Monday, August 16, 2010

PositivelyPittsburghLive, Tribute to Women, 5-10-2010

Positively Pittsburgh Live! 5-10-10


A Tribute to Women Leadership Awards



Since it was established in 1983, the A Tribute to Women Leadership Awards has become one of Pittsburgh’s most prestigious events recognizing women’s accomplishments. Through this annual luncheon, the YWCA celebrates the achievements of women and honors those who distinguish themselves in performance and leadership in their fields and in the Greater Pittsburgh community. This year the YWCA will recognize seven women in the following categories:

• Business & Industry

• Entrepreneur

• Health Services

• Civic & Community Service

• Education

• Human Services



Guests/Award Winners:



Allerton Award for Lifetime Achievement

Alma Speed Fox, President, Freedom Unlimited



Business and Industry

Bernadette Eyler Smith, Senior Portfolio Manager, Fifth Third Private Bank



Entrepreneur

JoAnn Renk Forrester, Business Owner and Consultant, SI Business Associates



Health Services

Debra Caplan, Senior Vice President, Allegheny General Hospital, West Penn Allegheny Health System



Civic & Community Service

Kathleen W. Buechel, Executive director, The Benter Foundation

Senior Lecturer and Director, Philanthropy Forum

GSPIA, University of Pittsburgh



Education

Josephine B. Moore (Jodie), President and Co-Founder, The Neighborhood Academy



Human Services

LaVerne Baker Hotep, Director of Community Arts & Education, Center for Victims of Violence and Crime



These women have shaped our community and improved the lives of others – they are innovators, visionaries and advocates. The selected awardees have advanced the goals of the YWCA – the empowerment of women and the elimination of racism. We are pleased to celebrate their continued accomplishments.



This year’s luncheon event is Wednesday, May 26, 2010 at the Westin Hotel, from 12:00 noon until 1:30 p.m. This event is in it’s 28th year, dating back to 1983. Over 200 women have been honored since then. In 28 years, this is only the 10th time that the Allerton Award for Lifetime Achievement has awarded.



“The YWCA award means so much to me. Their mission, “Eliminating Racism. Empowering Women,” dovetails with my personal passion. I feel blessed to be able to actively contribute to achieving gender equity through my volunteer roles. I feel doubly blessed to be honored by the YWCA for simply acting on my passion.” -Bernadette Smith, CFP



PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE



• Senior Portfolio Manager at Fifth Third Private Bank

• More than twenty years of investment management experience

• Implements tailored investment strategies for private and institutional clients.

• Responsible for managing complex fiduciary, agency and individual retirement accounts, as well as charitable endowment accounts.

• Also Managing Executive of Fifth Third’s Women's Financial Group.

• Worked for twelve years at PNC Advisors

• Spent eight years in the DC area as a trust officer with NationsBank and as a financial consultant with Prudential Securities



EDUCATION

• Graduate of Pennsylvania State University,

• Bachelor of Science in a dual major of Business Administration and French

• Holds the Certified Financial Planner designation

• Member of the Financial Planning Association



COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

Her passion has been gender equity for women in the US and basic civil rights for women in other countries. Her volunteer roles have been focused on women’s issues.

• On the Boards of Women & Girls Foundation, FISA Foundation, Gilda’s Club of Western PA and the Pittsburgh International Children’s Theater.

• A graduate of Leadership Pittsburgh XXIV

• Volunteers for the Women's Center and Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh

• Appointed by Gov. Rendell as a member of the Inter-branch Commission for Gender, Racial and Ethnic Fairness in 2009

• Recently invited to become a board member for the for-profit arm of the YWCA’s Nathan Hot Dogs franchise



“It makes me sad to think that Americans do not have a sense of urgency around the issue of gender inequity. If the injustice that women endure throughout the world was inflicted on another group of people, there would be moral outrage. If, instead of “bride” burning in India, there was burning of Christians (or Jews or Blacks or any group of people) there would be protests and diplomatic intervention. The same would hold true if, instead of “female” genital mutilation, it was “fill-in-the-blank” genital mutilation. The world sits silently as the most vulnerable are persecuted dismissing the issue as “cultural.”



JoAnn Renk Forrester is an outstanding woman. Relying on a deep faith, and her strong personal convictions, JoAnn has continually worked in the community, and in her business, to help ALL people have access to the help they need to be successful.



