'Nice to be out': Organizers say Nanty Glo event had successful return from pandemic
Jun. 14—NANTY GLO — The smell of backyard barbecue filled the air on Sunday as Nanty Glo Fire Department members Patrick Yewcic and Jay Jacobson flipped a rack of 50 sizzling chicken halves over a charcoal pit.
For Yewcic, it was the smell of success.
Sunday marked the final day of a well-attended Nanty Glo Community Days weekend — a welcome return after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the event's cancellation in 2020, he said.
"When we started this in 2019, we wanted to make this an annual thing, and now it will be," he said, "because everything went really well."
"Everything" included a 5K run and a rubber duck race fundraiser that put 100 of the tub toys on Blacklick Creek, said Yewcic, who co-organized the event alongside fellow fire department member Bryant Greene.
Bands played under a festival tent all weekend. While thunderstorms on Sunday morning washed out a planned kayak float, cornhole tournaments and craft vendors also drew crowds.
Inside Nanty Glo's fire station garage, Shirley Logue bought a handful of tickets for a basket raffle. She had her eyes set on a fishing basket.
"I've had an absolutely wonderful time, and it's all to support our firefighters," the Nanty Glo woman said.
Janice Konsavich brought Snowball, her 9-year-old Maltese, dressed in miniature biker gear — and her wallet. She said she spent a lot of time at the craft booths and left with a ring, two candles and a bracelet.
"We've been here all weekend," she said. "It was nice to be out."
