Community Center Kickoff Parade - 1965

Kickoff Parade on Brookline Boulevard, July 1965

Brookline Boulevard in July 1965 was the site of a kickoff parade for a yearly fundraising carnival held at the Brookline Community Center. Leading the way here are the Cub Scouts of Pack#601. The parade procession began at Brookline Elementary School along Pioneer Avenue and proceeded down the Boulevard to Breining Street, then on to the Community Center.

Opening Festivities, July 1965.

After the parade, ceremonies were held to open the festivities. Funds were being raised to continue the construction of a new Recreation Building, a rendition of which is illustrated on the billboard in front of the podium.

Fundraising carnivals at the Community Center were a yearly event in the 1950s and 1960s, with the money going towards improvements of the Community Center grounds. The long-term goal of the Brookline Memorial Community Center Association was the construction of a new Recreation Building.

Carnival held in July 1965.

At this time, the Community Center was owned by the people of Brookline. The construction of the proposed recreation facility was an ambitious undertaking without funding from outside sources. Up to that time, only the foundation (basement) of the building was intact.

The speaker is shown standing on the roof of that basement building. The following year, in 1966, a final solution was found that would lead to the construction of the building. The land was sold to the city for $1 and, in 1970, a modern Recreation Center was finally built.

Carnival held in July 1965.

The location chosen was in a different part of the park, and the former basement foundation was left intact and used as an activities building. Further expansion and improvements by the city led to the creation of Brookline Memorial Park.

A last note on the old Community Center Recreation Building and the carnival in 1965 ...

The photo below was sent to me from a visitor from the northside of Pittsburgh in 2002. A home was being remodeled. When they tore up the kitchen floor they found this large poster board underneath. It looks quite similar to the poster board adorning the Recreation Center Building in the photo above from the 1965 ceremony. Almost 40 years later it resurfaced in pretty good condition. Wish we could have gotten that one to hang at the current Recreation Center, but ...

Found under a kitchen floor in 2003

Click on images for larger pictures.

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