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Oktoberfestival rolls out good buys, great fun
By ELISE McKEOWN SKOLNICK
BOARDMAN
Vendors and customers packed Boardman Park for the Boardman Rotary’s 39th annual Oktoberfestival.
About 150 vendors offered a variety of items for sale at the event Sunday. Included were fall and Christmas decor, jewelry, children’s clothing, doll clothes, soaps, and lotions. Food stands sold lemon shake-ups, gyros, corn dogs, and more.
Buses shuttled customers back and forth from the Heart Center on Southern Boulevard to the park, and Rotary volunteers handed out bright orange bags for customers to carry home their purchases.
Michele Neuroh and her daughter, Cara Neuroh, of Boardman, attend every year.
“We like to come out for the Halloween decorations,” Michele said. “I’m a big Halloween fan.”
She decorates their lawn with fake tombstones every year, creating a cemetery.
“She keeps buying like five of them each year,” Cara,11, said.
Michele said she finds decorations at the festival she can’t find other places.
Cara isn’t looking for a particular item when she attends, however.
“I just like everything here,” she said.
This year, she purchased handmade hair ties.
Cara’s also a crafter, and sometimes gets ideas at the event.
The event is the biggest fundraiser of the year for Boardman Rotary, said co-chairman Josh Aikens.
Between 12,000 and 14,000 people attend every year. About $40,000 to $50,000 is raised through the event.
“We donate it right back to the community,” Aikens said. “It’s just an opportunity to improve the lives of others.”
With the funds, the Rotary helps Easter Seals, Camp Stambaugh for Boy Scouts, Project Warm that collects coats for kids, the Youngstown Hearing Foundation and more.
New to Oktoberfestival this year was a kids’ zone, sponsored by the YMCA. It included an inflatable slide, face painting, crafts and prizes.
“We wanted to make it more of a family event,” said Jill Cox, co-chairwoman of the festival.
Vendor spaces were sold out this year. Aikens said they have about a 90 percent return rate.
“They do very well,” at the event, he said.
Sarah Moynihan and Deanna Guerrieri, owners of My Beverly Jewelry of Youngstown, participated as vendors for the first time.
They sell handmade rings, bracelets and necklaces. The jewelry incorporates flowers the pair grow and press themselves.
“We’re having a great day, so we’re pretty happy,” Moynihan said.
Fellow vendors told them it was a great event.
“So we decided to give it a try,” she said.
They participate in 30 to 50 shows a year. They plan to take part in Oktoberfestival again next year.