October 11, 2019
Todd DePastino
Veterans Breakfast Club
In the fall of 2008, a group of thirty World War II veterans came together to fellowship and share stories about their service during the war. Based on the success of this first gathering, local businessman Dan Cavanaugh and historian Todd DePastino scheduled additional meetings which were also open to the public. By 2010, The Veterans Breakfast Club had held thirty meetings and was drawing 50 to 150 people. Based on this continued success, it was decided to record and share the stories so they could be shared with the public. The Veterans Breakfast Club has reached out to documentarians, digital story tellers and podcasters to create an oral history of Veterans in the Pittsburgh area.
Todd DePastino is the founding director of the Veterans Breakfast Club. Todd is interested in the stories of veterans and this fed into his work as a historian and author, Todd has authored seven books including his award-winning book “Bill Mauldin: A Life Up Front”. This a biography of the noted WWII cartoonist.
Todd earned a Ph.D. from Yale in American History. He has taught at Penn State Beaver and Waynesburg University.
October 18, 2019
Steve Mihaly
Marketing The Presidency
Have you ever wondered what becomes of election memorability after the election is over? In the era before television how did campaigns get the word out about candidates and their message.
Our speaker, Steve Mihaly began collecting political Americana at age 10. After 50 years of collecting he has accumulated more than 20,000 items. His parents who were avid antique collectors used election memorabilia to further Steve’s interest in history. Steve’s interest has been highlighted in numerous magazines and newspapers across the country. He has met many interesting people and even four US Presidents.
Steve will be sharing a presentation he developed at the request of a friend for the Joan Crawford Distinguished Speaker Series in Maryland. He will share how presidential campaigns as early as George Washington involved marketing. Marketing after all involves sharing the ideas and beliefs of the candidate and the campaign.
Steve is a recently retired Vice President of HJ Heinz. He lives in Gibsonia with his wife Kathy. He has one grown daughter who resides in Hot Springs, VA.
