End of Summer Bash set for today in Donora

The celebration starts at 2 p.m. today, featuring food, music, fireworks, vendors and a parade.

Donora will celebrate 125 years of community today with an expanded version of a longtime tradition.

The Donora Smog Commemorative Committee will host its annual End of Summer Bash from 2 to 10 p.m. in downtown Donora, bringing food and craft vendors, live music and fireworks to the borough.

This year, in recognition of Donora’s 125th anniversary, the celebration will also include a firemen’s parade. The Donora Downtown Committee, through its Donora 125 anniversary efforts, is sponsoring trophies for the parade.

The celebration will be held rain or shine and is expected to feature more than 40 food trucks, crafters and other vendors.

April Wisyanski, vice president of the Donora Smog Commemorative Committee, said the annual celebration has roots in Donora’s former Ethnic Days, which brought residents downtown to socialize, enjoy food and spend time together.

“It was just a chance for the community to get together and play games and eat some good food and see each other,” she said. “That’s what it stemmed from. So we started it back up, and it’s different from the old Ethnic Days, of course. But it’s just an event that helps bring us together.”

The Donora Smog Com-memorative Committee has sponsored and organized the End of Summer Bash for years, largely through its own fundraising efforts.

This year’s bash coincides with Donora’s milestone anniversary, adding the firemen’s parade to the annual festivities.

Live entertainment will begin at 2 p.m. with It’s Only Temporary, which will perform until 4 p.m.

Parade lineup begins at 4 p.m., with the parade scheduled to step off at 5 p.m.

Marching units, floats, vehicles and other non-fire apparatus have been asked to proceed directly to Third Street and McKean Avenue and line up along McKean Avenue as directed by parade marshals.

Visiting fire departments will stage separately. Fire apparatus arriving from the Donora-Monessen Bridge should take the Industrial Park Access Road to East First Street, turn left and continue to Galiffa Drive, where they will be directed into the lineup.

Departments arriving from the Monongahela side should turn from Eighth Street onto Galiffa Drive, continue to Sixth Street and turn near the skating rink before following Galiffa Drive into the apparatus lineup.

Following the parade, the Todd Jones Band will take the stage from 6 to 10 p.m.

The celebration will conclude with a grand fireworks display scheduled for 9:45 p.m.

Organizers said Saturday’s vendor turnout has been strong, with about 40 food and craft vendors already expected to participate. Additional vendors expressed interest following the cancellation of the Mingo Creek Covered Bridge Festival.

The committee also credited the borough’s street crew and volunteers who help make the annual event possible including Janet Bulko, treasurer of the Donora Smog Commemorative Committee.

Separate from the Smog Commemorative Committee’s End of Summer Bash, the Donora Downtown Committee is continuing its Donora 125 anniversary activities, including an upcoming fall festival and carnival.

Organizers are accepting donations to help support Donora 125 activities. Checks can be sent to the borough building and designated for “Donora 125.” Those interested in donating or learning more can call Council Vice President DeAnne Pavelko at 724-825-3562.