One of NEPA's Favorite Summer Spots Just Turned 100

If you’re doing one thing this week…

Make it Wally Lake Fest, running Friday, August 28 through Sunday, August 30 around Lake Wallenpaupack and Hawley.

This year is a particularly good one to go: Lake Wallenpaupack officially turned 100 years old in July, and the festival spreads the celebration across the lake rather than cramming everyone into one parking lot. Friday has markets and live music; Saturday brings the Boat & Outdoor Expo and Wallypalooza, a free concert performed from a floating stage near the Tafton Dike. Yes, the stage is actually floating.

Before you go: Much of the festival is free. If you want to actually get onto the lake Saturday, the Paupack Sailing Club is offering one-hour sailboat rides from 11–3; reservations are recommended.

See the full Wally Lake Fest schedule

Also happening around NEPA

The West End Fair - Aug. 23–29 | Gilbert
A full week of rides, food, agricultural exhibits, games and entertainment. It opens Sunday, so this is one of those rare fairs where you can pick basically any day this week and still catch it.
West End Fair information

Doggie Fashion Show - Aug. 26 | Connell Park, Scranton
This is exactly what it sounds like. Bring a dog dressed to impress from 3–5 PM. Free, and frankly there are worse ways to spend a Wednesday afternoon.
Scranton event details

Local Business Spotlight: Friendly Alien Books

Friendly Alien Books is an independent bookstore on Wyoming Avenue in downtown Scranton carrying both new and used books, plus gifts and other bookish things you didn’t technically go in there to buy. It’s also become a gathering place for workshops and local creative events. If you haven’t been in yet, this is exactly the kind of small downtown shop that makes a city more interesting.

Visit Friendly Alien Books

This Week at Home

Take five minutes and look at your gutters.

You don’t need to climb onto the roof. Walk around the house after a decent rain and look for water spilling over the edges, dripping behind the gutter, or pooling where it shouldn’t. Summer storms can expose a clog long before fall leaves make it worse.

5 minutes · $0 unless you find a problem

The Local Market - in 30 Seconds

More homes for sale hasn’t meant slower sales.

The latest available Lackawanna County data is from June: there were 1,182 active listings, up 21.6% from a year earlier, while the typical home spent 46 days on the market, actually about 5% faster than last year. Median sold price was $248,000, up 2.4% year over year.

Translation: buyers are finally getting more choices, but good homes haven’t suddenly become easy to negotiate on. For sellers, pricing correctly still matters a lot more than simply putting a sign in the yard and waiting.

See the Lackawanna County market data

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— Brady