Scranton/Wilkes-Barre among top attendance risers in 2026 The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, Triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees, saw remarkable strides at the gate during the 2026 season, posting the largest total attendance gain in Triple-A and one of the largest per-game increases in the industry. According to Baseball America, 36 of the 120 affiliated clubs drew more fans than they did a year ago, despite a drop in overall MiLB attendance. The RailRiders ranked near the top of the list of increases, and they did it without a new or fully renovated ballpark. SWB by the Numbers: 4,208 fans per game, up from 3,840 in 2025 +368 fans per game, a 9.6% jump +29,231 total fans, the No. 1 gain in Triple-A No. 1 in Triple-A in per-game percentage growth No. 4 in all of Minor League Baseball in per-game percentage growth, among clubs without a new or fullyrenovated ballpark No. 2 in all of Minor League Baseball in total fans added, among clubs without a new or fully renovatedballpark “These numbers belong to the people of Northeastern Pennsylvania,” said Shawn Reilly, Team President & General Manager. “While attendance slid across the minors, our fans came back and brought their friends. Our staff worked to give people more reasons to come to PNC Field, and the community answered. We’re not satisfied. With a new era of baseball coming to NEPA, we think this is just the start.” The growth reflects a renewed focus on the fan experience, group and community outreach, and promotions thatgave families more reasons to come out to the ballpark all season long. That focus on the fan experience earned national recognition. A Vegas Insider study named PNC Field the mostdog-friendly ballpark in all of professional baseball. The ballpark ranked No. 1 among every Major LeagueBaseball and affiliated Minor League stadium in the country, with 43 dog-friendly games on the 2026 schedule.That was 13 more than any other ballpark and nearly four times as many as the top major league club.The 2026 attendance surge sets the scene for the next era of SWB baseball. On Saturday, November 7, the clubwill unveil its new identity. The Adventure Begins Fall Festival starts at 1 P.M. with The Big Reveal slated for 3 P.M. The fall festival is acelebration for the entire community, featuring live music from The Jase Mathews Band and Nowhere Slow,food trucks, vendors, a drone show, and kids’ activities. Special guests will be announced soon. The AdventureBegins Fall Festival is presented by the PA Army National Guard. The new brand is the centerpiece of a plan to keep growing in 2027 and beyond. That plan includes fan experience upgrades across PNC Field, expanded merchandise, and enhanced charitable and community engagement to give back to the communities that filled the ballpark this year. “The fans who came out this year helped prove what this market can do,” Reilly added. “The new brand takes that energy and turns it up. It’s about pride in Northeastern Pennsylvania, and it’s about giving people something new and exciting every time they walk through the gates.” Season tickets, ticket plans, and group outings for the 2027 season are on sale now. For more information, visitswbrailriders.com
The Wright Center for Community Health, Commonwealth Health to fund mammograms with grant from local nonprofit The Wright Center for Community Health and Commonwealth Health will expand access to mammograms throughout the region with up to $50,000 in funding from Clarks Summit Goes Pink, a local nonprofit. Both The Wright Center and Commonwealth Health were presenting sponsors of Clarks Summit Goes Pink’s inaugural 5K Run, One-Mile Walk, and Community Block Party, on Aug. 15, in downtown Clarks Summit. The grant, which comes from proceeds raised through the community event, will be used to provide mammograms to individuals in Northeast Pennsylvania who lack the financial means to obtain them. “We are proud to partner with Clarks Summit Goes Pink and Commonwealth Health to help remove financial barriers to breast cancer screenings,” said Kara Seitzinger, the executive director of public affairs and advisor to the president and CEO at The Wright Center. “This grant will expand access to lifesaving early detection services for those in the communities we serve who might otherwise be unable to afford a mammogram.” Clarks Summit Goes Pink was founded by Colleen Shimko and her husband, Scott Shimko, following Colleen’s breast cancer diagnosis in 2023. The organization is dedicated to raising breast cancer awareness and supporting local people affected by the disease. On Oct. 16, the third anniversary of her diagnosis, the Shimkos attended The Wright Center’s annual Wonderful Women Breast Cancer Support Group program at The Wright Center for Community Health Scranton to announce the grant. “As someone who knows how critical early detection is, I’m thrilled to announce that we are allocating up to $50,000 for mammograms to help people who otherwise could not afford them,” Colleen Shimko said. The Wright Center’s clinicians and community health workers will identify patients and others in the community who have a financial need. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force advises screening every two years from ages 40 to 74, while the American Cancer Society recommends annual screenings starting at age 45, with the option to start at 40, transitioning to every one to two years at age 55 for as long as a woman remains in good health. For more information, consult your doctor or call The Wright Center at 570-230-0019 to schedule an appointment.
