The Penn State McKeesport Alumni Society has had another successful holiday season.
The Society received an Honorable Mention for its 2006 entry at the 2006 McKeesport Festival of Trees, held the first weekend of December in a city park adjacent to the campus. Alumna Katherine Stamatelos designed the Penn State tree that was on view along with about 40 other trees for an estimated 6,000 visitors. The theme was ?Orange Bowl Victor.? The decorations include miniature oranges and footballs on a white tree. The tree topper is a great vine football surrounded by lights. Katherine Stamatelos chose the theme because ?Penn State excels in athletics and education and the University is a light of the area.?
On December 9 the Society hosted about 75 children from Mon Valley area youth services agencies and the campus community at the eighteenth annual Breakfast with Santa in the Student Community Center at Penn State McKeesport. This event included breakfast, activities and a performance by Dr. Jay Breckenridge?s theatre class. The highlight of the event was the arrival of Santa and Mrs. Claus on a fire truck from the Rainbow Volunteer Fire Company, based in White Oak, Pa. Each child had a visit with Santa and the Mrs. and received a photo, a toy and a bag of goodies. Funding for this event is made possible through donations from local area businesses, alumni, advisory board members, staff, faculty and friends of Penn State McKeesport.