The Elk County Democratic Picnic & Luau will be held Sunday, July 10 at the St. Marys Area Sportsmen’s Club in St. Marys.
Hosted by the Elk County Democratic Committee, the summer picnic regularly attracts attendees from upwards of 10 counties throughout northcentral Pennsylvania.
Starting at 2 p.m., the luau features a complete picnic buffet including beef on wick and pulled pork along with drinks and dessert.
The keynote speaker for the event is Rich Fitzgerald, Allegheny County executive. He will be joined at the podium by Kerith Strano Taylor, Democratic nominee for U.S. Congress, Pennsylvania Fifth District; Jerri Buchanan, nominee for Pennsylvania Senate, 25th District; and Jay Notarianni, nominee for Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 75th District.
Representatives from other Democratic campaigns for state and federal office will also be addressing the picnic attendees.
Fitzgerald, the highest-ranking elected official in Pennsylvania’s second largest county, will be speaking on party unity, as Democrats work toward victory in November. He is currently in his second term as county executive having been elected first in 2012.
He grew up in Pittsburgh’s Bloomfield-Garfield neighborhood. A graduate of Central Catholic High School, he attended Carnegie Mellon University after high school where he worked his way through school, earning his Bachelor’s in mechanical engineering with a business minor.
After graduation, he was unable to find a job in engineering in the region and moved to Indiana to work for a private company there. After a few years, he moved back to Pittsburgh and started his own business, which provided water treatment equipment and services for industry in the western Pennsylvania region.
Fitzgerald also married his college sweetheart, Cathy, and bought a home in Squirrel Hill. He and his wife, a pharmacist, have eight children: six girls and two boys. It wasn’t until his children were of school age that Fitzgerald became involved in politics, albeit at the local level.
In the late 1990’s, he worked on the campaign to change the form of government in Allegheny County. It was an initiative that passed creating a Home Rule government with an elected executive and 15-member council.
In 1999, he ran for one of the district council seats on the newly-formed County Council and was elected to represent a district that included suburban municipalities and city neighborhoods. He held the seat for 12 years and was elected as council president four times before leaving to run for the office of county executive.
His interest in making government more effective and efficient began with the consolidation of row offices when he was on council, and included a top to bottom review of county departments and functions once he took office as the county executive. His directive to top staff, including his chief of staff and county manager, is to ensure that county government is responsive to taxpayers and protects their interests.
Primary sponsors for the event include the political committees for the Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Local 9-PA along with Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 354 with special consideration from the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 66 and the Pennsylvania UAW Good Government Committee, UAW Local 3400.
Advanced reservations are requested for the picnic and all area Democrats are welcome. Tickets are $15 for adults.  Children under 13 are free. For more information, call 814-594-5500 or visit the Committee’s Web site:  www.elkdems.com.
Tickets are also available on the event page of their Facebook page:Â Â www.facebook.com/ElkCoDC.
