Jeff Helsel | Mon Valley Independent
Belle Vernon’s Dane Anden runs against Laurel Highlands on Oct. 2, 2020, at Laurel Highlands.
Dane Anden could hardly believe the news.
“When I told him, he was ecstatic,” Belle Vernon football coach Matt Humbert said. “He was really excited.”
The news was that Pitt has more than the rumored lukewarm interest in the Leopards senior running back, who was a key cog in last year’s run to the WPIAL Class 4A semifinals.
The Panthers saw fit to offer Anden a preferred walk-on deal to join the program in the fall and make a run at a scholarship. The 6-foot, 175-pound Anden was slowed some by a foot injury late in the year, but he was productive alongside a number of other weapons in the BVA backfield, including quarterback Devin Whitlock.
The Greensburg resident served as executive director of the Humane Society of Westmoreland County, the organization’s first and only leader until her death Oct. 19. She was 72. In addition to her role with the Humane Society, Burkley also formerly served on the Greensburg Salem school board and Greensburg city council.
Ronald L. Echard
His first term as mayor of New Stanton was cut short Sept. 5 when he died suddenly. He was 68. He and his wife, Linda, who serves on borough council, are credited as a driving force behind the borough’s holiday display and local farmers market. This spring, as a way to keep up community morale during the coronavirus pandemic, he challenged residents to create rainbow-themed yard displays and take part in a statewide bell-ringing event to recognize first responders and frontline workers.