Northwest Area High School senior Nash Tutorow left Friday’s Luzerne County 240th anniversary performance with a greater awareness of the county’s past.
“I never thought this area had that much history,” said Tutorow, of Shickshinny. “I knew about some of it, but it is really rich in history.”
He was among hundreds of county students who attended the free morning presentation at the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Wilkes-Barre.
Organizers simultaneously used music, a spoken narrative, big-screen images, and dance to capture the county’s evolution.
County Manager Romilda Crocamo sat in the audience and said she got emotional during the presentation.
“It was like the soul of Luzerne County,” she said of the way it all came together.
As the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic performed Aaron Copland’s eight-movement “Appalachian Spring,” historic and current images from throughout the county dominated the space behind the musicians — multimedia projections co-created by Steve Husted, founder and videographer of Knot Just Any Day.
Historian and Wilkes-Barre City Councilman Tony Brooks intermittently explained what was happening with the land and occupants over time, highlighting both struggles and achievements.
The seventh movement showed visual representatives of all 76 municipalities.
Brooks wanted to make the county’s historic courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre the grand finale.
Images of the interior artwork appeared on the screen, including mosaic-surrounded portraits of notable local figures and a large portrait of the county’s namesake, Chevalier de la Luzerne, France’s first ambassador to the United States.
Video footage took viewers upward to the stained glass county seal atop the rotunda dome and then outside and above the landmark structure.
Tutorow said the combination, including performers from the Dance Theatre of Wilkes-Barre, was an interesting and “impressive blending” that made the message engaging for students of all ages.
Classmate Delila Grant, of Hunlock Township, said the presentation made the area where she is growing up “seem special.”
“It really puts it into perspective,” Grant said. “I feel like there’s just so much we can experience in the area.”
Shickshinny resident Ty Kopco, another classmate, said he heard stories about the Agnes Flood of 1972, but the photographs presented Friday made him realize how devastating it was for residents and properties.
“I thought it was very eye opening,” Kopco said of the history he learned.
All three students recognized images from their neck of the woods, including the trails and waterfalls at Ricketts Glen State Park in Fairmount Township.
Images also highlighted other features of the county’s landscape, with mountains, valleys, farmland, urban areas and the Susquehanna River.
Numerous photographs flashed by of residents with a range of achievements over the decades, whether they remained here or left to pursue their passion.
The trio’s teacher at Northwest Area, Vito Malacari, said the event was a “great experience for our students to see the rich culture that Luzerne County has to offer.”
“So many times Luzerne County is seen as a place that is politically corrupt or that is dirty because of coal, but this helps the students see the depth of the culture that we present to the world, the vastness of our 76 municipalities and that we were able to give so much back to the state, the country, and the world,” Malacari said, noting he also learned new history from the experience.
Before the performance, NEPA Philharmonic Musical Director Mélisse Brunet asked musicians to demonstrate the different sounds of the orchestra’s percussion, brass, woodwind and string sections for the students. Brunet, Brooks and two musicians — bassoonist Emma Fuller and cellist Alyssa Baljunas — also answered student questions about their careers and the instruments.
Crocamo said this type of exposure could inspire some students to pursue careers in music, which she supports because “the world needs more people who bring joy through their gifts.”
“The excitement in the room was unmistakable,” she said in her observation from the audience.
The video package “captured the character, spirit and quiet grandeur of the place we call home” and instilled hometown pride, she said.
“For 240 years, this county has been shaped by the hands and hearts of its people. Today, our children saw that story come alive,” Crocamo said. “It touched my heart.”