Valley celebrities will judge pizza challenge

Staff report

LIBERTY

Personalities from the sports, entertainment and education fields will decide the best pizza in the Mahoning Valley from among 19 eateries at Warren Rotary’s annual Slice of the Valley Pizza Challenge on Feb. 25 at the Metroplex Expo Center, 1620 Motor Inn Drive (off Belmont Avenue).

Celebrity judges will include boxing legend Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini; former Cleveland Browns great Hanford Dixon; Jim Tressel, Youngstown State University president and former Ohio State and YSU football coach; guitarist and singer Dennis Drummond of Warren, who appeared on NBC’s “The Voice”; Justine Thomas, Hot 101 personality; and Dan Rivers, Newsradio WKBN talk show host.

Vying for best pizza accolades are: Amen Corner, Belleria, Brothers Restaurant, Buena Vista Cafe, Cocca’s, Melillo’s Station Grille, Marco’s, Little Caesar’s, Iannazone’s, Domino’s, Pizza Hut, Pizza Joe’s, Primanti Bros., Russo’s, St. Anthony’s Brier Hill, Sunrise, Tiger Den, Uptown and Wedgewood.

The event runs from 4 to 7 p.m. and includes a silent auction and a 50/50 raffle. Admission is $10 ($5 for children 6 and under). Beverages and desserts by Mocha House will be sold.

Bo Wagner (as Frank Sinatra) and his orchestra will entertain, and Deneen Penn, Miss Ohio USA 2018, will be the special guest.

Proceeds will go to Trumbull Mobile Meals, Warren Family Mission, Salvation Army of Warren, Rotary Foundation and Courthouse Square Fountain Restoration Project. For information, go to SliceOfTheValley.com.