Taking a stroll downtown

CLARKS SUMMIT — A new series of events this summer and fall will give people fun things to do as they walk through the streets of Clarks Summit. It’s called Summit Stroll. The Abington Business & Professional Association (ABPA) and The Gathering Place collaborated to bring family fun activities that will happen each month throughout the remaining year including seasonal festivals. Summit Stroll kicked off with an art walk called Bears, Berries, and Sidewalk Sales. the ABPA donated tents to provide shade for the vendors during the high temperatures on Friday, July 22 and Saturday, July 23 on State Street and Spring Street. ‘

“I am very excited to see these events grow throughout the year, and I hope it brings the community through family-friendly activities,” said Katie Lane, vice president of the ABPA.

Lane is the program director and teacher of Imagine NEPA, where kids learned to hula hoop by dance artist Kayleigh Cornell, of Archbald. “I’m the happiest when I’m teaching kids to hula hoop,” said Kayleigh. “Just because hula hooping brings me such joy.”

Abby Rose Bowen, who makes handmade stoneware called Laurel Cove Pottery, vended her houseware items such as tree roses and bowls. She claims everything she makes is ‘handmade with love’. This is her first time selling her items in Clarks Summit.

“Everyone who’s come by here has been super nice,” she said. Artistic Creations by Kary and Kristin. a mother/daughter business located on Main Street in Nicholson, brought their hand-painted glassware outside Imagine NEPA. They also make amigurumi, a Japanese art of crocheting stuffies. They were invited by Lane, who used to make crafts with Kary. “This is definitely a highly visible area,” Kary said about downtown Clarks Summit. “It helps bring business to the small businesses that are here.”

Further up State Street was Art by M. Noelle. Monica Noelle of Scranton sold prints and paintings. She also wrote five-minute poems to anyone who asked for them. “They just give me a topic,” she said “Then they go and shop around for five minutes.”

Monica had a poem ready for them when they came back to her stand. This is her first event in Clarks Summit. On Spring Street, the Appalachia Service Project vended desserts including ones cakes with blueberries baked into them to go with the event’s theme. The volunteers of the organization went on a service trip to McDowell County, West Virginia from July 4 to July 9. They did room addition, dry wall, and installations for houses. Kelley Stewart, director of the Woodlands campus and the Keystone College Environmental Education Institute, allowed children to wear beekeeper hats and to learn about a bee’s process of making honey. She shows them different types of equipment that beekeepers use. She taught that honey in the spring is a light color. “When we get to the fall, it get a darker color, depending on the nectar of the flowers,” she said. Keeping with the berry theme, Lauren Waters, whose mother-in-law Dori Waters is the president of The Gathering Place, visited Clarks Summit with her family and made blueberry smoothies for the event. “It’s a nice way to bring friends and families all ages together,” she said. “We love to see the smiling faces.”

The remaining events of Summit Stroll are: Back to School Block Party, August 26; Fall Harvest Fest, September 24; State Street Trick or Treat, October 29; annual tree lighting, November 18; Small Town Holiday Festival, December 10. “We have a beautiful town with so much to offer,” said Lane. “I’d love to see Summit Stroll bring everyone downtown.”