Special events
• The 21st annual Thurston Classic Hot Air Balloon event continues through 7 a.m. Sunday at 195 Park Ave., in the Robertson Athletic Complex, Meadville. Info: www.thurstonclassic.com or 814-336-4000.
• Dr. Jason Tripp will give away chiropractic services to the community during a 1950s costume party Wednesday at his office, 2160 E. State St., Hermitage.
Free chiropractic exams and X-rays will be give to those who come in wearing 1950s clothing. A prize will be given to the person with the most authentic outfit.
Info: 724-342-5503.
Fundraisers
• A fundraising benefit is set for June 26-27 for Owen Bauer, 11-month-old son of Shawn and Jennifer Bauer, who needs a kidney transplant. The benefit includes a spaghetti dinner and silent auction from 4 to 7 p.m. June 26 at New Wilmington Presbyterian Church, 229 S. Market St., and a relay with registration at 10 a.m. June 27 at Wilmington High School, 350 Wood St., New Wilmington. There will also be a 50/50 raffle and rummage, bake and T-shirt sales from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 27.
Owen takes 10 medications and has a feeding tube; he recently reached his goal weight of 22 pounds needed for the transplant. Three potential donors are being tested and if one of matches, Owen could receive a kidney as early as late summer.
• Holy Trinity Lutheran Church holds a strawberry festival from 2:30 to 7 p.m. Wednesday in the church fellowship hall, 3325 Morefield Road, Hermitage.
Home-grown fresh strawberries, cake, ice cream and beverage for $4. There will also be hot dogs, sloppy joes, macaroni salad and baked beans for a reasonable price.
Advance tickets: the church, 724-981-2050, or at the door.
• A homemade ice cream supper runs 4 to 7 p.m. today at Stony Point Grange, 69 Kremis Road, Delaware Township.
Sandwiches and ice cream will be available for takeout. Info: 724-253-2155.
• The Bentley House, 2400 Garden Way, Hermitage, will host a spaghetti dinner and Chinese auction from 1 to 3 p.m. June 28.
Eat-in or takeout for $5. Chinese auction tickets are $1 for one; $5 for six or $20 for an arm’s length. Open to the public.
Proceeds benefit the American Heart Walk Sept. 26 in Buhl Farm. Info: Tiffany Wissinger, 724-347-1964 or twissinger@alcco.com
Class
• The American Red Cross of Trumbull and Mercer counties holds a water safety instructor class at Sharon High School as follows: 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. June 27; 6 to 10 p.m. June 29, July 1, 13, 16 and 17; and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. July 18.
Participants must attend all sessions. Registration: Red Cross, 724-962-9180. Please do not call Sharon High School.
Program
• If you enjoy watching butterflies, learn how to attract them to your back yard from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Sunday in the Discovery Building at McKeever Environmental Learning Center during a discussion on butterfly gardening. The life cycle of a butterfly, native plants used to attract butterflies and sample garden designs will be discussed during this time. This free program will include a walk through McKeever’s butterfly garden.
Info: www.mckeever.org
Reunions
• Hickory High School class of 1947 holds its 62nd class reunion with a tour of the old Hickory High School, now the former Middle School, at 3 p.m. and dinner at 6 p.m. at Jess’s restaurant on Sept. 19.
Info: Rose, 724-962-2312, or Jeanette, 724-962-9766.
• Mercer High School class of 1972 plans a gathering for Aug. 22.
Addresses are needed for these classmates: Candy Foster, Carol Mayerchak Takachuk, Darlene Michael Wonders, Russell L McConnell, Russell J. McConnell, Joanne Sheasley Trawicki and Sally Welton Conley.
Info: Mike Kruck, 724-347-2564, or Audrey Goodrick, 724-962-1920.
Meetings
• Farrell High School class of 1954 meets for lunch Wednesday at Hogan’s Heroes, South Hermitage Road, Hermitage.
• Packard Electric and Delphi Packard Local 717 Retirees meet at 10:30 a.m. June 24 at Local 717’s Union Hall in Warren (Ohio) Commerce Park, 2950 Sferra Ave.
Members attending are asked to take a labeled covered dish and table service.
This month’s speaker will be from the Warren Family Rescue Mission.
Canned goods and non-perishables will be collected this month for the Rescue Mission.
• Brookfield Over the Hill Gang meets from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday at the Brookfield firehall, state Route 7.
Lisa Bertolasio, registered nurse, will speak.
Lunch at noon for $3 will be followed by cards and bingo with prizes.
All seniors are welcome.
Health
• UPMC Horizon holds the following events:
Ostomy Support Group, 2 p.m. Sunday, hospital in Greenville.
Silver & Fit: Group Exercise class, 1 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, UPMC Horizon Wellness Center, 26 Conneaut Lake Road, Hempfield Township. Registration: 724-588-3001.
Seniors for Safe Driving, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, hospital in Greenville. Registration: 800-559-4880.
Meditation class, 7 p.m. Wednesday, Womancare Center of UPMC Horizon, 875 N. Hermitage Road, Hermitage. Registration: 724-347-7700
Pulmonary Hypertension Support Group, 2 p.m. Thursday, hospital in Farrell.
Community
Things To Do from June 20, 2009
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Extension offers ‘Dining with Diabetes’
Back by popular demand, Penn State Cooperative Extension is offering a low-cost series of classes, “Dining with Diabetes: A Program for Adults with Diabetes and their Families,” to teach those with type 2 diabetes how to manage their disease.
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Sisters pretty accomplished
The most nerve-wracking moment in a pageant is when it comes down to the last two girls on stage, and 17-year-old Caroline Collins has stood in that spot three times in her life.
After two first-runner-up places in the National American Miss Pennsylvania Pageant, the pressure was really on for the Shenango Township girl the third time — her younger sister, Lexi, had taken the pre-teen crown in Harrisburg the day before in her first pageant run.
But Caroline wasn’t disappointed this year. In August, the Collins family celebrated the crowning of two daughters when the older sister was named Miss Pennsylvania Teen, and they all couldn’t be happier.
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‘Rat Packer’ pays homage to friend
When Jerry Chiodo was in the hospital, shortly before he died, Sirjio the Entertainer, his friend for 40 years, stole into his room one night after Chiodo’s family had left, and sang “New York, New York,” to him.
“I promised him right then, ‘I won’t let people forget you,’ ” Sirjio said.
Sirjio, of Farrell, has made good on his promise by creating the Jerry Chiodo Memorial Scholarship, a non-profit charity that plans to present music scholarships to high school students interested in careers in music.
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Pet project
There are two new faces at Strayhaven Animal Shelter in Hempfield Township, but they don’t belong to any cats or dogs.
Greenville-area residents Kristen Weaver and Todd Dunlap have been working as the shelter’s new managers since May, and they’ve already completed some upgrades to the property at 94 Donation Road.
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Car club hosting national antique car event here
Antique and classic cars are no strangers to local roads this time of year as old car enthusiasts cruise on sunny days.
Next week, expect to see not one or two cars as you drive around town, but dozens.
The folks who put on the Father’s Day Car Show will be hosting a national classic car tour Wednesday through Aug. 27 that will be based in the Shenango Valley.
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Flying fortress
“I can’t believe it. I can’t believe it,” 88-year-old John Grosbeck said in a weak voice that was filled with emotion.
It was the first time Grosbeck had been on a bomber since 1944, he said. The local stop was part of the Experimental Aircraft Association’s “Salute to Veterans Tour,” and on Tuesday and Wednesday people had the chance to buy a seat on a flight aboard the “Aluminum Overcast” B-17G.
The Aluminum Overcast is at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Latrobe, Pa., through today and will be at the Akron-Canton Regional Airport Sept. 14 and 15. Ground tours are offered for a small fee but are free to all veterans. -
Teen wins two World Open baton twirling titles
Brianna Colbert, daughter of Steven and Melissa Colbert, Hermitage, won World Open Three Baton Twirling and World Open Flag Twirling titles at the National Baton Twirling Association’s America’s Youth on Parade at Notre Dame University, July 20-23.
This National and World Open baton competition held in South Bend, Ind., had thousands of twirlers from all over the United States, Canada and representatives from other countries as well. While there,Simone Esters of Hermitage and Marissa Pierce of West Middlesex, members of the Shining Star Competition Team, represented Pennsylvania in the Miss Majorette of America Pageant, founded in 1945.
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Blues will fill air
The Sharon Arts and Music Initiative’s inaugural Sharon City Blues Fest, like its headliner, is “The Real Deal.”
Grammy Award nominee John Primer will take the stage along with local and regional blues musicians on Sept. 11 in downtown Sharon.
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Teaching with technology
Technology in the classroom is always changing and one Greenville teacher has spent the last three summers learning new skills through a program limited to a select few.
Jan Abernethy, a fifth-grade teacher at East Elementary School, was one of 75 teachers nationwide chosen to attend the Discovery Educator Network Summer Institute, which is held at a different location each year.
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Actors visit Camelot
The magic and mysticism that abounds in the King Arthur legend has been just as prevalent in the life of a woman who has written a three-part play chronicling the history of Camelot’s famed ruler.
Youngstown native Carol Weakland said she’s been working for 12 years on the play that premiered last weekend: “The Arthurian Trilogy Part One, Arthur and Merlin: The Making of a King.” She was never able to assemble a cast to play the demanding roles or “whittle down” the lengthy script into a compact but complete show. But this year, everything came together.
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Extension offers ‘Dining with Diabetes’
