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Wickliffe Circle shines brightly on social media this year

AUSTINTOWN — The Wickliffe Circle Christmas tree-lighting ceremony is typically a grand occasion with many families in attendance.

This year, with the coronavirus surging, Austintown Township trustees and the Wickliffe Circle Christmas Committee decided to host the annual event virtually.

Joyce Pogany, committee chairwoman, reached out to the trustees to figure out a way to make the ceremony happen and, thanks to Falcon Media, the event will be aired 6:30 p.m. today on the Falcon Media YouTube Channel and for Armstrong Cable subscribers, Channel 202.

It also may be viewed on the social media pages of the Austintown trustees, Austintown Fireworks Celebration, Austintown Township Park and Austintown Trustee Jim Davis.

“This was a tradition. Being raised in Austintown, I came to it as a kid. I know what it means to the community,” Davis said.

This year marks the 34th year of the tree lighting.

“In the day and age of technology, we knew there was a way this could be pulled off, and we’re very fortunate to have Falcon Media so we could hold this virtually,” Davis said.

A typical tree-lighting ceremony at Austintown Township Fire Station 2 would give the children in attendance the opportunity to sit on Santa Claus’ lap and also to enjoy refreshments.

The event was filmed Monday night, and the trustees wanted to keep Monday’s event under wraps to discourage big crowds.

“We’ve tried to keep the ceremony quiet because we couldn’t have large crowds here, and we wanted to be able to do it safely,” Davis said.

Pogany said the event esentially will be the same — meaning there will be a short speech, a countdown and even an appearance by Santa.

“A big thank you to everyone who has supported us and the firemen, policemen, the park department and the road department for helping us pull this off,” Pogany said.

nhawthorne@tribtoday.com

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