Downtown Youngstown festive with parade, tree lighting

YOUNGSTOWN — The Christmas tree in Central Square blinked to life to the delight of onlookers this evening, the centerpiece of a number of holiday events

across downtown.

The city, in cooperation with Youngstown CityScape and several downtown businesses, organized a number of events, including a parade.

The parade – featuring 10 floats and dozens of organizations marching down Federal Street – stepped off at 6 p.m. An all-ages crowd, including many families, gathered along the parade route to cheer on the participants and collect candy thrown from the floats.

Erin and Eric Sardich of Youngstown were among the crowd, as were their two children, Sam, 5, and Michael, 3.

Erin said they take family outings to downtown events “all the time.” Her husband said those who avoided downtown due to long-held stigmas surrounding the city were “missing out.”

“We didn’t have anything like this down here when I was growing up,” Eric said. “It’s great getting to come downtown now and do something like this and show pride in the community.”

For the complete story, read Saturday's Vindicator and Vindy.com