Here's the scoop: Visitors enjoy treats at social event

There was plenty of ice cream, even though 1,000 extra people turned out.
By MARALINE KUBIK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Two little boys in shorts and tennis shoes raced along a perfectly manicured stretch of lawn between long beds of roses, the red and blue pinwheels in their hands spinning rapidly in the breeze.
They were among 6,000 visitors to Fellows Riverside Gardens on Sunday afternoon during an ice-cream social to celebrate Ohio's 200th birthday in the state's oldest park district.
Free ice cream -- vanilla, chocolate walnut and black raspberry -- children's crafts, clowns and jugglers, live musical performances, and lectures by local authors entertained partygoers who leisurely strolled through the magnificent gardens, many stretching out under enormous oak, maple and evergreen trees.
Lynda Couch, queen of the Hatitude Dames of Trumbull County, a chapter of the Red Hat Society, and four members of her club heard about the party and arrived just in time to enter the ladies' ice-cream-eating contest.
None of them won, but "we had a ball," Couch said. Two of her fellow club members were still finishing the vanilla ice cream with red and blue sprinkles.
"What's taking you so long?" a lady who'd already finished her ice cream asked. "I was eating to win."
A stylish sisterhood
All of the Hatitude Dames came to the party in style, decked out in colorful purple dresses or pants and bright red hats -- Couch's was the most extravagant with red boa feathers and a bouquet of red roses, purple lilacs and a gigantic butterfly. The women describe themselves as a "sisterhood of fun" who get their inspiration from a poem that discusses an old woman who casts aside the sobriety of her youth to dress in fanciful clothes that don't suit her.
Most of the other partygoers were decidedly less conspicuous.
Carol Lunger of Austintown, a retired landscape supervisor once employed by Mill Creek MetroParks, turned out to help her former employer entertain some of the youngest partygoers.
"Kids are my thing," she said as she helped a little boy put the finishing touches on his pinwheel. "This is so much fun."
The fact that she'd already helped nearly 100 children didn't dampen her spirit a bit.
"This is more than we expected. We expected 4,000 to 5,000 people," said Keith Kaiser, assistant horticulture director at Mill Creek MetroParks and co-chairman of the committee responsible for the ice-cream social.
Even so, he said, there was plenty of ice cream -- 175 gallons from Bruster's.
Attended lectures
About 150 people squeezed into lectures by Rick Shale, author of "Idora Park: The Last Ride of Summer," and Brian Butko, author of "Klondikes, Chipped Ham & amp; Skyscraper Cones: The Story of Isaly's," Kaiser said. Just as many attended a presentation on poet Emily Dickinson, "The Belle of Amherst," by Carol Weakland.
Car show
Mahoning Valley Olde Car Club displayed antique and classic cars, and about 70 volunteers greeted partygoers, gave directions, dished out ice cream and conducted contests and activities.
Ongoing and upcoming bicentennial events at the park include an old-time golf outing Aug. 6, a presentation of artifacts and site tour of the Mill Creek Furnace archaeological dig Oct. 4, theatrical presentations and exhibits.
For more information, call Mill Creek MetroParks at (330) 702-3000.
kubik@vindy.com