With Elmo in the house, kids live for another Sesame Street moment

By Don Shilling

Sesame Street Live ends a four-day stay at DeYor Performing Arts Center with a lot of excitement.

YOUNGSTOWN — Who could forget seeing Elmo for the first time?

Donald Brown and Heather Gregg of Lisbon are worried that their daughter, Isabelle, might. She was only 1 year old when she saw Sesame Street Live last year, so they decided to help out her memory.

Her parents took more than 100 photos during the performance last year.

“We would hold her up so you could see the show in the background,” Brown said.

Then they bought an Elmo scrapbook for the photos, complete with stickers and cute sayings.

“Now she won’t forget it for the rest of her life,” the proud father said.

But just in case, Donald and Heather brought their 2-year-old back to DeYor Performing Arts Center on Sunday to see Sesame Street Live for a second time.

They brought their camera again and plan to make another scrapbook. And this time, they also brought Isabelle’s brother, Damen, who is only 1 and was too young last year.

“They love Elmo. They have all the DVDs,” Brown said.

Elmo and his friends have that kind of effect on people.

Shanquah Ervin, 21, of Youngstown came to the show with a blue Cookie Monster T-shirt and hat. Next to her were her cousin, Sha’ron Ervin, 21, of Youngstown, who also had a Cookie Monster shirt, and Marilyn Campbell, 24, of Youngstown, who was sporting a bright-red Elmo shirt.

“We want to support the children,” Shanquah Ervin said. “We used to come here every year when we were little.”

With them were her two children, Jordan and Jadon, and Campbell’s son, Antonio.

Elmo was the star of the show, which ran from Thursday to Sunday on the downtown stage.

“Elmo Makes Music” was about a music teacher who comes to Sesame Street, but her instruments fail to arrive. The Sesame Street residents figure out that just about anything — such as Cookie Monster’s cookie jar — can be used to make music.

Elmo was the one the children wanted to see.

“They watch Elmo DVDs around the clock,” said Sue Cobb of Alliance about her two granddaughters, Sophia, 3, and Mia, 1.

The girls’ mother, Becky Bigliotti of Salem, said she wanted to bring them but never got around to ordering tickets. On Friday, she won a radio contest and was awarded four tickets.

She had to correctly identify which TV talk show has had Elmo as a guest. Bigliotti said she had seen Rosie O’Donnell on “Sesame Street” several times, so she guessed Elmo had been on her show. She was right.

When Deborah Sees of Brookfield asked her son which character he came to see, his answer was quick.

“Elmo,” said Austin, 5.

“I took my daughter every year from age 2 to 8, and now she’s 15. This is his first time,” Sees said.

And to celebrate, Austin received an appropriate gift — an Elmo doll.

shilling@vindy.com