News

June 27, 2009

LOOKING GOOD: Hidden Delights

By Mary Therese Biebel mbiebel@timesleader.com
Features Writer
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Six-year-old Isabelle Polgar of Kingston brought her purple bicycle to a stop and looked at her mother expectantly.

Mom Michele Schasberger, who had been carrying 3-year-old Rebecca on her shoulders as she walked alongside her older daughter on the gravelly trail, nodded her assent.

“Guess what we’re going to do after our healthy exercise?” Schasberger said. “Go for ice cream!”

The little scene illustrates one of the almost-hidden delights of Luzerne County.

It’s not that you can get ice cream here, in many flavors, including Rebecca’s favorite, which she calls “pink.”

It’s that community-minded volunteers from the Anthracite Scenic Trails Association are working tirelessly to raise money and obtain rights of way to give cyclists, walkers and joggers a green way to travel, safely removed from traffic.

The Back Mountain Trail, where Schasberger, who happens to be project manager for the Wyoming Valley Wellness Trails Partnership, took her daughters on a recent Thursday, stretches about four miles from Luzerne to the Back Mountain, and it is growing.

Here are more positive aspects of life in Luzerne County that are sometimes overlooked:

• From 2002 to 2007, the county gained population through more people moving in than it lost through people moving out. That net gain of 4,078 new residents translates to greater economic opportunities, said Teri Ooms, executive director of The Institute for Public Policy & Economic Development.

The cost of living is lower here than in larger metropolitan areas, Ooms said, offering as an example homes that sell for $200,000 here but would cost $750,000 in New York or New Jersey.

• Though recent murders have received much attention, the area is still relatively safe. “We’re not horrible, by any means,” said Ooms, who lives in Dupont.

Long-time resident Joe Kester of Larksville tends to agree. “You have to keep your wits about you, to stay alert, but I feel safer here than I did working in Reading 25 years ago.”

• Area residents sometimes forget Luzerne County is a tourist destination, with people coming for anything from fall foliage to a concert at the Wachovia Arena.

In 2006, Ooms pointed out, visitors spent $653 million on transportation, food, lodging, etc.

While tourists may journey a great distance to take in local sights, area residents needn’t go far to see such spectacular sights as the waterfalls at Ricketts Glen State Park, which is located in Luzerne, Columbia and Sullivan counties.

• For more natural beauty, we can kayak or canoe down the Susquehanna, where several stretches are free of buildings and offer passersby the same kind of vista people would have seen more than a century ago, said historian Jan Lokuta, who has happily counted several eagles on expeditions north of Pittston.

• Another aspect of old-fashioned charm is the way Wilkes-Barre, Nanticoke, Pittston and various boroughs were laid out decades ago, with sidewalks that allow people to run errands without a car.

“I’m always trying to burn calories,” said Wilkes-Barre resident Frank Pasquini, who frequently walks to Kingston for anything from a doctor appointment to a pizza at Sizzle-Pi.

Speaking of restaurants, Luzerne County has an abundance of eateries where you can find anything from mushroom strudel (at MAPS in Nanticoke) to sushi (at Iron Chef in Edwardsville) to hamburgers as big as a plate (White Haven Diner).

• And, if you eat food, you should have something to wash it down. Perhaps a specialty beverage from a small operation like the Breaker Brewing Co. – which we hear is working on a strawberry beer – or an old favorite from the Lion Brewery, which brings us Lionshead, Stegmaier, Gibbons and Bartel as well as an annual Oktoberfest celebration and chances to tour the production facility. We do encourage moderation.

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