McKEES ROCKS, Pa. — At the freshly renovated Roxian Theater along Chartiers Avenue in a struggling river town, Loren Stephenson said she and her fiancé, Alex Ames, had been standing at the front of the line since 8 a.m. to hear billionaire Elon Musk speak at 2 p.m.

As a professor at Duquesne University, Ms. Stephenson said she came to see Mr. Musk speak because she respected his genius as an entrepreneur and innovator.

“I love his ideas about keeping us safe, cutting government spending, talking about purpose and getting the country back on track,” she said.

The Pittsburgh native held a homemade sign declaring she was an independent voter.

“I have been for over 20 years,” Ms. Stephenson said of her voting history and affiliation.

“I’m not going one way or the other. I take things question by question,” she said, which initially led her to vote for President Trump.

“How many people do we, each of us, really agree 100% with? So we all have things that we agree with and disagree with. Both sides of the fence. But overall, the policies and things that I think fit with him,” she said of Trump.

Behind Ms. Stephenson and her fiancé were Brian Bliss and his wife, Lori Bliss, of Ross Township, in the Pittsburgh suburb of North Hills. When asked if they hoped to win the $1 million reward Mr. Musk was offering at the event, they had no idea it was a thing.

“I’ve never even heard that,” Brian Bliss said, his wife nodding in agreement. “We just want to hear Musk speak.”

Last week, for the second time in a row, Mr. Musk gifted $1 million to a Pennsylvanian, something he pledged to do every day until November 5. The money is going to registered voters in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin and North Carolina who signed the America PAC petition in support of the Constitution.

The choice of location for Mr. Musk’s Pennsylvania visit was meaningful to area residents because place matters, especially a place like the Roxian, which has sat neglected for decades, unused — but seeking to to be useful again and to be part of something bigger. than yourself. These feelings are common in areas outside the super-rich and powerful zip codes of New York, Washington, DC, Los Angeles, and Silicon Valley.

The Roxian was in decline when it was built as an elaborate vaudeville hall in 1929, because, even then, the comedy genre was already losing popularity as films began to replace live performances. So it became a movie theater and lasted as long as McKees Rocks prospered before closing in 1979, when much of the middle-class population fled to the suburbs.

The venue then had several other lives as a banquet hall before closing its doors and remaining closed for almost 20 years. Just a few years ago, thanks to a developer, it was revived as a venue for live music and comedians with the aim of breathing new life into “The Rocks”, the local nickname for the town along the river Ohio.

On October 20, there was a lot of life as thousands of young and old clamored to see Mr. Musk on stage. The CEO spoke about the importance of preserving the First and Second Amendments, exercising the right to vote, and fighting for a life of meaning and innovation.

Mr. Musk, standing with a terrible towel — a Pittsburgh Steelers tradition — slung over his shoulder after waving it as he took the stage, addressed the issue of indifference toward politics among people who feel ignored and unrepresented in Washington.

“We have a problem with apathy,” he said. “Some people think their vote doesn’t count and for whatever reason they haven’t registered to vote. It is important to go there and explain the importance of these elections and how democracy is at stake.”

Mr. Musk, innovative and enterprising owner of companies such as Tesla and SpaceX, whose Starship rocket just made history recently when the lower half of it was captured by a pair of giant mechanical arms at its back on the launch pad, began a turn across Pennsylvania earlier this month. The route included stops in Folsom, suburban Philadelphia, Harrisburg and western Pennsylvania.

Each in-person event took place in small venues, drew thousands of people, and required attendees to register to vote and sign to pledge support for the First and Second Amendments. October 21 was the last day to register to vote in Pennsylvania and also the last day to register for the petition. The event was sponsored by Mr. Musk’s America PAC and aimed to encourage people to register to vote and then vote.

The events were also broadcast live on X, racking up millions of views.

Most people at the event, like the Bliss family, didn’t even know about the $1 million drawing.

Kristine Fishell was the October 20 winner. She smiled broadly at the announcement, raised the check above her head when she took the stage and thanked Mr. Musk profusely.

“Thank you so much. I really believe in everything you do. You don’t need to,” Ms. Fishell told him.

For anyone coming from western Pennsylvania, seeing the main drag of the McKees Rocks business district bustling on a Sunday or any day was a sight to behold. Similar to many river towns in this region, such as Braddock, Aliquippa, Duquesne, and Monessen, the town’s prosperity reached its peak at the turn of the 20th century thanks to immigrants from Poland, Germany, and Italy and lasted well beyond the end. of the Second World War. It then declined rapidly, thanks to automation and other economic and political changes.

In once-vibrant social clubs deeply committed to making their cities better, memberships began to disappear, as did the adult softball teams often sponsored by local bars and restaurants. Churches emptied, then closed, and Chartiers Avenue saw one business closure after another as manufacturing declined, desperation and crime increased, and people left in search of opportunities and stability.

Borough President Archie Brinza told local NBC affiliate WPXI this spring that, on the issue of crime, “20 years ago when you asked the question, I would say I am proud to be from McKees Rocks. Many people would answer this question differently today.

Residents who saw the hundreds of people lining up to see Mr. Musk said they were pleased to see their city seen in a positive light.

On October 18, Mr. Musk made a very important point for Harrisburg voters who have found their skills and purpose outside the world of college campuses and found their way working with their hands and intellect.

“I think the value of a college education is somewhat overrated,” he said. “Too many people spend four years, accumulate a ton of debt, and often don’t have valuable skills they can apply later. I have a lot of respect for people who work with their hands, and we need electricians and plumbers and carpenters, and that’s way more important than having progressive majors in political science. I think we shouldn’t have this idea that to be successful you need a four-year college degree.

“You can’t run a company like Tesla or SpaceX without the best plumbers, HVAC, carpenters and welders to run your business. It shows that he sees us and values ​​us by calling our skills by name,” said a woman whose son is a welder in the energy sector, as she left the event.

Creators.com