Who Named Belle Vernon

Paglia: Polka beat leads to more memories

The news about Gene Turtzer, of Charleroi, being part of an award winning polka band, Bud Hundenski and the Corsairs, stirred some bittersweet memories for Turtzer and another longtime area musician, Frank Podroskey.

Like his brother, Gene, the late Joseph (Jimmy) Turtzer also was an excellent bass player and performed with a number of bands in this mid-Mon Valley and beyond.

"He loved playing (music) and performing with those bands," Turtzer said of his younger brother.

"He played the trombone in the (Charleroi) high school band but took to the bass because that's what I was playing when I started performing professionally.

"He came to me one day and said, 'I want to learn to play (the bass).' I taught him some basic chords and he picked up the rest on his own with a lot of dedicated practice. He was a quick learner, self-taught and became very good at it."

One of Jimmy's first public performances came in June 1961 as part of a band that played at the annual installation banquet of the Parent-Teacher Guild at Saints Cyril and Methodius School in Charleroi.

Others in that group displaying their musical talents at the Charleroi Elks Club were John Brandeburg, Tim Myers and Vince Lepori.

"Jimmy got a big kick out of that gig," Gene Turtzer, who has performed professionally for more than 50 years, recalled with a fond smile. "He came home very excited and kept telling me, 'They liked us. They were applauding very loud.'"

Similar reactions came later as the younger Turtzer moved on to other bands and other venues.

"Jim played in our band, Junk-It, in the late 1960s and early '70s," said Podroskey, a Monongahela native now living in Clairton.

The first edition of Junk-It, according to Podroskey, who played trumpet, included Danny D'Alessandro (bass), Alan Hassick (guitar), Jerry Paul (vocals), Johnny Van (saxophone), Jeffrey Spriggs (Hammond B3 organ) and Paul Berinsky (drums).

"We were quite successful for a short run of about three years," Podroskey said. "We played at the Sons of Italy and Veterans of Foreign Wars in Charleroi, Our House in Bethel Park, LaStella's on Banksville Road and scores of other venues throughout the Pittsburgh area.

"This is the band that Jim initially played in. He took Dan's place when work related issues caused him to have to leave," he said.

Podroskey, a 1964 graduate of Monongahela High School, said he and Turtzer became "very good friends" during that time.

Belle Vernon's Pirilla to run at Duquesne - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

-->

Belle Vernon Area High School 2011 graduate and track standout Tyler Pirilla will continue his academic and athletic careers at Duquesne University on a scholarship.

This past spring Pirilla, who qualified and competed in the PIAA state meet, set school records in the 100, 200 and 400 meter dashes. At the WPIAL Class AAA Championships he placed second in the 400-meters and third in the 100-meters.

At the state meet Pirilla finishes 12th in the 400 dash and 13th in the 100 dash.

Pirilla has also been accepted and will attend Duquesne's Mylan School of Pharmacy.

He joins a Duquesne men's track and field program that had two of its student-athletes conclude this past season at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship East Preliminary in Bloomington, Ind.

Coached by ninth-year leader Bryan Delsite, the Dukes finished fifth at the 11-team conference meet, which was won by the University of Rhode Island.

Local teams ranked

Washington & Jefferson College's football team was ranked 16th in The Sporting News' recently released NCAA Division III Top 25 preseason poll. In addition, W&J's home game against Thomas More College on Sept. 24 was listed as one of the top nine games to watch nationally.

Another publication, Lindy's Sports did not list the Presidents among its Top 25 teams. However, it placed the W&J-Thomas More game as one of five games to watch in NCAA Division III this fall. Thomas More has defeated the Presidents three consecutive years for the Presidents' Athletic Conference Championship by a combined 21 points.

The top three teams in both polls are the same with two-time defending national champion Wisconsin-Whitewater, Mount Union and Wesley. St. Thomas (Minn.) is fourth in The Sporting News, while Mary Hardin-Baylor is fifth. Bethel (Minn.) and Mary Hardin-Baylor round out the Lindy's Sports top five teams.

Thomas More is ranked 11th in the Lindy's poll and 14th in The Sporting News.

Washington & Jefferson returns 40 letter winners and 14 starters from last year's team which clinched the 27th consecutive winning season in school history after posting a 9-2 record. The Presidents' 27-straight winning years is the eighth-longest active streak in all of college football and fourth among NCAA Division III programs.

Under the direction of ninth-year head coach Mike Sirianni (79-14), the Presidents will begin their 120th season of varsity football this fall with 675 all-time victories, which is third most in NCAA Division III history.

Forest and stream

History of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania

Telephony

Ruanaidh, the story of Art Rooney and his clan

Milk plant monthly