Scranton Area Community Foundation Grant Helps Indraloka Keep Rescued Animals’ Food Fresh For the rescued animals at Indraloka, donated fruits and vegetables are an important source of fresh, nutritious food. A $2,500 Critical Needs Grant from the Scranton Area Community Foundation is helping ensure more of that food reaches the animals instead of being lost to spoilage. The grant supported a solution to an urgent food storage challenge. Without adequate temperature-controlled storage, donated produce was vulnerable to spoiling in summer and freezing in winter. Those losses meant wasted food, higher feed costs, and fewer fresh options for the animals. Indraloka initially planned to house a donated industrial walk-in cooler in a new climatecontrolled shed. While working to secure the remaining funding, the organization found a more economical solution: Meals on Wheels of NEPA offered two commercial refrigerators at a deeply discounted price. Together, the refrigerators provided storage capacity comparable to the originally proposed cooler, and both fit inside Indraloka’s existing feed room. This allowed the organization to meet its refrigeration needs without constructing a new building. “Our community gives so generously to help feed the animals, and we want to make every donation count,” said Dr. Indra Lahiri, Indraloka’s founder and CEO. “The Scranton Area Community Foundation’s support helped us solve a practical problem with a direct impact on daily care. And through Meals on Wheels of NEPA, we found a way to accomplish that goal while making our resources go further.” Indraloka staff transported the refrigerators using existing vehicles and prepared the feed room for installation, including deep cleaning the space and removing shelving for cleaning. The refrigerators are now in place, keeping donated produce fresh longer and reducing food waste. The project demonstrates how a modest investment in essential infrastructure can strengthen an organization’s ability to provide daily care. It also highlights the value of local nonprofits working together: equipment no longer needed by one organization is now helping another preserve a vital food source. Indraloka thanks the Scranton Area Community Foundation for its support and Meals on Wheels of NEPA for helping make this solution possible.
University of Scranton, Scranton-Led NASA Grant To Bring Space Science To Communities Nationwide Funded through NASA’s Science Activation (SciAct) program as a cooperative agreement, the University has been entrusted with a nearly $5.5 million grant to lead a space education and citizen science initiative focused on space weather and amateur radio. The project aims to bring scientific discovery out of research laboratories and into schools, libraries, museums and communities across the nation. Nathaniel Frissell, Ph.D., associate professor of physics and engineering, will serve as the principal investigator of the project, titled “Discovering the SPARC: Space Physics Through Amateur Radio Connections.” Collaborating institutions include the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), Space Science Institute, MIT Haystack Observatory, University of Alabama and New Jersey Institute of Technology with Kera Collective as the external evaluator. The grant totals $5,495,781 and will be administered as a five-year agreement through 2031. “This is an extremely competitive and significant grant,” Dr. Frissell said. “SciAct is a premier program in which NASA gives its science back to the very people who fund this work — the American people. Not only does this award recognize The University of Scranton as a national leader in the field of space weather and citizen science, but it also gives us a unique opportunity to partner with NASA and other SciAct grantees in a way that will magnify our ability to have a meaningful impact.” The project’s centerpiece is the creation of “Discovery Stations,” which will be located at public venues and will allow visitors to see real-time space weather data. Individuals will be able to learn how solar activity affects communications. Additionally, the grant will fund the deployment of approximately 85 Citizen Science Space Weather Monitors throughout the country. These stations will collect data on radio signals and ionospheric conditions, contributing observations to a national research network while also serving as education tools for the public. Also, the ARRL Teachers Institute will provide educators with curriculum materials that will connect classroom lessons to live NASA data. Beyond the programs and technology being developed, the initiative is designed to support a self-sustaining network of teachers, amateur radio operators, citizen scientists and community partners who will have access to NASA science long after the initial funding period ends. For Dr. Frissell, one of the most important aspects of the award is the opportunity to collaborate with other organizations. Together, they will make NASA science more accessible to the public, developing new ideas and approaches that extend far beyond what any one institution could accomplish on its own. “We will be innovating and collaborating with teams across the SciAct portfolio,” he said. “I can only imagine the great things that will come of this.”
