Sam and Mary Ann Polit have been named the grand marshals of the 2026 West Pittston Cherry Blossom Festival.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
Cherry Blossom Festival grand marshals named
Sam and Mary Ann Polit, standing in their Susquehanna Ave., West Pittston home, have been named the grand marshals of the 2026 West Pittston Cherry Blossom Festival.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
WEST PITTSTON — Choosing a grand marshal for the West Pittston Cherry Blossom Festival sponsored by Big Top Rentals is never an easy task, but this year’s decision was very easy when the committee chose Sam and Mary Ann Polit.
The Polits have been living directly across the street from the site of the annual Cherry Blossom Festival for over 22 years. In fact, a good portion of the festival takes place on their property, and each year they graciously allow it to continue there.
The Polits built a custom home in 2004 on the corner of Luzerne and Susquehanna Avenues, off the Firefighter’s Bridge in West Pittston.
“It was an easy decision for us,” Gina Malsky, of the Cherry Blossom Committee, said. “The Polits have been so good to us for so many years. This year’s festival may be the last one to be held on their property, so this is a way to thank them by naming them grand marshals.”
Mary Ann, a West Pittston native, said she received a call from her longtime friend, Toni Valenti, who has been sitting on the Cherry Blossom committee since its inception 55 years ago, to inform them of the committee’s decision to honor them as a grand marshal.
“I was shocked when I got the call from Toni,” Mary Ann said. “Toni told me the committee has chosen us for grand marshal, and I said, ’ Why? I was sort of shocked.”
Valenti told Mary Ann that she and Sam have been very kind to allow the Cherry Blossom Festival to use the Polit’s property over the last two decades.
“We are honored, and it is a great honor to have this, so we’re happy about this,” Mary Ann reiterated.
According to Sam, who was born and raised in the City of Pittston, he didn’t know about the phone call when Mary Ann approached him to tell him of the honor.
“She came upstairs to tell me, and the first thing she said was, ‘Don’t say no,’” Sam chuckled. “No to what?” Sam said. “I teased her and said, ‘Let me think about it.’”
The Polits, both 83, married in the early 1960s and have two children: Sami Lynn Polit-Panek (Paul) and Dr. Anthony Polit (Heather). They are the proud grandparents of six grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, and one great-grandchild on the way.
Some readers may remember Sam back in the 1970s through the mid-1980s as ‘Super Sam the Organ Man’ dressing in a Superman outfit in many TV and newspaper ads as the owner of the National Music Center Warehouse Showroom on Route 315. He eventually shut down the operation in 2005.
Mary Ann had the key role of maintaining the house and raising the children while Sam ran the business. It was a role she was proud of as the matriarch. She quipped, “I used to tell people I was a domestic engineer.”
Mary Ann, the daughter of Jack and Carmella Salvaggio, said she wished her father were still living to see her and Sam receive such an honor.
“My father would be so proud to know I live in the first house off the bridge in West Pittston, and his daughter and son-in-law were named grand marshals of the Cherry Blossom Festival,” Mary Ann said.
