Railfest Returns to Steamtown Steamtown National Historic Site’s 2022 Railfest weekend is being offered in partnership with the Pennsylvania Anthracite Heritage Museum’s Arts on Fire event held at the Scranton Iron Furnaces. Both sites are excited to be collaborating to provide an interactive and immersive experience showcasing our community’s history. In addition to free admission, there will be no cost for Steamtown’s short train rides, the Scranton Limited and the Caboose Experience. Free transportation between Steamtown and the Iron Furnaces will also be available. Steamtown will host a ribbon cutting ceremony at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 11th to celebrate the restoration of the Union Pacific “Big Boy” No. 4012. Shortly after the ceremony, scheduled tours of the cab of the “Big Boy” will be provided by NPS staff and volunteers. Special programming will be offered throughout the weekend, including tours of Mattes St. Tower, demonstrations of Maintenance of Way equipment provided by the New Jersey Trackcar Excursions group, hand car demonstrations, tours and demonstrations within the locomotive shop including updates on the Boston & Maine No. 3713, special Railfest-exclusive Junior Ranger activities, scheduled Ranger Programs, and of course, our short train rides, the Scranton Limited and the Caboose Experience. Several community partners will be in attendance with site information and exhibits. For those interested in genealogy, our Historian will be on-site with the Lackawanna Historical Society to assist those digging into their family history. Arts on Fire at the Scranton Iron Furnaces will take place 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, June 11th, kicking off at 11 a.m. with a ceremonial lighting of the furnace. Arts on Fire will feature Lackawanna Markets arts vendors, arts demonstrations, food trucks, music by Bryan Banks, Steamtown’s “Ring of Fire” demonstrations, and the return of Hot Metal to the furnaces. The Lackawanna Historical Society will feature a community participation mural project, and artist and sculpture professor Brian Glaze will fire up his cupola furnace and melt iron. Scratch blocks will be available for your artistic expressions in cast iron. Steamtown’s Railfest weekend continues into Sunday, June 12th with an excursion to Gouldsboro, departing from Steamtown at 11 a.m. and returning at 3 p.m. Tickets for this excursion may be purchased in advance online through recreation.gov by searching “Steamtown National Historic Site”, or on-site at the Information Kiosk during regular business hours. Please note: due to limited crew availability, there will be no Yard Shuttle available on excursion day, only the Caboose Experience. Stay informed by visiting www.nps.gov/stea or @SteamtownNHS on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Learn about the Pennsylvania Anthracite Heritage Museum by visiting www.anthracitemuseum.org or @AnthraciteHeritageMuseum on Facebook and @AnthraciteMuse on Twitter.
The Scranton Cultural Center Announces Free Concert Enjoy a concert given by the United States Army Field Band & Soldiers’ Chorus at the Scranton Cultural Center at the Masonic Temple on July 1 at 7:00 p.m. The concert, entitled “America the Beautiful” is free and open to the public. The Concert Band & Soldiers’ Chorus are the oldest and largest of The U.S. Army Field Band’s performing components. Founded in 1946 and 1957 respectively, these two ensembles combine to present joint concerts on their national tours. They have performed in all 50 states and 30 foreign countries for audiences totaling hundreds of millions. The 60-member Concert Band and 29-member Soldiers’ Chorus perform regularly in some of the most famous concert halls in the world, and just as often in the humblest auditoriums in the smallest of communities. The joining of these two ensembles allows them to offer unparalleled versatility of programming, ranging from orchestral masterworks and operatic arias to Sousa marches, jazz classics, and Broadway musicals. The band and chorus also perform independently, and have recently shared the stage with such ensembles as the Boston Pops, the Cincinnati Pops, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and the National Symphony Orchestra. In addition to their national tours, formal concerts, chamber recitals, and educational outreach, members of the Concert Band & Soldiers’ Chorus frequently represent the Army at formal and ceremonial functions, including the Presidential Inaugural Parade, presidential funerals, the Army All-American Bowl, and diplomatic efforts overseas. To learn more about the military’s most traveled musicians, visit ArmyFieldBand.com. The United States Army Field Band & Soldiers’ Chorus concert is sponsored by LT Verrastro and supported by Lackawanna County and the PA Council on the Arts. The concert will take place in the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Theatre at 7:00 p.m. with the doors opening at 6:30 p.m. Concessions will be available for purchase. Tickets are free to the public and are required for admission. They can be acquired at the Fidelity Bank Box Office at the SCC in person or by calling (570) 344-1111, or via Ticketmaster. For additional information and a full schedule of events, visit SCCMT.org.
Run for the Roses to Benefit NeighborWorks This year, NeighborWorks Northeastern Pennsylvania is partnering with The Country Club of Scranton to be the benefiting organization of their Kentucky Derby Party – Run for the Roses. A portion of the event ticket and 50/50 raffle proceeds benefits NeighborWorks. It will be held on May 7, 2022 from 5-8pm at the Country Club of Scranton. For over 14 years, Run for the Roses has emulated the festivities present at the Kentucky Derby. Complete with multiple areas to view the live broadcast of the horse race, passed hors d’oeuvres and an outdoor venue, it celebrates the 185-year-old race held at Churchill Downs racetrack. Event goers are encouraged to dress up in “Derby attire” complete with large hats, bow ties and colorful sun dresses and suits. The event will feature food, an open bar, cigar lounge & bourbon bar, derby drink features and a 50/50 raffle. Pre-registration is $85 per person, and non-members can pre-register with a credit card by May 2, 2022. To make a reservation, call 570-586-2311 by May 2, 2022. For more information on the event, please go to the country club’s website here.
