Valley Oldies: Ed Sullivan was toast of the town at Charleroi event

By RON PAGLIA

It’s a question often asked by trivia aficionados in the Mid-Monongahela Valley.

And the answer is always the same: Yes, television variety show host and New York newspaper columnist Ed Sullivan was the featured speaker at a banquet in Charleroi nearly 68 years ago.

Those who have doubted the validity of the occasion in their friendly wagers usually reject the idea that someone with as much celebrity status as Ed Sullivan would have come to Charleroi — or anywhere in the Mon Valley — just for a banquet.

But it did happen on May 31, 1951 as Sullivan spoke at the Charleroi Elks Club at the Charleroi Booster Club’s seventh annual all-sports dinner honoring Charleroi High School athletes. 

And he was a hit, according to a post-banquet story by sports editor John Bunardzya of The Charleroi Mail. 

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