NEPA Home and Garden Show continues today at Arena

Kevin Carroll, The Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
·3 min read

Feb. 5—WILKES-BARRE TWP. — "Name That Pollinator" read the sign on the wheel spun by Christie Piano on Saturday.

On the wheel were pictures of insects and other animals, including a monarch butterfly correctly named by Piano. Her prize? A free bag of seeds for her garden.

This kind of quirky prize wheel was right at home Saturday, the second day of this year's NEPA Home and Garden Show inside the Mohegan Sun Arena.

"I've already seen so much stuff, I love it here," said Piano, a Stroudsburg native who was making a return to the Home and Garden Show after a few years not attending. "I picked a bag of flower seeds for the bees, because we need the bees."

The "Name That Pollinator" wheel was one of many attractions at the Penn State Extension's Master Gardener booth, one of the dozens and dozens of vendors located around the Arena, with all sort of different organizations and businesses lining the arena floor and concourse.

Master Gardener program member David Visintainer, a newer member to the program after joining in October, was one of the volunteers at the Penn State Extension booth, assisting Piano and others with the wheel, while also providing information and advice about ways for people to care for their own gardens.

"I've always had an interest, my wife's been in this program for 12 years and she finally convinced me to join," Visintainer said.

Piano said that the Master Gardener booth was her primary focus on her trip to the Home and Garden Show, but a walk around the arena introduced customers to a wide array of businesses, ranging from home-building needs like concrete companies, to decorators and appliance installers, to internet and cable providers — and much more.

"There are so many different vendors here," said Gary Seman, of Shavertown, who went to the Home and Garden Show on Saturday with his wife Kasey and their daughter. "We're still exploring."

It was the first trip to the Home and Garden Show for the Semans, and Gary said that they were looking to potentially start work on building a new home.

One of the stops they made in their trip Saturday was at the Advanced Concrete Systems booth, where Chris Wolf and Curt Walborn were able to chat with the Seman family and give them an idea on how they might get started with their project.

Wolf is the company's Luzerne County sales representative, working out of White Haven. He said that they had been doing the Home and Garden Show for a number of years.

"This show is helpful for both sides, we get to talk to a lot of people," Wolf said. "Word of mouth has really brought us along."

After a short 2 to 6 p.m. opening day on Friday, the Home and Garden Show was open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, the longest hours of the show's three-day weekend.

The Home and Garden Show will wrap up its 21st year today, open to the public from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the arena.