By ANDY GRAY

Staff writer

Live performances, family entertainment and fireworks are some of the things that will be a part of downtown Warren’s New Year’s Eve festivities for the first time in 20 years.

The Rotary Club of Warren is reviving Opening Night, a family-oriented New Year’s celebration that was a downtown tradition from 1988 until 2002.

“We are the Rotary Club of Warren, that’s our name,” said Patti Augustine, co-chair of the event. “We wanted to find something that would be of interest to the area we are named for, and we wanted it to be family friendly and non-alcoholic. There are not a whole lot of things for families anymore.”

Courthouse Square will serve as home base for the event. Frank DelGarbino of Leo’s Ristorante will carve a 9-foot tower and other ice sculptures that will be on display there. Ten fire pits also will be brought in to help keep folks warm while enjoying the outdoor activities, and new restaurant Downtown 124 will be giving out complimentary hot chocolate. Costumed characters from a famous frosty animated feature — some might consider them positively frozen — also will be on the grounds.

Eight satellite venues within a couple of blocks of the square also will be used for various activities.

Eric Thompson, who was a regular performer at the original Opening Night as well as downtown Youngstown’s First Night festivities, will do his mix of comedy and magic at Family Fitness Center.

“It is so much fun to do show after show after show. The audience changes, and the performer and the venue stay the same,” Thompson said. “It might sound corny, but getting to perform to a full house in my hometown, that’s a big thrill. And being able to share the joy and the laughter, it doesn’t matter where it is, it’s always fun.”

The John Reese Trio — Reese, trombone and vocals; Jack Ciarniello, piano and left-hand bass and Jim DeLadurantey, drums and vocals — will have the unique experience of performing for everybody and nobody.

The trio will be playing inside BRITE Energy Innovators. The building won’t be open to the public, but speakers will be set up in Courthouse Square so attendees can enjoy the music while outdoors.

Reese, who said he played in one of the Trumbull County Courthouse’s court rooms for the original Opening Night, promises a soundtrack that will includes everything from Dixieland jazz to contemporary music.

“We try to play music that has touched us in one way or another,” he said. “I think we play music that mostly makes people happy. It’s such a wide variety. We tried to pick the best music from different eras, from (Glenn Miller’s) ‘In the Mood’ to (Jason Mraz’s) ‘I’m Yours.'”

And while the crowd might not be able to see them, he promised everything will be live.

“No offense to the musicians who perform with tracks, which is more of a karaoke thing, but we’ve always refused to integrate that kind of technology into our music,” Reese said. “We want it to be real and live. We never use backing tracks, MIDIs or anything I would consider not there, not real. Everything is created on the spot. It may not be as layered and thick as the original, but I think we we make up for it with imagination … It sound like we’re a much larger band than we are.”

Other musical acts include Speed Limit, which plays the music of the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s, at the Warren SCOPE Center and the steel drum duo of Erin and Wilbur Krebs at First Presbyterian Church.

Augustine said she wanted to have a steel drum as part of the event because that was one of her grandchildren’s favorite attractions at the original opening night.

Performing at the Harriet Taylor Upton House will be Butter Pecan Strings, a quartet made up of musicians from the Warren Philharmonic Orchestra — Natalie Sahyoun and Julian Machala, violins; Jenna Barvitski, viola; and Nancy Thorn, cello.

“We call ourselves Butter Pecan Strings because we like our music to be buttery, but we put crunch in all the right places,” Sahyoun said.

The quartet will perform light classical repertoire but also include jazz, pop, show tunes and tangos,

“We even take requests, whatever,” Sahyoun said. “We kind of feel the room.”

Appearing at an event like Opening Night also may expose those string quartet songs to a nonclassical audience.

“Not everybody comes out to the big symphony, but they’ll definitely get a taste of it, and I hope they enjoy it,” Sahyoun said.

Attendees will be able to take tours of the historic Trumbull County Courthouse and the newly renovated City Hall building.

Cheryl Bush, marketing and public relations manager for the Warren-Trumbull County Public Library, said they will offer a wide range of activities from 7 to 9 p.m. for Opening Night participants of all ages.

“We’ll have board games set up. We’ll have kids crafts, and we will have trivia all about New Year’s Eve,” Bush said. “And there will be karaoke and gaming in Teen Central.”

For young one who may not be able to stay up late, there will be a balloon drop to ring in the new year at 8 p.m. at the library.

Even for older attendees, this year’s Opening Night will conclude with a fireworks display at 10 p.m. instead of the traditional midnight festivities. Augustine said the earlier time is more convenient for younger attendees and the early conclusion will allow adults to go from Opening Night to another New Year’s Eve party if they choose.

If you go …

WHAT: Rotary Club of Warren’s Opening Night

WHEN: 7 to 10 p.m. Dec. 31

WHERE: Courthouse Square, downtown Warren and surrounding locations.

HOW MUCH: Wristbands good for admission to all events are $10 for adults, $5 for children ages 3 to 10 and free for children 2 and younger. Wristbands can be ordered online at warren rotary.org/tickets and picked up the day of the event starting at 6 p.m. at the log cabin.