Happy Semiquincentennial!
That word takes some effort to spell and type, but we should have an outstanding word to celebrate an outstanding achievement: 250 years of American freedom. This word does present some challenges, though. Try to picture a joyous party of people getting together to honor this milestone, all attempting to shout, “Happy Semiquincentennial!” at the same time. I think it will take some rehearsing.
There are other impressive terms for this event. Bisesquicentennial, Sestercentennial, Quarter Millenium and, thankfully, the simple yet direct 250th Anniversary.
At The Gathering Place, we plan to go all out for the Ice Festival in honor of the 250 years. This year’s theme for the town is The American Dream: Carved in Ice. Our focus at TGP will be on the Statue of Liberty, a fine lady who shines in New York Harbor (even in this freezing weather). We have joined in with Clarks Summit Borough to purchase a large ice sculpture of her, so she will shine for a few days right in downtown Clarks Summit. Our Statue of Liberty will be a bit smaller than the original who wears a size 879 shoe, has a waistline of 35 feet, and has 354 stairs inside to get to the top. We shouldn’t tell a lady’s age, but she is 130 years old since being placed in the harbor.
Inside The Gathering Place, there will be another recreation of Lady Liberty and Liberty Island for all to use as a photo shoot, plus a cityscape of New York and lots of other decorations. Our activities and foods are family-friendly to thank our community for their support all year. Kids’ crafts will include making keychains, bracelets, Liberty crowns, and coloring sheets — all for free.
We will offer lots of quick food choices. Families can grab a bite to eat as they explore the festival or come in and sit down while having one of our of America 250 food items: Coney Island hot dogs, mini bagels with cream cheese, roasted nuts, pasta salad, meatball on a stick, pickle on a stick, pierogies, pork barbecue sliders, all at low prices. Drinks will include hot cider, coffee, tea, juices, and water.
We plan to make this our best Ice Festival yet and hope you can join us.
One of the best ways to start a new year is to show thanks to people who have done so much in the past. As a community-focused organization, The Gathering Place is thankful for other community-minded businesses that make our town better. One of the most outstanding of these is the Citizens Savings Bank on the corner of Grove and State. Represented by Lisa, our contact at Citizens Savings, this business has made it possible for Clarks Summit to celebrate the start of Christmas by letting Abington Business and Professional Organization use the bank’s trees and land for music, dance performances, cider, and donuts as the Christmas lights are turned on in town. In addition to that, they open up their facilities once again so that the Ice Festival parade is possible. The whole parade lines up there to begin a walk through town. Without the generous offer of their outdoor space, the Ice Festival parade and the Firemen’s Ice Carving contest on Sunday afternoon each year would not be possible. The Citizens Savings Bank is truly a community treasure that so many benefit from. We thank them for being so good to Clarks Summit.
