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A new decade is dawning, and we are faced with a huge question. Will our time see another &ldquo;Roaring Twenties,&rdquo; or will we suffer through a &ldquo;Boring Twenties&rdquo; instead?
				We have our work cut out for us, folks. Let&rsquo;s take a look at that most exciting of historic eras here in Wyoming Valley and ask if we will see its equal in our century.
				Prohibition: The 1920s were exciting times, indeed. With the enactment of the Volstead Act and the 18th Amendment, nearly all alcohol was made illegal. Here in Wyoming Valley, breweries and cocktail lounges shut down, but bootleggers from Canada delivered to homes. Will we see anyone as colorful as the Rev. John E. Johnson of Philadelphia, known as &ldquo;the raiding parson,&rdquo; who came here in 1921 bearing guns rather than Bibles to pay some not-so-social calls on speakeasies the police had missed?
				Growth: Wyoming Valley&rsquo;s population was mushrooming, thanks to a variety of industries and helped along by thousands of immigrants receiving citizenship. Developers were building not single houses but whole tracts of homes. The area&rsquo;s birth rate was twice the death rate. Luzerne County boasted of being the third largest county in Pennsylvania, and would hit its population high of more than 400,000 in the 1930 Census (about 100,000 more than today&rsquo;s).
				Flappers: Old photos show that the ladies of our valley quickly latched onto the short skirts and the cloche hats we associate with the &ldquo;flappers&rdquo; (fashionable young women) of that decade. Local guys adopted the flared jackets and pipe stem trousers of the day. As we look around today, though, do we see emerging any clothing styles that mark off the 2020s from the 2010s or likely to stir cries of Sodom and Gomorrah among the senior citizens?
				The Great Gatsby: If ever a novel summed up American thinking and behavior at a given historical moment, it was &ldquo;The Great Gatsby,&rdquo; by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Published in 1925, it beautifully captures the aggressive materialism and wide-open desire of the time. A year earlier, George Gershwin&rsquo;s jazz-influenced concert work &ldquo;Rhapsody in Blue&rdquo; (soon played in Wilkes-Barre) became celebrated as a musical anthem of the new day. Will we enjoy anything like this one-two cultural punch that to generations hence will encapsulate our thinking?
				New Media: The 1920s had barely arrived when, radio stations like the pioneering WBAX here in Wyoming Valley were bringing music, drama and comedy to everyone&rsquo;s home. By the end of the 20s, movies had sound, and television had been developed in laboratory settings. With computers and giant wall TVs now something grandparents use, are we likely to see such a conglomeration of wildly new entertainment tech in our day?
				Big Ideas: The 1920s didn&rsquo;t do anything halfway. If worth doing at all, it was worth doing big-time. The immense tower portion of the Hotel Sterling got under way, and Wilkes-Barre broke ground for two massive new high schools. The 1928 observance of the anniversary of the 1778 Battle of Wyoming featured thousands of elaborately costumed re-enactors at Kirby Park before packed bleachers that made the venue look like a college football bowl game. No pikers they.
				Well, there it is, folks. As we embark on our own &ldquo;twenties,&rdquo; we have a tough act to follow. Will future generations look back on our new decade as an era of excitement, innovation and greatness? Or will they shake their heads and wonder how we endured it without falling asleep?
				Anyway, 23 skidoo! I&rsquo;m outta here.

Remember When: Will we have a ‘Great Gatsby’ for OUR ’20s?