VIM to Host The Office 5k Valley in Motion is hosting The Office 5K. The road race passes sites featured on NBC’s “The Office.” Starting in the shadow of the Electric City sign in downtown Scranton, runners or walkers will pass the Penn Paper, Cooper’s, the Dwight mural, and more. Participants can dress up as their favorite Office character for fun and prizes. WHEN: Saturday, April 30, 1pmWHERE: Race starts and ends at the 500 Linden Street block in downtown ScrantonSIGN-UP: www.theoffice5K.comPRE-PARTY: Packet pickup and pre-race party at Cooper’s Seafood House on April 29 from 5-7pm. Office trivia, raffle baskets, and special Firkin Friday small-cask beer will be on tap. A fun promotional video is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aw3CnoeaIjs Race proceeds benefit Valley In Motion, a non-profit fostering community and quality of life in the Lackawanna Valley. More information about VIM at www.valleyinmotion.org.
University of Scranton Earth Day Events Inspired by Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical titled “On Care for Our Common Home,” The University of Scranton’s Sustainability Office has selected the theme “We Are All Connected” for their Spring sustainability initiative. To celebrate this theme, especially as Earth Day approaches, the Sustainability Office will host several events for students, faculty and staff as well as guests from the greater Scranton community. Area students in grades 5-12 may participate in the University’s Earth Day Essay Contest. Submissions will be accepted through April 4. This year’s theme is “We Are All Connected.” For submission rules and details, visit: https://www.scranton.edu/sustainability/docs/earth-week-2022/earthday-2022-essay-rules.pdf. Winners of the essay contest will be announced at the Evening of Environmental on Wednesday, April 20, in the Atrium of the Loyola Science Center on campus. The event takes place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and features interactive science experiments run by University students. The event will also include a display of the essays submitted. Finalists will receive Earth Day medals and certificates at a ceremony. On the following day, April 21, the University will host a lecture by renowned American climatologist and geophysicist Michael Mann, Ph.D., author of “The New Climate War: The Fight to Take Back Our Planet.” Dr. Mann is the Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Science at Pennsylvania State University, with joint appointments in the Department of Geosciences and the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute. He is also director of the Penn State Earth System Science Center. He is the author of five books on climate change, as well as more than 200 peer-reviewed and edited publications, numerous op-eds and commentaries. The lecture begins at 7:30 p.m. in the McIlhenny Ballroom of the DeNaples Center on campus. The final Earth Day event for the month of April will be an art show address on April 25 by Laura Kern, an artist from rural Pennsylvania who uses her sculptures to emphasize the connection between humans and the environment, as well as to highlight prominent environmental and societal issues. Kern will present her address in the Heritage Room of the Weinberg Memorial Library. The event runs from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Other events open to University students, faculty and staff include an Environmental Art Show on the fifth floor of the Weinberg Memorial Library from April 19 to April 26; an Earth Day Fair in the lobby of the Loyola Science Center from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on April 19; an Environmentally-Friendly Tie-Dye event, taking place on the Dionne Campus Green at 5 p.m. on April 20; and a kayaking trip on the Susquehanna River on May 7. Several related events also took place in March, including a screening of “The Human Element,” a film in which photographer James Balog uses his camera to document and uncover how environmental change affects the lives of Americans each day. The University also hosted a celebration of World Water Day on March 22. All of these events are sponsored by the University’s Sustainability Office with the support of the Jesuit Center, the Kania School of Management, the Multicultural Center, the environmental studies concentration and major, the Weinberg Memorial Library and the Society for Sustainability and Conservation student organization.
Scranton Native Stephen Karam to Open Northeastern Pennsylvania Film Festival What happens when you put two national critically-acclaimed creatives (who happen to be from Scranton) on stage together? Find out on April 1 when the American Advertising Federation’s award-winning Helen Lavelle digs deep into conversation with Tony Award-winning playwright, screenwriter, author, and filmmaker Stephen Karam. Join the conversation at opening night of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Film Festival Friday, April 1 at 6 p.m. at the Waverly Community House, 1115 N. Abington Road in Waverly. Join other filmmakers, community arts advocates, and your movie buff friends as Lavelle quizzes Karam to learn the following: How did a guy from Scranton take an idea that began at his kitchen table, turn it into a script, bring The Humans to Broadway, and win the coveted Tony Award for Best Play? And, if that fairy tale outcome wasn’t enough, what drove Stephen Karam to dig even deeper to adapt The Humans to a major motion picture? During COVID? That’s just the beginning of the conversation and a weekend that celebrates the arts and shines a light on NEPA filmmaking talent. Meet Stephen Karam at The Evolution of The Humans from Stage to Screen April 1, beginning at 6 p.m. at the Waverly Community House, 1115 N. Abington Road in Waverly. Following a cocktail reception and the conversation, the Festival will host a screening of The Humans, Karam’s first feature film. Lavelle said, “I am thrilled to welcome Stephen Karam back home. I’m excited to engage in a candid conversation, which is bound to inspire. Everyone needs to be here because this promises to be a night you won’t forget.” The evening is sponsored by Lackawanna County Arts and Culture, WVIA, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, O’Boyle Real Estate, Gails Cupboard, The River 105 FM & 103.5 FM, Toyota of Scranton, and F. Lammot Belin Arts Foundation. To purchase tickets for the event, visit https://nepafilmfestival.com/tickets/. For more information about the NEPA Film Festival, which will be held April 1-3 at the historic Ritz Theater on Wyoming Avenue in downtown Scranton, visit https://nepafilmfestival.com.
