McKeesport celebrated their 60th Good Neighbor Day on June 12. The annual street fair brings together social service agencies, small businesses, activities for children, live music and an array of local food vendors on Fifth Avenue in Downtown McKeesport to mark the beginning of summer. The McKeesport Community Newsroom (MCN) booth encouraged members of Tube City Writers use chalk to share six word stories on the street so they wouldn’t be missed. The Mon Valley Photography Collective documented the popular Pony Time Ranch petting zoo, the Carnegie Library of McKeesport’s Flash Mob and the Valentine Vasquez Jazz Ensemble.

It was Matt Petras’ first time to participate. Petras is a writing facilitator at the McKeesport Community. He assisted our emerging reporters in gathering interviews on their mobile phones. “It was nice to be a part of getting the community together in McKeesport. I believe the teens I supervised did a great job meeting and interviewing a large collection of interesting, passionate and diverse people.” said Petras.

- Martha Rial