In brief: McCandless scavenger hunt, exercise program and more in the North Hills

Tony LaRussa | Monday, October 5, 2020 9:01 a.m.

File

The McCandless/Northern Allegheny Heritage Center

Scavenger hunt will test your McCandless knowledge

Think you know McCandless?

Then put your knowledge to the test during a family-friendly scavenger hunt to discover some of the area’s hidden treasures.

The event, which runs through Oct. 31, costs $15 for a family or group of four.

Participants can stop by Town Hall from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays to pay the fee and pick up a “Hidden Heritage” booklet to begin hunting.

Completed answer sheets must be returned to the McCandless/Northern Allegheny Heritage Center by Oct. 31.

Every group that returns an answer sheet will receive a Heritage Center pin and becomes eligible to win a prize basket.

Groups that get at least eight questions correct will be entered a second time.

Those who answer all 10 questions plus the four bonus questions will receive a third entry for the prize basket.

Town Hall at 9955 Grubbs Road. The Heritage Center is located adjacent to Town Hall.

Nominees sought for citizens of the year award

Ross is accepting nominations for the second annual Durachko-Gottfried Ross Township Citizen of the Year Award.

The award is presented annually to a Ross Township individual or a group of individuals who have made a meaningful and significant impact on our community.

The honor is named for Dr. Peg Durachko and her late husband Dr. Richard Gottfried of Ross, who was one of the victims killed at the Tree of Life mass shooting in October 2018.

The township created the award to honor residents who have “demonstrated a commitment to having made considerable, noteworthy and long-lasting contributions to the lives of our residents and their families through the same selfless and caring manner displayed by the remarkable citizens for whom this award is named,” according to officials.

Nomination forms and instructions for submitting them are available online.

Ross offering new exercise program for kids

Ross has added a number of new outdoor exercise programs called Kids on the Go that is designed to introduce children to yoga, Pilates, core training and weight lifting.

The program is open to kids between the ages of eight and 12 and will be held from 4:30 to 5: 30 p.m. on Wednesdays in October.

To allow for proper social distancing, the program will be held outdoors in the township’s amphitheater.

The cost is $48 for residents and $54 for non-residents.

NA teacher participating in Project Dragonfly

North Allegheny Intermediate High School science teacher Jayna Comas, a Global Field Program student from Miami University’s Project Dragonfly, is participating in a new course with conservationists from around the world to launch a conservation campaign for positive ecological and social change.

Miami’s Dragonfly team developed the course, titled “Earth Expeditions: Connected Conservation (EECC),” in response to the global health crisis and as an alternative to the summer Earth Expeditions travel field courses that take palce in 15 countries throughout the world.

Comas was part of an EECC student team that worked together to help support the ongoing work of Dragonfly’s Belize partner, The Belize Zoo, a wildlife sanctuary housing more than 175 native animals. The team created a series of educational activities designed to meet the Zoo’s program needs. Using curriculum standards from the Belize education system, the activities focus on human-jaguar interactions in ecosystems.