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The Diamond City Partnership (DCP), Wilkes-Barre’s nonprofit downtown management organization is excited to host the first Downtown Discoveries Summer Passport Program, from June 12th to July 24th. The program will send children and their families on a scavenger hunt throughout Downtown to visit special destinations, mark their passports, and win free prizes. 

Participants can pick up their free passports at the Osterhout Free Library, the Greater Wyoming Valley Area YMCA, or the Luzerne County Visitors Bureau. They will also be distributed in local elementary schools, daycare centers and summer camps.

Participants can take a tour of downtown destinations like Public Square to find local treasures such as Mr. Peanut and  the secret petroglyph trail -  where architects hid more than 145 stone carvings among the Square’s granite pavers when it was reconstructed in 1978. 

The scavenger hunt will also run through Downtown’s Art and Culture District on South Main Street, where children can visit the Sordoni Art Gallery and Marquis Art and Frame, find the giant Storybook on the windows of Barnes and Noble, and the Fitness Corner at Midtown Village. Children can also stop by participating businesses noted in the passport to collect free small prizes.

Completed passports can be turned in at the Osterhout Free Library at any time from June 12 through July 24th to receive a free Downtown Discoveries kids’ swag bag and be entered into a raffle to win more prizes. 

The initiative will culminate with a free Downtown Discoveries event on June 24th that will feature children’s activities, music, free treats, a visit from Princess Elsa and other special guests, and a raffle drawing.

This passport program and scavenger hunt will promote outdoor fun, literacy and reading, kindness and anti-bullying, and help reacquaint the community with some of Downtown Wilkes-Barre’s most important landmarks and businesses.

DCP is partnering with the Greater Wyoming Valley YMCA and the Osterhout Free Library for this free program.  The program is presented by Highmark Blue Cross/Blue Shield, along with support from M&T Bank, Times Leader Media Group, Building Blocks Learning Centers, Navient, FNCB Bank, and DiscoverNEPA, who are making this event possible. 

The project was funded in part by the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s Preventive Health and Health Services Block Grant and the Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant.

For more information about the Downtown Discoveries Summer Passport Program and the event on July 24th, please visit @DowntownWilkes-Barre on Facebook or Instagram or email medina@wbdcp.org

@DowntownWilkesBarre on Instagram and Facebook