For Immediate Release

9/18/06

CONTACT:
PA Senate Republican Communications
(717) 787-6725

Former Eagle Vince Papale to Serve as Grand Marshal

for "Pennsylvania Treasures Parade" Sept. 30

Bands, Floats, Military, Arts & Historical Groups to Participate

as Part of "Centennial Days" Celebration at Capitol

HARRISBURG -- The Pennsylvania Treasures Parade, part of a five-day "Centennial Days" celebration marking the 100th birthday of the state Capitol, will step off and tour through downtown Harrisburg on Saturday, September 30, at 11 a.m.

Former Philadelphia Eagle and broadcaster Vince Papale will serve as the parade's Grand Marshal.  A native of Interboro, Papale holds the record as the oldest rookie in the history of the NFL.  A Disney movie based on his life, "Invincible," starring Mark Wahlberg, is currently in theaters.

The parade will feature numerous marching bands, floats, military regiments, historical societies, arts groups, and various other organizations from around the state.  The procession will begin behind the Capitol on Commonwealth Avenue, travel north to North Street, west to Third Street, south to Market Street, east to Fifth Street, and will end at Walnut Street.

Among the 90-plus entries participating in the parade are official representatives from 31 counties around the Commonwealth, including the following groups:

• Adams County:  Gettysburg High School Band; Apple Core Band, Aspers

• Allegheny County:  Upper St. Clair High School Band

• Armstrong County:  Karns City High School Band

• Bedford County:  Bedford County Historical Society

• Berks County:  Reading-Berks Guild of Craftsman, Blandon

• Blair County:  Altoona Area High School Marching Band

• Bradford County:  Sayre High School Marching Redskins

• Bucks County:  Washington Crossing Reenactors Society, Ottsville

• Butler County:  Butler County Historical Society

• Cambria County:  Cambria Heights Middle School Band, Patton

• Carbon County:  Lehighton Area High School Indian Pride Band, Lehighton; Switchback Gravity Railroad Foundation, Jim Thorpe

• Chester County:  Conestoga High School Marching Pioneers, Berwyn

• Clearfield County:  Clearfield County Historical Society, Luthersburg

• Cumberland County:  Cumberland County Historical Society

• Dauphin County:  Dauphin County Historical Society; Middletown Area High School Band; Open Stage of Harrisburg

• Delaware County:  Mid-Atlantic Great Dane Rescue, Drexel Hill

• Erie County:  County of Erie

• Fayette County:  Fayette County Women's Suffrage 1848-1920, Scottdale

• Indiana County:  Blairsville Underground Railroad Committee

• Lebanon County:  Lebanon County Career and Technology Center, Lebanon; Lebanon Valley Tourism Promotion Agency, Lebanon; Palmyra Area School District Band

• Luzerne County:  Arts YOUniverse, Wilkes-Barre

• Lycoming County:  Lycoming County Marching Band, Montgomery

• Mercer County:  Sharpesville High School Band, Middlesex

• Montgomery County:  Pennypacker Mills, Schwencksville

• Northampton County:  Northampton Big N Band, Freemansburg

• Perry County:  Perry County Council of the Arts, Newport; Pennsylvania Reserve Volunteer Corps

• Schuylkill County:  Ancient Order of Hibernians, Pottsville

• Somerset County:  The Berlin Fife and Drum Corps, Berlin

• Venango County:  Franklin Silver Cornet Band, Franklin

• Warren County:  111th PA Volunteer Infantry Regiment, Russell; Warren Art League, Spring Creek; Warren County School District Marching Band, Warren

• York County:  York City Schools Combined Middle and High School Bands

Also scheduled to participate are a number of organizations from throughout South-Central Pennsylvania, including Abraham Lincoln's House, Gettysburg; American Legion Post 733 Youth Soul Steppers, Harrisburg; Chinese Cultural and Arts Institute, Harrisburg; Folklorico Tomatlan, Harrisburg; Mechanicsburg Minutemen Color Guard, VFW 6704; Pennsylvania National Fire Museum, Harrisburg; and Zembo Shrine Motorcycle Touring Unit, Harrisburg.

Other events scheduled for the Centennial Days celebration include a Kids Expo and Treasure Hunt at the Capitol (noon to 3 p.m., Sun., Oct. 1); an Ecumenical Church Service of Rededication at Grace United Methodist Church, 216 State Street (3:30 p.m., Sun., Oct. 1); a Pennsylvania Politics Symposium in the House Chamber (7 p.m., Mon., Oct. 2); a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for the newly constructed Rare Collections Library housed in the State Library (10 a.m., Tue., Oct. 3); a Rededication Ceremony at the Capitol with award-winning historian and best-selling author Michael Beschloss as keynote speaker and a reenactor depicting President Theodore Roosevelt (noon, Wed., Oct. 4); and a Centennial Gala at the Capitol (6 to 9 p.m., Wed., Oct. 4).

WINK 104 (104.1 FM) is the exclusive radio station for up-to-date information regarding the Capitol Treasures Parade, Capitol Treasure Hunt and Kids Expo.

For up-to-date information on the Centennial Days celebration or details about visiting the Capitol, go to www.pacapitol.com.

The events are sponsored by the bipartisan Pennsylvania Capitol Centennial Commission, chaired by Lieutenant Governor Catherine Baker Knoll, Senate President Pro Tempore Robert C. Jubelirer and Speaker of the House of Representatives John M. Perzel.

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