Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind?

Perhaps.

While the new year has many asking that question - and others singing it off-key - there are a host of other things that should not be forgotten as the calendar turns to 2020.

It has been a year of success, change and hard work throughout the Township. That success is a tribute to many people throughout our community, and I’d like to take a moment and reflect on their various contributions before we ring in the arrival of another year.

• Our dedicated Fire/EMS/Police personnel who work 24/7, including holidays. These men and women leave their families behind to ensure the safety and well-being of others, and that commitment and sacrifice should never be taken for granted.

• The Board of Supervisors’ commitment to working with others, as shown in the collaborations that will enable the MSA Thruway project set to break ground in the spring.

• The Township’s Public Works crew who keep our roads safe during snow and ice conditions. It’s a thankless job but one that keeps our Township running smoothly.

• The Township’s Public Works crew who respond at all hours of the day and night and under all weather conditions to repair water line breaks to keep the water flowing to our homes.

• Doctors, nurses and staff who ensure UPMC Passavant/Cranberry Hospital provides ready access to our residents and businesses for emergency care.

• Our Board of Supervisors who are passionate about their service to the residents of Cranberry Township with a vision that is unmatched in the country.

• The Township’s family of employees who put customer service as their top priority.

• The Board of Supervisors’ continued commitment to collaboration with our neighboring municipalities to find way to work together to serve the mutual interests of our residents and businesses.

• The strong, supportive relationship that exists between the Township Government and the Seneca Valley School District. It is based upon the principle that great communities need great schools and great schools need great communities.

• For our amazing residents who are so deeply concerned about others in the communities and second to none in their willingness and passion to work together for the betterment of our community.

• For our volunteers serving on our boards and commissions, including the Library Board, the Planning Advisory Commission, the Zoning Hearing Board, the Building Code Board of Appeals and our Ad Hoc Environmental Advisory Committee.

• And personally, for the privilege and honor I have had serving the Board of Supervisors and this amazing community for 30 years, working alongside the best municipal workforce in the Commonwealth.

As we begin a new decade, let us all take a moment to appreciate our great community and those who comprise it.

I wish you a healthy and prosperous new year.

I'd love to hear your thoughts and reflections of the decade. Please email me at jerry.andree@cranberrytownship.org.

The last few days provided amazing examples of the community spirit that makes Cranberry such a desirable place to live, work and play.

On Thursday evening our Board of Supervisors approved a series of items that put into action the final steps of the Route 228 Corridor Master Plan adopted in 1995: the MSA Thruway. 

This Thruway will provide long-term benefits to the traveling public. It will avoid Route 228 from experiencing the well-known back-ups witnessed on Interstate 79 Northbound at Route 910, while also alleviating traffic on Route 228 itself.

The project is dedicated to the leadership and support of MSA Safety, the force behind the development of Cranberry Woods. It is also the last step in a partnership to build a mirror-quality development on the north side of Route 228 known as Cranberry Springs. Between these two high-quality developments, over 10,000 family sustaining jobs will exist.

Then Friday night in partnership with the Butler/Cranberry Eagle, a greatly enhanced Santa’s First Stop was launched, attracting well over 4,500 individuals. The Eagle arranged for over 15 magnificent ice sculptures to be on-hand, sponsored by a host of local organizations. 

Ernie DiMartino of DiMartino Ice, the producer of hundreds of these types of shows, said he has never seen so many children at one of these events. That is what Cranberry is all about: bringing families together.

Cranberry is also about giving back, and that spirit was on full display Friday as attendees to the First Stop event packed a Township ambulance with toys, games, stuffed animals and dozens of other items. Those gifts will be given to Toys for Tots and will bring some holiday cheer to those less fortunate.

Friday night also showcased nearly 40 holiday trees decorated in the Municipal Center. Each tree represents the great work of the many organizations that make Cranberry such a desirable place to live, work and play.

I am so very proud to work for a community that values partnerships to advance shared visions. To sustain those partnerships requires honesty and respect for each, and this past weekend showed that those qualities are the DNA of our community.

If you have a comment, please email me at jerry.andree@cranberrytownship.org.

Our Township phones never stopped ringing throughout the day on Halloween with urgent pleas to either keep or change the date for Trick-or-Treat.  After all, the forecast was for heavy rain and wind which, according to some, would ruin the kids’ candy, soak their costumes, and create a safety hazard for everyone.  And besides, a bunch of other communities in the area had decided to change theirs to Friday or Saturday. 

At the same time, we got plenty of impassioned calls urging us to keep the date at October 31, usually because the resident had made arrangements which would be disrupted or would even have to be cancelled, often at considerable cost and inconvenience, if we were to switch the date. 

What people didn’t realize was the question had been resolved for us a long time ago.  That’s because, some years earlier, we had a very similar situation occur on Halloween and, out of an abundance of caution, we did move the Trick-or-Treat time by a couple days.  At the time, we thought it was the right thing to do.  But it made a lot of residents really angry, and we didn’t hear the last of it for months thereafter.  That’s when our Board of Supervisors made a decision: Halloween and Trick-or-Treat would henceforth be observed on October 31 – no matter what.

A few years later, it snowed on that date, and the kids had to plow through six inches of snow to collect their candy.  It turned out to be one of the most memorable Trick-or-Treat nights ever.  Nobody got hurt or frostbitten, and our public safety services were out in force, just as they are now, providing an extra layer of security throughout the community.

So, notwithstanding the pleas to change our Halloween observance to some other night, we stood by the Board’s calendar decision.  And in a stroke of good fortune, the rain stopped right around 6:00 – the official start of the Trick-or-Treat – allowing hundreds of happy kids to circulate through our neighborhoods, without having to wear ponchos over their costumes, and enjoy the cool but dry evening air.

Cranberry is a very busy, activity-centered community with school events, working parents, vacation schedules, and more to balance.  Arbitrarily moving fixed holiday dates doesn’t do anyone a favor; it just scrambles people’s schedules.  Western Pennsylvania is a four-season climate, and precipitation is just part of the normal weather cycle here.  So, in Cranberry Township, tradition trumps Mother Nature.

Your feedback is always welcome. Please feel free to email me at Jerry.Andree@CranberryTownship.org