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Beyond the Byline: Farewell, old friend

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; How often are there free flowers, free hugs, and positive messages written on the pavement on Public Square?</p><p>On Saturday, a few locals gathered to spread positivity, including Tim Maloney, Becca Boerger and Justin Vacula, for &#8220;Be Kind Wilkes-Barre.&#8221; They will return at noon Sunday.</p><p>Maloney, who organized the event, said it was inspired by &#8220;Be Kind Scranton,&#8221; and the Scranton-based &#8220;Hug Army,&#8221; who have done similar events in the past.</p><p>&#8220;(We&#8217;re here) to promote positivity, and, in general, just being kind to one another,&#8221; Maloney said. &#8220;I feel like, in this current climate, there&#8217;s a lot of divisiveness and hate going around, and something simple like this is an easy way to spread happiness.&#8221;</p><p>Maloney said this was the third time the event has taken place in Wilkes-Barre &#8212; the first, in February, saw about three dozen participants and the second took place this spring during the Fine Arts Fiesta.</p><p>In addition to the flowers and hugs, the group handed out pieces of paper that said &#8220;You&#8217;re Awesome.&#8221; They also wrote positive messages &#8212; including &#8220;you are loved&#8221; and &#8220;you are beautiful&#8221; &#8212; in sidewalk chalk on the Square.</p><p>&#8220;I agree with the focus on positivity,&#8221; Boerger said. She&#8217;s a part of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Wyoming Valley.</p><p>&#8220;We believe in the inherent dignity and worth of every person, so that means even if you don&#8217;t agree with them, they have inherent worth and dignity, and I think that gets lost sometimes in our current environment,&#8221; she explained.</p><p>Boerger pointed out the potential impact of something as simple as a kind word.</p><p>&#8220;For some people, they may be walking around and they may be in such a bad place &#8230; and you receive something like that &#8230; you just don&#8217;t know what impact that has on somebody&#8217;s life.&#8221;</p><p>Vacula, who is a student of mental health counseling at Marywood, was just hoping to give back through kindness.</p><p>&#8220;Sometimes people don&#8217;t recognize the positive things that are going on in their lives and focus on the negatives, and discount all of the positive experiences &#8230; so this, actually going out and being part of the community, maybe that could be a big help &#8230; small measures of kindness,&#8221; he said.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Participants in Saturday&#8217;s &#8216;Be Kind Wilkes-Barre&#8217; used sidewalk chalk to write encouraging messages on the walkways at Public Square. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_BEKIND.jpg</photo0><caption0>Participants in Saturday&#8217;s &#8216;Be Kind Wilkes-Barre&#8217; used sidewalk chalk to write encouraging messages on the walkways at Public Square. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_download-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">From left are Justin Vacula, Tim Maloney, Becca Boerger and Kim Hale-Yim, who all participated in &#8216;Be Kind Wilkes-Barre&#8217; on Saturday. The group gave out flowers, hugs and positive messages. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_download-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>From left are Justin Vacula, Tim Maloney, Becca Boerger and Kim Hale-Yim, who all participated in &#8216;Be Kind Wilkes-Barre&#8217; on Saturday. The group gave out flowers, hugs and positive messages. </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Toni Pennello</p><p>tpennello@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Toni Pennello at @TLNews.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Group’s simple request: ‘Be Kind Wilkes-Barre’