Who’s feeling like summer yet? I guess over the next few days, yeah, it’s safe to say summer is on the verge of busting loose.
This past week has been up and down with temperatures and when it got into the high 20s and low 30s, I was starting to wonder if we were just going to go from winter right into summer and skipping spring all together.
On Thursday, I was shooting the Pittston Area softball game when South Williamsport high school traveled to Hughestown to take on the undefeated Patriot team.
It was a sterling day with an Aqua Velvet blue sky that was a bit deceiving. If you sat in the sun, it was great, but standing in a shadow as I was, was brutal.
Of course it goes without saying when attending a game at the Primary Center at Hughestown you can always expect wind. Sometimes it’s a light breeze, sometimes it’s a full-scale hurricane, but the only thing you can be sure if, it’s going to be windy.
Standing in the shade with the wind, it made it downright cold. It was so cold, the coach from South Williamsport even commented on the difference in temperatures between sun and shade.
As far as the game is concerned, it was a great game when Pittston Area won in an extra inning in dramatic fashion when junior first baseman Gabby Gorzkowski slammed an inside-the-park home run deep down the right field corner.
South Williamsport sported a record going into the game of 8 – 1 and they were tough. Both teams mounted scoring innings with two out rallies. It was the same case when Gabby clubbed that hit.
It was pure joy to watch and I mentioned to Gabby before the game that I noticed her bat was red hot lately. She didn’t disappoint.
The Lady Patriots remain undefeated going into yesterday’s game against rival, Wyoming Area. That game was scheduled for noon but at the time I pen this column on Friday, the weather forecasters are calling for rain at game time. Weather is fickle around here so maybe they got it in.
Speaking of spring, ready or not, the 53rd Annual Cherry Blossom Festival is going to happen next weekend, May 4 and 5.
I’ve mentioned before the festival is at a transition period and it’s been looking for a new things to try and would be looking to create some sparks to boost up attendance.
The format hasn’t changed at all since the beginning, and it is such a nice event to usher in spring with the hopes the Cherry Blossom trees are in full bloom at the time of the festival.
The blossoms are in full bloom this weekend and I fear by next weekend, they would have fallen off. The Wilkes-Barre Cherry Blossom Festival will conclude today and they hit peak blossoms right on the nose.
Due to uncontrollable circumstances, there will be no Grand Marshal for this year, but rest assured, it will be back next year.
Gone this year is a food tent, but rather food trucks. The crafters vendor’s tent will be filled with goods to be sold so support your local merchant.
Last week, the entertainment as well as the Little Miss Cherry Blossom contestants where announced.
Event note: the Cherry Blossom Festival Parade will start one hour earlier than in the past. The parade steps off from Exeter Avenue near Blue Ribbon Dairy at 11 a.m.
A program note: the opening ceremonies will not start at the conclusion of the parade; instead Broadway on the Boulevard dance troupe will perform at noon followed by opening ceremonies at 12:45 p.m.
The Little Miss Cherry Blossom contest will start approximately at 1 p.m.
There will be a complete two-day schedule in today’s edition of the Sunday Dispatch.
Special thanks goes out the Mark and Sue Farrell family and their business, Big Top Rentals for donating the tents for this year as well as last.
Setting up a huge tent for the craft vendors is not cheap and the Farrell’s have stepped up.
They also went above and beyond is helping secure funds from local businesses to aid the committee, which is never easy. I have known the Farrells for many years and I know they would really like to see this festival succeed.
I’ve heard some of their suggestions to improve the festival and they are good ones that are extremely doable for next year.
It takes more than a committee to make any event work, but it takes people to attend it.
In the early days of the festival, there were over 7,000 residents living in West Pittston, today, there are about 4,600, a decrease of 2,400 in 50 years.
The festival cannot count on the support of residents’ alone, so starting next year, I hope the appeal will go out to surrounding communities to back the Cherry Blossom Festival.
Quote of the Week
“Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.” – John Wesley
Thought of the Week
“Sometimes we make the process more complicated than we need to. We will never make a journey of a thousand miles by fretting about how long it will take or how hard it will be. We make the journey by taking each day step by step and then repeating it again and again until we reach our destination.” – Joseph B. Wirthlin
Bumper Sticker
“Opportunities are like sunrises. If you wait too long, you miss them.” – William Arthur Ward