A Bit of a Stretch

The 500 block of Lackawanna Avenue in downtown Scranton is a fine patch of real estate.  It is as good as the best northeastern and central Pennsylvania has to offer.

The street is freshly paved.  A renovation project, turning old buildings into new, is wrapping up.  They look great, and the renovations didn't strip away the old time character of the block.

But (and you knew there was one coming)...

The street lights were turned on for the first time a couple weeks ago.  Officials referred to this block as the modern incarnation of Scranton's version of "The Great White Way."

Huh?

While the block looks nice, it is only partially occupied.  Those business signs that made up "The Great White Way" aren't there.  It's just a string of old style street lights, and a lit up public area between a couple of the buildings.  If anything, I don't think the street lights are bright enough.

The block looks fantastic, but let's not get carried away.

I took the above photo, just before dawn, Thanksgiving morning.

I'm experimenting with adding maps to the blog.  Below is a look at downtown Scranton, where the photo was taken.

View Larger Map

Bad Photography Monday: Hazleton

I have to level with you.  I never liked Hazleton City Hall.  It always reminded me of a big, nondescript, square rock.

Things changed recently.  I was passing by, on a sunny morning.  The building was lit perfectly, so I grabbed my camera for a few shots.

When I got home and loaded the pictures into my computer, my opinion of the building changed.  I had the opportunity to really take a good look, examine the detail, see how it stands out against a brilliant blue sky.

I've done a complete turnaround.  It's a handsome structure.

A friend and noted Hazleton area historian e-mailed me what you see below.  I'm not sure of the time it depicts, but as you can see, the building once had a bell tower.

Weekend Update

                              

I've been caught up in a lot of pictures, bumper stickers, and several other silly pursuits lately...  This morning, a little news analysis...

Tiger Woods:  The affairs are between Tiger, his wife, and his maker.  Having said that, Jeez O' Pete, what a mess!  This was poorly handled by Tiger and the police.  Tiger didn't get out in front of this.  The police looked inept.  Tiger had the misfortune of having this happen during a slow holiday weekend.  The media jumped all over it, and once that snowball starts rolling down hill, it's impossible to stop.  Part of the reason for the feeding frenzy is the media's desire to take down someone who wants to come across as squeaky clean.  Hey Oprah, it's Tiger Woods on line 1!  Full disclosure:  I'm an individual with flaws.

Judge Michael Toole:  Another thief at the Luzerne County Courthouse.  He won the election on his name, not his qualifications and character, and this is what you get.  We have to make better choices at the polls.  There are those who say there should be a merit selection system for judges.  It's beginning to make some sense, but I do like the accountability that comes with going before the voters.  We've seen how well the system of "lawyers and judges policing lawyers and judges works."  It didn't.  The FBI had to tell the district attorney's office what was happening.

Judge-Designate Joseph Cosgrove:   A wise and solid choice.  He cares.  I know many who disagree with Joe Cosgrove.  I don't know anyone who doesn't respect him.

Afghanistan:  The USA cannot be successful without cooperation from the Afghan and Pakistani governments and citizens.  Does anyone think that's going to happen?

White House Gate Crashers:  People in security should be fired over this one, and the trespassers should be arrested.  Yes, they went through a metal detector, but what was to stop them from grabbing a steak knife during dinner?

Comcast/NBC:  The broadcasting and entertainment industries have been going through some dramatic changes.  This deal will prompt even more.  There are times I don't recognize the business I entered in 1981.  It will take several months for the NBC sale to close.  After that, look out!

Scrubs 2.0:  The sitcom is now set in a medical school.  The first two episodes weren't bad.  I remember liking Scrubs from the night the pilot first aired in 2001.  There was no instant love with the revamped show.

My Steelers: A disappointing season...  It's a different team without Troy Polamalu.  They gave up a lot of points via kickoff, punt and interception run backs.  You just can't win when that happens.  Having said that, I'm really enjoying the success of the New Orleans Saints.  It's about time.

Charlie Weis:  I'm not a Notre Dame fan.  There's an arrogance and sense of entitlement associated with the university and its fans that's always rubbed me the wrong way.  However, I actually started to feel sorry for head coach Charlie Weis toward the end.  Yes, he was part of that cheating New England Patriots regime.  But, it was uncomfortable to watch Weis twist in the wind for weeks and have ND practically advertise his job while was still there.  Weis walks out of there with a fat check and plenty of job offers.  I hope he also walked out of South Bend with his dignity.

Luzerne County Courthouse Christmas Tree:  Commissioner Greg Skrepenak's campaign committee paid for it.  Quit complaining.

The Economy:  I walked through one of the malls Thursday afternoon, and it seemed very busy.  Sometimes, I wonder about those economic forecasts.   Unemployment is way up, and I fear it will get worse before it gets better.  Where are people getting the money?

WYLN TV:  The Hazleton station is ending its news broadcasts at the close of 2009, and that's unfortunate.  I know some of their people.  Competent.  Hard workers.  The station provided the hyper local coverage that Hazleton needed.  Competition makes everyone stronger, and I'm sorry to see "35 News" disappear.

Stephanopolous on GMA:  ABC has apparently decided that George Stephanopolous will be the next Good Morning America co-anchor.  It doesn't seem to be a good fit for me, but I've read that ABC will re-format GMA to give it more of an edge.  It will be nice to have a little news in the morning.

We Are PENN STATE !!!

WARM used to have Penn State Football.  WILK has it now.

Here's what I remember from my radio days.  Penn State Football was an easy sell.  Advertisers all wanted to get on board.  Remember, this was the early 80's.  ESPN was still in its infancy.  We saw a couple games on TV on the weekends, and that was it for college football.  Back then, it was a sport made for radio.

On the other hand, the Philadelphia Eagles were on TV every Sunday.  WARM also had the Eagles, which no one wanted to buy.  The sales department cooked up one of those plans where you had to buy the Eagles to get a shot at a Penn State package.

The other thing I remember was when PSU contracted with an outside company to market its games.  They had stations where they wanted them.  In order to get football games, you had to air selected men's and women's basketball games.  At the time, the basketball program wasn't very good, and the games were unlistenable-- an audience killer.  Utterly horrible radio.  If that wasn't enough, you had to swallow long and tedious  pre and post game shows for all sports.

Speaking of horrible radio, a local sneaker retailer was always a big Penn State football sponsor.  Don't ask how it fell to me, but I had to voice the commercial one season.  It was 60 seconds of copy that I had to cram into 30.  It took several tries, but I did it.  Amazingly enough, the company remains in business today.

I was long gone by the time the PSU package moved to WILK, but I suspect very few tears were shed at WARM.  The station was sorry to lose football, but happy to be rid of audience killing basketball.

WARM clearly did a better job with the bumper stickers.  The station logo popped rather than blend in, even though the WARM logo leaves a lot to be desired.

WILK had four frequencies at the time this sticker was printed.  AM 960, near Mount Pocono, is now in the hands of another company.  It simulcasts a station from Stroudsburg.  WILK still has four frequencies, and one of them is FM 103.1

Thanks to the proliferation of college football games on broadcast and cable, the Penn State game is always on, somewhere.  I wonder if radio still has the same draw.

The Town Without a Theater

The Christmas season is a huge one for movie theater operators.  It's hard to believe that the largest city in our area will likely be without a first run theater this year.

The side wall of Marquee Cinemas, at the Mall at Steamtown,  is being re-built.  It was damaged during the fire, collapse, and demolition at the adjacent Community Bake Shop back in August.

The wall is in the process of being repaired.  I'm sure there's a lot of internal work that also needs to be done.

I know you have to play the cards you're dealt.  The theaters were an innocent bystander during the big fire.

Still, it's unfortunate that when we really need to draw people downtown, one of the key elements is missing for Christmas 2009.

Once A Year

I graduated from Marywood College, now Marywood University.  I was never in love with the place, but I do return once a year for the annual Christmas tree lighting.  It's my way to kick start the Christmas spirit in my black soul.

I do the same thing every year.  I wander through the Nazareth Hall student center.  I drop by the radio and television stations.  I pay a visit to Juneann Greco, who now handles Marywood's public relations.  She's a classmate, and Junie requested that I drop her name in the blog this year.  Junie, I aim to please.

I tried to make this year slightly different.  I vowed this would be the year I got a good picture of Marywood's 20+ foot tree in the rotunda of the Liberal Arts Center.  As you know, I'm photographically challenged.  Shooting a Christmas tree is tough.  If you use a flash, you wash out the lights.  It's easy to blur the lights without the flash.  I read web sites.  I consulted experts.  I tried to do it right.  This year's effort is the best in a while, but still not perfect.

The photo doesn't do the tree justice.  As I always say, stop by for a look if you're in the neighborhood.  This year's tree uses energy efficient LED bulbs.  The blue lights seem to have a special kick to them.

It's funny.  I spent four years at Marywood, yet never attended the tree lighting ceremony when I was a student.  This must be the fifth or sixth year I've gone back.  I saw a couple of my contemporaries, and that's always a treat.

We have bonus coverage this year.  I snapped a shot of the decorated tree, outside, in the Memorial Commons.  It was taken around 4:30 PM, just after the inside ceremony wrapped up.

Marywood does have one of the nicer campuses around, and it's even better at Christmas.

If everything goes as planned, I'll write a few paragraphs on my radio station visit, in a blog next week.

Happy Holidays!

Looking for a Name

A viewer recently e-mailed a question.  I couldn't find the answer by searching the web and polling friends and co-workers.

There used to be a restaurant at the back of the Viewmont Mall, Dickson City, Penney's store.

WHAT WAS THE NAME?

By the way, this picture is not the Viewmont Mall store, but it is one of the better shots of the old Penney's logo that I could find on-line.

Penney's used to be a traditonal, old line department store-- hardware, candy, records, appliances, sporting goods, auto equipment, toys & games, etc.  It dumped all that stuff, and kept clothes and home furnishings.

Staying with Viewmont, Sears used to have a restaurant.  I don't remember the name of that one, either.  Grant's also had a little place to sit and eat.  If memory serves, it was called "Bradford's" because the Grant's chain got its start in Bradford, PA.  It even had a cute little mascot, a pilgrim named "Buddy Bradford."

There was a lunch counter at the Viewmont Thrift Drug store.  The BLT's were my favorite.  I also vividly remember the hot dogs at the Viewmont "Purple Cow" snack bar. 

And, who didn't graze for samples at Hickory Farms?

I called Penney's Monday morning.  The assistant manager sounded like a very young man.   I asked him about the name anyway, feeling the restaurant was well before his time.  He remembered the restaurant.  Here's how he knew the name.  Some old menus and related material were uncovered during a recent renovation of the Viewmont store.  The restaurant was known simply as "The Restaurant at Penney's." 

Problem solved.