24th Connecticut Militia Commander reenactor Harry Stephens, of Hummelstown, left, inspects the flintlock rifle of Matthew Lyons of Hamlin at the Wyoming Monument for the 240th anniversary and 140th annual commemorative service of the Battle and Massacre of Wyoming in 2018. The beloved annual ceremony won’t be held this year due to, you guessed it, lingering uncertainty about the COVID-19 outbreak.
Times Leader file photo
Public Square farmers market still planned, though
WYOMING — For only the second time in its 142-year history, a beloved local tradition will be canceling its observance this summer.
The annual July ceremony marking the Battle and Massacre of Wyoming, held at the Wyoming Monument, has been called off for 2020 due to the coronavirus outbreak, the Wyoming Commemorative Association announced Wednesday afternoon.
At the same time, Wilkes-Barre Mayor George Brown on Wednesday said the annual July 4th celebration in Kirby Park is cancelled.
WB: 4th off, market on
The Kirby Park event has attracted crowds to the park for music, food, carnival rides and fireworks, but the coronavirus forced the change.
The Farmers Market on Public Square will resume this year and be subject to Centers for Disease Control and Pennsylvania Department of Health COVID-19 regulations and recommendations. The market will begin on June 25 and run each Thursday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
There will be no prepared food or non-food item vendors during the market, through at least July. Only fresh produce will be sold.
The Strawberry Festival, scheduled for June 18th, has also been cancelled.
It’s hoped that downtown restaurants make themselves available to market patrons in the absence of the food vendors.
The NEPR AACA Car Cruise on Public Square will begin on July with limitations pursuant to CDC and PA DOH. There will be no food vendors or other vendors during the event.
Wyoming ceremony
The only other time it was canceled was in 1972, following the Agnes flood, the association’s Facebook post said.
“Our incredible keynote speaker planned for this year has accepted our invitation for 2021 so we look forward to welcoming you to the Wyoming Monument on Saturday, July 3, 2021 as we celebrate what will be the exact day of the 243rd anniversary of the Battle and Massacre of Wyoming,” the post added.
The scheduled keynote speaker is a Penn State expert on Ben Franklin and the Wyoming Valley.
On July 3, 1778, the fields here ran red with the blood of patriots who were massacred by a combined force of British troops and their Iroquois allies during the Revolutionary War.
According to association President Frank Conyngham, the group waited until after Memorial Day to see the status of restrictions.
Given the large crowd which attends — many of whom are seated close together under a tent — as well as the large number of veterans and community groups, social distancing would have been difficult if not impossible, a release from the association said.
Construction on the monument — which marks the gravesite for bones of victims — began in July 1833 but was suspended due to a lack of funds when the monument reached 20 feet. Construction resumed in 1841 when the Ladies Luzerne Monumental Association, which became the Wyoming Monument Association in 1860, raised money to complete the memorial at a cost of $8,000.
The gathering is a tradition that goes back to 1878 — the centennial of the Battle of Wyoming.
On the 100th anniversary of the battle on July 3, 1878, a commemoration service drew more than 50,000 to hear the main speaker for the event, U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes.
