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Celebrity Server Night at Pizza Hut
By amanda tonoli
The Pizza Hut on Mahoning Avenue in Austintown hosted Celebrity Server Night on March 30.
This event was a fundraiser to support National Night Out for Austintown coming in August. Every year, National Night Out is hosted in communities nationwide by block watches and police departments on the first Tuesday in August.
Shawne Wilfong was in charge of past block watches and this year decided to fundraise by having Celebrity Server Night.
“This is the first year we are doing this,” Wilfong said. “It’s nice to support Austintown’s Night Out. We provide some little goodie bags for the kids and they just love Snow Queen.”
Celebrities present during this night were Snow Queen, Austintown Trustee Jim Davis and Deanna Hosey, owner of Something Unique Full Service Florist.
Fundraising events like this and past blockwatches help make Austintown Night Out free of charge for the families who decide to come out.
Trustee Rick Stauffer and his wife, Daneen Stauffer, came out to get pizza during Celebrity Server Night.
“It’s a great night and Austintown Night Out is a great opportunity,” Rick Stauffer said. “It’s nice to support them and raise some money for it.”
Daneen Stauffer said she didn’t only come out to help fundraise, but she also has sentimental value to this Pizza Hut.
“We love Pizza Hut food probably the first place we ever ate in Austintown,” Daneen Stauffer said.
Jim Davis stressed the importance of having an active police effort when it comes to communicating with the community.
“It’s a great event and the biggest thing we want to do is public safety,” Davis said. “For people involved like Shawne with the blockwatch it’s a total asset to the community. A lot of times people are so afraid to talk to the police or be involved or maybe say, ‘Hey I think this is wrong.’ It’s good for small events to interact and tell them it’s okay to come to us and interact with their police force. This has just been such a huge success.”