WELLSVILLE — Jenna Stoddard and Valerie Reese, teachers, Wellsville Village Schools who have recently taken over as co-organizers for the annual Wellsville Back to School Bash have hopes to expand on the annual event and make it bigger.

Stoddard and Reese were asked to take on the role of organizers after the recent resignation of Ruthann Hall from the district. Hall had previously organized the event for a number of years.

One of the major changes made by Stoddard and Reese to the bash is the location. Instead of being held at the Jr. Sr. High School parking lot where it had previously been held, this year the event will be held at Nicholson Stadium, 1806 Danbury Ave., Wellsville.

Stoddard said the change made sense since it will provide more space and put main events together in the same location. Now families won’t have to go from the high school to the stadium for Meet the Tigers which is now a part of the annual bash instead of a separate event.

“Val (Reese) and I thought we need to combine these two to make a bigger event and see just how big we can make it,” Stoddard said. “Our goal is to maybe make it bigger and better every single year, so one of those things was combining Meet the Tigers with the bash and hosting it at the football field to give us some more space and different options that having it at the high school parking lot doesn’t afford.”

New activities have been added as well

Upon arrival to the bash, families will sign in and get tickets for things there.

There will be raffle baskets donated by businesses in the community to which Stoddard wishes to express her appreciation.

There will be water, hot dogs and ice cream provided free of charge. Kathy’s Little Kitchen food truck will be at the event for those wishing to purchase food.

The ice cream is being donated by Roberts Funeral Home.

“That is something we are kind of dabbling in. Could this be something that we kind of go in that direction where we make this an even bigger event where we offer different food trucks who maybe give a portion of what they earn or maybe pay a flat fee to be at the event,” Stoddard said. “We are doing one food truck this time just to see how the families respond to that.”

There will also be free haircuts for students. Haircuts will be done by Isaiah Greathouse. There was a second person scheduled to do hair cuts who had to back out so now Stoddard is hunting for and hoping to find a second person who can do haircuts at the bash, because she isn’t sure one person will be enough.

Wellsville police and fire departments will be at the event along with staff from the library.

Audrey Dimmerling from Columbiana County 4-H will have small animals there that children can pet.

The Wellsville Cheerleaders will have a spirit stand where they will be giving temporary tattoos and hair tinsel.

There will be a DJ to provide music during the bash.

Stoddard said thanks to donations from The Teachers Union, The Elks, and The Eagles the bash will also have several bounce houses at the events.

The Teachers Union will be handing out free water bottles.

The Living Well Church will be handing out snacks and information on their programs.

The Soldiers Samaritan, a non-profit organization from Columbiana will be giving away free backpacks.

Staff from the district will be on hand to help families finalize any of the online forms and staff from the cafeteria to help families set up cafeteria accounts so they don’t have to send students to school with cash for the cafeteria.

The Columbiana County Health Department Mental Health and Recovery Services (MHRC) Board will be at the event handing out hygiene bags for older students. The Education Service Center (ESC) of Columbiana County will be handing items out also and Kohler Dental Associates will be handing out dental hygiene items.

East Liverpool City Hospital will be handing out hygiene bags for younger kids and offering health screenings. Aspire will be there to hand out mental health information.

Athletic passes and senior citizen passes will be available at the Bash and the passes will be good for all high school and jr. high events.

The Wellsville Back to School Bash will be held at Nicholson Stadium on Aug. 14 from 5 to 8 p.m., with Meet the Tigers taking place at 7:30 p.m. with a debut from the band for the first time this year.

Stoddard and Reese would like to say thank you to all those who donated time, money or supplies to make this event happen.

Stoddard said she is hopeful to continue making the bash bigger and better with more community involvement each year.