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Beyond the Byline: Making the way to the beach and back to my beginnings

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Lackawanna County restaurant inspections March 24 - 28

<p>SCRANTON &#8212; Despite the cold air and snow, the Scranton Cultural Center was filled with spring fever on Sunday.</p><p>The center hosted its inaugural Spring Fling from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at which 75 vendors from throughout the Wyoming Valley sold various types of merchandise</p><p>Each floor offered something different &#8212; the center&#8217;s basement housed a play area for children, the first floor had vendors, basket raffles and a home-and-garden section while the second floor had a variety of foods for sale.</p><p>Much of the merchandise for sale was as colorful as spring flowers and included homemade handbags, bath bombs, jewelry, scented candles, toys and much more.</p><p>According to Scranton Cultural Center Marketing Manager and co-advisor to the event Rachael Fronduti, the Spring Fling comes off the heels of the center&#8217;s annual Holiday Marketplace, which features even more vendors utilizing more of the center&#8217;s floor space.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a little bit smaller than our holiday show, but it is our first year so we wanted to make sure we had room for growth,&#8221; Fronduti said. &#8220;Our holiday show is normally five floors and around 130 vendors.&#8221;</p><p>It was due to the success of the Holiday Marketplace, which will take place in November for its fifth year, that Fronduti said the organizers came up with the idea for the Spring Fling.</p><p>&#8220;Our holiday shows have been gaining momentum over the past four years,&#8221; she said. &#8220;For the last couple of years, we&#8217;ve gotten a lot of feedback from vendors and shoppers if we were going to do something in the spring, and this is the year we finally decided to it.&#8221;</p><p>Fronduti and the Scranton Cultural Center committee members that put on the Spring Fling were selective about which vendors to invite, so the event did not get too big.</p><p>&#8220;Something that we did start this year for this show was we had more of a jury process,&#8221; she said. &#8220;We were kind of selecting people rather than it be first-come, first-served, because it just got to be that these events are getting to be so big, that we wanted to ensure that we could get new vendors in to participate as well.&#8221;</p><p>One vendor on hand that is no stranger to setting up shop at the Scranton Cultural Center is Lyn Carey, owner of Earth and Wears in Dallas.</p><p>Her shop consists of handmade stone jewelry that she makes herself, as well as wire statues that are made by a local wire sculptor in Dallas.</p><p>Setting up at the &#8220;But Local&#8221; events at the Scranton Cultural Center helps Carey reach out to her customers better.</p><p>&#8220;The Holiday (Marketplace) is such a great time of year,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I am a local business, but I&#8217;m in Dallas and I do have a lot of Scranton customers. This makes it easier for them to come here (rather) than go all the way to the shop.&#8221;</p><p>Although the Spring Fling was smaller and in its first year, Carey said there was one similarity to the Holiday Marketplace.</p><p>&#8220;I think it&#8217;s just as busy,&#8221; she said. &#8220;It&#8217;s a great crowd and they marketed this very well. I&#8217;m very happy with the events.&#8221;</p><p>Fronduti said she did not talk to any customers personally, but from what she was hearing while walking around the venue throughout the day, the Spring Fling was a great success.</p><p>She also did not rule out the springtime event making a return next year.</p><p>&#8220;I sure hope so,&#8221; she said of the event reoccurring. &#8220;We wanted to start small just to gauge, because the shopping trends are different in the fall versus the spring, but I definitely see a lot of room for growth. It seems to be incredibly received, which is great.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Customers shop at various vendors on the first floor of the Scranton Cultural Center during its inaugural &#8216;Buy Local: Spring Fling&#8217; event on Sunday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_TTL040416SpringFlingWebCMYK.jpg</photo0><caption0>Customers shop at various vendors on the first floor of the Scranton Cultural Center during its inaugural &#8216;Buy Local: Spring Fling&#8217; event on Sunday. </caption0><photoCredit0>Jimmy Fisher | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jimmy Fisher</p><p>jfisher@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jimmy Fisher at 570-704-3972 or on Twitter @SD_JimmyFisher.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Scranton Cultural Center hosts inaugural ‘Buy Local: Spring Fling’ event on Sunday