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OH WOW!
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Mary Gomez, 10, of Canfi eld, left, and her cousin, Heidi Bartels, 4, of Salem, experience hurricane-force winds in a wind tunnel at OH WOW! The Roger & Gloria Jones Children’s Center for Science and Technology on West Federal Street downtown. The center, along with the Youngstown Business Incubator, hosted an inaugural Y-Town Tech Tour on Monday.
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Tayyib Gill, 5, of Columbus, checks out an exhibit at OH WOW!, 11 W. Federal St., which opened in downtown Youngstown in May and showcases many science and technology features. He took part in the tour. Offi cials expect it to become an annual event.
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Katie Toepfer, 6, of Howland, tries to place a plastic ball on a stream of water at OH WOW! She was one of more than 150 visitors to the children’s science center and Youngstown Business Incubator during the first Y-Town Tech Tour on Monday.
By Karl Henkel
YOUNGSTOWN
As the ageless poem, “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” reads, “not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.”
The day after Christmas, however, was a much different story.
Children of all ages were packed inside OH WOW! The Roger & Gloria Jones Children’s Center for Science and Technology downtown Monday.
The center, along with the Youngstown Business Incubator, both opened their doors for some post-Christmas action as part of the inaugural Y-Town Tech Tour.
If Monday was any indication, there will be a second annual event one year from now.
“We’re quite certain it will become an annual event,” said Suzanne Barbati, executive director of the center, who said about 150 guests visited OH WOW!, many of them who took advantage of periodic tours.
“It exceeded our expectations.
“We thought we’d be busy, but I didn’t think we’d have that many people coming in for the event.”
For some parents, it was a chance to get the kids out of the house.
“I promised the kids a trip to OH WOW!,” said Lorraine Caldwell, who took her six grandchildren to the center. “I think this is something they’ll always remember.”
Two of her granddaughters, Mary Gomez, 10, of Canfield, and Heidi Bartels, 4, of Salem, enjoyed a few minutes in a wind tunnel.
Mary’s mother, Debbie Gomez, said it also was an opportunity for a unique learning experience over the holiday break.
“We just wanted them to experience something different out of the classroom,” she said.
Barbati said visitors arrived as soon as the center opened late morning.
Even as the center prepared to close late Monday afternoon, about 25 children were still busy experiencing OH WOW!’s many offerings.
“It’s a promising sign,” Barbati said of the day-after-Christmas-day crowd. “Some of us were talking today about how over the last 30 years, many of us have minimized the possibilities of Youngstown.
“The energy is changing. People are seeing Youngstown as a valuable commodity,” she added.