Trips Planned to Raise Money for Verona's Streetscape

Verona Borough is sponsoring two trips in the upcoming months to raise money for the borough's .

The borough has applied for a $200,000 county grant for the project—this will add to a $143,243 grant already received. If it is awarded, the borough will be responsible for matching 15 percent.

Councilwoman Rhoda Gemellas-Worf said the borough would receive $400 for every bus filled for the trips ($10 for every person who goes).

The project includes infrastructure improvements—such as lighting and landscaping—to the Allegheny River Boulevard business district. Mike Vento, the architecture and design chair for the Verona Business District Advisory Committee, said he hopes some of the work is completed by the fall of 2013. The committee is in the process of soliciting bids for the work.

Here are details about the trips:

• The first is a "Winnings & Wineries" trip on Saturday, Oct. 27. The cost is $85 and includes a chance to see fall foliage, a tour of two wineries in Lake Erie Wine Country and an opportunity to taste their harvest, time at Presque Isle Downs and Casino (with a casino bonus at $20 per person), and a buffet dinner at Johnny G's Restaurant in Verona.

• The second is a "Holiday Trip" to Dickens Victorian Village in Ohio on Saturday, Dec. 8. The cost is $109 per person and includes a lunch buffet, John and Annie Glenn historic site, a Coal Miner's Christmas Train Ride, a walk along Cambridge's main street, Dickens Victorian Village displays and a holiday light show.

For more information, contact Gemellas-Worf at 412-828-3607.

This summer's Verona Chamber of Commerce raised $2,000 for the project.

"It'll soften the blow a little bit," said chamber member Kier Ewing.

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