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65lisafestastanthonys_2026-06-05-07-44-00

And it's a tradition and a celebration of Italian pride that's been taking place for more than 50 years, and it's back this weekend with safety top of mind. Let's get right to new stuffs. Lisa La Rocca in her hometown of West Harrison this morning to tell us all about it. Looks like they're already getting things kind of set up there, Lisa. Oh yeah, it's quiet now, but let me tell you, this place is going to be packed come tonight. I'm so excited to be able to share this with you because I've been coming to the Saint Anthony and Padua Festus since I was a little girl. It's a beautiful tradition that we have here in West Harrison. Let me introduce you to the pastor of Saint Anthony of Padua Church, Father Tom Burns. Thanks so much for being with us this morning, Tom. Father Tom. So talk a little bit about. The fest, I mean this is just such a special event in our, our neighborhood. I haven't been to as many fests as you. I've only been here about 7 years since July, so, um, Prince is the biggest tradition that we've had here. It's over 55 years. Um, when I first got here in July of 2019, he was at the fest of the fest. I didn't even know what that was, so, uh, now I know what it is. So like you said before, it's gonna be filled with people about 11 hours from now packed just it's a real family event actually. I was talking to the um. President of the uh West Terrace and Volunteer Fire Department Carlo, he said, uh, it spoke of reunion. People generations, generations come back. That's what impressed me the most. It, it really is. I mean, you walk in and you know you take two steps in and you immediately see people you know. It's, you know, you see friends from school and, and like you said, it's generational too, which is really nice and it's all about the food for at this 100% later today. We'll see. We'll give you samples of what we're coming out here. People come for that. It's a, there's rain, rain, sun, rain, whatever they're coming for that food, and just, uh, you know, we're also, we're going to be here throughout the morning. We're talking also about safety. There's this, you know, unfortunate trend, this teen takeover, and so now with Festa and carnival season starting. Uh, you know, that has to be also on the minds and special planning as well, so we'll talk more about that, but I know you've been in touch with police, the mayor, so, uh, people need to know that it's safe to come, right? Absolutely, um, they've always been prepared, just maybe a little more heightened awareness of what to do, um, as unfortunate happened on IHM long ago, but. If anything, it's an example of faith, uh, the devil may have had his hour, but God has the day and the fact they stayed open, there was a great response. It was sad that a few officers had gotten injured and all, um, but they're still open. Things are still running. Um, that's all about it's a witness to faith really. All right, so stay with us. We're gonna be here at the festival like we said, we're gonna have some sampling of some of the great things to eat here, so don't go anywhere. We're in West Harrison, Westchester County at the festa. Let's go back to the studio. Oh, Lisa, thank you and hopefully.

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65stanthonyfeast_2026-06-05-06-27-39

