NEW MARKET COMING SOON You can see contractors feverishly putting the final touches on Fresh Market, at 1551 Washington Road, diagonally across the street from The Galleria. While no opening date was ready by press time, Fresh Market PR reps say it will open this summer. Watch www.lebomag.com for updates.

It goes without saying that Fresh Market will carry fresh items, including more than 400 types of produce. A full-service meat and seafood department will have butchers on site every day. The European-style deli will have more than 200 kinds of imported, domestic and artisan cheese and lots of ready-to-eat food.

An in-store bakery will have more than 30 kinds of freshly baked breads and a variety of pies and other desserts, according to Drewry Sackett, PR & Community Relations Manager for The Fresh Market. The store will also carry bulk food, coffee, candy and floral.

The store will offer many organic foods. “The Fresh Market offers customers numerous organic selections throughout the store, and especially in our produce and dairy departments,” Sackett says. “We are continually expanding our organic product offerings, while at the same time taking great care to make sure the organic products we carry meet our requirements for taste and appearance. Organic products are clearly marked and easy to find in our stores, and we often carry both conventional and organic items side-by-side in order to give customers the choice. In addition to providing a growing selection of organic produce, we also provide locally grown produce, giving our customers a straight-from-the-farm option as well.” The Fresh Market will supply about 90 jobs and usually fills most positions locally. To apply go to www.careers.thefreshmarket.com.

SIDEWALK SALE Stroll up to Beverly Road Saturday, June 29, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. for a new event—The Beverly Road Merchants’ Association Sidewalk Sale. At press time, details were still taking shape, but organizer Vicki Badolato of Bado’s Pizza Grill and Ale House promises there will be some booths and tables with bargains, some in-store specials, and entertainment, including something fun for kids the kids to do. The Sunrise Rotary, which meets every Wednesday at Bado’s from 7 to 8 a.m., will help provide the fun. Take a minute to stop and introduce yourself to a Rotarian and find out about this great service club, which sponsors Art in the Park and other events that benefit Mt. Lebanon.

VALET ON WASHINGTON After a successful trial period, Mt. Lebanon Commission has passed an ordinance that will allow Mt. Lebanon Valet Service to continue operating outside of Walnut Grill for the next three years, in a renewable agreement.

The company, owned by David and Stephen Jason and Paul Steigerwald, operates Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. The fee is $8 on Fridays and Saturdays. Thursdays are free, as sponsors Walnut Grill and White Diamond Vodka pick up the tab. Patrons are free to go anywhere on Washington Road. On weekends, Walnut Grill gives a $3 discount on its dinners for using the valet. The service is free to disabled people, people with handicaps and pregnant women.

The valet opens at 5 p.m. and parks cars until 11. You have until midnight to retrieve your car. However, you don’t have to walk back to Walnut Grill to get it; you’ll be given a phone number to call to be picked up outside the Washington Road business you’re patronizing.

During the trial, manager David Jason says patrons were often young families with kids in car seats, as well as older people who were not able to walk to one of the two Uptown garages.

The service hopes to add another transportation choice this summer, called Mt. Lebanon Shuttle Service. Free on Thursday nights, the shuttle will take riders from their Mt. Lebanon homes to Scott, Mt. Lebanon, Carnegie or Dormont to any establishment running a White Diamond Vodka promotional event. Up to four patrons may ride the company’s Town Cars or Humvees. If you don’t want to attend the promotional events, you can go to any establishment in the four-town area on Thursday, Friday or Saturday nights for $20 each way. Reservations will be required. Watch this magazine for further details and contact information.

PLEIN AIR RETURNS The 2013 Plein Air Mt. Lebanon outdoor painting festival will take on the streets of Mt. Lebanon September 30 through October 6. The fine arts festival, which debuted year last year to rave reviews, is expanding this year with more opportunities for residents to wield paintbrushes and canvasses.

The concept is simple: during the first part of the week, artists fan out all over the neighborhoods and business districts of Mt. Lebanon and paint our beautiful outdoor scenes, from architecture to gardens to gatherings of people. The artists must complete the majority of the painting outside, using natural light. At the end of the week, the artists submit a few pieces for the juried competition and then the public has the option of buying the work at a gala and sale during the weekend. The winners of the juried competition vie for cash prizes of several thousand dollars.

If painting outdoors sounds like fun to you, you can now learn how to do it yourself. A new group of outdoor painters is forming in Mt. Lebanon for everyone from beginners to serious painters. The group will meet the first Saturday of every month through September at 9:30 a.m. at Uptown Coffee. Bring easels, sketch pads, paint and pencils. Students, weekend painters and professionals are welcome. For more information, contact David Csont at 412-531-5679.

Last year, many residents experienced Plein Air from a unique position—as a host family for an out-of-town artist. If you’d like to host an artist for the week, contact Sue Simons at 412-563-5277.

The Plein Air committee is also looking for volunteers for the following areas: gallery setup, gallery docents, paintout event (Saturday community painting party) and hospitality through the week. Contact Wendy Denenberg at wdenenberg@gmail.com.

PARTY ON WASHINGTON This year’s First Friday free outdoor concert series for the whole family begins Friday, June 7, from 7 to 9 p.m. June’s theme, Back on the Bayou, will feature the music of Ray Ryan’s New Orleans Riverside Band in Clearview Common and the alt-folk of Hardbark Sycamore Band on the second stage.

July 5’s theme is Positive Vibrations, with the reggae of Freedom Band in Clearview Common. August 2 is Left of the Dial, with alternative music of City Dwelling Nature Seekers.

September 6 wraps up the series with Blues Noir, a theme that includes music from the Chalk Outlines, featuring Mt. Lebanon artist Wayno.

First Fridays are sponsored this year by PNC Bank.

GOING GREEN GETS GLORY Mt. Lebanon has received a Governor’s Award for Local Government Excellence, its sixth in the last 10 years. This year’s award is for the municipality’s efforts at promoting intergovernmental cooperation in the area of environmental sustainability and recycling. Especially singled out for recognition was the intercommunity recycling competition put together by Public Works Director Tom Kelley and the environmental sustainability board.

Previous Governor’s Awards have come our way for use of technology to improve fire operations and prevention; innovative planning; intergovernmental cooperation in forming and leading the police critical incident response team; use of technology to communicate with residents; and fiscal accountability and best financial management practices.