First Night Youngstown is seeking volunteers

First Night Youngstown is seeking volunteers

YOUNGSTOWN — First Night Youngstown is seeking volunteers for the annual New Year’s Eve celebration of arts and entertainment in downtown Youngstown. The event runs from 6 p.m. to midnight.

Volunteers are asked to work a three-hour shift and in return will receive an admission button for the rest of the evening’s activities.

Interested people, as well as school groups and other organizations, can attend an orientation meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the City Centre One Building, lower level, 100 E. Federal St., downtown (next to the YMCA building). Past participants are encouraged to attend. Interested people who cannot attend the meeting can call (330) 744-9966.

For more information, go to firstnight-youngstown.org.

Comedy show to benefit Africa-bound students

YOUNGSTOWN — Laughrica, a show featuring sketch and stand-up comedy, will be at 8 p.m. Friday at the Oakland Center for the Arts, 220 W. Boardman St., downtown.

Admission is $10.

The cast of local comedians includes Matt Liller, Terri Liller, Dave Biscella, Jim Cibella, Jason Delfosse, Shane Herman, Dan Nelson, Jason Howell and Mike Wypasek. Two musical acts — Groove Conductor and singer-songwriter Brian Johnson — will also perform.

The show will raise funds for two Youngstown State University students who are going on a humanitarian mission to Africa: Terri Liller of Boardman and Ginny Naples of Canfield. Both are master’s-level students in the social work program at YSU. Liller and Naples will travel with a group of doctors and nurses to the Nigerian village of Dikenafai from Jan. 2-17 to establish a medical clinic and give vaccinations.

If the comedy show raises more than the amount needed for the trip, the surplus will be used to buy paperback books and other goods for the children of Nigeria.

SMARTS store offers handmade art, gifts

YOUNGSTOWN — The SMARTS Store, 258 W. Federal St., downtown, will be open from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday with a selection of handmade gifts priced from $1 to $700. Jewelry, cards, novelties, sculptures, handmade books, CDs and limited-edition works of art including pottery, prints and paintings will be available. The gifts were created by dozens of local, regional and national artists. Featured will SMARTS signature line of bottle-cap necklaces, magnets and key chains. Holiday greeting cards will be available in packs of six for $5 or two packs for $8. SMARTS (Students Motivated by the Arts) is a program affiliated with Youngstown State University that promotes the arts in city schools. It is in the DeYor Performing Arts Center (second floor).

Call (330) 941-2787.

Christmas show offers live music and theater

NILES — The Fourth Wall Players and Sounds of Square County ladies’ barbershop chorus will present “A Christmas to Remember” at 8 p.m. Friday at First United Methodist Church, 608 N. Crandon Ave. The event will feature music from both groups and a theater adaptation of Max Lucado’s “Cosmic Christmas.” Admission is $5 ($3 with a new unwrapped toy to be donated to the Warren Family Mission; free for children 5 and under).

String quartet at park

BOARDMAN — The Elegant String Quartet will give a free Christmas concert at St. James Meeting House in Boardman Park at 5 p.m. Saturday.

The historical church building has been decorated for Christmas by the Holborn Herb Growers Guild.