NEPA Philharmonic To Present Deaf-Inclusive (Candle)LIT Brahms Requiem, With ADA Livestream Following a sold-out candlelit Nosferatu live performance on October 15th and two sold-out candlelit Mozart Requiem performances in October 2025, the NEPA PHIL (Candle)LIT Festival returns with a second candlelit choral requiem on Thursday, November 12th at 7:00PM at Elm Park United Methodist Church in Scranton. The NEPA Philharmonic, Music Director Mélisse Brunet, and the Marywood University Concert Choir present (Candle)LIT Brahms Requiem, highlighting the transcendental beauty of Johannes Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem, “A German Requiem”, in a special performance of the moving masterpiece in the historic local church. Audiences will be immersed in the emotional depth of this humanistic work of mourning, hope, and the beauty of life, alongside a thousand electric candles. The concert will be 70-80 minutes in length without intermission, with a Pre-Concert Talk starting at 6:00PM. Tickets start at $29 for adults and $16 for students with ID, with higher ticket prices at the door and for premium seating. Tickets are available at NEPAPHIL.org or by calling 570-270-4444. The Brahms Requiem concert will be a Deaf-Inclusive performance and will include live ASL interpretation in partnership with Interpretek, along with English-translation supertitles. Haptic vests, bone-conduction headphones, and amplifying headphones will also be provided in partnership with Silent Sound System. Deaf-Inclusive accessibility for this performance is made possible by a generous grant to the Philharmonic from the Margaret Briggs Foundation. For patron accessibility, the Elm Park Church elevator is currently out of service due to a mechanical issue and will be unavailable for this performance. Access to the church for this performance will require ascending 1 flight of stairs (14 steps) from street level on Linden Street. As such, an ADA Livestream ticket option to watch the concert live from home is available for $29 at NEPAPHIL.org or at 570-270-4444. Patrons who have already purchased tickets may request the livestream link, or any refunds or exchanges, by calling 570-270-4444. The livestream will begin at 6:00PM, including both the Pre-Concert Talk and the concert itself, and will only be available for live viewing. Baritone Sunghoon Han, originally announced as one of the soloists for this concert, will unfortunately need to withdraw from this performance; the NEPA PHIL is grateful to welcome Phillip Bullock as the baritone soloist on November 12th. Joining Mr. Bullock alongside the Philharmonic are previously announced frequent NEPA PHIL collaborators, soprano soloist Jessica Leigh and the Marywood University Concert Choir. In addition to support from the Margaret Briggs Foundation, (Candle)LIT Brahms Requiem is supported by NEPA PHIL Season Sponsor PNC Bank and Symphony Series sponsor Thalenfeld Family, along with Munley Law, Paul & Adrienne Horger, and Christine & Harry Zike. Tickets for the concert and livestream are available at NEPAPHIL.org or by calling 570-270-4444.
Moses Taylor Foundation Hosts Biennial Event Moses Taylor Foundation, a private foundation with a mission to improve the health of people in Northeastern Pennsylvania, hosted its biennial meeting on Thursday, October 8, 2026. Danielle Breslin, President and CEO of Moses Taylor Foundation, shared a strategic update on the Foundation’s four focus areas of Health Care Access and Quality, Older Adult Health, School-Based Health, and Nonprofit Effectiveness. Kelly Ranieli, Executive Director of Volunteers in Medicine, received the Douglas G. Allen Leadership Award. The award, established in 2019, honors Doug Allen’s leadership as Founding Chair of the Moses Taylor Foundation Board of Directors. It is awarded biennially to a community leader who shares his commitment to improving the health of people in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Ranieli has served as Volunteers in Medicine’s Executive Director since its inception in 2008. For 18 years, she has worked diligently to generate funding, recruit volunteers and staff, implement programs, and expand access to high-quality, comprehensive health care for underserved populations. She has positioned the unique nonprofit as a nationally certified Patient-Centered Medical Home with a multitude of services to ensure holistic, high-quality, coordinated health care. Through her strategic leadership, unwavering commitment to health equity, and ambitious vision to further integrate innovative services and programs, Ranieli continues to advance the organization’s mission of providing health, hope, and healing to those who need it most. At the event, Allen spoke of Ranieli’s dedication to others and pursuit of excellence in care, noting, “On behalf of the Board and staff, I am delighted to recognize Kelly and her unwavering commitment to this community.” The Foundation also recognized nine regional nonprofits participating in its Mental Health Learning Community Cohort at the event. Lisa Savero, Senior Program Officer, shared, “The collaboration