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Teens celebrate ‘The Hunger Games: Catching Fire’
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Candice Kraykovich (left) and Maddie Impton, both of Canfield, decorated cookies at Peeta’s Bakery during the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County TeenXTreme’s ‘The Hunger Games: Catching Fire’ event at the Poland library Nov. 14.
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Teens created costumes and dressed a model during the tribute costume contest at the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County TeenXTreme’s ‘The Hunger Games: Catching Fire’ event at the Poland Library Nov. 14.
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Megan Banks of Boardman got into the spirit of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County TeenXTreme’s ‘The Hunger Games: Catching Fire’ event by dressing like the character Katniss Everdeen. Joining Banks at the Poland Library is a mannequin of the Caesar character from the movies.
By ABBY SLANKER
Teens from around the area were invited by the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County to celebrate the release of ‘The Hunger Games: Catching Fire’ in the meeting room of the Poland Library Nov. 14. The event, sponsored by TeenXTreme, transformed the room into ‘The Hunger Games’ arena to celebrate the release of the second movie in the trilogy based on the popular series by novelist Suzanne Collins.
The arena, complete with the cornucopia in the middle, was created for a game which included ‘tributes’ from each District competing to be the last ‘tribute’ standing.
As teens entered the room, they were randomly assigned a District number to be used for the game and for the tribute costume contest.
For the tribute costume contest, the 35 teens were split into their districts and chose a designer and a model. The designer then was able to choose materials from a table full of material, tule, yarn, toilet paper, tape, ribbons, belts, feathers and much more. All materials were donated by library employees.
Working against the clock, the teens worked on creating an outfit for their model. When time was up, each model paraded to the front of the room, under the watchful eye of Caesar, a mannequin modeled after the character from the movies.
Judges included TeenXTreme advisors and library employees who conferred and came up with Michael Vargo from District Seven as the winner.
“We like to tie programs to things that have to do with reading. Since ‘The Hunger Games’ trilogy is so popular, we went with this one. The books are still very popular and lots of people are still reading them,” said Cindy Beach, TeenXTreme co-coordinator.
During the event, teens could also decorate cookies at Peeta’s Bakery, make Mockingjay necklaces and enjoyed pizza, chips and snacks.
Teens also got to take a whack at a Tracker Jacker pi ±ata, which was made by a librarian. A raffle was also offered with prizes such as movie posters, DVDs of ‘The Hunger Games’ and trilogies of ‘The Hunger Games’ books.
Several members of the Teen Advisory Board were also on hand to help with the event. TAB members volunteer their time and help decide the programs TeenXTreme offers.