Braddock Hills

Police Chief Frank Gardone announced his retirement last month.

Borough residents and the business community gathered at the Holiday Inn East on Friday to honor the man who had served as a police officer for 17 years.

At 52, he likely could have continued to serve, but on Aug. 29, 2001, his life changed drastically.

On that day, Gardone was doing what he'd done for nearly two decades -- helping. He'd rushed to a mid-morning fire on Garfield Avenue. The blaze ultimately injured four people, destroyed a home and damaged another house.

Gardone was one of those injured.

As he hurried to direct the scene, haul hoses or help carry out victims, a coupler on one of the hoses came loose and struck him in the forehead.

A family man with three children and three grandchildren, Gardone sustained a skull fracture and had to undergo several surgeries. His ability to smell, taste and hear are permanently impaired.

Monroeville

Art, fun and performance will mark Black History Month at the Boyce Campus of the Allegheny County Community College starting today and running through Feb. 28.

The following events will be free to the public:

Today -- Calvin Price & the Steel Band, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Student Union.

Next Wednesday -- Caricature Artist Clarence Butler, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Student Union.

Feb. 23-- The Progressive African Americans Dating Game, 10 a.m. in the Student Union. The PAA Dating Auction, 1 p.m. in the Performance Hall.

For more information, call Frank Kaufman, 724-325-6621.

Pitcairn

Several residents have contributed to a fund for a woman hurt in a boating accident on Pitcairn Island in the South Pacific.

Darralyn Griffiths, 28, nearly lost her right arm Dec. 5 as she and other islanders tried to save a longboat that was smashed by a wave. The longboat was one of only two that the islanders use to connect with ships that supply the isolated island.

Griffiths was taken to a hospital in Tahiti and then to a medical facility in New Zealand.

The Pitcairn Islands Study Center at Pacific Union College in Angwin, Calif., put out a plea for donations. One letter went to Mayor Betsy Stevick in Pitcairn, Allegheny County, 5,550 miles away from the scene of the accident.

The request raised $1,000, according to Herb Ford, director of the study center, including about $75 from residents of the Pitcairn here.

Though the total amount wasn't great, he said the letters that accompanied the gifts "warmed Mrs. Griffiths' heart."

Mrs. Griffiths' parents notified Ford that their daughter is making progress. She is getting therapy to regain use of her arm and hand, and she will get a nerve graft in about a week.

Her recovery is expected to take 12 to 18 months. Meanwhile, her parents reported, recuperating so far from home is making her homesick.

"Darralyn and Turi [her husband] are so grateful to all of you who have so kindly sent donations," her mother, Carol Warren, wrote.

Regent Square

The Nine Mile Run Watershed Association will lead a tour of the Nine Mile Run Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration in lower Frick Park.

Set for 10-11:30 a.m. Saturday, the tour will cover this Army Corps of Engineers project, which is the only one of its kind in a major metropolitan area.

The tour is open to the public.

For more information before Saturday, call 412-371-8779. On Saturday, call 412-848-7890. Or visit Nine Mile Run Web site at: www.ninemilerun.org.