NEW YEAR'S EVE Improvements will add to fun at celebrations

There are alcohol-free, family-oriented New Year celebrations in Youngstown, Warren and Canfield.
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YOUNGSTOWN -- There are a few tweaks to the area's newest public New Year celebration, although the more established parties roll on.
Different performance locations are a top change for First Night Youngstown, which puts on its second annual alcohol-free, family-oriented arts event next week.
Performance locations have changed and the number has been reduced to better focus on downtown.
New locations include Amedia Plaza, the Youngstown Metropolitan Housing Authority building, which will house music performances. The Powers Auditorium lobby will have a big band, including dancing. Later, the Great Pretenders will perform.
YSU venues: Youngstown State University venues also are playing a bigger role. The Melnick Medical Museum is a new attraction this year. The Youngstown Playhouse Youth Board also will put on a patriotic music review in Bliss Hall.
Venues open at 6 p.m. Horse and carriage rides will be available through midnight from Federal Plaza.
A ball drop at midnight will be at Home Savings and Loan. Fireworks will be shot over downtown's west end from the B & amp;O Station after the ball drop.
The cost: Admission buttons cost $8 for adults and $5 for students, senior citizens and city employees and their family members. Regular adult prices rise to $10 the night of the event.
Buttons can be bought at several locations or by calling the First Night office at (330) 742-0445. Parking is free at many lots.
Youngstown's is one of three public New Year's celebrations in the area. The others are the long-running party in Warren -- Opening Night -- and in Canfield, which is in its fourth year of First Night.
Warren's event is billed as Ohio's longest-running nonalcoholic New Year's Eve celebration of the arts, dating to the 1980s.
Events start at 5 p.m. on Courthouse Square downtown and will feature nearly 100 performances. Performances will be in buildings within a four-block area near Courthouse Square.
Events will include music and performance artists including a juggler, a puppet act, mime, ballet company, clog dancing, storytelling, tap dancing and magic.
Several locations downtown will serve food, including First United Methodist Church, which will offer homestyle dinners.
A ball drop from the Bank One building on the southeast corner of Courthouse Square and a fireworks display, choreographed to music, will be at midnight.
Admission buttons are available at several locations or by calling the Opening Night office at (330) 399-1212.
Pre-sale buttons are $10 for adults and $5 for children under 12. On Dec. 31, buttons will be available only at the Log Cabin near Courthouse Square, $15 for adults and $7 for children under 12. Free parking is available.
In Canfield, meanwhile, revelers can get ready for the new year at the Cabaret Dinner Show at the United Methodist Church Hall. The dinner show is an addition to the village's festivities.
The show will feature a performance by the musical duo Rick Blackson and Mary Jo Maluso, and dinner will be served by Jorgine's Catering of Youngstown. Tickets for the 9 p.m. cabaret show cost $20 and are on sale through Tickets Unlimited at (330) 533-4611. A 6 p.m. show is already sold out. Those who wish to attend the show also must buy a First Night button.
The event also will feature a "Rock'N R'oldies" show performed by Phil Dirt and the Dozers, a band which plays rock 'n' roll from the '50s through the '90s. The band will perform at 8 and 11:15 p.m. in Canfield High School auditorium. Tickets are free and can be obtained by calling Tickets Unlimited.
Other events: Other First Night events include performances by clowns, magicians, Irish step dancers, cloggers and a harpist. Events start at 6 p.m. and are held at several locations during the night, including the Old North Church, Canfield High School and Canfield Village Middle School. Free transportation on Canfield school buses will be provided from parking lots to the venues.
Food also will be on sale at each of the locations.
Buttons are $10 for adults and free for students. Buttons are available online at www.firstnightcanfield.com or at several locations in the village, including Tickets Unlimited.