Area teens will have a chance to celebrate their cultural diversity through a variety of music including hip-hop, gospel, bluegrass, Caribbean and contemporary dance music, as well as gain valuable information about career and college selections.

        This will happen next weekend during a back-to-school extravaganza presented at the Albert B Sabin Cincinnati Convention Center from noon to 7 p.m. Aug. 25 and noon to 6 p.m. Aug. 26.

        Sallie Elliott, CEO of Applause Magazine, is partnering with several community groups to sponsor the event. She said the program was planned because of the turmoil in Cincinnati that gained worldwide attention.

        “We want to create a forum where young people can enjoy their differences through their own music and share knowledge about each other,” Ms. Elliott said. “This is planned for inner-city and suburban children.”

        On hand to provide information about career and college selections will be Vincent James, director of admission to the school of public service at Harvard University. Admission is $5. Information: 761-6900.

        The Pendleton Heritage Center, a historic landmark in the East End, will get part of a face-lift through a $2,500 grant from the Cinergy Foundation.

        Melissa English, building manager, said the center will use the grant to replace windows that have been there since the building was erected in 1890.

        “We were hit hard by utility costs this year,” she said. “Other programs and projects had to wait just so we could pay bills.”

        Two new members have been added to the board of the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky African-American Chamber of Commerce.

        They are the Rev. Richard Fowler, pastor of the Ninth Street Baptist Church in Covington, and Eric Browne, chairman of the Chamber's Economic Development Committee. Mr. Browne is president of ProDel Corporation, a Cincinnati-based delivery company that specializes in project and construction management and project controls.

        Greg Webb will become chairman of the board and Edward R. Jackson will become vice chairman.

        Celebrate Annie Oakley Days today and Sunday at St. Clair Heights Park, Fairmount and Iroquois in South Fairmount.

        The event will feature a middle 1800s atmosphere with ice cream, grilled white corn, cold drinks and a re-enactment of the Frank Butler and Annie Oakley shooting contest of 1875.

        If history repeats itself, somebody might get hitched. According to history, when Oakley beat Butler in the shooting contest, she married him and they went on a worldwide tour, performing their expert shooting.

        Dianne Hoover, assistant director of the Cincinnati Recreation Commission, has accepted a position as director of parks in Fort Wayne, Ind.

        Ms. Hoover worked for the Recreation Commission for 3 1/2 years.
       
       Allen Howard's column runs Saturdays. Call: 768-8362; Mail: The Cincinnati Enquirer, 312 Elm St., Cincinnati, OH 45202.

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