The gateway to Latrobe, cradle to a host of indelible American icons, will be bracketed by ceremonies dedicated to celebrating two of its most beloved emissaries: Arnold and Winnie Palmer.
On Sunday, the Winnie Palmer Nature Reserve on the northern side of U.S. Route 30 and S.R. 981, officially opens to the public, and on Monday directly across the busy highway at the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport, a statue will be unveiled honoring the airport’s namesake on the day of his 78th birthday.
The statue of Palmer, strikingly similar to one gracing the grounds at Augusta National where Palmer won four Masters championships, is the work of renown, award-winning sculptor Zenos Frudakis, the creator of the Augusta piece. A public dedication ceremony, to be attended by Palmer, will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday.
The statue is positioned in front of the main terminal at the former Westmoreland County Airport where Palmer, a world-record setting aviator, learned to fly. From their mutual humble beginnings, both the golfer and the airport have thrived, and the airport was re-named for Palmer in 1999 on his 70th birthday.
Palmer’s renown would be secure if he’d never even set foot on a golf course. He’s a world-record setting aviator who in 1976 helped circumnavigated the world in a Lear 36 business jet in just 57 hours, 25 minutes and 42 seconds. Writing about the record, Time magazine said, “Considering the water hazards and long pars, the 46-year-old Palmer didn't do a bad job. He was 77 1/2 days ahead of Phineas Fogg.”
The Palmer Airport, too, is soaring in other ways. With free parking, it is becoming a regional departure hotspot for savvy western Pennsylvania commuters looking for easy access to national hubs. The Airport enjoys updated terminal facilities and fine dining and banquet facilities overlooking the newly extended 8,224-foot-long runway. Northwest is the airport’s premier airline, and regular charters to Orlando, Nevada and Atlantic City are available.
And as of Sept. 10, all commuters entering the terminal will be greeted by the 7-foot tall, 250-pound statue of the airport’s most familiar pilot. As impressive as it is, the statue will be dwarfed in scope by the spacious 50-acre monument just across the highway.
According to a commemorative book about the project, The Winnie Palmer Nature Preserve is “what happens when everybody’s best intentions are allowed to harmonically triumph. It’s something to think about the next time you allow yourself to luxuriate in a place of peace, education and inspiration that was allowed to flourish naturally, all because a group of people agreed that real community progress doesn’t always have have to start with pavement.”
The majestic Preserve is a natural playground of orchards, wildflowers, birds, frogs and other native delights. It came about after the late Winnie Palmer worked with activists, corporations and environmentalists to ensure that the scenic parcel of land framing St. Vincent College would not fall to developers’ bulldozers.
With a restored hallmark barn as the centerpiece of the property, the acreage is a wonderland of serenity for hikers, bird watchers or anyone seeking to engage the elements. The land will also serve as a living laboratory for the St. Vincent College Environmental Education Center.
Combined, the two Palmer projects give added heft to the notion that Latrobe is on the verge of becoming a tourist destination for those eager to enjoy the splendors of the Laurel Highlands.
Besides Arnold Palmer, Latrobe is the birthplace of the first banana split and the first professional football game. In addition, you need to fly into Arnold Palmer’s airport if you ever want to visit Mr. Rogers’s Neighborhood. Palmer and the late Fred Rogers, the beloved children’s TV show host, were Latrobe High School classmates. And St. Vincent College is the summer home of the five-time Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers, and the site of the soon-to-be-open Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media.
Winter sports are enjoyed at nearby ski resorts, and golfers from around the world are making reservations to fly into the Palmer Airport to enjoy rounds of golf at Latrobe Country Club, now available for pre-arranged public play upon the discretion of the club’s pro shop. National golf magazines have featured the club and its five finely-appointed guest houses as a great destination for lovers of golf and all things Arnie.