Anyone can sit on a stool and beat the hell out of the drums. But can they deliver a message? Playing the drums is like having a conversation with a friend. If he’s paying attention to what you’re saying, he’ll get the message. If he’s not, it will go over his head. View The Gallery >

In a time filled with “end of eras,” Thursday afternoon was just a minor blip on the scale. But for people in the New Kensington area with shoes that need to be fixed, it was a major event. Gene Montemurro, savior of worn shoes, closed his Gene’s Shoe Repair on Fifth Avenue and retired after 66 years. View The Gallery >

“It’s where ballerinas are born,” says Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre principal Julia Erickson about “The Nutcracker.” It’s a proving ground where core members get the opportunity to dance solos in hopes they might be elevated to soloist or principal. Danielle Downey, a member of the core, remembers seeing “The Nutcracker” performed by the Lake Erie Ballet when she was 6 years old. “I wanted to be on stage.” View The Gallery >

“I went down to the sa­cred store, where I’d heard the mu­sic years be­fore….” as one of the lines reads in Don McLean’s “Amer­i­can Pie.” To many young peo­ple, the “sa­cred store” has to be ex­plained, but to most peo­ple who grew up in the 20th cen­tury, it was a com­mon place, the neigh­bor­hood record store, where peo­ple went to hear mu­sic, buy mu­sic and talk about mu­sic. View The Gallery >

Penn­syl­va­nia Trol­ley Mu­seum in Chart­iers, Wash­ing­ton County, houses early 20th cen­tury pub­lic trans­por­ta­tion that need tender lov­ing care. View The Gallery >

On a Sun­day af­ter­noon in a Mt. Leb­a­non base­ment, One Direc­tion’s “What Makes You Beau­ti­ful” is blar­ing across a wooden dance floor as cou­ples line up to “loosen up.” “Let’s go!” shouts Mr. B. View The Gallery >

On an un­sea­son­ably warm No­vem­ber morn­ing, Lucy Tut­tle-Smith steps into a small mo­tor­boat to head out on the Al­le­gheny River to coach a group of in­ter­me­di­ate and ad­vanced row­ers from the Steel City Row­ing Club. View The Gallery >