Funfest is focusing on getting back to its roots as it approaches its 40th anniversary but the Funfest committee is also excited to announce three new events it hopes crowds will enjoy during this year’s two-day festival Saturday and Sunday in downtown Hazleton.
Several area churches are coming together to hold the Interfaith Comm-UNITY service from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Sunday on the Funfest main stage, Broad and Wyoming streets.
The service is organized by the Funfest committee member Craig Lutz of Faith Apostolic Church and the Greater Hazleton Alliance of Christian Leaders.
The GHACL has invited 60 churches from throughout Greater Hazleton to participate in the event.
“Our interfaith/unity service is a wonderful opportunity for all the churches of the Greater Hazleton area to come together for a time of worship and prayer and to build relationships with one another,” Murphy, Faith Assembly of God’s lead pastor, said.
In addition to the interfaith service, The Shop 2 owner Carmine Parlatore has another idea to bring the community together.
She is kicking off the Hazleton Cares project during Funfest weekend. She will have an informational table outside her store at 105 E. Broad St. featuring handouts in English and Spanish with key information Hazleton residents need to know in order to improve their quality of life.
Parlatore will have “care packages” on hand with important facts and contact information so residents can be better-informed neighbors. The packages include code information, emergency contacts, school information, agencies for families in need, information on how to open a new business and more.
“I do believe that the small things like cleaning up your properties, following city codes, having information about how this city runs with a little respect toward each other will help bring back some pride that has been lost,” Parlatore said. “We need to inform our new neighbors and maybe refresh some who have lived here for many years what the city services and codes are to help clean up our town.
“I am hoping this project will help us all be better informed and bring back the quality of life and respect that is slowly leaving our neighborhoods,” she said.
Another element of Funfest’s homecoming weekend will be a walk down memory lane thanks to an iconic Broad Street storefront.
The windows of the former Remember When building, which is now owned by CAN DO, will be transformed into a mirror into the past featuring four different designs.
A pair of windows will feature a mix of antiques from Parlatore’s two Hazleton consignment shops. A third window will be designed from the Greater Hazleton Historical Society’s massive collection and the fourth will present memories of Funfest through the ages and feature banners dating back to the event’s inception in 1979.
Funfest runs from noon to 7 p.m. Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday.
For more information on Funfest 2015, call Julie Ferry at 570-455-1509 or email funfest@hazletonchamber.org. Information is also available online at www.funfestpa.org, on Facebook (www.facebook.com/FunfestHazleton) or on Twitter (@funfesthazleton).