Mangiare: Mt. St. Peter's Festa begins in New Kensington

The layout may have changed, but the food and fellowship remains the same at the annual Mt. St. Peter Parish Festa Italiana in New Kensington.

Hundreds of people packed parish grounds Friday for the opening of the two-day festival. The Festa continues 4 to 9 p.m. Saturday.

Attendees included newcomers John Granado and Rita Sugajski. The Harrison couple recently got engaged and wanted to try some of the renowned lasagna and play some games.

“I found it online and say, ‘Hey. Let’s check it out,’ ” Granado said. “More churches should do more festivals because it’s a gathering of the people to get together to meet each other, and meet new friends and meet knew people out of their homes and do something besides sitting around.”

Granado ended up winning a stuffed animal for his granddaughter, Emily Granado, who celebrates her seventh birthday Saturday.

All seating was moved outdoors this year. The basket raffle was moved from the school to inside Marble Hall, where most of the food was served.

Organizers also brought cannoli and desserts inside. Lasagna and meatballs were prepacked to help lines keep moving.

New Kensington Mayor Tom Guzzo commended the parishioners on the new layout and said the lasagna is always outstanding.

“This is the church I grew up in,” he said. “The people who come here give their time, all their efforts. It’s a wonderful way to bring all people together.

“It’s interesting. So far, outside, everybody’s happy with it. There aren’t too many complaints, which is good. It’s a different atmosphere because everybody’s is outside eating now. In year’s past you would have some people in here, some people out there. This way everybody’s together out there. It’s a nice thing.”

Parishioner Kellie Abbott has volunteered at the festival the past 20 years. This is her first as head of Marble Hall coordinating about 50 other volunteers.

“Everything is a learning experience,” she said. “We’re trying something new this year. We’ve prepackaged some of the foods so it was already portioned, which enabled people to go through the line a little quicker. That seems to be going really well.”

Two food lines were consolidated down to one as the event went on and items began to sell out.

The changes really helped with efficiency as pizza, polenta and sausage sandwiches were gone within the opening hour.

A majority of the food is handmade. Most of the ingredients for the event have been provided by Golden Dawn, Restaurant Depot and Nappies Food Service.

The volunteers down the food line to the ticket booths to the dishwashers in the back were in good spirits.

Abbott said everyone does their part to make the festival fun for everyone.

“A huge part of our Catholic faith is to spread the good word,” Abbott said. “The Festa allows us to share hospitality not just for our parishioners, but the community at large. The Festa is such an amazing way to be able to show in action your faith. It’s truly a labor of love by the parishioners of our parish.”

Bingo was brought back by popular demand. Numbers were called by St. Joseph graduate Nicholas Brown, who has been a part of the church for years.

Other games included basketball and pink pig races.

Ty Smith of New Kensington watched as his daughter, Evelyn, 5, won the racing game twice. She took home a prize and let her younger brother, Rhett, 2, pick a prize.

Their mother, Angela Smith, and the latest addition to the family, 3-month-old Tallulah, were also at the Festa.

“We went to the festival last year, and we have friends that come to this church,” Ty Smith said. “We decided to bring the kids out and have a good time.

“It does look like there are a little bit more people (here this year). It’s a nice community event. It’s oriented toward the kids. They have the games here and it’s nice to let the kids go and don’t have to worry about what they’re doing. Just be out here and have a good time and relax.”

There are second- and third-generation volunteers at the festival.

Parishioner Rosalyn Sawl of New Kensington shared a moment with visitors Anna Alfera, 26, of New Kensington and Georgee DeSocio, 28, of Lower Burrell. They are friends of Sawl’s daughter, Alyssa.

Rosalyn Sawl has volunteered the past eight years.

“I like the people. It’s nice to see members of the church. It’s nice to see members of the community,” Sawl said.

Alfera and DeSocio recalled coming to the festival since they were teens. They said they always get the spaghetti and meatballs and some fried dough.

“We love the food (and) seeing people,” DeSocio said.