As a lifelong Mount Lebanon mom who loves to write, I try to contribute a story to the Lebo Beat each month. This month’s topic is a little more personal because it’s about my family and the small arts festival we host at the corner of Anawanda Avenue and Castle Shannon Boulevard.

The sixth annual Anawanda Arts Festival is set for Sunday, Sept. 13, and it’s shaping up to be our best yet. Free to the public, the festival features local artists selling handmade goods, live music, food, coffee, children’s crafts and more. While it may be small in size, its history and heart run deep — and it captures the spirit of growing up in Mount Lebanon.

My parents, Leonard and Kathleen Cefalo, moved to 447 Castle Shannon Blvd. in 1967 as newlyweds expecting their first child. They didn’t know much about Mount Lebanon, but they knew it was safe and walkable — important qualities when all they owned were a guitar and an umbrella stroller.

When my dad was offered his first “real” job at Cornwell Tool Co. — along with the opportunity to rent the adjacent second-floor apartment — the decision was easy. After raising three children and years of hard work, my parents eventually purchased both the tool company and the building.

Much has changed over the years, but one thing has remained constant: this little corner of the world means everything to my family.

For nearly six decades, three generations of the Cefalo family have lived in the same apartment and worked in the same building. I still remember riding up and down the tool aisles in my dad’s office chair, eating leftover Graham’s Bakery doughnuts with my Uncle Jim on Saturday mornings and learning to ride my bike in the parking lot.

My sister, Dana, later opened her music studio in the same room where she once lived, while a pottery business now occupies the living room where I still remember hearing my grandfather play his Kimball organ.

Then, in the summer of 2021, Dana and I started talking about how fun it would be to create a place where my daughter could sell her jewelry and handmade crafts. We shared the idea with a few local artists, and the response was overwhelming.

Before we knew it, we were organizing a neighborhood arts festival in the only place that felt right — the parking lot at the corner of Anawanda Avenue and Castle Shannon Boulevard.

Since its debut, the festival has continued to grow.

This year, 20 local vendors will offer fine art, pottery, jewelry, woodworking, stained glass, candles, soaps, clothing and vintage items. The festival also will showcase work by five Mount Lebanon High School AP art students: Clare Bigham, Joey Crago, Bridget Ely, Annie Wolfe and my daughter, Charlotte Moore.

Visitors also can enjoy henna art, food, Roaming Bean coffee and our newest vendor and live music sponsor, Arsenal Cider House.

Mount Lebanon musician Luke Williams will perform throughout the day alongside other local artists and host an open mic. With a little luck, my dad might even take the stage with the same guitar he carried into Mount Lebanon nearly 60 years ago.

We hope you’ll join us Sunday, Sept. 13, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and visit my family’s little corner of the world. Maybe you’ll even make a few memories of your own.