First Friday August Recap

First Friday events bridge generation gap

BY GIA MAZUR / PUBLISHED: AUGUST 6, 2016

August’s First Friday filled the streets with crowds of all ages.

An older group listened to jazz outside Carl Von Luger’s Steak and Seafood, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church and several other venues as part of the annual, weekend-long Scranton Jazz Festival’s Jazz Walk. Usually a late-night activity, Friday’s Jazz Walk took place during First Friday events.

Some couples danced to the music, while other audience members set up lawn chairs on closed-off streets to enjoy the music.

A weekend-long rooftop party at the Marketplace at Steamtown also kicked off Friday night. Twenty- and 30-somethings took advantage of the view, posing for selfies that overlooked the city and beyond, while listening to live music.

Even the youngest of First Friday’s revelers came out for August’s event. Newave Studios, a contemporary, hip-hop and aerial dance studio on Wyoming Avenue, performed on the North Washington Avenue side of Courthouse Square.

A group of students, ages 11-14, danced to Meghan Trainor and Drake with their instructor, Rashida Lovely, as a crowd gathered to watch the kids bust a move.

Children from Seocho Youth Center, part of Seoul Catholic Youth Center in South Korea, walked the whole square and offered Korean calligraphy to passers-by. The 42-student group is here to learn English at Marywood University before the students embark on a tour of Ivy League schools in the Northeast.

Group members originally intended to go to Times Square to spread their Korean culture but translator Sylvia Lee suggested they stay in the Electric City.

“Scranton has a small population of Asians,” Ms. Lee, 20, said. “I said, ‘Why don’t we do it here?’ It’s so diverse in New York City. We should expose this area to the culture.”

Click here to view the article on The Times-Tribune website.