Fall festival fills Main Street in Luzerne
LUZERNE — Everything fell into place Saturday for Jim Lane.
The weather cooperated for the start of the Luzerne Merchants Association 20th annual Fall Pumpkin Festival. Vendors lined Main Street and the crowds showed up.
Lane, owner of the Main Bean coffee shop and association president, watched people stroll along the street that was closed to traffic, stop at the food and merchandise spots and pop into the shops. Nearby a hay wagon pulled by two horses loaded up and in an adjacent parking lot children climbed into the saddle for horse rides.
In the long run the bottom line mattered to the merchants and more than 50 vendors who put in the time and effort to make the two-day festival a success. They’re in business after all, said Lane. But then so did the exposure and not just from the late summer sun.
“In the short term it’s about, ‘Let’s get put on the map,’” he said.
The festival continues today from noon to 5 p.m.
Barbara Gavlick Hartnett opened her shop Costumes by Barbara and soon had people looking through the racks.
“People walk in when they normally wouldn’t,” she said.
Two people from New York City visited and set aside some items they might use in a play, she said.
She rents and sells for Halloween and all the holidays. “I also do plays and schools. I’m here all year,” she said.
So is Marc Williams of MarcCo Jewelers.
He and his wife Jeanmarie had a canopy set up near the shop to hand out cannon ball-sized pumpkins and stickers to kids to decorate the in a variety of faces.
“We’ve got between 240 and 250 pumpkins,” Marc Williams said, adding they went through half of them by early afternoon Saturday.
It’s the store’s third year participating in the festival, he said.
Lenny Peters, 5, and his sister Harlow, 3, showed off their creations. He had a scary jack-o-lantern face on his pumpkin. She had a wicked witch on hers.
Across the street stood Jennifer Kozlansky with a clipboard in hand. The illustrator from Factoryville collected names and email addresses so she could connect them to her website JenniferKozlansky.com.
“The purpose is to entertain, educate and inspire and help kids connect with nature,” she said.
Kozlansky said there’s been interest in the site including from schools since she launched the site in August. It’s geared for kids of all ages, she said.
Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter
