Air Heritage

Presented by Tammy Peterson

The Precision Guidance System Used on the Tomahawk Missile System 

Presented by James Sobek

225 Years of Beaver County History — 1800 to 2025

Presented by Roger and Brenda Applegate

A special presentation made by Old Economy

• A Yearly Report on New Brighton
  Presented by Borough Manager Tom Albanese

• Our very own Fran Tunno will read an excerpt from her new book, Come On Down.

About the Book:

As a young girl, Fran Tunno yearned for that picture-perfect, 1960s American mom in a spotless apron, waiting at the door with warm cookies. What Fran got was an Italian American force of nature, shoving plates of salami and cheese in front of friends and family then eyeing them suspiciously until they ate an amount she found sufficient.

When not force-feeding guests, Fran’s mom kept busy by entering every contest available (legal or otherwise), cooking, canning, baking, chasing her children with a serving spoon, treating her light-up Jesus like her personal therapist, curing her children with questionable remedies, reminding them daily they were the best, and never missing an episode of “The Price is Right.”

That whirlwind of love, chaos, food, and laughter helped shape Fran’s irreverent sense of humor and deep appreciation for the mother she did get. Her hilarious memoir, Come On Down! A Little Story About My Italian Mom’s Big Dream, is a joyful tribute to the woman who made every day an adventure and normal look overrated.

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About the Author:

Unless you attended St. Joseph's Elementary School from 1960 to 1969, or graduated from New Brighton High School in 1973, you're probably asking yourself, Who the heck is Fran Tunno and why is she speaking here? The answer is: She's a member of the New Brighton Historical Society and asked if she could...very nicely. 

Fran was a proud resident of New Brighton from 1955 through 1977 when she began her extremely varied career. She's been a writer, a producer, a sidekick and traffic reporter on morning radio in Los Angeles, a voice actress, an essayist, a copywriter, and now she's gone and written a book. 

Fran is the author of the humorous memoir, “Come on Down! A Little Story About My Italian Mom’s Big Dream.”  Fran’s essays have been published in the Huffington Post, The Los Angeles Times, and The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. She’s also been featured on NPR’s Snap Judgment and WritersRead.org. True to her Italian roots, Fran left Los Angeles five years ago and moved back to Pittsburgh to be closer to family and friends. Fran loves writing, cooking, feeding people, and sharing stories and recipes on her award-winning blog, AtFransTable.com. You can connect with her there or at FranTunno.com