between the organizations and professionals invested in this work has been nothing short of inspiring. We are grateful for each cohort member’s collaboration, openness, and shared purpose, which make this Learning Community especially meaningful. We appreciate how you’ve helped bring our framework to life and advance community-based systems change.” The Mental Health Learning Community Cohort includes participants from Catholic Social Services, Diocese of Scranton; Community Care Behavioral Health Organization; Geisinger Health Foundation; Greater Scranton YMCA; Healthy Family Partnerships/Wyoming County Commissioners; Keystone Human Services; The Wright Center for Community Health; United Neighborhood Centers of Northeastern Pennsylvania; and Wayne Memorial Community Health Centers. Keynote speaker Alex Briscoe, Principal, Strategy and Systems Change at Public Works Alliance, delivered an inspiring message about valuing and integrating mental and behavioral health care, listening to the community served, and understanding how systems-based frameworks affect regional communities. He also led a 90-minute workshop that explored what it will take—practically and systemically—to build a new model of care centered on community and lived expertise in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
Geisinger Honors Employees With The Caring Award Geisinger honors five valued employees with The Caring Award. The Caring Award was established to honor a valued employee, Susan M. Robel. Her career spanned over 30 years where she used compassion when caring for others The award honors employees who care for others through compassion, service, and commitment to helping others. The 2026 recipients include: Kara Bond, Caitlin Prusko, Bridget Stem, Sheila Transue, and Patricia Wojciechowski.
Johnson College to Host a Free Fix-It-Fair Johnson College will host a free fix-it-fair on Saturday, November 14th from 10:00 a.m to 4:00 p.m. Participants can bring anything to be fixed from clothing items, to small appliances, to electronics. The fair will offer free, beginner friendly workshops, family activities, resume assistance, and mock interviews. The event will be located at Johnson College Scranton Campus Registration is required for repairs and workshops. Register here.
Griffin Pond Animal Shelter To Host Bonnie & Clyde Bingo Griffin Pond Animal Shelter to host Bonnie & Clyde bingo on Sunday, November 8th. The event will be located at the Dunmore Holiday Inn. Doors open at 1:00 p.m., and games begin at 3:00 p.m. Tickets for the event are $50. They can be purchased here (with processing fee) or at Griffin Pond’s front desk from 10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
The Wright Center for Community Health, Allied Services celebrate new primary care clinic with ribbon-cutting ceremony The Wright Center for Community Health and Allied Services celebrated the opening of a new primary care clinic inside Allied Services Rehabilitation Hospital at the Luger Scranton Rehab Center with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday, Oct. 23. The primary care office at 475 Morgan Highway opened Oct. 16, expanding access to affordable, high-quality, whole-person primary and preventive health services for adults throughout the region, including checkups, physicals, screenings, and treatment for common illnesses and injuries. Patients do not need to be Allied Services patients to receive care at the new location. The Wright Center has locations in Lackawanna, Luzerne, Wayne, and Wyoming counties that provide care to individuals and family members of all ages, including a mobile medical and dental unit, Driving Better Health, that delivers care where individuals live, work, play, and study. To make an appointment, visit TheWrightCenter.org or call 570-591-5285. “Everyone deserves convenient access to high-quality primary care,” said Dr. Erin McFadden, senior vice president and chief medical officer at The Wright Center for Community Health. “Our partnership with Allied Services allows us to meet people where they are and connect more individuals and families with the comprehensive care they need to live healthier lives.” The Wright Center’s new community health center builds on the ongoing partnership between The Wright Center and Allied Services, two organizations committed to strengthening access to comprehensive care and support services throughout the region. “We are excited to expand our partnership with The Wright Center,” said Robert Cole, Ph.D., senior vice president and chief analytics officer at Allied Services. “Our two organizations share the same values and commitment to our community, and The Wright Center bringing primary care services to our campus will be a tremendous benefit to the patients and families that we collectively serve.” Allied Services provides comprehensive rehabilitation and support services to more than 1,200 children and thousands of adults through outpatient clinics, inpatient rehabilitation hospitals, long-term care centers, residential services, vocational programs, and hospice and palliative care across Northeast Pennsylvania.
