Hear heavenly music at county courthouse
The public is invited to attend the annual Christmas Concert Series at Mercer County Courthouse throughout December, performed by area middle school and high school students. Performances begin at 12:30 p.m. in the courthouse rotunda, and last about 25 minutes. Seating is available.
Performances continue: Dec. 14, Sharpsville High School; Dec. 15, Reynolds High School; Dec. 16, Lakeview High School; Dec. 17, West Middlesex Oakview Middle School; Dec. 18, Mercer High School; and Dec. 22, Kennedy Catholic High School.
Christmas party planned at counseling center
The Mercer County Chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill will hold a Christmas party at 6 p.m. Dec. 17 at the Community Counseling Center 2201 E. State St., Hermitage. There will be games with small prizes and a pot luck supper. NAMI will provide soft drinks and ham. Please bring your favorite side dish. RSVP to 724-981-6193 ext. 167.
Go for a walk and pick out your holiday cookies
The Lakeview High School Students for Charity and the Lakeview Educational Foundation are sponsoring a Christmas Cookie Walk from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Dec. 18 in the cafeteria of Lakeview High School. Cost is $4 per dozen, or $9 per box (containers will be provided). Funds raised will provide scholarships to Lakeview students and assist community members and organizations in need. The Students for Charity profits are matched by the Shenango Valley Foundation.
Info: Andrea Hoovler, 724-376-7911.
Historical Society sets candlelight Christmas concert
MERCER -- The Mercer County Historical Society will present a free candlelight Christmas concert from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. Friday, December 18th at the Helen Black Miller Memorial Chapel, 119 South Pitt St., Mercer. This concert will feature a variety of seasonal selections and traditional carols performed by the Mercer County Historical Society Chamber Players. Details: 724-662-3490.
Join in community Christmas dinner
The deacons of Tower Presbyterian Church, 248 S. Broad St., Grove City, are planning their annual free Christmas Day dinner, to be held at 1 p.m. Dec. 25 in Williamson Hall at the church.
Social time begins at 12:30, and carol singing will follow at 1:45. Anyone from Grove City and surrounding areas is welcome to attend. Reservations are needed by Dec. 18; call the church office at 724-458-7260.
Flu clinic set
UPMC Horizon will host a public seasonal flu vaccination clinic from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Dec. 19 at the Womancare Center of UPMC Horizon, 875 N. Hermitage Road, Hermitage. Cost of the vaccine is $25 and only cash and checks will be accepted. Appointments are required. Info: 724-347-7700 or 1-866-347-7700.
Railroad display returns to Harmony Museum
The annual Christmas season display of the Yobp-Eckstein log house village and toy railroad will be on view until early January in the Harmony Museum’s Wagner House annex during regular guided museum tours from 1 to 4 p.m. daily except Mondays and holidays. The late William Yobp of New Kensington began crafting the display’s buildings, sleighs, wagons and boats in the mid-1930s as a Christmas display in his family’s New Kensington living room. Yobp gave the eight buildings to his son-in-law, Ronald Eckstein of Forward Township, for the platform Eckstein built for a Western & Atlantic Railroad train. Harmony is at I-79 exits 87 and 88, about 10 miles north of the Pennsylvania Turnpike and 30 miles south of I-80.
Remember children at annual candle lighting
SHARPSVILLE — Members of the Mercer County chapter of The Compassionate Friends will join hundreds of organized memorial services around the world, to light candles in remembrance of all the children who have died at 2 p.m. Sunday at Sharpsville First United Methodist Church, 148 E. Shenango St.
The event will feature music, readings, a slide presentation of our children, candle lighting and refreshments.
The Compassionate Friends is a national self-help support organization for families grieving the death of a child.
Info: Donna Holter, 724-342-0035, or Chris Bell, 724-347-2015.
Church celebrates 62nd anniversary Sunday
FARRELL — Greater Mt. Zion Church of God in Christ, 1825 Roemer Blvd., will celebrate the church’s 62nd church anniversary during morning services at 11 a.m. Sunday.
Guest speaker Elder Leroy Eddington will be accompanied by the choir and congregation of Mt. Sinai Church of God in Christ, Niles. Ohio. The local church was founded by the late Bishop Odis Alexander and his wife, the late Mother Virginia Alexander in 1947. At 5 p.m. a service entitled “Fruit of the Spirit” will be held. The public is welcome to attend both services.
Mercer church offering free gift wrapping
MERCER — Mercer's Trinity Presbyterian Church is offering free gift wrapping to anyone in the community from noon to 7 p.m. Monday through Wednesday at the Horace Mann Insurance Agency, 109 North Diamond St.
Church members will provide wrapping paper and gift tags, along with refreshments. The community is also invited to join the church’s choir for a carol sing from 6 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Agency. Info: 724-662-2680.
Historical society taking toy donations for holidays
MERCER — Mercer County Historical Society will be a drop-off point this holiday season for toys for the annual Marine Corps Reserve’s Toys for Tots Campaign. A box will be available in the society’s lobby until Tuesday for new, unwrapped toys. The Marines will distribute these toys to needy children in Mercer County. To complement this project, the Historical Society will use the theme “Timeless Toys” in the Christmas display in its lobby. Those dropping off donations will enjoy seeing the society’s collection of vintage toys.
The society is located at 119 S. Pitt St., Mercer.
‘Adopt’ a care facility resident for the holidays
MERCER — The “Presents for Patients” program will help 399 residents in care facilities in Mercer County experience a merrier holiday this year.
Community members are asked to consider “adopting” a resident by agreeing to personally deliver a small gift to the individual over the holidays. Businesses, families, individuals and groups are welcome to participate.
Locally, Countryside Convalescent Home, Mercer, and Grove Manor, Grove City, are participating.
Info: 724-443-0011, or www.PresentsForPatients.com
Community
Briefs - Dec. 12, 2009
- Community
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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’