COMITTEES



• Served five terms as the President of the Greater Pittsburgh chapter of NAWBO (National Association of Women Business Owners,)

• Asked by the National Board of NAWBO to revitalize the Pittsburgh Chapter

• Grew chapter from 12 members to over 100 in two years

• Under her Leadership, the Pittsburgh Chapter of NAWBO was recognized as the 'fastest growing chapter in the nation' in 2002

• Served two terms (2008-2009) as a member of the National Nominating Committee, a ten person committee selected from a membership of over 9000 members





COMMUNITY



• Actively involved in establishing WOMEN DIRECT, the largest directory of women business owners published in the United States.



• In 1995 served as the primary consultant in the study Financial Portrait Of Women Business Owners, an in-depth regional survey of women business owners and their economic strengths conducted by the SBD of Duquesne University.





CO-FOUNDER



• Co-founder, along with Bonnie DiCarlo, of Celebrate & Share, an organization dedicated to honoring Women of Achievement in the Western PA region, and raising funds for organizations that help women and children.

• Organization has raised over $125,000 through events held in March (Women's History Month,) and August, celebrating the ratification of the 19th Amendment, Women's Right To Vote.

• The long term goal of The Women of Achievement events is to establish a permanent Women's Hall of Fame for our region.

• Co-founding member of the Western Pennsylvania Small Business Network (1988) which for 20 plus years has organized and hosted the U.S. SBA Awards Luncheon in Pittsburgh. This is one of the longest serving boards in the nation to conduct an event honoring small business owners.





NOMINATIONS

Author of nominations for over 150 persons to be honored for their contributions to our community. Many have won these awards because of JoAnn's commitment to showcasing the talents and successes of her colleagues. These women received local, state and national recognition for their achievements.



ENTREPENUER

Majority owner of SI Business Associates, consultant to many corporations and firms over the last 30 years

• Women's Yellow Pages

• Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh

• Women's Entrepreneurial Training Program

• The National Association of Minority Contractors/Black Contractors Association,

• Minority Enterprise Corporation

• Numerous colleges and universities





BOOKS and WORKSHOPS



• Co-authored two workbooks including 15 Steps to Writing a Successful Business Plan and "The David vs Goliath" Marketing Workbook.

• Presented workshops, seminars and panel discussions on business marketing, correct pricing, and successful business planning





TALKCAST



• Well known talkcast host on the "Empress of Biz," - Reinventing Yourself in Rugged Times on www.talkshoe.com.

• Presents and interviews women and minority business owners in order to showcase them and keep their stories as a history of small businesses in the Pittsburgh region.



Senior Lecturer, Public and International Affairs; Leader, GSPIA’s Philanthropy Forum Kathleen Buechel



Through numerous initiatives and leadership roles, Kathy Buechel has worked to enhance the participation of women and girls in education and in the new economy.





• Executive director of The Benter Foundation in Pittsburgh

• Manages the foundation’s grant making

• Founder and principal of Community Investment Advisors serving funders and foundations seeking greater impact through social investing

• Senior Lecturer in International and Public Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh

• directs GSPIA’s Philanthropy Forum

• Research Fellow and Visiting Practitioner at the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations at Harvard University July, 2006 through December, 2007

• Co-developed funding practices and principles that foster the longer term health of nonprofits

• Visiting Practitioner at the Heinz School at Carnegie Mellon University and

• Taught sustainability strategies at CMU in the fall of 2008

• Brings two decades of philanthropic and nonprofit sector leadership to her work





ALCOA FOUNDATION



• As president of Alcoa Foundation, led the reorientation of Alcoa’s global philanthropy toward active community investment in more than 31 countries and over 200 communities

• Expanded Alcoa’s investable assets

• Directed the foundation’s operations and programs as vice president for eight prior years.

• Grew Alcoa Foundation’s assets to $500 million and grew combined contributions

• Held numerous communication, media relations, public policy and marketing roles within Alcoa before joining foundation



ORGANIZATIONS



• Vice chair of the City of Pittsburgh’s Ethics Hearing Board

• Serves on the boards of Riverlife, Carlow University, Winchester Thurston School, where she is vice president, and Vincentian Collaborative Systems.

