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Pittston Tomato Festival canceled as virus rebounds

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Dance Theatre of WB to present ‘The Little Mermaid’ outdoors

WILKES-BARRE &mdash; Back in the day, the only flatbed trucks traveling through our neighborhood were carrying fruit and produce or rags.
				Joe Wende, who had a farm &ldquo;down the flats,&rdquo; would come through with the freshest produce you could find anywhere &mdash; all grown on his farm near the Susquehanna River.
				The neighbors would run out to the truck and walk around, telling Mr. Wende what they wanted &mdash; corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, eggplant, cabbage, lettuce, string beans, red beets, peppers, plums, peaches, apples &mdash; it was all there.
				Once a week, another flatbed would come through with an older man blowing a horn, alerting the neighborhood that &ldquo;the rag man&rdquo; was here. All the housewives would come out and choose which rags they wanted to use to keep their homes clean. It was a ritual every week.
				And oh yeah, every now and then a much larger flatbed truck would drive up Orchard Street with a giganticsteam-shovel that was used for strip mining. We had several strip-mining operations in the hills of Plymouth, scarring the land for decades.
				And now, we have a new use for the flatbed truck, thanks to the ingenuity of several people who want to bring some enjoyment to neighborhoods during this pandemic.
				On Friday, live music returns to Downtown atop a flatbed truck (parade-style) with the kickoff of the Rockin&rsquo; the County 2020 traveling concerts.
				&ldquo;That&rsquo;s right &mdash; COVID-19 may have forced a halt to this year&rsquo;s Rockin&rsquo; the River Summer Concert Series on the River Common, but it hasn&rsquo;t stopped the music,&rdquo; said Larry Newman, executive director of Diamond City Partnership.
				The series kicks off in Wilkes-Barre this Friday with a traveling performance by Dustin Douglas and the Electric Gentlemen
				The first the &ldquo;Rockin&rsquo; the County&rdquo; concerts that will feature local bands passing through five neighborhoods on a flatbed truck will roll on Friday between 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. so residents can enjoy the music right on their porches.
				Friday&rsquo;s route
				The route for Friday, July 10 will start on Old River Road and ends at the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts on Public Square. The &ldquo;traveling Wilkes-Barres,&rdquo; as I like to call this, will be on West Academy, Dagobert, Carey Avenue, Hanover, Barney, Wood, South Main, Blackman, High, East Northampton and Public Square, passing several other streets.
				With the ban on mass gatherings due to the coronavirus, Luzerne County last week decided to replace its concerts along the Susquehanna River with on-the-road performances from a moving flatbed truck.
				The rest of the lineup:
				&#8226; July 17, Hazleton, Indigo Moon Brass Band
				&#8226; July 24, Pittston, The Mule Team
				&#8226; July 31, Nanticoke, The Music of Woodstock with The Husty Brothers and Ellie Rose
				&#8226; Aug. 7, Kingston/Forty Fort, Joe Nardone&rsquo;s Rockology Americans
				The routes and other additional information will be posted at www.VisitLuzerneCounty.com.
				In a Times Leader story last week, Luzerne County tourism head Theodore Wampole said he wanted to make up for cancellation of the free &ldquo;Rockin&rsquo; the River&rdquo; concerts that drew thousands to the county-owned River Common recreation area along the river near the county courthouse in Wilkes-Barre last year.
				Of course, residents on the concert route are asked to follow social distancing and other public health guidelines, the county said.
				But enjoy the music.
				Admire the effort here.
				It&rsquo;s well-deserved.

Beyond the Byline: Enjoy the ‘Traveling Wilkes-Barres’ this Friday