Warren schedules lighting of tree

There are many new facets to this year's tree lighting.
WARREN -- The annual downtown Warren Tree Lighting and Caroling on the Square is set for 5 p.m. Friday in Courthouse Square.
At 5 p.m., participants will welcome Santa Claus and light the Christmas tree in the southeast corner of Courthouse Park. Santa will arrive and children are welcome to visit with him and his elves in the Log Cabin from 5:15 to 7 p.m.
Representatives from the American Cancer Society Warren Relay for Life will then light the Flame of Hope, a symbol that commemorates the lives lost to cancer as well as those who have survived the disease, in their new Relay home, Courthouse Square.
Also new to this year's event is the Empty Bowls program. Empty Bowls is an international fund-raiser that helps to ease hunger in the world.
The concept of the Empty Bowls project is that bowls are created by local artists and then sold for $10. The funds raised are donated to an agency that works to eliminate hunger.
Bowls for the event were created by ceramics students at Warren G. Harding High School, under the direction and guidance of their teacher Dorothy Hope. Additional bowls were painted by members of the Downtown Warren Business Association. All bowls will be sold for $10 with 100 percent of the proceeds benefiting agencies that fight hunger in our local community.
Other activities
Volunteers from the Trumbull Art Gallery will offer children the opportunity to create pine cone bird feeders from 5 until 7 p.m. in Courthouse Park. A table will be set up in the park, and children are welcome to join in the activity. The Gallery at 198 East Market Street will be open until 8 p.m. with its latest exhibit, "John L. Lloyd 1884-1967, A Warren Painter."
Another new feature this year will be an interactive ice carving. Children are welcome to play on the completed large ice slide that will be created in Courthouse Park by students from Kent State University. It will take five carvers six hours to construct the 30-foot ice slide. Carvers will begin about 9 a.m.
The choir portion of the evening has been coordinated by Patricia Holt from Warren G. Harding High School. Participating choirs are Harding Acappella Choir, Howland Chamber Choir, Mathews Chorale, Poland Seminary Chamber Choir and Woodrow Wilson Chamber Choir.