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Better Block, Emu Highlight Santa Parade
Parade begins at 11 a.m. on Fifth Avenue; holiday market hours are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
By Staff Reports
The Tube City Almanac
November 22, 2024
Posted in: Announcements
(File photo by Vickie Babyak)
Cooper the Emu and the Better Block Foundation will headline McKeesport’s 59th Salute to Santa parade on Saturday.
The annual event, kicking off the holiday season, begins at 11 a.m. on Fifth Avenue, Downtown. Parade units will begin lining up at 10 a.m. on Water Street near the Palisades Ballroom.
The reviewing stand is located at the corner of Fifth and Walnut streets. Weather-permitting, Tube City Community Media will carry live video on its YouTube channel.
The National Weather Service in Moon Twp. is predicting that rain showers will taper off before 10 a.m. Saturday, and temperatures in the city should be around 44 degrees.
This year’s parade is being held in conjunction with a pop-up holiday market inside the People’s Building and two vacant store fronts, the former D&K Stores and CVS Pharmacy. The holiday market — and a performance space in the Cox’s Corner parking lot — have been created by the Texas-based Better Block Foundation, in partnership with Penn State Greater Allegheny and the Richard King Mellon Foundation. Hours are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday only.
Organizers are hoping that the event will help spur ideas for reviving McKeesport’s dormant central business district.
Better Block organizers will serve as grand marshals for the parade.
Also featured in this year’s parade is Cooper the Emu. Owned by David and Carly Callos of McKeesport, Cooper, a 6-foot-2, 120 pound emu, became a minor Internet sensation in September when he escaped from the family’s backyard and went loose in local neighborhoods.
The tentative lineup for this year’s parade includes:
1. Police Motorcycles
2. McKeesport Area High School Air Force JROTC
3. Allegheny County Mounted Unit
4. Assistant Police Chief Josh Alfer
5. Police K-9 Dogs
6. Fire Chief
7. EMS Chief
8. Grand Marshal: The Better Block Foundation
9. Penn State Greater Allegheny
10. Cooper the Emu
11. Public Officials
12. LaRosa Youth Club
13. American Legion Post 527 and HIV Prevention Council
14. Princess/Queen Candidates
Elizabeth Nemes (MAHS Choir)
Kaitlyn Brush (MAHS Band)
Ashley Slagle (MAHS Colorguard)
Madison Martino (MAHS NHS)
Saniya Rivers (LaRosa Youth Club)
Riley Sheposh (MAHS Student Council)
Alaysia Brewton (MAHS Cheer)
Nie’Zhay Jefferson McKeesport Little Theater)
Skylar Crenshaw (McKeesport Area Shared Ministries)
Zariah Swindle (MAHS Cheer)
Sydney Hrinda (McKeesport Little Theater)
Mariah Robinson (McKeesport Little Tigers)
Dee’Asia Mo’ney Little (LaRosa Youth Club)
Gabrielle Poston (McKeesport Little Tigers)
15. McKeesport Area Cheerleaders (On Foot)
16. McKeesport Area High School Band
17. McKeesport Fire Deputy & The Grinch and Cindy Lou Who
18. Model A Club
19. Mary of Nazareth Catholic School
20. Mon Yough Chamber of Commerce
21. Broadway Pizza
22. NAACP McKeesport Unit 2269
23. South Allegheny Youth Football & Cheer
24. UPMC McKeesport
25. McKeesport Lions Club
26. First Step Recovery Homes
27. Mentoring Village
28. Sterling Home
29. McKeesport Area Shared Ministry
30. McKeesport Little Tigers Cheerleaders & Football
31. Nuttall Public Safety & the Public Safety Hound
32. McKeesport Family Center and Bluey
33. McKeesport Little Theater – “Finding Nemo Jr.”
34. Cub Scouts Pack 53
35. Miller’s Gymnastics
36. Carnegie Library of McKeesport "One World, Many Stories"
37. Young Scholars of Greater Allegheny Charter School
38. CCR Gardens
39. Model Railroad Club
40. Corner Donut Shop
41. McKeesport Trail Commission
42. McKeesport Heritage Center
43. McKeesport Housing Authority
44. Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium
45. Garden Club of McKeesport
46. Another Shoulder
47. Pennsylvania American Water
48. RPM Autoworx
49. Tube City Community Media
50. AMVETS Post 8
51. McKeesport Auto Service
52. Salvation Army
53. C&D Towing
54. Big’s Sanitation/Earthwise
55. Allegheny Cleanways
56. Audubon Society of Western PA
57. McKeesport Recreation Board
White Oak Police and Buddy the Elf, public safety and emergency vehicles
Originally published November 22, 2024.
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