Sunday, August 28, 2011
By Joe Smydo, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Laeveyyonna Moe, 3, of the South Side plays with a giant bubble at the Uptown street fair on Saturday. The festival is organized by the Uptown Partners. The Pittsburgh Association of the Deaf has been in the neighborhood since 1965. Photo by: Lake Fong/Post-Gazette

Bloomfield is the center of Pittsburgh’s Italian community, Oakland the city’s academic hub and the South Side the nightclub district.

Uptown’s 46-year-old role as center of the city’s deaf community may not be as well known, but that could change as the neighborhood strives for revitalization.

“We want a better neighborhood,” Cheryl Noschese, former president of the Pittsburgh Association for the Deaf, said Saturday at the third annual Uptown street fair.

The event is sponsored by Uptown Partners, a community group made up of residents, businesses and nonprofits. Executive director Jeanne McNutt said she has made an effort to involve the association, one of the neighborhood’s most established stakeholders.

The association bought its Gist Street building in 1965 because of the central location, turned a dungeon-like basement into a banquet room and made other improvements. Now, it would like to see the rest of the neighborhood catch up.

The wish list includes demolition of blighted buildings, more green space, apartments for graduate students and neighborhood retail.

Uptown residents have to go to the South Side or other neighborhoods for groceries and coffee shops. “What about right here?” James C. Noschese, Ms. Noschese’s husband and an association officer, said through sign-language interpreter Vickie D’Avanzo.

Situated between Downtown and Oakland, both bustling neighborhoods, Uptown is poised for growth, Ms. McNutt said. “There’s lots of opportunity.”

Along the way, the deaf community may grow as well. Ms. McNutt cited plans to turn one former commercial building into apartments for people who are deaf or have vision-related disabilities. Mark Babich, the association’s president, said he’d like to see his group increase its membership, too.

In one way, the association soon will be adopting a higher profile. It’s preparing to put a large mural depicting the deaf community and sign language on the side of its building.

Joe Smydo: jsmydo@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1548.

First published on August 28, 2011 at 12:00 am
Source: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11240/1170450-53.stm#ixzz1WJsfTsRZ

Pittsburgh Association of the Deaf hosted booth table at Sign A Thon event in Robinson Mall on April 2, 2011. Thanks to Jessica Knoche for the photos.

Pittsburgh Association of the Deaf (PAD) and Greater Pittsburgh Community Center for the Deaf (GPCCD) hosted sixth annual ASL Picnic in North Park. The weather favor us from spending most of time outside from the Ranch House to get some sun! Enjoy browsing 86 photos!

Hello Everyone,

We will closed Wednesday for month of February. We will reopen on March 2nd.

Thanks, Holly Mendel

President’s Corner

Hello Members & Friends,

It is about time for me to be your club president of 2011 and like to see PAD keeping to stay strong forever.  I will have plenty of energy and strength to challenge my opportunity.

I like to applaud to our past president, Cheryl Noschese who had been working great to turn “all situations” around in the past four years.  Also thanked her team people for their hard efforts in 2010.

I had to resign as Holiday Party chairperson and passed the responsibility to new chairperson, Sue Babich.

It is a reminder to renew your 2011 membership dues to keep us with our club’s expenses and please see Todd Langer.  New members are always welcome.

Hope for the STEELERS are climbing up stairway to Seventh Heaven against PACKERS in Texas.  We will have Super Bowl XLV party at PAD on February 6 and be sure of wearing STEELERS clothes in black & gold with terrible towels.

I encourage you to help by attending most events hosted at PAD through the year.

Please remember to mark down for the next active meetings on February 12, March 12 and April 9 at 7:30 PM.

Your President,

Mark Babich

Editor – Lori Ann LaSorsa

Hello Everyone, I hope you all stay warm and stay safe during those winter months!!! We all can’t wait for spring around the corner!!!  We will be having lots of events going on at the Club. Keep an eye on it and hope you all attend the Events and help out the Club.

Thanks, Lori Ann

Club Manager- Holly Mendel

Hello Everyone, I want to let you know that PAD will be closed every Wednesday for month of February and will reopen on March 2^nd. Many thanks!!

Thanks, Holly Mendel

Committees:  Jeff Janaszek, Tom Brown, Larry Hast, Chris Noschese

WHEN START:
Feb 15, 2013 and every Fridays. The starting time will be at 8:30 p.m. and takes about 4 hours to finish.

HOW MANY WEEKS:
We will have 2 sessions in one season. The 2nd session – 1/2 of 25-week game schedule, starting on Feb 15th 2013 and ending on TBA. The Finals will be on TBA at 7:30PM

You can play in all 25 games in one session and the 26th week will be FINAL session of tournament. Most people do have some other commitments so we decided to give every player an opportunity to sit out 4 games throughout the each Half of the session. If a particular player decides to play in all 25 games, we will eliminate the lowest 4 games. There will be no SUBSITUTION TO REPLACE YOU FOR ONE GAME!!!

If you plan on coming to that night and will be late, please give us a call at PAD VP 412-246-8040 or e-mail me at jsjpoker71@gmail.com  That way we will put your chips at a particular table and the blinds will be put in accordingly. If you are not there within 1 HOUR, The Chips will be taken away.

MEMBERSHIP:
I encourage all of you to be a member of the Pittsburgh Association of the Deaf Club. If you are not a member of PAD and you win prize, some of the prize will be allocated to cover the PAD membership fee.

Pittsburgh Association of the Deaf clubhouse host Holiday Active Dinner annually. David Fulmer took some photos, including one video inserted here in this page, for our x-mas gift to you to view on our PAD gallery album.

PAD wishes all of you the warmest Christmas holiday!

Mark Babich
President
PresofPad@yahoo.com

Robert Maher
1st Vice President

John MacWilliams
2nd Vice President

James Toner
3rd Vice President

Linda Langer
Secretary

Jeff Janaszek
Treasurer
jeff.janaszek@pghdeafclub.org

Chris Noschese
Assistant Treasurer

Todd Langer
Financial Secretary

Janice Gwidzak
One Year Term Trustee

Paul Mente
Two Year Term Trustee

Thomas DeFazio
Three Year Term Trustee

Holly Mendel
Club Manager

Circulation: Charles Fisher ChshFisher@aol.com

Co-Editor and Co-Publisher: Jeff Janaszek and Lori Ann LaSorsa blackmoleLR@aol.com

Web Maintenance: David P. Fulmer

Interior Development: Glori Biega

Kitchen: Laurie Alder