43
Olde-Fashioned Christmas at Mill draws hundreds, continues at 11 today
YOUNGSTOWN
Visitors to the Olde-Fashioned Christmas at the Mill in Mill Creek MetroParks came by the hundreds Saturday to continue or start a family tradition and kick off the Christmas season by enjoying chestnuts roasted on an open fire.
And today, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., hundreds more are expected to do the same and see Lanterman’s Mill decorated in its holiday finery, watch artisans demonstrate old-fashioned crafts and for the very young, sit on Santa’s knee and make a Christmas wish.
“This kind of starts the Christmas season for us,” said Christina Scullen of Campbell, who took in the festivities with Telly Dutton of Austintown and Isabel and Savanah Dutton, 11 and 14 respectively, who were taking shelter and pictures on the covered bridge with the falls as background.
“We’ve been doing this about seven years, and every year we take pictures,” Scullen said.
Among Saturday’s visitors were Jeff Turnbull and his wife, Luisa, of Spring Grove, Ill., near Chicago.
Jeff, formerly of North Lima, was home for the holidays to visit family and friends. Along with them at Lanterman’s Mill were Jeff’s brother Vince Turnbull and his wife, Tina, of North Lima.
Luisa, for whom it was a first visit to the event, said she thought it was wet and cold, but “it’s pretty and it gets you in the mood for Christmas.”
David and Bethany Post and their adult children, Dave and Regina, who have lived in the area a little more than two years, were first-time visitors.
“This was really nice ... greater than we expected,” said David, an Air Force colonel who is commander of the 910th Airlift Wing’s Maintenance Group.
The younger David is a second lieutenant in the Air Force and is training in Pensacola, Fla., to be a navigator.
Regina, a recent voice-performance graduate of Bowling Green State University, is performing the role of Betty Haynes in Crown Theater Productions’ version of “White Christmas” on Friday, Saturday, next Sunday and Dec. 11-13 at the Main Street Theater in Columbiana.
The Olde-Fashioned Christmas event has been making peoples’ Christmas for more than 25 years since the Mill was renovated, said Carol Vigorito, Mill Creek MetroParks recreation and education manager.
There is something for everyone, including vendors who sell handmade crafts and artisans who demonstrate tinsmith work and pine-cone art, Vigorito said.
Among people displaying their wares are Bob Barko Jr., graphic artist and owner of Steel Town Studios in Youngstown, who focuses on Youngstown pop culture such as Idora Park and Mill Creek MetroParks.
Also on hand is Mark Pringle of Girard, known for his ’50s Elvis Tribute Show, who plays bagpipe at the Mill event.
Vigorito said there is a giving tree on which visitors can hang gloves, hats and scarves that will be distributed to needy families by the Mahoning County Educational Service Center’s Help Me Grow program.
She said people also enjoy the great decorations in and out of the mill, the work of the park staff and a small army of volunteers, which set the Christmas theme.