Should Wilkes-Barre Initiate its own "First Night" Celebration Next Year? (Scranton: tenants, college)

[SteelCityRising]

Today radio personality Steve Corbett was blasting Wilkes-Barre Mayor Thomas Leighton's lack of foresight in how he didn't have any New Year's Eve celebrations planned to help showcase the rebounding downtown. I've also heard many others grumbling that the Diamond City doesn't have nearly enough annual celebrations, and I concur with that sentiment. Hazleton has an annual "First Night" Celebration, and Scranton has an enormous one. What is Wilkes-Barre waiting for? The only downside I see to this is that having two "First Night" celebrations so close to one another might cause them to compete too much. For example, I live midway between both cities and headed to Wilkes-Barre's Santa Parade this year as opposed to Scranton's. I have many friends here in Greater Pittston who plan to head to Downtown Scranton for their celebration this evening, and some might head to Wilkes-Barre instead. What say you all?

[fsteelerfan]

Wilkes Barre never has anything good going on I'm really surprised they even have a Christmas parade, although it's not televised like Scranton. I don't see why Wilkes Barre doesn't have a New Years Eve celebration downtown like Scranton. It's up to our so called mayor to get things going and we all know that won't happen.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by fsteelerfan

It's up to our so called mayor to get things going and we all know that won't happen.

I'm actually a proponent of Mayor Leighton. People resent him because he's raising their taxes, but I have yet to meet a city resident who doesn't think that Wilkes-Barre is better off NOW than it was before he took office. In Scranton people are so bitter towards their mayor because they're not seeing any sort of visible "progress" occurring for what they pay whereas Wilkes-Barre is spiffing itself up quite nicely now.

There was a nice article in today's Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader newspaper about how next year's downtown Christmas festivities will be much, much more grandiose than this year's. 2008 featured children singing Christmas carols at various businesses, live fresh-cut trees being sold on Public Square, and Dickens-attired characters strolling around randomly. Next year the Victorian-era street scape system will be completed, affording the opportunity for businesses to sponsor banners and/or wreaths to adorn them. Organizers want to see some more live entertainment on Public Square. It should be a good time for all.

Wilkes-Barre currently has the region's only annual events for the NAACP, and the NEPA Rainbow Alliance, amongst other minority-affiliated organizations, so if anything Wilkes-Barre could continue to capitalize upon these niche groups to offer more events.

[retrovintage]

Wilkes-Barre used to have the 'coal drop' years ago. It used to be a 'semi-big' thing that McGroarty did on New Years Eve and vendors were set up on the Square.

Granted it wasn't as big as what they have in Scranton but it was a start that fizzled out. It was also at a time when Humford vacated the stores along South Main St. to accomodate new tenants and do upgrades on his property.

Eventually WB might rebound and move forward but don't expect anything to happen soon. WB has slowly been rebuilding it's downtown but the economy is hindering that process.

[W-B proud]

I used to enjoy the diamond drop on Public Square. That used to bring out about 1500 people (my estimate) every year. It was popular and free. The entire Square was packed with people every year it was in effect, then Mayor Leighton did away with it when he came into office. I don't know why? Anyway, I would like to see W-B do it's own thing instead of copying Scranton or Hazleton. We don't need a third carbon copy "First Night". I think in the next few years we're going to see W-B have more events and festivals after The Riverfront Project is complete. W-B is in a rebuilding phase right now. Over the next few years there are going to be alot more things to do in the city. I like Mayor Leighton alot, and thing this city has made major strides since he's been mayor, but he is a tight wad. He doesn't seem like the type that will invest in festivals, and tourism related things. He's kind of a scrouge when it comes to that. He prides himself in being "fiscally conservative", where Mayor Doherty seems that he'd sell his own daughters into slavery if it means that he can get some sort of attention for his city outside of Lackawanna County.

[LelaAzure]

I think now would be a great time to start a "First Night" celebration on the Wilkes-Barre square, since it's slowly beginning to flourish again (as businesses finally began catering to the large population of college kids). With all of the new venues, families shouldn't have to travel outside of the area for entertainment anymore. Unfortunately, there is no New Year's celebration unless you're willing to travel to Scranton or further. I think it would be fun, and should be made into a city-wide competition as to what item should represent WB (note: Peep for Bethlehem, a pickle in NC) Personally, I was thinking maybe a Planter's peanut, I'm so over the coal already. It would be a fun way to generate some more revenue for the city.

[SteelCityRising]

Actually, Scranton's new city council has just nixed 100% of the funding for the Electric City's "First Night" celebration, so it looks like Mohegan Sun may be packed to the gills if Wilkes-Barre doesn't step up to the plate to fill the void. I do agree, though, that as the Diamond City begins to be "polished" it needs to host more events to show off its successes.

[varmintblaster]

Fix the fountain on public square

[W-B proud]

Originally Posted by varmintblaster

Fix the fountain on public square

I agree. It is bad for the morale of the city, and just looks like we are broke and defeated, when you say "no...$30,000 is too expensive to fix the centerpiece of Wilkes-Barre and the Wyoming Valley. It looks bad, like when the street lights were falling on cars! For a measly $30,000 we can refurbish the fountain. That's a drop in the bucket when compared to other enormous projects like the Intermodal transportation Center. Leighton already has announced plans to refurbish Public Square, why not just include the fountain as part of the renovation; why not start a fund raiser through the Luzerne Foundation; Why not use some of the annual gambling procedes? Wilkes-Barre desperatley needs to market itself as an up and coming city in the region. Everything is in place, but nobody is advertising the improvements. We need a real good P.R. campaign to highlight how far we have come in the last decade and sadly, I don't see any effort in that regard.

[frank754]

More activity is always good for downtown, especially for people that are within walking distance. We're just over a mile away, but I've never gone out at night (even driving) because of all the news you hear, plus I'd have to walk past the Hazle/S. Main area, which is a bit seedy. Usually we park near W-B Blvd/Market which is just outside the meter range if we need to go downtown, and walk down Market St.
If there were enough people I wouldn't mind checking it out, I certainly would never drive as far as Scranton for activities, in fact I haven't driven more than 3 miles outside of W-B in the last 6 months more than 4 times. But then again, being New Years, you'd wonder what kind of zoo it would be with rowdy drunks all over the place, which seems to be the norm here even on a regular weekend.