• Vice chair of the board of the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh

• A member of the Finance Council of the Diocese of Pittsburgh

• Active in a number of the nonprofit sector’s field building organizations

• Past chair of the Contributions Council of the Conference Board

• A former board member of Independent Sector

• Past president of Grant Makers of Western Pennsylvania





AWARDS



• Received awards from the Women’s Center and Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh

• The Girl Scouts Trillium Council

• Chatham University

• Was an Athena Award finalist





EDUCATION



• Received an Honors A.B. in International Relations and Political Science from Brown University

• Was awarded an Arnold Fellowship, and a Youthgrant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to record oral histories of nationalist Irishwomen active from 1914-1945

• Earned a Masters of Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University









To hear this episode of Positively Pittsburgh Live in its entirety go to http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/audioPop.jsp?episodeId=355479&cmd=apop





Delana Flowers is a Positively Pittsburgh Live reporter, an independent writer and owner of Ingenuity by Delana Flowers (TM), writing effective copy so you don’t have to. Services include copywriting for newsletters, blogs, ad copy, marketing pieces, articles, reviews, invitations, postcards, flyers and more.

Useful Information from American Heart Association--Guard Your Heart

As a quadruple bypass heart patient I thought this was useful information to disseminate.

Love Your Heart, you only get one.  Take care of it.




American Heart Association – Commitment to Quality Care‏


7/10/10


From: American Heart Association (email@heart.org)

Sent: Sat 7/10/10 12:23 AM

To: jqsdreamweaver@hotmail.com




Commitment to Quality Care!




We are following up with you to share important information on how you may improve your Quality of Healthcare. An estimated 935,000 new and recurrent heart attacks occur every year in people age 35 and older. Do you know your health status? It's the first step to help you and your doctor make decisions that positively impact your health and the quality of your healthcare.



Know your health status. For simple lifestyle changes to be your healthiest, visit www.heart.org/mylifecheck.

Know your treatment options — visit www.heart.org/heartprofilers to make informed decisions in partnership with your doctor.

Learn and live. Visit http://www.hearthub.org/ for information and resources to help you take charge of your heart health.

The American Heart Association sets the standards for emergency cardiac care. We provide practice guidelines that make sure you get the best treatment from the ambulance to emergency evaluation through hospital discharge instructions. We need your support to continue this work. To make a donation online, visit www.heart.org/donate.



Research shows a commitment to quality care can result in better patient outcomes. We hope that you find this information helpful in making your quality of care choices.






Yolanda Perez

Director of Customer Relations

American Heart Association

Monday, August 9, 2010

Positively Pittsburgh Review Of Harold Pinter's "No Man's Land"

The deep thoughts provoked by Harold Pinter’s No Man’s Land began buzzing about the theater, as the lights faded ever so slowly to black. Applause rose and standing ovations were given as the audience paused to contemplate their experience, before exiting the Stephen Foster Memorial on Saturday night. The preview was prelude to discussions about life, success, aging, complacency and surrender.




No Man’s Land, presented by the Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre, gives a glimpse into the lives of 4 men. Hirst is an alcoholic and once successful writer who has met the acquaintance of a not so successful poet, spooner. Hirst, despite his success, has been sinking into an existence that can hardly be considered life. He is accompanied by two servants, Foster and Briggs who make no effort to save him from himself. Spooner desiring to rescue him for reasons that could be both selfish and selfless presents himself as a former acquaintance, fellow writer, and then as a willing friend. A strange web of memories, delusions, reality and fantasy ensues and the four men inevitably succumb to their existence "in no man's land. Which never moves, which never changes, which never grows older, but which remains forever icy and silent."



The performance was a journey that brought laughter and sympathy while making no attempt to answer the questions it raised, leaving a sense of solemn wonder. Rick McMillan as Spooner suspended suspicion in his motives yet empathy toward his lot in life. Sam Tsoutsouvas as Hirst easily evoked sadness and marvel at what he once was and what he had come to be. Their use of British accent and the honest portrayal of fear in body language that remained true to each character greatly complimented the story.



The complexity of such a play filled with themes that are perhaps not meant to be fully understood but indeed acknowledged, is no easy production. Yet this production of No Man’s Land is a well executed tale of a place between life and death, reality and pretense, memories and deceit.







