PITTSTON – COVID-19 has taken a toll on many downtown businesses but Mary Kroptavich, Pittston’s Main Street coordinator and Downtown Pittston Partnership secretary, has been busy during the nationwide shutdown COVID-19 crisis.
“Some of the restaurants are slowly coming back, which is really nice and they’ve been missed,” Kroptavich said. “Vince’s Pizza Express will be reopening in the second week of May for take-out and Fuji just opened up this past week and their response has been fantastic. They had a line down the street. Napoli’s Pizza reopened a few weeks ago.”
Kroptavich suggests patrons ordering an hour or two in advance of picking up food curbside.
Most of the salons downtown have been doing gift certificates and other businesses have been doing online instruction such as Salt Barre and Leverage. The flower shop, Petals, is not opened for walk-ins but is doing home delivery. Sabetelle’s Market and Morgan’s Butcher Shop have been doing well, according to Kroptavich.
Now that spring as arrived, the city usually ramps up activities, especially outdoors including the Second Friday Art Walk and the all new for 2020, movies at The Slope Amphitheater located behind the Pittston Memorial Library.
“We had to cancel the movies for May, and I haven’t canceled any movies for June as of yet because as we all know, things change from minute-to-minute,” Kroptavich said. “That’s something that could wait at the last minute to cancel.”
The Slope Amphitheater was scheduled to feature 20 free to the public movies being held late spring, summer and into the fall.
The 2020 movie schedule at The Slope, a 300-seat amphitheater, was to feature 10 Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movies beginning on Friday, May 8, starting at sunset times.
Other features include: A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Little Women, Toy Story 4, Knives Out, The Addams Family, Abominable, and Blinded by the Light.
Pittston Popcorn will be selling popcorn and beverages on site.
The first Second Friday Art Walk on tap for May will be held, but with a twist.
“We are looking to possibly doing a virtual Second Friday Art Walk,” Kroptavich said. “Scranton and a few other cities and towns have tried it, so we will see. We are still working on logistics so we can pull it off.”
According to Kroptavich, citizens can connect through the online video program Zoom and on the Art Walk page on Facebook, to view artists at their home showing their art.
“It wouldn’t be an auction style, but they would link to a page were their items will be for sale,” Kroptavich said. “We’re still working things out, and we will have more details soon.”
Art e Fekts Gallery recently held a successful online auction with 18 artists from the gallery participated, selling approximately 70 pieces of art.
“Artists auctioned off between two to five pieces,” Kroptavich said. “They (artists) all lowered their current price, many started at half price. Every artist sold something and some sold more than others.”
A total of in sales for the evening was over $4,500. A percentage of the sales by the artists went to the city’s police department, fire department or Meals on Wheels.
“The gallery did this as a donation just to help out,” Kroptavich added. “We were quite impressed being it was the first time trying this.”
Art e Fekts has been gaining in popularity and Kroptavich said over 80% of the sales from the online auction were from people that heard of the gallery but have not yet visited the gallery.
“The gallery certainly has surpassed all expectations and I’m really proud of the job that the board of directors has done,” Kroptavich said. “It’s a third space that the artists call home.”
Next month the gallery may do a print only auction.
