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First acts to take TownCenter stage

View from stage right of the newly completed stage at TownCenter at Firestone Farms in Columbiana. (Submitted photo)

COLUMBIANA — A new stage at the TownCenter is ready for its first musical acts this weekend.

Jimmy and the Soul Blazers of Alliance, The Sums Divide of Youngstown, Brent Bregar, and the John Reese Project will take the stage Friday and Saturday as part of Summerfest, a new event organized by Firestone Homestead LLC.

Tom Mackall, head of Firestone Homestead LLC, said the free event is geared toward family-friendly fun and entertainment.

In addition to the live music, the event will also include food vendors, a beer truck, and a bounce house and kid-friendly games.

“We are just trying to make it a fun, family-friendly place to be,” he said.

The event begins Friday from 5 to 10 p.m. and will continue on Saturday from noon to 10 p.m., rain or shine.

Mackall said all proceeds from the beer truck will go toward the major renovation project at Firestone Park that is being spear-headed by the city’s Restoration and Beautification Committee (R&B).

The committee is working on improving upon the existing park, with the multi-million-dollar project consisting of the additions of new restroom facilities, new traffic routing and parking, pedestrian walkways, a dog park, community center and amphitheater, among other things.

The project is being funded through public and private donations and completed in phases as money is available.

“We are going to try to help raise money,” Mackall said, adding that committee members will also be helping out at the Summerfest event.

Mackall also said that the recently completed stage will be incorporated into a replica of the original Harvey S. Firestone home.

He said the original house and barn were moved to Greenfield Village in the early 1980s to become part of the Henry Ford Museum complex since few people were getting a chance to see it in Columbiana.

The museum features actors who “work” the Firestone farm as though it was still 1890, and museum visitors can go around and talk to them as they work, he explained.

“It’s really nice what they do up there,” he said. “We are trying to at least make a replica of it, and it is going to be part of our complex near the clock tower.

He said the house will function as both the front of another building eventually and the front porch of the home will also serve as the back of the stage.

Although the stage is completed, the house won’t be done for another few months, he added.

Jimmy and the Soul Blazers are set to play Friday night on the new stage, with The Sums Divide scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday, Brent Bregar at 4 p.m., and the John Reese Project at 7 p.m.

Mackall said additional events are already in motion for the TownCenter complex, including the Columbiana Area Chamber of Commerce wine tasting event July 21 and 22 at 5 p.m.

“We are going to have events as the summer goes on,” he said.

kwhite@mojonews.com

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