And it's a tradition and celebration of Italian pride that's been taking place for more than 50 years, and it's back this weekend with safety top of mind. Lisa La Rocca is joining us in her hometown of West Harrison this morning to tell us all about it. Lisa, so happy to see you there this morning. I know, and I am so happy to be able to share this because I have so many wonderful childhood memories of the festa here at Saint Anthony's. I've been coming since I was 5 years old, probably, but I want to introduce you to somebody who has been involved probably from the very beginning. This is Arlene Viscomi. She's, you've been almost from the beginning, right? Oh yes, um, as you talked about your childhood memories, my childhood memories are the original festa, which was in our old church. The original church, which was on Columbus Avenue, and at that time the festa was actually out on the street on Columbus Avenue. They would put up booths in the Festa parking lot and then out on the street. So that's my childhood memory. And you know what, what's so great about this, so we, we talk, there were so many Italians who came over from Italy. They settled here in West Harrison, Silver Lake, and this was something that they brought over from Italy. This was a, uh, kind of a community thing and they. Wanted to bring it to their new home and that's how it kind of started exactly as I was talking to you about before my grandfather, my when my great grandfather came here they settled in West Harrison. I'm still here and uh no, no, it's too great, it's too great a town and my great grandfather came, settled here, and then my grandfather was involved. The original procession was walk through the streets. There were women carrying the statue on their shoulders. And so it goes way back. Well, but we have some new traditions happening here. So let me introduce you to Isabella. She is, uh, the head of the youth ministry here at Saint Anthony of Padua Church. So excited that you can be here, and we have a your little friend, a unicorn too, who's just about to graduate from Harrison High School. By the way, congratulations. So talk a little bit about what you're bringing to this because we're talking about tradition. the food, but you're kind of bringing some new things. Yeah, yeah, so I'm a super, super new face and sometimes that could be viewed as a bad thing, but as a young adult, especially now in this time of revival and faith, and I just felt such a tug from God to come back and to get involved and just help in any way I can and this community is truly a community and that's what God wants above all things, especially Saint Anthony, to find one another to come together and. To just dance, eat together, and in the best place possible right next to God's home. And, and that's what it's all about. It's gonna be, listen, it's gonna be a great time. We invite everybody. It kicks off tonight at 6 o'clock. We got lots more for you. We're gonna show you some samplings of what you get to Manja when you come here, so don't go anywhere. It is just, it's such a jewel of this community. We're in West Harrison of Westchester County. Let's go back to the studio.

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65anthonysfest8am_2026-06-05-08-24-08

It is a tradition and a celebration of Italian pride that's been taking place now for more than 50 years, and it's back this weekend with safety top of mind. Lisa LaRocca joins us now from her hometown of West Harrison to tell us all about it. Got a little company there, Lisa. I do. I am here. This is the heart and soul of the Saint Anthony's Italian festal right here. These are the nonas we're here with and some nonos in the back too, right? So you know, I, I'm so happy that I get to share this with you. Like I said, I've been going to this festa since I'm a little girl. What really makes it so special is that a lot of the food, take a look, is cooked home, home cooked. We have vendors that do Zeppelis, but a lot of the stuff is cooked by this group right here. How many, well, how many meatballs now? What'd you say? 3000, 3000 meatballs. So and all hand rolled, right? Yeah. So how, how long you've been cooking and getting ready? 2 weeks. 2 weeks. Wow, wow. So what else do we, we have, we have meatballs. We have what else? So. Shells nice, yep, and sausage and pepper. We get hot and sweet, right? OK, and the eggplant, the eggplant, which is delicious. Listen, the, I gotta say the eggplant is one of my favorites. That's what I, what I come for. But you know, that's, don't you think it's so special because you don't see a lot of, a lot of festivals where you actually have the people cooking homegrown. It's all homemade, homemade. Yeah, meatball, uh, homemade, uh, sausage and pepper, everything's homemade. Yes, that's why it tastes, it all tastes so good, right? And it's made with love too, yeah, made with a lot of love, a lot of love. So what, what's aside from love going into this, what are some of the other ingredients like what's the, give, give us some, uh, some tips on how to make Pecorino cheese, Pecorino cheese cheese, OK, um. Bread crumbs in the meatballs, parsley, garlic, and a little bit of milk, and we mix it together and it's wonderful and it comes out magic and eggs, right? All right, so listen, don't try to make, you're never gonna outcook these women, so just come and try it yourself. Such delicious stuff. Thank you so much, ladies for all the hard work that you do. You got, yep. Everybody's welcome. So stay with us. Coming up we're gonna have, uh, the Harrison mayor and police chief. We're gonna be talking about safety in the light of some unfortunate trends, these teen takeovers. Uh, that's something that a lot of these communities when they have festivals like this across the Hudson Valley now have to consider. So we're gonna be talking about safety coming up. But again, thank you so much, ladies. Good stuff. Come, come to the festive this weekend.

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News 12’s Lisa Larocca is in her hometown of West Harrison with the latest details.

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Father Tom Byrnes of St. Anthony of Padua Church

Organizer Arlene Viscomi & Isabella Jennison of St. Anthony’s Young Adult Ministry

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