Christmas at the Mill continues Sunday with music, crafts, alpacas

YOUNGSTOWN

For Poland native Richard Griffin, his sister Nancy Pallazola and their spouses, a trip to Saturday’s Olde Fashioned Christmas at the Mill in Mill Creek Park was about nostalgia.

“Our dad used to bring us here as kids and take photos of everything, and I just wanted to come back,” Pallazola said as she stood looking down at the mill after her visit.

She and her husband, Victor, are from Rockport, Mass. Richard and Claire Griffin are from Alexandria, Va. “I graduated from Poland Seminary High School in 1959 and went to Miami [of Ohio] and lived all over,” Richard Griffin said.

The Griffins said they try to avoid Christmas events until after Thanksgiving, but the annual, free Lanterman’s Mill event is a nice way to start to enjoy the season.

“It’s the sights and sounds and the smells,” Claire said. “And the music,” Richard added.

The event, which continues today from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., is the “finale for the year” for the mill, said Carol Vigorito, recreation and education manager for Mill Creek Park.

It features crafts on each of the three floors of the mill, chestnuts roasting on an open fire and Christmas musical performances on two of the floors.

Of interest to many of the children was a pair of alpacas provided by Christine Blair of Leetonia, who owns the camel-looking animals at her Keeghan’s Corners farm and teaches biology in Southern School District.

Read more about the event in Sunday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.