A giant yard sale plus more will be held Saturday, Aug. 6, to benefit the Bellevue Dog Woods, the off-leash dog park currently being built in Bellevue's Memorial Park.

In addition to a wide array of household treasures, The Bellevue Dog Woods Association is selling bricks, cordwood and Belgian block at a cost of $30 per pick-up truck load, mix and match.

There also will be homemade dog treats for sale, and a basket raffle.

The sale will be held in the cinder lot just past the entrance to Memorial Park on Bellevue Road from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. A $1 bag sale will be held at 1 p.m.

The Borough of Bellevue will hold its annual July 4th picnic at Memorial Park next Monday from noon until 4 p.m.

Free hotdogs and other food and refreshments will be served, while Giggles the Clown entertains the children. Admission to the swimming pool is free from noon until 6 p.m.

I wanted to update you all on a new project that is close to my heart, the Bellevue Dog Woods.

Before I even had a dog, I wanted to see a dog park in the North Boroughs. Everywhere you look around here, people are out walking dogs. I thought of all those poor dogs on leashes pulling around those poor people and thought, "Wouldn't it be great if all these dogs had a place to just run around and play with other dogs?"

Kenneth Todoverto Sr. Kenneth M. Todoverto Sr., 81, of Bellevue died Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2011. He is survived by his wife, Loretta Todoverto; four children, Kenneth Todoverto Jr. and his wife Sandy, Janice Barry and her husband Mike, Carla Pritchard and her husband Glenn and Donna Boyer; his sister, Louise Killian; and five grandchildren, Brian Verlihay and his wife Steph, Steven Verlihay, Glenn Pritchard Jr., Becky Pritchard and Ally Boyer.

Calendars featuring photos from The Citizen's 2011 Pet Photo Contest will be on sale beginning Oct. 1.

Sale of the 2012 calendars will benefit the Bellevue Dog Woods Association's construction of an off-leash dog park in Bellevue's Memorial Park. The park is projected to open in 2012.

Many photos from the spring contest have been included in the calendar. Among the pets whose 8.5 by 11 inch photos are featured are: Trouble and Mia, Calvin Magoo, Owen, Rosie, Arthur, Cloudy and Dusty, Charlie, Flan, Walter, Tippy, Black Jack, B.J. and Zelda, and Bullet.

Bellevue will again host a celebration at Memorial Park for residents on July 4th, despite the best efforts of council’s parks and recreation committee for the second year in a row.

Last year, the committee -- chaired by Lisa Blaney-Stewart and including council president Kathy Coder as a member -- ignored the event until the final days, at which time Coder signed an employee’s name for credit card purchases using the borough’s card so that Bellevue could offer its free menu of hotdogs and watermelon, along with entertainment.

Before long, local dogs now restricted to short-leash walks down concrete sidewalks or brief jaunts into small backyards could find themselves running full-speed in a wide grassy area, or roaming through the woods.

All within minutes of home.

Eagle Scout John Plazek has received permission from Bellevue Council to build bat houses in Memorial Park.

The advantage to attracting bats, according to Plazek, is that bats feed on insects, including mosquitoes. The bats will control the mosquito population and the spread of West Nile Virus in the area, he said.

Audrey Andrews Audrey E. Andrews, 91, of Brighton Heights, formerly of Warrendale, died Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2010. She is survived by four children, Barbara Hyde, Joanne Hyde, Andrew Golden and his wife Kathleen and Maureen Golden; four grandchildren, Jeff, Sherry, Jay and Afton; and five great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, Philip and Eva Andrews. Services and burial were private. Memorial contributions are suggested to Forbes Hospice. Arrangements were made by McDonald-Linn Funeral Home, Avalon.

Christine Snyder

More than 125 volunteers took to the streets and parks and lots and buildings of Bellevue last Saturday, accomplishing a long list of projects as part of the “Improve the Vue” project sponsored by the Bellevue Initiative for Growth (BIG).

Despite opposition from some officials, Bellevue Council’s parks and recreation committee will explore the possibility of selling a portion of Memorial Park.

Council members Linda Woshner and Jane Braunlich attempted to nip in the bud any plans to sell a portion of the park property, specifically the “cinder lot” that has been the focus of recent efforts after Ross Township and the owners of adjacent residential property demanded it be cleaned up.

Clean-up efforts in the cinder lot section of Bellevue's Memorial Park are continuing.

Bellevue received notice last year from Ross Township -- where the property is located -- that building materials and miscellaneous debris needed to be cleared from the lot, which borders a Ross residential area.