Mover & Shaker of the Month Joe Bullick Local Historian North Allegheny School District Employee Pine Township Resident Click here for article

Click here for Spotlight on Schools | Business Spotlight: Singer Pest Control

Allegheny County chief executive Dan Onorato was honored as Soldiers & Sailors' "Friend & Patriot of the Year" in recognition of his support and involvement with the museum and the veteran community.

Allegheny County chief executive Dan Onorato congratulated the newest graduates of the Allegheny County Police Training Academy in North Park.  There were 22 people in the graduating class, including two new Allegheny County Police Officers.  

Kenneth R. Melani, MD, president and chief executive officer of Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield has been elected as the new chairman of The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust's board of trustees.

ACHIEVA welcomes Amy Wild as director of marketing and communications.  She is responsible for media relations and ACHIEVA's branding efforts as well as all internal and external communications.

Former H. J. Heinz Company and corporate spokesperson Debora S. "Debbie" Foster and former TV news anchor and managing editor Sheila Hyland announced the formation of the FosterHyland & Associates. The Pittsburgh-based firm is an executive media coaching business.

Arnie Burchianti, CEO of Celtic Healthcare, Inc., was selected as a finalist for the Ernest & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2007 Award.

The Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP) has recognized The Mercy Hospital of Pittsburgh with a HAP Achievement Award for operational excellence for "Improving Efficiency of Patient Care While Increasing Quality."

Mercy Hospital of Pittsburgh now offers hip resurfacing surgery featuring the BIRMINGHAM HIP* system. 

Cranberry Township Lions Club members approved contributions of $3,738 to local charities.  Donations will be distributed to: Camp Kon-O-Kwee Camperships, VIP Sports Camp (visually impaired children) at Slippery Rock University, Radio Information service in Pittsburgh, Cranberry Township Public Library, Leader Dogs for the Blind, Volunteer Optometric Service to Humanity, Prosthetics Outreach Foundation, Butler County Blind Association and several Lions Club International charities.

Dr. Raheela Pirzada was approved for admission to the medical staff at Butler Memorial Hospital.  She joined Associates in Respiratory Medicine, 38 New Castle Road in Butler.

Butler Memorial Hospital Auxiliary and Junior Auxiliary (Candystripers) were honored by the hospital for donating 26,000 hours of service to the hospital this past year.  Receiving the 2007 Auxilian of the Year was Bertha Saloney.  The award for Candystriper of the Year was presented to Shannon L. Hemphill.

Butler Memorial Hospital's Nuclear Laboratory was granted accreditation by the Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Nuclear Medicine Laboratories.

Butler Health System has promoted two of its employees.  Karen Allen was named assistant vice president of Patient Care Services, and Jana Panther was promoted to director of Outpatient Services.

Pediatric Alliance, PC is first to provide baseline brain function test for recreational athletes, and the general public in its physician offices. For information, visit www.pediatricalliance.com.

St. Barnabas Health System announced its Employees of the Month for May: Bobbi Jo Catanese, Mark Gluvna and Janet Schlafly.

Hair Color Xperts in Wexford, recently welcomed Erin Adams and Melissa Plants, photo right, to their staff. For more information call (724) 940-2262.

Rich Snebold of Pine Township has been named "Family Business Advisor of the Year" by the Family Business Roundtable of Pittsburgh.

Legend Financial Advisors, Inc.(r) (left) announced that Christopher J. Kail, director of marketing and shareholder, was elected to the Northern Allegheny County Chamber of Commerce (NACCC) for a two-year term.

Solution 21, a Pittsburgh-based consulting firm, has acquired JAD Executive Advisory Services and named J. Ardie "Butch" Dillen, vice president. Additionally, Jim Caprio has been named senior vice president of Client Development and promoted Suzanne Huffman to vice president of Enterprise Learning.

Daniel S. Vitchoff, Board Certified Hypnotherapist of PA Hypnosis Center in Wexford had the exciting opportunity to travel with the USA Olympic Shooting Team to Lonato, Italy for the World Cup Italy.  Dan assisted USA Shooting Team Members with Mental Coaching and Preparations throughout the competition.  The USA Shooting Team won Two Gold Medals and One World Record.  Both American Gold Medalists performed flawlessly under high pressure in the final round without missing a target.  Josh Richmond, originally from Lancaster, PA, won the Gold Medal in the Double Trap Competition.

Laura Kearney has joined the Butler Chamber of Commerce as a 2007 summer intern.

Vickie Dellaquila, CPO(r) of Organizations Rules, Inc., is now a certified professional organizer (CPO).

Back to top

Mover & Shaker of the Month Joe Bullick Local Historian North Allegheny School District Employee Pine Township Resident

By Paula Green Not too many people have the privilege of working for the same employer for 50 memorable years.  But this year Pine resident Joe Bullick has had the pleasure of celebrating his golden anniversary with the North Allegheny School District. Bullick started work with NA on May 1, 1957, as a substitute custodian.  He was later hired as a permanent custodian with Ingomar Elementary, a position he held for ten years.  "What was so unique about this situation was I actually attended Ingomar Elementary when I was child.  So basically I returned to my roots.  The school sustained a fire in 1960; part of the building was destroyed and torn down.  A new addition was built onto the remaining structure," Bullick said. Bullick was eventually promoted to supervisor of the custodians, a position he maintained until 1997 when he retired.  Although he retired from North Allegheny, he is still employed as the school district's "historian." He runs a remarkable Historical Museum which is located at McKnight Elementary on Cumberland Road in McCandless Township.  Bullick has thousands of unique artifacts from various decades throughout different regions in the North Hills.  It is a wonderful trip down memory lane, and a visitor could spend all day reminiscing while perusing his historical treasurers. In addition to the Historical Museum, Bullick coaches girl's golf at North Allegheny.   He has been doing this for the past 21 years.  Furthermore, for the last seven years, with the help of Charles Neely, he has coached both the boy's and girl's bowling teams. Bullick also teaches "gadget cooking" classes for senior citizens at North Allegheny Intermediate School and at Cumberland Crossings.  He conducts a traveling show on this topic.  He also owns a working blacksmith shop.  Bullick is actively involved with his church, St. Alphonsus Parish in Pine Township.  He attends morning Mass daily, and he serves as a Eucharistic Minister. When he is not busy with these ventures, Bullick spends time writing. We are very proud to feature his monthly "Town Crier" column here in the Northern Connection magazine. He has been married to his wife Emma for 54 years.  They have two children, Stephen and Betty Jo, and four grandchildren. "My 50 years at North Allegheny have been really exciting.  I have met so many wonderful people that have gone on to lead very successful lives.  It has been a really rewarding experience for me," Bullick said. Northern Connection magazine would like to congratulate Joe on his Golden Anniversary with the North Allegheny School District. We wish him all the best in his future endeavors. Back to top

Spotlight on Schools

Community College of Allegheny County athletic coordinator Ken Hoeltje of Glenshaw has been selected to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region XX Hall of Fame.

The following individuals graduated from the Leadership Butler County class: Anthony Calarelli, Becky Courson, Mary Jane Double, Beth Ehrenfried-Neveux, Joshua D. Frye, Derek Gallo, Alex Gladis, Tracy Hack, Kristopher Goas, Mary Susan Hetz, Lisa Marie Kendrick, Richard Lowrey, JoAnn Petanovich, Kathleen Schmidt, Kristen Singleton, Julie Sonntag, Jennifer Sproat, Susan Tack-Beardsley, Becky Weikle, Kim Weitzel and Barry W. Willison.

McCandless resident and Blackburn Study Center teacher, Ruth Butler, photo left, will be listed in the 2007-2008 edition of the Biltmore's Who's Who Among Executive and Professional Women in Teaching Education.

Rep. Mike Turzai (R-Allegheny), photo right, presented the North Allegheny School District with a grant check for $75,000.  The grant will allow the school district to make needed improvements to six baseball and softball fields, two soccer fields and six tennis courts.

North Allegheny Intermediate High School has been awarded a 2007 Gold Council of Excellence Award by the National Association of Student Councils. 

North Allegheny Intermediate High School Key Club received the Compassion in Action Award from the North Hills Community Outreach Center.

Two North Allegheny students have received appointments to Military Academies: William Francis (U.S. Naval Academy) and Joseph Shevchik (West Point Military Academy).

Madeleine Barnes, a junior at North Allegheny High School, won first place in the Leonard Milberg '53 Secondary School Poetry Prize Competition sponsored by Princeton University.

The North Allegheny School District announced the following individuals will be inducted into the Hall of Fame Class of 2007: Jessica Brungo, Valerie Fawcett McCormack, Tony Hindley, Jason Lammers, Maureen O'Hare and Ryan Tolhurst.

Eleven North Allegheny High School students have been selected to participate in the 2007 Pennsylvania Governor's Schools of Excellence: Hae-Song Jung, Jennifer Schaeffer, Li Xu, Joseph Kridgen, Janna Orons, Edward Wu, Yilu Zhang, Steven Kang, Clifford Kim, Cecily Sunday and Jenna Klaum.

