Dig in With Graver: It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood for Chipped Ham Pizza

PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

Take your kids to meet Mister Rogers this weekend.

On Oct. 3, “It’s a Beautiful Day to Be You: Inspired by Mister Rogers, Daniel Tiger & Donkey Hodie” debuts at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh on the North Side. It says goodbye on Jan. 3, 2027 and will visit other cities across the country.

PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

Created in partnership with Fred Rogers Productions, the interactive exhibit “helps children explore what it means to be kind, curious, persistent, creative, collaborative and brave through play and discovery.”

In other words, it teaches them how to be like Mister Rogers.

PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

Explore familiar locations from “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood” and “Donkey Hodie,” current PBS Kids’ shows that use animation, puppetry and other modern production techniques to inspire a new generation.

In a single afternoon, children can plant a garden, blast off in a spaceship, spin vinyl records, dance, sing, try on a red cardigan and travel through Trolley’s magical tunnel that connects the Neighborhood of Make-Believe and Someplace Else. (It reminds me of the tunnel inside Super Savers Cinemas at Northway Mall circa 1988.)

PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

Grand opening weekend starts with a ribbon-pulling ceremony at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday with costume character appearances by Daniel Tiger from 11 a.m. to noon and 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Sunday. Other activities include real trolley rides and arts and crafts.

The installation is located on the first floor’s traveling exhibit gallery. It’s open Oct. 10 and 21, Nov. 14 and 18 and Dec. 12 and 16.

Pittsburghers of a certain age will squeal with nostalgic glee when they spot love-worn puppets Daniel Striped Tiger and Donkey Hodie from “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” on display.

PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

It’s good for the soul to see old friends, even if they are made of felt.

There’s also a lovely collection of LIFE Magazine photographs by Lynn Johnson. The images, taken in Studio A at WQED over a 20-year period, capture what was special about “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” — and how watching the show made young viewers feel special.

PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

Rick Sebak gave me a tour of that studio last spring and I was barely able to contain my inner child.

The Children’s Museum often showcases the Neighborhood. My daughter, who turned 17 a week ago, is seen here meeting X the Owl in 2012.

PHOTO COURTESY OF KRISTY GRAVER

I’m proud to know that all of this positivity started in Pittsburgh.

Since this is also the first weekend of National Pizza Month, you can keep the hometown vibes flowing like the three rivers by ordering a yinzer pie.

The Grandma Isaly’s Pizza, a collaboration between Caliente Pizza & Draft House and Isaly’s, is a quick-bake dough topped with American cheese, chipped ham marinated in barbecue sauce, Pittsburgh Pickle Co. pickles, onions, mozzarella, provolone and cheddar.

If you stop at the Bloomfield location for lunch, burn off the calories at Allegheny Cemetery by searching for the final resting place of Don Brockett, who regularly appeared on “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” as “Chef Brockett.”

(He also makes a cameo in “The Silence of the Lambs,” which is funny since the song he sang on WQED included the line, “For it’s silence that I ask for in my kitchen.”

Same, Chef.

PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

Several years ago, on 412 Day, I made a chipped ham pizza in my kitchen. No word on if such an item will be offered when Isaly’s opens its new storefront in the Strip District.

Practice self-care and make one for yourself on Nov. 13, which is World Kindness Day and WQED’s Cardigan Day. It’s also Friday the 13th.

Don’t push your luck, yinz guys; be kind.