One of the firs
Photos on the Susquehanna
By Mary Therese Biebel mbiebel@timesleader.com Features Writer
One of the first paddlers to reach Scoval Island on Sunday, 8-year-old Julianna Davis climbed out of her kayak and flashed a triumphant grin.
“Mom! I’m pulling in my own boat!” she told Anita Davis, who was landing a separate craft nearby.
For the little girl from Bear Creek, the Susquehanna River excursion the Cultural Council of Luzerne County sponsored last weekend was a day of delights.
Besides realizing she was strong enough to propel a kayak through miles of mostly smooth water from Harding to Wyoming, Julianna had a chance to spend three carefree hours on the island – flying a kite, fishing and skipping stones.
“How did you learn to skip rocks like that?” Anita Davis asked Mike Burnside from the Cultural Council, as he casually sent a flat stone bouncing three, four, five times before it sank.
“I grew up on a lake,” he said, showing how to crook a finger around the stone. “It’s sort of the opposite of throwing a Frisbee.”
The Cultural Council arranged the excursion – three hours of paddling and three hours on the island -- primarily for artists, so they could be inspired by the beauty of the river.
During their time on Scoval Island, which is just upriver of Pittston in the direction of Campbell’s Ledge, they were welcome to devote themselves to sketching, painting or photography.
One of the pieces may become part of a statewide, juried exhibit, “Inspired by the Susquehanna,” expected to be on display at the Luzerne County Courthouse in October.
But artists didn’t have to work on the island. As the flier announcing the event explained, “dreaming” also was encouraged.
“I think I might just do some dreaming,” said Theresa Monaco of Wilkes-Barre, a transplant from the Hudson River Valley who recently accepted a campus-ministry position at Wilkes University.
Despite her intention, Monaco eventually felt moved to create a picture of a nearby railroad bridge.
Tracy McDermott of Lehman Township, whose day job is selling real estate, used both watercolors and a camera to capture the tranquil essence of the island.
“Isn’t it nice here?” she asked, turning her face toward the sun. “There’s no noise from quads. There’s no garbage.”
“You feel like a human being here,” Anita Davis chimed in.
“Yeah, instead of running around like crazy,” McDermott agreed.
Outfitter and guide Frank Kratz from Susquehanna River Adventures in Wilkes-Barre was glad to show some 18 participants how inviting the river can be when you traverse it slowly – studying its ripples and shadows, noticing the minnows and mallards -- rather than speeding by in a car.
Fellow organizer Jan Lokuta was happy to share his knowledge about the wildlife the group spotted along the way.
There’s an immature bald eagle in that tree,” he said, pointing out a bird who didn’t yet have the distinctive white feathers of its breed.
Later, a mature bald eagle would appear overhead. “You can tell from its body position the eagle is different from the turkey vulture,” Lokuta said, pointing out examples of both birds. “The turkey vulture is so lackadaisical. It hardly ever flaps its wings.”
Shelley Pearce from the Cultural Council said other local artists need not despair if they missed this trip, because there will be new chances to take Susquehanna excursions. “We want to keep on doing this in perpetuity,” she said.
