WEST PITTSTON – The first festival event of 2020 in Greater Pittston will not happen due to the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. Organizers of the 49th annual West Pittston Cherry Blossom Festival decided this past week to cancel the May 5 and 6 festival until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A statement released by Lori DeAngelo, 2020 president of the West Pittston Cherry Blossom Festival Committee earlier in the week said, “It is with great sadness and heartbreak that the West Pittston Cherry Blossom Festival committee has decided to cancel our 2020 festival due to the coronavirus that is impacting our world.”
Wyoming Area head football coach Randy Spencer was to be this year’s grand marshal and team members were to be named honorary citizens of West Pittston. The Wyoming Area football team won the school’s first state championship this past season.
The committee is looking for a feasible way to properly honor Spencer and the team in some capacity in the near future.
“Usually, the Sunday Dispatch has a feature article on the event’s grand marshal, but Randy does not want him to be alone in anything,” DeAngelo explained. “He does not want solo recognition, he wanted the team and the coaches to be recognized. After all, there are 20 men and women on the field that support those kids. They all need to be recognized.”
Fortunately, DeAngelo said there were no expenses paid out prior to the start of this year’s Cherry Blossom Festival.
Each year, the Cherry Blossom Festival Committee offers a scholarship to a Wyoming Area graduate, according to DeAngelo, even without a festival, the scholarship will still be honored.
“The scholarship goes to a West Pittston resident that is a senior at Wyoming Area,” DeAngelo said. “The applications have been received and reviewed by a special committee headed up by Rosella Fedor. The student submits a paper on what they have done for their community and what you hope to do for the community. We will know in two weeks who the recipient will be.”
For next year’s 50th anniversary, DeAngelo promises the Cherry Blossom Festival will be a special event.
“We are considering a sit-down dinner/dance for the 50th,” DeAngelo said. “It won’t be so much a gala but an event where everyone can come to have fun.”
DeAngelo admits those plan are in its infancy, but assures as time goes on definite plans will be set.
