'Beautiful day in the neighborhood': Latrobe Art Center hosts Mister Rogers Family Days

Generations of community members gathered Saturday in downtown Latrobe to celebrate the last day of Mister Rogers Family Days.

Caitlin Auth, 34, of Irwin realized that there were activities for all ages as she attended her first Mister Rogers celebration with her husband, two kids, parents and her grandmother. The family was camping at Keystone State Park for the weekend when they saw an advertisement.

“We planned this camping trip and then decided to come down,” Auth said. “We came on Tuesday for the story time in the park, and that was a lot of fun. Now we’re back again today.”

Auth said that her children had enjoyed a day of bounce houses and pony rides while her grandmother was on the hunt for a banana split.

Becca Santavy, 28, of Irwin said that she and her husband had decided to bring their five kids specifically so their 3- and 5-year- old children could meet Daniel Tiger and Katerina Kittycat, characters from an animated series inspired by “Mister Rogers Neighborhood.”

“It was nice to get out of the house,” Santavy said. “It’s really hard with a family of seven to get out of the house and to find something that we can all do together.”

Santavy said that she associates Fred Rogers with sharing acts of kindness with others in her community.

“Spending time as a family is a main goal for us,” Santavy said. “Being able to get our kids out and socialize is great, and this event helped us do that.”

Booths lined the streets offering activities and food. Bridget Smidga, 52, of Ligonier and Casey Bevan, 38, of Latrobe were hosting a booth for their family run catering business, Simply Good.

“(The markets) get your business’s name out there,” Smidga said. “It lets you see different things and try different things. People will see us at the next event and say ‘Oh, I recognize your booth.’”

Becoming familiar with the community is something that the Latrobe Police Department have worked to accomplish. Detective Michelle Preston, 38, manned the police booth handing out coloring pages and stuffed animals to children who passed by.

“It’s so great because some of the kids are hesitant to approach us,” Preston said. “They might be intimidated, or even fear us sometimes. To see us in this atmosphere — they’re able to become more relaxed around us.

The toys were donated by local churches. Preston said that the police often hand out teddy bears or other stuffed animals to children to comfort them when they’re in emergency situations such as car crashes or domestic dispute calls.

“We have a fabulous community where they are always donating stuff for us to hand out,” Preston said.

The weeklong celebration was hosted by the Latrobe Art Center. Michael Tusay, executive director of the Latrobe Art Center, said that the nonprofit partnered with dozens of businesses in town to plan the Family Days. All activities including train rides, rock climbing, face painting, pony rides and character meet-and-greets were free.

“There is something here for all ages,” Tusay said.

The art center members set up a gallery featuring artifacts from the Fred Rogers Institute and Archives, including one of the original model neighborhoods from the original television show.

Tusay pointed out that events like the Fred Rogers Family Days help highlight a piece of the “rich history” of the city.

“I think events like this, especially for Latrobe, are so important, and play such a pivotal role in this city’s revitalization efforts,” Tusay said. “It brings the community together. It brings the businesses together. It also promotes tourism in Latrobe, which is one of the city’s goals.”