--

Delana Flowers

717-278-6391



FREELANCE WRITER * VOCALIST *SONG WRITER

Sunday, August 1, 2010

PositivelyPittsburghLive, Pittsburgh Outdoor Dining

Positively Pittsburgh Live! 7-19-10


Pittsburgh Outdoor Dining



Where can you sit and dine outdoors to get some sun, fresh air and great food and what are the activities and culinary delights?



Today’s guests:

Mary Gettel of Remember When

Tera Bevilacqua of Bocktown Beer and Grill

Jason Capps of Bella Sera Trattoria

Usha Sethi of Taj Mahal



Mary Gettel of REMEMBER WHEN

HOME OF PITTSBURGH'S LARGEST ICE CREAM CONE AND THE BIG JOE SUNDAE



Mary is married with 3 children and 4 grandchildren. Her experience in the food Service industry includes everything from Pizza Shop to Fine Dining.



I purchased an existing ice cream store in 1991 and named it Remember When. This year we are celebrating 50 years of ice cream in Windgap. Our philosophy: Ice cream is fun and if you are not having fun we are not doing our job.



Remember When offers soft serve ice cream, yogurt and homemade hard ice cream. Soft serve comes in chocolate, vanilla, twist, and a flavor of the week. The yogurt is Dole Whip, a lactose free, no sugar, no fat yogurt. The homemade hard ice cream is made from my exclusive Recipes. We have ice cream cakes & pies made with Remember When ice cream. We also serve hot food made to order like our Doo Wop Dog, burgers, chicken tenders, Gyros, and French Fries. Every Friday night we have oldies parties with Doo Wop Dan.



The Big Joe Sundae is 1/2 gallon of ice cream 2 sundae toppings, nuts and whip cream. If you can eat the whole thing with no help in front of Mary you get your picture on Remember When Wall of Fame and a $5 gift certificate for your next visit.



The Memory Cone is our large cone and it won't fit through the window. It comes out the side door.



Remember When has been in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette Food Section and on KDKA TV with Dave Crowley. We have also received the Tribune Reviews 2010 Readers Choice Bronze Award for Ice Cream.



EVENTS:



July 30, Bike Blessing. Father Lou Valone of St. John of God, McKees Rocks, PA will be doing a Bike Blessing at 7:00 p.m. Father Lou blesses bikes of all kinds from tricycles to Motorcycles.

August 8, Live Oldies Concert, at 3 p.m. the Performance by El Reys.

August 27 Beach Night with Doo Wop Dan and Dr. Doo Wop



Open noon to ll p.m. 7 days a week from March and into October

Remember When

3860 Chartiers Avenue

Pittsburgh, PA 15204

412-331-2234

www.remembericecream.com





Tera Bevilacqua, BOCKTOWN BEER AND GRILL



Tera Bevilacqua, technically the General Manager of the Bocktown Beer and Grill in Robinson. I prefer to call myself the "Beer Librarian", the head Librarian of our huge "Beer Library" which contains over 400 different bottles of craft beer. I also book the live original music that we have every Tuesday and set up the Wednesday beer tastings. From the beginning of Bocktown I have played a huge part in most of the unique chalk art found throughout the restaurant.



Bocktown Beer and Grill features over 400 different bottles of craft beer, 16 always rotating craft beer taps, and homemade food made with the best local ingredients.

-Live original music

-Beer Tastings

- Support of original artists



EVENTS

Local Fest and Summers Wake



Every Tuesday at 9pm, live music!

July 20, City Dwelling Nature Seekers, Americana/Folk Rock

July 20, Corned Beef and Curry, Acoustic

August 3, Olga Watkins Band, Jazz/Blues

August 10, Cabinet, Bluegrass/Americana/Rock

August 17, George C.Jones and the New View Trio, Latin/Jazz/Percussion

August 24, Goonland, Nerd Rock

August 31, Matt Woods



Each Thursday, Tera's Beeried Treasures

Tera our “Beer Librarian” shares a special barrel from her secret stash! These drafts could be rare, limited or just soo delicious you’ve got to know exactly when it’s coming on tap!



July 22, Corsendonk Christmas

July 29, Ommegang Three Philosophers





Each Wednesdays at 6-8, Craft Beer Samplings

We try to highlight the best of the craft scene on draft and in bottle. You can meet the occasional brewer, the area's best schooled beer representatives and taste their wares.



