McCandless Community Day and the Frank J. Farina Memorial 2023 Car Cruise and Instrument Drive will make quite a pair.

They both happen Sept. 9.

The car cruisers will be in gear from 2 to 6 p.m., at the North Allegheny Intermediate High School on Cumberland Road.

Community Day begins at 4 p.m. at the Town Hall parking lot area on Grubbs Road with a performance by the North Allegheny High School Band, according to Angela O’Connor, parks and recreation coordinator for the town.

This will be followed by the swearing in of the McCandless Police new K9. Siraly, joined the force last month and is being handled by Officer Shawn Davis.

Community Day performances include Michele’s Dance Center at 4:15 p.m.; BB Steal Live Music at 5:30 p.m.; and the Allegheny Brass Band at 7:45 p.m. Fireworks will begin at 8:15 p.m. or later.

Activities include balloon animals and caricature artists, rides, inflatables, kids’ activities, a kids craft at the Heritage and Cultural Center, food, booths, a raffle and prizes. New this year is an ax-throwing activity.

“Community Day is an event for folks to celebrate McCandless while socializing with other residents, meeting local businesses, and having live entertainment. The firework display at the end of night is the perfect closer for our community event,” O’Connor said.

Farina Memorial Car Cruise

The car cruise continues to grow in popularity, said Frank Farina III, chairman of The Farina Foundation, a nonprofit that is hosting the drive.

“We get a lot of cars at the car cruise. It’s getting more and more popular. They come from all over the place. We’re hoping to create something bigger and bigger every year,” said the Marshall Township resident.

The car cruise honors Farina’s late dad, Frank J. Farina Jr., who served for 26 years at the North Allegheny School District as chairman of the music department and band director.

In 2012, the Town of McCandless proclaimed the Frank J. Farina Jr. Memorial Car Cruise as part of the annual McCandless Community Day. The late Farina was a resident of McCandless.

More than just a car show, the cruise will feature a 50-50 raffle and door prizes, including a handcrafted Adirondack Love Seat, Farina said.

Sheetz will be supplying hot dogs, brats and hamburgers, and McCandless resident Joe Wall will be grilling, Farina said. The group, American Pie, is set to perform. And local DJ Dan Dills is providing tunes.

Most importantly, there will be the foundation’s annual instrument donation drive.

The instrument donation is part of Play-It-Forward, a program by the Farina Foundation which gives used instruments a second life.

The foundation partners with The Education Partnership to store, manage and distribute the instruments collected. The foundation mostly utilizes The Brighton Music Center in Pittsburgh to restore the donated instruments. Other partnerships include North Allegheny Foundation, Pennsylvania Musical Education Association, Johnstonbaugh Music Centers and local and national thrift stores, including Goodwill.

Farina said his dad ran the cruise with Larry Steckel, who is now chair of the cruise and still running the event. The late Farina passed away in 2012 but the family still stays involved.

The Farina Foundation started the Play-it-Forward program in 2019 to refurbish donated instruments and provide them to more than 200 schools in the tri-state region, according to the foundation. Over the last few months, the foundation has given more than 500 instruments to underserved and underprivileged children in the area.

Family matriarch Barbara Farina serves as the foundation’s president.

Visit www.farinafoundation.org for more information.

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