Riverfest in Scranton celebrates the Lackawanna River

Jim Lockwood, The Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pa.
·2 min read

Sep. 24—SCRANTON — Septuagenarian Joseph Moffitt remembers the bad old days of the polluted Lackawanna River.

Moffitt grew up in North Scranton before moving away for a half century and recently returning to live in his hometown.

He learned the river now is much cleaner and a fish habitat. On Saturday, he attended the Lackawanna River Conservation Association's annual RiverFest celebration of the river and its watershed.

"When I was growing up in Scranton, the river was horribly dirty. It was polluted by mine waste, factory waste and the towns who dumped their sewage in it. It could not be used for anything. We were told to stay away from the river," Moffitt said. "Now, I understand the river is cleaned up."

Moffitt was among a crowd of several hundred people who came out to Sweeney's Beach in Pine Brook for RiverFest. Cold morning temperatures gave way to warmer weather and clear skies.

"Today, we're enjoying the sunshine. We've got some really great vendors here, some really good food, some good music and the duck race," LRCA Executive Director Bernie McGurl said. "More people know about Sweeney's Beach every year. Every day somebody new is discovering it and saying, 'Hey, this is a nice place.' "

Atop the riverbank, the festival grounds had visitors sitting on lawn chairs enjoying live music, while a few people twirled hula hoops.

Several folks brought their dogs.

RiverFest's roots date to a Canoe-A-Thon in 1973. The festival grew and evolved over the years into an annual spring celebration that drew crowds of over 2,000. RiverFest in each of 2020 and 2021 was moved from spring to fall because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Crowds were much smaller.

A Canoe-A-Thon, which was canceled in 2020 because the river was too shallow, and canceled again in 2021 when RiverFest was postponed to fall, was grounded again this year — partly because of low water but also because of a lack of volunteers, McGurl said. Volunteer numbers have not rebounded after the pandemic, he said.

The Duck-A-Thon race, which was canceled last year because of high water running too fast, making it unsafe for duck-retrieving swimmers, resumed Saturday. This event drew a good turnout for the prospect of cash prizes of $500, $250 and $100 for first, second and third place, respectively.

Estimating Saturday's midday RiverFest crowd at 300 to 400 people, McGurl said, "I wish we had another couple hundred more people."

But the event had a good flow of visitors coming and going all day, LRCA President Joe Wechsler said.

"You know what's nice? It's all families just coming down enjoying Sweeney's Beach," Wechsler said.

Contact the writer:

jlockwood@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9100 x5185;

@jlockwoodTT on Twitter.