McKEES ROCKS, Pennsylvania — At the freshly renovated Roxian Theatre along Chartiers Avenue in a struggling river town, Loren Stephenson said she and her fiance, 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.

Stephenson, a Duquesne University professor, said she came to see Musk speak because she respects his brilliance as an entrepreneur and innovator.

“I love his ideas about our safety, less government spending, talking about purpose and getting the country back on track,” she said.

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

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

“I don’t go one way or the other. I take things issue by issue,” she said, something that initially led her to vote for former President Donald Trump.

“How many people do we, any of us, really agree with wholeheartedly 100%? So we all have things we agree and disagree (with). Both sides of the fence. But overall, the policies and the things that I feel line up with him,” she said of Trump.

Behind Stephenson and her fiance in line were Brian Bliss and his wife, Lori Bliss, of Ross Township in the North Hills suburb of Pittsburgh. When asked if they had hopes of winning the million-dollar reward Musk was giving away at the event, they had no idea that was a thing.

“I never even heard that,” said Brian Bliss, his wife nodding in agreement. “We are just interested in hearing Musk speak.”

Last week, Musk, for the second event in a row, gave away a million dollars to a Pennsylvanian, something he has pledged to do every day until Nov. 5. The money is awarded to registered voters in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin and North Carolina who have signed the America PAC petition supporting the Constitution.

The choice of venue for Musk’s Pennsylvania visit was meaningful for those in the area because place matters, particularly a place such as the Roxian, which has sat neglected for decades, unused — yet looking to be useful again and a part of something bigger than self. These sentiments are common in areas outside of the super wealthy and powerful ZIP codes of New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and Silicon Valley.

The Roxian was off a step when it was built as an elaborate vaudeville venue in 1929 because, even then, the comical genre was already fading in popularity as movies began to replace live shows. So it became a movie theater and lasted as long as the prosperity of McKees Rocks did before closing in 1979 when much of the middle-class population fled to the suburbs.

The venue then had a couple of other lives as a banquet hall before closing and sitting shuttered for nearly 20 years. Just a couple of years ago, thanks to a developer, it came back to life as a venue for live music and comedians with the goal of bringing new life to “the Rocks,” a local nickname for the town that hugs the Ohio River.

On Oct. 20, there was plenty of life as thousands of young and not-so-young people clamored to see Musk live onstage. The CEO talked about the importance of preserving the First and Second amendments, exercising the right to vote, and striving for a purpose-filled life and innovation.

Musk, standing with a Terrible Towel (a Pittsburgh Steeler tradition) slung over his shoulder after waving it when he took the stage, addressed the matter of indifference toward politics among people who feel unheard and without representation in Washington.

“We have an issue of apathy,” he said. “Some people think their vote doesn’t count, and for whatever reason, they have not registered to vote. It’s important to get out there and explain the importance of this election and how democracy is on the line.”

Musk, the innovative and entrepreneurial 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 giant pair of mechanical arms on its return to the launch pad, began a swing across Pennsylvania earlier this month. The itinerary included stops in Folsom, suburban Philadelphia, Harrisburg and western Pennsylvania.

Each in-person event was held in small venues, drew thousands and required attendees to register to vote and sign to pledge their support for the First and Second amendments. Oct. 21 was the last day to register to vote in Pennsylvania and also the last day to sign up for the petition. The event was sponsored by Musk’s America PAC and focused on getting people to register to vote and then to actually cast ballots.

The events were also livestreamed on X, clocking in millions of views.

Most of the people heading into the event, such as the Bliss family, weren’t even aware of the million-dollar sweepstakes.

Kristine Fishell was Oct. 20’s winner. She smiled broadly at the announcement, raised the check over her head when she took the stage, and thanked Musk profusely.

“Thank you so much. I truly believe in everything you’re doing. You don’t need to be doing it,” Fishell told him.

For anyone from around western Pennsylvania, to see the main thoroughfare of McKees Rocks’ business district bustling on a Sunday or any given day was a sight to behold. Similar to so many river towns in this region, such as Braddock, Aliquippa, Duquesne and Monessen, the town’s prosperity peaked from the turn of the 20th century on the backs of immigrants from Poland, Germany and Italy and lasted well past the end of World War II. It later declined rapidly, thanks to automation and other economic and policy changes.

In the once-bustling social clubs that were deeply committed to making their town better, memberships started to die off, as did the adult softball teams often sponsored by local bars and restaurants. The churches emptied, then closed, and Chartiers Avenue saw business after business shut down as manufacturing declined, despair and crime grew, and people left for opportunity and stability.

Borough President Archie Brinza told the local NBC affiliate, WPXI, this spring that, on the question of crime, “Twenty years ago when you asked the question, I would say I’m proud to be from McKees Rocks. A lot of people now would answer that differently.”

Locals who watched the hundreds of people lined up to see Musk said they were thrilled to see their town viewed in a positive light.

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

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

“You cannot run a business like Tesla or SpaceX without the best plumbers, HVAC workers, carpenters, and welders to make your business work. It shows that he sees us and values us by calling out our skills by name,” said one woman, whose son is a welder in the energy industry, as she left the event.

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