July 21, Church Brew Works, Meet the Peeps! Owner Sean Casey and Brewmaster Brant Dubovick

July 28, Flying Dog, Special visit from Matt Crowe

August 4, Local Fest, Full Pint, Meet Barret

August 11, Arcadia

August 18, Pumpkinfest, Tony "The Beerman" Knipling

August 25, Penn Brewery, Featuring Oktoberfest



Bocktown Beer and Grill

690 Chauvet Dr

North Fayette, PA 15275

412-788-2333

Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace





Jason Capps, BELLA SERA TRATTORIA

Event Venue, Catering, and Urban Trattoria



Upper St. Clair resident Jason Capps is owner and chef at Bella Sera, a special event venue and catering company in the South Hills. Formerly the Executive Catering Chef at Dean & DeLuca in New York City, Jason also serves on the Culinary Council of the International Caterers Association. He recently opened Bella Sera on the Square, a trattoria on Pittsburgh's Market Square.



I travel to Italy at least once a year for two weeks (Sicily this Sept) and al fresco dining is standard throughout the country, not only for the obvious guest’s enjoyment, but to facilitate added seating due to limited interior space in century old properties. Same applies for me in market square! After being cooped up all day indoors, it’s nice to relax and dine outside, or the same applies for lunch.



We will have sidewalk dining as soon as two weeks from today, and expect to seat an added 20 people outside, which works great because we fill up and turn tables away by noon each weekday.



We are submitting narratives, renderings and blueprints to have rooftop dining – most likely for next year, although we could be approved and completed on the roof by end of September if all goes well. I am also exploring a rooftop garden to augment the already amazing produce my mom grows organically for me from her farm in Greene County.



We are only open Monday through Friday until the market fills up with enough restaurants to support being open. For now and through 2010, we are taking reservations for private parties for 20-75 people.



Bella Sera Urban Trattoria is the first certified Green Restaurant in the entire Pittsburgh region. We are also the first caterer and venue in the state to hold this distinction – and the 5th in the country, as for banquet halls and caterers. The Green Restaurant Association is the organization that certified us – and has the most distinguished process in the industry. Mario Batali, Rick Bayless and countless other top chefs work with the GRA to become certified.



2008 and 2010 STAR Award Recipient – International Caterers Association

2009 Pittsburgh Business Times - 100 Fastest Growing Businesses (#42)



jason@bellaserapittsburgh.com
Direct: 724-745-5575 ext. 113
Cell: 724-350-6695

www.bellaserapittsburgh.com (Join our newsletter!)



Bella Sera Catering
Bella Sera Event Venue

414 Morganza Rd.
Canonsburg, PA 15317



Bella Sera Trattoria

22 Market Square.
Downtown Pittsburgh, PA

412-281-6363





Usha Sethi, TAJ MAHAL

Usha Sethi is chef and owner of TAJ MAHAL restaurant, a family owned restaurant located in north hills. It was opened in 1996. She believes in home cooking therefore Taj Mahal makes everything from the scratch in its kitchen. No chemicals,preservatives or flavor enhancers are used, only non-trans fat oils.



We make authentic Indian food from all regions of India. We also use our imagination and creativity to introduce new and innovative dishes.



Taj Mahal provides full service catering. We can bring charcoal grill and dosa grill to your home or party to make fresh breads, kababs and dosas of your choice. You are welcome to ask for a new dish of your choice and we try to accommodate

.

We have a lunch buffet everyday from 11AM TO 3PM and a special dinner buffet on Mondays and Thursdays. Suggestions from customers are always welcomed. You may also order online on our website, www.tajmahalinc.com



We have been voted best Indian restaurant by Pittsburgh Magazine and the Post Gazzette.



Open seven days from 11 AM - 10PM

7795 Mcknight Road

Close to Ross Park Mall

www.tajmahalinc.com





To hear this episode of Positively Pittsburgh Live in its entirety go to http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/audioPop.jsp?episodeId=378213&cmd=apop





Delana Flowers is a Positively Pittsburgh Live reporter, an independent writer and owner of Ingenuity by Delana Flowers ©, writing effective copy so you don’t have to. Services include copywriting for newsletters, blogs, ad copy, marketing pieces, articles, reviews, invitations, postcards, flyers and more.