The Update | Rock Fest at B&O Station with Spirit of the Bear, 4 Other Bands

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The Block Party rock festival, featuring Spirit of the Bear, will take place Aug. 26 at the B&O Station, 530 Mahoning Ave., from 4 to 11 p.m.

Tickets are $10 in advance if purchased HERE, or $15 at the door. 

Here is the schedule of bands:

• 6 to 6:30 p.m.: Black Wolf & the Thief.
• 6:45 to 7:15 p.m.: Madame Marlowe.
• 7:30 to 8:15 p.m.: Ohayo.
• 8:30 to 9:30 p.m.: Spirit of the Bear.
• 9:45 to 10:45 p.m.: Unc D.

Lecture on Transgender Pioneer from Youngstown

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Dr. Richard D. Murray of Youngstown (1921-2002), a pivotal yet under-examined figure in medical and transgender history, is the topic of a lecture that will be presented by Ginger Williams, a board member of TransOhio, at noon Aug. 17 at the Tyler History Center, downtown.

The lecture, part of the Mahoning Valley Historical Society’s Bites and Bits of History lecture series, will analyze the career of Murphy, a groundbreaking plastic surgeon. Admission is free.

The presentation will include language and imagery from original and unaltered source material that might be considered offensive.

Holocaust Survivor will Speak at JCC

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Renate Frydman, who barely escaped the Holocaust, will share her story at 5 p.m. Aug. 22 at the Jewish Community Center of Youngstown, 505 Gypsy Lane.

Frydman and her parents fled Germany just days before Kristallnacht. She was a baby at the time, but it has shaped her lifelong focus on educating students about the Holocaust, genocide, racism and bullying. Her late husband, Anschel “Charlie” Frydman, later a successful Dayton businessman, survived the Holocaust, hiding in a Polish forest for three years.

Frydman is the curator of the “Holocaust Exhibit: Prejudice and Memory,” on permanent display at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, and the founder and director of the Dayton Holocaust Resource Center. She is currently conducting video interviews with four of the last Dayton-area survivors of the Holocaust as part of her “Faces of the Holocaust” project.

The cost is $5. To register, call Nancy Sentelik at 330 746 3251, ext. 108, or email [email protected].

Her appearance is part of the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation’s Nosh & Knowledge series.

Amazing History Race Seeks Participants

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The Mahoning Valley Historical Society’s Amazing History Race will return Aug. 19.

This scavenger hunt-road trip, now in its ninth year, tests participants’ knowledge of local history. It will begin at 5 p.m. at the Arms Family Museum, 648 Wick Ave.  

Participants receive a set of clues that take them to six historic sites spread throughout the Mahoning Valley. The first one back with all of the sites correctly identified wins the trophy.

Participants need a smartphone or digital camera to record their presence at the landmarks. When the racers return to the Arms museum, MVHS staff and volunteers will check their photos. A casual outdoor pizza party will follow.

The cost is $7 per person ($5 for seniors 60 and up, and students ages 5 to 13). To register a team and pay, call Linda Kostka at 330 743 2589, ext. 125.

Documentary on President McKinley

LIBERTY, Ohio – Stephanie Vrigallito of PBS Western Reserve will screen a documentary on President William McKinley at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 19, in the meeting room at Denny’s Restaurant, 4020 Belmont Ave., as part of the William Holmes McGuffey Historical Society’s lecture series.

Virgallito will screen “Monumental Devotion: The McKinley National Memorial,” which tells of the public’s admiration of McKinley, plus his loving relationship with his wife.

The film, produced by Western Reserve PBS, centers on McKinley’s life as president and, ultimately, the construction of a monument in Canton for his final resting place. 

The documentary introduces the human side of McKinley, a Civil War veteran and attorney, who married the love of his life, the highly educated and gifted Ida McKinley. Why there is a second memorial for the assassinated president in Niles will also be explained.

Admission is $5 ($10 for nonmembers). Reservations are suggested; call 330 726 8277.

Auditions for ‘The Flu Season’ at Playhouse

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Auditions for the Youngstown Playhouse’s production of “The Flu Season” will take place at 6 p.m. Aug. 28 and 29.

“The Flu Season” is an unconventional tale that follows the relationship of a couple known simply as Man and Woman. They are patients in a mental hospital, attended by well-meaning Doctor and Nurse who are just as detached from reality as the patients. Literary devices-turned-characters, Prologue and Epilogue, guide the audience through the story, framing each scene and offering sharp commentary along the way.

The director, Pat Foltz, is seeking one man, 20 to 30 years old; one man 40 to 60 years old; one woman 20 to 30 years old; and one woman 40 to 60 years old. Those auditioning should be prepared to read from the script.

Rehearsals will tentatively begin in early October. Performances will take place Nov. 10-19.

Pictured at top: Spirit of the Bear will perform at The Block Party on Aug. 26.

Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.