North Allegheny High School senior Allison Cohen received a 2nd place trophy at the International DECA Career Development Conference.

The North Allegheny rowers team captured five medals at the Stotesbury Cup Regatta.  Medal winners were: Briana Pittman, Erin Dauson, Kathleen Janosco, Cherith Elliott, Maria Deiuliis, Tori Horn, Olivia Klipa, Jessica Kelly, Brian Marcus, Bill Francis, Mark Nolfi, Steve Marcus, Adam Reckless, Taylor Sandora, Josh Weis, Alan Meininghaus, Logan Ellis, Zac O'Neill, Lauren Skoog, Jenny Hudson, Michelle Weaver, Ryan Mohan and Jim Rectenwald.

Clifford Byungho Kim, a junior at North Allegheny Senior High School, was awarded $1,000 as a Third Place Grand Award Winner in the Chemistry Category at the Intel International Science & Engineering Fair.

Elena Stark, a senior at North Allegheny Senior High has been selected as a 2007 Coca-Cola Regional Scholar by the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation.

Two North Allegheny students competed and placed in the National Extemporaneous Speaking Tournament of Champions: junior, Jack Grennan and sophomore, Stacey Chen.

Several North Allegheny Senior High School students and members of the JROTC program placed 2nd in the 2007 JROTC President's Academic Championship:  Steve Gaertner, Brian Guzek, Sarah Kelly, Steve Li, Ryan McCullough and Josh Vanderhoof.

Forty North Allegheny School students competed in the Future Business Leader of America State Leadership Conference.  Intermediate High School students Lauren Lepere and Phil Timcheck placed in the top ten.

The North Allegheny Chemistry team, consisting of Sarah Hochendoner, Erin Dauson and Katie Masiuk, took First Place honors at the 2007 Chemistry Olympics held at the University of Pittsburgh.

North Allegheny students Doug Kulchar and Naz El-Khatib were named 5th Best Public Forum Debate Team in the U.S. at the National Catholic Forensic League Grand National Tournament.

Several North Allegheny students won first and second place medals at the Junior Academy of Science State Competition:  First place winners: Jon Lin, Katherine Luo, Ed Wu, Richard Gayler, Cliff Kim.  Second place winners: Jennifer Rumble and Jay Sehgal.

Expansion Management magazine has rated the North Allegheny School District and the Pine-Richland School District with the Gold Medal designation in the 2007 Education Quotient ratings. 

Connie Sobieralski, a foreign language teacher at Carson Middle School, is being recognized in the 2006-2007 edition of Who's Who Among America's Teachers(r).

Agnes Haverlack, a reading teacher at Ingomar Elementary School, has been honored by the North Hills-McKnight Branch of the American Association of University Women as Outstanding Educator for the 2006-2007 school year.

Three Seneca Valley Middle School students Kelly Gaghan; Alexandria Karika and Timothy Percora were honored by the Cranberry Township Lions Club for their commitment to service, academic effort and overall initiative.

Fox Chapel Area High School TV/video production teacher, Douglas Martin, is among the 12 finalists vying for the 2008 Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year award.

Fox Chapel Area High School social studies teacher Jennifer Klein was selected to participate in the annual reading and scoring of the College Board's AP(r) (Advanced Placement) Examinations this June is AP U.S. Government and Politics.

Fox Chapel Area High School senior Jason Vartikar-McCollough was named to USA TODAY 's 2007 All-USA High School Academic Team.

Two Fox Chapel Area High School students were named winners in the national level of The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards of 2007: Meredith Hanley and Kirsten Celo.

Several Fox Chapel Area School District students won first place awards at 73rd Annual State Meeting of the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science: Ankur Goyal, Danielle Gruen, Emily Tolge, Risa Trump, Jocelyn Bilkey, Eric Bukovac, Emily Feenstra, Akansh Murthy, Mondira Ray, Lauren Rodosky, Haley Rothwell, Liann Sun, Laura Humphrey, Molly Joyce, Madeline Tolge, Sequoia Leuba, Stanley Wang and Rohan Meringenti.

Two Dorseyville Middle School Chamber Orchestras won awards at the Music in the Parks Festival.  Dorseyville's Chamber Orchestra placed first in its division and first overall, and the school's Chamber 1 Orchestra placed second in its division.  Both earned the rating of "Superior."

O'Hara Elementary School received the designation as the top fundraising school for the MS READaTHON for the 2007 for the Allegheny District Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society.

Three North Hills students earned first place distinction in the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science state-wide competition.  Earning first place honors were: Julianne Gyms, Regina Sencak, and Amanda Joos.  Gabe Laurent and Christine Weaver received second place awards.

