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Behind the Business: More of life’s lessons still to learn and wisdom to impart for Gus Genetti

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Three-alarm fire damages Nardone Brothers bakery in Wilkes-Barre

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212;Question: Where can you stand in present-day Wilkes-Barre to get a good look at the sites where two warring factions once maintained their forts just 1000 feet apart?</p><p>Answer: The River Common, where Yankee settlers who tried to claim the fertile land along the Susquehanna River for Connecticut built Fort Durkee in the late 1700s, while their Pennamite rivals &#8212; who wanted the land to be part of Pennsylvania &#8212; established Fort Wyoming.</p><p>That&#8217;s just one of many historical tidbits local documentary maker Scott Spinucci shared as he led a recent &#8220;Y Walk Wednesday&#8221; expedition from the Wilkes-Barre YMCA to the River Common and along the Wyoming Valley Levee System.</p><p>&#8220;You&#8217;re walking on hallowed ground,&#8221; Spinucci told the approximately 30 people who joined him, explaining part of the River Common &#8212; just across the street from Wilkes University&#8217;s Dorothy Dickson Darte Center &#8212; was once a burial ground for Native Americans.</p><p>The &#8220;Y Walk Wednesday&#8221; 90-minute hikes are part of the Keystone Active Zone Passport, a free program that encourages people of all ages and abilities to get outdoors for exercise, education and enjoyment.</p><p>Walker Linda Brown of Kingston said she appreciates the guided walks, which end for the season Aug. 12 with a &#8220;Wild Susquehanna Stroll&#8221; led by environmental education specialist Diane Madl from Nescopeck State Park.</p><p>&#8220;I wish they&#8217;d continue in the autumn, maybe on Saturday afternoons because it will get darker earlier,&#8221; Brown said.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s really nice to be here and have people hear good things about Wilkes-Barre,&#8221; participant Janet Conser of Drums added. &#8220;It really is a beautiful town.&#8221;</p><p>This summer, Y Walk Wednesdays gave people opportunities to learn about architecture, natural areas along the river, flood control, and, of course, history.</p><p>Walk leader Spinucci said he could talk for days about the area&#8217;s rich past. Here&#8217;s just a sample of the information he shared on the recent outing:</p><p>&#8226; President Rutherford B. Hayes spoke at the River Common in July 1878 when he came to town to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Wyoming, which had been &#8220;one of the top five battles of the Revolution,&#8221; with more than 200 casualties representing one-quarter of the troops killed during 1778.</p><p>&#8226; John Sullivan, under orders from George Washington to wipe out the villages and destroy the crops of the Iroquois who had sided with the British forces, camped here with his men for six weeks in 1779 before marching north to drive the Native Americans into Canada.</p><p>&#8226; Ethan Allen and some 400 &#8220;Green Mountain Boys&#8221; likely set up camp here in 1786, intending to establish a 14th state that would be called Westmoreland. But a &#8220;pumpkin flood,&#8221; so called because it swept pumpkins from fields and washed them downriver, averted what could have been a huge battle.</p><p>For more information about the River Common, Spinucci invites interested people to watch his 2014 documentary, &#8220;America&#8217;s First Park: River Common,&#8221; which can be found at rivercommondocumentary.com.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Scott Spinucci leads a group of walkers from the YMCA on a historical walking tour along the River Common in Wilkes-Barre. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_walk01.jpg</photo0><caption0>Scott Spinucci leads a group of walkers from the YMCA on a historical walking tour along the River Common in Wilkes-Barre. </caption0><photoCredit0>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_walk02.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Participants in the &#8216;Y Walk Wednesday&#8217; series of downtown Wilkes-Barre hikes said they enjoy the chance for exercise and education in the middle of the week. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_walk02.jpg</photo1><caption1>Participants in the &#8216;Y Walk Wednesday&#8217; series of downtown Wilkes-Barre hikes said they enjoy the chance for exercise and education in the middle of the week. </caption1><photoCredit1>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_walk03.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Historical markers remind people that Fort Wyoming and Fort Durkee once stood along what is now the River Common in Wilkes-Barre. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_walk03.jpg</photo2><caption2>Historical markers remind people that Fort Wyoming and Fort Durkee once stood along what is now the River Common in Wilkes-Barre. </caption2><photoCredit2>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_walk04.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Standing by the Wyoming Valley Levee System&#8217;s Northampton Street portal, Scott Spinucci talks about the area&#8217;s rich history. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_walk04.jpg</photo3><caption3>Standing by the Wyoming Valley Levee System&#8217;s Northampton Street portal, Scott Spinucci talks about the area&#8217;s rich history. </caption3><photoCredit3>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_walk05.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Scott Spinucci leads a group of walkers from the YMCA on a historical walking tour around the River Common in Wilkes-Barre. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_walk05.jpg</photo4><caption4>Scott Spinucci leads a group of walkers from the YMCA on a historical walking tour around the River Common in Wilkes-Barre. </caption4><photoCredit4>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader </photoCredit4></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_walk06.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Alivia Weidler of Wilkes-Barre and her dog,Brody, participates in the YMCA&#8217;s recent &#8216;Y Walk Wednesday&#8217; along the River Common. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo5>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_walk06.jpg</photo5><caption5>Alivia Weidler of Wilkes-Barre and her dog,Brody, participates in the YMCA&#8217;s recent &#8216;Y Walk Wednesday&#8217; along the River Common. </caption5><photoCredit5>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader </photoCredit5></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>&#8230; because of what you can learn</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Y Walk Wednesday? … because of what you can learn