Newswatch 16’s Valeria Quiñones gives us a preview of the day thousands look forward to every year.
SCRANTON, Pa. — Since the 1960s, the radio tower in downtown Scranton shines bright to mark the start of the holiday season.
WEJLRadio Senior Vice President Terry Deitz says it started as a small company tradition, but it has turned into so much more for the Electric City. “So many people come back to town, and they look for this event to kick off their holiday season, and it’s just amazing as we see nobody on the street, maybe at 3 o’clock, and then at 6 o’clock there are thousands of people.”
Dietz says nearly 6,00o people come out on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving to see the tower light up the sky every year.
“We’re a local company, and so we really like the localism of what it means to everybody, and there are people who won’t miss it. It’s a tradition year after year, and it gets passed down year after year in families,” says Dietz.
WEJL Radio prepares all weekend for the big event. Workers climb the 240-foot tower to replace all of the faulty bulbs. That ensures a perfect start to the holiday, a fun-filled day.
“We’ve got a lot of great entertainment that is going to happen. We have a lot of food trucks, and of course, Santa Claus will be here, you know, so you want to come down and get a chance to talk to Santa.”
The Scranton WEJL Tower Lighting event is scheduled for Wednesday, November 26, from 2:00 PM to 6:30 PM.