Mackinac Island Adventure - 2024
W SURE Trip to Mackinac Island, the Soo Locks & Frankenmuth, Michigan!
Westinghouse SURE’s ‘once in a lifetime’ Mackinac Island adventure included 6 days & 5 nights, September 22 thru 27, 2024, with a jam-packed itinerary. Thirty-eight SURE members and spouses boarded our luxury motorcoach in the early hours of Sunday, September 22 to begin our journey. After an overnight stay just south of our destination of Mackinaw City, we arrived Monday mid-morning eager to enjoy our day. Some folks took advantage of some free time to visit Mackinac Island while others shopped in Mackinaw City. Our evening was capped by a delicious dinner at the Dixie Saloon and an optional visit to the nearby Odawa Casino. Others opted to stroll the beaches of Lake Huron (our hotel was lakeside!) and still others soaked in the hotel’s hot tub.
Tuesday, day 3, began with another great breakfast and then a ride on the hydroplane ferry boat to historic Mackinac Island. Our ferry ride included a bonus trip underneath the Mackinac Bridge (known as the Mighty Mac) and we also caught our first look at the famous Grand Hotel (pictured on left). SURE’s day on the Island (where no cars are allowed) included “cab” service (horse drawn!) to Fort Mackinac and then a horse-drawn carriage tour of the Island. After a great day of touring, we boated back to Mackinaw City for Bar-B-Q Buffet dinner at the Toast A Go-Go.
Day 4 featured a short coach ride north to the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, where we enjoyed a narrated boat cruise through the world-famous Soo Locks – which link Lake Huron and Lake Superior as a major shipping route in the Great Lakes. Following a great Italian dinner back in Mackinaw City at Nonna Lisa’s, we finished up the evening with a ‘live’ lumberjack show! SURE’s past president Lu Facchini was called up on stage to participate and was a natural! We even celebrated a couple of birthdays along the way.
On Thursday morning, we waved goodbye to Mackinaw City and beautiful Northern Michigan as we headed south to Frankenmuth, Michigan – a quaint European-style Bavarian Village filled with unique shops and eateries. Highlights included a Paddleboat River Cruise of Frankenmuth and a visit to nearby Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland – the world’s largest Christmas store.
Our evening was capped off by a fabulous family style chicken dinner with all the fixin’s at Zehnder’s Restaurant. After a good night’s sleep in Saginaw, Michigan, we headed back to Pittsburgh on Friday morning (day 6), full of stories and food and great memories!
Thanks to Howard & Bettyann Finney and to Senior Excursions for planning our wonderful journey. Special thanks to Darryl Degelman, Frank Sciullio, Tim Moore, and Wayne Bickerstaff for acting as group leaders throughout the trip.
Westinghouse SURE Annual Picnic - September 2024
On Wednesday, September 18, over 150 SURE members and guests were in attendance for our annual picnic despite the rainy forecast.
The picnic was held from noon to 4 pm in the usual location: the Geri Palmieri Memorial Pavilion, Monroeville Community Park. In addition to great food and wonderful reunions of friends and former co-workers, the friendly folks from UPMC offered free blood pressure screenings and lots of free pamphlets and giveaways.
In keeping with the Olympic-inspired international picnic menu from the Colonial Grille, the delicious food offerings included fried chicken, stuffed shells, kielbasa & kraut, roasted red potatoes, pasta salad and a hot vegetable for a discounted price of only $10 per person. Dessert featured Perry's ice cream from the Sweets for the Street mobile ice cream truck (the returning champion) as well as assorted cookies. SURE provided bottled water, lemonade and hot coffee, and various snacks to tide us over until the buffet opened at 1 p.m.!
Thanks to all those who helped make this year’s event so successful! Music, microphone and sound system provided by Susie Barbour and her husband Rich Dugan; and a special thanks to everyone who helped “clean-up” as the picnic wound down at 4 p.m. Finally, thanks to all who attended to make this year’s picnic a rousing success!
The SURE picnic committee: Carole DiBiase, Rose & Vic Perry and Dave Altman.
Enjoy the SURE picnic photos...
Feed The Hungry - 2023
Lancaster Trip - August 2022
The Summer of 2022 saw a bus load of happy SURE members set off on another fun-filled Road Trip! On August 23, some 52 Westinghouse SURE travelers boarded a Quest motor coach to begin their journey to Lancaster, PA to see stage presentations of two shows: “David” and “Chicago”. Our first scheduled stop was at the Mount Hope Estate & Winery for lunch, a winery tour and a wine tasting. After the enjoyable lunch/winery visit, our Quest bus driver (Mary) took us on a tour through the nearby Amish farms and beautiful countryside as we journeyed to our hotel. After arriving and checking into the Heritage Hotel in Lancaster, we travelled next door to the Dutch Apple Dinner Theater for dinner and to see our first show - “Chicago”. The show was a spectacular way to end our first day. The next day after breakfast at the hotel, our tour group motored over to the “Sight & Sound Theater” to see “David” – a magnificent stage production focused on bringing to life the legendary Bible story featuring spectacular special effects, massive sets and live animals in a brand-new original stage production. After the show, we then traveled to a popular stop in Lancaster – Miller’s Smorgasbord – where SURE members and guests enjoyed a delicious dinner and many desserts before embarking for home.
Stayed tuned for upcoming trip announcements, and please enjoy a few photos included below.
For the past few years (pre-COVID), SURE has made an annual trip to the Big Apple in early December! Here are some photo highlights from our 2019 adventure...
Ark Encounter & Creation Museum Trip - September 2019
Our latest SURE adventure took our group to the ARK Encounter and Creation Museum in Williamstown, Kentucky. Here are a few photos from this tour of discovery and immersion as our tour group walked the same steps as those in Bible stories. The enjoyable two-day trip also included a Riverboat Dinner Cruise on the Ohio River.
We kicked off summer in style with our Sea to Shining Stars excursion into Annapolis and Baltimore. Our travels focused on exploring both under the sea and above the sea at the National Aquarium in Baltimore Harbor. Our group also enjoyed a US Naval Academy cruise in Annapolis.
Phipps Conservatory Spring Flower Show - 2019
Heinz History Center: Destination Moon - Nov 2018
SURE members enjoyed a day trip to the Heinz History Center which included an informative 90-minute guided tour of Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission, a commemoration of the upcoming 50th anniversary of the day Neil Armstrong became the first human to walk on the Moon. Our group learned how Pittsburgh innovators and companies, including Westinghouse, used their “We Can Do It!” spirit to play a crucial role in the Apollo 11 mission, and discover how the region’s brightest minds continue to impact the space program today. The exhibit on loan from the Smithsonian also featured an immersive “launchpad” entrance, the iconic audio from mission control, and interactives like a lunar lander video game and virtual 3-D tour of Columbia’s interior.