【61】Three Float Ice Cream@Page Dairy Mart, South Side Pittsburgh

Few months back, when the summer just began this year, my boss +Michael Matesic at Idea Foundry, and my colleague and friend +Ruiying Yan went for a short sunny afternoon drive after a pleasant meeting in downtown Pittsburgh.

During the trip, Mike introduced his favorite ice cream growing up--Float, as well as a very special ice cream place in South Side Pittsburgh. Before heading back to our “smelly” office on Craig/Forbes right above bagel factory in Oakland, the golden corner of all time, Mike also showed us a suburb close to the ice cream place where he grew up . It was such an hearty experience.

We all ordered Float and felt happy about this early summer treat. Ice Cream, always good to lift spirits and sweeten memories. The Ice Cream place is called +Page Dairy Mart, which has been open since 1951. It is a family business and has gone through three generates within Page family to this day. We met Mr. Page, his wife and daughter in the store. Mr. Page even took some time and showed a wall full of the history of the shop and community behind his store. As he was vividly telling  old stories and pointing to those black and white pictures, I looked around and stepped into the old times thinking how magic time is and will always be. Behind the store, a huge bridge and some old factories are still there but have lost their old glories, yet this small store, a much vulnerable creature in size, is still enjoying prosperity after 60 some years. I wonder what the future would bring to this small yet delicious ice cream store as well as the mighty community it resides.

Visiting the neighborhood Mike grew up in was really Mike’s great intention to show Ruiying one interesting and signature part of American life--Suburbanity.  I enjoyed every minute of it. The old family house had been still beautifully maintained until recently was sold to a new family due to Mike’s mother moving into a nursing home. The house is so beautiful and I saw the family pride Matesic had growing up.  The community is well kept and gracefully holding the traditional American Pride. Mike even shared a story about his nickname amongst his friends growing up while passing a football field. I thought that was so sweet. Burger! Yeah, it seems that McDonalds has renewed their branding messages from a Kid’s fun restaurant to everybody’s favorite, since Mike’s affection for it as a kid. LOL . I think my nickname can be “Sugar Cone $0.47”.

Ruiying had a great time, so did I. We are very happy and fortunate to have a boss who cares people from his bottom of heart.

Now, looking back to have this experience entry, I wonder where did Summer go? Summer is almost over. So hurry up and go get some Page ice creams. Highly recommend Float, by the way.

Oh, Summer went camping.

Beer winning trivia @ Page Dairy Mart

Page Dairy Mart is currently located at the intersection of Beck’s Run Road and E. Carson Street, Pittsburgh, PA.  The Page family built a Gulf Service and Gas Station  in early 1910s. The family business went through ups and downs, including a flood’s destruction. In 1951, Page Dairy Mart opened. It is still prospering until today.

This Picture has significant value.  “Becks Run Road was eventually redirected under the railroad trestle approximately 75-100 feet south of where it appears in this photo.  The building that appears in this photo was known as the Ormsby Mansion and was the home of the Butterwick family.  Emma Butterwick was born here and grew up to marry Charles Alexander Page.  The building was destroyed in the Saint Patrick’s Flood and no longer exists.  It is interesting to note that the road is not paved but a wooden boardwalk is visible for foot traffic.  You can see what appears to be horse-drawn trolley tracks near the bottom of the photo (see the water-filled hoof marks between the tracks). There is a shadow of a telephone pole and power line coming up from the bottom left-hand corner. A gas streetlight is on the corner. This photo was probably taken in the spring and sometime near 1900.”

For more historical photos of this wonderful historical site, please visit HERE.

ID@South Side Pittsburgh

What are those cool government agencies located in South Side Pittsburgh? Let me start with FBI.

【45】The best salad I've ever had @ Industry Public House, Lawrenceville

In Nonprofit sector, it seems that being frugal is a commonly accepted moral code. Yet there are many reasons for celebrations considering the meaningful work we do every day, so having a work lunch in a nice restaurant once every a while is legitimate.

On October 28th, Pittsburgh Cares welcomed its new Executive Deb Hopkins. All the staff took her out for a lunch and three VISTAs were invited (one staff member and one VISTA were out of office that day and didn't join the lunch). It’s always nice to get to know your colleague a little bit more outside of the office, then you would realize that with many interesting characters you are working with everyday. For instance, Nina Zappa is very knowledgeable about Pittsburgh’s sports and on the side she is a piano teacher; Riley is a trivia lover and is good at it. He attended acting school where he met his future wife. Now he has a cute baby girl and works on being a great Dad; Holly has a mother-in-law who buys them expensive gifts all the time but not being nice to people, while her own Mother might not afford expensive gifts but is always caring and loving to her family. I thought Holly got it all., and Deb is a grandma to be……

The restaurant we dined at was the Industry Public House on Butler street in Lawrenceville. Nice place. Great salad. For some reason I loved every bite of that "Company Salad" and finished all the spicy Chicken wings I ordered. Guess what? I met a Heinzer at the restaurant! Well, it seems so far that we just can’t avoid familiar faces in Pittsburgh anywhere we go.

Beer winning trivia @ Industry Public House, Lawrenceville

1. Industry Public House locates on 4305 Butler Street. It’s opened in March 2012 and has gained an approval for its 2013 expansion plan. In the Pittsburgh Magazine, an article titled Best of The Burgh 2013, Smoke Stack from Industry Public House was featured as the “Hottest Drink in Town”. The drink was invented by mixologist Adrian Van Balen. He had the inspiration struck while making breakfast one morning, when the aroma of maple-cured bacon got him thinking about a drink with similar taste characteristics. Commentator Matt Sober said in a review said “like everything else at Industry, from the utilitarian steel bar stools to the exposed brick interior, the Smoke Stack is an unmistakable (and tasty) homage to the city’s heritage.”

2. Lawrenceville was founded in 1814 by William Foster, father of composer Stephen Foster, who was born there in 1826 and has its birth residence on 3600 Penn Avenue (Claimed by Pittsburghers as the real birthplace of the famous composer.  Another building, located at 3414 Penn Avenue, purported to be Stephen Foster's home was bought by automobile tycoon Henry Ford and carted off by him to Michigan.). Lawrenceville is named for Captain James Lawrence, hero of the War of 1812, famous for his dying words, "Don’t Give Up The Ship!" Lawrenceville was selected as home to the Allegheny Arsenal, due to "The area's accessibility to river transportation and its proximity to what was then the nation's only iron producing district". Lawrenceville was annexed to the city of Pittsburgh in 1868.  

Nowadays, Lawrenceville is undergoing a revitalization, and has been noted by The New York Times as a "go-to destination". It has become one of the premier art, live music, and dining hubs of Western PA. Butler Street, where my office resides, is the main artery of Lawrenceville. Many art galleries, along with clothing boutiques, furniture stores, and a number of new restaurants and  coffee shops have opened on this street.

The Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC opened a new facility in Lawrenceville on May 2, 2009, moving all its patients from Oakland. Deb’s newly born grandson is currently in the facility ready to receive an open heart surgery. He is in good hands.

Your ID @ Pittsburgh Cares

In Which building does Pittsburgh Cares’ office locate? Is Pittsburgh Cares a volunteer matching organization that on average matches 18,000 volunteers annually  or an animal shelter and advocacy organization that takes care of 3,000 needy animals?