NEW WATERFORD, Ohio – Amped Up, a three-day series of concerts in New Waterford Village Park, will take place Aug. 8-10 and feature nationally known rock band The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus.

Admission is $10 each day. Food trucks will be on the site each day. The park is at 3760 Village Park Drive.

Concert start times will be announced at a later date. Here is the schedule:

  • Aug. 8: Lewis Brice, with Mark Mackay.
  • Aug. 9: The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, with Tantric and Turbo Lovers.
  • Aug. 10: Morgan Myles & the All Star Jam, with The Conkle Brothers and The Berrys.

The village will also present its annual New Waterford Music Festival on Sept. 12-13 in Village Park, featuring headliners Hinder and Saliva. Tickets are $10 each day. Here is the schedule:

  • Sept. 12: Hinder, with Parker Barrow.
  • Sept. 13: Saliva, with 12 Stones, Paralandra and Dauzat St. Marie.

Bug Day at Ford Nature Center

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Bug Day will take place  from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, July 19, at Ford Nature Center, 840 Old Furnace Road. 

This free, family-friendly event will feature insect-inspired fun and education. It is presented by Mill Creek MetroParks. Highlights include:

  • Demonstrations by The Bug Man, Mark Berman of Columbus.
  • A butterfly exhibit curated by Katie Shipka.
  • Bee expert Don Kovach.
  • Bug catching, bug-themed crafts and a “bad bug” forest walk.

Those who want a more immersive Bug Man experience can attend a private show at 10 a.m. that will include up-close videos and live insect demonstrations that will entertain and educate children and adults. Registration ($15) is required; go to MillCreekMetroParks.org or call 330 740 7107, ext. 129.

Limited, free parking is available on-site and at Pioneer Pavillion. As part of the event, visitors are encouraged to park at Slippery Rock Pavilion and enjoy the scenic “Good Bug” Pollinator Walk along the Ecology Trail leading to Ford Nature Center.

Discount Season Passes to Christmas Light Show

COLUMBIANA, Ohio – Columbiana Area Tourism Bureau is selling discount season passes to its annual Joy of Christmas light show at Firestone Park through Sept. 6.

Season passes will be sold for $30 during the sale. The regular price of $40 will resume Sept. 7.

Columbiana residents can receive an additional $10 off during this time by providing the lower portion of their water bill when making a purchase. Passes can be purchased from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays at  Columbiana Area Tourism Bureau, 11 N. Main St.

The Joy of Christmas light show will run from Nov. 20 to Dec. 28. The fee is $20 per carload.

State of the Station Address at PBS Western Reserve

KENT, Ohio – Local public media organizations such as PBS Western Reserve are facing the threat of funding cuts at both the state and federal levels. To address concerns about the future of the organization, PBS Western Reserve is inviting community members to attend one of two State of the Station events this month.

The free events will take place at 2 p.m. Wednesday, July 23, and at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, July 24, at PBS Western Reserve, 1750 Campus Center Drive. Registration is required online or by calling 330 474 5033. 

President and CEO Natalie Pillsbury will provide an update on upcoming PBS Western Reserve initiatives, the strategic plan and the fiscal year 2026 budget. Light refreshments will be offered, along with station tours.

The event will follow the U.S. legislature’s decision on the recission package that would eliminate public media funding, which must be finalized by July 18. State funding for public media has been reduced in the recently passed state budget.

The event will go beyond a financial update, with the opportunity for community feedback as the organization seeks to forge a strong future for local public media.

Three Exhibitions to Open at the Hoyt

NEW CASTLE, Pa. – From carnival photography to classical music, the latest exhibitions at Arts & Education at the Hoyt will provoke introspection into human nature and the higher planes of the imagination. 

The exhibitions will open July 22 and close Sept. 11. A public meet and greet with all three artists will take place from noon to 2 p.m. Aug. 2. Admission to the Hoyt is free.

Here is a look at each exhibition:

  • “Goldberg Variations,” by John Lyon Paul of Ithaca, N.Y. A series of 32 collages inspired by Johann Sebastian Bach’s composition of the same name completed in 1741. Each collage responds to the rhythms and structure of its musical part accessible through QR codes using a cellphone. 
  • “Carnival Nights,” by R. Andrew Hoff of York, Pa. A series of black and white photographs that began with capturing the menial jobs of vendors and carneys in 2017. As Hoff got deeper into the seven-year project, he started to see the personalities of the people themselves – their facial expressions and body language revealing those who embrace the nomadic lifestyle. 
  • “Subterranean,” by Prescott Moore Lassman of Washington, D.C. A series of black and white photographs shot in the subway tunnels in New York City and Washington, D.C.

Carrillon Concerts at Westminster College

NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. – The 2025 carillon summer concert series at Westminster College will feature four carillonneurs who will perform on the college’s 42-bell Duff-Armington Memorial Carillon on select Friday afternoons in July and August.

Mitchell Stecker, Westminster’s organist and carillonneur, will kick off the series July 18. Guest carillonneurs include Laura Ellis on July 25, Trevor Workman on Aug. 1 and Michelle Lam on Aug. 8. 

Ellis, associate director of the University of Florida School of Music, is serving her second term as president of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America.

Workman serves as carillonneur for the historic Bournville Carillon in Birmingham, England, a post he has held since 1965. 

Lam, an associate carillonneur at the Netherlands Carillon in Arlington, Va., was the resident carillonneur at Grosse Pointe Memorial Church in Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich. 

One of only 55 college carillons nationwide, Westminster’s bells – 42 in all – are an integral part of campus life and ring the “Westminster Chime” every quarter hour throughout the day.

All performances begin at 11:30 a.m. on the Quad near Westminster’s Old Main building. They are free and open to the public. Guests are encouraged to bring chairs, blankets and lunch to the performances. Concerts will be held in the Wallace Memorial Chapel in case of rain.

For information, contact Mitchell Stecker at steckem@westminster.edu or 724 946 7019. 

Lecture on World War II Internment Camps

LIBERTY TOWNSHIP, Ohio – Mark Masaki, professor emeritus at Youngstown State University, will speak on his family’s experience living in the Japanese American internment camps in California during World War II at 10 a.m. Saturday, July 19, at Denny’s Restaurant meeting room, 4020 Belmont Ave.

The presentation is presented by the William Holmes McGuffey Historical Society.

Admission is $15 ($10 for society members). Reservations are suggested; call 330 726 8277.

Artisan Market to Benefit Local Senior Citizens

AUSTINTOWN, Ohio – Café Rosé, 4491 Mahoning Ave., will present its annual Christmas in July Market from noon to 3 p.m. Sunday, July 20.

The market will feature local artisans, crafters and bakers offering unique, handcrafted goods. It will also support local seniors with a basket raffle and personal care item collection. All proceeds and items collected will directly benefit the Senior Support Action Group, a local organization dedicated to providing vital services and support to seniors. Raffle tickets will be available for purchase at the market.

Shoppers will also have the opportunity to secure five raffle tickets by donating essential personal care items for homebound seniors, such as unopened soap, shampoo, adult diapers, toothpaste, lotion and other toiletries.

Pictured at top: The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus.