Poland Community Briefs

Western Reserve Knitting Guild to meet

The Western Reserve Knitting Guild will host a members and guest cookie exchange at the Austintown library community room on Dec. 6 from 1-4 p.m. Members and guests are asked to bring four dozen or more cookies to exchange. You will leave the event with the same amount of cookies you bring, but in a different variety. A program on knitting around a glass ornament by B’ewe’tiful Knits from Clarion, Pa. will be presented. Bring sock/fingering weight yarn, size 2 double pointed needles, beading needles and 6 mm beads. The glass ornament ball will be provided. You do not have to participate in both events. Register for this event at the guild’s email address no later than Dec. 2. Non-members and guests are welcome to join them, but there will be a $10 fee for the ornament program and you are to also bring your own supplies as listed. The library is not sponsoring or participating in this event. For more information on this event, joining the Western Reserve Knitting Guild or donating yarn for charity work, contact the organization at wrkg.ohio@gmail.com.

Children’s book drive

Bring in three once-read children’s books to the Friends Bookstore, located in the Poland library on Dec. 5 from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. and receive a voucher to Disney on Ice.

Man Up Mahoning Valley Offers Prostate Exams

Man Up Mahoning Valley, NEO Urology, Mercy Health Foundation Mahoning Valley and Mt. Calvary Pentecostal Church will provide free prostate cancer screenings Dec. 1 for men 40-years-old and older. Screenings consist of a digital rectal exam and prostate specific antigen (PSA) blood draw and will take place 5-7 p.m. at Mt. Calvary Pentecostal Church, located at 1812 Oak Hill Ave. Dinner will be provided to all men taking part. This event is open to the public but registration is required. To register, call 330-480-3181.

Chili cook off

The Youngstown Shrine Club will be hosting its annual Ray Dudik Memorial Chili Cook-off on Nov. 28. This indoor event will be before and during the Ohio State against Michigan college football game. The public is invited to this event in the club’s indoor hall at 1735 W. South Range Road (Route #165) in North Lima. There will be door prizes, food (Chili recipes for the tasting and judging), refreshments, fun and of course the best football rivalry in the country - OSU vs. UM. You are encouraged to bring your favorite chili recipe for tasting and judging. Tickets are only $25 and can be purchased at the door or in advance from Jim Hazlett, 330-533-1847. Doors open two hours before kickoff.

Friends of the Poland library to meet

The Friends of the Poland Library will meet on Dec. 1. Coffee and refreshments will be at 9:30 a.m. with the program and meeting to follow. The program will be given by Jessica Trickett and her topic will be “Holiday Fashions of Mid 19th Century to the present time.” Hostesses will be Kitty Heineman, Peg Shirey and Ann Trefethern. Donations of books, magazines, CD’s and DVD’s are accepted at each meeting for the Poland Friends of the Library book cart. The public is welcome. Dues are $10 yearly and new members are welcome.

Doctor Who and Sherlock Program – WhoLock

Calling all Whovians and Sherlockians: come celebrate Christmas like a “Doctor” at the Poland library at 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 17 - make sure your holidays are “Sherlocked.” This program is for anyone who has ever wanted to visit 221B Baker Street or take a ride in the TARDIS. There will be themed crafts, activities, games and prizes. This event is for teens and adults only.

Carlozzi Financial Services hosts sixth Annual Funds and Food Drive

Carlozzi Financial Services is helping local families in need this holiday season. The public is invited to join Carlozzi Financial Services and their clients to give a monetary donation or a non-perishable food item to Second Harvest Food Bank. Monetary donations or non-perishable food items can be dropped off at Carlozzi Financial Services, located at 831 Southwestern Run, Suite 1, in Poland. For more information, visit www.CarlozziFinancialServices.com.

Launchpad learning tablets for children

The Library is now offering Playaway Launchpad learning tablets for children. They are currently available for checkout by checkout on Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County adult full-service library cards at Main library and the Austintown, Boardman, Newport and Poland branches. Playaway Launchpads are designed just for children and are pre-loaded with high-quality, ad-free apps that are both fun and educational. For more information, visit www.libraryvisit.org.

Downloadable magazines and newspapers

Magazines and newspapers are now available on the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County website through the Digital Catalog and Download Center powered by Overdrive. The magazines and newspapers are available for digital checkout and can be read on a Nook or Nook app on smartphones and tablets. Magazines from Zinio are no longer available through the library. For more information, visit www.libraryvisit.org.

Library closings for the holiday season

All libraries in the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County system will be closed on the following dates for the holidays: Dec. 24 and 25, Dec. 31 and Jan. 1.

YWCA of Youngstown receives grant from Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley

YWCA of Youngstown received a $6,500 Ohio Benefit Bank Tax Assistance Capacity Building Grant from Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley. The grant will allow the YWCA to continue assisting members of the community with free filing of income tax returns and other benefits. In 2015, the YWCA has assisted 146 clients through the Ohio Benefit Bank.

The Bistro at Mahoning County Career and Technical Center open to the public

Student-operated restaurant, The Bistro at Mahoning County Career Technical Center, is open for lunch hours to the public. The Bistro will be open Tuesdays-Thursdays from 10:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. for dine-in or carry out through the winter. The Bistro is run by students enrolled in the Culinary Arts Program at the Mahoning County Career and Technical Center. This gives students the chance to gain experience in all facets of working in the restaurant industry, from working as kitchen staff, line cooks and the Sous Chef to waiting tables and hosting. The Bistro schedule is as follows: Dec. 1-3, 8-10; Jan. 5-7, 13, 14, 20, 21. The restaurant will also be open in February and March with dates being announced soon. Call the restaurant for more information or to make a reservation.

Giant Eagle Foundation awards grant to Second Harvest Food Bank

The Giant Eagle Foundation awarded Second Harvest Food Bank $10,000 to be used to help feed families in Columbiana, Mahoning and Trumbull counties.

Summer Kent State graduates

Kent State University awarded nearly 1,700 degrees, with more than 350 accompanying institutional honors, and including 833 bachelor’s degrees, 414 master’s degrees, 65 doctoral degrees, 344 associate degrees and 16 educational specialist degrees during during the 2015 Summer Commencement ceremony. Local graduates include Gina Burns with an Associate of Arts; Joseph Diorio with a Master of Public Health from the College of Public Health; Sarah Dwinnells with a Master of Arts from the College of Education, Health and Human Services; John Hoffman with a Doctor of Philosophy from the College of Arts and Sciences; and Maeson Latsko with a Master of Arts from the College of Arts and Sciences.

Trim a tree for November

Stop in during regular library hours in November to decorate an ornament for the Poland library’s all-seasons tree.

Gamblers Anonymous meetings

Gamblers Anonymous, a 12-Step fellowship of compulsive gamblers who want to recover from their gambling addictions, will meet twice this week in the Youngstown-Warren area. A Gamblers Anonymous meeting takes place every Friday at Westminster Church, located at 119 Stadium Drive in Boardman, and another takes place every Sunday at Christ Church Presbyterian, located at 3425 Hopkins Road in Cornersburg. Both meetings begin promptly at 7:30 p.m. and last about one and a half hours. Those who believe gambling has affected any part of their lives are urged to attend.

14th International Exhibition of Botanical Art and Illustration

The Hunt Institute of Pittsburgh brings the work of 35 botanical documentation artists from around the world to the Weller Gallery at Fellows Riverside Garden. The exhibit will run through Jan. 10 from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.

Bits and Pieces of Our History

Through December, the Melnick Museum at Fellows Riverside Gardens will showcase the Bits and Pieces of Our History exhibit, which takes a look at the very early years of Mill Creek Park. The exhibit is open from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.

Bits and pieces of Mill Creek Park

Now though December 2015, visit the exhibit at Fellows Riverside Gardens-Melnick Museum that takes a look at the very early years of Mill Creek Park. The exhibit is open every day from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.