Fall Festival is Family Affair for Verona Sisters

Verona’s annual Fall Festival is a family affair for sisters Caitlin, Ashley and Brittany Yorio.

The three, who all live in the borough, have been helping out at the event since they were in junior high and high school. Though college now keeps them busy, the Yorios still find time each year to be a part of the festival.

“It’s fun for family and friends to go,” said 18-year-old Brittany, a freshman at the Community College of Allegheny County’s Boyce campus. “It’s a good time.”

And she would know. She started helping her mom, Roxanne Yorio, with the fall festival’s games around the fifth grade. Since then, Brittany has moved on to work at the games herself each year.

Sister Caitlin, 22, also helps out with the games, finding time in between finishing up her last year of college at the University of Pittsburgh’s main campus, interning at Pittsburgh Public Schools and working as a birthday party host at Fun Fest in Harmarville—where her sisters also work.

“It’s a lot of fun,” she said. “It’s fun to help out and be involved.”

The rides, games, and food make for a good time at the event, which will be held Sept. 8, 9, and 10 in the open field along East Railroad Avenue next to .

But there is more to it than just fun and games. The event supports support the community and also its young people. At the end of each school year, graduating seniors from the community are given scholarships from the festival committee.

Both Brittany and her sister Ashley, age 21 and in her third year at CCAC Boyce, received $500 scholarships from the festival committee.

“It helped me get books and just to pay for everything,” Ashley said. “That was really nice.”

Brittany, who just started college this August, found out at the end of last school year that she was receiving the scholarship.

“It helped a lot,” she said. “So that was good.”

Another good thing is the chance the three girls get to work together.

“We get along pretty well,” Ashley said when asked about working with her sisters both at the festival and at Fun Fest. “They’re pretty fun to work with.”

The sisters each have different aspects of the festival they are looking forward to this year. At the top of their list are the fireworks—new this year and will take place Saturday night—the sight of Verona at night lit up by rides and carnival lights, and the food, which Ashley describes as “delicious”.

There is another festival offering all three eagerly anticipate.

“It’s fun to see a bunch of people I haven’t seen in a while,” Ashley said.

Her sisters agreed.

“It’s just great to see people you graduated with,” Caitlin said.

“I like seeing a lot of people that I know,” Brittany said. “It’s fun to go and hang out with friends.”

Those people include former classmates and teachers from Verner Elementary, where the three attended grade school.

The sisters also hope to be seeing those friends for years to come. When asked if they could picture themselves at the festival ten more years from now, the answer was yes.

 “We’ll probably still go down to hang out and to help out,” Brittany said. “It’s a fun thing for family and kids.”