Event features sundry delights

A student group was on hand selling raffle tickets for hurricane relief.
By SEAN BARRON
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
BOARDMAN -- If you were looking for a place to spend $6 for your own personalized golf marker or buy a set of goose bottles, you would have done well to visit Sunday's Oktoberfest.
Thousands of people did just that, taking advantage of clear skies and unseasonable temperatures in the low 80s to attend the 28th annual Oktoberfest at Boardman Township Park.
This year's event, sponsored by the Boardman Rotary Club, featured about 310 arts and crafts vendors, compared with about 250 last year, said Joe Ignazio, president of the 130-member Rotary Club. An estimated 30,000 to 40,000 people attended the Oktoberfest, compared with about 25,000 last year, he continued.
The higher attendance may have been partly attributable to the ideal weather as well as to both the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers having Sunday off, Ignazio said.
Charitable efforts
Roughly 16 local nonprofit organizations were also set up at the festival.
One such organization, Flood Aid by Boardman Students, attracted to its tent those interested in donating to Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.
Sarah Newland, a Boardman High School senior and founder of FABBS, said that money raised for the group's first fund-raiser will go to schools in Mississippi and Louisiana devastated by the late August storm. The group is focusing on helping schools and students in St. Bernard Parish, La., one of the hardest-hit areas, Newland said.
"We're raising as much money as possible by Thanksgiving to rebuild the educational systems of Mississippi and Louisiana," she said, adding that the group had sold about $1,000 worth of raffle tickets by midafternoon.
FABBS has raised an additional $700 from Boardman High students and teachers, and 21 student clubs also are donating money, Newland added.
Newland praised those who have helped FABBS. She said she started the group because she "couldn't imagine not being able to graduate in my own school or know where my friends are."
The Boardman student group also is sponsoring a Sing 4 Schools, Rock Out Katrina! fund-raiser that will feature seven or eight bands. The event is set for noon to 2 a.m. Nov. 5 at Jillian's Entertainment in the Southern Park Mall.
Proceeds from the Oktoberfest also are assisting with relief efforts in the South. The Boardman Rotary Club is part of a 10-county district totaling 47 clubs, and the district has sent about $30,000 to the hurricane areas, Ignazio noted.
Entertaining highlights
Shopping for antiques and numerous other items was plentiful, as there was the usual plethora of tents lining either side of the park's entrance. Among the merchandise were various Christmas and other antiques, crafts, jewelry, potholders, pillows and candles.
Toward the back of the festival was a tent selling goose bottles, which are flattened vodka bottles that have been melted. They can be used as cheese trays, appetizer trays or change holders.
Some people who wished to be entertained or take a break from shopping found sitting near the Maag Outdoor Arts Theatre to be relaxing. There, they enjoyed hearing "Come Rain or Come Shine" and other standards performed by members of the Youngstown City Schools' Youngstown Connection, dressed in their customary red, black and white outfits.
Kids got to enjoy face-painting, clowns and a puppet show.