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Tickets for toys
By Bob Jackson
YOUNGSTOWN
Joanne Wright had a look of relief on her face as she and her family walked away from the ticket window at the Covelli Centre on Saturday morning.
“We were in line for 40 minutes in the cold,” she said, smiling. “But it was worth it.”
Wright, her niece, Joy Brown, 24; nephew, Kyree Brown, 10; and great-niece Ja’Layia Brown, 2, were among nearly 200 people who showed up at the Covelli Centre to participate in the Youngstown YMCA’s holiday toy drive. Anyone who brought a new toy to the drive and donated it to the Y received a free ticket voucher to any available performance of the Disney On Ice production of “Mickey & Minnie’s Magical Journey” next month.
They also got a free ticket to Saturday night’s Youngstown Phantoms hockey game and a free guest pass to visit either of the Y’s facilities in Youngstown and Boardman, said Laura Bright, YMCA membership coordinator.
She said it was the first time the Y had conducted such an event but hopes it will become an annual holiday happening.
“Youngstown really came out big today,” Bright said. “People were so generous, coming in with more than one toy, even though they were only getting one ticket voucher, and they were bringing in some really nice toys.”
She said there was a line of people wrapped around the outside of the building when the event started at 10 a.m., and by 10:30 more than 150 vouchers had been given away. It slowed down after that, with a total of 195 vouchers given away during the two-hour event. Three hundred vouchers were available, so 105 were left over. Bright said the Y will continue the drive, probably at its downtown facility, until the remaining vouchers are gone.
Among those on-hand Saturday to turn in a toy and take away Disney tickets were Kevin and Andrea Lamb of Struthers, with their 3-year-old son, Dominic, and 7-month-old daughter, Mia. They liked the idea of donating toys in exchange for tickets.
“It’s cheaper, but it also gives back to the kids,” Kevin said. “It’s a good thing all the way around.”
Andrea Lamb’s sister, Pam Galioto, also of Struthers, said she’s excited to take her 4-year-old son, Louie, to the show.
“He really likes Disney, and he loves ‘The Lion King,’ so he’s going to love it,” said Galioto, 21.
April Bevilacqua, 33, of Atlanta, and her mother, Carlene Bevilacqua, 50, of Girard, also were among those in line. They said they’ll use their tickets to take Carlene’s granddaughters, age 9 and 11, to the ice show.
“I told her we’d have to get up early if we were going to do this,” April said, nodding toward her mom. “We weren’t sure whether we were going to do it, but I’m glad we did. It’s for a good cause.”
Mike and Michelle Phillips of Austintown said they went to Disney ice shows together even before their children were born.
“We just love Disney. We’ve always had the Disney Channel,” said Michelle, 28. The couple said the Disney shows are even more fun and special now that they have two boys: 3-year-old Mikey and 2-week-old Cohen.
“We were going to buy tickets today anyway,” Michelle said. “But when we heard about this, we thought it sounded good, so we brought some toys and gave it a shot. If we’d gotten here and the vouchers were all gone, we were still going to leave the toys and buy tickets.”
Bright said the donated toys will be given away during the Y’s annual Lunch With Santa event, which generally takes place the week before Christmas.