Leonard Alwine of Altoona submitted this photo taken at a parade in downtown Altoona in 1968. It shows the Jaffa Temple’s Calliope Clowns trailer. The calliope is thought to be of early 1920s vintage. It was later built into a truck body and today is still used by the clowns unit now mounted on top of a newer truck chassis.

Readers are encouraged to send or deliver old local photographs of general interest for use in Yesteryear. Information about people and places should be included. Photos must be 30 years old or older and should be sent to Yesteryear, Altoona Mirror, P.O. Box 2008, Altoona, PA 16603, or emailed to community@altoonamirror.com. For more information, call Brenda Carberry, community news coordinator, at 814-946-7459.

Local news on this date

July 11, 1951

A store and apartment building owned by Angelo Erculiani on Tunnel Hill Street in Gallitzin was completely destroyed by fire this morning. Fire companies from Gallitzin, Cresson, Canan Station and Lakemont battled the blaze. No injuries were reported. The Erculiani family was famous for its restaurant, also located on Tunnel Hill Street.

July 11, 1976

The Altoona Redevelopment Authority gave permission for the Juniata Locomotive Shop Federal Credit Union and the Allegheny Glass & Mirror Co. to construct new buildings on Paracel 25, which was under the Seventh Street Bridge at 10th Avenue.

July 11, 2001

Blair County Judges Thomas Peoples, Jolene Kopriva, Hiram Carpenter and Norma Callan swore in 10 people as new American citizens. The countries of Syria, Brazil, Poland, China, India and Taiwan were represented.

July 11, 2016

Altoona City Manager Maria Marcinko said that City Council may soon pass an ordinance regulating transient businesses because of complaints about door-to-door solicitations and even setups on area roadways like Plank Road. A current ordinance lacked enforcement authority.

July 12, 1951

The Pennsylvania General Authority awarded $2,583,265 to the Hollidaysburg State Mental Hospital for the construction of two additional buildings, one a residence and one for food service, of which the hospital must feed 1,800 patients a day. The Navarro Corp. of Pittsburgh was the general contractor.

Stephen A. Adler, registrar at the Altoona Center of the Pennsylvania State College, announced that the new 40-week television repair and maintenance training course at the campus had been delayed until July 16 in order for military veterans to obtain their letters of eligibility. A total of 125 students were registered there overall, an increase of 35 more than the previous year.

July 12, 1976

The Social Security Administration announced that the next SS raise would be 6.2 percent and that the total amount of checks Blair County residents would receive for the year would total $38.7 million. Nationwide the total was $5.3 billion. Congress had tied the raises to the cost of living index.

The Blair County Easter Seal Society announced that a Hank Williams Country Music Show would be held July 23 at the Roosevelt Junior High School auditorium featuring Williams’ expert Jim Owen. The show would end with a question and answer program about Hank’s life, not hiding his drinking and other personal problems.

July 12, 2001

U.S. Rep. John Murtha and U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster were co-sponsors of a bill that would create a Constitutional amendment protecting the American flag from vandalism. The American Civil Liberties Union opposed the bill as violating free speech.

The PennDOT District 9 headquarters in Hollidaysburg won the 2001 Governor’s Award for Watershed Stewardship, the award presented by PA Governor Tom Ridge, one of 25 winners in the state. District 9 created a group called the Louie Beach Wetland Team and New Enterprise Stone & Lime and PA Turnpike Commission assisted District 9.

July 12, 2016

The Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art at St. Francis College was holding its 38th “Birthday Bash” and 40th anniversary celebration. The Flood City Brass Band was performing, both silent and live auctions held, with fine art like Helen Gorsuch sculptures to be auctioned. Van transportation from Altoona, Johnstown and Ligonier provided. Tickets were $125.

Alyssa Reed, a student at Central High School in Martinsburg, Miss Beauty, Brains and Heart Teen 2016-17, was awarded the Bronze Level President’s Volunteer Service Award for from 50 to 74 service hours in 12 months. She had also previously won the Gold and Silver Awards. Jackie and daughter Typhani Russo were in charge of the B.B.H. Teen Pageant.

National, world news on this date

July 11

In 1798, the U.S. Marine Corps was formally reestablished by a congressional act that also created the U.S. Marine Band.

In 1859, Big Ben, the great bell inside the famous London clock tower, chimed for the first time.

In 1914, Babe Ruth made his Major League baseball debut, pitching the Boston Red Sox to a 4-3 victory over Cleveland.

In 1972, the World Chess Championship opened as grandmasters Bobby Fischer of the United States and defending champion Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union began play in Reykjavik, Iceland. (Fischer won after 21 games.)

July 12

In 1543, England’s King Henry VIII married his sixth and final wife, Catherine Parr.

In 1862, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln signed a bill authorizing the Army Medal of Honor.

In 1962, the Rolling Stones played their first show, at the Marquee Club in London.

In 1979, as an angry reaction to the popularity of disco music, the Chicago White Sox held the “Disco Demolition Night” promotion, in which a crate of disco records was blown up on the field between games of a doubleheader; the ensuing riot and damage to the field caused the White Sox to forfeit the second game.

Local news compiled by Tim Doyle. National, world news from The Associated Press.