Here's a Pittsburgh story. Three Rivers Stadium once held Franco Harris, and over the weekend at the city's big sports festival, Harris held a toddler named for Three Rivers -- the place where the Steelers and Pirates once played.

If the fundamental idea for commemorating the 250th anniversary of the naming of Pittsburgh by celebrating its sporting achievements is to connect the past with the future, consider the three-day weekend of Tre Rivers Kemerer, who like his parents is a native and resident of Ohio, but a Pittsburgh sports fan at heart.

This 10-month-old boy, accompanied by his parents, Jeff and Shawnta Kemerer of Lancaster, Ohio, was among those who visited the trophies and exhibits at the Federated Investors Parade of Champions, held at the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum at the Heinz History Center. Not only did thousands of people elect to spend the first weekend of summer indoors, they cheered inside a museum.

Wearing his No. 7 Ben Roethlisberger jersey while being held by his father, the infant got some face time during an ESPN taping that will be shown as part of a series to select one of 20 cities in America as Titletown. That was a thrill in itself, but then things got even more interesting.

The family was waiting for an elevator to take them upstairs to another exhibit when Harris got on. After arriving at the appointed floor, the former Steelers running back asked the family if he could have his picture taken with Tre.

"Instead of us asking him, he asked us. I was flabbergasted," said Jeff Kemerer, 36, a corrections officer at a halfway house.

The family took a picture of Harris standing behind the stroller. Then he picked the boy up and posed for more pictures in front of the five Super Bowl trophies on display.

"It all just kind of happened. I didn't even know my own name at that point," Kemerer said with a laugh. "Franco couldn't have been nicer. This is something we'll remember for the rest of our lives."

The Kemerers, who are on the waiting list to buy Steelers season tickets, heard about the Parade of Champions in an e-mail from the team. They opted to buy the three-day pass at $51 per adult, packed up the car, got a hotel room and soaked up decades and decades of sports history.

"I'm a bigger football fan than anything, but I like all the teams," Kemerer said. "I have one of those license plate holders that says, 'You're In Steeler Country.' I have Ohio plates, so it gets some looks. Anywhere around me is Steeler country."

But why the bond to Pittsburgh for someone born 30 miles southeast of Columbus?

It turns out that Kemerer's father is from Export in Westmoreland County. When he went to visit an Army buddy in Ohio, he met the woman he would make his wife and mother to his son.

"I've always liked the teams here," Kemerer said. "As I got older, my mom would take my Steelers T-shirts that didn't fit anymore and make pillow cases out of them. I'm an ambassador for Pittsburgh. I guess I'm just spreading the word."

Even before he named his son after Three Rivers, there were suggestions that Kemerer was a bit over the top in his loyalty.

"I've been told I'm borderline crazy," Kemerer said, laughing. "Some people say it's over the top, but I don't drink, and this is what I choose to spend my money on."

To be immersed in the whole experience, Tre was also dressed in a Pirates jersey for part of the weekend. He was at the museum yesterday when Bill Mazeroski, who will throw out the first pitch tomorrow when the Yankees come to town for the first time in 48 years, was signing autographs. The family took in the NHL exhibit, featuring some of Mario Lemieux's personal trophies and a miniature Stanley Cup. Tre also got his picture taken with Art Rooney Jr., son of the Steelers founder, who has recently written a book on his family.

Does all this tradition and the chance to get up close and personal with sports legends qualify the city as Titletown?

"Maybe," Kemerer said. "But it sure makes it Pittsburgh."