YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Simply Slavic, the downtown festival that celebrates Youngstown’s Slavic community, will present Home for the SLAVidays from 7 to 11 p.m. Friday, Dec. 20, at Penguin City Brewing.
Admission to the event, which marks the halfway point to Simply Slavic, is $15 (free for children 12 and under).
Home for the SLAVidays will include:
- Music by the Chardon Polka Band.
- A visit from the Cleveland Krampus and photos with St. Nicholas.
- Kolachi baking competition.
- Opłatek sharing (traditional wafer exchange).
- Last Chance Christmas Market with local vendors.
There will also be Slavic food from Kravitz Deli, Krakus Polish Deli and Babcia’s Lunchbox food truck.
Blue Oyster Cult to Play the Robins Theatre
WARREN, Ohio – Blue Oyster Cult will return to the Robins Theatre on Friday, March 28.
Tickets for the 8 p.m. concert range from $99 to $39 (plus applicable fees) and will go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, Dec. 20, at RobinsTheatre.com and the box office, 160 E. Market St.
A presale for members of Friends of the Robins Theatre will begin at 10 a.m. Thursday. Check the website for information.
Blue Oyster Cult has been producing its unique brand of intelligent hard rock since the early 1970s. Its list of hits includes “Godzilla,” “Don’t Fear the Reaper” and “Burnin’ for You.”
The band’s lineup hasn’t changed much since then. BOC is still led by original members Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser (vocals, lead guitar) and Eric Bloom (rhythm guitar, vocals), with longtime members Danny Miranda, Jules Radino and Richie Castellano.
The band released two new studio albums in recent years: “The Symbol Remains” (2022) and “Ghost Stories” (2024).
Boardman High Orchestras in Concert
BOARDMAN, Ohio – The Boardman High School symphony, chamber and classical orchestras will present their annual Winter Holiday Festival at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 18, in the Boardman Performing Arts Center, 7777 Glenwood Ave.
The classical orchestra will open the program with three holiday pieces. The chamber orchestra will then perform the first movement of Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 and a contemporary work titled Overture to the Wind. One of the school’s senior solo competition winners, Allison Young, will be featured on violin as she performs the Accolay: Violin Concerto No.1 in A minor.
Finally, the 90-member symphony orchestra will perform a host of great holiday favorites: “A Christmas Festival” by Leroy Anderson, then a medley of tunes from the hit motion picture “Polar Express” and selections from the “Nutcracker Suite.” The concert will end with “Sleigh Ride.”
Admission is $3 ($1 for children; free for senior citizens. The school’s orchestra program is under the direction of Michele Prokop, Bill Amendol and Christine Carucci.
School’s Jazz Ensembles to Perform
BOARDMAN, Ohio – The annual Boardman High School holiday jazz concert will take place at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 19, in the Boardman Performing Arts Center.
The concert will feature three separate groups playing some holiday, standard and modern music.
Jazz ensembles 1 and 2, plus 2k25 (the school’s pop rock band) will perform seasonal selections. Featured vocalists will be Hannah Fenneken, Cece Maiorana, Mia Martin, Aidan May, Lucas Mitchell and Kendall Timko.
The ensembles are under the direction of Thomas Ruggieri.
Admission is free. However, gently worn shoes are being collected for the bands’ annual shoe drive. There will be a collection bin near the auditorium entrance.
Lecture on Modernization of Youngstown in 1900s
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The period from 1900 to 1910 was a time of economic modernization in Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley.
Fueled by the rapidly growing population, significant changes occurred in the region’s infrastructure, industry and even entertainment.
Brooke Bobovnyik, curatorial assistant for the Mahoning Valley Historical Society, will discuss the modernization of Youngstown in the early 1900s at noon Thursday, Dec. 19, at the Tyler History Center’s Thomas Ballroom, 325 W. Federal St., downtown. The event is part of the MVHS Bites and Bits of History lecture series.
YSU Students in Trumpet-Saxophone Recital
LIBERTY, Ohio – Luke Whorten and Georgia Dale, Youngstown State University Dana School of Music students, will perform a musical program at 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 21, in the meeting room at Denny’s Restaurant, 4020 Belmont Ave.
The program is presented by the William Holmes McGuffey Historical Society.
Admission is $10 ($5 for members). For information or reservations, call 330 726 8277.
Whorten, a trumpet player, was president of the National Honors Society, a section leader in his high school band and a member of Link Crew and Interact Club. At YSU, he has participated in the wind ensemble, the jazz band and a chamber ensemble. He frequently plays in the local band No Funk No Justice.
Dale, a saxophonist, plays in the wind ensemble, the Saxophone Society and the saxophone quartet. She is a member of the Ohio Collegiate Music Educators Association and American Choir Directors Association.
Pictured at top: Millie Heschmeyer is visited by Krampus at last year’s SLAVidays event at Penguin City Brewing.