Community
Things to do -Oct. 24, 2009
Kids stuff
• The Buhl Community Recreation Center, Sharon, hosts a Twirling Skills Clinic from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday with a live performance at 3:45 p.m. The clinic will be taught by renowned twirler Jonathan Burkin. He will put on a private performance after the clinic. Info: Melissa Colbert, 724-813-6363 or Stacey Dudash, 724-456-4363.
Special events
• The Brookfield Township Fire Department, along with the township police department will once again host the 11th annual Safety Awareness Night from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the fire department. Hot dogs and refreshments will be provided. Door prizes will be given out by various groups. Howland Fire Department will have their smoke trailer for kids to practice how to get out of a fire situation. Fowler Police Department will bring their K9 unit to demonstrate how a dog is used in the police field. Brookfield Optimist Club will once again provide pumpkins for the kids for pumpkin carving. Other groups have been invited to attend the event.
• The Hens Unlimited Chapter of Ducks Unlimited will hold its annual banquet Nov. 7 at The Corinthian, Sharon. The banquet serves as a fundraiser for wetlands and waterfowl conservation. Tickets, contact Ann Hofius, 24-981-5942.
Fundraisers
• Mercer High School Student Council is sponsoring a gently used stuffed animal/toy drive Monday through Nov. 13. Donations can be taken to MHS, 545 W. Butler St., Mercer. A collection box will be placed in the library. All donations go to the Prince of Peace to be distributed this Christmas season. Please help the Student Council stuff an entire Watson School Bus full of stuffed animals and toys.
• Fredonia Presbyterian Church, Water Street, holds a braised steak dinner from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. Cost is $8 for adults and $5 for children. Info: 724-475-3735.
• Shenango Valley “Walk Pink” for breast cancer is set to begin at 10 a.m. today 10/24/09 at Butler County Community College at Linden Pointe, Hermitage. Registration starts at 9:30 a.m. Donations for the walk will be accepted at registration and will benefit the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Apparel available to purchase is: T-shirts for $10; long sleeve shirts, $15; crew neck and hooded sweatshirts for $20 and zippered hoodies for $25. All apparel will benefit the American Cancer Society and the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Remember to wear as much pink as possible. There will be a prize for the pinkest, most creative outfit. Details: 724-699-2070 or tlenzi5@gmail.com
• Mercer Area Library, 143 N. Pitt St., will hold a Scholastic Book Fair through Oct. 31 during regular library hours.
Children’s books, novelties, activity books, adult cook books and Christian fiction will be available for sale. Come in costume on Oct. 29 for a treat and to enter to win a door prize. Proceeds benefit the library. Details: 724-662-4233.
• Damon Zipay Memorial Fundraiser and Chinese Auction runs 5 to 8 p.m. today10/24/09 Saturday at Hickory United Methodist Church, North Hermitage Road, next to Sears at the Shenango Valley Mall. Doors open at 4:45 p.m. Entertainment provided by Mitch Nassar. Tickets available at the door for $15, which includes finger foods and a free gift to the first 50 people. All proceeds will benefit The Prayer Child Foundation.
• UPMC Horizon holds its annual Boo Ball beginning at 7 p.m. Oct. 30 at The Corinthian, Sharon. All proceeds benefit the hospital’s Community Health Foundation. Details: 724-983-8875.
• Hermitage Kiwanis Club is holding these December fundraisers: dining cards for area restaurants (many “free” meals) are $25, large fruit baskets and 2 pounds of deluxe mixed nut tins for $20 each. To order, call any member or 724-981-9292.
• Hartford Fire Association along with Burghill Vernon Fire Department will be having a pancake breakfast from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday at the old Hartford Veterans of Foreign Wars Hall, located on Hartford Five Points Road, Hartford Township. Cost is $6 for adults; $5 for seniors; $4 for kids ages 5- to -12-years-old; and children younger than age 5 are free. Breakfast includes pancakes, French toast, eggs and sausage, sausage gravy over biscuits, milk, orange juice coffee and tea. Takeouts available.
• St. Marks United Community Church, New Hamburg, serves a chili dinner on Election Day from noon to 7 p.m. Nov. 3.
There will be side dishes, beverage and pie. Cost is $6.50 for children and $3 for children ages 12 and younger. Proceeds benefit mission and charity projects.
Health
• Representative Michele Brooks, Jamestown, R-17th District, invites residents to join her at her third annual Senior Expo, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Friday at Hempfield Station One Banquet Center, 28 Sixth Ave., Greenville. Several health screenings will be offered, including nervous system scans, blood pressure testing, carpal tunnel screening, video otoscope of ears, glaucoma and eye screenings, and body mass index screenings. A pharmacist will be on hand to answer medication questions, and Classic Country 940 AM will be broadcasting live from the expo. Seasonal flu shots will be available free to veterans, and non-veteran flu shots will be offered if they become available. More than 45 exhibitors will be on hand to provide a variety of information including, veteran's affairs, the H1N1 virus, retirement planning assistance, PACE and PACENET, and the Property Tax/Rent Rebate program, among others.
Meetings
• Relay For Life Mercer is planning a team captain kick off meeting for 6 p.m. Tuesday in the cafeteria of Mercer High School. This is a “meet and greet” evening for team captains and co-captains. Reservations: American Cancer Society office, at 724 654 5577 or pvoisey@cancer.org
• Sharpsville High School class of 1958 meets at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Muscarella’s restaurant in Sharpsville. All classmates, spouses and friends are invited.
• The Buhl Day Committee is pleased to announce that Buhl Day 2010 will be celebrated on Sept 6, just as it has been for the past 30 years. Chairmen for the 2010 event are Karen Emmett, Sue McLaughlin, Carol Simon, Ann U’Halie and Terry Whalen. The chairmen are currently putting together the committee list. If you are interested in serving on the Buhl Day Committee please send an email to Buhlday2009.chairman@verizon.net Meetings will be held at 7 p.m. the second Tuesday of the month from March until September in the Buhl Farm Activities Building.
Support group
• Anorexia Nervosa & Bulimia Self-help Group meets from 5:30 to 6:45 every Thursday in the Founders room of Notre Dame Church, 2325 Highland Road, Hermitage. Info: Renee Zamary, 724-981-5435.
- Community
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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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Annual senior fair is Friday in Sharon
State Rep. Mark Longietti will hold his fourth annual free Senior and Health Education Fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday at the Sharon American Legion, 1395 E. State St., Sharon.
The fair will feature farmers market coupons, free health screenings, about 50 vendors, door prizes and free information and services.
For more information, call 724-981-4655. - More Community Headlines
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Sisters pretty accomplished
