MR. ROGERS
this.) Each June, the street in front closes for Mister Rogers Family Day.
Ricolita’s Cafe offers Italian and Mediterranean favorites such as a Neighborhood Salad (veggies, pecans, cranberries and strawberries), and around the corner, be sure to stop at James H. Rogers Park, named for Fred’s father, a community activist.
A statue of Fred sitting on a park bench is a popular spot for sightseers who stop and pose with him. Sculptor Jon Hair used Rogers’ real jacket, shoe and pants sizes to create the lifelike piece. (In downtown Pittsburgh, there’s a 7,000-pound sculpture of Rogers called “Tribute to Children.”)
Rogers, an ordained minister, grew up in the nearby Latrobe Presbyterian Church; if it’s a nice day, walk there and see if the workers will let you look around. It’s a beautiful chapel and worth a look on its own. It’s also open for services.
There’s a Fred Rogers display at the local high school, though it’s not the physical building where he attended; that one, at 1501 Ligonier Street, is now privately owned. To honor its famous graduate, the school showcases not only school memorabilia but a few production items from “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” The display is only open to the public during scheduled school activities.
Visitpa.com also lists the address of the Main Street home where Rogers was born and the Weldon Street home where he grew up. They’re privately owned, so slow down on a driveby, but don’t gawk.
Linda McKenna Boxx, who has lived in the Weldon Street house for 35 years, gave me a private tour of Rogers’ childhood home.
“Come around here,” she called as she walked to the side door. “This is how he would have entered, and his friends would have come in this way.”
It’s a beautiful home with hardwood floors, a sun room, fireplaces and a backyard with large trees. It wasn’t hard to imagine a young Fred playing the piano in the front room, reading in the sun porch or playing with his puppets on the wood staircase.
One last stop
A fitting last stop in Latrobe is at beautiful Unity Cemetery. It takes some windy country roads to get there, through this beautiful area called the Laurel Highlands, but GPS can help. Rogers died of cancer in 2003 and is buried in the family mausoleum there.
Visitors can park at the church and walk a half-mile or so toward the back. On a hill, a small building is visible with tall, wood doors and four sturdy columns and the name Given on the top (it’s a family name).
Climb the path and peek in the windows. “Fred McFeely Rogers” is etched in marble along the side wall next to his mother’s and father’s names.
The skies were blue, not a person around — just the silence of a breeze and maybe a squirrel running through the trees on my visit. A beautiful day in this neighborhood.