Two events took place on Saturday Sept. 20 as part of the Seton Hill Homecoming and Family Weekend that contributed to bringing the SHU and Greensburg communities together.
American Adventure Sports kicked off the day with the Greensburg Half Marathon, 5K and 10K races. Race coordinator Ashley Reefer said the business in downtown Greensburg, “created the event in 2013 to offer the community an event to get active together and to raise awareness of our multi-sport shop.”
The event also gives back to the residents of the Greensburg community. “We are hosting this event to donate a portion of the proceeds to the Westmoreland County Veterans Assistance Program,” said Reefer.
The annual race also serves as a tribute to 2002 Seton Hill graduate Matthew Carlson. “The 5K is in memory of Matthew Carlson as requested by SHU,” said Reefer. As a reflection of the SHU and Greensburg communities joining together, Reefer said, “In 2015, we plan to do all the races in memory of Matthew Carlson.”
From now on, the races will always be held during Seton Hill’s Homecoming and Family Weekend. “We hosted it the week before in 2013 and then hosted the 5K for Matthew Carlson the weekend after. It was easier from a logistics standpoint to do them all together,” said Reefer. “It offers people an active opportunity outside of drinking, eating, and shopping to be with their families and friends.”
Following the race, the Community Block Party took place downtown from 11a.m. to 2p.m. “There are so many wonderful businesses downtown for everyone to visit,” said Kris Smith, Director of Corporate and Community Relations. “We used to host a homecoming block party up here on campus, but we decided to change the location because we wanted to get our alumni back downtown.”
The Block Party was an opportunity for local businesses to advertise for no charge. Smith said, “We had approximately 20 merchants from the Greensburg community.” Buffalo Wild Wings, Getty’s Grill, Student Art Therapy Association and Moonglow Yoga are a few businesses that attended to promote and mingle with the rest of the community.
“One new little thing we added this year was a Griffin Kids Fun Zone,” said Smith. “There was also face painting and henna tattoos, hosted by our SHU Intercultural Students.” The event included activities and entertainment for all ages. “There was also an antique car cruise, and our live show was a local cover band called Switch,” said Smith.
“We really wanted to promote the town,” said Smith. “As part of a community partner here in Greensburg, we thought it would be a good idea to host an event at the heart of Greensburg.”