Trafford to unveil town's version of Wings Across Westmoreland

Trafford is getting its own version of Wings Across Westmoreland.

The artwork promotes community history and encourages viewers to pose for a photo in the middle of it.

Borough officials will unveil the metal wings at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Trafford Borough Municipal Center parking lot, adjacent to the Trafford Community Library in the 400 block of Brinton Avenue.

“We tried to focus on the past, the present and the future,” with the icons inside the wings that include the town’s former Westinghouse Electric Co. plant and the Westmore­land Heritage Trail, said Kris Cardiff, president of Trafford Borough council.

Cardiff said he did not want to reveal much of the images that are on the fabric attached to the metal wings, because the committee that worked on the project will have a contest to determine who can identify the most scenes within a specified time period.

The wings, each about 4½ feet long, will be attached to the wall below the words “Trafford Borough Municipal Center,” which holds the library, borough offices and Trafford Volunteer Fire Department. The two wings, made by Fejes Signs of Jeannette, are separated so that a person can have their photo taken with the wings on either side of their body, as if they were angels.

The Trafford project is part of the Westmoreland Cultural Trust’s Wings Across Westmoreland that have been placed in seven communities: at Sobel’s Obscure Brewery in Jeannette; Ligonier Town Hall; the Five Star Trail at Youngwood; the Smithton Borough Building; the Mt. Pleasant Library; and the Casino Theatre in Vandergrift. They appear seasonally at Overly’s Country Christmas. Irwin is scheduled to have its Wings Across Westmoreland installed at The Lamp Theatre courtyard next month.

The wings in Greensburg have been a backdrop for selfies, senior portraits and wedding photos. Their popularity inspired the Trust in 2019 to expand the initiative into other towns in the county, said April Kopas, executive director of the Trust.

Cardiff said he was seeking ways last summer to add cultural development into the borough’s focus on economic and community development, when he discussed the project with Ashley Stack, who was borough manager at the time. She raised the possibility of Trafford being the site for the wings during a phone call with representatives from the Trust.

Other Wings Across Westmoreland Locations:

• Jeannette
• Mt. Pleasant
• Youngwood
• Ligonier
• Smithton
• Vandergrift
• Overly's Country Christmas

A committee of three council members and a cross-section of business and community leaders was formed to explore the idea.

One of the issues raised was how to cover the $700 cost of the project. Members of the committee were going to contribute money to pay for it, but the payment question was resolved when Stack received a phone call late last year from representatives of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, which closed in 2019, Cardiff said. The congregation’s representatives asked Stack if there were any projects in Trafford that could use the remainder of their church’s money. When Ashley informed him of the church’s offer, Cardiff invited them to the next Trafford Wings meeting.

“The connection was surreal. At the same time we are working on a project that involves angelic wings,” one of the town’s churches that had to close had enough money to cover the cost of the entire project.

“Talk about divine intervention,” Cardiff said.

The Trafford Historical Society and Trafford Business Association assisted the committee in the design of the wings and the committee approved the final version. They worked with Patrick Mahoney, the Trust’s Incubator for the Arts artist, who started the Wings initiative with the first installment in 2018 in Greensburg, Cardiff said.

“I hope the Trafford Wings increases the amount of visitors in our downtown area and provides an opportunity for folks to experience our restaurants and other fine businesses,” Cardiff said.