Beloved fundraiser for community fire department canceled for first time in over 24 years
The organizer said it was a big disappointment for the department and the community.
'It is disappointing it was a nice event for the community everybody really loved it all the car cruise enthusiasts loved it,' said Jason Graham, fundraising director.
The annual Mega Cruise event was scheduled for July at the Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport. However, it's no longer happening because of logistics.
'In past years, we had a certain hangar that was attached to the tarmac at Butler airport. This year we weren't able to obtain it,' said Graham.
Graham said it's also a safety issue since they aren't allowed to use a particular hangar for the event.
'When you get a large event like that for a lot of people, it's kind of a safety thing for inclement weather or extreme heat, extreme sun. You want a place for people to get out of the weather,' said Graham.
A spokesperson for the airport said they gave the fire department permission to use a different hangar for the mega cruise and the department decided it was not feasible. Graham said this would have been the event's 25th year. It raises money for the volunteer fire department and is a big community event with hundreds of cars.
'It was incredible, we would cover the entire tarmac and the fields. It was one of the biggest car cruises around,' said Graham.
Graham said they are open to other fundraising ideas. The fire department still plans to hold their tool bash at the Butler airport in May and will be able to use another hangar for that event. Graham said they hope to bring back the tradition and hold the Mega Cruise event next year.
Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBS News
2 days ago
- CBS News
Ambulance collides with vehicle in Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood
An ambulance was involved in a collision with another vehicle in Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood Saturday morning. At approximately 10:45 a.m., an ambulance providing mutual aid from Greensburg collided with a passenger vehicle at the intersection of McKee Place and Fifth Avenue while transporting a patient. EMS personnel responded to the scene to assist other first responders in helping to extricate the trapped driver from the passenger vehicle. The victim was transported to an area hospital in stable condition out of an abundance of caution, police said. At the time of the incident, the ambulance had a patient on board who was in stable condition. A second mutual aid unit was dispatched to the scene and completed the transport. No injuries were reported as a result of the Incident.
CBS News
6 days ago
- CBS News
Full closure of Parkway East scheduled for this weekend
If you're driving the Parkway East this weekend, heads up. There will be a full closure in Pittsburgh and Edgewood. PennDOT on Tuesday announced that I-376 will close in each direction between the Squirrel Hill Tunnel and the Edgewood/Swissvale interchange from 9 p.m. Saturday through 5 a.m. Monday. The shutdown will be in place around the clock as crews demolish and replace an overhead sign structure. Traffic westbound will be detoured at the Wilkinsburg interchange and traffic eastbound will be detoured through the Forbes Avenue/Oakland exit. The full detours can be found on PennDOT's website. The work, which began last summer, is part of a $95 million project to replace the Commercial Street Bridge between the Squirrel Hill Tunnel and the Edgewood/Swissvale interchange. PennDOT said it'll be one of the largest lateral slide projects performed in Pennsylvania. Last year, crews temporarily relocated Commercial Street and the Nine Mile Run Trail below the bridge and moved sanitary sewer lines. This year's work includes installing new sign structures and piers, abutments and piles. Crews will need multiple closures to perform the work, including a 25-day full closure and detour in 2026. The project is expected to be complete in the summer of 2027. PennDOT has created an email distribution list for Parkway East traffic advisories and construction updates so drivers can stay informed. People who want to join the list can email ymanyisha@ with the subject line "Subscribe – Parkway East." Updates can also be found online.
CBS News
04-08-2025
- CBS News
Inspection work coming to the Roberto Clemente Bridge for the next two weeks
The inspection parade of Pittsburgh's sister bridges moves on as the Roberto Clemente Bridge will be closing for two weeks starting Monday morning. The bridge will be closed for routine inspection work, following the recent closure and inspection of the nearby Andy Warhol Bridge. The Warhol Bridge reopened to traffic ahead of schedule on Friday after two weeks of intense inspections. The report on the inspections isn't expected to be ready for a month. "If there's any issues that are critical, they let us know right away so we can get those addressed, and they found no issues with the bridge," said Allegheny County Public Works Director Stephen Shanley. With the Warhol Bridge inspection in the rearview mirror, eyes now turn to the Clemente Bridge. "They'll be pulling hatches off the roadway and on the curbside and doing the inspection of the entire structure," Shanley said. Like the Warhol Bridge, the hatch plates have a lot of bolts and iron workers have been hired to expedite the the process of opening those hatches so that inspectors can put a ladder down in the hatches and look around for any deficiencies. The inspection work takes two weeks because of the large number of plates. "There are a total of 432 plates," Shanley said. "We have 216 on the roadway side and 216 on the sidewalk side." The plates on the sidewalk side have six bolts each for a total of 1,296 bolts. The plates on the roadway side have an additional bolt for a total of 1,512 bolts. That's 2,808 bolts that have to be removed for the inspectors and then replaced, so the bridge will be closed through Friday this week and again next Monday through Friday. The bridge will be open for this weekend's Pirates-Reds series before closing again next Monday morning.
