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Ice skate at the Chevy on the last night of year
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First Night button
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First Night button
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First Night button
YOUNGSTOWN — What better way to ring in the new year than with whips?
The whip-cracking Black Lightning Wild West show will be one of the new acts at First Night Youngstown, the entertainment-oriented family event held at various downtown locations on New Year’s Eve.
First Nights will also be held in Canfield and Salem.
Black Lightning, a throwback to the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show, includes precision whip cracking by the two-person act. They’ll perform tricks like snapping a coin-sized target out of a person’s fingers.
Black Lightning is comprised of Richard and Donna Best, who hail from the Wild West outpost of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.
Also new this year is public ice skating at Chevrolet Centre from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
“We’ve always wanted to bring the Chevy Centre in to First Night, and this is the first year,” said Bob Barko, president of First Night Youngstown.
The old Phar-Mor Building, now know as 20 Federal Place, will be one of the venues for live music. It will host Eddie Vallus Band and the Classic Cruisers. Rock bands Pete Drivere and the Pretty Demons, The Zou and Jones for Revival will be in the Davis Building, next to the Draught House, while Davis and McKay and a Roy Orbison imitator will be in the Ross Radio building on Federal Street.
CANFIELD
In Canfield, the First Night lineup is anchored by dinner cabaret shows. At A La Cart Catering, Ross and Jennifer Cutchlow will do 90-minute shows at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.; and at the Methodist church, Elysia Shutrump and Mark Christine will perform at the same times. Tickets are $27.50 and include a First Night button and dinner.
Beautiful music will ring out at the Lord of Life Sanctuary with performances by the Wade Riordan Singers, pianist Kathryn Miller, Celtic soprano Colleen Harris, and harpist Kirk Kupensky.
Country band Get Out and Push will play at the high school, where ice sculpting will be demonstrated. Magician John Steven Bloom will do his act for two hours at the school.
For teens, local rock bands Soul Kitty, Last View, Aldous, Made In Canada and Signal the Verses will perform most of the evening at Presbyterian Hall.
Canfield native J.D. Eicher, an excellent singer-songwriter, and his band, the Goodnights, are at Old North Church’s Family Life Center at 9 p.m.
Canfield High School will be the place to be from 11 p.m. until the bonfire, ball drop and fireworks at midnight as there will be children’s entertainment, and entertainment for tweeners and teens.
Continuous free shuttle buses will run between all venues all evening.
SALEM
Salem’s First Night celebration includes the Cavalcade of Stars Radio Reality Review from 6-11 p.m. at Kent State-City Center. Patsy Cline will be portrayed by Dottie Aiken Reynolds. Other acts include the Wolfman-Buddy Holly-Richie Valens show; members of Randy and the Renegades; and Beatles tribute band Abbey Road.
Also scheduled to perform at other venues are country band After Midnight; musical theater entertainer Ali Cleland; Stage Left Youth Players, who will stage excerpts from “Hello Dolly!”; one-man band Stormn’ Normn; and children’s entertainer Tom Phoolery.