The Downtown Akron Partnership has unveiled the First Night Akron 2012 artwork that thousands of revelers will wear as their admission button to the event on New Year's Eve.

The First Night Akron 2012 button artist, chosen by a committee of previous button artists, is Donald E. Peoples, a graphic designer, cartoonist and photographer. Peoples works as a graphic artist for the Akron-Summit County Public Library, is a National Cartoonists Society member and is also a founding Board of Directors member of the ToonSeum, a museum of cartoon art in Pittsburgh.

"I wanted to show a variety of people and the events they enjoy. Not only are my New Year's Eve revelers having fun, but they also illustrate that Downtown Akron is an active district throughout the year," said Peoples, who also has trained as a citizen journalist through the Akron Digital Media Center and is an Akronist contributor.

Hundreds will gather Dec. 5 6 to 7:15 p.m. in the Atrium of the Ocasek Building in Akron to remember their loved ones this holiday season at the Victim Assistance Program's Annual Angel Tree Ceremony and Homicide Memorial Service. The event is free and open to the public.

The loved ones of family members are not forgotten, according to the Victim Assistance Program, which supplies the victim angels for family members to place on the Angel Trees. Friends and family are encouraged to participate in the ceremony by reading their Angel’s name and then hanging their angel on the tree.

Five-year-old Makayla Corrigan giggles, and a camera flash lights up the room. “No smiling!” the photographer teases. “And definitely don’t laugh at me!”

She laughs louder, and he snaps picture after picture of her in various poses: a silly one with her tongue sticking out, a sweet one kissing her dad’s cheek, and a more reflective one with her hand under her chin. Behind her, an IV pole stands forgotten as Makayla checks out her blue eye shadow in the mirror. She may be battling leukemia, but for this half an hour, she feels like a princess.

That’s the purpose of Flashes of Hope, a nonprofit organization that provides free professional photo shoots for children with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses.

As the snowflakes begin to fall this winter, most of us will be blessed enough to have a roof over our head, sip a nice cup of hot cocoa if we'd like and even sit by a warm fireplace. For others, this won't an option. Instead of celebrating, they will worry where their next meal will come from and if they will stay warm enough and even make it through the winter.

Thanks to a local homeless shelter, The Haven of Rest, a huge burden is lifted off of the homeless.

The Haven of Rest began in 1943, as The Rev. and Mrs. Charles C. Thomas's burden for the poor led them to open their hearts and welcome the homeless to stay in their own home. Starting out as a small storefront rescue mission, it has blossomed into the largest homeless center in the Summit-Portage-Medina-Stark-Tuscarawas-Wayne-Holmes county area --- and a valuable asset to our community. This year they will celebrate 68 years of ministry.

Alec wants to travel the world. Devon is good at memory games. Heaven watches “Degrassi” and likes fashion. These are just three profiles out of more than 60 featured on the Summit County Children Services website.

Throughout the month of November, cutout figures, symbolizing all of the waiting children in these profiles, are visible on the front lawn of the agency’s building located on Arlington Street. November is National Adoption Awareness Month, and the agency hosted an event earlier in the month to celebrate.

The cutouts were created by the Construction Trades Program students at Ellet High School and hand-painted by agency staff and volunteers. The event featured Magistrate Diane Stevenson from Summit County Probate Court and two couples who recently adopted, Doug and Carol Hausknecht and Jerry and Pam Kusar. At the event, the two families “ceremonially” removed two cutouts to signify the two children who were adopted.

Alli Mauzey and Nicole Parker, stars of the hit Broadway musical, Wicked, will join the Akron Symphony Orchestra and Maestro Christopher Wilkins, in a concert of divine diva showstoppers this Saturday at The University of Akron’s EJ Thomas Hall.

The Wicked Divas will inspire and entertain with a performance that pays tribute to the women of musical theatre and film. This memorable evening of Broadway moments will include selections from The Phantom of the Opera, Chicago, Ragtime, Spamalot, Carmen, The Wizard of Oz, Wicked and much more.

“The term Diva describes a celebrated female singer or a woman of great talent in the world of opera, theatre, pop music and film. So that’s exactly what we’re celebrating,” said Wicked Diva, Alli Mauzey. “The term Diva is also sometimes used to describe someone who is a ‘prima donna’ and who might carry a “certain attitude” with them if you know what I mean. So let’s just say there might be a little sass!”

During the day these hair salons compete for customers, but a recent fashion show brought them together to raise money for common causes like domestic violence and teen suicide prevention.

The Color Unity hair and fashion event featured an eclectic blend of runway modeling, performance art, skits and music, with each participating salon representing a different color for a different social cause.

“We took a lot of colors that represent different issues, like red for AIDs, pink for breast cancer, purple for domestic abuse and green for (earth-friendly) initiatives,” said Angel Morris, owner and master stylist of Mane Streak Studios, who formed Creative Collaborators and conceived of the Color Unity project, whose proceeds benefit the Battered Women’s Shelter of Summit and Medina Counties.

The Akron Area Arts Alliance will honor 13 award recipients this Sunday, Nov. 20, for their outstanding achievement in dance, music, theater and visual arts, as well as outstanding leadership and generous support of our local arts and culture community. The sold-out event takes place at the Stage Door of The University of Akron’s EJ Thomas Hall.

The Arts Alliance also will celebrate its 20th anniversary Sunday and recognize its founders Ann Amer Brennan and Mary Ann Jackson. Back in 1991, the women observed that area arts organizations were struggling with similar challenges.  They believed that fostering understanding and cooperation among the groups would better solve common problems and promote our creative community.

First Night®Akron's Community Outreach Program provides free admission buttons for this New Year's Eve celebration of the arts to local social service organizations to distribute to their low income, elderly and disabled clients. Downtown Akron Partnership (DAP) invites organizations interested in taking part in the Community Outreach Program to call (330) 374-7618 or email for more information.

Applications will be emailed to organizations and all requests for buttons must be returned by Nov. 23. Admission buttons provided through this program are sponsored by local foundations and buttons are allocated based upon the number of requests and the number of sponsored buttons available. Buttons will be available to organizations in early December.

"First Night Community Outreach gives individuals and families faced with daily challenges, and who cannot afford the cost, an opportunity to experience an evening of diverse arts entertainment," said Lisa Knapp, DAP communications director.

Crafty Mart, an alternative craft show founded by J Hudson, of Cuyahoga Falls, and Juniper Sage, of Akron, is heading into its third year and will take place Nov. 26 from 10 a.m to 5 p.m. at Musica, which is located on Market Street near High Street.

Sage, who owns Square Records in Highland Square with her husband Dave Ignizio, was a vendor at a similar show called Bazaar Bizarre in Cleveland  in 2007 when she met Hudson, who stopped by her booth and wondered out loud why Akron didn’t have an alternative craft show of its own.

Hudson had been making the trek to Cleveland with his three children for the show for several years .