Festa Italiana shines through the rain in New Kensington

Everybody is Italian, and everybody is family at Festa Italiana at Mount St. Peter Roman Catholic Church in New Kensington.

That’s what parishioner Donna Muto of Arnold said at its kickoff Friday evening.

“It’s nice to see people coming out after covid, everybody being here,” Muto said. She was among the dozens of volunteers who helped prepare foods such as 3,000 meatballs and untold amounts of lasagna for the festival.

“We made meatballs last week and lasagnas Thursday and Friday; I forgot how many trays,” Muto said. “I’m a parishioner, and I just like helping out at my church and doing everything helping with the parish. The only thing I wish was Mother Nature would have been better.”

The festa, not held since 2019, was replaced by drive-thru lasagna dinners and virtual basket raffles in 2020 and 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The event was going to happen rain or shine. Unfortunately, there was a lot of rain on opening day. So much so that the National Weather Service issued several flash flood warnings for Western Pennsylvania.

“(Things are) crazy with the rain, but we’re doing well,” said Gina Abdallah, parishioner in charge of the dessert tent. “Everybody loves the cannoli, and they can’t wait to get them. I love working with these people. Father Roselo (Melloria) is new to the parish. He jumped right in (to help me). These women come back every year to help.

“It means the world to me. It’s a great group of people. We just talked this morning how we are a family. We work together. We’ve been here since 7 o’clock this morning working, and it’s great. You don’t even feel tired.”

The festival also featured lasagna, sausage, pizza, pasta and a plethora of baked goods. There were games of chance and an inflatable basketball game for the kids.

Nearly 70 raffle baskets were donated to the church. Items included artwork, electronics, books, gift cards, lottery tickets, adult beverages, car and kitchen supplies as well as various pet products.

Basket raffle coordinator Maryellen Schroeder said proceeds help the parish’s outreach programs. It took several months to gather all the gifts.

“We don’t have any particular goal,” Schroeder said about the fundraising. “We just look at it all as a blessing (and) whatever works out. People are so generous and so creative. I’ve been very impressed. (The festival) is a wonderful way for people to get together and have some food, fellowship and faith.”

Gail Becker of Penn Hills was one of the many patrons who bought raffle tickets.

She said it was her and her husband Carl’s fifth year at the festival.

“The baskets are just awesome,” she said. “We come every year. I’m Italian and we were both born and raised in Bloomfield. There’s a lot of nice things for the house, but at my age you have most of all that stuff. I’m going for the money and the gift cards. Gift cards you can always use.

“Even though I don’t belong here, I still like to support the churches. I was born and raised a Catholic and I know how hard it is with the money situation. Especially today — with all the churches merging.”

The baskets and most of the main dishes are inside the church. Games, crafts and pizza are outside in tents.

Some guests wore T-shirts that read “Proud to be Italian” and “Legalize Marinara.”

Julia Morrow of New Kensington and her boyfriend, Lucas Herman of Lower Burrell, enjoyed some pizza and fried dough with family.

“My family’s in town visiting, so we figured this was a good thing to come and do it with everybody,” Morrow said. “We have an umbrella, so it’s not so bad.”

Cathy Collett, parishioner and principal of Mount St. Peter School since 2002, said she was delighted to be back at the festival after a pandemic hiatus.

“It’s great to be back and seeing people again one-on-one,” she said. “Making new friends and seeing some of the ones you know from church and from school. It’s a nice experience.”