LaRosa Clubhouse holiday spirit kept alive
By JEFF STITT
jstitt@yourmvi.com
Samuel “Sam” LaRosa would be proud of “his boys,” according to his grandson, Don Michel.
That’s because a group of men who grew up as members of the LaRosa Boys Club — more recently known as the Boys & Girls Club of Western Pennsylvania LaRosa Clubhouse of McKeesport — delivered a little holiday cheer Tuesday to the now defunct club’s former members.
Former LaRosa directors Jim Barry Jr. and Tom Maglicco, former club board member Dan Dougherty and Michel decided late last month they weren’t going to let the club’s closure stop them from working with Mary Mother of God Parish’s Corpus Christi Church on Versailles Avenue to give gifts to the club’s youths.
The Boys & Girls Club of Western Pennsylvania announced in mid-November that after 75 years of providing services to youths from McKeesport and surrounding communities, the LaRosa Clubhouse would be shuttered and its operations would merge with the BGCWPA Orchard Park Clubhouse in Duquesne Dec. 1.
“Based on an assessment of current opportunities for after-school care, the determination was made to direct resources to our operations in Duquesne,” BGCWPA said last month, adding that transportation and scholarships would be provided for McKeesport youths who wanted to attend Orchard Park Clubhouse.
Almost immediately, McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko and state Rep. Austin Davis and state Sen. Jim Brewster, both McKeesport Democrats, wrote letters to Boys & Girls Club leadership, urging them to work with city and state leaders to find a way to bring youth programming back to the clubhouse.
In his letter to BGCWPA President Lisa Abel-Palmieri, the mayor said more than $300,000 worth of U.S. Housing and Urban Development funds, awarded to the city in recent years for use at the LaRosa Clubhouse, were used to perform infrastructure improvements at the club.
The mayor asked for the organization to consider turning ownership of the LaRosa building to the city or its redevelopment authority.
“We would like to partner with a nonprofit of our choice to continue the legacy and programming that Mr. Samuel R. LaRosa started in 1945,” Cherepko wrote, adding that 901 Ravine St. “is much more than a building or a parcel of real estate.”
“It is the longest-tenured youth-serving community asset and institution in McKeesport,” he said, later adding that the clubhouse was “gifted” to the Boys & Girls Club in 1974 and that he hopes an “amicable solution” can be reached.
The city provided an update to the situation in a Nov. 24 Facebook post, which stated Cherepko, Brewster and Davis met virtually with Boys & Girls Club leaders.
“I am very pleased with the meeting and wholeheartedly believe we will be able to reach an amicable solution that will allow us to serve our community in one way or another at the club’s current location,” the mayor said.
Barry, a McKeesport councilman, said negotiations are ongoing and that he currently can’t offer a detailed update. He’s hopeful an agreement will be reached.
“The mayor’s hope is for the City of McKeesport to acquire the building and all of its contents,” Barry said, adding that the newly formed organization would be run, at least in part, by the board of the new LaRosa Youth Development Foundation.
Michel said area residents want to know what they can do to help.
The foundation is working to achieve 501(c)(3) nonprofit status and hopes to launch a website in the near future. When that happens, the board will ask for monetary donations and volunteers for foundation initiatives, he said.
Celebrating Christmas
Barry, Dougherty, Maglicco and Michel have enjoyed the annual LaRosa Club Christmas celebrations since they were young, but not having a clubhouse — coupled with COVID-19 restrictions regarding gatherings — meant they couldn’t hold their Christmas party.
“Typically, this is one of our major events for the kids,” Barry said. “One of the things we used to do, we had a big carnival, tons of candy, a chocolate fountain and a special meal for the kids. The church members would come and celebrate with the kids.
“It was just always such a special night.”
Working with Corpus Christi parishioners, the foundation was able to purchase enough gifts to wrap and deliver presents to children in about 30 families who were active members of the club when it closed.
Jim Barry Jr. was joined Tuesday by his daughter, Katie, and his son, James Barry III, who worked in youth programming at the LaRosa Club. Also helping were Dougherty, Michel and his 13-year-old twin sons, Samuel and Joseph, former club staff member Amber Brooks and former club-goer Saniya Rivers. Maglicco couldn’t be present due to a family obligation.
Barry Jr. said church parishioners purchased a majority of the gifts.
“(Mary Mother of God’s) parishioners bought our kids Christmas gifts that were on lists that the kids personally wrote themselves,” he said. “That’s what makes this so special. They did this for our kids and the kids actually got to express what it is they wanted for Christmas.
“They’ve been doing this for the past nine years. Some years it’s been upwards of a hundred gifts.”
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