Members of the Downtown Arts Artistic Forum pose with facilitator Gina Malsky, second from left, first row, after their Wednesday meeting. The group’s next meeting is set for 8:30 a.m. Oct. 16 in downtown Wilkes-Barre Innovation Center.
Mary Therese Biebel | Times Leader
Activities abound in and around Wilkes-Barre
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From a home run derby to a chance to audition for “The Price is Right,” from gallery receptions to an invitation to dress like Santa and run as fast as you can … those are just a few of the upcoming events members of the Downtown Arts Artistic Forum discussed during a meeting early Wednesday morning.
The area will celebrate “a great piece of local folklore” on Oct. 12, Alan K. Stout from Visit Luzerne County said, when baseball fans gather at Kirby Park for the inaugural Babe Ruth “Sultan of Swat” Home Run Derby. Men and women, ages 16 and older, are invited to try to hit a home run in the vicinity of Babe Ruth’s historic homer, which was measured at more than 600 feet on Oct. 12, 1926 at Artillery Park, adjacent to Kirby Park.
Proceeds of the Home Run Derby will benefit the Geisinger Children’s Miracle Network/Janet Weis Children’s Hospital.
For another kind of excitement, WBRE-WYOU’s Chris Bohinski said the television stations will sponsor auditions for “The Price is Right” from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 9 at Mohegan Pennsylvania. The first 400 people are guaranteed an audition, and two winners are guaranteed a trip to Los Angeles to be part of the audience (and possibly chosen as contestants) on the popular game show.
And Wilkes-Barre’s Special Events Coordinator Mike Slusser said that after the downtown trick-or-treating event for children on Oct. 27 and the Santa Parade on Nov. 23, Wilkes-Barre’s inaugural Santa 5K race is planned for Dec. 14.
So if you see hundreds of Santas running through town, that’s why.
Among other upcoming events:
• Don Armstrong from the Wyoming Valley Art League said tickets are on sale ($50 per person) for the Wyoming Valley Art League’s biggest fundraiser, the Fine Taste – Fine Art event, set for 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 24 at the Circle Center for the Arts.
More immediately, the Fall Members Juried Exhibition will be on display Sept. 20 through Nov. 8, at the Circle Centre for the Arts, with an opening reception set for 5 to 8 p.m. Sept. 20.
“The artwork is exquisite,” Armstrong said.
• Also starting at 5 p.m. on Sept. 20, Wilkes University’s Sordoni Art Gallery will be the setting for an opening reception for the traveling exhibition “Memories & Inspiration: The Kerry and C. Betty Davis Collection of African American Art,” which gallery director Heather Sincavage explained includes selected works from a body of art amassed over 25 years by an ordinary working-class couple.
Come to the Sordoni reception either before or after visiting the Wyoming Valley Art League’s reception, Sincavage advised.
The galleries are within walking distance of each other, so that should be doable.
• Jahmeel Powers from King’s College Theatre Department said “Waiting For Godot,” “a masterpiece of Theatre of the Absurd,” will be presented Oct. 3 through Oct. 5 on campus. Tickets are available through the theatre department’s new ticket portal, onthestage.tickets, and will be available at the box office as well.
• Dan Shission from Abide Coffeehouse said that downtown business will sponsor the Back to the Grind festival, aimed at college students, with more than 100 vendors and 18 bands, including a Meatloaf tribute, set to perform Oct. 4, 5, and 6 on Wilkes-Barre’s Public Square. The event also includes a chance to win a year’s worth of free drinks from Abide.
• Representing the Riverfront Parks Committee, John Maday said the 14th annual ChalkFest will be Sept. 28 on the River Common. “As many as 600 kids have taken part” at past ChalkFests, he said, and this year’s event will feature environmental education stations as well as a special guest — Smokey Bear — who is celebrating his 80th birthday.
• AJ Jump and Neil Prisco from the F.M. Kirby Center detailed several upcoming events, starting with “Joe Nardone Presents: Oh, What a Night of 60s Rock ‘n Roll” on Sept. 21 and TerryLee Goffee’s Tribute to Johnny Cash on Sept. 22, and said they’re eager for people to see the historic theater, which is reopening this week after undergoing extensive repairs following October 2023 flooding of the lower level.
Among the improvements, they said, the century-old plumbing has been redone, great care has been taken to match the Art Deco style of the interior and the marquee has been updated.