Share a Split

STORY BY Dayna Liberati DiRienzo

PHOTOS BY Herb Speer

Ice cream lovers of all ages are hanging on the rim of their bowls, waiting to see if the 2021 Great American Banana Split Celebration in Latrobe will be in person as usual or will go “electric” for the second year in a row. Latrobe is recognized as the site where the banana split sundae was first invented back in 1904, and the celebration has been honoring the confection since 2013.

In pre-pandemic years, the free festival—devoted to all things banana split and taking place over an entire weekend—would feature various entertainment acts on three different stages, as well as fun activities and street games for the whole family. The weekend also served to highlight some of Latrobe’s local luminaries, including Fred Rogers, Arnold Palmer, and the Pittsburgh Steelers, who hold their annual training camp at nearby St. Vincent University.

In 2020, the traditional celebration was canceled due to Covid-19, and the planning team—consisting of event director Isaac McDaniel, two student interns, and a host of volunteers—got to work. They organized The Electric Great American Banana Celebration, featuring an amazing lineup of prerecorded individual entertainment videos that could be viewed online.

“We asked past entertainers if they wanted to participate in the virtual event and imagined how we might translate some of our traditional activities to the streaming format, such as the Pie Eating Contest, activities, and vendor marketplace,” McDaniel says. Many past performers did participate, including western Pennsylvania’s own Joe Grushecky.

Held as a Facebook Live event on August 25 in

observation of National Banana Split Day, the electric celebration condensed the usual three-day festival to a six-hour, live-streaming extravaganza. The videos included musical and dance performances; arts and crafts presentations; local celebrity interviews; the banana cream pie-eating contest; the Banana Split Princess pageant; and recipe demonstrations for such desserts as fried Oreos, pudding pops, and, of course, the traditional banana split.

Because the annual 5K run had to be canceled, they held a virtual run instead. “Holding the virtual run allowed us to add 1-mile and 10K distances to complement our normal 5K,” McDaniel says. “Wewere very excited to have runners from many different states and even one from Australia!”

McDaniel says his team worked with a group called The Ice Screamers who helped them reach out to other ice cream shops around the country, asking them to shoot videos of their unique takes on how to make a banana split. “Those shops sent us a video talking about their creations that also got included in the day’s lineup,” he adds.

Whether the bananas at this year’s celebration will be virtual and in your kitchen or real and in Latrobe, it’s anyone’s guess. But visitors to Latrobe can stop any time to enjoy a variety of banana split sundaes served by Latrobe’s own Valley Dairy.

Find the latest updates on the Great American Banana Split Celebration at www.BananaSplitFest.com.

Valley Dairy is open every day 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.; www.ValleyDairy.net.

In 1904, David Evans Strickler was a 23-year-old apprentice pharmacist working the soda fountain at Tassell Pharmacy in Latrobe when he cut a banana in half lengthwise, topped it with ice cream, flavored syrups, nuts, whipped cream, and a cherry, and served it up for 10 cents. He began selling his invention, which he named the banana split sundae, to students at nearby St. Vincent College, who flocked to the store for it. Later he convinced the Westmoreland Glass Co. to manufacture the world’s first banana boats to serve it in.

Strickler graduated from the University of Pittsburgh’s pharmacy school in 1906. In 1913, “Doc” Strickler became a partner in and then sole proprietor of the pharmacy, eventually renaming it Strickler’s. Doc died in 1971, but the store remained open until 2000.

Although a restaurant in Wilmington, Ohio, also has claimed to have invented the banana split, records show that it first was produced there around 1907. The National Ice Cream Retailers Association has noted that Latrobe’s claim appears to be supported by stronger documentation, and Doc Strickler is generally credited as the top banana.

Meanwhile, in 1938, a Latrobearea entrepreneur named Joseph F. Greubel started a chain of local ice cream shops called the Valley Dairy Ice Cream Co. One of his shops was located just down the block from Strickler’s and began offering the all-American banana split on its menu, paying homage to Doc Strickler, who was one of Greubel’s heroes. Known as “Ice Cream Joe,” he served the Valley Dairy’s banana split with a small paper American flag to go with the cherries. He was followed in the business by his son, Joseph E. Greubel, and his granddaughter, Melissa Blystone, who now runs the company. Several generations of local teenagers got their first jobs at Valley Dairy stores throughout the area, and there are 12 stores in the region today—still serving the all-American banana split.

• 1 ripe banana

• 1 container Neapolitan ice cream

• 2 ounces crushed pineapple

• 2 ounces chocolate syrup

• 2 ounces strawberry topping

• Whipped cream

• Chopped mixed nuts

• 2 maraschino cherries

1. Split banana lengthwise and place the halves parallel in a banana split dish.

2. Place 1 scoop vanilla ice cream between the banana halves. To the left, place 1 scoop chocolate ice cream and, to the right, 1 scoop strawberry ice cream.

3. Top the vanilla ice cream with the crushed pineapple; drizzle the syrup over the chocolate ice cream; and add the strawberry topping on top of the strawberry ice cream. 4. Garnish between the scoops with whipped cream. 5. Sprinkle with chopped nuts and place two whole cherries on top. —

Excerpted from The Banana Split Book by Michael Turback