protected Fayette County families and fought to uphold our constitutional
rights. As a prosecutor and trusted local attorney,
I've provided victims of crime with a strong voice and put criminals behind
bars. My pledge to you as Judge is to follow the law,
always maintain the highest ethical standards,
and to run a courtroom that's respectful of your time and tax dollars.
I'm Melinda de LaRose asking for your vote for Judge paid.
For by Friends of Melinda de LaRose.
Is your business using analog strategies in a digital marketing world?
If so,
then contact Matthew or Rebecca Dowling at Coordinated 360 for a
professional consultation where we bring in-depth knowledge and functional
expertise with a holistic perspective.
Coordinated 360 provides digital marketing, paid ad and media buying services,
web design, social media management, video production, and more for businesses,
organizations, and political campaigns with decades of experience.
Matt and Becky at Coordinated 360 can help you craft your unique message
and share it with the world. For a no risk media evaluation and recommendations,
call 7 2 4 3 2 0 22 12,
or visit us online at
www.coordinatedthreesixty.com. Find us also on Facebook,
Instagram, and Twitter,
or email info coordinated three sixty.com.
You are listening to commonalities where guests find common ground through
uncommon Conversations.
Well, thanks for sticking with us. My guest today is Mayor Bill Gki,
and we're talking all things city of Uniontown.
We've already covered the sheepskin trail and the economic boom
that has the potential to bring to downtown Uniontown.
We talked about people from outside of Uniontown coming downtown to
shop and dine and to have a nice night out.
And the fact that we have the parking garages, um,
if they're not yet very soon, will be in tiptop shape. Um, but you know,
one of the things that Uniontown has been known for,
for many years outside of our local area is
the street festivals that have happened in downtown
Uniontown. You know,
upwards of 20 to 30,000 people that have attended annual
Italian festivals and so forth. Uh,
there was a period of time where when Terry Serell was doing those, uh,
unfortunately Terry is passed on and is no longer with us. But,
uh, I hear some exciting news, mayor Gki, that the, uh,
the Italian festival, perhaps we'll call it an ethnic festival,
will be coming back to the streets of downtown Uniontown
with that ambience and atmosphere. And of course, uh,
some of that great food. I don't know if you like the Giuseppe sandwich, but,
uh, but I know that's a top seller there. So tell me a little bit about, uh,
what's on the drawing board for the Italian festival in
Uniontown this summer?
Good, thank, thank you, Matt. Um, around the first of the year,
um, Ron Romeo, Jim Santilli, Rick esy,
and the group from the Sons of Italy contacted Mark, John and myself,
uh, about seeing what interest,
if we had any interest to working with the,
the Sons of Italy and bringing the Italian festival back to Union Town.
You know, when Covid came, um, it kind of changed the way our life, our, our,
our life's lives were lived. And that's something that went by the wayside,
and there's a lot of work to putting, putting an Italian festival on. So, um,
mark John Moki and I went out to visit with the, uh,
gentleman out at the Sons of Italy and got into discussions of how would do
this, who would run it. And, uh, we've, um,
we've finally come to the decision that the Sons of Italy,
they know how to run this festival, and we have the venue. So we,
the particulars will come out a little bit later,
but basically what I'm saying is that we've worked in conjunction with the
Sons of Italy, with the City of Union town.
Our police department is on board or street departments on board,
and that's something like to just send a,
a shout out to our fire police and street departments.
Whenever Mok and I come up with an idea, they, they back us 100%.
And we've got a, I think we,
I know we have a really good partner in the Sons of Italy,
and we plan on having,
they plan on having the Italian festival the weekend of August 12th and
August 13th, and they're just starting their marketing plans.
So there's a lot more to come along,
but I'm excited and everyone in the city are very excited about the Italian
festival or ethnic festival, whatever they may call it,
coming back to the City of Union Dam.
And we get to showcase our city with a good group of people promoting it.
Absolutely. And I know people come all the way from Moundsville West,
West Virginia, from, uh, from Morgantown, West Virginia, and,
uh, they come here just to enjoy, uh, that ethnic food.
You know,
one of the things that amazes me about Southwestern Pennsylvania is it doesn't
matter if you are Polish, if you're Slovak, if you're Irish, if you're Italian,
um, you know, we really are a melting pot, um,
for all of those ethnicities.
And we're so lucky because we have those, uh,
all of the, those food items from those different backgrounds, uh,
that are available at our local eateries here, right in downtown. Um,
you know, I gotta plug, uh, my friends at, uh, world importing.
I was really sad to see that, uh, that after years and years it was,
uh, being sold and, uh, the Romeo family would no longer own it.
Uh, or actually they were looking for a buyer for a while.
Now they found a buyer in Pic Lamini,
and you can go in there any day of the week and, uh, and get your, uh,
Italian foods and cuisine, uh,
right in downtown Uniontown. Not to mention, um, you know,
during Lent we have, uh,
some Lenin specials at places like demarcos and Rs and even Maloney's
and tit lows. So great eateries in downtown Uniontown.
And I'm really excited for this festival, which will be going on.
We gotta get our last break of the day in and, uh,
we will come back with final thoughts here on Commonality.
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uncommon Conversations.
Well, thanks for sticking with us. My guest today has been Mayor Bill Gerkey,
and we're gonna go to final thoughts here in just a moment.
But I was really excited about today's show because a lot of times we
talk about politics, we talk about what's happening at the state level,
at the federal level, and, uh,
and I'm very blessed to have some connections into, uh,
into some of those groups of people and,
and like to bring statewide newsmakers here to Wmb s
to, to be able to talk to us here in Fayette County directly.
But as I said at the top of the show, you know,
the government layer that is closest to you is normally your municipal
government. And, uh,
and that's why it's been exciting to talk all things City of Uniontown today.
Mayor,
I wanted to turn it over to you to let you give any final thoughts as
well as any contact information. If someone needs to get ahold of City Hall,
how can they go go about doing that? If they, uh,
are interested in getting involved with the Sons of Italy's, um,
Italian festival that we've promoed on the show today, how,
how can people go about doing that? And,
and what are kind of your final thoughts for the day?
Well, thank thanks Matt. Um, Jim Santilli is,
and I don't have that information in front of me, but, uh,
you could call City Hall, um, or, um, okay,
uh, , excuse me. You can call City Hall and,
and I'm sure they can get you in touch with Mr. Santilli. Um,
there was a couple other thoughts that I had, you know,
we're excited about the, um, about the Italian festival.
One thing I wanted to bring up,
we're having a citywide cleanup day on April 22nd,
and we go around and clean up the alleys and the streets.
It's not a clean out your garage day,
but it's to make our city look more beautiful. And we planted,
that's a Saturday between eight in between eight 30 in the morning and noon
that would, would gather down, uh, at the empty lot across from, um,
the Galton Gardens on, on Gallatin Avenue. And we'd go out through,
throughout the city and, and have areas that we, that we clean up. Um,
and that's something that we've done even through Covid and long before I became
mayor, it's been something that the city has done, and the girls at City Hall,
um, are putting that together. And we're very blessed to have a,
a good staff in the Mayor's office. Um, and there'll be more information,
there'll be some, matter of fact,
there'll be some flyers sent out about the cleanup day on, um,
April 22nd.
Well, thanks Mayor,
for being with us and for sharing your thoughts and everything that we talked
about Uniontown today. Uh, so very important.
One thing I'd remind anyone who's listening,
if you wanna see Uniontown become a bigger and better city,
it takes your effort. So get involved.
And thank you for listening to today's episode of Commonalities.
This has been commonalities,
a show where guests find common ground through uncommon conversations.
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