Irwin to Celebrate the Beauty and Heritage of the Oft-Maligned Parking Meter

( Irwin, PA ) Given that the parking meter, which turned 75 last year, it often maligned and cursed by urban drivers, the Irwin Business and Professional Association ( IBPA ) has decided to celebrate its beauty and heritage by holding an upbeat festival – the 70th Anniversary of the Patenting of the Parking Meter ( patent granted in May 1938 ) .

The Festival is Saturday May 17th 10:00AM - 2:00 PM on the Main Street of Irwin. Main Street will be closed for the event.

The family-oriented festival will have the following contests and events for all ages:

The 17 meter race -- which involves contestants touching all the meters on a city block before crossing the finish line
A parking meter decorating contest, where children, teens, adults and businesses can compete and decorate a meter; e.g. the Colonial Grille will be decorating their meter like a giant chicken drumstick
A bake-off where the entries can be any foodstuff but it must look like a parking meter
The parking meter toss -- under the rules of the shotput
In addition there will be
Parking meter piñatas that will be treated like most pinatas
Elvis look-a-likes roaming Main Street taking their picture with you
Live music
Canned music
a DJ

The climax of the event will be the crowning of the Parking Meter Queen ( we might have said ‘and her traffic court’ but we won’t ). Participants can be submitted for nomination to the PMF Committee. This event is gender-neutral.

Tentative activities NOT YET confirmed:

a ticket writing contest between local municipal meter maids or parking enforcement officers ( Irwin, Greensburg, Jeannette )
appearance by people from A&E's "Parking Wars "
chocolate pudding wrestling

To register for a race or contest: call 724-864-6900 To decorate a Parking Meter: call 724-864-6900. All decorations must be non-permanent and cleaned up immediately after the festival.
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The Irwin Business & Professional Association is an All-Volunteer group that promotes the business health and vitality of Main Street for the benefit of the surrounding communities. The IBPA also serves as the Promotions Committee of The Irwn Project Inc.

For questions on this news release, call Mike Pochan at 724-864-6900