I took this photo last month, on Courthouse Square in Scranton, as an arts festival was getting set up. That was then. Now, the square belongs to La Festa Italiana.
A few blocks away, RailFest is getting underway at Steamtown. Former Scranton Mayor Jim McNulty is this year's grand marshal. I think he's the last man of vision we elected to office around here. Jim wasn't the best nuts and bolts mayor, but he was smart enough to see that tourism was one of the keys to our future, and a big key at that. He helped get the Steamtown USA collection here from Bellows Falls, Vermont. It was a pile of rusting junk, and it took a federal bail out, in the form of a National Park Service intervention to make it viable. But, the bottom line is the trains are still here. It attracts tourists and their dollars. If you see Jim McNulty this weekend, or any time in the future, be sure to say "thank you."
Have a great weekend.
