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Not so ‘Special:’ Failed trick play sums up Penn State’s win at Rutgers

<p>As I was perusing gifts for my top picks for men in this year&#8217;s Holiday Gift Guide (inside today&#8217;s paper), I realized how quickly fall had come and gone.</p><p>Before we knew it, we were engulfed in that massive Thursday night snowstorm that put many motorists in gridlock situations throughout Northeastern Pennsylvania.</p><p>Turns out we weren&#8217;t that well-prepared for the first snowfall of the year.</p><p>But, with the help of the Holiday Gift Guide, we hope you&#8217;ll be prepared for the holiday season upon us.</p><p>Yesterday the Wilkes-Barre City Christmas Parade was scheduled, planned under the direction of City Special Events Coordinator Patty Hughes.</p><p>It&#8217;s the unofficial kickoff to the holiday season in downtown Wilkes-Barre.</p><p>People line the streets, kids marvel at Santa and Mrs. Claus (who arrive usually each year courtesy of a whimsical and well-designed McCarthy Tire flatbed), and it&#8217;s an all-around fun day in the City of Wilkes-Barre.</p><p>Using the gift guide, you can choose many downtown and Luzerne County-based businesses from which to buy this holiday season.</p><p>The big box retailers offer a lot on their fancy e-commerce websites, of course, but we musn&#8217;t forgotten the mom-and-pop shops in our own backyard.</p><p>I&#8217;m talking about Boscov&#8217;s, Center City Repairs, Top of the Slope, Bee Hive Gift Shop, Marquis Art &amp; Frame, stores in the 900 Rutter building and United Penn Plaza, the many Back Mountain shops on Memorial Highway, Main Street in Pittston, and so many more.</p><p>I wish I could name everywhere locally that was home to small businesses, but you get the point.</p><p>Speaking of such, the Holiday Pop-up Shops are returning to Midtown Village at 41 S. Main St. in Wilkes-Barre this year. After Thanksgiving Day, it seems the shopping season is in full effect, so the holiday shops are a place you&#8217;ll want to be next weekend.</p><p>Last year was successful.</p><p>There were dozens of businesses &#8211; some of which did not have local storefronts &#8211; that got to showcase their products, works of art, designs and clothing or accessories.</p><p>It&#8217;s where I did all my holiday shopping.</p><p>You can always find something at Buka, located in Shavertown, which is one of the anchor vendors at the pop-up shops. Voted Best Clothing Store by Back Mountain readers, the ladies I&#8217;m buying for this year will be getting apparel from there.</p><p>Other anchor vendors during the five-week pop-up shop run include: Mia Bella, JAMS (Alan McLaughlin and Jordan Semar artwork), Boote Photography, Bearded Ladies, Whipped Sweet Shoppe, MCR Productions, 3girlsoils, and Counterpart Kombucha.</p><p>There will be other stores &#8220;popping up&#8221; throughout the run as well, so each week will be somewhat different and fresh.</p><p>If you show up during the right period of time, you may even see TL, our dutiful and friendly Times Leader bear mascot, hopping around.</p><p>He hugs admirers, poses for photos and loves this time of year (he handles the cold weather well).</p><p>Give the holiday shops a shot if you can.</p><p>And remember to shop local this holiday season.</p><p>Deviating from the holidays, one place I hope you made it to if you were &#8220;around town&#8221; this past weekend was the Open House for 600 Waterfront, held at the River Grille last Wednesday.</p><p>There, developers Ross and Gersh Spengler introduced plans for their eight-story complex that will feature 102 luxury residences along the North River Street in Plains Township.</p><p>Times Leader staff were on hand and &#8211; even though I couldn&#8217;t be there &#8211; Gersh and team reported a remarkable 90-some energized attendees who came to check out the plans.</p><p>Architect Kim Rosentel from Pennoni Engineering answered questions about the sizable project.</p><p>I&#8217;m told they will continue to work with people wanting to pre-lease; as of now, both penthouses and eight other units have a been reserved.</p><p>Kudos to this father-son duo who are doing their part to keep the community moving forward.</p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>Mike McGinley</p><p>Guest Columnist</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Mike McGinley is the Times Leader Media Group&#8217;s major accounts executive. Reach him at mmcginley@www.timesleader.comor 570-704-3945.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Around town: Remember our local shops this holiday season