Bananas are delicious when sliced into a fruit salad, dipped in chocolate and frozen or blended into a cream pie. Yet banana connoisseurs may argue the peel-able yellow fruit is best when topped with ice cream and slathered with sweet sauces and whipped cream.
The creation of the banana split 120 years ago is one of Latrobe’s claims to fame, and the Westmoreland County city is once again preparing to celebrate the popular dessert.
The Robindale Great American Banana Split Celebration returns on Aug. 24-25, when downtown Latrobe will be filled with a salute to all things banana as participants enjoy children’s activities, music, an appearance by the Big Banana Car and more.
A 5K Banana Run has proven a hit over the years, with contestants encouraged to don yellow running gear or dress in banana-themed costumes. The Banana Split Princess and her court will once again appear at various activities throughout the weekend. And a cornhole tournament is also planned.
“It’s gotten so popular,” said Briana Tomack, president/CEO of Greater Latrobe-Laurel Valley Chamber of Commerce, the celebration host. “There are a lot of fun activities.”
Sweet history
According to the festival’s website, Latrobe drugstore soda jerk David Strickler invented the fruity, creamy concoction in 1904, creating a hit with Saint Vincent College students.
One hundred years later, “Ice-Cream Joe” Greubel, late president of Valley Dairy Restaurants, and the University of Pittsburgh came up with “From Pitt Came the Split,” to celebrate a century of the split’s gooey goodness.
And in 2013, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission unveiled a marker at the former site of Tassel’s Pharmacy, where Strickler first dreamed up the banana split.
The 11th annual event celebrates the area’s people and history, Tomack said, from the banana split to native sons Fred Rogers and Arnold Palmer.
“All things that make the area unique and special,” Tomack said.
Some events are repeats, while others are new this year.
Steve Braithwaite will bring his Big Banana Car, a bright yellow fruit-shaped vehicle he fashioned from a 1993 Ford F-150 pickup truck.
The car is a popular celebration “get,” Tomack said, and last appeared in Latrobe in 2019. “Every year I call him and ask him to come back.”
Returning this year, after a few years’ hiatus, is the Great American Banana Baking Contest. The competition is focused on scratch-made recipes that contain banana as an ingredient. The contest is open in three categories: individual, commercial and kids (under 12).
“People ask for it. I think people are pretty creative,” Tomack said.
New this year is the Great American Banana Challenge.
In the past, the celebration has included a banana cream pie eating contest, but organizers decided to “change it up” this year, she said.
Acknowledging Dole Food Co.’s own celebration of its 125th “banana-versary,” the contest asks: “How many bananas can you eat in 125 seconds?”
The winner will be awarded a replica belt designed by sponsor Wildcat Championship Belts.
Bananas for belts
Andrew Lazarchik created the winning belts for past banana cream pie eating contests.
He founded his business from his Latrobe home in 2005. In the years since, his belts have been worn by everyone from champions of World Wrestling Entertainment to participants in Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest and Pittsburgh’s champion documentary filmmaker, Rick Sebak.
“I’ve always been a big wrestling fan. Everyone knew me as the kid who was into wrestling,” Lazarchik said.
When he was a child, an aunt worked at a bank and brought him dot-matrix paper, which he used to create his first belts to fit his 10-year-old waist. He eventually moved on to using roofing rubber and aluminum siding material, sanding it down and engraving it.
There’s a bit of history and nostalgia in his designing belts for the Latrobe celebration.
“My dad [the late Thomas Lazarchik] was a pharmacist and owned Strickler’s Drugstore, where the banana split originated,” he said.
Lazarchik said his father along with Joe Greubel, Valley Dairy and Don Orlando, Saint Vincent’s longtime public relations director, helped to keep the story of the banana split alive through the years.
“They are all gone now,” he said. “It’s up to us to keep it alive.”
Serving up splits
According to Valley Dairy Restaurants, one of the celebration’s sponsors, the event will include daily production of approximately 1,000 banana splits.
The $8 combo of fruit and ice cream will be made in assembly line fashion by restaurant employees in front of their wide-eyed consumers, said Alex Blystone, the regional restaurant chain’s district manager.
“It’s kind of neat to watch,” he added.
The banana split is considered a signature dessert for the restaurant, which has 13 locations across Western Pennsylvania.
“You can get a banana split at lots of other places, but Valley Dairy does it the original way, back when it was invented in 1904,” said Blystone.
That means a split banana with one scoop each of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream, each topped with one of crushed pineapple, chocolate sauce and strawberries respectively. It’s completed with a spritz of whipped cream, crushed peanuts, two cherries and an American flag.
“We have a great partnership with the (Greater Latrobe-Laurel Valley) Chamber of Commerce and are happy to be part of the (celebration) every year,” Blystone said.
“It’s really a nice event for us,” he continued. “The employees really enjoy working it and getting outside.”
The Great American Banana Split Celebration runs from 10 a.m.- 8 p.m. Aug. 24 and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Aug. 25 at various locations in downtown Latrobe. More details are available at bananasplitfest.com.
Mary Pickels is a Pittsburgh freelance writer.
First Published: August 19, 2024, 9:30 a.m.
Updated: August 19, 2024, 2:50 p.m.