North Hills senior Nicole Dohoda, photo right, earned top billing for Best Actress at the 17th Annual Gene Kelly Awards for Excellence in High School Musical Theatre. She is pictured here with Mrs. Gene Kelly.

Pine-Richland High School earned six Gene Kelly Awards in the 17th Annual Gene Kelly for Excellence in High School Musicals Program.  PRHS earned the most Kelly Awards of the 30 Allegheny County schools that competed in the program, hosted by the Pittsburgh CLO and the University of Pittsburgh.

Pine-Richland High school students earned third place after competing against nearly 1,300 world language students from 41 regional high schools in a World Language Competition at Slippery Rock University.

Pine-Richland High School student Abraham George finished in the top 10 in the Westinghouse Science Honors Institute testing program.

Wal-Mart honored Pine-Richland Middle School English teacher, Dr. Susan Frantz with the Teacher of the Year Award. Frantz is pictured left with some of her students.

The following Pine-Richland Middle School students placed in the Pennsylvania Poetry Society Pegasus Contest: Branden Glass, Rebecca Mobley, Hannah Zawadski, John Fleming, Kelly Morris and Abby Williams.

Jeff Burgess, a seventh grader at Pine-Richland Middle School, earned a third place in the Alliance Against Highly Addictive Drugs poster contest.

Pine-Richland Middle Schools Seventh and Eighth Grade Choir and A Cappella Choir competed in the "Music in the Parks" competition.  Each group placed first in their division, and all three groups received a rating of superior.

A team of 12 fifth graders from Richland Elementary School won a first place trophy at the Pittsburgh Regional Elementary Science Olympiad.  Team members were: Lauren Berlin, Kyle Pomerleau, Patrick Pearson, Nick Salpietro, William Misback, Sara Dugan, Jennifer Lott, Sydney Ayers, Kendyl Suvick, Hannah Fassler, Lukas Knauf and Jared Walkoff.

The Pine-Richland Opportunities Fund announced the recipients of its 2007 Scholarship Program: Thomas Randazza Jr. (photo right, top), Christine Grace Bridge, Jordan Loscar, Kelsey Lynne Jones, Derek Schleiden (photo right, bottom), and Heather Lange.

Providence Heights Alpha School 8th grader Danielle Kumpf earned a first place award, along with a special $500 award from the Astrophysics Society during the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Sciences competition.  Other first places went to: Sarah Very, Megan Schoming, Emily Smith and Natalie Nash.

Back to top

Business Spotlight: Singer Pest Control Services, LLC

By Janice Lane Palko

The word pest conjures up images of annoying but loveable nerds like the character Steve Urkel on the old television show, Family Matters. However, when the word is applied to describe the insects that invade our homes, the same harmless image is not evoked. In fact, just the thought of some of the insects that infest our houses can make one’s skin crawl. Beside our instinctive aversion to bugs, there are greater reasons for not wanting these vermin cohabitating with us. Many of them are destructive and some, in rare cases, such as venomous spiders can cause serious bodily harm.

Rich Singer, owner of Singer Pest Control Services, LLC, has the experience to rid your home of unwanted pests. Singer, who worked for a large pest control company for 12 years, launched his own company on June 1st. “I saw how the larger companies treated their customers— like they were numbers—and I knew I could serve customers better. I wanted to offer personalized service,” Singer said.

Singer Pest Control is based in Allison Park and can rid your home of carpenter ants, hornets, wasps, centipedes, spiders, cockroaches, etc. They do not remove animals such as squirrels and raccoons but do offer rodent control for mice and rats.

Other than being an annoyance, many insects pose no threat, but ones such as carpenter ants can wreak havoc on a house. “Carpenters ants can infest wall studs and then establish more than one colony, and do much costly damage to a home,” Singer said.

Singer Pest Control uses environmentally safe and EPA-approved chemicals. They also offer Integrated Pest Management without the use of chemicals The cost for services depends on the extent of the infestation and the size of the home. Singer Pest Control offers many treatment options among them monthly, quarterly or bi-monthly applications. Singer stresses the importance of indoor and outdoor inspections and/or treatments.

The reemergence of bed bugs has been in the news recently. Singer says they are not common in this area yet, but he has had experience in ridding them. “They can pose a huge problem, but we can eliminate them,” Singer said. Singer is offering a $25 discount for new customers on their initial treatment.

For more information on Singer Pest Control, visit their website at www.singerpestcontrol. com or call 412-486-2612 or 412-613-7209.

Bugs happen……..we can help.

Back to top