One day in Frontenac: Family memories in a coffee shop

By Brianna Barnes

Editor’s note: This story was completed as a part of the One Day in SEK project. Once a year, PSU journalism students spend a day exploring one Southeast Kansas town, finding stories and capturing a moment of life in that place. Those stories are collected and saved for posterity by the Pittsburg Headlamp.

Sitting in McKay Street Coffeehouse, there is the smell of books and espresso mixed together and some soft jazz music playing. The music is there, but faint, as the air conditioning and espresso machine also make noise.

Located in the Frontenac Public Library, this family-owned and operated coffee shop serves typical coffee shop items like espresso drinks, muffins, scones and sandwiches.

Brad and Andra Stefanoni own McKay Street, and their oldest son, Dominic, is a barista. There are many family roots tied to Frontenac that inspire part of the coffee shop. For instance, there are two black and white images on the wall picturing some of Brad’s family.

Brad’s great-great grandparents, Dominic and Eugenia, started their family in Frontenac in the late 1800s, not long after Frontenac began. Many members of Brad’s family graduated from Frontenac High School, and both his mom and Andra taught at the high school.

Family and memories find themselves in the shop, in the photos, but also on the bookshelf. Dominic’s childhood bookshelf holds their Little Free Library.

The environment is friendly to a calm study session as well as a game of Jenga. From the Lego creation of “Central Park Coffeeshop” from the tv show Friends to the little children drawings strung on the walls, there is a childlike essence in the shop.