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First Friday celebrating fall

LAURA BONAWITS Times Leader Intern

Downtown Scranton art galleries and businesses will open their doors Friday from 6 to 9 p.m. for the city’s monthly First Friday event. For November, 28 businesses will showcase art, photography and live musical performances.

“Camera for a Cure,” a fund-raising project created by 8-year-old Timmy Walsh of Olyphant, will be featured at Duffy Accessories, 218 Linden St. Walsh launched the project after his aunt was diagnosed with lung cancer and his cousin died from colon cancer. He will be selling his photographs to raise funds for lung and colon cancer research.

Many of the photographs are of places Walsh has visited, including New York City, Washington, D.C., and Hawaii. Walsh, however, enjoys photographing locally and said valleys, plants and flowers are among his favorite subjects to shoot.

Unlike past months, November’s First Friday will not follow a particular theme, but will rather create a general fall atmosphere for attendees to “just come out and enjoy the arts,” said Lisa Sauder, Main Street Manager at Scranton Tomorrow and event coordinator.

Sauder said October’s event, which specifically targeted area college students, had a “great turnout” and encouraged college students interested in the arts to attend again.

“Now that the kids are settled in school, everybody’s looking for a fun, inexpensive night out,” Sauder said.

Sauder added a mixer later this month is being planned to bring vendors together. As First Friday continues each month, Sauder said events such as the mixer are part of an initiative to arrange “little things to get people together.”

For vendors and information, visit firstfridayscranton.com.