43
Expo champions community causes
Photo
Neighbors | Sarah Foor .Funds raised during the July 14 Senior Business Expo benefitted both the Austintown Senior Center and the Awesometown Festival. Members of the Awesometown planning committee, from left, were Mark Cole, Yalonda Stewart, Brad Bloomster, and Brian Patl. The group from Awesometown hope to expand their the event into a community support organization, starting with events like the Senior Business Expo.
Photo
Neighbors | Sarah Foor .Austintownite Paula Cipriano (right) sells luxury chocolate goods and shared many free samples during the Senior Business Expo on July 14.
Photo
Neighbors | Sarah Foor .Senior shopper Sally Zaborsky (left) made fast friends with Lisa Donnorummo, an Avon saleswoman, during the Austintown Senior Center Business Expo on July 14.
By SARAH FOOR
October 2010 was an exciting time in Austintown. The township hosted its first annual Awesometown festival and the Austintown Senior Center officially opened its doors.
Although each organization’s task differs, both aim to spread civic pride and offer a sense of community in Austintown. On July 14, the two organizations decided to join forces at the senior center for its first Senior Business Expo.
“I think the center and the festival have become really important parts of the Austintown community and I simply want to do all I can to keep them going,” explained Mark Cole, who works for American National Insurance in Austintown, and is part of the Awesometown planning committee.
Cole and his Awesometown colleagues hatched the idea for monthly business showcases at the senior center for local vendors to sell affordable food items, clothes, jewelry, hobbies, and crafts. The expo provides a place for the vendors to meet the members of the community and to network with each other.
Most importantly, each vendor’s pre-expo fee served as a fundraiser for the future of Awesometown and the work of the senior center.
“We want to transform Awesometown into more than a festival,” planning committee member Brad Bloomster explained of Awesometown’s future. “One day, we hope it will be an association others can connect into, where we will host community days, promote community causes, and really invest in the township.”
Senior center director Bill Adams hopes the center will continue to expand to meet the needs of seniors in the community, through November’s senior services levy and beyond.
“Our expo helps both organizations immediately and in the long run as well. We all plan on being a part of Austintown for a long time,” Adams added.